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EPIGRAPHIA INDICA.
(VOL. XXVI.
No. 2.-RAJAHMUNDRY MUSEUM PLATES OF THE TELUGU CHODA ANNADEVA.
BY N. VENKATARAMANAYYA, M.A., PH.D., UNIVERSITY OF MADRAS. These plates were originally discovered at Annavaram near Tuni in the East Godavari District; and they are at present deposited in the Municipal Museum at Rajahmundry. The following description of the condition of the plates is given in the Annual Report on Epigraphy, Southern Circle, Madras, for 1911-12 :
“There are at present only four plates, the first of which is written on the inner side while the rest are written on both sides. The plates are not held together by a ring, and it is perhaps for this reason that we find some of them missing from the set. They roughly measure 11t" by 5%", and bear a circular hole on the left margin which was evidently meant to receive the ring. From the numbering of the plates found on their inner faces, not far from the ring hole, it is gathered that the missing plates must be the 2nd, 5th, 6th and one or more after the 7th."
The plates are engraved in the Telugu characters of the early 15th century, resembling the alphabet of the other inscriptions particularly of the Reddi kings of the period, and call for no special remarks. As the letters are deeply cut the inscription offers no difficulty in decipherment.
Orthography: The cerebral la is frequently used in the place of the dental la, e.g. nikhila (1, 1. 1), akhila (1. 3,), kamala (1.3); khēlanti (IV, 1. 38), taļēshu (1. 37), etc. Sa is occasionally substituted for sa as in Singa (III, 1. 10), Singaya (VII, L. 8), etc. The anusvāra is invariably employed for the nasal ; occasionally the letter following the anusvāra is needlessly doubled as in prasamnnā in I, 1.5; the consonant following the rëpha is doubled in certain places, e.g., upasargga (IV, . 38), jägartti, (III, 1. 26), mürtti (III, 1. 23), etc. The text abounds in scribal errors which have been duly taken notice of and the necessary corrections have been indicated either in the body of the text or in the foot-notes accompanying it.
The language of the inscription is Sanskrit, and the text so far available, which is entirely in verse, consists of 68 complete verses and parts of two others. Of these, 47, including the two fragments, are in the Vasantatilaka, 17 in the Arya, 4 in the Upajati, 1 in the Drutavilambita, and 1 in the Sārdülavikridita metres.
The four plates bear the numbers 1, 3, 4 and 7. Ca the assumption that they all belong to one Bet of plates conveying a single gift, it has been gathered that the missing plates of the collection are the 2nd, 5th and 6th and also, one or more after the 7th, since the subject matter in this lastmentioned plate is not complete. But there are some difficulties militating against such an assumption. The verses on plates marked 1 and 7 are numbered while those on the plates marked 3 and 4 are not likewise numbered. Further, we have no clue in the plate marked l or in the other marked 7 to connect them, so far as their subject matter is concerned, with the rest, i.e., those numbered 3 and 4, which are however continuous and interconnected. From this we get the first
1J.A. H. R. 8., Vol. I, p. 172. [The plates are now roported to be missing. -Ed.)
Part ii, pp. 79-80. Mr. V. Apparso, who contributed an article on these plates (J. 4. H. R. 8., Vol. I, pp. 172 f.), observes that 'the rims of these plates are slightly raised'. Moreover, he gives the measurements of the plates differently. They measure, according to him, 11 by 6'. The inclusion by him of the 7th plate among the missing is probably due to his failure to notice that the last of the set bears the number 7.
See below p. 48 n. 5.--Ed.]
