Indian Antiquary Vol 58

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple, Charles E A W Oldham, S Krishnaswami Aiyangar, Devadatta Ramkrishna Bhandarka
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 266

THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY
(FEDRUARY, 2929
there is some reason for the careful Chinese traveller calling the two places by the same name, though different from this one, but well-known in his days. In fact, it is stated that to Oymânâttu Nalliyakkôdan, the hero of the Sirupanirrupa lai, belonged tho region comprising the cities and fortresses of Amur, Velúr, Eyilpattinam, Mavilangai, Kidangil, etc., but Kanchi in the same region does not find mention as such. His time, I take it, is intermediate to those of Tondamân Ilandiraiyan of Kanchi, and the Vishnugopa of Kanchi defeated by the famous Samudragupta.
This would take us to the vexed question of the origin of the Pallavas, and whether they were an indigenous dynasty or a dynasty of foreigners. The study of their monuments at Mahabalipuram makes it quite clear that their civilization at any rate, must have been Brahmanic; their architecture shews clear traces of its indigenous origin. These would support the contention of the Vishnu Purana, 54 that the Pallavas were a race of Kshatriyas, who fell from their high estate by giving up the Vaidic duties enjoined upon them, meaning perhaps that they had become Buddhists. When they come into view in South India, they seem bent upon making amends for their past remissness by an extraordinary amount of zeal for Hinduism. It would seem reasonable to infer that they had as little to do with the Pahlavas or Parthians, as their contemporaries the Châļukyas had to do with the Seleukians of Asia.
Having come so far, it would seem pertinent to ask the question whether these Pallavas, who present themselves to us through the antiquities of Mahabalipuram, are the same as those known in the locality from the earliest times, or whether these were new.comers. That these powerful Pallavas of the dynasty of Narasirihavarman wero Aryans in culture must now seem clear. There is one particular motive in these buildings that strike one as a remarkable feature, and that is the lion-base for the pillars. This, with the maned lion upon their coins, seems to indicate unmistakably that they were the feudatories of the Andhras, who advanced southwards from across the Krishna River, both in the lower and upper part of its course. There seems, therefore, some reason to distinguish between these Pallavas and the Palavas or Kurumbars of the coins, which have for their characteristic device a standing bull. On this subject the following remarks of Professor Rapson seem apposite. "In the same region lived the Kurumbars, a people of considerable importance before the 7th century A.D. Between the coins of these two peoples no accurate discrimination has yet been made. The coins of this region fall into two classes (1) Those which in style bear some resemblance to the coins of the Andhras (e.g., E. CSI. PI. II, 55-58, called Kurumbar; and perhaps also id. I, 31-39 called Pallava or Kurumbar), and may therefore possibly belong to the same period (2nd and 3rd centuries A.D.). The occurrence of the ship as a reverse type testifies to the foreign trade for which the Pallavas were famous. (2) The other class is of gold and silver and undoubtedly later ; but here again there seems to be no evidence from which to determine the exact date. These coins all bear the Pallava emblem, the maned lion, together with Kanarese or Sanskrit inscription.''66
That the Kurumbars were different from the Pallavas, and that the Pallavas were northerners, seems to find an echo in Tamil literature. There are two or three poems, which are ascribed to different authors, who must be allotted, on very substantial evidence, to the first century, or a little later, of the Christian era. Among them a certain chief by name Nannan had for his territory the region called, in Tamil literature, Paļinadu56, round about
* Bk. III, Ch. ill. Wilson's Translation. Original Sokas (15-21). 66 Indian Coins, by E. J. Rapson, Plate V, 16 and p. 37. 66 This is also called in Tamil Konkanam (Konkan).