________________
108
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY
[APRIL, 1911.
If, according to the identification arrived at in the preceding paragraphs, Prabhumēru should be assumed to have borne the name Vijayāditya, he would become the second of that name; for, the first Vijayāditya was the son of Jayanandivarman. Then, the third Vijayaditys would be he, who has hitherto been known as the second ; and the fourth and last Vijayāditya would be the son of Vikramāditya II, alias Bāņavidyādhara.
The last known date of Vijayaditya IV is Saka 831 (A.D. 909).13 In the 9th year of the reign of Parāntaka-Chola I, he vanquished two Bānas and presented their kingdom to the Ganga Prithvipati II.15 This conquest by Parāntaka must have taken place sometime before A.D. 916, the 9th year of his reign. Since the last known date, A.D. 909, for the Bāņa Vijayāditya IV, is so near A.D. 915, he must be one of the two Bāgas deposed by Parāntaka I.
A study of the foregoing table enables us to note that, in the majority of the cases, the names Vijayāditya, Mabávali-Vāņarāya, and Bāņavidyādhara were borne alternately by the Bāņa kings: for example, Nos. 2, 5, 7 and 9 are Vijayādityas, while Nos, 4, 6 and 8 are Bāņavidyadharas. Of the three Banavidyadharas, two are Vikramadityas.
A.-Of the time of Vijayāditya-Mahāvali-Vāņarāya : dated Saka 820. This inscription is engraved on three sides of a stone lying in the yard in front of the Parasurāmēsvara temple. The stone is broken lengthwise on the proper right side, and hence the first few letters of each of the lines are lost; from the context these can be easily supplied. The front of the stone, and the side, are smooth, whereas the back is very rough; consequently, that portion of the inscription that is engraved on the back is partly illegible.
The characters are Tamil, except the Bāņa introduction in Sanskrit giving the name, etc., of the Bāņa king, wbich is written in the Grantha alphabet. Other Sanskrit words occurring in the inscription are also in Grantha : e.g., parasurāmēšvara, prithvirajyam, sandhyā and sabhai. The language of the record is also Tamil.
The inscription mentions first the Bāņa king, Bāņavidyādhara and his wife Marakanimmadigal. Their son Vijayāditya-Mahāvali. Vāņarāyar is next introduced. The record is dated Saka 820, in the reign of this Vijayāditya. Mārakanimmaţigal, the mother of the ruling king, paid to the assembly of Tiruvippiramapēdu a sum of money, from the interest of which they were bound to supply the necessaries for the evening offerings and for burning a perpetual lamp before the god Paraśnrāmesvara.
• The place Tiruvippi ramapēdu, mentioned in the inscription, may be identified with the modern Yerpedu, a station on the Pakala-Gudur section of the Madras Railway. It is about five miles east of Gudimallam, and seems to have included in ancient times the present Gudimallam in which at present the temple is situated.
Text.14 Front of the slab
1. [Sva]sti Sri [11] Saka2. [la-ja]gattray-ā3. [bhivandi]ta-surābu4. [rādbi]śa-Paramēóva5. [ra-pra]ti-hārikriti-Ma6. [haba] li-kul-ötbha
7. [va-sri]-Vänavi. 8. [dyādha]rar Malādevi
9. [ga]lāyina Māraka10. [nim]madiga! magani
12 See note 6, on p. 106, above.
15 s. I.I., Vol. II, pp. 867 to 388.
14 From impressions prepared by me.
