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EPIGRAPHIA INDICA
[VOL. XXIX tion, did rule actually for 12 years before Vijayāditya's coronation in June 1031 A. C., he must have begun to reign in June 1019 A. C. As Vimalāditya was still ruling at the time of the Rapastipündi grant in August 1018 A, C., Rajaraja I appears to have succeeded his father almost im mediately. As the available evidence regarding the exact starting point of Rājarāja's reign gives two different dates, viz., 1019 and 1020 A. C., it can be safely stated that his rule must have commenced some years before the date of his coronation which took place, as stated in his own records including the present one, on the 16th August, 1022 A. C.
If Rajarāja began to rule either in 1019 or in 1020 A. C., as shown above, there must have been some cause for the postponement of his coronation until 1022 A. C. Although no such reason is disclosed by the Eastern Chalukya records, the contemporary Chola inscriptions distinctly indicate the existence of political disturbance in Vēngi at this time."
(iv) The last point of interest to be noted in this section is the marriage of Rājarāja I with Ammangā (lines 64-65), the daughter of his maternal uncle, Rajendra Choladēva, & fact known hitherto only from the records of his descendants. The marriage was not merely the renewal of an old alliance between the Chola and Eastern Chāļukya royal families. It was also intended to serve a political purpose. Rājēndra-Chõļa aimed at providing a permanent bond by which Vēngi might be attached to his kingdom ; therefore, he bestowed the hand of his daughter Ammangā on his nephew.
II. The most important part of the present inscription is the passage which narrates the circumstances in which the gift was made. It states (lines 77-85) that the general Rajaraju BrahmaMahäräja rose to eminence by the grace of the king Rajendra-Chola Madhurantaka and guarded his kingdom like a serpent protecting hidden treasure. No sooner did he receive the orders of his sovereign than he marched into the Andhra country at the head of a vast army, accompanied by two other generals, Uttama-Choda Chodakon and Uttama-Chola Miladudaiyán. The three Tamil.commanders, who were like the three fires bent upon the destruction of the forest which was the Karnāta army, became engaged in a fierce battle with the commanders of the king of Karnata. The battle between the two armies is described vividly (lines 85-93). The engagement, however, seems to have ended indecisively or at any rate not in a victory for the Chöļa foroes ; for it is said that the commanders of both the sides who participated in the fight perished with their foroes (lines 93-96). It was in these circumstances that the Eastern Chalukya Rajarāja I set up, in memory of Räjarāja Brahma-Mahārāja, & temple dedicated to God Siva called Rajarājēśvaram in the village of Kalidindi. Two other Siva temples were also built in memory of Uttama Chola Cholakön and Uttama-Chõla Miladudaiyan respectively. For conducting worship in these temples, and for the maintenance of a choultry for feeding fifty students, eto., the village of Kælidimdi renamed Madhurantakanallür, together with two other villages called Kadaparru and Āvakūru, was granted by the king lines 96-103).
The place and date of the battle are not stated in the record. It would, however, be possible to fix them with some precision. It may be noted that the record states that memorial temples for the deceased Chola generals were founded. Such temples are sometimes founded on the
Nos. 23, 24, 30, 31, 751 and 752 of 1917 of the Mad. Epi. Coll. These epigraphs of the reign of Rajendra. Choladeva from the Madakasira taluk of the Anantapur District, all studied together, allude to an expedition sont by the Chola emperor Rajendra I against Vängt about the 10thyr 1021 A.C.) of his reign to overcome home trouble thoro, under the leadership of one of his generals, named Areyan Rajarajan alias Vikrama-Chola Choliye. varaiyan. Of them No. 31 of 1917 refers probably to a battle which he fought with the Kalingas, Oddas and Tulugue, while another (761 of 1917) expressly declares that the king of Vengt ran away on hearing that the Chola king had orderou bie poneral Soliyavarasan to oonquer that country'. These records which, me pointed out by Professor K. A. Nilakanta Sastri, obviously belong to the same time' (Oolas, I, p. 279), allude to a military expedition sent by Rajendra-Chola about the 10th year of his reign (1021 A.C.) to conquer Vengt.
