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100
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
[APRIL, 1880.
slightly modified and evidently of later date; foremost of kings." From this, and from the he names them the Eastern Chêra or Pallara inscription being at Båda mi itself, there can be Alphabet, and, at p. 35 of his book, states that no doubt that Vât&pi was originally the it was confined to the old Tondaina du or Western India stronghold of the Palla vas, Pallava kingdom of Conjeveram, and that and that it was from them that the Chaluthe introduction of this alphabet into Ton- kyas wrested it. It is probable that Vatapi daindu is probably to be placed about the was temporarily recovered by the Pallavas fourth century.
from tho Western Chalukyas after the reign of Owing to the peeling off of the surface of the Polikesî II.; and there seems to be an allurook, the greater part of this inscription has been sion to this, in the later Pallava traditions, in entirely destroyed; and it is of course impossible 1. 14 of the copper-plate grant published by to say how far the lines may have extended at Mr. Foulkes at Vol. VIII., p. 273. the sides,-though 11. 3 &c. cannot have extend- | The date is, unfortunately, entirely obliteratod; ed so far as l. 1 may have, owing to natural but this fragment is, of course, of at least earlier obstacles in the stone and to some square sockets date than the earliest Chalukya inscription which, for some reason or other, were cut on at Badami, which is dated Śaka 500 (A.D. each side of the inscription. I give below a 578-9). And this is, in fact, the earliest stonetranscription of what remains; it is too frag- inscription as yet known to exist in these parts. mentary to translate. The fragment is of ex- Lines 7 to 9 contain a few letters of another treme interest as mentioning Badêmi, in 1. 2, inscription of later date. The characters show under its ancient name of Vâ tâpi, and as it to be a chalukya inscription of the speaking, in l. 4, of "the Palla va the sixth or seventh century A. D.
Transcription.
First inscription. ['] ...................................... (sam]vatsarê Atmano
râjya-varsh cha varddhamané trasyödase] ... [']........................ hồna Mahamall[@]na vidvishâm Vatâpir=
atim ........................... [') . . . . . . pa(?)ja . . . . . . . . rishộur=atulam gôtra guņair=åtma ..........
....
..... tayah
kshitibhajâm=agrósarah
PallCavah"]
3333
...1. (P)ha-Vishộur"=a[pi
yah
stambhañ=jaya ...,
...,.... pê(?)r=bbahu-mate
prakhyâta- .........
Second inscription.
.........[Sva]sti Saka-varsha-samvatsara). ...
[..
........ md....
.................
[y......
.....
........na .....
.........
No. LXXIV. This is the grant of Vijayabuddha- varma, of which I have spoken at Vol. V., p. 175. I now give the text from the original plates, which belong to Sir Walter Elliot. They
were obtained for him by 'Baktavatchaliah' from a man named Madhavarao, who found them at. Gunapadeya' in Kondakur' in the Guntûr District. They, therefore, come from the eastern coast of India.
1. There can be no doubt as to the correctness of the letters that I have supplied here. Half of the U is distinctly viaible. And the metre requires llaval to complete the verse.
10 There was possibly here some such name as the
Sirbavishnu or Narusimhavishnu (either of which would Bait the metre) of Mr. Foulkes' grant at Vol. VIII., p. 278, -except that the vowel of the syllable preceding sh(P) ha appears to be not i, and the Anusudra is to a certain extent doubtful.
