Indian Antiquary Vol 05

Author(s): Jas Burgess
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 64

THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
[FEBRUARY, 1876.
of the side-glances of the queens of the hostile
No. XII. kings who flee away in the battle.
This is a Sanskrit copper-plate inscription Being thus the abiding-places of manifold from Sir W. Elliot's facsimile collection made praise and renown, the fortunate Great Chief over to me by Mr. Burgess; I have no informatain Tailahadeva and the fortunate Great tion as yet as to where the original was found Chieftain king Era ha, baving, on the auspi- or in whose possession it is. The plates, four cious lunar dny that has been written above, in number, are marked with numerals, and, conwashed the feet of the holy royal spiritual pre- trary to the usual custom, the writing commences ceptor Vå masaktid éva, who was the priest on the ontside of the first plate and covers also of the shrine of that god, gave as a grant to be the outside of the fourth plate. The seal conrespected by all and to continue as long as the necting the plates bears the representation of moon and sun and stars might last, some rent. what seems to me to be a dog, but is, in rative free land, together with some miscellaneous opinion, a lion. The characters are the old dues, at Kiru-Balligáve, which was a town Sanskrit, which I know, and have always near to Ill the Jiddulige district, for the great spoken of, as the Cave-alphabet. oblation and for the perpetual lamp of the god The inscription is one of the Pallava dynthe holy Kedireśvaradova. Those, who without asty, and mentions in genealogical order the fail preserve this act of piety, obtain the reward names of four kings,-SkandavarmÀ; his son, of fashioning out of gold and jewels the horns Viravarma ; his son, Skandavarmi; and his son, and hoofs of a thousand tawny-coloured cows Vishnugopavarma. As Vishnugopavarma is at Varanasi and Kurukshetra and other sacred spoken of as the Yuvamahârâja, it is probable places of pilgrimage and bestowing them upon a that Simhavarma, who is referred to as the thousand Brahmans well versed in the Vedas; reigning monarch in the last two lines, was his whosoever destroys this act of piety shall go to elder brother. hell, like one who with his own hand slays those | The age of these kings must be early; but, same Brahmans and those same tawny-coloured beyond stating that the copper-plato was bestowcows at thoso samo sacred places of pilgrimage! ed by Vishņugopavarma in the eleventh year of And by way of witness as to this assertion, the reign of Simhavarma, the inscription contains there is the scripture :-He is born for the du- no information as to its date. As far as we may ration of sixty thousand years as a worm in judge from the forms of the letters used, I would ordure, who confiscates land that has been allot the inscription to the fifth century A.D. given, whether by himself or by another!
But little is known as yet regarding the PalHail! On the fifth day of the bright fortnightla va family, beyond that it was one of the of (the month) Vaisakha of the Parkbhava dynasties that ruled in the Dekkan anterior to sa vatsara, which was the year of the glorious the Châluk yas. At the time of the present Saka 1108, having carefully built the pavilion of inscription Palakkada would seem to have the god the holy Kod â radê va, with the been the capital of the Pallava kings; but it approval of their holy royal spiritual preceptor was from them that the Chalukyas acquired they gave, as a grant to be respected by all and | Kanchi. Some information regarding them to continue as long as the moon and sun might has been given and quoted by Mr. Rice at p. last, one hundred and fifty kammzs of the culti- 156 of vol. II of this journal. To this I have vated land called Haļigutada-keyi, to the south now to add the following. In the old K Adamof the tank called Båvaregere, in the lands of ba copper-plate inscriptions of unknown date Kiru-Balliga ve, to Bisadôja and Båvôja
published by me in Jour. Bomb. Br. R. As. and Singôja.
Soc., Vol. IX (No. XXVII), Mrigésa is And they gave, to be continued as a grant to spoken of as being "a fire of destruction to the be respected by all and including the Tribhôga, Palla vas," and Ravivarma as having the town of Siru vogal, which was a town
conquered the whole earth by slaying Sri near to that same Jidduļige seventy.
Vishụuvarma and other kings." And in
IU Baliya'. "Possibly the Vishnugopavarm of the present
inscription, part of his name being omitted for the sake of the metre.