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No. 15.)
FOUR PANDYA RECORDS FROM UKKIRANKOTTAI.
285
In the Larger Sinnamapur plates, an earlier Pandya king Srivallabha' is stated to have fought a battle at Kunnur and his conquests are said to have extended from Kunnur to Singalam. If this Kunnür is identical with the native place of the donatrix Tudarūri mentioned in record A, the geographical detail that it was situated in Karunilakkudi-nādu is of some interest. The same village Kuņņür is stated to be located in Nilakkudi-nadu (probably a shortened form of Karunilakkudi-nādu) in an epigraph from Pallimadam in the Aruppukkottai taluk of the Ramnad District.
The colony which Tennavan Pallavadiäraiyan founded in front of the korrarāyil or palace at Karavandapuram was, as stated already, called Rājasinga-pperangādi in honour of the reigning king. It must have been a fairly influential community, for in record D Inban Devaņasetti, a member of the Ayyapoli2-500 guild, who was probably the agent in charge at this place, is stated to have built a circumambulatory verandah (tiruchchurrālai) called 'Nagarattān 'round the temple of Vadavāvil-nangai, in the name and on behalf of the Nagarattar. Ayyapolil which is the Tamilised form of the word Ayyavole (i.e., Aihole in the Hungund tālukā of the Bijāpur District, Bombay Presidency) is famous as the headquarters of a very influential and prosperous trading corporation which boasted of branches even in distant parts. Several trading centres were called 'Ayyavoles of the South', apparently because they were branches founded by the merchants or agents of the Ayyavole guild proper. The elaborate prašasti of the Ayyavole guild found in an inscription in Mysore describes the guild as having been composed of 500 svāmis, and this conventional numerical strength of the guild is also indicated by the title. Ainnurruvan borne by the local Agent mentioned above.
One other point of interest in these records is that the endowments were not only left under the protection of the merchant-guild of the place, but that the madi-chevagar or 'the soldiers on guard at the ramparts were also enjoined to supervise the proper conduct of the charities. As already noted in the Annual Report on S. I. Epigraphy for 1932-33, page 68, endowments made in the time of the Pandya king Sundara-Pāņdya (A.D. 1225) to the temple at Perunguļam, a medieval military cantonment in the Tinnevelly District, were left in charge of a governing body composed of representatives from the several battalions stationed at the place. In an inscription from Tiruvälisvaram in the same district, it is stated that the temple of TiruvälisvaramUdaiyār, its treasury and the temple servants were placed under the protection of the Chola garrison called Münrukai-Mahäsēņai 'stationed at that place. Similarly in a record copied at Sangråmanallur in the Coimbatore District, which was evidently fortified and garrisoned in olden days, the soldiers were required to protect the gopura, the temple and its premises. It is therefore evident that in places which were under the control of the military, a body composed of some military officers and men functioned in respect of religious and other institutions under their charge, in a manner similar to that of village assemblies in purely civil stations.
TEXT.
A
1 Sri [*] [K].ch Chadaiya-Mārafku yāņdu irandu idan=edir padiņmupru ivv-[āņdu]
Kalakkudi-náttu-kKaravandapurattu kilaivail srikoi18. I. I., Vol. III, p. 461. * No. 430 of 1914 of the Madras Epigraphical collection. • Ep. Carn., Vol. VII, Sk. 118.
• The term madifchchamgar (madil=rampart+chevagar soldiers) means 'the soldiers guarding the rampart in the fort at the place. Compare wfviftuchchanger and Malayan-orrichchegar in the sense of soldiers' (Trav. Arch. Series, Vol. I, p. 169 and f. n. 8).
* No. 120 of 1908 of the Madras Epigraphical collection. • No. 167 of 1909 of the same collection.
