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No. 48-INSCRIPTION FROM HOMBLI
. (1 Plate ) G. 8. GAI, OOTACAMUND
(Received on 10.9.1958) The subjoined inscription was copied by me on the 24th December 1946 at Homblu, a village in the Hangal Taluk of the Dharwar District, Mysore State. The village is situated at a distance of about 10 miles to the north east of Hangal, the headquarters of the Taluk. The inscribed slab is lying in a field called Kāļi Hakkala (Survey No. 19).
The inscription is written in two sections, called here A and B, which are engraved side by side on the same slab and occupy a rectangular space measuring 2'10" by 11.5" with a small gap of 2.5' between them. Bection A is enclosed by three straight lines, only the left side having no such line, while section B is enclosed by such lines on all the four sides. The writing of A covers an area about 1'4.5' by 10" while that of B about 1'2' by 10'. There are only 5 lines of writing in either of the sections, so that the whole inscription is written in 10 lines. A piece of stone has been chipped off from Section B resulting in the loss of a few letters in lines 6-8. But the preservation of the writing on A is quite satisfactory.
As will be seen below, both the sections of the inscription record the death of a hero in a tight and as such the slab may be called a herostone (viragal). But it does not contain any sculptures depicting s fighting scene and the death of the hero, which are usually found on such inscribed slabs.
The characters of the record are Kannada-Teluga of the 8th century A. D. The letters are neatly and deeply engraved. Initial a occurs in lines 1, 7 and 8. No distinction is made between e and e which are found in lines 3 and 5 respectively. Final I is met with in lines 3 and 8 and final n in lines 5 and 10. As regards orthography, it may be observed that the reduplication of a consonant following is found only in some cases
The language of the inscription is Kannada and the text is written in prose. The dative suffix akke in lines 5 and 10, the conjunctive suffix um in lines 2 and 9, and the verbal form eridu in lines 4 and 5 and ēridan in lines 5 and 10 are some of the early features of the Kannada language.
Section A records the death of Badugiltigāmunda of (i.e. son or servant of) Kargámunda after having pierced and won [the fight against Mädamma of Nareyangal when Märakke-arasa was governing Banavāsi Twelve thousand. The object of section B is to record the death of Animēnti, son of [Pri]yamēņti of Kargāmunda in & fight which is apparently the same as referred to in Section A.
The record is not dated nor is the reigning king to whom it should be referred mentioned. But the mention of Märakke-arasa as the governor of Banavasi 12,000 throws some light on the question. Now a record from Naregal, about 2 miles from Hombli, refers itself to the reign of a king named Döra and mentions a certain Mārakka-arasa as governing the Banavāsi 12,000 province, evidently as a feudatory of the king. This Dora has been identified with the Rashtrakūta king Dhruva who was the son of Krishna I and ruled from 780-94 A.D. The characters of this Naregal inscription are exactly similar to those of our record. And the object of that inscription is also to record the death of a pereon named Dommarakādava[m] on the occasion of a cattle-raid.
1 It is noticed in A. R. Ep., 1946-47, App. B, Nog. 221 and 222.
The oxpression menti in Kannada means 'chief or headman'. But it appears to have been affixed to the proper name here. In the case of his father Priyamenti, it may be taken as a proper name or to mean a dear or beloved chief' and, in the latter case, he might be identified with Badugilti-gámunda of Section A.
• Abovo, Vol. VI, pp. 102-03.
• Ibid. p. 163. Floot's statement that he was the successor of Krishna I has to be modified in as much as Govinda II, elder brother of Dhruva, also ruled for a fow years (776-780 A. D.).
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