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No. 26-TWO EASTERN GANGA GRANTS FROM ANDHAVARAM
(2 Plates)
R. SUBRAHMANYAM, Guntur
A. Plates of Anantavarmadeva
This set of three copper plates was discovered at Andhavaram1 in the Narasannapeta Taluk of the Srikakulam District, Andhra State. Each of the plates measures about 6" by 28." They are fastened together by means of a circular ring (48" in diameter), the two ends of which are secured below an elliptical seal which bears in relief a crude representation of the couchant bull or nandin facing the proper right with a crescent above and a floral design (perhaps a lotus) below. The ring was cut by me for taking impressions. The first and third plates are inscribed on one side only and the second on both the sides. Each side contains eight lines of writing. Though the edges of the plates are not raised into rims, the preservation of the inscription is quite satis. factory.
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The script of the inscription bears close resemblance to that employed in the Siddhantam plates of Devendravarman and other records of the early Eastern Ganga kings. The engraving is carelessly done. The carelessness of the scribe is responsible for several mistakes of omission and commission. Medial i and i are not clearly distinguished in many cases. Often p is written like s (cf. prati in line 2 and pranama in line 3) and a like p (cf. sarvvasa in line 9). The letter bh often looks like t (cf. samkshobha in line 6) and t like n (cf. bhagavato, svamino-nävarata in line 3). The consonant after r is doubled in some cases (of. sarvvartu in line 1). The use of anusvära for class nasal in samkshobha and v for b in many places is noteworthy. The language is Sanskrit and except for the customary verses quoted at the end (lines 24-30) the inscription is in prose.
The charter records the gift of the village Kalamaḍambisakuna in the Varahavartani vishaya, after making it into an agrahara and exempting it from all taxes, to the Brahmana residents of Anandapura, who belonged to different götras and were well-versed in the Vedängas, by Mahārāja Anantavarman of the Ganga family for the merit of his parents. The grant was issued from Kalinganagara on the eleventh day of the dark half of Jyeshtha of the year 216 in the victorious reign of the king. This date of the grant is written both in words and numerical symbols: but there is some disparity between the two. While it is clearly stated in words as sata-dvaya-shōdasottare, numerical symbol 2 in the hundred's place and 6 in the ten's place alone are written. This appears to be the engraver's mistake. The grant was drafted at the oral order of the king by Gunag-opadhyaya and engraved by Matrichandra.
The royal prasasti set forth in the record under review does not materially differ from that found in the records of Devendravarman, dated in years 183 and 195. One Anantavarman is known from an earlier records discovered in the village of Gurandi near Parlakimidi. This record, dated in
1 Of the two other copper-plate grants found along with the present set, one belonging to Vajrahasta is edited below while the other issued by the Mathara king Anantaáaktivarman has been published above, Vol. XXVIII pp. 177 ff. and Plate. Of the two records published here, A is No. 6 and B No. 7 of A. R. Ep., 1951-52, App. A. Above, Vol. XIII, pp. 212 ff.
[See p. 202, note 1 below.-Ed.]
One Matrichandra figures as the father of the composer of the Siddhantam plates of Devendravarman (above, Vol. XIII, p. 215).
Above, Vol. III, pp. 130 ff.; Vol. XIII, pp. 212 ff. JAHRS, Vol. II, pp. 272 ff.
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