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EPIGRAPHIA INDICA.
(VOL. XXV.
others. Hence to draw a list of all the places in favour of which the remission was made, & comparative study of all the copies is essential. Here the four complete copies have been closely compared for being edited while the others have been referred to wherever necessary. The full list obtained is given further down.
The inscription is of more than ordinary interest to the student of Vijayanagara history. Firstly, it gives a detailed list of the conquests of Krishnadēvaraya in the Telugu country up to the date of the record though it does not state the dates of the different campaigns and conqueste. Secondly, on account of the use made of this record by H. Krishna Sastri, it has a bearing on the identification of "Catuir" of Nuniz, a difficult problem for which no satisfactory solution has been offered so far. Lastly it gives us some idea of a few of the taxes and the fivenue administration in the empire.
The campaigns of Kțishṇadēvarāya against the Gajapati ruler of Orissa and his confederates which are briefly mentioned in this record have been dealt with in detail by H. Krishna Sastrit in the light of other inscriptions of the reign and the evidence drawn from contemporary literature, and there is no need, therefore, to consider them at any length here. There is, however, one point on which the opinion tentatively expressed by Krishna Sastri seems to be open to further consideration. This relates to the expedition against Catuir mentioned by Nuniz and the location of that place. Some inscriptions of Kộishnadēvarāya's reign, like the one now edited, trace the course of the king's northern campaign up to Simháchalam and Poţtunūru, where he planted a pillar of victory. Telugu works of the reign seem to extend the range of the campaign. "From the Pārijātāpaharaṇamu and other Telugu works, however," says Krishna Sastri, " we learn that Krishnarāya did not stop with the setting up of the pillar of victory at Pottunūru, but went further north, even into the interior of the Gajapati's dominions, devastated the country of Oddādi and burnt his capital town of Kataka (.e., Cuttack) thus forcing the Gajapati to make peace by offering the hand of one of his daughters ". He then points out that we have no epigraphical evidence erabling us to decide if this raid into Oddadi took place in continuation of the campaign commemorated by the pillar of victory at Potjanūru or occurred later as part of another campaign, and proceeds: "This much, at any rate, becomes certain from the Simhachalam records, viz., that Krishnarāya was at Sin hädri at the beginning of Saka 1438, and that in Saka 1441 he mado over to the temple at Simhachalam certain villages which were granted to him by the Gajapati king. Whether these latter were the voluntary gifts of the Gajapati ruler on behalf of his ally Kțishộarāya or were wrung from him by a regular raid on his capital, are points which cannot be decided at present. Nevertheless there appears to be a clue to some bistorical event-not yet discovered in the conquest of Catuir which is mentioned by Nuniz next, perhaps, in chronological order, after making peace with the king of Orya. The name Catuir cannot be traced either in epigraphical records or in Telugu literature. Nor is Nuniz himself very clear in his statements about this place and the expedition against it. He says that Catuir is situated on the Charmãodel side and that it is surrounded by a river which at the time of Krishộarāya's capture was in flood. Besides, the account does not state against whom the attack was directed; nor does it disclose any proper names that could lead to the identification of Catuir. Sewell thinks that there is in this a possible reference to Vellore. But as Telugu literature has so far been found to con firm the facts related in lithic records or registered by Nuniz, it may not be altogether improbable to suppose that the Catuir' of Nuniz is identical with Kataka (Cuttack) mentioned in Telugu literature, and that Kộishnaraya, according to the latter authority, must have finally compelled
* Annual Report, A. 8. 1., 1908-9, pp. 176-82.
