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No. 43]
319
KALAHANDI PLATES OF ANANTAVARMAN VAJRAHASTA,
GANGA YEAR 383
In the absence of any definite proof, the saggestion of Mr. Sarma can only be regarded as tentative. Though Bhupendra and Rajendra are synonymous, it cannot be held as certain on that ground that they were one and the same person. As noted above, the Chidivalasa plates mention Mārasimha as the second name of Bhūpēndravarman. But nowhere in the inscriptions discovered so far he has been called Rajendra. Again, though it is quite possible that Vajrin was identical with Vajrahasta of the Parlakimedi plates as suggested by Mr. Sarma, it is difficult to agree with his suggestion that he is identical also with Anantavarman of the Alamanda plates. It is equally plausible that Vajrin or Vajrahasta and his son Bhūpēndravarman reigned somewhere between the date of Anantavarman of the Tekkali plates of the Ganga year 358 and that of Anantavarman Vajrahasta of the present record of the Ganga year 383. This will not go against the question of phraseological affinities between the Parlakimedi plates of Vajrahasta and those of the Tekkali plates of Anantavarman (Ganga year 358) or of the present grant. Nothing definite, however, can be said until further evidence comes to our aid. It may be noted that the Nirakarpur plates mention one Dēvēndravarman and his father Bhūpēndravarman. The prasasti portion of the inscription shows similarity to that of the present record as well as of the Chidivalasa plates mentioned above. This would suggest that they were identical with their namesakes of the Chidivalasa plates and the Näpitavitaka grant.
The donor of the Nirakarpur plates was Udayakhēdi, son of Ugrakhëdi and grandson of Dharmakhēdi of the Kadamba family of Kalinga, which owed allegiance to the Ganga rulers. Besides the Nirakarpur plates, the Kadambas are mentioned also in several other inscriptions. The Parlakimedi plates of Vajrahasta mention one Ugrakhēdi who is described as the ornament of the Kadamba dynasty and as born in the family of Nidusanti. This Ugrakhēdi was the governor of an area including a village called Hossandi' which was given to one Rājaputra sriKämadio by Dāraparāja, son of Chola Kämadirāja, in the reign of king Vajrahasta of Kalinga. The Parlakimedi plates are not dated. But, as shown above, the Ganga king Vajrahasta mentioned therein was perhaps identical with Vajrin, father of Bhūpēndravarman and grandfather of AnantaVarman Vajrahasta and his brother Dēvēndravarman. If this is accepted, Ugrakhēdi of the Parlakimedi plates was probably identical with the Kadamba chief of the same name mentioned in the Nirakarpur plates of Dēvēndravarman. Again, the Nirakarpur plates show that Udayskhodi, son of Ugrakhēdi and grandson of Dharmakhēdi, was a contemporary perhaps of Bhūpēndravarman, his son Anantavarman Vajrahasta (of the present grant) and the latter's brother Dēvendravarman.
1 JBRS, Vol. XXXV. Pp. 1 ff. Above, Vol. III, pp. 221 ff.
[The correct reading of tho namo in Hommandi which was wrongly dociphered by Kielhorn. It is given **Homardi in an endorsement on the outer side of Plate III of the grant. Of. JAS, Letters, Vol. XVIII, p. 78, note.-Ed.)
[The correct reading of the name seems to be Kamadi. Apparently the same name is given as Komandi in the endorsement, according to which he received the hamlet of Vapavada (epelt Vapaud ja in the main charter) attached to Hômapdi from Raraka Udayakhodika who was the son and successor of Ugrakhede of the main obarter according to the Nirakarpur plates.-Ed.)
JBRS, Vol. XXXV, pp. 1 ff.
It may be mentioned in this connection that one Dharmakhedi and his father Bhimakhēdi are mentioned in the Santa-Bommali plates (JAHRS, Vol. III, pp. 171 ff.) of the Ganga year 520 and the Mandasa plates (4.R. Ep., 1918, PP. 138 ff. ; JBORS, Vol. XVII, p. 184) of the Saks year 976. A Kadamba chieftain of the name of Dharmakhēdi is also mentioned in the Vizagapatam plates (Ind. Ant., Vol. XVIII, PP. 144 ff.) of Devendravarman, dated in the Ganga yoar 254. The Kambakaya plates (A.R.Ep., 1927-28, App. No. 9; Journ. Bomb. Hist. 800.. Vol. IV, pp. 27-28 ; JAHRS, Vol. X, pp. 916 ff.) of Saka 1103 also refer to the Kadamba chiefs namot Dharmakhodi and Udayaditya. From the widely separated dates of these inscriptions, it is reasonable to hold that, though some of these Kadamba chieftains bear the same names, they are not to be considered as identical because of the identity of their names alone but should be placed in different periods. There is difference of opinion among soholars about the dates of the Mandasa and Kambakaya plates.-Ed.)
