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240
7 sina vanru Āļu[Bā ?]
8 pasindi mire
9 koloche [*]
EPIGRAPHIA INDICA
[VOL. XXVII
J. Veludurti Inscription of Uttamaditya-Cholamaharaja.
This record is engraved on the three sides of a stone in front of the Chennakēsa vasvamin temple at Veludurti, Kamalapuram taluk, adjacent to the inscription of Erikal-Muturāju Punyakumāra, edited above (Ins. E).
On palaeographical grounds the record may be referred to about the same date as the Mālēpāḍu stone inscription of Satyaditya and may be assigned to the second quarter of the 8th century A. D.
The writing is more cursive than ornamental and the engraving has not been done in a uniform manner. The same letter is written in different styles. Thus the forms of b in lines 17 and 22 differ from each other. The latter b is of the same form as the b in line 13 of the Mālēpāḍu stone inscription of Satyaditya.
Attention may be drawn to subscript (1. 15), (1. 18), r (1. 12), which appear to be in a transition stage from the earlier square type to the later cursive form.
The record reveals a few orthographical peculiarities and contains some archaic Telugu words.
It is interesting to note that in the word kunṛugu (1. 26) which is made up of two words kunru and agu the initial vowel of the latter word is dropped instead of the final vowel of the former as is obtaining in similar sandhis of u and a at present. A similar instance has been noted in ins. D. above (1.7).
The word chakshi in 1. 20 meaning witness' (sakshi) may have been pronounced popularly as chakshi and then contracted into chakshi. Koṭṭali (1. 30) may be taken to mean 'engraver'. In the proper name, Vēna Võjanru (11. 18-20) the suffix -vojanṛu occurs in combination with many proper names in Telugu inscriptions of a later period. The word võja (voju) seems to signify an artisan or one who is skilled in the use of tools. It is probably derived from the Sanskrit ojas meaning skill in the use of weapons' or alternately from upadhyaya (Skt.) through its Prakrit forms, Uvajjha, Ojha, etc. In the latter case voja should be taken to mean teacher.
The record is issued in the reign of king Uttamaditya Chōla-Mahārāja and registers the gift of a pannavisa by a certain Immadi Ito (or Rato) to Chēdisarmma, a Brahmana of Kōsiya, i.e., of the Kausika-götra. The inscription is stated to have been composed (vräsiri) by Erama, the Brahmana (para) of Kacheru and engraved (kotte) by the koṭṭali, Kuṇandāluvänṛu. The witnesses to the deed were Eyarikallu-kulagaṭṭudu (i.e., kulagaṭṭudu of Eyariakallu, possibly same as Erigallu) and Vendarambuļu Vēņa Võjunru, i.e., Vēņa, the võju of the place called Vendarambuļu.
The king of the present inscription, Uttamaditya Chōla Mahārāja, can be identified with Uttamaditya, evidently the son of Vikramaditya II, who figures as a Samanta in the Chilamakuru inscription of Vikramaditya II (ins. H) wherein it is stated that in company with (his mother) Chōlamahādēvi, he was ruling at Chirumburu (modern Chilmakuru). He seems to have succeeded his father, and the present inscription was issued when he was ruling the earth (prithivirajyamcheya). Thus, of Vikramaditya's two sons, Uttamaditya I and Satyaditya, Uttamaditya was probably the elder as he is found associated with the queen (his mother) and holding the office of Samanta while his father was reigning and later on succeeded him. Regarding Satyaditya it is
1 From impressions secured by M: V. R. and from those secured later by the Epigraphy Department, A. K. No. 297 of 1937-38.
Above, Vol. XI, p. 346, plate. H. K. Sastri thinks that the inscription is engraved in characters similar to the Alupa inscriptions at Udiyavara (Ep. Ind., Vol. IX, pp. 15-24) of about 800 A. D,
MGIPC-SI-XVI-1-6-8-3-50-450,
