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268
EPIGRAPHIA INDICA
[Vol. XXVIII
Inscription A is dated Saka year 888-966-67 A. C. and it states that Isvarapichchan, a member of the trading corportion called) Tigai-yāyiral-taiññurru-nagar redeemed the lake at Pungaạür by payment of gold to the Travar of the village.
Inscription B dated in Saka year 9 (sic.) records that Avaiyamman, son of lladarāyan Tattāļan assigned (the taxes) kannālakkānam (marriage fee), ürppadinkädi and pidā-nāli derived from the village (for the upkeep) of the tank called Parumandaladitta-pērēri' which he had constructed at Punganür.
It will be evident at the outset that both A and B refer to the same lake at Punganūr which was constructed by Anaiyamman and called 'Parannandaliitta-porēri', evidently after his surname. Since A is definitely dated in Saka 888 and as there is no difference in the palaeography of these records, we may surmise that the Saka year 9 quoted in B is an engraver's mistake for Saka 889, in preference to a possible reference to the 9th regnal year of an unspecified king. If this supposition is correct, it may be maintained that in Saka 888, this lake, which was originally dug by Anaiyamman, but which in the meanwbile was under encumbrances, was redeemed by Isvara pichchan and that in the next year, the founder Āņaiyamman himself retrioved the situation by endowing certain specified taxes for its upkeep.
As no overlord is mentioned in these records it would appear that no one was acknowledged as such in the region about this time. Inscriptions not mentioning any king are found in the North Arcot District, dated in Saka 810, 830,- 832,485*5 871,875,878,6 8 80, 885,10 891," and 892,1% i.e., from 888 to 970 A. C. This period was one of transition as it saw the end of Pallava rule, the intrusion and the temporary occupation of the region by Rashtrakūta Krishna III before the final conquest and consolidation of the Chöļa power, replacing the Pallava domination. Time was therefore opportune for local chiefs like the Lādas to assert their power. In inscription B, Ānaiyamman is introduced without mentioning any overlord, but at Tirumülpuram in the same North Arcot District, this chief figures as a subordinate in the 12th and 13th yoars of the reign of Pārthivēndravarman.13
The period of rule of Pārthivēndravarman is not yet definitely settled, but the highest regnal year so far found for him in inscriptions is 13. On the basis of the similarity of titles such as Parakēsarivarman and Vira-Pandyan-talai-konda, etc., which both this ruler and the Chola king Aditya II bore, he has been taken to be a contemporary of and even identical with the latter. But the late Mr. H. Krishna Sastriyar doubted if Aditya II and Parthivēndravarman could be assigned to the same period, as records of neither of them supply names which give a clue to their contemporaneity."
1 The words Sakara-vandu would make it clear that the regnal year of any particular king was not intended. 98. I. I., Vol. III, p. 95. * Nos. 203, 211, 212 and 228 of the Madras Epigraphical Collection for 1915.
No. 168 of the Madras Epigraphical Collection for 1921. No. 157 of the Madras Epigraphical Collection for 1921. . Above, Vol. VII, p. 194.
Ibid., p. 195. .No. 473 of the Madras Epigraphical Collection for 1925.
No. 469 of the Madras Epigraphical Collection for 1925. 10 No. 470 of the Madris Epigraphical Collection for 1925. 11 Nos. 96 and 100 of the Madras Epigraphical Collection for 1941-42. 12 No. 246 of the Madras Epigraphical Collection for 1909.
13 Nos. 323 and 267 of the Madras Epigraphical Collection for 1906. The regnal year 3 (No. 267 of 1906) seems to be a mistake for 13 in the Annual Report.
14 Madras Epigraphical Report for 1910, pt. II, para 17.
