Indian Antiquary Vol 62

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

Page 92

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THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY
28,000 feet; if the height of the Taj Mahal to the top of the pinnacle were only 217 feet, it would not exceed the Qutb Minar in height; and it would be more correct to call Pushkalâvati, rather than Peshawar (Purushapura), the ancient capital of Gandhara. C. E. A. W. O. BIBLIOGRAPHIE VÉDIQUE. By Louis RENOU. 10x 7 in.; pp. v +339. Adrien-Maisonneuve, Paris. 1931. Francs 100.
M. Renou's previous works had suggested that he had a special gift for bibliography, and the book under review gives complete proof of this. The term Vedic has been given its fullest extension so as to cover all the Upanisads that matter and, so far as I can see, there are no omissions, at any rate as regards works published in Europe and America. The arrangement under 200 separate headings and the index of authors make it easy to find out what has been written on any point, while attention should also be drawn to the useful index of those Sanskrit words which have been
the subject of special papers. The only mistake I can discover is trivial, namely, that in the index of authors different writers of the same
name are not always kept apart. The book has been produced by photolithography, which enables it to be sold at a relatively low price and for once in a way that much abused word, 'indispensable, may be applied to it without objection; for no Sanskrit scholar can afford not to possess it. E. H. JOHNSTON.
THE KADAMBA KULA, by G. M. MORAES, M.A., with a preface by Kev. H. HERAS, S.J. Pp. xxiv+ 504, with 40 plates and 4 sketch-maps. B. X. Furtado and Sons, Bombay, 1931.
From about 550 to 1200 A.D., the history of Peninsular India is clearly defined by the vicissitudes of the Chalukyan Empire. Of the forerunners of that Empire less is known, and it is to one of these precursor dynasties that Mr. Moraes invites attention. The founder of the Kadamba kingdom was, it appears, a Brahman who had received his education in Conjeeveram, under the Pallavas, and perhaps in c. 345 A.D., revolted against them. He, or one of his successors (it is not quite clear when), established the dynastic capital at Banavasi, an ancient city in N. Kanara district close to the Mysore border. Politically the dynasty appears as an outpost of Gupta in fluence against Pallava aggression. With the decline of the Guptas decay set in, and the Kadambas were finally overthrown by their quondam feuda. tories, the Châlul yas, in about 610 A.D.
For nearly 350 years (not 250 as Mr. Moraes has it) the Kadambas vanished from history: their territory was ruled by others. Then, in about 973, with the overthrow of the Rastrakutas and the revival of Châlukyan supremacy
[APRIL, 1933
in the Western Deccan, a number of feudatory principalities arose claiming to be of Kadamba lineage. This Kadamba tradition survived the fall of the Chalukyas and persisted, rather vaguely till the rise of Vijayanagar.
To piece together the disjointed fragments of Kadamba history requires courage and imagination, and Mr. Moraes is to be congratulated on the results achieved. The subject is important, for, geographically, the Kadambas in their time hold a key position in the struggles for hegemony that have devastated the Deccan since the dawn
of history. Of this aspect Mr. Moraes is fully conscious, and his narrative faithfully registers the political pulsations of S. India. Some of his material is new and includes the texts and translations of 23 hitherto unpublished inscriptions (which unfortunately are not annotated) and a number of facts observed by him in the course of a tour in the Kadamba country. Much of his evidence comes froin the Portuguese territory of Goa, an almost unknown country to earlier
writers, and of vital importance to the proper understanding of Deccan history. His dynastic narrative is supplemented with short chapters other items of "internal history," and as for archion religion, administration, trade, literature and tecture, the Kadambas, he claims, had a style of their own from which the well-known "Châlukyan" style was evolved. His treatment of Kadamba geography is less adequate; the numerous administrative divisions of the Kanarese country, so familiar in the inscriptions, need more detailed
study than they have yet received, and their correlation with the physical features of the terrain has still to be worked out. Appendices on coins and on the adoption by the Kadambas of the lion emblem, complete the survey.
Mr. Moraos' reconstruction of Kadamba history is inevitably to a great extent conjectural, but his inferences are by no means wild. Of special interest is his identification of the puzzling "Triparvata" of the inscriptions, the headquarters of the southern viceroyalty of the Kadambas, with Halêbid, the site of the later capital of the Hoy. salas, a suggestion which has recently been con firmed in greater detail by Father Heras, in the Karnatak Historical Review. Occasionally he trips, as on p. 152, where he cites under Malli-deva (1217-52 A.D.) an inscription dated 1143 A.D. which he has already dealt with in its proper place under Mallikarjuna (1132-46 A.D.) on p. 134. Such a mistake could hardly have occurred if the author had drawn up a table of inscriptions arranged chronologically. Such a list, in a work of this kind, is almost a necessity. Apart from this, the book is a most important contribution to the early history of the Deccan, and its value is enhanced by copious and well-chosen illustrations. F. J. R.