________________
No. 25.)
TEKKALI PLATES OF ANANTAVARMAN; GANGA YEAR 358
175
which has eight lines, contains seven lines of writing, the complete record thus running to twentynine lines. Both the scribe and the engraver have executed their work very carelessly. The inscription is however on the whole in a good state of preservation.
The inscription apparently records the gift of the village of Siņicharana (no district has been mentioned) to a Brāhmaṇa called Vithubhata (Vishņubhatta), son of Harichandra, belonging to the Sāņdilya gotra. The donor was the king Anantavarman, son of Mahārāja Dēvēndravarman, who belonged to the Ganga kula. The gift, which was issued from Kalinganagara, was made on the occasion of a solar eclipse.
The writer of the record was the Samanta Mātrisiri and the engraver was the Akshaśālin Napa.
The date given in words) is the Year 358 of the prosperous victorious reign of the Gangas.
The chief interest of the present record lies in the date and the personality of its donor. As has been mentioned above, the record belongs to Anantavarman, son of Dēvēndravarman, and is dated in the Ganga Year 358. This date precludes any possibility of identifying the father of the donor of the present record with any other person than Dévēndravarman, father of SatyaVarman. For the last-named, we have an inscription dated in the Year 3512 of the Ganga era, This last date again is fairly near to that of our inscription, vis., 358. I, therefore, suggest that Anantavarman of the present inscription was a brother of Satyavarman of the Chicacole plates. This satisfactorily adjusts the date of the inscription and finds a place for its donor in the Ganga pedigree in the following fashion :
Dēvēndravarman (III)
Satyavarman (Year 351)
Anantavarman (III)
(Year 358) Of the localities mentioned, Kalinganagara occurs frequently in inscriptions of Ganga kings. It bas generally been identified with modern Kalingapatam or with Mukhalingam. I am bowever unable at present to locate the village granted.
Palaeographically, the Tekkali plates of Anantavarman may be referred to the third quarter of the 9th century A.D.
TEXT.
First Plate. 1 Om Svasty(ti) (II*] Amarapur-ānukāriņa[h*) sa (sa)rv-artu-gukba-rama
2 pi(ni)yad-vijayavata[ho] Kalinganagarādhdhivasaka. Mabe
1 I follow the revised reading reported (D. R. Bhandarkar, A List of Inscriptions of Northern India. p. 203 and f. n. 4) to have been suggested to Dr. E. Hultzach by Mr. Ramamurti, viz., -bata-tray.qilaparichisalbay. The palaeography of the inscription absolutely contradicts such an early date as the Year 151 as suggested (ind. Ant., Vol. XIV, p. 12, text, 1.35) by Dr. J. F. Floet. This seems to me to be a definite case of remigenees on the part of both the engraver and the scribe.
[This relationship has already been pointed out in the An. Rep. on 8.-1. Epigraphy, 1935-36, p. 6.-Ed.1
Divēndravarman, the father of Satyavarman, and, as I have shown, also of Anantavarana of the procent record, has variously been called as Do III or Do IV (see, above, Vol. XXIII, p. 76 and f. n. 7). In my genealogical scheme, I have followed D. R. Bhandarkar (List, p. 386, column 2, No. 14) and R. D. Banerii History of Orissa, Vol. I, p. 234) in taking Dévēndravarman of our inscription as Do III and his son m Ananta. varman III.
. From ink-impressions. • Denoted by & symbol.
• The intended reading seems to be Kalinganagar-adhiudeakál. The word adhiudeaka should, however.ba corrected into odaaka.
