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No. 38.]
MASULIPATAM PLATES OF AMMARAJA II.
273
The edict states that king Ammaraja II issued the command after having assembled, in the usual manner, the Rashtrakutas and kutumbins of the district of Velanaṇḍu and in the immediate presence of several high officials of his government. They are the entire circle of his vassal kings (samasta-samanta), the antaḥpura-mahāmātra, the purohita, the amatya; the śreshthin, the senāpati, the śrikarana, the Dharmadhyaksha and the twelve sthan-adhipatis. In spite of his own faith, like a true Hindu sovereign, king Amma II was tolerant of the other faiths of his kingdom, and particularly of Jainism.
The object of the grant was the gift of the village of Pedda-Galiḍiparru, situated apparently in the Velanandu-vishaya. It is well known in the Andhra country that Velanaṇḍu was the ancient name of the region that is bounded by the sea on the south-east and south, and the Krishņā river on the north-east and north and which is now covered by the modern tālūks of Repalli and Tenāli in the Guntur District. Pedda-Galidiparru had changed its name during the past nine or ten centuries and is called to-day Peda-Gadelavarru. It is situated in the Tenāli tālūk, about three miles to the east of the Tsundūru railway station. The boundaries of the villages are according to the edict (11. 57-61) as follows:-On the east: a duba (probably a mound) in the centre of the tank called Yisupakaṭṭala-cheruvu, on the boundary of the village Mandayūru. On the south-east: (probably) a cluster Büruvu-paduva of silk cotton trees (Eriodendron anfrauctuosum) at the meeting place (muyyalkuttu) of the boundaries of the villages, Alaparti and Chuṇṭūru. On the south: an irrigation tank called Kundaviddi-guntha situated to the north of the ancient village site (pranta-parti) of Chunṭūru. On the south-west: the temple (gudi) of Potyavva or Pōți-avva, the amma (village goddess) of Chunṭūru. On the west . . .
On the north-west: a tank called Garalaguntha on the boundary of the village of Valivēru. On the north: a marshy swamp (paduva) (?) belonging to the village of Tapparāla.. On the north-east: an irrigation tank called Naḍupani-guntha, at the meeting place of the boundaries (muyyalkuttu) of the villages, Kōda-Galiḍiparru, and Valivēru. All the abovementioned localities, viz., Maṇḍayūru, Alaparti, Chūņṭūru, Valivēru, and Kōda-Galiḍiparṛu may be easily identified to-day. Alaparti is known to-day as Alapāḍu, and Chuṇṭūru is changed into Chuṇḍūru. Tapparala had apparently gone out of existence and a new village called Parimi had sprung into existence in that neighbourhood. While all the other village names had not materially changed, the names of Pedda-Galiḍiparru and Koda-Galiḍiparru alone had altered. And that may be explained by the fact that the hard consonant la had merely given place to soft consonant da in the pronunciation during the last nine or ten centuries. KōdaGaliḍiparru is known to-day both as Kōde-Gadelavarru and China-Gadelavarru, the words Kōde and Chinna being synonymous. All the villages mentioned above are situated round about Peda-Gadelavarru.
Among the other localities mentioned in the record, Vijayavāṭikā is clearly identical with the modern town of Bezwada on the Krishna river. The site or sites on which the two Jinabhavanas or Jaina temples once stood cannot be identified; perhaps an extensive exploration of the ancient sites of the locality may help us to discover the spot.
The executor of the charity was the officer known as Katakarāja. From the Maliyapuṇḍi grant, we know that the office of Katakarāja was held during the reign of Amma II by the General Duggaraja, a descendant of the celebrated Pandaranga, the generalissimo of Gunaga-Vijayaditya III. The engraver of the record was Jayantaācharya.
