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No. 42]
TELUGU CHOLA RECORDS FROM ANANTAPUR AND CUDDAPAH
223
Of the two terms indicating official dignity, Yuvarāju is the well understood term signifying the dignity of heir-apparent while it is not quite clear what official position is exactly indicated by the title Mutturăju. In the present context, the term is a title or dignity and not a personal or dynastic name like Chõļa or Pandya as we see from an examination of its derivation and the combinations in which it occurs. The term seems to be derived from Mudul or Mutu in Telugu meaning elder or advanced in age corresponding to Mätta in Tamil conveying the same meaning. The Tamil and Kannada renderings of the title Mutturāja appear to be Muttaraiyar and Muttarasa respectively. In this connection we may cite some of the titles of the Kērala kings occurring in their inscriptions, such as Tiruppapūr-Mutta Tiruvadi (or. Muttavar) Jayatunganättu-Mūttatambiran (or - Mütta-Tiruvadi), and Siraivāy Muttatambirån meaning "the First or the Senior prince or ruling chief (Tambirān) of (the royal family of) Tiruppapūr, Jayatunganādu and Siraivay (Attingal) respectively. Judging from the instances of its occurrence in the inscriptions of the Kerala kinge, it would appear that the prince who held the title issued records, making gifts, like a ruling prince in the same manner as the inscriptions of Erikal-Mutturāja, edited here, have been issued. Several Ganga inscriptions issued in the name of Konkani Muttarasa without any personal name or titles attached thereto, may be cited also as instances indicating that the person who held the title of Muttarasa enjoyed an official position comparable in dignity and status to, but not identical with, the Yuvarāja or the Adhiraja (Mahārāja, Mahārājādhirāja), who generally issued grants in an independent capacity. A Vaidumba inscription records the crowning or the binding of the fillet (pattaingatli......) of a certain Gandara Mutrăju (i.e., Mutrāju among the heroes') by the Vaidumbas presumably prior to his entry as general in the war in which he is stated to have been killed. It is not clear whether the dignity of Mutrāju was conferred on him during his anointment. That Mutturāju cannot be identical with Yuvarāju is clear enough if we compare the import of Yuva' meaning young and of Mūtta' meaning elder or advanced in age. But it is doubtful whether a prince referred to merely as Mutturāju (without supreme titlus like Mahārāja), e.g., Erigal Mutturāju, Konkani Muttarasa, Käduvetti-Muttarasa, Ilango Muttaraiyar, etc., enjoyed the position of an Adhiraja. It is significant that the personal names of the princes thus referred to are devoid of the honorific plural endings which characterise those of the supreme rulers. Thus Erigal Mutturāju Dhananjaya and Erigal Muturāju Punyakumāra are called simply Dhananjayu ru (ins. A) and Punyakumărunru (inss. E and F below) respectively with the nominative singular ending ru or nru attached to their names. Further in a few inscriptions they also figure in a subordinate capacity, as for instance, Erigallu-Mutturāju in the Nallacheruvupalle inscription (I) edited below. Käduvetti Muttarayan figures as the donor in an inscription of Pallava Dantivarman.?
Considering the occurrence of the term Mutturāju (Muttarasa. Muttaraiyar) in the inscriptions of all the dynasties, it would appear that the title, when not accompanied by any supreme title, Adhiraja or Mahārājādhirāja, was applicable to the seniormost among the princes of the family other than the ruling king and the Yuvarāja. "The dignity or status of first prince,
1 Mutuda or Mududa in the Kantoru Salankāyana plates occurring in the passage Mutuda-sahita.gråmeyakan' (above, XXIV, p. 281). The term obviously stands for an office or dignity corresponding to Kyaware of Tamil insa, meaning elders of the village.
*T. 4. . IV, pt. 1, p. 93; Vol. V, pt. 1, p. 27. ST. A. S. Vol. I, p. 299. •T. A. 8. Vol. VI, PP. 48-49; 164, 178, 181.
'Ep. Carn., III, Tn. 33; IX, Ht. 21; X, KI. 78: W.A.R. 1917, pp. 31, 38; M.A.R. 1926. Ine. 73; It is difficult to assign all these records to Sripurusha as has been done by some scholars. "They may belong to different kings of the Ganga dynasty, who held the dignity of Muttaran.
• No. 309 of 1922 of the Mad. Ep. Coll. No. 89 of 1921 of the Mad. Ep. Coll.
