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No. 37] TALI INSCRIPTION OF KODAI RAVI: 17TH YEAR
217 and his successor Bhaskara-Ravivarman and may therefore be considered to have been in exisbence from the middle of the tenth century at the latest.
The Vatteluttu characters in which the record is neatly engraved can be approximately attributed to the 11th century A. C. The medial i sign which is attached to the left side of the letters in most of the cases is put on the top of the letter in a few instances, as in vi, ti, mi in line 1 and in li in line 2. The letter ya is engraved in the earlier form and in the later cursive variety. Grantha letters have been employed in the words Svasti sri (line 1), Nityavichārēśvara (line 2) and Uttama-madhyama-adhama (line 13). The language of the record is correct Tamil prose except the word itfidu in line 5 which is a slightly corrupt form of the word ittadu now in use in the Malayalam language. Iyana is the dialectical form of Isäna, ya being the usual substitute for ša. Rules of sandhi have generally been followed.
The object of the record is to register a gift of the villages Ukkiramangalam (Ugramangalam) and Iyānamangalam) (Isänamangalam) made by the (Chēra) king Kodai-Ravi in his 17th rognal year to the temple of Nityavichārēsvara so as to provide, from the annual income of 300 kalam therefrom, for the expenses of worship, etc., in the temple. The Taliyar and Tali-adhikarar of the temple are stated to have met under the presidency of a certain KõdaiRavil of Venpoli-nādu and to have made the arrangement noticed in this document. As published Chāra records are very few, this record of Kõdai-Ravi is edited here and an attempt is made to fix his place tentatively in the line of Chēra kings. Only a few records of a king named KödaiRavi have been secured till now. They are :
No.
Name of village.
Regnal year.
Position of
Jupiter.
Reference.
Chokar (Malabar)
.
.
.
.
No. 13 of 1901; S. I.I.,
Vol. VII, No. 173.
2
No. 344 of 1924.
Tali (Cochin) . . Avittattür (Cochin). . Tirupparangodu (Malabar) .
Mithuna . Kanni .
17
20 23+4
. .
. :
Nos. 360, 361, 362 of 1927.
. :
No. 219 of 1895, S. I.I.,
Vol. V, No. 783 and
plates. No. I of 1902 (T. A. 8.
Vol. VI, p. 64).
Tripūņittura (Cochin)
Of these, the king mentioned in No. 2 is identical with the Kōdai-Ravi of the Aviţtattúr records (No. 3), because Jupiter which was in the Mithuna rasi in the 17th year would correctly be in the Kanni-rābi, three years later in the 20th year of the king's reign. Though the position of the Jupiter is not specified in the other three records (Nos. 1, 4 and 5), they can all be palaeographically assigned to the same period and the king. If this is conceded, then the 30th year quoted in the Tripūņittura record (No. 5) may be considered as the highest so far discovered for this king.
1 No. 348 of the Madras Epigraphical collection for 1924. • Ködai and Ravi are very popular names in the west roaat: Ard so this Ködai-Ravi of Venpoli-nadu, as well as another Ködai-Ravi of Nedumpuraiyur-nādu, figuring as a fignatory in the Chrhin plates of Bhāskara. Ravivarman (above, Vol. III, p. 89) and a third Ködai-Ravi of Vanralaichchëri (T. A.S., Vol. II, pp. 154. 164 and Vol. II, p. 166), & contemporary of Indu-Kodaivarman, wore evidently private individuals, having no conneotion with the king of that name. 6 DGA
