Later Gangas Mandali Thousand

Author(s): Nagarajaiah Hampa
Publisher: Ankita Pustak

Page 87

44/ The Later Gangas: Mandali-Thousand
Boppanna, a general of the Poysala Biṭṭideva alias Viṣṇuvardhana (1108-52), rose and came in the battle of Halsūr in C.E. 1120. Bammayanāyaka, son of Cambavansi and Būtabbe, the brave servant (a Lenka) of the Mandalinaḍ chief, while his master was looking on at his boldness, fighting courageously attained to the world of gods [Sh. 12. 1120]. It is clear from this charter that a social custom of 'Lenka', dedication of life of a person to the service of his master, prevailed in the Mandalināḍ also, which was more prevalent in the Hoysala kingdom. But this system of 'Lenka' was in vogue from the early tenth century, and the great Kannada author Pampa refers to this custom in his epic Vikramarjuna Vijayam (Canto-7, prose after verse No. 4). There are similar instances recorded in the inscriptions [SII. XI-i. 50. 1005]. Lenka ('a faithful one') is a Dravidian word which can be compared with velevāli and garuḍa system. A lady with the same motif is called a Lenkiti [MAR 1943. No. 33. 1217], as old as of nineth century. When mahāmaṇḍaleśvara Tribhuvanamalla Nanniya Ganga Permmāḍideva was ruling the Mandalināḍ, his chief of the horses Sāhaņi Mārasingha, in the great battle in 1122, slaying the enemy, drove off many by the might of arm, went to the world of gods [Sh. 15. 1122]. This incomplete hero-stone, set up in memory of the deceased Marasingha, does not furnish other details of the 'great battle', such as the cause of the battle and the enemy who attacked the Mandalināḍ.
While mahāmaṇḍaleśvara Nanniya Ganga Permmāḍideva was ruling the Maṇḍalināḍ, a similar incident happened. This time an oilman Bammaṇṇa, son of Bittiyanna (Telliga-Tailika) in the family of the mahā-prabhu Sindagāmunda of Aḍavigova, played a prominant role. When Bittiga alias Bittiyanna had embarked on an expedition to Lokigundi in C.E. 1140., waiting for the opportunity, 'Torahara' Kālaya carried off the cows of the village. On his return from the hostile march, Barmmanna, the son of Bittiyanṇa, slew his head servant, seized his horse, fought the hostile force which had turned back the arrow in the hands of his younger brother Kusa, recovered the cows, and in the process the oilman Barmanna attained the world of gods (Sh. 37. 1140).