________________
Dec. 6, 1872.]
THE MERKARA PLATES.
361
districts of Salem and Koin batur, with addi- tion of parts of Tinnevelli and Travankor. The boundaries, according to the Tamil authori- ties, are the Palini river on the north, Tenk & s'i in Tinnevelli on the east, Malabar on the west, and the sea on the south.
According to this work, the series of Kongaor Chera princes, amounted to twenty-six from Viraraya Chakravarti to Raja Malladeva, in the time of whose descendants the kingdom was subdued by the Chola Råja, in the year of S'Aliv&han 816 or A. D. 894."
"From the Tanjor sovereigns, Chera passed under the dominion of the Belala Râjas of Maisur, and finally under that of the princes of Vijayanagar, of whom some account is also given in this work."
Professor Dowson gives an abstract from a MS. translation of this Kongades'a Rájákal at the India House, from which the following account of the Chera kings is taken :
1. "Srí Víra Risja Chakravarti was born in the city of Skandapura, and was of the Reddit or Ratta tribe (kulam) and of the Súryvansa (solar race); he obtained the government of the country and ruled with justicu and equity.
2. Govinda Raya, son of Víra Rája, was the next king.
3. Krishna Raya, son of Govinda Raya, ruled
7. Tirus Vikrama Deva Chakravartí I., son of Chaturbhúja Kanara, succeeded, and was installed in A. S'úl. 100 (A.D. 178), at Skandapura. The celebrated Sankaracharya (called in the MSS. Sankara Deva) came to this king and converted him from the Jaina to the Saiva faith. After his conversion he marched into the southern country and conquered the Chola, Pandya, Kerala, and Malayalam countries, after wbich he returned. He made many grants in charity and in encouragement of the learned ; a deed of grant, dated Vaisakha-s'uddh A. Sál. 100,-year of the cycle, Sidharthi (A.D. 178), to Narasinha Bhatt, Guru, of the Bharadwaja gotra, is stated to be in the temple of Sankara Deva, at Skandapura, This king governed the Karnáta as well as the Konga des'a.
8. Kongani Varma Raya succeeded; he was of the Konávar or Konváyan tribe and Ganga-kula, and was installed at Vijaya Skandapura in A. Sal. 111.-year of the cycle, Pramodúta (A.D. 188), and reigned for fifty-one years; he exacted tribute from many rájas whom he conquered, and by his munificence and charity cleared away the sins of his predecessors of the Ganga race;' his title was Srimat Sampati Kongani Varina Dharma Mahadhi Raya.
9. Srimat Mádhava Mahadhi Raya, son of Kongani Varma, succeeded, and was installed in the government of the Konga des'a, at Skandapura ; he was learned in all the sciences and maxims of justice, ruled with equity, and was renowned for his munificence to the learned and the poor.
10. Srimat Hari Varma Mahadhi Raya, son of Madhava Raya, succeeded; he was installed at Skandapura, but resided in the great city of Dalavanpura, in the Karnata desa. He exacted tribute from many different rájas, and was renowned as an eminent hero among all kings; he ruled according to the maxims of polity, and being very wealthy made many grants of land, one of which is recited, viz., a grant of land in Tagatúr, a petta (suburb) of Tálakád to the Brahmans for the worship of Múlasthán Iswara in that place, dated Panguni, A. 841. 210,-year of the cycle, Saumya (A.D. 288).
11. Vishnu Gopa Mahádhi Raya, son of Hari Varma, succeeded, and was installed at Tálakad or Dalavanpura ; he conquered the Púrva-dik (eastern country) and was renowned as a great warrior; he made many grants to Brahmans and to the poor, and being a zealous votary of Vishnu, erected inany temples to that deity ; hence he derived his name of Vishnu Gopa.' The Konga and Karnata des'as were both under his command :' having no children he adopted a lad of his own race, named him Mádlmava, and resigned the crown to him.
next.
4. Kála Vallabha Raya, son of Krishna Raya, was next in succession.
Of these kings nothing more than their equity, justice, and renown is recorded.
5. Govinda Raya, son of Kála Vallabha, was the 5th in succession; he conquered the hostile rajas, exacted tribute from them, and ruled his country with justice and renown. This king made a grant of land to a Jaina Brahman, named Aristánan, for the performance of worship in the Jaina basti (temple) of Kongani Varma, in Vaisakha, A. Sál. 4, --year of the cycle Subhanu (A. D. 82.)
6. Chaturbhúja Kanara Deva Chakravarti succeeded, he was of the same race, but his parentage is not mentioned. He is stated to have had four bands; he was versed in the art of archery and various sciences, and ruled with equity and renown, obtaining the honorary insignia of all the other
rájas.'
A Jaina named Naga Nandi, a learned and venerable man, was minister to the three last named rájas.
* Wilson, Mack. Coll., Vol. I, pp. 198-9.
+ Dowson "on the Chers kingdom of Ancient India," Jour. R. As. Soc., Vol. VIII, pp. 2-6. IA Teluga tribe, see Ellis's Mirasi Right, p. xii.
$ Wilson, Mack. Coll., p. 199, has Kumara dera, and apparently intended for the 7th king. He omits the names of the 12th and 15th in this list, and his series ends with Gunottama Deva.-ED.
The writer of the MS. bas evidently understood the title Chaturbhaja, "four armed," as having a personal and literal reference to this prince; it is however a title of Vishnu, which is frequently assumed by his followers.
Lassen says (Ind. All. II. 1017, note) the word titira preceding this name is Tamul, and is to be regarded as a translation of the Sanskrit Sri.--ED.
