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No. 42]
TELUGU CHOLA RECORDS FROM ANANTAPUR AND CUDDAPAH
225
Of the localities mentioned in the inscription, Erigal may be identified with modern Nidugal. Rēnāņdu is roughly the country between the two tributaries of the R. Penvär, viz., the Chitravati in the north-west and Cheyyēru in the south-west comprising a major portion of the Cuddapah and parts of Kolar and Chittoor districts. The chief city or the early capital of this region appears to have been Chippili in the Madanapalle taluk, Chittoor district, which is referred to in a slightly different form, Chirppali, in the Tippalur inscription of Punyakumara (ins. F. below), wherein it is described as the capital (paļu) of the king. It has been supposed that Rēnāndu means Rēgadinādu the black-soil country' which is, accordingly, traced in the regions along the valley of the Kundőru river. The explanation is rather fanciful. The real meaning of the term appears to be 'the country of the king or Rēdu or Mahārāja', precisely the same as Mahārājapādi that finds mention in a good number of inscriptions later than the 10th cent. A. D. as the name of the region. Maharajapadi 7000 signified, doubtless, what had been once called Rēnāndu 7000 and they both refer to the same tract.
Chirumbūru to which Rövanakälu belonged may be identified with the modern Chilamakuru in the Kamalapuram taluk, a few miles E.S.E. of Kalamalla, the findspot of the inscription.
A. TEXT First side
2 kalmustura3 ju Dhanamhja4 yuru Rēnā5 ndu ēlan 6 Chirumbūri 7 Revaņakālu (pam-] 8 pu Chenūrukāju 9 alika!ā[ū]ri10 nda vārusūri].. 11-14 four lines damaged 15 .... pañchasma*-] 16 hāpāta kasa-- 17 [ku]
Second side-damaged. B. Erragudipadu inscription of Erikal-Mutturaju This inscription is engraved in bold and big size characters on two sides of a stone standing to the right of the Chennakēšava temple in the village of Erragudipadu, Kamalapuram taluk, Cuddapah district.
The palaeography of the inscription which resembles, in almost every detail, the Kalamalla inscription (No. A above) and is likewise assignable to the last quarter of the 6th cent. A.D. or slightly later calls for few remarks except that it is written in a more cursive style than A. Subscript 1 (1.2) may be noted as affording an instance showing that in early Telugu-Kannada script a letter even when used as subscript was written in full with no change. The Dravidian (1. 11) is also worthy of note.
As regards orthography, the syntax of the inscription is not clear. It is not apparent who the actual donor was, although the text may be interpreted so as to give the
1 H. K. Sastri : above, Vol. XI, p. 343 citing J. Ramayya Pantulu; J.1.H., Vol. XV, pp. 33-4.
From the estampages secured by Mr. M. V. R. A part of this inscription was copied by the Epigraphy department and numbered A.R.E. 98 of 1929-30.
XVI-1-6
