JS

UC NHLF

5H6
B M 50b

4^CIE^T HISTORY
OF THE

DEC CAN
BY

C.

TOUVEAU-BUBRETTIL

fijcfor

UnwcrsUv of

of the

'\cf'essor,

Paris,

LUege, Ponclkherry,

utASSl.Ari'.n

iN'io

EM.:i.iJ-ii

KV
\

S\VAM1N^\DHA DIKSHlTAll.

u.a.. u.i.,

Ojjicier d' Acadmie

FiufettHor of Eiiqlixh. I'ofnn'/al Colleye. I'imdicherry.

1>()N'
s

(J

l>

6,

'JL3

'

ryiTRRV;
11.

Dr'MAs

' T

STKfclCl.

II

O K

iH

GIFT OF

Lawrence

(hn

p.

Briggs

tH:\mj HisTO^r

WTUi

SEc:i(

WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR.

FRENCH:

IN
Archologie

du Sud de /7;?Jc' [Annales du Muse Guimet-

Bibliothque

d'Etudes

Tomes

septime.]

TOME

I.

ArcJiiteciure

II.

Avec

Iconographie

hors texte

Librairie Paul Geuthner, 13,

146 pages.

AiitiqitifieSy

and Co.,

vingt-

71 figures et 64 planches

Avec 40

rue Jacob, Paris, 1914.

Pallava

et

hors texte
192 pages.
rue Jacob, Paris, 1914.

TOME

viiii^ft-sixisne

44 planches
Geuthner, 13

figures et

Librairie P.iul
.

IN

ENGLISH

Vo1,

I. With

41, Great Russell Street,

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Probsthain

London, 1916.

Dravidian Archiiecim-e with 35 figures. Edited with Preface

and Notes by S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar, M.A., m.r.a.s.,
:

F.R. Hist. S., Professor of Indian History

University of Madras,

and Archaeology,

Printed

at

the

the Author,

6,

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S. P. C. K.

Press,

Vepery, Madras, 1917.

The Pallavas.

Sold by

Street,

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cherry, 1917 (Price 2 Rupees).

Pallava Antiquities, Vol. II. With 8 plates. Sold by

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Conjeevaram inscription

of

Mahendravarnian

author, Pondicherry, 1919. (Price As. 4).

I.

the

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mmi

HISTORY

OF THE

DECCAN
UY

G.

JOUVEAU-DUBREUIL

Doilor of

l'iii't\'r<if\ of

llic

Pari^,

Professor, Collci^c, Pondulic'ry.

ti;.VN?LATKD

VROM FRENCH
BY

V. S.

SWAMTNADHA DIKSHITAR,

ij.a..

l.t.,

Offi'icr (/'Acadcniie

Professor of

Emjl'ish-^

Colonial

C'olle'jc.

Pondlckerry.

Consul of the United States of AtmphA

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r.

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.MTKOK

c
T)
T
'

ABBREVIATIONS.

Anno Domini

A. D.
A. S. \V^

I.

(After Christ)..

ArchcXoIogic.il Survey

B. C.

Before- Christ.

Ep. Carn.

Epigraphia Carnatica

Ep. Ind.

Ind. Ant.

J.

Western India.

Rice

).

Epigraphia Indica, Calcutta.

Indian Antiquary, Bombav.

B. B. R. A. S. ijournal of the

Bombay

ibranch of the Royal

Asiatic Society.

J.

R. A. S.

Luders's

Rapson.

Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society.

list.

List of inscriptions in

Ep. Ind. Vol. X.

Catalogue of the coins of the Andliia dy-

Western Ksatrapas, etc, in the BriMuseum, by Prof. Rapson, London.

nasty, the
tish

^'^H-^-:

^)

'A'fe.^^.

p K.r...

INTRODUCTION

North and llie South.

From the remotest times, this division has been adopted by the
Indians who have given the name of Dakshina (Dakshinpatha)
or 'The South' to all the Country that extends from the NarlxiIndia

may be divided

into

hvo

parts, the

In this work,

da to the extremity of the peninsula.

use the

doms
a

little

of Chola,

little

to designate

tiie

Chera and Pandva, which have always remained

isolated, shall

Deccan" the

>hall

ancient Dakshnia, but

restriction, thai the three Southernmost king-

word Deccan

with this

we

be excluded.

large tract

of

We

-h.iH therefore

coimtry which

i>

c;)ll

"

bounded un

The
the

north by the Narbad and the Mahanadi, on the east by the

Bav of Bengal, on the wot by the Arabian Sea, on the south

and the Southern Fennar (which reaches

the sea near Cuddalore and which i> the northern boundary

by the

Hill^

Nilgiri

Chola country according to the poetess Auvaiyar).

We have limited our subject in extent let us now proceed
"
^'Ancient History of the Deccan
fix a lime-limit for it.

of the

to

tneans for us

*'

the hislor}- of the

Deccan

in ancient liaicb

Ml3()635

'"

and

words " ancient limes " denotes the 9 centuries extending

from 261 13.0, to about 610 A. D, that is to say, h^om Aska to
In fact, we have no historical document anterior
Pulaksin II,
and so we shall begin our history from the time of
to Asoka

the

about 261 B. C, (the Kalinga war). On the other

hand, from the time of Pulaksin II, about 610 A. D, we have

this king,

number

a large

Deccan

mostly known.

is

documents and the history

of historical

of the

therefore this historic period

It is

between 261 B. C, and 610 A. D, that is denoted by the words,

" Deccan in Ancient times " and that we are going to study in
this

work.

The only book

their subject

is

the

in

which we

"Bombay

lind

some information on

Gazetteer" Vol.

I.

Part

II

1896)

which contains two works "Early History of the Deccan"

by R. G. Bhandarkar and " Dynasties of tlie Kanarese Districts"
This book is well-known and there is no
bv |, Fleet.
it
is
need to praise it here. But to-day it has one defect
twenty-five years old and during this last quarter of a cen:

tury

numerous

Bombay

discoveries

Gazetteer " Vol.

Besides, this

book

the history of the

itself

Deccan

I.

have

Part

does

been

II. is

not

made

not at

contain,

in ancient times.

all

"

and " The

up to date ".

strictly

The

speaking,

portion concer-

ning the ancient times is very succinct, for, in 1896, the numMoreover, the
ber of documents concerning it was small.

Bombav

Presidencv does not by

itself

constitute the

whole

of

the Deccan.

We mav

therefore

say

that

today

the

History

of

the

Deccan is quite a new subject. The student who wishes to

know what was the History of the Deccan between 261 B. C,
and 610 A. D, does not know what books to consult. This history is lost in obscurity. Still it is not the documents that are
wanting; for the dynasty of the Kadambas alone, we have about
We have also plentv of information
thirty copper-plates.

about the Pallavas and the Gangas. Why then is the chronclogy of these dynasties so mysterious ? I thought that what

was wanted most at the present time was to arrange the parts
thought that a complete
and make a whole work of it
and attentive study of all the documents we actually possess
will throw a flood of light on the darkness, bring order out of
chaos and, in short, gi^e birth to, what we have n'jt had uj? to
;

the pre^^ent,

Such

tlie

Ancient Historv of

a studv

i^

very

important,

nine colorions centuries of this

have concernini;

that \vc

civilisation

and

Deccan was not

was known

art of writing

We

times

ancient

was one

period

this

all

ot

The documents

the

of

history

tlic

is

it

Deccan

historical celeliritv.

the epoch of A^oka, the

as

country.

larj:^c

the-

concUide that

enihlc us to

Deccan,

tlir

high

of

that during

shall see

The

at all uncivilised.

a l<^ng time before

it

and the

inscrip-

A^oka were read and understood verv well at that

time.
From a militarv point of view, the Deccan was never
more powerful than at tin.' tune of S itakiu'ni^ who, without
tions of

manv

doubt, succeeded

northern countries and

From

a sculptural

wanquislun^ the

tinier ni

annexing a

of

p.irt

their

the Deccan,

point of view,

kings ot the
territories,

\orth.

like the

was inspired bv the Greek and Roman arts and the marbles of
Amaravati can be compared to the sculptures of Gandliaia.
we consider the moiunnent^, the Deccan is nuich
If now
It we compare the ancient monuments
siiperi(M- to the Xorth.
of Northern and Southein India we lincl that the Xorth is
relativelv poor.

In the

And

monuments

the

very large iminher

is

Kan-

junnar, P'llora, Xsik,

Udayagiri,

of sculptured rocks at
hri etc.

Deccan there

speaking only of the chief of them, which are

the north that will bear comparison witli

in

the grand Chaitya at Krli that

equal

is

dimensions to the

in its

Gothic Cathedrals, or with the monasteries of Ajanta with their

marvellous painting ? There is, it is true, the great Stiipa at

monument is in Bhilsa near Deccan

even be considered a monmnent of the Deccan, since its
Snchi, but this

trade which
as

is

the cause of

all

the

is

If

we

look

at

map we

enjoyed a high degree

that the history of the

fuul

workmen

is

of

one

S'lta-

Writing the history

of

Deccan

the

that

India.

certauitv

of civilisation

of nine glorious centuries,

balus-

histc^ry

oi

the

of India.

mense countrv, almost one half

monimients, we shall have the

history

the

Deccan therefore me.uis writing the

most remarkal^le monuments

.

iiy

king of the Deccan.

to sav, a

may

it

celebrity has been sculptured^

its

evident from an inscription,

karni, that

of

is

in

Deccan is an imIf we examine the

th;jt thi^

and

if

we bear

ancient tune-

we cannot

well worth studying and that

cotmtrv has

is

mind

the history

but conclude
it

in

th.it

this

must coine out of the

almost complete obscurity

which

it

has remained up to the

present day.

This book is up to date as far as the documents available

in India up to the end of 1919 are concerned.

CHAPTER

thr

One
is

the conqnest of

A^ka at

Malinadi
the

K;iHnj7;i

is

in all

Tosal

of
is

1.

A^t)U;i.

in

the

liislorv

A^ka

of

which probahlv took place about

inscription

not astonishing to find an

i>^

This town

Dhauli.

kingdom

Sastri,

it

kari.v kings

well-known events

of the

261 B. C. and

1.

situated

probability the

in

ancient

delta

the

Tosal,

of

the

of

capital

of

according to Mv. Haraprashad

is
It
etymologically identical with Dhaul.

Kalinga;

for,

more astonishing that there is another inscription at

Jaugada (Ganjam District. Madras Presidency), as t'his place
certainlv formed part of the kingdom of Kalinga (concerning
not

Vol V, pp. 82-102; see also

Arch. Surv. Southern India. Amarvat, by Burgess, pp. 114-2S).
The discovery of an inscription at Sopr (Thn District,
the

Kalinga

Bombay

edicts, see Ind. Ant.,

Presidency) near

Bombay, has proved

that the north*

west of the Deccan as well as the north-east where Kalinga is

But the
situated has been under the di)mination of A^oka.
discoverv. in 1802, of the inscriptions of Ai^oka near Siddapura,
in

Mysore, which have immortalised

the

name

has caused ven- great surprise. They did not,

that the empire of Ab^ka extended up to the
part of the Deccan.

One

of
in

Mr. Rice,
fact,

think

southernmost

very important point in the history of

India was thus well established. So, the discovery, (see Hydera.
bad Archa^logical Series No O only a few vears ago, of an

^ to

Mski (Lingsugm- Taluq, Raichur

State of Hyderabad has caused no surprise.

n^Tptoii

District) in the

rtl

The Siddpura

(near

edicts

Bra^^magiri, in

Ep. Carn. Vol. XI, MK, 21, 14, 34,

and Coorg from inscriptions by Mr. Rice, page
tahik;

see

Fleet,

J.

R. A.

1903, page 829 and

S., for

|.

R. A.

Molakhnuru
and Mysore
1 1

see also
for 1904,

S.,

pages 1 and 355) present certain peculiarities which have been

pointed out by Biihler and especially "the particular uncouth

form of "ma" with

its

abnormally large upper limbs" (which re

occurs in the inscriptions on the crystal prism from the Bhattiprlu stpa, Ep. Ind. Vol.

One

important.

III.

page 135).

the

who came from

people of those distant

the

inscriptions that were written in a language

almost

unknown

to them.

We may

also

little

the

where

countries,

were published, understood very

edicts

details are very

indeed led to believe that the edicts were

is

engraved by the emissaries of A^ka

north, but that

These

of

those

and an alphabet

suppose that

at

the

time of A^ka the people of Mysore were almost savages.

On the contrary, the Siddpura inscriptions prove that South

had

India

'special

"Drvid " and that the art

ries before

A^ka,

of the South has

for,

which Biihler has called

of writing was known manv centu-

alphabet

century

in the III

had time

to

vary

B.C.

from that

the
of

alphabet

the

North-

Besides, the special alphabet used in the Siddpura inscriptions

proves that the edicts of Aska were engraved by some

erners

who must

therefore have understood the

A^ka and attained

as

high a

degree

of

South-

language of

civilisation as the

northerners.
It is

almost certain that Aska led only one expedition,

But how did the rest of the Deccan come

under his domination ? It is to be supposed that, at the accession of Aska, the whole of the Deccan except Kalinga was

that to Kalinga.

There are also, in

Mysore, certain legends about the Mauryan king Chandragupta
(see "Mysore and Coorg from inscriptions" by Mr. Rice).
We
may also suppose that the rest of the Deccan quietly submitBe it as it may,
ted on hearing of the conquest of Kalinga.
certain that the whole of the Deccan was under the
it is
suzerainty of A^ka and that, consequently, the political
"unity of India was -a fait accovipli, twenty-two centurie? ago.
already in the possession of the Mauryas.

-^

2. Kiibcr.i oi

In

tlic

Museum

year

11

1<S92,

Bhattiprolu.

Mr, A. Rca

deposited

six large stones of the caskets

dome

in the centre of tlie

tahik,

Guntr

CO.,

18th

District)

that he

of ihe stpa at

near

the

Xa

mouth

Madras

the

in

liad

discovered

Bhattiprohi (Repallc
of

tlie

Krishna (see

The>e in>criptions were

written in an alphabet which Buhler (page 39 of the Appendix of
Ind. Ant. Vol. XXXIII) considers to be very old: "immediately
after Aska or about B. C. 200" (see J. K. A. S., 1892, p. 602.

"A new
One of

June

1892,

variety of the Southern

these

inscriptions

"that "at that time,

Ep. Ind. Vol.

Maurya Alphabet by G.

(Xo.

1338 of Liiders's

Kubiraka (Kuberaka) was king"

11, p.

Biihlcr").

List)

(see

says

Buhler,

323).

We

not

423).

know nothing more about this king Kubera; we do

know the name of the dynasty to which he belonged and

the extent of his

kingdom.

12

Khaiiuchi

3.

The Udayagiri

hill

is

ot Kali";ci.

situated

nineteen

miles

The Jains have cut many caves

Htigumph contains a famous

Cuttack in Orissa.

south

of

One

there.

inscription
them called
which has been decently copied and studied only in 1917
(See Journal of the Bihar and Orissa Research Society, Vol. Ill,
December 1917, pp. 425-507)
of

This inscription dated the 165th year of "rja-muriyakle"

which corresponds

year of the reign of Khravla,

to the 13tli

king of Kalinga, gives us very valuable information about the

reign of

this

He

king.

belongs to the Cheta dynasty;

he

vanquihed Stakarni and forced Bahapati, king of Rjagriha

Besides, the inscriptions in the Manchato flee to Mathur.
puri cave (see Ep. Ind. Vol. XIII, p. 159, No. 13) mention
(insc.

of

No.

I)

the chief queen of Khravela

King Llka, the grandson

Hastisha (insc. No.

and

Kdpasiri

Kalinga

king of

of

who was the daughter

(insc.

No.

the

Ill)

the

II),

prince

Valukha.

The

date 165

will

be of very great value

we have

however probable
Chandragupta and

to remain

in that

content with a supposition;

era dates

that this

we knew

employed; unfor-

exactly the origin of the era that has been

tunately

if

case the

it

is

from the coronation of

year 165 will

correspond

to 157 B.C.

The reading and

tion as

open

given

to

the translation

of the

by Messrs. R. D. Banerji and K. P. Jayaswal,

some

criticism;

Mr,

R. C.

Majumdar

Vol. XLII, Aug. 1918, pp. 223 and 224)

of these conclusions

Chanda

in

J.

Khravla inscrip-

R. A.

(see
S.,

also:

July

has contested

''Khravla"
1919,

(Ind.

page

by
395).

is

Ant.

many

Ramprasd
However^

Mr. Vincent A. Smith (J. R. A. S. for 1918, page 543, "New

light on Ancient India") has admitted that king Bahapati can
be identified with Pushyamitra and with Bahasatimitra of
the

coins and

inscriptions,

and he

places

the

epoch

of

Pushyamitra in about 160 B. C.

The synchronism of Stakarni and Khravla with Pushyamitra is enough, by itself, to establish approximately the
date of the au'-ienl kings ul the Deccan,

13

No.

There
as

is

here

a
uf

carlicbl S.it.ivah.in.i kings.

Nanagliat.

ol

chamber
shelter

cut

lor

in

Xnghat

to the

1112

of

cast

The

explanatory legends
of

Liiders's

list).

personiiges.

Bombay.

of

Liiders's

These

list

some

in

Ep. Ind.

bas-reliefs

bas-reliefs

(Xos. 1113, 1114, 1115, 1116,

From

ddilc

walls of this cave

Vol. X) and further there are remnants of

representing certain

is

lOek to serve piobal>ly

the

travellers.

(Xo.

inscriptions

mountains

in the

pass)

place

contain

The

Sal.'ikaini

1.

Nana

(the

4.

contain

1117, 1118

these inscriptions Biihler (A.

S.

W.

drawn the following conclusions: Satak.irni, king of Dakshinapatha and son of Simukaof the Stavhana
dynasty gained many victories and performed the horse-siicriiice
(Asvamedha) twice. After his death, his wife Xganik daugthcr
1.,

\'ol.

V,

66) has

p.

of Mahrathi [Trajnakayiro [Kala] lya, the scion of the Angira

was proclaimed regent during the minority of the princes^

the elder called Vediri and the younger Sakti-Sri (Sati-Srimat)
Here we have to note that an inscription at
or Haku-Sri.
Nsik (Xo. 1141 of Liiders's Vi^X) mentions the granddaughter
As prince Hakusri
of Mahahakusri (Ep. Ind. Vol. VI II, p. 91).
was but a child at the time when the Xnght inscriptions
were written and his granddaughter was an elderly woman
at the time of the Xsik inscription (her son Kapananaka wa>
family,

two Haku-Srib may be

dentitied with each other by .suppo.sing that there was an
The
interval of about a century between the two inscriptions.
p;;Uuogr<iphy of the inscriptions seems in fact to indicate nearly

probably a

man

at

this

time)

the

inscription^

the

this dilference in age.

The alphabet
seems almost
ravela

to

of

ui

the

X;uKight

eave

belong to the same epoch a> that of the Kh-

inscription';

and

possibility of identifying

all

the

authors

Satakafiii of

have admitted the

Xnght with the one

incutiunecl in the Khravela iubcription,

Xo.

which seems

cave
of

Kribhna

2.

excavations

(No. 1144
tells

us

Nsik

in

family.

of

ul

to

14

Xasik.

In

be

that are

Luders's

the

most ancient

found
list

Xasik

in this

and Ep.

there

is

of

this

An

place.

Ind.

all

Vol.

small

group

inscription

VIII.

p.

93)

was caused to be made by an inhaliiantof

the time of Rjan Knha (Krishna) of tlie Sadavhana

that

it

The

alphabet

of

uiscription

this

is

analogous to

and Udayagiri inscriptions.

We must mention here that according to the Purn:is
the dynasty of the Andhras (Satavahanas) was founded by a
king name Sisuka, who had as his successors his brother
Krishna and a third king called Stakarni. The name Sisuka
is possibly a modified form of the name
Simuka that we find
in Xnght, that his brother Krishna was he of Nsik and
that Stakarni was the one of Nnght.
that of IhelNangat

No.

3.

Stakarni of Snchi.

The grand Stpa

at

Sfichi

which dates from Asoka has been restored and embellished at

different times.
The most interesting part of it is undoubtedly
the balustrade which has four magnificently ornamented gateways.T he oldest of them (Archaeological Survey of India; Report for 1913-1914, page 6) is the one in the south.
It is also
the only one that contains an inscription in which the name of
a king is mentioned and this name, strange to say, is Stakarni.
This inscription says,

in fact, that

an image

tor of the great king

Unfortunately, this

Hak'H'ni.

is

due to

the sculp-

been borne by a great number of Stavhana kings.

name has

We

are

however glad to have the certainty thai this dynasty extended its
empire up to Bhils, namely the antique Vidisa, and that it was
precisely under this dynasty that one of the most celebrated

monuments

was sculptured.
The inscription has been
fac -simile in Cunningham's "Bhils Topes''

of India

reproduced only

in

where it figures as No. 190. Buiiler has formed the following

Judgment (Ep. Ind. Vol. II. p. 88) on the characters of the
inscription:

Nnaght

"they

are

inscriptions,

vf the cliaracters of

almost

and

identical

difer

Aioka time%"

with

those

of

the

only slightly from the type

.

l=i

There

Stakarni with

tlic

mnch

inscription are

this Stakarni witli

of

tho-^e

We

archaic.

tliat

also identify

cannot

Nn^ht

or

reicned

of

kin.ij

characters of oni

IMava.airi

the

Stakarni

did

thou.i^h thi-

rt'ii^p.

thi^

at

at Hhil'^ri

Srchi

ins-

i^

It

which wa^ nndcr tite Manrvas pa^-^ed

H was the capital ot
into the hands of the Sunt^a^.

probable that
directly

{no

then,

The

from Sanchl.

this

idcnlityini;

(t

Gautainipufra

was Pushvamitra

it

When.

time.

far

M'lestion

ik

kiii^

later

probablv reigned not

criptions, for

W-

tht-ivlore

c:in

Hhils,

We

the viceroy Aj^nimitra.

are sure (Archa?o!o(:jical Survey of

1908-1909.

India Report for

pa.cje

127) that

putra-Bhgabhadra was the kina of

later

on

Kntsi-

and

(Bhils)

Vidi^a

contemporary of Antialkidas. If the Resnacjar inscriptions,

to which we alhide, mean by Ksipntra Rhacjabhadra the 9ih
Suncja kinj:^, there is no doubt tiiat Rhils remained in the
possession of this dvnastv till the 10th k'm^, Devabhmi, the
successor of Rhqavata ^Rh.ijabhadra) was murdered by
\'asudva Kiiva,

Stavhana helped Vasudcva

in his usurpation and so appropriated the countiv of Rhls
72 R. C. Resides,
to himself.
It must have taken place about
it is
very probable that the akas invaded northern India
It is

in the

not impossible

middle of the

that

century before our era:

1st

conquest

that this c^reat

took

place

about

it

is

possible

?8. R. C; at

this

epoch the Stavhanas would have been driven not only

from Rhils but also out of Maharashtra. There is therefore
room to think that the Stakarni who is mentioned on the
Snchi i^ateway
or in round

reiji^ned at

figures

alphabet of the

inscription

ancient

72R.C. and 58

70 to 60 R. C.

from

accord with each other to

The most

Rhils between

and the

style

of

think

R. C.

that

ths

the sculpturee

justify this date.

conis

of

the

dynasty

of

Stavhanas

have been found in western India and are of the tvpe that
Mr. Rapson calls Mlw fabric and which he thinks is "connected

with the early east and punch-marked coins of Eran" (see

Rapson: "coins of Andhra dynasty" pa^^e 1, N'os. 1 and 2).

These coins represent an elephant and a river a' id bear the
inscription
at

"Sri

W^e mav think that this hint; rei/ijned

verv close to that of Stakarni of Sich.

Sata"

an epoch which

i<?

16

CHAPTER

The Sara

To
B. C.

of the History of the Deccax

Pkrioij

v;

II,

TIk- K'^huluinitas.

understand ihe historv of the Deccaii

and ihe

in tlie 1st

century

hvo centuries A. D,, we must know the

history of the whole of India at this epoch; bul that history
first

is

very uncertain even today;

theory upon

our readers but

our persona] opinion on

In the

II

intend

only

to

forth

set

this subject.

century B. C. the Saka tribe that came from the

north entered into Northern

intimately connected

India;

another

with

had close relationship with

names

and we do not wish to force

Persia.

from
tribe,

In

the

the

were

time they

that

Parthians,

history of

and

India,

Pahlavas and Yavanas are mentioned

simultaneously and denote those foreigners that came from
the north-western frontier. It is probably about 100 B. C.
the

of

Sakas,

one of these princes reigned at Taxila under the name

of Maues.
Later on, about 60 B. C, Azes. I ascended the
throne. This king probably had a long and glorious reign.
It was perhaps in his time that the Parthians and the Sakas
conquered almost the whole of northern India and a portion
of the Deccan. When the Indo-Parthian kings Azes I, Azilises,
Azes II, Gondopharnes were reigning over the Pan jab, the
rest of the empire was governed by more or less independent
that

princes

who

bore the

title

of Kshatrpas

In the province surrounding the

and

Gulf of

^fahkshatrapaa.

Cambav

(SiirashtrS,

Ujjriin,

ApairmUi)

pna) thai

over

ivi.unc-d

Sniashtia,

Cambay

who

reigned

to the

Mathur;

of

Ma

Naha-

(P>linniaka,

Northern Deccan) belonged

same family a*^ the Sakas (Rajuvnla, Sodsa)

In fact,
family was that of the Kshahartas.
tions 'av that the Sakas

reiijned at

countiy ronnd the (inU' of

tlu-

and

l'ijain

Hagna, Hag-

K ilni

The Saka^

were

.vho

kiii;45

callt-d

and

Rjuviila, Sodsa. Kharahnstes

thiir in the vallev of the Ganiir-,

(in

S:il;a

and Xaliapna. Tlie Sakas

culled Blnnii;ik:i

masha.

iho

reigncil

llieiv

this

the Nsik inscrip-

Xortlu rn Deccan belon-

in

ged to the dynasty of the Kshahartas and, thry have discovered

in 1910-1911 at Ganshr (3 miles west of Mathnr, in mound

Xo. 2 (See
inscription

].

R. A.

(fig.

11,

year

S.,

plate 11)

1912,

122) a

p.

fragment of an

which contains clearly the word

"Kshahaitasa".

who

Professor Rapson,

name Rhumaka on

discovered

'Megends leave

"Xahapana"
CX'III).

iio

loom

for

(Rapson,

doubting

C(^ins

These coins b?ar

(^f

capital

bronze

ci)ins of

of thf coin

Hhumaka preceded

Andhia dynasty, page

and Dharmachakra." "The

"coins of Bhiimaka seem to supplv an important

"the

the

either "the arrow, discus

as insignia,

and thunderbolt" or "the Lion

the natuie
that

the

of

of

"considerations of

the coins, has written:

"the type and fabric of the coins, and

existence

the

Xahapna and those

link

between

conjointly

struck

"bv the Pahlava Spalirisesand the Saka Azes" (J. R. A. S. for

The insignia 'Discus, Bow and Arrow' con1904, p. 372).
"It may be compared (Rapnect these coins with those of Azes
son, page CVII) with the rev. tvpe "Discus, Bow and Arrow" of
I :

certain

Azes

copper coins

(IVicv Gardner,

P>.

XXII.. 4; C. Xehr, 1890.

by

conjointly

struck

M.

cat.,

I >1.

VII, 13).

Spalirisez

Greek and Scythic kings,

On

and
PI.

the other hand, the

and Dharmachakra were those of the

Kshahmlas of Mathnr; and in particular the Lion pillar
\\\*
know that the Pahlava
of Mathnr ;> well known.
Spalirises and the Saka Azes were kmgs of Arachosia and
insignia

Lion capital

Sistn.

Azes

reigned

in

impossible that he founded

58 B. C. "
"of the

lirst

he (Azes

I)

the
tiie

Panjab and it would not be

Vikrama era which begins in

was reigning

century B. C, wliile the

in

the third

(]uartt r

ma\
suggested by the abundance ii
probability

that he

"have founded an era is als<i

"his coins, which denote his pre-eminence among the Saka2

''Pahava soVreians"

date

of

page

177'' The

H. Marshall). We mav therefore

Bhniaka pipproximately in the second

Kanishka" by

place the reign of

quarter of the

R. A. S. for 1914,

].

J.

century B. C. (50 to 25 B. C.)

The coins bearing the name "Na]iapna"that were rare at one
time have become abundant since the d scovcrv of a treasure confirst

taining 13250 coins at Joahaltembhi, near Xsik (see

B. B. R.
J.
A. S. Vol. XXI b Art. XVb page 223). This discovery has made

a complete study of

possible.

it

mnst

It

he noted that this

first

coinage extends over a very long period of time.

It is

ble to give the exact

certainly verv

number

we may observe

large.

In

tion"

in the style of the coins.

fact,

of years but

it

is

not possi-

very clearly a certain

"evolu-

Ff)r instance, these coins

con-

two legends one in Greek and the other in Kharoshthi,

but these two writings evolve inversely: when the legend in
Kharoshthi is very legible, that in Greek is debased, and on
the coins in which the Kharoshthi legend is debased the Greek
tain

legend

Such an evolution can be produced onlv

is visible.

during a very

number

large

the lapse of time, Kharoshthi

the coinage

Here

of

India,

(see

of

We know

years.

disappeared,
J.

R. A. S.

little

by

for 1904,

have to make another important remark.

that with

little,

from

page

373.)

These coins

bear an effigy

which surely is not that of a single individual,

since the nose is sometimes aquiline and sometimes straight.
Further, the most ancient coins represent sometimes a voung
man, and sometimes an old man, as is the case also with
the

less

out

that they

in

ancient

portraits,

Rev. H. R. Scott has

an extraordinary diversifv,

exhibit

apparent age but

have been

"The

coins.

also

in features.

the true

in

single individual" (Rapson, page

we
It is

in

sense

CX).

draw from these remarks

to

possible that

succession.

pointed
not

They cannot
of the word

What

onlv

possibly
of.

any

conclusions are

We

cannot say it exactly.

kings called **Nahapna" have reigned
?

many
But we may

also

explain

extraordinary

suppose that there were

only one or two Nahapanas, but that, after them, thev have
continued to use their coinage for a long time. The latter
hypothesis

will

the

diversity

in

the

most ancient coins bear the image of the Nahapna

that reigned at this epoch and the less ancientries contain
the image of some tigure made to varv according 'to the fancv

effigies

the

_
coiner.

ul' llic

The

coins struck

in llu- n.ini

tliosc of Uin.i4 Rfijuvuhi

of Xah.ipan.i lc^cmble

the phuc

(sec

V>\}). This

R. A. S. tor

j.

10

page 630

llic

Rajuvul.i both belong to ihc K^haharta dvnasty. Hut there

i-pigraphical detail winch proves well the relationship

between

exists

tile

coinages

we

shall

be

Thoina.

(].

K. A.

Ivouian,

found

-)niy

(it

on Saka-Pahlava coins)'

The coins

("Early

has written

Mr.

of

think tins

that

it

Xahapana contain

of

Mr. Vincent

is

the

A. Sniitli

page

Edition,

3rd.

India,"

of

IIi>tory

"

letter

opinion

no accident

and "arrow".

'

this

note):

is

R. A.

(J.

name

the

lie.uing

"lluiiuleibolt

m-ignia

Aramaic

ImiI

"

of

the

pa-e 1013,

10]3,

S..

here

giving

with

content

be not

to

Concerning the origin

page 1013).

tiiat

two br.mches of this very

letter H tound on a coin of

l'M,\

an

's

of the

ih
Kshahavata dynasty: "
Kharaho-tc'^ and on some of tho^e of Xahapana
S.,

ot

Xahapana and

as

n.iiural

i.iiiitc

i->

facing

much

"The arrow and thunderbolt of Xahapna's coins connect

Inm will) the l*arthians and the Xorthern Satraps Hagna

218):

and Hagnisha

And Xaiiapana
1906.

name

I.,

(J.

page 195)".
for

S.

1\. .A.

Xahapana

n.im.-d

is

found mentioned

on the rock-cut excavations

Tluse
Ivaili.Xasik and junnar.

inscriptions engraved

Mahrslitra,

say

inscriptions

at

vi/.

.i

ik

Usiiavadta (Rishabadatla)
-uni

1134

of

daugllier

the

that

Dakshamitia. married

1132

M., Vol.

1.

good old Per>ian

ICshaliarta king

in sever.il
in

is

in

:il, Xo. 17.)

p.

coins

(see Cat.

(Kp. ind.

son

iAiders's

of

Xahapana named
Vol. VIM. p. 85) called
of

(inscriptions Nos.

Dinika

and her
Buddiusl monks and

This

list.)

princess

made numerous gifts to tii'

manv roc-cut mcMiasteries dug for their,. Some of
iiad
Pokhara (Ajmer) and at Ujni
tliese giants were made at
which proves that the dominion of Xahapana
(Ujjain)

iuislxmd

extended over an immense empire comprising Gu/.arat (Kutch,

Siirsitra,
all

etc.),

put

northwestern

tile

We mav
beauty of
reign of

ments

often

of
part

estimate

monuments.
Xahapana was very
tiieir

constructed

(.luring

Malwa

Rjpulna,

Deccan

of

tlie

tlie

greatness ol

It is

hh

Maiirshtra),

empires

therefore probable

glorious,

reign

as

some

are

and

(Ujjain)

iiy

the

tliat

the

of the

among

monu-

the

most

 20
One

splendid in India,

rock

in the

at

of these

immense nave

the

Karli,

Buddhist temple cut

the

is

grandeur that of the Gothic churches.

the

monuments containing

Junnar, Karli, Xsik

sembles

much

are

of

that

the

the

It

is

inscriptions

Xahapana

of

at

.^ame style. This style re-

the

in

all

winch equals in
noteworthy that

of

balustrade

grand

the

of

stiipa at

We

have already said that this balustrade was probably begun between 70 B. C. and 60 B. C.
It must certainly

Sichi.

have taken a

shows

sculptures

the

chronologically

Northern,

long time to build,

sufficiently

gateways may be arranged

folowing order: (1) Southern, (2)
Western, (Archaeological Survey of

Eastern (4)

(3)

India; Report for

the style of

the

that

the

in

for,

page

1913-14,

9.)

It

therefore probable

is

most of the sculptures of Sichi date from 50. B. C. to

A. D. and that the monuments containing the inscriptions
Nahapana have been sculptured shortly before the beginning

that
i.

of
of

our

era.

Many
(No. 1133

'junnar an inscription
a

grant

us the date 46.

Nsik

42

and 45. At

(No. 1174 of Luders's

list)

that records

years

the

list)

Ayama (Aryaman),

of

at

41,

Luders's

of

we have

dated;

of these inscriptions are

minister

reign of 46 years

is

Nahapana, give

of

rare;

we may

therefore

suppose that these 46 years are not counted from the year of
the coronation of Nahapana but from the beginning of a
particular

This

era.

supposition

seems

to

be

confirmed

by some other documents. We know that the satraps of

Mathur belonged to the dynasty of Kshahartas and that
one of them Rjvula (Ranjubula) struck coins similar
to those of Nahapana, and we may suppose that they were

The son

contemporaries.

has

left

an

no doubt. Here
era,

for,

it

it is

is

this

Rcjvula

named S

>dsa

Mathuni (No. 59 of Liiders's list)

[Amohini record]. Here there can be

inscription

dated in the year 72

of

in

(juestion of

the

year

72

of a particular

improbable that Sodsa reigned

Moreover, Mr. Devadatla

72

Ramkrishna Bhandarkar has

years.
alfir-

mea (page 275, Vol. XX of Vol. XX of the Journal of t!ie

Bombay branch of the Royal Asiatic Society) "I maintain
that

on

similar

palaeographic grounds

Xahapana must be

supposed to be prior to Sdsa" and we find a complete

justification ot this

opinion

in

his

paper (*A Kushan

stone

Thus

inscription').

which

Xahapna

of

than

archaic

of Kshdiartas

Nahapana resembles

it

is

their

be

uf

thai

from the
generaUy .idmitted
is
It
liom
dated
is
Sodsa
5N

in

C.

B.

Socja.si,

tiiat

inscrijitions

be<nns

of

fatiier

Xahapana and Sodasa dated

same era. What can this era

suppose

to

tauiily

122) and the coina^jc

\\

Kajnvula,

ot

same

the

to

heh)nii

V)\2

R. A. S. lor

(J.

of

natural

M. 42, 45. 4f), aiv mon;

oi Si>dasa which is dated in

two prince-

the year 72. As these

that the inscriplioiis

dated

arc

iiisciiplion

the

provo

Pciheoj^rapliy

now

Vikrama

the

then,

If,

inscription

the

dial

X'ikrama

die

which
wa> no

era
era

other than the Kshaharata era, the mscrii^ions of Xahapfsna

the years 17. 10, 13
at Xasik and Junar will be dated in

and

12.

The>e dates perfecdy

We have
by arclueology.

ai;ree

Xahapana

and

11

furnished

C.

monuments

the
fhat

of

i^rand Stiipa

of the

Sanchi.

at

facts

of

;.rt

re>cinb'e

Xa-^ik

now

be noted

must

It

the
d;e

dial

s.iid

Karli

.it

with

Xahapana diiters nuicli

The discovc-iy ot liie
from the art of the epocii of Kanishka.
casket in which Kanishka locked up the relies of Huddha ha^
proved, th.it in the time of Kanishka, Buddha w.is represented
with the head adorned with .ni aureole and the body dressed

that the

monuments

the

of

art

It
robe with long folds.
often represented at Amaravati.

is

in a

monuments

of

Il

thus

We

will

be

nothin.u like

of

the

th.it

very

is

in

il

-ive

to

lon|^

t<io

evolution

Buddha

th.it

see

ourselves with saying

content

shall

I.

the

of

history

detailed

Nahapn.

of

the

here

Hindu .in; we
we can approxiornamentake up this

mately determine the age of the sculptures from the

tation

and the

We

style.

we have

question again, since

at

greut

de

length

l'Inde"

tours

that

in Vol.

A'^l.
I

photographs

of

in

the

the

useless to

is

it

already developed

of our

In the

Deccan

principal

theory

this

work, ".\rch.xologie du Sud

.\ichitecture.

1,

made

think

course of a series of

m 1<M0-n.I

monuments

in

collected

region

lliis

and Xasik. lllustnitions

cSj
11,
intended to support the theory developed in chapters
to IX.
(pages 15 to 49) of the book will be found in plates
That theorv is the following: there is a difference between

and

particularly

those

of

Kfirli

the

monuments

that

are

Uiobc that are posterior to

anterior
it.

to

the

and
Xahapana

Christian era

The monuments

uf

 12
at

Nasik and Karli are

and

Snchi

are

anterior

ifamily

to Jesus-Ciirist.

epoch

the sculptures of the

same

tht

oi

of Kanishka,

sUipa

as

the

On

the contrary,

those

the

of

at

tope

and of
Yajiia Sri at Kanhri are posterior to Jesus-Christ and are
by a very particukir kind of ornamc illation.
characterised
In short, the coina^"e, palography and the style of the

at

Ainarvati,

monuments

the caves

Gautamiputra

of

prove, that, at the beginning of the

Gulf of

there reigned on the shores of the

more princes bearing

who had Ushavadta

41, 42, 45

Xasik

at

and 46

the

name

of

an

unknown

or

A Xahapna

reigned

era.

cia

Cambay one

Nahapna.

for his son-in-law

of

Christian

in

the years

There reigned

in

Mathur some princes of the same dynasty of Kshahartas.

These princes were: Hagna, Hagmsha, Rj uvula, Sodsa
If it is
Kharahostes and Kalni, and they used a special era.
admitted that it is the Vikrama era (58 B. C.) we lind that
Sodas reigned in 14 or 15 A. D. which well coincides with
the information furnished by archtieoiogy (it is the opinion
of the Director-general of Archccology, Mr. J. H. Marshall,
page 986). The coins show that
Nahapna was very nearly the contemporary of Hagna and
Hagmsha and so it will be a little before the beginning of

see

R. A. S.

J.

for

1914,

the Christian era. This

that the inscriptions of

is

in perfect

Nahapna

accord with the supposition

are dated

from the Vikrama

However, "the question has not been settled" (Vincent

A. Smith, the Oxford History of India, 1919, page 153,
era.

footnote

1).

Who

succeeded

Nahapna

or

the

Nahapnasi'

20 A. D., Gondopharnes,

probable that about the year

became master

It

is

king

empire that extended

all over the west of India; he conquered Arachosia, Sind and
the country near the mouth ot the Indus; the successors of
Nahapna were probably simple governors of provinces.

of the Panjb,

On

the

death

of

Gondophares

out into petty principalities.

of his

of a great

empire was parcelled

Panjb fell into the hands
this

The

nephew Abdagases; Arachosia and Sind passed under

the rule of Orthagnes

cerning Orthagnes,

who was

see

followed

Gardner,

page

109,

concerning Pacores, see gardner, page 110,

The

by

''Peiiplub of the Erythraean Sea"

PI.

Pakors [conPI. XXIIl, 9;

XXIII, 8]

gives a description

 23
ot this region nt

been detcrmiiird recently

1918,

The

106).

p;i!4L'

and died
the anonvnious aiithoiin

67 A.

I),

the Year 70 A.

of

governed, however, bv

among

strife

Periphis

VI

went on

page

who

(IVriplus,

applies

This description

138).

Sind

The

Gondophares.

after

is

perpetually

are

other"

each

the

of

"which

called Skythia

e.xpelling

about

n.ivels

hi^

description

gives

prince^,

P.irlhian

II,

therefore probable that

is

It

Pci-i|iUis

tlieinselves

Vol.

Ant.

Ind.

A. D.

in 71

Tlie

1).

who hwd

Periphis mentions Maiicli.is

Lower Indus, which he

vallev of the

at

The date of this work has

by Mr. J. Kennedv (]. ]\. A. S. for

\va^ at that rime-.

it

perfectly

well to the state of

Periplus

mentions two princes of the northern part ot the

the king of Baryga/.a (Bharnkacha= Broach) whose

Deccan

name ends
108 and

in

(Kennedy,

'hares"

J.

"Xambanos-Nahapna

113

king of Kalluna (Kalvan)

who was

pages

K. A. S. for 1918,

is

myth") and

called Sandanes

ithe

who was

hostile to the foreigners.

Xsik contains an inscriptions (insc. Xo. 2.

see Ep. Ind. Vol. VI II, page (>!, and Luders's li^l Xo. 1123)
which is well-known for the information that it gives. We

\o.

tve

3 at

learn that the king Gaiitamiputra Sri

Sakas,

Vavanas,

the Kshaharfita

out

rooted

Palhavas,

Satakarni "destroyed the

race

and restored the Satavahana family."

The

Satakarni was king of

Mnlaka,

further

says

inscription

the

Gautamiputra

following countries

Kukura,

Suratha,

that

Aparanta,

Asaka,

Asika,

Anupa,

Sri

Vidarbh,

karvanti. Since these countries once formed part of the kingdom of the Kshaharatas, we may c(Miclude that Sitakarni took
possession

of

them

after

the

destruction

of

thi-

Kshaliaratas

(Suratha Surashtra =Kthiwr; k.iravanti =Malwa

ianta=the region along the coast, north of Bombay.)

The
fully

destruction

confirmed bv the coinage;

bearing the

name

tembhi, there are

The

of the Kshaliaratas
in

fact,

Apa-

by GautamiiMiira
out

ul

is

13250 coins

Xahapana that were discovered a( Joghal9270 that have been re-struck by (iaulamipulr.i.
of

re-striking of the Kshaharata coins

by Gautamiputra

is

for

usa very valuable information, for, we may then kn<nv for

certain what kind of coinage the Stavhanas had at the
imie

of

the

the "L'jjain

destruction

of

the

Sakas.

The obverse

>ymbol" and the reverse the symbol

bears

"cliaitya".

From

the

thai

f.ict

coin

the

all

name "Xahapna",

bear the

re-struck

by Gauiamiputra

certain authors have

come

to

the

was Ushavadata own t'ather-in-law that

was vanquished: "Gautamiputra ktlled Nahapna". A closer
examination of the coins proves exactly the contrary. Rev. H,
conclusion that

R. Scott
bearini^

since

it

made three observations: (1) that the coinage

the name of Nahapna extend over a very long period,
had had the time to evolve considerably. (2) The
ha-^

effigies are of

have been
single

it

and "cannot possibly

in the true sense of the word of any
(Rapson, page CX).
two
Thc-first

''extraordinary diversity"

portraits,

individual"

show that, very probably, the coins bearing the

name of Nahapna have n(4 a!! of fhcm come from the
Nahapna of the inscriptions so the coins containing the name
of Nahapna cannot allow us to draw any conclusion concerning the Nahapna of the inscriptions.
But the third
remark is still more important, (3) "Judging from the
remarks

condition

C)f

a very long

the coins,

should say that they must have been

time'- in circulation

XXII, page 224). The last'

we admit that the Nahapna of

ter struck"
B.iB. R. A. S.
(J.

remark shows

that, even if

the inscriptions has issued

being coun-

before

Vol.

///f

tnosf recent

coins of the whole

group, "a very long time" must have elapsed between

Gautamiputra.

That

(Early History

of

not necessary

to

is

the opinion of Mr. Vincent

him and
A. Smith

India, 3rd Edition, 1914, page 217): "It

believe

with Nahapna personally.

is

Gautamiputra Andhra fought

Study of the great Joghaltembhi

that

hoard of more than 13000 coins of Nahapna proves that

the coinage extended over many years, although always bearing the name of Nahapna, who I believe was dead before
Gautamipuira extirpated his family or clan". Biihler and

Bhagwanla! believed

that

they could read in one of the Nasik

inscriptions that Gautamiputra

"lill

to-day"

Ind. Vol. VI

yam" means

(till

11,

then)

to

made

a gift of a tield belonging

Ushavadata.

page 72) has proved that

quite a

different

thing.

But M. Snart (Ep.

the

word

Besides,

the

"ajakliki-

omission

Nahapna's name in mentioning the destruction of the

Kshahartas in the Nasik inscription proves that Gautamiputra
has not encounired this great king.
All the inscriptions of
Ushavadata are in too archaic an alphabet for us to suppose
of

tliat

was ihe contemporary of Gautamipulra.

work "Archoloi^qe chi Snd dc I'liule" \'ol.

lie

my

shown hy
pna

l<fure

differs

(litj'cycnccs

10 (Viharas of Xsik) that

much irom

arc due

fo time,

that

of

since there

Again,
I.,

evohilion of

liave

Xaha-

the slyle of

Gautamiputra; and
is

in

these

architec-

tnre [for instance the "liell-shaped"' capitals have been replaced

by the "pot shaped" ones.

of a bell

Thus

This transformation of the form,

into that of a sphere has needed at least one centnry].

then, arcinleclurc and

the coinas^^e

to

prove

that

paheo<4raphy
"a

very

perfectly

long time

'

a<,n-ee

has

with

elapsed

between the Xahapna of the inscriptions, and Gautamiputra,

the destrover of the S ikas.

26

During
dynasty of

Chaslitaiia, foiinck-r of the

2.

three

kinj:^s

was

Ujjain

centuriep,

Saka

whose genealogy begins

era.

capital

the

of

thus:

Chashtana
i'

layadman
I

Rudradman
I

Dmajadasri
I

Jivadman.

There
the

room

no

is

representative

130 A. D.

of

Indeed,

in

doubting

for

the

Rudradman,

that

generation

tl.ard

1905-06, Professor

reigned

Dvadatta

in

Ram-

Bhandarkar (Arch^eol, Survey Western India-Progress

Report for 1905-06, page 35) has made very important

kj-ishna

discovery
the

of

52nd year

several
of

inscriptions

an era which

is

of

Rudradman dated

incontestably

(see

J.

in

R. A. S.

1899, page 365) the Saka era (78 A. D); they are the inscriptions of

The

Andhau

in

Cutch.

text of the inscription

Ysmotikaputrasa
dvipach^e 50,

rjia

2.

is

as follows: Rjra

Chshtanasa

Rudradmasa Javadmaputrasa varshe

(Progress

Report,

Archa^ol.

Survey of

Western Circle 1914-1915, 67).

As the same text is reproduced in many inscriptions,
it must be considered correct and there is
no room to think
that a fragment of it has either been lost or accidentally
omitted by the engraver.
Since we know from various documents that Jayadman was the son of Chashtana, the meaning of this text is certainly the following: ''In the 52nd year,
in the reign of Rudradman, son of Jayadman, grandson
Chashtana and great-grandson of Ysmotika ".
of
This
India;

27
niranini^ has been acccpied
tly,

however,

(Dekkaii of

Professor

Devadatta

Stavhaiia

ihe

new

Bhandarkar
Voh XLVII,

Ranikrishiia

jxriod,

part nXCX'l., June 19KS, pa-^e

Very recen-

15 vcars.

\d>{

liie

l\)r

Ant.,

liul.

154, footnote 26)

has proposed

him the inscriptions will

be dated in liic common rei.i;n of Chashtana and Rudradman
who would have reigned conjointly: "at lirst,
was inclined
"to supply "pautrasa" after Ysniotikapulrasa and refer the
a

Accorchni^ to

interpretation.

"dale to

the

"XXI II.. page

68)

"l'mver>iiv has

"has better

Rudradman (J. B.
Mr. R. C. Majumdar
of

reii^n

kindly

ottered the

B. R. A.
of

suggestion

Vol.

S.,

Calcutta

the

the

that

date

be referred to the conjoint reign of Chashtana and

"Rudradman'".

This interpretation

not

is

possible:

here

if

was question of common reign of Ch.ishtana ciiul Rudradman, the text would be "Rudradmasa c/ui varshe" or something else which will bhow that it was the reign of two
persons; but here there is no possibility of any doubt; "Rajiia
Rudradmasa Jayadmaputrasa varshe" can mean only one
It

"the

thing:

Andhau

Rudradmm".

are therefore dated in

52nd

in the

of

reign

We

The

the reign

of

inscriptions

of

Rudradman and

oftheSaka era which corresponds to 130 .\. D.

know (see Rapson, page CXXIV), that Jvadman,
yeai-

the representative of the

hfth

reigned

generation,

(as

Mah-

100 which corresponds to 180 A. D. We

may suppose that this king ascended the throne about 2 years
before it, in 178 A. D. and we may attribute a reign of 23 years

kshatrapa) in Saka

to

his

chronology

We

Damajadasri.

fatiier

thus

obtain

the

following

Damajadasri, ace.

circ.

155 A. D..

jivadman, ace. cnc. 178

1

request the

reader

to

note

.\.

1).

this chronology- is

that

not

something imagined by me if we open the book of Mr. Vincent

A. Snulh "Early History of India" 3rd edition, we shall find a
plate facing page 218, giving the chronology of Western Ksha:

trapas

and we

shall tnd there the

ace. circ. 155 A. D.

Jivadaman,

same dates
ace.

circ.

therefore adopted the opinion of Mr. Vincent

is

Damajadasri,

178 A. D.
A.

have

Smith which

certainly ver}' near the truth,

Wc know

the coins of Jayudanian

.15

Kshatrapa, but

coins

^ 28 -Mahkshatrapa have not been

therefore we admit that Jayadman did

of this prince bearing the title of

discovered so

not reign at

far.

If

or

all

only

reigned

for

conclude therefrom that the reign

and

his

short

of

duration of a long reign

Chashtana
But what is the

In the history of the Pallavas there

who

NandivarmaiiiPallavamalla

(Tndantttni

62nd

plates,

we can

father

his

Rudradcman have been long.

son

time,

the example of king

is

reigned for

more than 62 years

58th year and Tiruvallam insc. No. 76

and was succeeded by

Dantivarman
who reigned for more than 51 years (Tiruchchnr insc.
No. 262 of 1^>04, 51st. year). But such instances are rare and
we shall admit that a reign of average length is one of 25 to
30 years and that a long reign may last from 35 to 40 years.
of 1889,

So,

if

we

year)

allow that Jayadman did not

only a very short time and

and Chashtana were

long,

we

circ.

75 or 85 A. D.

Chashtana, ace.

g-t the

reign at

reigns

the

that

his son

of

all

or reigned

Rudradman

following chronology:

Jayadman (was

living circ.

110 or 115 A. D)

Rudradman,

ace. circ 115 or 120 A.

Dmajadasri, ace,

The only
is

circ.

155 A. D.

made to the above chronology

"The inscriptions of Nahapna are dated in

objection that has been

the folowing

the Saka era."

Chashtana ascended the throne after the

destruction of the Kshahartas; an examination of the coins
proves it (see Rapson, page 72, PI. X). When Chastana bore
It is

only the

certain that

title

of

Kshatrapa (var. b;

PI. x:

El and No. 259) and

on assumed the title of Mahkshatrapa (Rapson, PI. X,,

No. 26o and ff.)we find on the reverse of his coins the symbol

later

"chaitya with three arches" identically the same as that of the

coins restruck by Gautamiputra.

three arches" on the coins of
that

Chashtana was

The symbol "Chaitya with

Chashtana proves incontestably

Satrap of

Gautamiputra

after

the

destruction of the Kshahartas.

If
,

then the inscriptions of

41, 42, 45

Nahapna which

and 46 are dated from the

Sctka era

bear the dates

and correspond

 29
123 and 124 A.

lo 119, 120,

ascended the ihroiic

This

siipp()>iti()n claslics

by

exposed

Asiatic Society"

know

afterwards

as

"Chaitya with

arches"

e-ra"

in

six

paper

in

"lonmal

die-

ol

been

entitled

Roval

the

W'c
So,

instead

show

to

Kshati.ipa and

rci,i;ncd (iisl as a

Ksliatrapa.

which seems

'

lianeiji

Maiikshatrapa.

Jayadman only
arches

with diriicuhies winch ha\c

Chashtana

Chashtan;i

1917^ pai^c 273.

loi-

that

as

S.ika

llial

I).

Das

Kakhal

Mr.

and the

*'Xaliapaiia

We

124 A.

alter

aclmil

\vc niusl

i>>.

coins

these

of the

that

the

iiave

coins

of

bear

tlie

"Chaitva with three

Jayadman

as

rei.i^ned

Kshalrapa for a surticienlly long time after tiie destruction of

tile Kshahartas. (Rapson, page 76, Xo. 205 to 26<S). liut, it we
admit that the inscriptions of Xahapana are dated in the Saka
era,

there

only

be

will

of

interval

S2.

Within these years (years

50 and 51),

must have l.iken place

The ijiid of Xahapana' s reign

(1)

(3j

destruction of the Kshahartas;

accession of Chashtana as Ksliatrapa,

as Kshatrapa, his accession as a

Maiikshatrapa

his reign as

The accession

(4)

his

reign

Mahkshatiapa, and

Jayadman as Kr^hatrap.i, Ins leign

Kshatrapa, and perhaps also his reign as Maiiksha-

as

trapa

The

(5)

47, 48, 49,

The
The

(2)

between

years

live

king dated 46 and the inscriptions of

the inscription of this

Kudradman dated

an

of

accession

ol

Kudratkur.an and the begninmg of

his leign.

That

all

these events took place witinn

impossible, but

Kshahart.l^
Juiinar;

it

is

Kshatrapa

it

is

were

not probable.

destroyed soon

not probable that

then,

.is

It

tiie

i?

live years,,

not probable
the

after

and

of

Kshatrapa and perhaps also as Maiikshatrapa

four or

live

years

and

it

is

is

iiol

the

that

inscription

at

Chashtana, hrst as

reigns of

Maiikshatrapa

//

not j^robable

Jayadman
h.ive taken

as

only

Kudradman

th.it

ascended the throne exactly before Andhau inscriptions were

engraved.

rash

dm.'in

the end

guesser

may

be

ahowed

ascended the throne only

of

tlie

reign

ui

to

four

Xahapana.

suppose that Kudraor

But

five

lor

years

hiving

after

duNvn

30~-

such a supposition he must entirely disregard

information

all

obtained from the archaeology, numismatics, palaeography and

philology of India.

Aichreology shows us that the

(a)

architectural style, the

ornamental design and the costumes of the personages of the

epoch of Nahapna clearly point to an archaic epoch yery near
the beginning of the Christian era and that

Nahapna

is

it

mipossible to

2nd century A. D;
(b) Numismatics shows that Naliapana was the contemporary of the Satraps, Hagna and Hagmsha, that the coins
of Nahapna were in cuculation for a very long time and a
place

before

elapsed

period

long

still

in the

they

were

by

restruck

Gautamiputra;
(c) Paheogr.jphy shows that the alphabet of the

inscrip-

more archaic than that of Sodsa and much

more archaic than that of Rudradman. To say that the
inscriptions of Nahapna are almost contemporaneous with
those of Rudradman and that there was onlv a fiye years'
tions of

Nahapna

is

between the reigns of these two kings is to introduce a

monstrous anachronism into the
palc'eographv of these
interval

inscriptions;

Comparative philology shows that all the inscriptions

of Nahapna are in Prakrit whereas all the inscriptions of
(d)

Rudradman
but

Upon
we are

are in Sanskrit.
are not sure of the epoch of

quite sure that the mscriptions of

Nahapna,

Nahapna

are not

and nothing prevents us from admitting

Chashtana ascended the throne between 75 and 85 A. D.
But, then, can Chashtana be the founder of the Saka era>

dated in the Saka era

that

we

the whole,

since the 1st year of this era corresponds

Some
Saka

era,

therefore

to

79 A.

persons will say: "No, Chashtana has not founded the

because

was Kanishka

it

necessary

to

that

founded

up the question

take

of

it."

the

It

date

is

of

Kanishka.

This question

is

discussed and though

much more
skilful

clear

perhaps one
is

it

not

today than

excavations of Mr.

J.

it

yet

to place Kanishkfi

been very hotly

completely

settled,

was 10 years ago.

H. Marshall

pages 973-86; and 1915, pages 991-16),

wore

has

that

before the

it

(see
is

J.

R. A.

After
S.;

not possible

two Kadphiss.

it

is

the

1914,

any

Besides, the close resemblance exi^tiu between the

coin^

Augustus and Tiberius does not

allow any doubt in regard to the approximate ago of Kujnla'AVe do not dispute in any way
Kadphi^s.
A- Fleet sav^
Kadphiscs

ol'

and those

I.

of

the

vnw

some

that at

tinu- closelv :ibout A.

ly in tJK- k'.ilnil territory

D. 50, the sovereign-

pns^rd from the Gret^k king

Ht^maeus

Kushan prince Kozoulo-Kadphises, whose son W'cmo-Kadphiscs then establishc-d a Kushui empire in Northern

t"

the

India"

K. A.

(j.

We mav
did not

come

1913,

S.,

therefore say

marks the

ascended the throne

had proved

Kalachuri era

much

of

248 A.
the

after

it

is

certain that

Kanishka might have

recently,

\'erv

last

-scholar

2^1) thought

DLXXXVlll. page

I).

Kanishka

about 75 A. D.

later.

that the era

the reign of Wsudva, the

years

that

earliest limit, but

XLVL Part

(Ind. Ant. Vol.

100

now

to the throne before

Tiiis date

that he

^60).

p.

founded l->v Kanishka was the

in fact,
This is not possible,
f the Kushns, came to an end

beginning

of

of Kanishka.

reign

the

Vsudva reigned at
which extended
It is certain that this country over
Mathura.
the empire of X'sudva was occupied abt^ut 350 A. D. by the
Yaudheyas ;ind th.^ Nagas and it is probable that they
reigned in this place nearly one cenlurv iu'tote they were
The capitals (jf the Nagas
subjugated by Samudra-Gupta.

Numerous

inscriptions

prove

that

Kntipura and Padmavati

were Mathura,

1916)
of

(Archreological

Sivanarhdi

who was

We

Samudra-Gupta.

(Bhler's Grimdriss,

(see

|.

tiie

for

the

mure
1915-

of

coins

Ind.

R. A.

India,

at

Ganapati Nga the rival

have also coins of (ianapatinga

heir of the house of Padmavati.

(page 221),

Survey of

predecessor

Pawya,

We know

confluence of the Sindhu and the Para).

of

(or

S.

for

101, PI.

mentioned
1

.S99,

in

W
1

2).

N;igasna,

larsha-charita

page 448),

has

been

by Mr. E. b Rapsiui with the NgnsOna of the pillar

We know also the coins (liul. c^ins, 101) of
at Allahabad.
Prabhakara
R. A. S. for 1900. p.ige 117). of Skandanaga, of
ideiitilied

(J.

Devanga (Cunningham, coins of Medieval India, pp. 23 and

24) and of Bhimanga (Progress Report Areh. Surv. Western
Circle for 1914-15, page 60).

The Yaudheyas were formidable

dnrui;

but

the Girnar

inscription

at

tells

the
us

time
that

Consul of the Urn ted Sttts

Rudrathey were

f>f

ofAimnc

 32
vanquished probably shortly before the year 150 A. D. It is
probably after the death of Vsiidva that they established
themselves
tion (Gupta

We

Malhiir region.

in the

No.

Inscriptions,

have a stone inscrip-

XXXVI,

58, Plate

B) found at

Bijayagadh [or Bjgadh, about two miles to the South West

of Byn, the chief town of the Byn tahsil of the Bharatpur
(Bhurtpoor) state

Rjputn] which

in

Yaudhyas and which enables us

the

position of their

to

know

The alphabet

empire.

intermediate between that of the

come

has

to us

from

the geographical

of the inscriptions

is

Kushns and that of the

first Gupta-;. We have also the coins of this dynasty (Cunningham,
Coins of Anc. Ind. PI. YI., 6-8) and the Yaudhyas are
mentioned in line 22 of the inscription on the pillar at Allahabad (No. 1 of Gupta Inscriptions). The mvasion of SamudraGupta took place in the middle of the IV century. If we take
nearly one century
as the duration of the reigns of the
Yaudhyas and the Ngas, we find that Vsudva ceased to
reign before about 250 A. D. and that Kanishka came to the
last

throne before about 150 A. D.

So the accession of Kanishka should be placed

A. D. and 150 A. D.

7'^

between

We

know that Kanishka f(^unded an era and we have just

that he came to the throne between 75 and 150 A. D. Can

seen

Kanishka be the foundei- of the Saka era which

end
foi-

of 78 A. D.

believe that this hypothesis

the following reasons

we admit

(1) If

that

the

at

not probable

is

Kujnla-Kadphiss and

about 50 A. D. und that

begins

Hermus reigned

Kanishka founded the Saka

era

in

78 A. D., we have scarcely 28 years for the duration of the end

Vima-Kadphiss
of Kujula-Kadphiss (II).
it
reigned long and died when
of the reign of

Secondly, the reign of

(at

least

Smith

40 years)

"No

and the

" cations

" assigned
India,

that
it

his

the

reign
I.

was about 80 years old.

Kadphiss (II) was probably very long

that

is

he

the

opinion of Mr. \'incent A.

of

extent of the conquests

large

of

probable that Kadphiss

is

definite proof ol the length

" given, but the

" II.

and the whole

(I)

vohune
reign

a duration

of

his

reign

can

be

made by Kadphiss

of his

coinage are

certain

was

protracted.

Cunningham

forty

2nd Ed. page 230, foot note

years."
1).

(P2arly

indi-

History

of

 y}
A'ain,

noi

is

il

successor of Kadphiss
So,

not

is

it

throne

to the

inf(M"niation

most

that

103

furnished by

example, the year

of

the Kushfiiis

have accepted

103

of

era

this

dated the

:\ni\

the inscrip-

if

we suppose

wiili

11

histoi-y, pal<'Vof:iraph\,

savants

of the

(iondopliarcs

of

iie

i-ra

the dates a^rce so w<

the V'ikrania era,

is

it

what

exactly in

and 122

tions of the years 113

that

come

A. D.

year

inscription oi the

iuiniediat?

Kanishka should have

lliat

mn know

till

was the

Kanishka

II.

possible

in 7*>

We

(2)

that

ccil;iiii

the

all

and the coins,

For

thi- h\pllu'sis.

beini,'

the

26th

year

of

Gondophares, he must have come to the throne in V> .\. I),

And Gondophares uses the tide "autocratoi" which was
introduced by Au^^ustus and adopted bv the Parthian king
Phraates IV (8 to 11 A. D.).
Taxila
a

R. A.

(J.

document dated

to 79

A.

I).,

PU4,

lor

S..

Mr. Marshall h

is

discovered

at

pp. 973, 978) in the ''Chir Stiipa"

136, which, in the X'ikrama era, corresponds

and

kinii

tiu-

mentioned therein

pi-obabiy

is

Kadpinss I, but certainly not Kanishka (see ''Taxila insc. of

year 136" by Sten Konow, in Ep. Ind. Vol. XIV., pp. 284 to
This discoveiy

288).

those that attribute

Mr, Sten

(3)

enough

is

to

shake

the

Kanishka the era of 78 A.

t(^

Konow

has

shown

conviction

of

I).

recently (P>p. Ind., Vol.

XIV., pages 141 and 200) that the Tibetan and Chinese docu-

ments tend

and not

in

t<^

the

The

(4)

Kanishka reigned

jirove that

in

the

2nd century

1st.

scholars

who

Kanishka founded the

thought that

era 78 A. D. believed also that he introduced in India the Gra?co-

Huddhistic

art in all

splendour.

it-^

when

I^nt

the

reliquai"v

bearing an inscription of Kanishk;i was discovered) one

expect that this work of
the great king

The

art chiselled

would be

a splendid

sculptures are deplorablv

undoubtedly represent

an an

attentive study of the art of

did not reign certainlv

Mr. Sten

(5)

XIV.,

[xige.

those of
*'

of
in

Greek art. Alas

workmanship and
!

decadence.

full

ha-

further

king

this

century.

shown

recently

(Ep.

Ind. Vol.

141) that the inscriptions of the K.mishka era and

the Saka era are

becomes

work

Kanishka has shown that

in the 1st

Konow

under the pious orders of

inferior
in

might

imp<js~-ible to

not dated

maintain that

same fashion
"It
Kanishka was the founder

in

the

 34
'

"
*

of the
it

Saka era and used

becomes

way

unintelligible

it

in

why

hi>

he

insciipiiiib

should

because then

have changed the

of expressing the dates".

We

shall

therefore

conclude that Kanishka is not the

founder of the Sika era.
The preceding lines had already been written when I had

honour of receiving from Mr. Vincent A. Smith a copy

''The Oxford History of India," Oxford, 1919, and read
the

page 127 "It

" order of the

may now be

of
in

affirmed with confidence that

the
leading Kushn kings is finally settled, and
" that the uncertainty as to the
chronology has been reduced
to a period of forty years in round numbers
or to state it
:

otherwise,

five

.the

question

is,
"Did Kanishka come to the
throne
in
A.
D, 78, or about forty years later ?". When the
^"
" third edition of the "Early History
of India" was published
'J

1914,

my

narrative

^^
^''

it
'I
'

was admitted

later.

now

II

II
II

was based upon the working hypothesis

that Kanishka's accession took place

to

in A.

D.

78,

although

be possible that the true date might be

Further consideration

of the

evidence

from Taxila

leads me to follow Sir John Maishall and

Professor Sten Konow in dating the beginning of Kanishka's
reign approximatively in A. D.
120, a date which I had
available

advocated ma,ny years ago on different grounds".

Smce the Saka era was not founded either by Nahapna or
by Kanishka and as Gautamiputra also was not the founder of

'

It

(no one has

hypotheses

made

that the

or by Kadphiss

11.

this

supposition),

there remain but two

Saka era was founded either by Chashtana
The latter opinion is held by Dr. Sten

Konow who

has written recently "I am still of opinion that

the Saka era was established by Vima-Kadphiss".
(T!ie Ara
inscription, in

Ep. Ind. Vol. XIV., p. 141).

For such a theory to be possible, Kadphiss II must have
reiged in 78-79 A. D.
We may believe that the mscription of
the "Chir Stpa" at Taxila is dated in the 136th year of
the era

which begins

in

58-57 B. C. and the date 136

falls

precisely

78-79 A. D. And if we study the inscription oi the "Chir

Stpa" and ask ourselves who is the king therein mentioned, we
are rather inclined to reply: "It is an inscription
of KujulaKadphiss (I)" "So far as I can see, there cannot be
much
doubt that the Kushana Emperor of the Panjtar
:

and Taxila

 5S
Vima-Kadphiss" (Ep.

records was Kujiila-Kadpliiss aiui not

XIV

Ind. Vol.

Part VII, July 1918,

136" by Sten Konow).

of the vcar

that (Vima) Kadphiscs

is

therefore probable,

not

78-79 A.

I).

But even i^ranting that KadphisOs II. reigned

ha> I') be proved that he t'(.)unded an era.

it

e\en

document

single

.i

Kadphiss
n

It

icij^ncd in

II

289. 'Taxila inscription

pai^'e

Chir Stiipa" inscription

that the

and

can

make

a.i

era.

On

founded

has

II

thai

Kushn Kings used

after

.A.

this

have not

the contrary,
it

that

believe

will

the

if

be proved

D. 7S the era 58-57 B.

C;

founded an era, it must

era was adopted by Chashtana or his

hnally, granting that Kadphiss

be proved that

78-79 A. D.

We

u.>

dated 78-79 A. D.,

is

in

II.

descendants.
After

the theory of

all,

ed the Saka era

based either upon

not

is

(Vima) Kadphi^cs

II

h.iving found-

any proof or even

indication.

"Tiie Saka era

There remains then but one hypothesis
This theory was expressed
was founded by Chashtana".
30 years ago by Cunningham (see N. chr. 1888, p. 232 and
1892, p. 44) discu.,sed notably by D. R. Bhandarkar (B. B. R.
:

A.

XX

S,, Vol.,

page 280) and was afterwards completely

a! ..n-

doned.
I

now wish

to assert boldly that this

This

unjustified.

30 years the historians

notions

ed

dated

in the

Kanishka.

now

are

of

that

(1)

ika era.

think

has

been

India

have

theory

the

abandonment

inscriptions

(2) that the

Saka era

have proved that

Ihc'^e

quite

because

slighted

had

is

for

preconceiv-

twt)

Xahapna are
was founded by

of

two suppositions

untenable.

affirm that the only natural theory concerning

the

Saka

founded by Chashtana.
of Chashtana
It is admitted on all hands that the dynasty
has used the Saka era; and it is but luUiirnl to suppose that the
founder of the dynasty was also the founder of the era used by
that

wa--

era

i-

it.

Outside the kingdom of Chashtana and his descendants, not

it

a single inrjcription has been

era.

found which

In fact the inscriptions of the

is

dated

Kushn kings

in the

above

are not dated

from the Saka era and the inscriptions dated from the same era
which are found in South India are all posterior to the fall of
the dvnastv of Chashtana.

Thus then

all

the S.ika inscription^

.^h

that are anterior to

400 A. D.

of the dvnastA"

Chashtana.

of

every one of them inscriptions

.ire

Tlie era

therefore special

is

to

that dynasty.
If

is

we

are not qvnic sure

no doubt

members

Chashtana was a Saka, there

The names

that he w;is of foreign origin.

of this

show

family

Rapson says (page CXXI)

(in

tliat

Chashtana)

Dmaghsiida

is

termination

may

name,

^'foreign

that they were foreigners.

"Ghsamotika

a Persian

of

Mr.

"shtana

Scythic";

is

the

and (page CXXII)

";

possibly be an attempt to

express the Persian Zda. a son".

A general of the \V. Kshatrapiis

mentioned in an inscription (Progress Report, Arch. Survey, Western India for 1^17is

1918, page 37) as being a Saka.

Were Chashtana and

descendants themselves Sakas

his

one thing is certain, that iii ancient India

thev were designated by the name of Sakas. The Matsya
Purna mentions a dynast)* of 1^ S^l^as which is probably that of
for
Chashtana; but there can be no doubt in certain cases
It is

possible; but

630 A. \). has written ("Harsha charita"'

"In his enemy's city,
trans. Cowell and Thomas, page 194)
the king of the Sakiis, while courting another man's wife, was
instance,

Bna

in circ.

butchered by Chandra-Gupta'".

To sum up
(1)

It is

document-

certain

that

all tiie

of the dynast)' of

dates

given

are

iliat

in

Chashtana are of the Saka

the
era.

We

do not know of even a single inscription anterior

to 400 A. D. which is dated in the S ika era and belongs to a
(2)

dynasty other than that of Chashtana.

name

Saka to the era

beginning in 78 A. D., since it was the era used by the de>^cendants of Chahtana who in ancient India were designated by
(3)

the

Tradition has

given

name of "Saka."
(4) The most ancient

the

of

inscriptions (Andhauj

the vear 52 of this era; and they are

the

are

daKd

inscriptions

of

in

the

If the founder of the

grandson of the founder of the dynasty.
dynastv was also the founder of the era, it is quite natural that
the grandson should have reigned 52 years later.
Therefore, the most simple, tiie most natural and the most

logical theory

in saying

consists

ioundeU by Chashtana

",

"The S^ka

era

of

78 was

a-

.w .,.;v.

.ivliana kin^.

i;

arno-

oct'.'

on the

from

-d

U"

liead

on the

nan:

u.ia

^4J.UL,jaXUUUU.i

.il^t

.IL.
^4^11* 4.^ilii
.11

Lj

Ill-,

ill*^ ill

>.'-

ili-

^"--

t.

LU^

^tV4V

lll.:ll<w.

"""i..

nj'Tti.-

Ml IT
;

T;--.

.V~,

Tlic -Tl

_^,

TP

IP"

:.

itm

nimin'urt ind
P'liun:--

 38
the 19lh year of the reign of her grandson

Vol. VIII.,

Pulumvi (Ep. Ind.

p. 61).

two inscriptions of Gautamiputra

dated in the years 18 (insc. No. 1125 of Liiders's hst) and 24
(insc.
No. 1126). Professor D. R. Bhandarkar who has
At

Xsik,

there

discussed this subject

says

152)

"Sir

are

recently

(Ind.

Ant., Vol.

XLVII, page

Ramkiishna

Bhandarkar contends that all

the reign of Pulumvi and that he

" these dates pertain to

" reigned conjointly with his father, the fonner over Mah" rshtra and the latter over
the hereditary Satavhana
" dominions.
The latter view alone can be correct. P'or in in" scription

No. 5, Gautamiputra Satakarni, who is the donor

" there along with his mother, issues a grant in favour of
" Buddiiist monks, who, it is expressly stated were staying in
" the

"

cave which was the pious

was

"

"
"
"

"

This cave which

gift of theirs.

mother must doubtless

be cave No. 3 which, as we have seen above, was excavated
and given over to the Bhadryaniyas. But then we have
also seen that this cave was presented to these monks in the
19th regnal year, not of Satakarni but of Pulumvi."
(Dekkan of the Satavhana Period bv Prof. D. R. Bhandar-

''

a pious gift of Satakarni

his

kar).

regret

cannot accept

this theory.

inscriptions themselves clearly

Pulumvi have reigned

in

and

the

year 24, states

under the orders of

in

show

that

On

the contrary, the

Gautamiputra and

succession.

Indeed,

Gautamiputra,

that

the cave

was excavated

distinctly

"Pious gift of
mother and himself
ours"; and in the inscription of queen Balasri in the 19th year
of Pulumvi, the queen mother makes a solemn gift of the cave
ill her own name.
the
This can be explained in only one way
excavation of the cave was begun under the orders of Gautamiputra and his mother before the 18tii year of Gautamiputra
and was finished only after the death of Gautamiputra and
his

during the reign of his son Pulumvi; we have proof of

the fact that

it

was the

latter

king that had

it

it

in

embellished with

The cave not having been consecrated

officially,

this consecration took place only in the 19th year of

Pulumvi.

paintings.

Since the king Gautamiputra was dead, the queen Balasri

the

made

gift officially herself.

I

haye besides another remark to make on

this

occasion.

^ 30 _
think

not been

has

Balasri

inenning

tlic

til. Il

wonder why

oi

understood

correctly

dated

this inscription

inscription

tlic

in

the

ol

Gaulamiputr.i.

contains exclusively the

eulogies

meaning
moihrr, when she was

of the inscription,

the

that

real

forget that

lion of the cave

Balasri has

this

is

therefore

w.is

il

Thus

Gaulaui'iputia.

meaning

clear

Pulunivi
believe

queen
presenting the cave, cannot

officially

was begun;

the glorious

eulogise

ot

the

under the orders of her son that ihe excav.i-

w.is

it

We

now.

till

reign

queen

the

ot

it

quite

natural to

the inscription

the funeral oration on

is

of

the

great king delivered bv an inconsolable mother.

Again

supposition

the

king of the

about

region

of

inscription

the

Nasik
he

l^alasii

Aparnta, and, Vidarba; and Mr.

reigned also over

alone form an exception?

dating his grants

We

3)

1)

because

and

4)

SurAshtra,
reigned over
Bhaiidarkar admits that he
the

Nasik

have seldom seen a

(and especially

in the reign

of the reign of his son

untenable:

is

why should

South;

the

Gautamiputra was not the

U) the officers of Nasik; 2) according

Gautamiputra gives ordeis

to

that

lastly

fallu r

the 24th

year)

a positive

proof

in

we have

regiiMi

hoard of Joghaltembhi.
We have said that this treasuie consisted of 13250 coins
bearing the name of Nahapna of which 9270 had been
restruck by Gautamiputra (J. B. B. K. A. S., \'ol XXII, page

of

it

in the

224),

is

It

remarkable that

in this

treasure there

coin of Vsisthiputra Pulumvi who,

own name

coins in his

we have

to

conclude

not a single

we know, has

struck

Kapson, Coins of ihe Andhi.i

As Joghaltembhi

dynastv, page 20).

of Nasik,

(see

as

is

is

a village in the environs

that, after the destruction of the

was Gautamiputra that reigned in this pi. ice and that

the treasure wa> buried during his reign and before the accesBut Rev. H. R. Scott who ha^ examined
sion of Pulumvi.
the hoard of Joghaltembhi carefully his made an imjxirtant
remark
"Judging from the condition of the coins, 1 should
sav that thev must have been a verv U)ng time in circulation
and that both before and dJUr being counter-struck (J B. B. R.
A. S., Vol XXII, p. 224); and he adds "They could not have
been buried earlier than 20 years after Salakarni's victory".
So, there is no doubt that Gautamiputra reigned in the Nasik

Sakas,

it

region

for

long

time, since the coins have had time to get

_40considerably worn out.

Nsik for

Pulumvi has therefore reigned

more than 15 years

destruction

the

after

of

at

the

Kshahartas.

Chashtana was for a time the

contemporary of Pulumvi, In fact, Ptolemy says in his
geography (Ind. Ant., Vol XIII., page 366) that Siro Polemaios
reigned at Baithana, and Tiastanes at Ozn.
Ozn is
It

is

certain

unquestionably

that

I'jjain wliich

was the

capital of

the dynasty of Chashtana, and Baithana

the

capital

of

Pulumvi.

is

the kings of

all

Paitana or Paithana,

Unfortimatelv

the

evidence

of

Ptolemy dees not enable us to know exactly in what epoch

Chashtana and Pulumvi lived. We do not know for certain
in what year Ptolemy wrote his geography and we know little
about the life of this scholar. Olvmpiodorus says that when
Ptolemy was at Canopa in 147, he had already been making
astronomical observations for 40 years, which will place
Ptolemy's works between 104 and 147 A. D. Ptolemy was not
a navigator; he was an astronomer of Alexandria who wrote
his geography chiefly with the object of drawing a map of the
world with latitudes and longitudes: and has he not the pretension to give

about.

He

his

own

views about

the

countries

he speaks

confines himself to reconstructing the configuration

upon the descriptions given by the

travellers in the works which can be had in his da^'s.
He
himself admits that he follows Marin of Tvr, navigator who
made his voyage about 100 A. D. From which book has
Ptolemy taken his information about Pulumvi and Chastana ?
It may not be impossible that it w-as from the work of Marin
of Tyr which unfortunately has not come down to us.
But it
is certain that this information
was obtained from relatively
recent sources and as Ptolemy wrote his geographv in the first
of the countries, relying

half of the Ilnd century,

gives about Chashtana

we may admit

that the information he

and Pulumvi belongs

to the

beginning

of the Ilnd centurv.

When

the Kshaharalas occupied

Northern Deccan, the

capital of the Stavhanas was probably Amarvat on the
lower course of the Krishna. The legend that Sri Kakulam

was the capital has no foundation (see Ind. Ant., Nov. 1913,
Vol XLIl, page 276). At the time of Gautamiputra and at the
beginning of the reign of Pulumvi it was Amarvati that was

 41 the capital

Xo.

the

"Lord of Dlianamkata" (insc.

Dljanamkata= Dlinyakataka=Dhanakata~

kin<:j

X><ik.

at

\va? called

removed the

Piilumavi

Dliannakada).

Paithana

to

capital

(Pratishthna).

hanas to

whom

is

name

they give the

contained

in

the

historical

However, if
the Purnas with what
Andhr;is.

of

the information given in

we compare

the Stava-

to give us the history of

The Purnas pretend

documents we

possess,

we

find

engage the attention

We shall not however attach any value to
of the historian.
the durations of the reigns given in the Matsya Purna, for,
each time we proceed to verify these dates, "ihc Purnas are

that

it

is

that deserves (o

only the Matsya

proved to be

in error"

(Vincent A. Smith.

Early

History

of

2d Edition, page 194). However the order of succession

That order is as follows
of the kings is nearer the truth.
Gautamputra,
India,

Pulom,
Sva^r,

Sivaskanda,
Yajriasri,

Viiava,

Chandasri Sntikarna,

Pulom.
it

is

to

remarked

be

that

wc

find

here

Gautamiputra

followed by Pulumavi; besides, the inscriptions and the coins

are found to confirm the existence of Siva^ri, of VajnaSri and
of

Chanda,
It is

saving

almost certain that the

tiiat

Siva

Sri

MaNya Purna

was the successor

have (Rapson, page 29)

tthe

of

is

in

we
name "Rano

Pulumvi,

coins bearing the

right
for

Vsithiputa Siva-Siri-Stakariini (Vsishtliiputra Siva-Sn-Sata-

and these coins are almost identical with those of

Pulumvi in regard to the letters of the alphabet, the symbols
We
(chaitya with three arches etc.) and the workmanship.

karni);

have also an inscription (Xo. 1279 of Liider's list) of Amarvati

which is dated in the reign of Siri-Sivamaka-Sada who is
perhaps Siva-Sri-Stakuni.

We

have not yet found any documents, coins or inscriptions, mentioning Sivaskanda Stakani. However, in cave 36 at
Kanhri, there is an inscription (Xo. 1001 of Luders's hst)

dated in the Slh Vrar of king Mdharipnta Svnii who^' name

is followed
by another not very legible which Mr. D. R.

Bhandarkar (Ind. Ant. Vol XLVII,

has read Sri

No.

of another,

The alphabet

S.ata.

seems

1002)

of this

show

to

DXCVI, June

Part

1918)

inscription (as well as

that

this

king reigned

before Yajiia Sri.

If this palaeographical indication and the list

given in the Matsya are correct, this Mdhariputra can be no

other

than

Sivaskanda.

seems to have had a

Yajna-Sri
in

brilliant reign.

It

was

Gautamipufra Yajna Stakarni that

was dug the chaitya of Kanhri which is in a degenerate
time

fact at the

of

compared with

style

which

is

that of the splendid Chaitya at

a remarkable

list;

16th year

this

king that

inscription

monument

(insc.

Krli,

but

No. 1124 of Luders's

was also during the time of

was embellished the VIII cave at Nsik whose
of Yajfia).

No. 4

It

dated in the 7th year of his reign

is

Ind. Vol VIII., page 94).

fragment

of

pillar

(Ep.

discovered

China near the mouth of the Krishna which has since

been
transported to
the Madras
Museum contains an
at

inscription

dated

(Ep. Ind., Vol.

very

I.,

characteristic

the

in

27th

page 95)

year

the reign

of

of

Yajffa

and the coins bearing the

name "Yajna" are also well knnwn (see
:

Rapson).

We

know

the

name

of

Vijaya

only

from the Matsya

Purna.

Chanda^ri Santikarna must probably be identified with

Vsithiputa Chadasta who reigned at the time when the

Kodavolu inscription was engraved (see Report on Epigraphy;

Madras Government orders; inscription No. 228 of 1908), and
with Vsisthiputa Siri Cada Bti (Vsishthputra Sri Chandra
Sti) of the coins (see

Rapson, pages 30 and

32;

Mr.

Rapson

thinks that this king must have preceded Yajiia).

We

shall

speak of Pulumavi, the

in the following

cription at

The

last

chapter concerning the

king of this dynasty,

Pallavas and the ins-

Myakadoni.

965 of Luders's list) of Girnar

(Junagadh in Kthivd) which is ciated in the 3'ear 150 A. D.
says [Ep. Ind. Vol VIII., p. 47] that Rudradman, by his

own

inscription

(No.

valour [svavryy-rjjitnm] gained Akarvant (Mlw),

Surshtra (Kthiwr), Kachchha (Cutch), Aparnta (the coast

 43
to

il)c

inrth of Hoinlxix

were lo.Uh
pallui.

deslroycd

lIc,

Slukarui, lord

cL-lealed

to stilMiiit,

bui on aceH)unt of the neanle^s

not dc-ti()V

him

ol theii

hut hun-cU acquired the

who

Vaudhcyas,

iIk'

ol'

Dakshina-

connection did

name

of

Mahk>ha-

tiapa.

Winch king ot' ilie Siavhaua dynasty is called heie hy

seem
the name of Stakartii ? The iiiscriplion-> and the coins
An inscripto conlirm the statem-nt of the Girnar inscription.
tion at KanhC-ri (Xo.

<)'>4

of

Luder^'^

list)

neat

"exhibits the

K^hatrapa inscriptions" (Buhler, Ind.

This inscription, as those of
Ant.. Vol XXXllI. pa,L^e 43).

characters

of

Rudradaman

Western

is

Sanskrit and

thus

from all other

l^rkrit. This inscrip-

differ^

Stavahana inscriptions which are all ui

Satakarni,
tion mentions the queen of Vsishthiputra Sri
The last name
daughter of the mahakshatrapa Ru[draj.
consists onlv of two syllables the hrst of which is certamly
"Ru" and the second very pi obably "dra." Secondly Yajiia

and they are

Sii "issued coins

similar in fabi

ic

and

style to

the Kshatrapa coins" (Rapson, section 87). The characteristic

represented on
of these coins is that the head of kinf Yajna i^

them, wiicreas the image of the king is not found in any c ^in
Yajra
of the other Stavhana^. It is therefore certain that it is
who adopted the Kshatrapa style for these coins. These coins of

Rudradaman. It
Rudradaman found on liis

Yajiia (Rapson PI.VII., El) resemble those of

has to be

remarked

that the coif of

coins resembles that of

Yajna;

it

is

a sort of

spherical

calotte

covering the skull and dilers totally from the coif of Chashtana;
and the sculptures of the chaitya of Kanhri which are dated in
the time of Yajna

show

us personages

sed as Yajiia and Rudr.idaman.

It

is

who have

their hair dres-

therefore probable that

it

was Rudradaman who adopted the coitiure that was used in the
Deccan at the time of Y.ijna Sri. Thus then Rudradaman was
almost a contempt)rary of Yajia and was besides th father-inlaw of a Vsishthiputra Satakarni, which Yajna was not,
Unfortunately
we know that he was a Gautamiputra.
we know three Salavahanas who bore the name of Vsishthiputra the great Rulumavi, Siva Sri .uid Chanda Sri, We know

as

also a certain Vsishthiputra

years

when an

list)

\Vd3

inscription at

engraved;

'it

is

who

liad

reigned 13

Xanght (Xo. 1120

of Lders's

Chatarapana

however probable

that

this

latter

44

no other than Siva-Sri or Chanda

the word Chaturapana is suspicions (see J. R. A. S.
Vsishtbiputra

is

Sri,

and

for 1905,

page 798).
almost certain that

It is

son-in-law of

know

in fact

tana.

tlie

Vsishthiputra

who was

Rudradman was not the great Pniu ma vi: we

that Pulumvi was the contemporary of Chash-

appears therefore to be impossible that he

It

the

should

have married the great-grand-daughter of Chashtana. There

yet remain Siva Sri and Chanda Si"i; but it is probable that

Rudradman was rather Siva Sri, who

might have married the daughter of Rudradman after having
fought with him once and wlio might have been defeated in
his turn aboui the year 130 A. D., when fighting a second
time with the Kshatrapa king. Rudradman might have been
the victor and might have occupied Aparnta for some time
up to the reign of Yajna Sri who might have adopted into
The
this region a coinage similar to that of Rudradman.
above are suppositions, since the documents we have do

the

son-in-law

of

not enable us to have a correct knowledge of this history.

The following might perhaps be the chronology of the Sta-

vhanas

in

conjunction with that of the Western Kshatrapas:

Circ. A. D.

78

Destruction of Kshahartas by Gautamiputra.

79

year of the reign of Chashtana and of the Saka

era; Circ. 10th year of the reign of Gautamiputra.
1st

From

95

Reigns of Pulumvi and Chashtana-

to 120

Invasion of the Yaudhyas and of the Andhras; ]ayadman transfers his power to his son Rudrad-

From 120
to

man who

140

gets the

of
feats Siva Sri Stakarni.
title

Mahakshahapa and

From 140

Rudradman occupies Aparnta;

to 150

reii^n of

Froml50{

End

to 155

beginning of the reign of Yajiia

From 155
to 178

From 178
to

180

de-

ivaskanda.

of the reign of

Rudradman;
Sri.

Reign of Dmajadasri and of Yajiia S^i

End

of the reign

the reigns of

of

Yajiia Sri

and beginning

Jivadman and Vijaya takari.

of

wt

In ihe <ibovc chrunulo.Liy

dman was

adiuillctl

li.ivc

Kiidra-

llial

the conteniponiry of a series of three kind's:

(1) Vsishthipiiira Siva Sri,

(2)

MdlKuipvifra Sivaskaiida,

Gautamiputra Vajila Sri.

But some coins found in the Kolhapur region (Raps(Hi, pa^^es
5, 7, 14) have restrucks which enables us to settle the follow(3)

ing series

(1) Vsishtliiputra Vilivy.ikura,

(2)

Can

Mdhariputra Sivalakura,

(3) Gautauipulra Vilivyakura,

these two series be identiled

be remarked that

to

It

is

(1)

The

tamiputra,

prove

of a person the

tence in

the

names, Vsisiithijuitra, Mdlianputra,

first

indicate a Gtra

nothing,

as

wc-

and the custom

name

tliat

(au-

these

of prefixing to ihf

molher's Gtra

of his

dynasties of

know

nanu-s

name

real

has bt-en

in

txis-

neighbours of the Stavjianas

tlie

(the Abhiras, theChutus, the Ikshvakus).

There then remain the

second names, and they, Vilivyakura and Sivalakura, have noi
been found in authentic Siavhana inscriptions.
coins bear
as symbols
"bow and arrow"
(2) The
in place of the Ujjain symbol of tiie coins (A Stavhanas.
(3)

Again,

these

Kolhapur region; and

may

country which
the

Deccan,

there

have

coin^

been

I^lolemy says,

be

situated

found onlv

in

the

Hippokura, in a
approximately in this part of

reigned a king

that at

named Baleokuros, who,

many

authors have believed, can be identified with Vilivyakuia.

This king will, in that case, be a contemporary of Pulumvi

and belong
I

to another dvnastv.

think therefore that

these

be provisionally
Dynasty."

admitted to belong to the "Kolhapur

Some

coins bearuig the

may

coins

names

of

Sri

Rudra Stakarui

and Sri Krishna Satakarni have been foimd

Coins of Indian Museum; Andhra dynasiv) m
district

of

the

been fcnmd only

Central
in

this

region,

kings belonged to a peculiar

time

in

the

Chanda

As

Provinces.

district,

these

(see
liie

when

Chand.i

names

we may suppose

dynasty

J^.ipsijn

have

thai

these

that subsisted for

some

the

Stavhanas had been

replaced by the Chutus, the Xgas, the Palluvas, the Ikshvakus

eind tiie Bfihatphalyanas.

46

CHAPTER

III

THE PALLAVAS.

In

I.

The

PallavH mvsterv.

"The Oxford History

Smith has published

of India"

this year

(Oxford,

which Mr. Vincent A.

1919),

he savs (page

"The Pallavas constitute one of the mysteries of Indian

history" and again in his "Early History of India" (2nd edi205);

tion,

page 423) he has said

did they

come

How

Whence
place among

were the Pallavas

did they attain the

the powers of the South

Many

"Who

chief

"
?

authors have answered this question with a theory

Mysore Gaz., I., pages 303-4; see also Madras Manual,

page 129] which may be called "The theory of Parthian

[see the
I.,

invasion".

The supporters

of this theory believe that the

Pal-

were a northern tribe of Parthian origin, that they were

a clan of nomads who, having come from Persia, were notable
to settle in Northern India and so continued their invasion up
lavas

to

Kfichipuram.

imagination.

They pictured

of the white race,

Parthian arrow
porting their

is

was very charming

This hypothesis

to the

number of men
the Parthians, brandishing their bows (the
well-known) forming a nomadic tribe, transto themselves

camp from country

to

country and destroying,

Huns, everthing they found on their way. It is thus

they would have traversed the whole of India and would have
like the

stopped only

at the 'extremity

of

the Peninsula.

having vanquished thg ancient tribes

in the

Then,

South, trhey

after

would

-47~
have

their capital at

e~<TablUlu-d

extendin<

tribe,

Thi^ iheorv

by a whole-

Tiiis j^reat invasion,

presents a verv j^reat dificuhv.

clan of the Parthian

Knchipurain.

from

of

frontiers

the-

Persia to the extreme South of the Indian peninsula, implies an

immense

political

commotion

important event take place

"tin-

migration to the South". But up to the present day

We may

invasion of S<Mithcn India.

the Pallava mvstery

without cause that

Vicent A. Smith,

M-".

of his "Early History of India", has

the Parthian invasion and has tried

we have

not

Parthian

of a

say that this theory makes

more mysterious.

siill

this

Pallava

the

date ol

found anv document which piow^ the existence

did

V. Venkayya

Certain antbors, and

have tried to d'-termiiie

in particular,

When

in Ihc- Dv'ccan.

in

It is

the

not therefore

two

last

editions

abandoned the theory

to

discover a I/ss

of

impro-

bable theory.

"There

every reason

is

to

that

believe

future

historians

complete nan-alive of th- doings (>[

the Pallava kings, and that the mvstery which surrounds their
origin and atinities may be elucidated in large mea>ure." (The
will

be able to give a

Oxford History
It is

of India,

page 210).
Mi".

Vincent

to prove the following

proposi-

with the object of realising the

A. Smith that
tions

fairlv

we now proceed

wish of

(1)

bore

The Andhra empire was governed by

the

title

of

feudatories wh<

"Xagas

Mahrathis and were called

'

as

ihey belonged to a race of serpent-worshippers.

Coins containing the image of a "Ship with two masts"

are found almost exclusively on the coast between Madras and
Cuddalore and they represent the moneys of Tondai-Mandalam
According to Prof. Rapson,
of which Kailchi is the capital.
(2)

'!1ie I'jjain
Pulumvi".
symbol indic.ites the Stavhana dynasty. So this dynasty
reigned over the territory of Knchpuram. Further, an inscrip-

these

bear

coins

the

legend

"Si'i

tion of Pulumvi, the last king of that dynasty, ^lunvs that the
there is no
great general
his
prince Skanda-Xga was
;

doubt that the Xagas were very powerful when the Slavahna
dvnasty cume to an end.
(3)

It

origin, the
(4)

It

is

certain that ont' of those

royal

families of

Xga

"Chutu", took the place of the Sitavhanas.

that all the most ancient Palkiva kings
is certain

 48
were the contemporaries of the Cliutus of the Nga race.
(5) It is also certain that the Pallavas succeeded the Chiitiis
of the Na^ija race.

The

(6)

Vlrplaiyam contain (verses

Pallava plates of

to 22) the

history

tradition.

There,

according to the family

said that the first member of the family

of
it

Pallavas

tiie

is

wiio become king "acquired

emblems

the

all

Public, 28th July, Part

II,

No.

hold the theory that

7,

not

One

of

of

and

kings,

them

were

they

alien

my work
Pallavas

earliest

(o

became

king

South

India.

himself"

At the time of the Girnar

Pallavas, page 23).

in

daughter of one of the kings

married the

country and thus

that

1911; G. O.

page 61).

"The Pallavas" (Pondicherry, 1917): "The

were

evidently a

have enunciated

on

royalty

of

marrying the dau-^hter of tiie lord of Serpents

Nga princess" (Report on Epigraphy for 1910

(7)

inscription

(The
the

Western Satrapas reigned in Aparnta and had a Pahlava for

their minister.
These Pahlavas were the neighbours of the
Ngas when the Chutu-Ngas reigned iu Aparnta (Kanhri
No. 1021 of
inscription of the mother of Skanda-Nga,
Liiders's

list).

Pallava prince married the

daughter of the

King Siva-Skanda-Nga-Stakarni, and inherited the throne

of Kiich.

Such,

in

few words,

We

origin of the Pallavas.

No.

The
V, No.

64)

our theory in regard to the

shall

now- proceed to develop

it.

Mahrathis, Chutus, Ngas.

1.

inscription of

3, p.

is

Nnght (Arch. Surv. West. Ind. Vol.

says that Stakarni,

king of Dakshinpatha

married Nga-Nik, daughter of a Mahrathi Kalalya.

The
was a

"lion pillar" at Krl

gift

(Ep.

Ind.

Vol.,

VII.,

page 49)

of Mahrathi Agni-Mitra-Nga.

After the

fall

of

the Stavhana dynasty, a large portion

empire passed into the hands of the dynasty of the

Chutus who were related to the Mahrathis. The Chutus

of the

and the Mahrathis

An
in the

inscription

often bore the

(No.

Shikrpur taluq of

title

of Stakarnis.

1195 of Liiders's

list)

at

Mysore (Ep. Carn., Vol.

Malavalli
VII., Sk.

See also "Mysore and Coorg

263; phre facing the pa^^e 252.

from inscriptions",
year of

reign

the

contains an

inscription

(No.

West.

Surv.

Arch.

and

2nd

in the

1186 of
IV.,

Vaijayant

tliat

town

vcvv

[h\>

Vol

Ind.,

know

\Vc

Vaijayanti.

Banavasi

hut

dated

is

Hritiputa-Vinhukada-Chutukiilananda

of

Stakarhni, king of

nothing

facing page 21)

plalc

PI.

^ee also

li^t;

and

I\'.;

Banavsi

of

Liidcrs's

is

Ant.,

hid.

which is dated in the 12th year of the same

carved
it
king: "According to Dr. Burgess, account
"on the two edges of a large slate slab, hearing the represent
(Ind. Ant., V'ol. XIV, p. 331).
"ation of a five-hooded cobra."
According to Bidder (Ind. Ant. Vol. XIV, p. 332) "the alphabet
331)

1885,

i.s

Dr. Bhagwanlal

"resembles, as

"Xsik inscription

Siriyana-Stakarhi".

of

here the same

name

there

important

is

name

this

has stated, that of the

Indraji

Thi-;

king bears

However,

as in the Malavalli inscription.

of the family

is

thin,-;

be remarked here, that the

to

given here as \'inhukadadutu

instead

Vinhukadachutu, the word Dutu is therefore synonymous

with Chutu.
We know (see Kapson, page 59 and PI. VIII.,
Xo. 235) some coins of a king called Dhutukalnanda who
of

belonged surely to the dynasty of the Chutus.

The

who

a daughter

The son was

tion at

)oined her

called Sata

Kanhri (Xo.

m-

1021

son

making

in

gift

Sivaskanda-Xga-Sri.
of

Liiders's

had
Xaga.

king Stakarni

inscription of Banavasi says that

list), is

of

An

mscrip-

by

a donation

Xga-Mula-Xik who was the daughter of the "great king" that

reigned at this epoch. She was the wife of a Mahrathi and a
more important detail is that ^lie was the UK^ther of prince
Skand<i-X,<fa-Sta.

says

(page

identified

LIII):

^l^.

Rapson

"there can be

on

writing

no doulM

with the donor mentionerl

in

subject

this

that

she'is

to

be

the following inscription

and that she was, therefore, the daughter of

king Haritiputra Vishnukada Culn Satakarni whose name must

from

Banavasi

have stood onginallv

being >ituated

in

in

the

)->rescnt

inscription",

Kanhri

Aparanta, there can be no doubt that the

ChutuN succeeded the

Andhr.i-^ not oidv in

Mv^ore but

also in

Aparanta, near Bombay.

The prince Skanda-Xaga-Sataka

not a Chutu because hi> motlier was
father

was

or Sivaskanda-Xaga was
a

Chutu

Mahratlii; to which dvnasty did he belong

His

princess.
?

It is

- 50 probable that he was a descendant of the kings that eigncd over

i

the territory of Chitaldroog,

We

know

Chitaldroog

that

is

where we find the

inscription of Sivaskanda-Nga-Sta, and to
the
west of
Chitaldroog, on the site of an ancient city whose name is said
to have been Chandravali where found in 1888 some leaden coins
(Ep. Ind. Vol VII, p. 51, see plate III, fig A, B, C; and Rajison;
only about

PI. VIII,

fifty

No. 233

miles east of Banavsi,

et

page 57) which beai the name of Sadakana-

The

emblems

on the obverse, a
humped bull standing, and on the reverse, tree and chaitya.
This Sadakai'ia (Satkarnni) who bears the title of Mahrathi
is probably an ancestor of
Mahrathi Satakana or Sta who
Kalalya-IMaiirathi.

made
are

the grant of a

Mahrathis;

Xaga

at

are,

Banavasi.

they have the same

have both reigned

in

the

same

In fact, both of
title

country,

and they

Sta,

of

the

in

them

vicinity

of

and Chitaldroog. The kings of this country were

Ngas; Mr. Rice says (Mysoie and Coorg from inscriptions
" page 202)
"The early inhabitants of the country were
" probably to a great extent, specially on the female side, Ngas,
" or serpent worshipper^), that is, of the cobra, which is the
Malavalli

"

Nga

"

first

In the Stavhana inscription of

or second century, the king's daughter

Banavasi of the

named Ngasr
may add that this
is

and she makes the gift of a Nga". We

queen is named Nga-Mula-Nik in the Kanhcri inscription, that her son's name was Skanda-Nga-Sata; that the
Banavasi inscription is engraved beside the image of a Nga;
and that the country around Malavalli and Banavasi was once
called Ngakhanda. It is probable that these Mahrathi>-Ngas
''

who

bore, like the

Andhras,

the

title

of

Stakarni,

are

the

Andhrabhrityas or servants of the Andhras, who, as mentioned

in the Purnas, succeeded the Stavahanas.

The Mykadoni inscription (Report on Epigraphy for

191516; Madras, G. O. No. 99; 29th Aug 1916, Part II, >Co. 1,
page

112 inscription

No. 509 of Apendix B.

See also
Ep. Ind. Vol. XIV., page 153) S2iys that this village was in the
territory governed by the great general (Mahsiipati) Karndanka (Skanda-Nga) and w^e know that Mykadoni is not far

from Chitaldroog. The Mykadoni inscription

8th year of the reign of Siri-Pulumavi.
is

Who

is

is

this

dated in the

Pulumvi?

It

noteworthy that we do not find here the name Vsisthputra


wliich

is

51

peculiar lo the insonpliDiis ut

Mykadoni

Besides, the alphabet of the

archaic than that

ol tlie

Sukthankar of Poon^i

llic

son

ol

Gautuinipiitra.

inscription

much

is

less

inscriptions ol great Pulumvi. Mr. V. S.

has edited the Myakadoni inscrip-

who

has observed this detail: "The alphabet resembles that

XIV.,
of the log.i^ayyapeta inc. of Purisadata" (Kp. Ind, Vol.

tion

page 153); and the inscriptions of Piirisadaia at Jaggayyapeta

have been attributed to the 111 century by all the authors who
have spoken of it and no one doubts that Purisadata reigned
inscription

alphabets

is

of

all

than the

other S^tavhana inscriptions and very

the

therefore very probable

kadoni inscription
in

Mykadoni

the

of

much more developed

incontestably

is

alphabet

resembles those of the Chutus and the ancient Pallavas.

much
It

The

Satavhanas.

the

after

the

list

raised,

the

Pulumvi

of the

My-

the la^t king of the Stav.ihana dynasty

is

tie

that

is

The only

Ma^ya Purna.

given in the

that can be

that

inscription

is

dated

objection
in the

8th

year of his rei^n, whereas the Matsya Purna gives him only
But we have already said that we must
a reign of 7 years.

not relv on the duration of the reigns given

Purna;

this objection

reasons to

therefore

is

worthless,

Mykadoni

think that the

the reign of the last of the Satavhanas.

.affirm that this

know

Pulumvi

is

in the

and there are

inscription
In

any

Matsya

is

case,

dated in

we may

not the M)n of Gautamiputra.

We

from the Xsik and Amarvati

very great difference between them

the alphabet of this king

and there is a
believe that there must bean interand that of M\kadoni;
val of more than a century between the two Pulumvis,
and that the Pulumvi of Mykadoni is certainly one of the
The discovery of the Mykadoni inscriplater Satavhanas.
tion has a very important bearing on this subject; it enlightens

inscriptions;

causes of the

the
in

fact, that

in

fall

the

of

<Sth

the

year

Stavhana dynasty:

we

learn,

of the last king of this dynasty,

that
Mahsnpati
was the
of all the country extending
is to say the military governor
to the South of the Tungabhadra not far from Chitaldroog

certain

and

Skanda-Xga

B.uiav-i.

Siva-Skanda-Xga who is mentioned in the,Banavsi

inscription had probably a glorious reign, as, even in the time
of the Kadambas, they remembered his name: in fact, an

 52
inscription

Malavalli (No. 1196 ot Liklers's

at

surely an inscription of an

list),

which

is

Kadaniba king, says that

king Sivaskandavarnian reigned over that comitry at one time
(see the Plate in Ep. Carn. Vol. VII., facing the page 252).
ancient

Kadamba

Further, the celebrated

Tlgunda
which Satakarni and

inscription at

mentions a Siva temple in that town "at

other kings had formerly worshipped
(Ep.
'

Ind.,

page 24).
We do not know any other name given to
except that of Stakarnni-Siva-Skanda-Nga.
the

Vol VIII.,

this

dynasty

The same Tlgunda inscription says that Mayraarman,

first king of the Kadamba dynasty, conquered the country

by fighting with the Pailavas. It is therefore certain that the

Ngas were succeeded by the Pailavas.

No. 2

Three

sets of

The early Pallava

ikings.

copper-plates written in

Prakrit in a very

archaic alphabet prove that, in the III century of the Christian

era,

on the southern banks of the Krishna, the

the Pailavas of Bhradvja gotra who had Kfch-

there reigned

dynasty of

puram

for their capital.

(1)

The

plates

found

Mayidavolu (Guntiir

at

district)

(Ep,

Ind, Vol. VI., page 84) say that in the 10th year of the reign of

whose name

his father

mahrja)

not given,

Sivaskandavarnian

of Dhaiiakada,
(2)

is

The

i.

e.

plates

is

Bappa-dva,

(Yuva-

Amarvat.
(Ep.

Ind.,

reign of Sivaskandavarman

whose name

heir -apparent

gave an order to the governors

Hirahadagalli (Bellary district)

father

the

Vol

2)

found

at

are dated in the 8th year of the

who

confirms a

not given, but

These

page

I.,

who

gift

is

made by

his

designated by the

mention the province of

Sthani which we know (from the Myakadoni inscription) to

title

of

be a portion of the Bellary

(3)

The

plates

found

plates

district.

in the Guntiir

district

(Ep. Ind.

\'ol.

VIII., page 143) are dated in the reign of

Vijayaskandavarman
and commemorate a grant made by Chrudvi, wife of the
heir-apparent

mother of

(Yuva-mahrja)

a prince

Vijaya-Buddhavarman

whose name ends

in

"kura",

J.

and

F. Fleet

 53
who was

the Hist to edit these plates in the

(see phite facing pa<^e

"two

letters,

illegible

101

containing

here".

Dr.

and note

Indian
101

p.i^'c

23,

the hrst part of a proper

Hnltzseh,

Antiquary
has

said:

name, aie

document,
name as Buddhyankura. In
be a surname and not the name.
identify Yuva-Mahraja Siva-vSkandavarin

recditing

this

believed he could read the whole

that case,
is

It

man

it

seems

to

possible to

Myidvolu with the king Siva-vSkandavarman of Ilirahadagalli. The king is calledSiva-Skandavarman in the Hirahadagalli plates and Vijaya-Skandavarman in those of the (juntiir district. But the words Siva and Vijaya are prefixes and we shall see
oi

m the

Kadamba documents such names

as Siva-]\Irigsavarman

Siva-Mandhlrivarman, and also Siva-Krishna (Bennur plalc>;

Belur, 245; Ep. Carn., Vol. V).
\Vc find even the prefix SnVijaya-Siva (Ep. Carn., Vol VII., page

been

identification has

made

Besides,

7.).

in regard

a similar

to the dynasty of the

Ngas: we have identihed Siva-Skanda-Xga of Banavsi with

Skanda-Xagu

of Kanheri.

The alphabet

of the

Hiiahadagalli

plates closely resembles that of Charudvi's grant.

no serious difticulty in
putting together the three documents, Myidvlu,
Hiiahadagalli and Guntiir district
and establishing the following
1

therefore

genealogy

think that there

is

A
(designated by the

title

of

king

"Bappa-Deva"

in

the

Hir.dia^ag.illi

plates)
I

The king Skandav.uman

(with

the prefix

plates;

Siva

and with the

in

the

Mvidavolu and Hirahada-'alli

prefix Vijaya in the plates

of

the

Guntiir

district.)

The prince Buddhavarman

(with the preiix "X'iiaya'"; husband of Charudevi)
I

A
(designated by the surname of

prince

[Buddhyanjkura

Guntur district).
In what epoch did these princes reign

in

the

It

is

plates

of the

that

they

succeeded

the Stavhanas

iii

fact,

certain

the three

docu-

-54

ments prove that they reigned on the southern bank of the

Krishna (particularly at Amarvati) and in the Sthani
since

district;

up

the

to

the

Stavhana

quarter of the

dynasty probably subsisted

and since the

Myidavhi plates are certainly contemporaneous witli those
of Kondamdi [it is certain that these plates were en -raved,
as we shall see, shortly after the fall of the ndhras] it is probable that tlie king surnamed Bappa-dva reigned in the second
first

century,

III

quarter of the III century (225-250 A. D.

On

the other

Gupta had

hand we know

that

in

).

338 A.

I;.

Samudra-

adversary a king of Knchi

named VishnuThis king was therefore probably an immediate succes-

gopa.

as his

[Buddhyan]kura,

sor of

ascended the throne.

Thus then, with the historical information in our possession, we can imagine the following chronologv
2nd quarter of the 111 centurv.
(1) "Bappa-dva"
if

this prince

(2)

Skandavarman

(3)

Buddhavarman

(4)

[Buddhyanjkura.
Vishnugpa

(5)

No.

we

3rd quarter

of

the

III

century.

4th quarter

of

the

III

century.

quarter

of

the IV century.

of

the

1st

2nd quarter

The origin

IV century.

of the Pallavas,

Before handling the subject of the origin of the

must here specify an important point.

Pallavas,

we suppose that the word "Pallava" signifies a

we must inquire by which invasion this tribe got
tribe,
possession of the kingdom of Kiichpuram;
if, we
admit
that the word "Pallava" is the name of a family,it is enough,
If

to

find

the

explain

out

of this

by

presence

what

of

political

the

event

Pallavas in Knchi,

one

of

the

to

members

succeeded to the throne; here, no doubt is

because, the Myidavlu, Hirahdagalli and Guntr

family

possible,

which come up to the 111 century of the Christian era, never mention a Pallava nation but only speak of a
royal family one of whose members was king at Knchi, and
we shall now proceed to answer the following question what
political event was it that placed on the throne a prince who
district plates,

belonged to

a family

named

"Pallava"

m w

In 1917

r"l'''i^^

ot the readers to a

key
I..

tliis

t^

V..1 11,

'-'ll'ivaV, p;ii;e 23.)

document

wliich

became

Xaija

tliiiik

aitciilion

iln

can

us

.^ivc

tlie

first

member

of this dvna^ty

thronr In man-yin-^ the dau.c^htcr of

that the s(^n born of thi^ union \va< named

kin.u, .^ot tin-

and

kin.ti

Can

Skanda.

aicu

vcfse 6 of the Vlrplaiyam plates, (S. I.

hisPait V; pa:^e 510) in .^ivin-f a summarv of the

problem

lory of the Pallavas, savs'^fhat the

that

this tra lition that

we

lind in the Fallava

documents

be verified by authentic history?

A lar^e number of coins havin.L; for emblems the "ship with

two masts" on the obverse and the "L'jjain symbol" i>n the reverbetween Madras and
se has been found on the Coromandel coast
part
Cuddalore. These ship-couis seem to be special to that
of the coast that

The

'aijjain

is

in

the

svmbol"

neii^hbouriiood

indicates

the

of

Kiichipuram.

Slavhana

dynasty.

the inscription
Mr. Rapson (page 22) has been able to decipher
Pulumvi";
on these coins; he has read it to be "Sri
thus,

all

Coromandel coast which is

Knchipuram was under the domination

that part of the

vicinity of

in

the

of

the

KnSo, the Pallavas established themselves at

The alpliabet of the
the Stavlianas.
after

Sfavhanas.

chipuram
Myidavlu

plates proves that

contemporary

of the last

Siva-Skandavarman was nearly

ndhra

kings.

So.

it

is

at

the

time

Stavhanas that a member of the Pal lava

quUe possible that
family ascended the throne of Knchi; it is
king was "Bapixi-deva" father of Siva-Skandavar-

of the

this

fall

of the

first

was called
man. We also note that tlie son of "Bappa-dOva"
king having
Skanda and tradition has it that the first Pallava
Skanda.
^
married a Xaga princess had a son named
at
Bala,-Sri
Wlu-n spt-aking of the famous inscription of
X.asik.

we have

Palhavas
said that Gautami]nitra vanqtiished the

line 5) in 7<S A. D. Again.

(Ep. ind., Vol Vlll.. PI I. No. 2,
wlio was
wc learn from the Girnar inscription that SuvisAkha
D. was a Pahlava (Junathe minister of Rudradman in 150 A.

Vol VIII., page 37 and Plate line

A. D.
Thus the word which was written Palhava m 78
19).
when whc see the
was written Pahlava in 150 A. D.,andwc note,
resembles the
Girnar inscription, that the compound letter "hla"
m Prkr.t
double 11. Besides, in Myidavlu plates written
simple manner
question of letters has been solved in a very

gadh inscription; Ep.

Ind..

this

-- 56 -.
wrote Paliva.

the}*

This can correspond to

Prakrit the consonants are not doubled.

plates

is

it

Later on,

Pallava will be
of

names

In the

written as Pallava though they are

when

the

documents were written

understood

leads us to think

mean

to

the

liiat

Pallava

for

Hirahadagalli

also

Prakrit.

in

in Sanskrit, the

"sprout".

ancient

in

The

kings

word

identity

Kfch

of

belonged to the same family as the minister of Rudradman.

He lived in 150 A. D. and we know Pallava kings reigning at
Kfchi in aboui 225 A. D. How did a member of this family
that

we

Kfch

find in

Surshtra in

150 A. D. establish himself in

The Vlrplaiyam plates give the answer to this

became king by marrying the daughter of

a Nga king and all the documents in our possession regarding the Xagas and the Pallavas seem to confirm this propoThe Girnar inscription says that Rudradman reigned
sition.
in the province of Aparanta, that is, in the neighbourhood of
Kanhri, and that his minister was a Pahlava and it is in this
same Aparnta in. Kanhri that we find (1) the inscription of
the daugliter of Rudradman, (2) the inscription of Nga-MulaNika, mother of Skanda-Nga-Stakarni.
The latter inscription
is written in such an archaic alphabet that it was first believed
to be an inscription of Pulumavi (Rapson, page LUI).
Thus
the minister of Rudradman and the mother of the Nga prince
have lived ahno-^t at the same time and in the same country.
We must not forget that the daughter of Rudradman married

question

a Pallava
:

Stakarni.

Moreover, the

Hirahadagalli

have been

plates

found in the Pedlary district, not far from Chitaldroog, where

have been found the coins of the Mahrathis; these plates are
written

in

an

alphabet

almost identical

with

that

of

the

Banavasi insciiption; the Hirahadagalli plates are dated in the

reign of Siva-Skanda-Pallava and the Banavsi inscription

mentions Siva-Skanda-Nga. Thus the Ngas were the neighbours and the contemporaries of the Pallavas.
There is again a very peculiar point of resemblance
between these two dynasties; we have said that Siva-Skanda-

Nga was a

iVIahrathi

who

reigned

in

the

Chitaldroog

region where the coins of a Mahrathi have been found. These

coins bear for

emblem

VII, page 51, plate

III.,

No. 233, and page

57),

"humped

bull standing" (Ep. Ind. Vol.

figures A, B, C;

and

it

is

the

and Rapson,

"humped

well

PI.

VIII,

standing"

?/

ihai

is

represcnied

Skandavaiman

we know

(see

the seals of the

Ep.

Ind.,

Guntur

district

Vol VIII, plate facing

plates of

pas^e 144);

was the crest of the Pa! lavas.

All that we have said above seem to show that a Pallava
prince who was a native of the territory adjoining Aparnt.i
married the daughter of Siva-Skanda-XAi^a, and became king
of Kiichi, after the downfall of the Siavhana dynastv; and
that the bull

born of the marriago of the first Pallava king with

the Xga princess bore, according to the custom of the Hindus,
the name of his grandfather Siva-Skanda,
that the son

Upon
century

is

the

whole, the

history of the

not well understood; however,

our possession seem to show that

in

ihe

Deccan

all
first

the

in

the

ill

documenU

in

cjuaiter of the III

Stavahana king was called Pulumvi; the

empire was governed by ijie Maharathis who belonged to
certain families that were related to one another nnd bore the
century the

names

of

last

Chutu, Xga and Pallava;

replaced the Stavhanas.

it

is

these

families

that

We

The expedition

2.

know

tliat

a pillar in

an inscription which

is

of Saniiidra-Giipla,

the

t'oit

not dated but which has been engraved

during the reign of Samudra-Gupta.

is

Allahabad ennlain^

ol

This

inscription

intended to glorify the emperor and which

history

of

work "Gupta

The

reign has been published bv

his

|.

which
ns

the

F. Fleet in

his

gives

inscriptions".

interpretation of this

inscription

has given

room

to

and some of them great ones. A few of them

have been corrected. For instance, the text contains the word
"Kaurala"; Fleet (Gupta Insc, page 7, footnote 1. ) has said
that this word "is obviously a mistake" and has corrected it
Kerala; thence it has been
into "Kairala" and then into
concluded that Samudra-Gupta advanced as far as the Chra

numerous

kingdom

errors

in

This identification of Kauria

South India.

witli

Malabar coast seemed to be confirmed by two other

identifications: Kanttura with Kttra=Pollchi (Coimbatre
District) [see J. R. A. S,, 1897, page 29] and Palakka with
the

But now Kauttura is identified with Kothoor in

Ganjm, and Palakka with a capital of the same name which
was situated to the South of the Krishna and which is menPlght.

tioned in
29).

many

Moreover,

Pallava
I

Pallavas," pages 14

the banks

copper-plates

have myself,

and

(J.

in 1917,

15, said that the

of the Krishna

R. A.

S.,

1905,

my work

in

Pallavas

having their capital

at

page

"The

reigned on

Knch;

so,

Samudra-Gupta was able to fight with Vishnugpa of Kfch

without any necessity to advance to the capital and I ventured
the opinion that they probably met on the banks of the
:

Krishna and perhaps even in the north of the river as we may

suppose that the Pallava king went forward to meet the Gupta
emperor. Thus Samudra-Gupta's expedition turns out to be
co'^siderablv

numerous

reduced.

However,

errors to be corrected

Samudr^i-Gupta must be

and

set right.

think that
that the

there

are yet

whole history

of


(1)

Mr. Viiiccnl A.

ried

on

liis

tliat

of

kings

the

he

that

therefore

place at

ot

ilie

that the latter

Daksliinpatha
kings

tlie

followed

has

opinion

of

speaking of the

before

Aryyvartta.

the

clironological

order;

am

the south took

the expedition to

that

cannot but

beginning of the reign, about 335 or 340 A. D.

authors affirm that thehill MahOndragiri

(2) Certain

tioned

Ganges before making

ended about 350 A. D.

of ihe inscription speaks of the expedition

of

expedition against
ihink

Siimiidr.i-Gupta car-

canip.ii^ii in ilio vallcv of the

However, the author

against

Suiiili btlicveb ihat

Deccan and

tlie

59

However,

in the inscription.

is

men-

the passage "paishtapuraka-

maliendragirikautturakasvmidatta" means: Mahndra of Paishtapura and Svmidatta of Girikauttura, that

Kottura which

on the

is

Mr. Kielhorn

Vol.

Ind.,

No.

VI.,

Kunala" mentioned

is

to say, the fort of

therefore

studying the Aihole

in

no reference

in

named MahOndragiri.

the insci iption to the hill

(3)

There

hill.

is

1,

page

})

in

this

uiscription with

has

identified

inscription (Ep.

"the
the

water

kingdom

Kaurla mentioned

in the

pretation has been

adopted without any discussion and

Allahabad inscription.

of

This inter-

everybody admits that Samudra-Gupta defeated the king

was reigning "on the banks of the Kolleru (Colair) lake."
not however see any reason

of

why Kaurla should be

now
who
I

do

identified

The names themselves do not resemble each

think that the word Kaurala must be read as Koraja and
other.
must be translated as "the Korla kingdom" and that the Colair
Kunla.

with

lake

is

not mentioned in the Allahabad inscription.

(4) In

1898

that Airandapalla

(J.

S.,

1898,

page

369)

Fleet

alfirmed

must be identilied with Erandol, the chief

same name in tiie Khandcsh district

the Bombay Presidency. The only poof was the similarity of

town
of

R. A.

of a subdivision of the

the names.

At once,

<ill

the historians .idmittcd this

interpre-

and supposed that Samudr.i-Gupta, after having gone

as far as Knchi returned to the North of India travelling
through the vicinity of Bombay; and then, they identified the

tation

"Uaivarstra" of the Allahabad inscription with Maharashtra.

This identification of Airandapalla with Erandol is surely

wrong. In the Allahabad inscription, Airandapalla is mentioned

it is therefore on
immediately after the citadel of Kottura hill
;

the coast of Orissa

tiiat

we must

search for Eran^ipnlla.

Th

 60
Siddhantam plaies of Dvndravarman (Ep. ind. Vol. XII,
page 212) were issued to make a grant to an inhabitant of
Erandapali, a town probably near Chicacole and which is, in
the Airandapalla of the inscription of

likelihood,

all

Samudra-

Gupta.
(5)

The

quite wrong.

identification of Dvarashtra with

set of

copper-plates discovered in

Maharashtra is
1908-9 (No, 14)

Ksimkta in the district of Vizagapatani mention.s the grant

made by the E. Chalukya king Bhima I. of a village situated in
Elamaiicha Kalingadsa which formed part of the province

at

Dvarshtra. "Elamaiichi-Kalingadsa

called

" interpreted

perhaps to be

is

which Elamaiichi
" (The modern Yellamanchil was the chief town" (see Report
on Epigraphy for 1908-1900 G.O. n, 538
28 July 1909.
Part II, No. 59, page 109).
as

"the Kalihga-country
I

of

To conclude

a )Airandappalla

is

Ganjam

situated in the

and Dvarshtra is in the Vizagapatani district.

have now proved that Samudra-Gupta never went

think

district

to

the

western part of the Deccan.

So the Allahabad

Mahndragiri,

Plght,

Pollchi,

inscription does not at

Kndsh and Maharashtra.

inscription are situated

All

on the

all

speak of Kerala,

Erandl in
the kingdoms mentioned in the
Colair

lake,

east coast of the

expedition was solely confined to this coast.

The
did Samu-

Deccan.

How far

dra-Gupta advance ? Since Vishnugopa of Kichi reigned on the

banks of the Krishna it is probable that he met with Samudra-

Gupta

in that region.

(6) It

of

has always been admitted

Samudra-Gupta

till

now

W'as a very glorious one.

that the expedition

However

the ins-

which indicates the contrary :iin fact

it is said that Samudra-Gupta captured the kings and afterwards
and it is confirmed by the fact that none of the
released them
kingdoms of the Deccan remained in the possession of the
Guptas. It is probable that Samudra-Gupta first subjugated
some kings, but that very soon he encountered superior forces
and was therefore obliged to relinquish his conquests and
cription contains a detail

return rapidly to his

that

\\Q

presents

more

jl

own

state.

After

all

those

rectitications

have just made, the expedition of Samudra-Gupta

itself

new

before our eyes in quite another form

Al.xander .larching

it is

victoriously through

no

South

61

was simply the unfortunate attempt of a king from the

North who wanttd to annex the coast of Orissa but completely
failed.
About A. D. 340, Samudra-Gupta lefl his capital
Ptaliputra and marched directly towards the South. First he
conquered Southern Kosala where the king Mahendra was
India

it

reigning in the vicinity of Sirpur and Sombalpur.

He

crossed the forests that are to the south of Sonpur and

there

the small

kingdom

then

found

Mahakntra which mean> "the

great forest" and where Vyghra-rja, "the tiger king" was
reigning. Then he reached the coast of Orissa. Mantarja, king
of Korla,
citadel

Mahendra

on the top of

of

of Pishtapura,
a hill,

Svmidatta of Kottura,

and Damana

of Erandapali tried U

him but were captured. Samudra-Gupta ikjw j^npared to

make new conquests when he was opposed bv a confederac\all the kings that reigned near the mouths of the Godavari and
the Krishna, the most powerful of them being \'ishnug6pa, the
stop

<

Pallava king of

Kiichi.

Avamukta, Hastivarman of

who

The

other kings were

V'engi,

Xilarja

<tf

Ugrasna of Palakka, Kubcra

Dvarshtra and Dhanaiijaya whose capital

was Kosthalapura. Samudra-Gupta being repulsed by the kings
of the Eastern Deccan, abandoned the conquests he had made
in

reigned

in

the coast of Orissa and returned home.

Of
there

is

all

the kings

only one

mentioned

who

is

known

in
in

the

Allahabad

other ways;

whose name hgures in the Vyalr

The Pallavas" pages 20 and 23).
of Kiichi

it is

inscription,

V'ishnugopa

inscription

(see

62

The

3.

Wc now

Pallavas from 340 to 610 A. D.

propose to study the

the

ot

liis;ory

kings wlio

have reis^ned after Vishnugopa, the adversary of Saniudra-Gupta

about 340 A. D., up to Mahndravarm ui 1, the adversary of
Pulalasin

II.

about 610 A. D.

In chapter
that the

II

of

my work "The

Pallavas",

have shown

Vyalr inscription enables us to construct the follow-

ing genealogy

Kumravishnu
I

Skandavaruian

Viravarman
I

Skandavarman

Yuvaniahrja Vishnugopa

Simhavarman
Skandavarman

Simhavarman

Nandivarman

Vishtuigpa
i

Simhavarman
Simhavishnu

Mahndravarman
1916, Part

II,

mgdu No. 1 plates (G. O. No. 99,

No. 3), mgdu No. 2 (G. O. No. 99,

1916, Part

II,

No.

In fad, the

Mngalr

4),

(Ep.

Ind.,

(Ind. Ant., Vol. V, page 154)

920, 4th Aug, 1914.

genealogy

Pikira

Part

II.

No.

1)

Vol VIII,

I.

29th Aug.

29th Aug.
p.

159,)

and Chra (G. O. No.

give

us

the

following

 63
Kumiavislinii
I

Skatulavannan
I

V'irav.irman
I

Skandavannaii
I

Yiivamahrja Vishnugopa
I

Sirhliavarn-.an
I

Vishnugpa.
It

must be noted

the reii^n

(^f

the

witli the title of

dated
that the Chiira plates wliich are

king give liim for

last

in

grandfather Vishnngopa
other

Maharaja, whereas the

documents

call

importance,

little
him Yuvamahria. This detail is of very
give us incorrect details about
for the documents sometimes

grandfather of a reigning sovereign.

therefore be accepted with certainty.

ihc

The copper
''O)

plates

Uruvnipalli (Ind. Anl. Vol.

of

V, page

Skandavarman, Viravarman, SkanabVuvamahrja Vishuugopa, which conforms

give us the succession

davaniian.

Tin- gcncaL.gv can

solutelv to the

dated
one given above; but these plates arc

to
named Simhavarman whose rel.itionship
The most natural >upposit.on
not given.

the reign of a king

the other kings

is

elder brother
would be to take this Simhavarman to be the
the son
Yuvamaharaja Vishnugopa and consequentlv
Ind. \ ol 111.
Skandavaiman. The L'dayeudiram plates (Ep.

142) give the following genealogy

of
ot

p.

Skandavarman
I

Simhavarman
I

Skandavarman
I

Naiidivarman

Skandavarman. One
Simhavarman of
may therefore be tempted to believe that the
of Viravarman.
plates was the grandson

which we hnd

the

Udayendiram

Simhavarman, son

of a

 64
The Vaylr
thrown a

'The Palhvas", chapter II) has

on tliis problem since it gives us the

inscripiion (see

final sohition

following sories

(23) Viravarman,

Skandavarman,

(24)

(25) Sirhhavarmaii,

Skandavarman,
(27) Nandivarman.
(26)

The Vhirplaiyam
II.,

Part V, give

plates (South Indian

Inscriptions, Vol.

us a brief history of the Pallavas of Knch

afterhaving spoken, in verse

Nandivarman, these plates say:

"Then from the king named Simhavarman...was born the
victorious Siriihavishnu". According to this passage it would
appear that Simhavarman, the father of Simliavishnu was the
9,

of

successor but not the son of Nandivarman, because we have

here "then" and not "from him" and this supposition has

been completely confirmed by the Vyalr inscription which

gives the

f(~Ilo\ving scries

(29)

Simhavarman,

(30) Vishnugpa,
(31) Sirhhavarman,
(32; Sirhhavisl'inu,

(33)

Thus

!t

Vishnugpa

t..!l(Avs

of ihe

So

Simhavishnu

that

Chra

cription, as well as in the

as the son

Mahndravarman

und successor of a

then, in

beginning of

my

\v;i>

liie

grandson of

Indeed, in ihe Vyalr ins-

plates.

Chra

(1).

V is! inugjxi "figures

king named Simhavarman.
plates, this

opinion, the genealog)'

have given

at tlie

chapter can be considered as correct.

We Imvo thus utilised ;illthe documents that wc have, with
the exception only of the Chendalr plates (Ep. Ind. Vol. VIII,
this

page 233), which give the following genealogy-

Skandavarman
Kumaravishnu

(I.)

Buddhavarman
I
,

Kumravishnu

Up

to this time, all the

(II.)

king of KaJichi.

authors that have tried to connect

genealogy with

this

completely

failed.

propounded

hiimhiv

entirely "uutcnahk-."

copy
I

now admit

belonged to

Prakrit

confess

is

is

to say,

300 A.D.,

circ.

circ.

Recently
are the results

There

(1)

that

not possible,

[ilaies

is

for

if

the text of these

be

probably

will

it

are in Sanskrit

and

in

their

century,

a special study of this question

and these

phraseology clearly points to

that

examined have
the theory I have

just

beginning of the IV century.

at the

but the Chendalur

we

thai

have supposed that these plates were a

that this

"'The Pal lavas" pages 17 and 22

document dated

of a

plates

one

the

my work

in

6=^

middle of the

ilie

450 A.D.

made

iiave arrived at

so great a resemblance between the phraseo-

is

logy of the Chendalur plates and those of Uruvupalli that there

can be no doubt (hat the two grants were nearly contemporaneous.

were

Hultzsh has remarked that whole sentences

Professor

common
(2)

to both these

From

documents.

a pala?ographic point of view, Professor Hultzsh

has compared the alphabet of the Chendalur plates and those

Mgalr,

of Uruvupalli,
letters

Pikira

and has established

that

"ka" seemed to be more developed

"ra" and

in

the
the

Chendalur document and that it must therefore be more

modern. When
myst^lf examined the alphabet of these four
I

documents, I observed that, if the letters "ra" and "ka" were in

fact developed a little more, there were as a set-off other letters

which were developed a little less and

all that one can say on comparing the letters individually is
the Chendalur document was contemporaneous with the

such as "ha," "ya,"

that
that

etc,

other three.

comparing the letters, we compare the

general aspect of the writings, the Chendalur plates appear
to be a little irregular and disorderly which is a characteristic of
But,

if,

instead of

the ancient documents, whereas, the plates of Uruvupalli,

galr, Pikira possess the order .and

more modern

regularity

writings.

However,

much

according to

that

Mn-

belong to

do not believe that, in

general, a comparison of the alphabets can give us any very
Not only the plates of the Pallavas but
correct information.
also those of the Gangas and the Kadambas prove that the
alphabets

differ

engraved the

plates;

the

and the documents

scribes

nf the

who have

same

reign

do

 00
not sometimes resemble one anotlier.

Lastly,

think that there

no need to compare the ChendaU'ir plates dated from Kichpuram with those of Uruvupalli dated from Palakkada,
Mtngalr dated from Dasaiiapura, and Pikiia dated from
Mnmatura: the towns of Palakkada, Da^anapnra and Mnmatura
were probably in the Gimtur district, that is, far away from
Knchpuram and the difference of the countries fully explains

is

the difference in the alphabets,

(3)

We

have said that the Chendaliir plates were surely

almost contemporaneous with those of Uruvupalli and we have

also pointed out that the alph ibet of the plates does not enable
us to say

if

Kumravishnii

II.

of

who

Chandalr

reigned

in

Knch was the predecessor or successor of Simhavarman of

Uruvupalli who probably reigned at Knch while his brother
the Yuvamahrja V'ishnugpi reigned

Palakkada.

vishnu

II.

grand-son

Now we
did not
of

the

shall

reign
latter,

find that
after

it

over
is

province

the

certain that

Sirhhavarman.

In

Nandivarman, reigned

Kumrafact,

at

of

the

Knch

and we learn from the grant of Vclrplaiyam that Nandivarman had for successors Simhavarman
and Sirhhavishnu who was surely reigning at Knch because
he conquered the Chla kingdom; after Sirhhavarman, we

(Udayendiram

plates)

cannot find a place for the dynasty of Chendalur. Besides,

the Vyalr inscription places the series Skandavarman-Kum-

ravishnu-Buddhavarman before the series Simhavarman-Skandavarman-Nandivarman; and the Vclrplaiyam plates place
Kumarvishnu and Buddhavarman (mentioned in verse 8)
before Vishnugpa and Nandivarman (mentioned in verse 9).

There
kings

is

therefore

room

to

tiiink

that

Skandavaiman
I

Kumarvishnu

(I.)

Buddhavarman

(the

Kumarvishnu (II.)
donor of the Chendalur plates)

the

series

of

 6;
h;ive rcij^ned .u Kilchi bclurc tlio series

Sirhhavarin.ui
(niculioiiccl

(he rruviip.illi pl.ito)

SkuiuUis

ai lu.ui

Xaiidivanu.in,

and owin,^ to the resemblance between the Chendakir and

rruvupaUi plates, Kuniiavi>hnu II would have been the
immediate predecessor of Simhavarman at Kfchi.
At tiie end of 1915, Mr. C. R. Krishnamachari, Telugu
Assistant

in

the Epigraphical Office of

Madra>,

has

made

consider to be of very great importance for

the instory <jf the Pallavas, 1 mean tiie discovery of the riigodu
Xu. 1 plate^ (Report on Epigraphy, G.O. No. 99, 29th Aug. 1916;

discoverv which

P<ut.

II.,

page 113) which gives us the following genealogy

Kumaravishnu
Skandavarm^in
1

Viravarmam
Skandavarman.

We

must note,

first

of

all,

that the

last of

these kings did

from
not probably reign at Knchi since the document is dated
Trhbrpa. Who then reigned at Kichi when Skandavarman
the
is
reigned in the GunUir district ? As this Skandavarman
and the Yuvamahrja Vi>hnug6pa of
we may suppose that the king who
V'iravarman and Skandavaiman of Om-

father of Siriihavarman

the Uruvupalli

plates,

rei'Mied at the time of

"odu No. I was Kumaravishnu II of Chendalr.

the Omgodu Xo. 1 platen
But there is something more
find
mention a king called Kumaravishnu, a name which we
mentioned twice in the Chendalr genealogy; but since
:

Kumaravishnu 11. probably reigned at the time of Viravarman and his son Skanda, it is Kumaravishnu I. who can
No. 1.
be identified with the one of iiigo^i-i
So we obtain the following genealogy which agrees with
idl

the documeiil> that

we posscs>

 68
Skandavarmaii

(350-375 A. D.)

Kumravishnu

(375-400 A. D.)

I.

Buddhavannan

Skandavarmaii (400-425 A. D.)

Kumravishnu

(425-450 A. D.)

Viravarmaii

II.

(King of Kichi)
I

Skandavarman (450-475 A. D.)

Simhavarman

V. Vishnugopa (475-500 A, D.)

(King of Kchi)

(Governor of Pakikkada.)

Skandavarman

Simhavarman (500-525 A. D.)

Nandivarman

Vishnugopa varman (525-550 A. D.)

(King of Knchi)

(King of Pahikkada)
I

Simhavarman (550-575 A. D.)

Simhavishnu (575-600 A. D.)
(King of Knchi)

Mahndravarman
It is

name

of

to be observed that in the

Viravarman

probable that

is

(600-625 A. D.)

mgdu No.

not preceded by any

he did not reign

I.

but

title.

pkites

It is

died young

the

therefore

so

that

Kumravishnu II of Knchi was the contemporary of Skandavarman of Tambrapa and tiie immediate predecessor, at Knch,
of Sirhhavarman.

chronology given above, we have admitted that

Mahndra varman I. ascended the throne about 600 A. D. and
we have allowed for each generation an average of 25 years.
It is probable that the first of these kings, Skandavarman
In the

(350-375), was the son and successor of V^ishnugopa of Kich

who

reigned there from 325 to 350 at the

time of Samudra-

Gupta.
It is

mure easy

for us to

cunslruct the genealogy of

tljese

hW
kings tlun to compile their history,
^ive

us always the

names

cupper-plates

great-grandtather,

the

of

because the

grand-

tiie

and the father of the donor, Init these names are n(jt
followed by any historical details. Thev have words of praise
added to them which are purely conventional and are
father

applied indiscriminately

haphazaid

in a

The only thing we know

the

is

from 400

that

empire remained always divided

Tondaimandalam

manner

south with Kichi for

in the

the present district^ oi Guntiir and Xellore in

Menmatur

Palakkada,

Trtibrpa,

and

550 A.D.

to

.A. I),

two

into

any king.

to

kingdoms
capital and

il^,

the

noith

with

Dasanapura

for

capitals.

We

can also have some additional information

when

proceed to study the Gangas and the Kadambas.

From the time of Siriihavishnu the history of the

becomes

clear.

think

my book "The

said in

is

it

page

Pallavas,"

36

P.illavas

what

useless to repeat here

be

shall

\\i

h.ive

content

with saying here again that Simhavishnu vanquished the Malaya,

Pndya and Sirhhahi king and the

Kc'ralas, conquered the Chola kingdom and took possession of
that Mahndra was pursued bv
the banks of the Kvr
Kalabhra, Malava, Chola,

Pulak^in

II.

up

to the

defeating his adversary

banks of the Kvri, that he succeeded

at

the battle of Pullaliir and

the

in

Concerning the Pallava

dravarman
works

I.,

of

the

civilisation at the

reader

request the

hands
to

refer

preserved

Gunlur and

the country of Kanchi; but he lost the districts of

Xellore which remained

in

Chalukyas.

time of Mahetito

the

following

ConccniiiigAychilecfure

"Mahendravarman

inscription at

Conjeeveram," Pondicherry 1919.

Coiiceniing Sculpture

"Pallava Antiquities" Vol.

1.

Chap-

ter II.

Concerning Draina

dram

"The Mattavilsaprahasana;" Trivan-

Sanskrit Series Xo.

Concerning

Pot'sy

and Music

V.

"The

Concerning Painting and Dancc

entitled

paintings

"Pallava
at

painting,"

Sittannval.

P.illavas"

page 39.

"My forthcoming

paper

concerning the fresco-

 70
GENEALOGY OF THE PALLAVAS
(225-250)

"Bappii-dva"
!

Skandavarmaii

250-2 7n)

Buddhavarmaii (275-300)
I

[Bviddhvajkura (300-325).
"

Vishnugopa (325-350)
'
I

Skandavarman (350-375)
1

Kuiiiravishnu

Skandavarman

Buddhavarman (400-425)
,

II

Kinnravishnii

(375-400)

\ irav<jrman

(425-4r>0)

Skandavarman (450-475)

Yuvamahrja Vishnugopa

Siriihavarman (475-500)

Skandavarman

(500-52.-^)

Simhavarman
1

Nandivarman

(525-.^ 50)

Vishnugopa
I

Simhavarman (550-575)

Bhimavarman

Simhavishnu (575-600)

Mahndravarman

(600-630)

Buddhavarman
^

Narasimhavarman

(630-668)

Adityavarman

(668-670)

Gvindavarman

Mahndravarman

II

Param^varavarman

(670-690)

Hiranvavarman

(690-715)

Nandivarman 11(717-779)

'I

Narasimhavarman

II

Param^varavarman

II

(715-717)

Dantivarman (779-830)
1

Nandivarman

III

(830-854)

Nripatunga (854-880)
Aparjita (880-900)

CHAF^TKR

IV.

THE DYNASTIES OF CENTRAL DKCCAN.

The Vktaka^,

1.

now, no one has tliouj^ht of classing the Vktakas

it was
among ihc dynasties of Dcccan; it was believed that
the dynasties of the North.
a dynasty that had to be studied with
who classes the
An' example of this error is given by Kielhorn
Till

Vkt.ka

inscriptions

(nos.

618 to 624)

und(

the

rubric

"inscriptions of Northern India".

(<

Now

then,

wish

to

make

the

trying to compile the ancient

when

following

history

of

declaration

Deccan,

tiie

must be cla'^sed
have come to the conclusion that the Vkatakas
can
more,
among the dvnasties of the Deccan; and what is
have reigned
at^rm that, of all the dynasties of the Deccan that
glorious, the most
from the 111 to be VI century, the most
of honour, the
important, the one that must be given the place
has had the. greaone that has excelled all others, the one that
of the whole of the Deccan, is
test influence on the civilisation
I

Vkatakas.
unquestionably the illustrious dynasty of the
tmdermentioned document^: Chammak (Gupta Inscri-

The

ptions No. 55,

243),

Dudia

Vol. IX,

p.

p.

(P:p.

268).

No.

235), Siwani (Cupa Inscriptions,

Ind..

Vol

Professor

III, p.

K.

H.

258),

56

p.

Blght (Ep. Ind..

Pathak's plates

Ind.

Ant.,

I.
at Ajanta (A. S. \\
Vol. XLI, 1^12. p. 215). two inscriptions
in the Ghatotkacha
IV pp 53 I '4 and 129). and the inscription
64 and 138) give us
vol IX.
.

cave at'ciuwara

(A. S.

W.

1..

pp.

-Il
the following genealog}'

Vindvasakti

Pravaiasna

I.

Gautamiputra
I

Rudrasna

I.

Prithivishna L

Rudrasna IL
I

Piavarasna

II.

Narndrasna

a son

'

Dvascna

Prithivishna

II.

Harishna

The

Maharaja, Pravarasna I. was the son of

Vindvasakti, "the banner of the Vktaka race" mentioned in
the

first

Ajant

royal

(A. S.

A^vamedha.
is

I.,

Pravarasna

title.

father, as

W.

IV, p. 124)
I.

Gautamiputra,

without any

inscription

performed

sacrifices,

who

probably before his

died

seen by his never being a Maharaja,

daughter of Bhavan;i;a, king of the

BharaSivas,

especially

married^the
"w!io were

besprinkled on the forehead with the pure water of

(the

Gang)".

It is

Bhavanga who reigned near

the family of the Ngas of Padmvati.

prol>able that

the Ganges belonged lo

We

know nothing about Rudrasna

hna reigned

Bhgrath

for a long time.

I.

His son

Prithivis-

Mr. Vincent A. Smith attributes

an inscription (Gupta Inscriptions, No. 53 and 54, page 233)

at Nchn to this king; but when writing, Mr. Vicent A. Smith
has not taken into account the Blghat plates which show
that there .was a

dated in the

second Prithivishna.

time of

Prithivishna

Is
I.

or

the

Nchn

stone

Prithivishna

II ?

Judging from the form of the letters I would attribute it rather

the small circle at the head of the letters seems
to the second
:

than to the IV century [lor the History

of the Vktakas hv Mr. Vincent A. Smith, '^ep |. R. A. S.
to point rallier to the

April 1914,

The
^lina

317].

pa.i^c

verse of the Ajant in^^cription says that Prithivi-

Stli

vanquished the

I.

kin.cj

Knntala.

*'f

i.

Kadamba

th<?

e,

kincj.

The passage

that follows

can read nothing therein.

visible;

but

it

prince had the honour of

Chandra-Gupta

II.

is

so badly

The name

not probable

is

it

it

of

Rudrasna

has been omitted.

marrying

that

dania,i^ed

is

II.

In fact,

we
not
thi>^

daughter of

Prabhvati,

the illustrious emperor of the Gupta dynas-

Mr. Vincent A. Smith

326) thinks
that this marriage took place about 395 .A. D. and wc shall
It was at thi> time that Chandra-Gupta II.
admit this date.
took possession of the kingdom of the Wrstrrn Satrapas,
and it is certain that the Vktaka empire adjoined that of
and the conclusion of Mr. Vincent
the Western Satrapas
ty.

(J. R. A. S.

1914,

p.

A. Smith, which

dynasty,

is

very important for the chrunology of the

is

probably the right one.

Professor K. B.

215)

is

Pthak's plates (Ind.

a grant of land issued bv

Rudrasna

II,

Queen

during the minority

of

Ant.,

1912,

widow

Prabhv.iti,

her son

page

the

of

Yuvarja

seems therefore that Rudrasna 11. died shortly

after his marriage and that about the year 400 A. D. the queen
Prabhvati, the glorious daughter of the Gupta emper()r was the
Divakrasena.

It

regent of the V^xkataka kingdom.

We

have said that Prithivis-

hna 1. vanquished the king of Kuntala; and Kuntala is the

empire of the Kadambas the town of Hal->i, in Helgaum
district, which was at one time called Palsik (Halasige) was
originally in the Kuntala kingdom (Ep. Ind. Vol XI T., p. 299;
Kadamba inscription, verses 58-62). The Vktakas were the
neigbours of the Kadambas and the Vktaka kingdom extended
up to the modern town of Kurnool on the banks of the
Krishna.
We kntnv that the- famous temple of Srisailam or
Sri-Parvuta is in the Kurnool district; and a "story, as related
:

" in the Sthala

Mhtmya

" Chandravati,

a daughter of the

"

of the place, says that

him"
y

princess

Gupta king Chandragupta

the God on the S'"i^'iila hill and

conceived a passion for

" began offering every day a garland
" flowers to

the

of

jasamine

(mallik)

(Report on Epigraphv for r'14-191 5-G. O-

Mo J260,

25th Aug. 1915, Part II, Xo. 13, page 91).

This
information is very precious as throwing light on the origin of
the dynasty of the Vishnukundins that

we

In fact,
the

God

and

Mdhavavarman married

that the

first

study furthen

shall

dynasty had for

shall see that this

of Sri-Parvata;

we

its

tutelary deity,

king of this dynasty,

Vi^hnnknndin princess,

think

there can be no doubt that this princess

was the daughter or the

grand daughter of queen Prbhvati or Chandravati who was
the daughter of the Gupta emperor, wife of Rudrasna II.
mother of Pravarasna II. and a votary of the God of SriParvata.

probably during the reign

It is

of Pravarasna

II.

Vktakas who reigned over almost the whole of the

modern State of Havderabad, succeeded in founding the
dynasty of the Vishnukundins by placing on the throne of

that the

Vng, Mdhavavarman
princess and an adorer

We

do not know

We

if

who was the husband of a Vktaka

of the God of Sri-Parvata.

the Yuvarja Divakrasna

ascended

know for certain that a son of Rudrasna

II. reigned under the name Pravarasna II. The poet Bana in
his introduction to Harshacharita mentions, among the most
famous poets that had preceeded him, Pravarasna who was
The capital of Pravathe author of a work called Stukavya.
the throne.

only

rasna was called Pravarapura and was probably

that king.

It is

certain that

Pravarasna

south of Jabalpur (Jubbulpore)

now

in

the

II.

country

founded

reigned
in

in

by
the

which we

towns of Seuni (Seoni) and Elichpur ( Ilichpur ).

The Narbad separated his kingdom from that of the Guptas.
Chammak (Charma nka) is situated on the banks of Mahnad
Gupta Insc, page 241). We have said that the Vktka
empire extended further south. In 450 A. D. the Vktaka
find the

had

empire

the

following

boundaries

in

the

north

it

was separated by the Narbad from the kingdom of Ujjain

where reigned the illustrious emperor Kumra-Gupta I. In the
east was the vassal state of Raypur of which we shall speak
further the king Mah-Sudva had Sarabhapura for his capital.
In the south-east was situated the kingdom of the Vishnukundins over which Mdhavavarman I was reigning at
:

Vng.

In the south west, the

river

Bhm separated the

Kdambas whose king

Vktakas empire from that of the

Sntivarman was the " master of the entire Karnnta region";

one

was PalsiU

capitals

h\^

ol

Halsi

Bclgaum

in

).

In

the west the Traikiitas occupiedithe coast province of Aparnta,

Thus

the Vktakas reigned over

very central position and

througli

is

it

on empire that occupied a

this

high civihsation of the Gupta empire and

throughout

particular spread

in

the

dynasty that the

Sanskfit

tiie

and we may say

position

century

is

have occasion

shall

very peculiar

is

to

revert

t<j

this

Kadambas.

of the

to the

when he was

page 125)

It is

8 years old (Arch. Surv.

probable

younger brother

his

Deccan the

I lie

Ajant inscription, the son of Pravarawhose name has been lost, must have ascended the

II.

throne
IV.,

We

when speaking

According
sella

history of

of the plates of this dynasty

"box-headed".

subject

flic

predominant

the century of the lYikatakas".

is

The alphabet
it

that "/;/

Between 400

Deccan.

A. D. and 500 A. D. the Vaktkas occupied

culture

t'lat this

West. Ind.,

Vol.

prince was dethroned by

Xrendrasna.

In

fact,

Blghat

the

Narndrasna "appropriated or took away the

family's fortune." Xrendrasna was married to Ajjhitabhatt-

plates say that

rik,

daughter of the

king of

place probably about 445 A. D.

sna

II

A. D.

We

This

is

marriage

took

have admitted that Rudra-

married the daughter of Chandra-Gupta

probable that the marriage

of

the

about

II

395

grandson took

we shall see later on that this king

Kuntala was probably the Kadamba Kakustliavarman. The

place about 50 years alter

of

Kuntala.

Blghat plates say about Xrendrasna that "his commands

were honoured by the lords of Kosala, Mekala and Malava,

and he held
This
that

latter

in

check enemies bowed down

event took place after 467

Xrendrasna should be able

king before this date

of

Ujjain

was

(Mr. Panna Lall

the
in

A. D.

by his prowess"
It

impossible

is

to give orders to

the Malava

from 455 to 467 A. D., the king

illustrious
Skanda-Gupta Vikramaditya
in fact,

"The

dates of Skanda-Gupta

and

his

suc-

Hindustan Review, Jan. 1918, argues that the reign

of Skanda-Gupta ended about A. D. 467.
See also, "Annals
cessors,"

of the

Bhandarkar

1918-19, Vol.

page 69).
D. the country situated between the

institute

From 484

to

494 A.

Jamna and

the

Xarmad was under the

I,

Part

I,

orders of Budha-Gupta.

son of Xrendrasna, was reignijig at

the time when the Blghat plates were engravtd.
Pfithivishna

II,

know

?,6

Devasena reigned at the same

time as Pyithivisliena II or after it was probably at the end of
the V centiiiy. The minister of Dvasna was Hastibhoja who
probably dug the Ghatotkacha cave at Gulwr, eleven miles
It

impossible lo

is

if

W.

of Ajanta.

Harishna, son of Dvasna reigned probably about 500 to

530 A. D.

since

directions,
(the

probable that this king

It is

the

Ajanta inscription

Kadamba kingdom) Avanti

Lata and Andhra.

Trikiita,

made conquests
mentions

(Mlw),

Kalinga,

in

all

Kuntala
Kosala^

These events probably took place

from 500 to 515 A. D. In fact it is about 500 A. D. that

Rvivarman killed Sri-Vishnuvarman, who was reigning at
Harivarman might have contributed to the struggle
Plsik
In the VI century we have not a
against the king of Kuntala.
;

single

document

of the Traiktas.

It is

they were destroyed by Harishna

century.

It is

also probable that

at

was

it

therefore probable that

the begniming of this

at the

beginning of the

VI century that Indra of Kalinga fought with Indra the

and possibly Harishna had to interfere in the
Vishnukundin
affairs of the Kalinga and the Andhra (between the Gdvr
and the Krishna). Again, an inscription of Eran (Gupta Insc,
p.93), dated 510-511 mentions a fight in which Bhnu-Gupta
was allied with the king of Sarabha i.e. the king of Kosala. It
;

is

perhaps

at this

time that Harishna fought with the kings of

Avanti (Mlw) and Mkala (the

It is

Narbad).

probable that the Vktaka dynasty was replaced,

the middle

of the

held possession of

VI century, by
all

the second half of the

that of the

Kalachuris

the country between Nsik

V^l

century.

who

and Ujjain

in

-,

//

The

The kinys

2.

S.uabhapuia.

ot

Khariar plaies

seal ol the

171) bears the following genealogy

(Ep.

Iiul.

Vol,

pa^c

IX,

PraSiUiiia
I

Mnamtra
I

Mah
Dr.

Von Konow

in

Suclva

editing these plates, has observed

liial

word Mnamtra was synonymous witli Mnank.i, \\\v words

Matra and Anka meaning "ornament," and the Tridivtika

the

plates give us the following genealogy (Ep. Ind. Vol. \'ill. p. 163

and

Ind. Ant. Vol.

XXX):
Mnnka

De vara

Bhavishya
I

Abhimanyii.

The king Dvarja had many sons of whom Bhavishya was one.
Abhimanyu resided at Mnapunun
Mna-town) which is
identified with Mnpur (lal. 23^4()'
K)ng. 81*^11' E; see
Gupta Inscriptions, page 136) near Bandhog.uh ni Rwa. The
Uudivtika plates were issued to make a grant to the temple of
(

F^cthaj- Pangaraka

near
Central

Pachmarhi
Provinces).

"the jvnament
following serie>

which ha.s been

(Sohagpur Tahsil

The kmg Mnaka

Rashtrakiitas."

with

Hoshangabad

of the
;

identiticd

is

We

Pagar.i

Dist

described as being

have thus the two

 78
(Khai'iav plates)

(Undivtika plates)

Mnamtra

Mnanka

Mah Sudva

Dvarja

Three documents, the Khaiiar (Ep. Ind., Vol. IX; page 170)
Raipur (Gupta Inscriptions, page 196) and Srangarh (Ep. Ind.,
Vol IX, page 281) copper plates, speak of king Sudva (MahSudva-rja) who had Sarabhapura for his capital
this town
;

cannot be identified

liowever,

is

it

probable that this king

modern town of Raypur

the Mahnadi and near its

reigned in the neighbourhood of the

which

is

of

This kingdom was therefore situated between Kalinga

source.

and the kingdom

in the east
is

the south

situated to

Vktakas

of the

in the west.

very probable that the kings of Sarabhapura were

also

It

the

vassals of the Vktakas.

from Sarabhapura

were issued the Arang

plates (Gupta Inscriptions, page 191) which speak of the king
Java (jayarja). This king was almost the contemporary of
It is

also

that

Sudva, since the alphabets resemble each other. However it

is impossible to know therelationship that existed between these

two

princes.

The alphabet

from Sarabhapura has

a peculiar characteristic
it is box-headed as in the Siwani
plates (Gupta Inscriptions, page 243) which are dated in the
of the plates issued
;

reign of Pravarasna
I

believe

approximately
It is

An

II.

we can
in the

place the two kings Sudva and Jaya

second

half of the

century.

kingdom was the Southern Kosala.

Eran (Gupta Inscriptions, page 93)

possible that their

inscription of

gives us the following genealogy

eee>t(citc*tti
.raja

Mdhava

who

married the daughter of the king of Sarabha,

Gparja

who was

the ally of

Bhnu-Gupta and was

killed a little before

the year 510-511 A. D.

we know very little about this

However, we may suppose it
only a hypothesis

To sum

up,

i:

genealogy was as follows

dynasty.

that the

 7Q
(i>t

the Rashtrakta family)

I

Mnatntra
(kin^ of Mnapura)
I

Su-dcva-rja

J'tyarj;i

Bliavishya

(king of Sarabha)
|

Abhimaiiyii
(kin.n"

of Alaiiapura)

Jayarja was pcihaps the son of Sudva, as the Undivatika

plates say that Dvarja had many sons and it therefore appears
that

Bhavishva was not the

eldest.

CHAPTER

V.

THE DYNASTIES OF WESTER.V DECCAX,

At the end of the

III

The

II

bhras.

century and the

half of the

first

century the bhras were powerful in Gujarat and Kthi-

war.

An

inscription

Ind.

Ant. Vol X., pa^^e

of the

157)

103) is a donation by
general (senapati) Rudrabhti, who was an Abhira and the
son of general Bhaka. In Mlw, in Gujarat and in Kthiwar

Western Kshatrapas dated 181 A.D.

have been found

Mr. Rapson

silver

then that I^varadatta reigned

S.

of a king

coins

pageCXXXVI

says

named

I^varadatta.

"there can be

little

some time between

doubt

A. D. 236

and A. D. 239." Besides, it seems that the power of the

" Already
Western Kshatrapas began to decline at this epoch
:

in this reign

of Vijayasna

appear the

iirst

symptoms

decline about the year 167 or 168 (A. D.245-246

"

of a

Rapson,

Ep. Ind. Vol. VIII., page 88) there

is an inscription (No. 1137 of Liiders's list) dated in the
9th year of Mdhariputra Isvarasna, an Abhira, son of
At Nsik

page 137).

ivadatta.

The

latter is

not mentioned as being a king.

therefore appear that Isvarasna

It

would

founded the Abhira dynasty.

Abhira named Isvarasna the same as the king

Hvaradatta of the coins, who, towards the middle of the III
century founded the Abhira dynasty and carved out for himextending over Kthiwar and the Nsik
a kingdom
self
Is

region

this

The

3,

AI

Traiktas,

This dynasty (see Rapson,

scciioiis 42, 132,

134) reigned

on the coast north of Bombay.

They have found (J. B. B. R. A. S., 1914, Vol. XXIII.,
named
pr^ges 1 lo 7) some coins that meniion a certain king
Dahragana, some other coins that
mention a king called Indradatta and his son Daharasna and
a few others that mention Dahraganaand his son Vygliragana.
Indradatta and

liis

son

Pardi plates (J. B. B. R. A. S., Vol XVI, Art.

page 346) are dated in tlie reign of Dahrasna and

The

207th year of

The

tlie

discovered

Ep.

the

Vol XI, page 219) are dated

the y-^ar 241 and the plates

Ind.,

Vyaghrasna
Kanhcri by iMr.

of

at

in

era used by the Traiktas.

Surat plates

in the reign

XIX

in

liird are

in the

dated

year 245.

admitted that the era used by the Traiktas is nothing but the Kalachuri or Chdi era which begins on the 5ih
So
September 248 A.D. ( Ep. ind., Vol IX, page 129).
It is

Dahrasna reigned in 455-6 A.D Vyaghrasna in 489-90 and

It is
the Kanhri plates are dated in the year 493-494 A.D.
quite possible that this era was not founded by the Traiktas
;

it

was perhaps founded bv

close examination

the

Abhiras.

these

oi

docimienls enables, us to
ends in "g.ina" mav be

admit that the kings whose name

identified with those whose nane ends

Thus we have the following

in "

genen!o<4v

sna

'

Indrad.ttta
I

D.ihra-ciia

who reignechn 4??

Vyaghrasna (who reigned

The Traikta is mentioned by Klidsa.

The Vktaka Harishen.i conquered it.
The Pardi plates have been issued from

mrak and

the Surat plates from

10

in

the

Amruddhapura,

A.D.)

490 A.D.)

town

of

~82~

The

4.

The Abhona

plates

Kalacliuris.

Ep. Ind. Vol VI.,

Ep. Ind., Vol. VI,, page 295)

following genealogy
Sarsavni plates

294) and

pn.^e

^ive

the

us

Krishnaija
i

Samkaragana (who reigned

595 A.D.)

in

Buddharja (who reigned

These kings use the special

We

have a coin of Krishn

era

we have

irja

in

610 A.D.)

already spoken

of.

Prog. Rep. Arch. Surv.

West. Ind. for 1914-15, page 60).

It seems that the reign of Samkaragana was glorious
the
Abhona plates tell us that he had iiis capital at Ujjain and
:

reigned over the Nsik regions which denotes a vast empire.

The

chief Nirihullaka reigned in the lower

about 580 A. D., and was a

feudatory

Narbad

Snkhda grant

valley
;

Ep.

page 22) of Simkaragana. Nirihullaka was

perhaps a descendant of Samgamasirhha who was king of
Ind,, Vol.

II.,

Barakuchchha in 292 i, e. 530-531 A. D. (Sunao-Kala plates).

Buddharja probably met with great reverses before the
year A.D. 601 ( Bdmi inscription ) the king Mangal>a of the
:

Chaiukya dynasty vanquished

at

Vidisa

A.D.

Kaira

609 .A.D. he reigned

Bsnagar, near Bhils, Vadner plates).
In 610

Sarsavni plates
dist.;

Ep.

Ind,,

Anandapura Anand in
page 297) and gave orders

he reigned

In

hini.

Vol. VI,,

at

about the Barukachcha-vishaya,

We

know (Aihole

inscription)

quished Lata, Gujarat and Mlwa.

tliat

Pulak^in

II

van-

CHAPTER

VI

rHK DVNASTILS OF LASTliKX DECCAX.

1,

lUshvaku^.

'J'lic

Three iiisciiplioiis (Iiid, Anl., \'ol XI, page 256) found

("Amarvati aiidjagayyapetciStupa", Arcli. Surv. Southern India,
pa.ije

110) on the ruins ot the btpa at Jagayyapta

Taluk, Krishna district) give

putra Sri

Vira

Furushadatta

(Ikhkus) and are

III

liie

in

an

iianieola king called Mdhari-

(Purisadata)

alphal'iet

(Xandigma

the

ot

which sccnib

to

Iksii\\\!:us

point to the

century of the Christan era.

What became

of this dynasty later on,

it

is

impossible

to

However, there exists a stone in Guddappa dry land at

Anaji in the Dvanagcre taluq of Mysore (Ep. Carn., Vol. XI,
Dg, No. 161) which mentions "the family of the Kckaya^, who

say.

made

intermarriages with the Ikshvkus."

84

The Brihalphalyanas.

2.

The Koudamudi

plates

(Ep.

Ind.,

are

Vol. VI,, p, 315)

dated in the 10th year of king Jayavarman, of the Brihatphal3'anas,

who

The alphabet

reigned at Kudra.

of these plates

extremely arcliaic; they are in prkrit; besides,

and phraseology

language

"the

the Nsik

of the inscription are so similar to

inscriptions of Gautamiputra Stakarni

and

is

of Vsishthiputra

l'ulumyi, that Jayavarman 's date cannot have been very distant

from
31,

two ndhra kings" (Ep. Ind Vol. VII, No.

It must however be noted that the legend on

that of those

page 315).

the seal

Sanskrit.

is in

It is

therefore

certain that

Jayavarman

reigned immediately after the Stavhanas.

The Kondamudi

plates record the grant of

Pntra in Kudrahra which

which Kudra was the capital.

Kudra

is

the province, as

Where were

village

of

we know,

of

the

this

province and

Kondamudi, where the

plates have been found, is situated in the Tenali taluq which is
not far from the mouth of the Krishna. The town of Kudra
is found mentioned in an inscription at Amanvati (No. 1295
of Luders's list).
The country of Kuduhra or Kudrahra is
mentioned in the plates of Nandivarman of the Slankyana
dynasty.
These plates were issued from V-ngi and have been
found near the Kolleru lake (Ind. Ant., Vol V, 1876, page 175.

especially this

town

of

situated

See also Burnell, "South Indian Palegraphy, 2e Ed. page 135.)

The country called Kudrahra or Gudrahara is referred to in

many documents (see in particular Ind. Ant., Vol XIII, page
:

138, line 17; Ind. Ant., Vol VII, page

191, line 12,

and

the

on Epigraphy for 1914-1915,

G. O. No. 1260, Public, 25th Aug. 1915, page 8, copper-plate
No. 2 of 1915) Ttie geographical indications given by these
documents [see also : Ind. Ant., iVol VIII, page 76; S. I. I.
Renduballi

Vol

I,

copper-plate.

Rep.

page 47; and inscriptions Nos 539 and

544

of

1893)

 H?
show that Kiidnihara or Giidrahia i> the country iidjoining
the modern town of Masulipatani (Bandar.)
Besides, there liave been found at Masuhpalam (li.indar
Takik) four sets of copper-plates
this

country
(1)

The

grant

Aniuia

of

(S.

IJ.

The

plates

page 103, and Ep.

of

Trandapru
(3)

and Ep.

The

of

Vijayditya

Ind., Vol. V.,

WA

I,,

1.

containing an order to the people living

(2)

inforniatn)n iiboul

^^ive

tlial

in

page 47)

1.,

Gudravra-vishaya.

III. (Ind.

Vol.

Ant.,

XX,

page 122) granting the village

situated in the Gu.iravra-vishaya.

Bhima

plates of

11.

(Ind. Ant., Vol. XX., page 270.

page 135) granting a

Ind., Vol, V.,

field in

Gudravra-

vishaya.

The plates of Aninia II. (Ind. Ant., Vol. VIII, }>age 74

and Vol. XX, p. 271
Ep. Ind,, Vol. V., page 139) granting
land.
The last document is interesting as it shows the preci>e
position of the land
it
was situated be>ide the village of
Pmbarru in the Gudravra-vishaya and near Ghantasl
again this grant of land was made io a chief " for having
improved the town of Gudrvra" we know that Ghantasl,
(4)

which was

situated

in

Gudravra-vishaya

a village

is

in

the

Divi taluq situated at a distance of 10 miles from Masulipatam

(Bandar) and 6 miles from the village of Kdiiru.

We

therefore conclude

shall

which was the

capital of

that

Jayavarman

modern

in

the

town

the 111

of

Kudiir.i,

century of

the

which is 4 miles
west-north-west of Masulipatam and 6 miles from the village
of Ganthasla and is mentioned under the name of Kduru
(Z) in the list of villages of Bandar (Masulipatam) taluq (see
"List of villages of the Madras Presidency," 1V14, p.igc 150).
The village named Fntura in the Kondamudi plates, is perhaps
Panduru, a village in the Bandar (Masulipatam) taluq.
It so happens that the result we have arrived at is found to
be of immense importance not only for the ancient iiistory of
the Deccan but also of Indo-China.
Christian

era,

is

We know
origin

but

and

is

of

Indi.ui

documents has proved

Indo-China came almost exclusively from

The Indo-Chinese
liieii

Indo-China

of the Indo-Chinese

that the civilisation of

$.ika ra

village

that the civilisation of

and a study

the Deccan.

the

inscriptions are

dated in

the

alphabets very closely re^eiuble (iiobc of the

 RSuch an inscription

inscriptions in the Deccan.

Caniliodia

of

"Journal Asiatique" V'lle srie, Tome XX., No. 2, AotSeptembre 1H82) dated m the Saka yeai" 589 " essentially agrees
with those of the first Chalukyas from the sixth to the eight
(see,

The alphabet

century."

Annam

in

most ancient inscriptions found

has been remarked by M. Abel

of the

fullv resembles,

as

Bergaine (Journal Asiatique, Janvier 1888, page 15) the alpha-

and
the first Kadambas. Again, certain inscriptions (for example
Nos 415 and 415 bis, XXI of the collection mentioned by
Mr. Bergaine) are characterised by a peculiarity which is called
the " box-headed" alphabet and M. Bergaine observes that

bets of the inscriptionsof the kings of Vng, the Pallavas

"the

Champa kingdom and

between the

relations

those of

Southern India were so frequent that the alphabet changed

We shall even see that a simple
there in the same manner.
ornamental appendage, a deeply cut s<|uare at the head of the
letters

which,

India proper, seems

in

during almost the whole of the

our

XXI
It

The

Nhatrang valley

into

is

found near the

in the

Rudradman

village of

king of the

Vo-can,

Khah-Hoo (Journal
Annam, is written in

province of

an alphabet that

the

in

1891, page 17) in

Janv.-Fevrier

of

way

its

inscription of Mura-raja or Sri Mara,

Champs, wdiich

in

century finds

fashion

in

be noted that this infiuence existed

first

centurv of the Christian era

and

have been

inscription.

must

(1)

to

in the

Asitique,

Sanskrit

identical with that of [the inscription

is

at Girnar.

Ptolemy gives the names of the towns situated on

the coast of Annam that were not simply Indian but were also
Sanskrit (Journal .Asiatique-Rapport Annuel; Juillet-Aoiil 1888,
(2)

page 70).

We
"

thus arrive at the following very important conclusion

The Indo-Chinese

in India,

embarked

but,

come from

civilisation did not

from a port

of the

every place

Deccan whence the

travellers

for Indo-China".

Tiiat is the important

Where was this port situated
blem we are now going to solve. This port was existing at the
?.

of Ptolemy,
fact, this is

(see Ind.

and

is

found mentioned by

how Ptolemy

Ant.,

this

geographer.

pio-=

tim-e

In

describes the east coast of the Deccan

Vol. XHI.,

page 332)

"Mouth

of

the

river

Consul of the Uniied SiuUs of America

^A7~
Klialnrro-; KlKil.ciis Sclhou^.l^

Pix-louktr

Mcl.m^

Mouth

KottisManarpha Mouth of the

Maislus Kontakossyla,
mart Kocldura Allosygn The
point of departure
hound for Khrvs PahMira
Naingaina Katikardania Ivannaj^ara Mouth

of the

river

Tyna

river

for

^hips

ol

tlu-

river

Madana".
W'e see

Ploleniv ha^ said that the

that, in the 11 ceniur\,

ship^ that wanted to

c^o to

the country of gold (Khrys)

Indo-Chinese peninsula (Burma, Malacca, Cambodia,

i.

the

c.

Annam)

unde solvunt in Chrysen

navigantes). Till now there was complete uncertaintv in regard
to the geographical position of this port.
There was no doubt
of
at
all
that " Khabris-emporium" designated the town
in
Kv' ripalnam
fact, Ptolemy has mentioned above the
"mouth of the river Khaberos" which is undoubtedly the
Kvri.
Hut between this town and the Ganges not a single
place mentioned by Ptolemy could be identified with some
from

started

fixed

point

(locus

Many

authors have put forth hypotheses

amount

of certainty.

but without any great success.

the

Maislus was no other than the Krishna, because not far

river

from
this

Colonel Yule thought that

mouth

its

there

is

the

modern town

reason was not very convincing.

Yule the town that Ptolemy

calls

Masulipatam but
In the theory of Colonel
of

Koddura was

identified

with

This identification was regarded

with the greatest scepticism, f(jr they replied to Colonel Yule

Gdru, near Masulipatam.

that

The word Koddura does

(1)

not fully resemble the

word

Gdru.
(2)

There

is

nothing to prove that the village of Gdru

existed at the time of

Ptolemy and has preserved the vimeU'^iric

for 18 centuries.

no more the same thing to-day. In compiling the

ancient history of the Deccan and in studying the Kondamudi
It

is

we have made the following important

That the modern town named Gdru by

plates,
(1)

discoveries

Ct^lonel Yule

Kudra (2) that Kudra existed at the time of

So we can now think of identifynig the Koddura of
Ptolemy.
Ptolemy with the Kudra of K(jndanuidi plates.
(^ur kn(>wledge of ancient Deccan enables us to make anoilier new identificati(ui, Between Gdru and the mouth of the

was once

called

 88 .
town

where Mr. Alexandre

Rea (South Indian Bouddhist Antiquities Madras 1894, page
32) has discovered the remains of a Stpa which date from the
Krishna,

the

lliere is

of Ghantasl,

beginning of the Christian era

so,

Ghantasl existed

at

the

and exactly at the required spot, on the sea

between Koddura and the month of the river, Ptolemv

time of Ptolemy
side,

places the mart of Kontakossvla.

We

have thus solved an important problem, we have been

able to identify certain places

the

Deccan coast

Indo-China

on the

coast,

We

is
i.

named by Ptolemy

in a part of

and the place whence ships departed for

found near Koddura, a little more to the north
e.

not far from the

mouth

of the Godvr.

conclude that the port of departure for

vessels bound for Khrys, during the time of Ptolemy, was
shall therefore

situated near the

mouth

of the

Godvr and

there that the civilisation of India starteed to

Java,

Cambodia and Annam,

was from
go over to Burma,
that

it

 80

The

This dyn.A>iy

li;icl

Sil'*nl^;i\.inu>.

Vcn-ipura

for

capital,

it^

The remains

special cult for the t^od Chitrarathaswflmin.

this deity

temple dedicated to

are found at

As copper-plates connected with

country have been found in the environs
Ellore.

and had

this

of a

Pedda-vgi near
dynasty and this

of this town,

think

The
the identity of VenL^ipura with Fedda-vcgi.^
Ind. Vol. IX., No. 7,
plates of king Vijaya-Dvavarman (Ep.
This
verses.
page 56) are in Prakrit but contain two sanskrit

we may admit

king

sacrifices.'
said to be the 'performer of horse
Another set of plates found near lake Kolleru
is

(Ind. Ant.

and is probaChandavarman and his son

bly not so ancient. It mentions
this epoch
Vijaya-Xandivarman. The Slankyanas ruled at
which formerly was the
over the same country of Kuduhra
Vol. v., 1876, No. XVIII, page 175)

is

in Sanskrit

land of the Brihatphalavanas.

And j. F. Fleet says (Ind. Ant. Vol. V., 1876, page 175):
have another copper-plate
fac-similes

n.itive

"In Sir

Elliot's

\V.

inscription of

name seems
p'rakrU.

Vuvamahrja whose
Buddhavarma
be Viiaya-Tungavarma or Vijaya
but seems to be
the language, even, is doubtful

Vijaya-Nandivarm and

to

"

This name

the margin there

is

is

his

probably luddhavarm,

for, in

".
the character "dha"

ivarman.
probable that these kings IXvavarman, Chand
perhaps also the problematical
his son Nandivarman and
and 450 A. D. It
Buddhavarman, have reigned between 350
after the invasion of
appears in fact that these kings came
and it is again probable that their kingdom
Samudra-Gupta
with
lifth century by the Vishnukundins
:

It is

w;is

conquered

in the

the help of the Vktak

is.

 90

4.

The

The Rmarirtham (Ep.

Vi-hnntim/iin.

IncL Vol.

XL, page 134) and the

Chikkuila plates (Ep. Ind. Vol. IV^ pa^e 193) give us genealo^Xo. I ; and the Pulirhbru grant (Report on Epigraphy tor

1913-14; G. O. No. 920, Public, 4th Aug. 1914, page 102) gives
us genealogy No. II :

Madhavavarman

I.

Vikramndravarnian

Xo

I.

I.
I

Indrabhattrakavarman

Vtkramndravarraan

1 1

Vikramahndra

Xo

II.

Govindavarm-m
I
i

Mdhavavarman
I

am

(II).

Vikramahendra niay be
In fact, I have remarked

of opinion that

identified with

Vikramndravarman II.
that in several
documents the information regarding the grand-fatJier or other
ancestors of the reigning king has been sometimes altered.
It
is

probable that the real

name

of the grandfather of

Mdhava

II

was Vikramndravarman II.

It seems that the capital of the kingdom was Lendilra
which is probably the present village ot Dendulru, in. the
Kllore taluq near the ancient city of Vengi.

The

"H

Lord of
Sri Parvata,' rl Sailam in the Karnul District.
This God was
the favourite deirv' of Prabhvati, widow of Rudrasena IL and
mother of Pravarasna II, the Vktaka king. On the other
hand, Mdhava^-arman I., the first Vishnukundin king had
married a Vktaka princess and we have said already, that very
probably, in the middle of the V century, the Vktakas
uprooted the ancient Slankyana dynasty of Vengi and placed
on the throne their relation Mdhavavarman I. This king, in
fact, is reported to have performed numerous sacrifices, 11 of
tutelar}' deit\'

of the dynasty

is

the

'v

 91 ~
them being

winch are emblems

liorse sacritices

Besides that, the eulogies of

tlii^

victory.

of

king resemble those found in

the Vakatak.i copper-plates of Pravarascna

I.

had no other merit than

He \va> the ornament of two families, the
^hat of birth.
Vishn ikundins and the Vktaka^. His reign was probably
Tiie king Vikramndravarmaii

I.

short.

On

was a

besides, during this reign, there

had a long reign

the 37th year of his

plates are dated in

Kmatirtham

as the

reign

the contraiy, Indrabhattarakavarman

terrible

attack

probably reigned in Kalinga, who was also

called "Indra" and who seems to have been the head of a
These plates tell us that Indrabhattarakacoalition of kings.

made by a

who

king,

varman "encountered

hundred thousands

in

of battles

we know

four-tusked elephants (chaturdanta)";

that

numerous

God

Indra

which has four tusks.

That statement is wholly conlMined by copper plates written in
a similar alphabet which have been found in the Godaveri

is

mounted on

the elephant o' the East

They

District.

are

Vol. XVI., page 116).

entered

into

raka whose

of

PVom

lines 17-20,

by several chiefs
elephant

to

(the

B. B. R. A.

learn an alliance

elephant

Indrdhirja

(the elephant of

elephant Supralika

we

(J.

uproot by force

Kumuda

down by

quarter) was struck

Prithivimula

those

S.,

was

liidrabh;it;.-

of

the

mounted on

X. E. quarter).

S.

his

W,
own

So there

Indrdhirja, king of ihc northr .^t,

were two Indras present
that is, of Kalinga along the coast of Orissa, and Indrabh itta:

Vishnukuadin who reigned in the southwest, tliat is

Now, it seems that it was the king of the
to ^^av in Vngi.
Vishnukunduis that was the victor. In fact the same Rmatirtham plates commemorate the grant made by Indra of a village
situated in the Plaki-rashtra- This province is mentioned in the
Timmapuram plates (Ep. Ind. Vol. IX., page 317; under the

raka, the

name

of PaLiki-vishaya.

And we know

that this s;ime pr-.vmce

of Paliki-vishaya contained the village of

Chipurupalli

in

nothing

but

Ant.

XX., pages 15 and

V(jI.

was the master

of

king of Orissa,

it

said that there

lraka.

was

the Vizagapatain

16).

District

is

(Ind.

Since the Vishnukundin Indra

war with the

We have
certain that he was the victor.

Vizagapatam
is

Cherpra, wnich

District

a coalition of

Anvn^ 'hem

many

after his

kings against Indrabhat-

perhaps wa: Harislina the

VAkaukn

 92
Ajant inscription says that Hatishcna vanquished
the king of the Andlira country. This word shows the country
in fact, the

between the Gdvari and the Krishna, that

is

to say,

kingdom of the Vishnuluuidin>^.

The son of Indrabhattraka was Vikramndravarman
It is

certain that this king reigned

the

II,

on the banks of the Krishna

mention the village of Rgonram to the

and
S. E. of Rvirva on the bank of the Kyishnabenn
Rvirva has been identified by Mr. Scwell with Raveralah
80^1 0'E and 16o50'X)

as the Chikkulla plates

The son

Vikramndravarman II. (V'ikramahndra) was

Gvindavarmanandhisgrandson Mdhavavarman II (Jansrya).
The last of them "crossed the river Gdvari with the desire to
conquer the eastern region". This event probably took place
shortly before the invasion of Pulaksin II. who put an end to
the dynasty of Vishnukundins and annexed the kingdom of
of

Vngi.
In

my work "The
caves

the

attributed

Mogalrjapuram

page 34), I have

Sittanagaram, Bezwda,

Pallavas" (chapter
Undavalli,

of

Vishnukundins.

to the

III.,

shall not

speak of

it

once again.

The

seal of

the Chikkula plates

Ep. Ind. Vol

IV., plate

facing the page 244) resembles that of the Rmatirtham plates:

an advancing lion with

fore-paw raised, mouth wide open

its

and the tail swung over the back so as to end in a loop

(G.O. No. 538; Rep. on Epi. 28th July 1909). The lion
was then the crest of the Vishnukundins. It is to be remarked
that the Kadambas have the same crest which proves the
family relationship that existed between the Kadambas and

We

the Vishnukundins.

on the

pillars at

image of a vase sculptured

Undavalli and Mogalrzapuram, and the image
find the

Coins bearing the image of a lion on

the obverse and the image of a vase on the reverse have also
of a lion at Undavalli.

been found.

see for instance, in Mr. Vincent A. Smith's,

History of India," the plate concerning the

the

British

Southern

Museum

India"

PI.,

II,

attributed to the Pallavas.

vas" (Chapter
.ili-c

III,

Vishuku;i4''is

No.

coin

49).

Early

coins in

from Elliot, "Coins of

These coins have been

16,

In 1917, in

page 34),

Indian

**

my work "The

Palla-

have attributed these coins tQ

 95

The Kings

5.

of Kalinj^a.

infoiiuation about
have six documents that give us
We have said that, abcnit A. D. 340,
the kings of KaUnga.
on the coast of Oiissa wilh Mantiuaja,

We

Samudra-Gupta met

Swamidatta

kinct of Korla,

iuurMahndra
the

title

of Fislitpuia.

of king of

varman

Kagolu

of KotUira,

Kahga

plates

who

Damana

of

Erandapah

The last of them iiad probably

we shall sec, in fad, that SaktiPishtapura had

also reigned at

documents we have mentioned being all m

On the
the year 400 A. i).
Sanskrit are probably posterior to
conquered by Pulaksm 11
iiind the coast of Orissa was

The

tiiis title.

six

other
(

inscription

Aihole

the

between

shared

609 A. D. and wa. probably

south
tiie
ni
Chalukyas
Eastern

about

The dales of the 6

and the Eastern Gangas in the north.
and 000
documents in question are therefore between 400
A.

t).
,

of the kings of

we

it

is

now proceed

shall

impossible to e:,tablish a chronology

Therefore
Kaliiiga whose names we know.

Unfortunately,

to

enumerate those documents without

any ascertained chronological order.

Ind. Vol Xll, page
a) The Ragolu plates ( Ep.

mention

who reigned at
Vasishthiputra Saktivarman, king of Kalinga
"adorns the MagaIt is said that this sovereign
Pishtapura.
winch goes to show that this prince was
dha

familv."

Guptas and reigned towards the middle of the

Vakatakas dominated the
century when the Guptas and the

related to the

Deccan.

^
v\'i
B. B. K. A. S. Vol X\ 1,
i

b)

The Godavari copper

plates

J.

gave the history of

page 116) had been studied when we
the kmg
dynasty
Indrabhattaraka of the Vishnukundui
:

Prithivimula

who was

the donor

(^f

the Godavari plates

was

the city of Kndli.

the son of Sri-Prabhakara and reigned in

He was
Indra

another more powerful king named

was Ihc son of Mitavarman, reigned at Ma^ralkudi

the

who

vassal

of

 94
and had for his war-elepheiit Supratika ( the elephent of the
N. E. quarter ). The document says that this king was the
But
victor in the struggle against the king Indrabhattaraka.
we have said that this is not probable and that, on the contrary,
the Vishnukundin king seems to have aennxed tiie districts of
Godavari and Vizagapatam and driven away the ki:igs of
Kalinga to the north.

In

the capital

fact,

of

the

kings

of

which was Pishtpuram at th- limes of XLihndra and

Vsistinputra Saklivarman seems to liave been transferred
further north to Scrapalli and Siriih ipura after (he VishnuKaliiigi

kunlins captured Pishtpuram.

place in the
c)

of

lirst

plates

N.uidaprabhanjanavannan
the

probably took

quarter of the VI C.-ntury.

The Chikakole

d)

Tiiis eveni

Komarli

Ind.

Ant. Vol. XIII., page 48)

issued

from

plates (Ep. Ind. Vol. IV.,

and
page 143) ofChanSrapalli

davarman issued from Siriihapuram, have many points of resemthe phraseology of both these documents is almost
blance
Nandathe seals bear the word "Pitribhakt.ih "
the same
prabhaiijana and Chandavarman are both of them called
and lastly, Simhapura, the capital of
kings of Kalinga
Chandavarman may be identified with Singupuram, a village
near Chikakole where the plates of Nandaprabhaiijana were
:

discovered.
e)

The Brihatprstha grant

of

Umavarman,

lord of Kalinga,

from Simhapura (Ep. Ind., Vol. XII., page 4) surely

belongs to the same group as the plates of Chikakole and
It is impossible to say in what chronological order,
Kmarti.
Umavarman, Nandaprabhanjana and Chandravarman reigned.
Their epoch is also uncertain they might possibly have reigned

isbued

between 525 and 609 A. D.

we have to mention the Sarabhavaram plates
f) Lastly,
(Ep. Ind., Vol. XIII., page 104) for, this village where they

were discovered is in the Gdvari district and it is probably

here that the Lord of Chikra, whose name is not mentioned
and who perhaps lived in the VI century, reigned. He was
probably not a "king of Kalinga" but only a simple

feudatory.

95

CHAPTER

\II.

The Dynasties of the Kaxakesr

f^enealogy

Tlie

of

Kadambas.

Tlic

1.

tlie

Disikicts.

Kadanihas may piohahlv he the

following

Mavura barman

(340-360 A. D.)

Kangavaniian

(360-385 A. D.)

(385-410 A. D.)

BhnKratha
I

Raghii (410-425 A. D.)

K'knstliavarman (425-450 A. D.)

Krishnavarman

Santivarmaji (450-475 A. D.)

I.

MfigO^avarman >n(lhti-ivarmaii Vishnuvanii

in

Dvavarman

(475-488 A. D.) (488-500 A. D.)

J
j

Sirhhavarman

Ravivannan Bhmivarman ivaratha

Kri>hnavarinan

(500-537 A. D.)

(550-565 A. D.)

Harivarman

Kiimaravannan

Ajavarmaii

(537-550 A. D.)
Maiulh.ita-F^ja

:Shimoca

plates)

Bhugivarman
Vishnuvarman
etc.

II,

 96
A

published by

part of this genealogy has been

Professor

and admitted by
Mr. Rice in his work "Mysore and Coorg from inscriptions"
["jyshtha-pitri," in the Brr plates, means a father's elder
page 30)

(Ep. Ind., Vol. VIII.,

Kielhorn

brother].

from those published

by Messrs. Kielhorn and Rice because I have taken into account the discovery of the Shimoga plates in 1911 and those
of Tagare in 1918. The Tagare plates (Annual Report, Mysore
Archaeological Department, for 1918, page 40, No. 71) give us

The genealogy given above

differs

the following genealogy*:

Krishnavarman
'I

Ajavarman
1

Bhgivarman
I

Vishnu varman

form

Relying on the

of the letters,

thought that

it

was

Krishnavarman was Krishna-

not possible to admit that this

but that he was, on the contrary, very probably

varman
Krishnavarman II.
The Shimoga plates (Annual Report, Mysore ArchaeologiI

cal

Department, for

dhta-Rja,

son

page 31),

1911,

Kumravarman

of

in the

4th year

reigned

at

Mn-

Uchchangi

town belonged to
the reign of Harivarman (Hals

(Uchchangidurga=Uchchasnngi).
Sivaratha

that the king

say

of

This

page 30); that is why we can suppose

that Kumravarman was the son of Sivaratha or Harivarman;
the Shimoga plates do not give us any information about his
plates, Ind. Ant., Vol.,

filiation.

The chronology
on a sure

basis.

It is

dynasty but also of

will

enable

genealogical

us

table,

brackets, beside

the

only

now

this

Deccan

that

In

the

arrive

at

have

name

dynasties of the

a satisfactory

just

given,

trv to justify this

chronology

chronology.

result.

have

of each king, the

the

yet been fixed

complete study not only of

other

of his reign, according to

shall

the

all

to

Kadambas has not

of the

put

within

approximate date
have adopted.
I

07

(ijW'cluisc- ^aid, wlicn>peakin^*)tiiic c.ti'per plates of the

Pallava dynasty, that pal<TO;:*raphy was geneially a bad auxi-

chronology of dynasties; very often, two doc\unents

dated in the same reicfn diik-r nnich from each other.
However there is a special case to which I niust draw the
We know that in the middle of tlie V
reader's attention.
century the Gupta-Vktakas were very powerful in the Deccan.

liary to the

Gupta-Vktakas those kings of the Vktaka dynasty

who were the sons, .grandsons or great-grandsons of queen
Prabhvati, daughter of Dvagupla (Chandra-Gupta II). We
I

call

queen was the regent of the kingdom during the

and the plate> of Professor Ptak
miniority of lier son
(Ind. Ant., 1912, page 215), which are dated in the time of
this princess, bear on the seal not the genealogy of the VkThe descendants of this queen contakas but of the Guptas.
sidered themselves to be as much Guptas as Vktakas.

know

that this

They adopted

a veiy peculiar alphabet

fashion in the

as a

centurv, in ihf empire of the Guptas,

time of Chandra-Gupta

XXXI [1,

Ant. Vol

which spread

rBiihler

II

the

at

Ind,

Thisihas been styled the "box-

page 64).

headed" alphabet. I
llu- head of the letters

paleography"

"Ind.

queer

distinguisli

two

sorts of

"box" placed

at

The "true box";

is

it

thu^

described by

J.

F.

Fleet:

"formed by sinking four short strokes in the shape of a square

ind leaving a block of stone or copper in the centre of them"
/'Gupta Inscriptions, page 19).

box" is more simple: the sculptor or engraver has simply removed a sufficiently large square surface a'
the head of each letter.
As an example of the "true box" we may ti'ike the

The

"false

Balaghat
n;i 11

and

and

plates
all

(Ep. Ind. Vnj. IX., page 268) of

the plates of

Pravara^n.i

Prilhivish-

(Cliammak, Siwan

II

Dudia!^.

When

examining liie I'mvupalli plates ^see the plate in

Ind. Ant. Vol. V, page 51) which are dated fn^m Palakkada
in the 11th vear^ of the reign of the Pallava kuig Simhavar-

man and which have been engraved by

rja Vishnugpa,

made

the

has done up to the present,

ments

wa'<

"box hf-aded"

order of

Vuvamah-

important remark, which no one

that the alphabet of thi> docu-

nav more,

it

i*^

not the

"Ne box"

^ 08
but the

box" sq much so tiiat these plates can be shown

as an excellent specimen of the "true box". Simliavarman and
Vishnugpa have reigned between 475 and 500 A. D. and the
UruvupalH plates are probably dated 486 A. D. The plates of
''true

Mngalr and Pikira of the son

Vishnugpa are not boxmay therefore say that from 500 A. D., the
box method disappeared. Tiie same phenomenon is to be seen
in the Kadamba documents: the plates of iVfrigesa and Mnof

headed; we

dhatri are box-headed, but those of

Ravivarman are not. There

is room to think that Mrigsa and Mndhtri reigned from
475 to 500 A. D. and were contemporaries of Simhavarman
and Vishnugpa; and that Ravivarman reigned after 5 00 A. D.
when the box method has disappeared from the Deccan.
(2)

Vtp
look

We
and

at the

know

that about

founded

the

map, we see

550

A. D., Pulaksin

Chalukya kingdom:
that

the

but

geographical

seized
if

position

we
of

Bdm (Vtp) allows us to affirm that Palik (Halsi)

could not belong to the Kadambas when the Chalukyas were
in Bdm.
It may therefore be asserted that all the plates
'found
pages

at

Halsi and dated from

Pal^ik

23, 25, 28, 29, 31,) are anterior to

(Ind.

Ant., Vol. VF,

550 A. D.

We may

therefore say that Harivarman

who, in the 5th year of his

reign (Ind. Ant., Vol. VI, page 31) held Pal^ik, reigned
there before the middle of the VI century.
It has to
be
noted that we do not know of any Kadamba document dated
from Pal^ik w^hich is posterior to the one we have just
mentioned; it is therefore probable that Harivarman was
almost the contemporary of Pulaksin

and was vanquislied

by him. The Sangoli plates (Ep. Ind., Vol. XIV, page 165)
mention an astronomical phenomenon and Mr. K. N. Dikshit
Poona has observed that during the VI century this
of
I

phenomenon could have occured only thrice: in 507, in 526

The Sangoli plates being dated in the 8th year
and in 545.
of Harivarman's reign, this king must have come to the throne
only in 526-8518 A. D. or in 545-8=537 A. D., if we believe that this event happened in the VI century. The latter date
agrees perfectly well with the chronology we have adopted
we shall therefore admit that Harivarman ascended the
;

throne in 537 A. D.^

Let us

now

proceed to sum up the historv of

this dvnastv.

Tlic Talagiinda inscription (Ep.

gives

probably

version,

Inil.,

Vol Vili,

origin

the

liislorical, of

30)

pa/;e

the

ol

There was a brahman belonging to the Manavya

gotra named Mayiira^arnian who was a native ot Slhanakundur
(Talt(iinda)
and belonged to a family called
Kadtnnba
Kadanibas.

came to the
capital of the Pallava empire to study the Vedas and there had
Hearing it said that the brahman
a quarrel with a horseman.
since a

caste

kadamba

was

himself

angry,

put

head of a band of adventurers and attacked the

the forests of Sri Parvata. With the help of Brihad-

.nul other kings,

he succeeded

in

Klidsa" published

of

founding the kingdom

in

Hanavsi (V^iijayanti) was the capital.

Sankara Iyer of Trivandram

age

got

at the

which

o\

lie

he

inferior to that of the Kshatrias,

I'allavas in

Bna

tree sheltered their house.

in

Mr. K. G.

excellent article

his

on "The
the

the "Quarterly Journal of

Mythic Society," (Bangalore, Vol. VlH., July 1918) says: "It

is probal-tle that Myurasarma'i took advantage of the confusion
caused by Samudragupta's soutliern expedition lo set himself
up as an independent ruler". This hypothesis accords with the

chronology we have adopted.

Dr. A. Venkatasubbiah, the learned otlicer of the "Mysore

an

Archaeological Department", has written

Kadamba prakrit
XLVI, page 154),
document.
king

is

It is

inscription
in

of

which we

Kadamba

Malavalli"

tind

the

Ind,

exact

lh^

Ant.,

tenor

iA

"The
Vol.
(hat

name of the
prkrit we may
the d3-na>iy and

inscription, but the

However, as

not mentioned.

article

it

is in

suppose that he was the most ancient king of

that the document is dated in the reign of Mayuraisurman, that
is,

the middle of the

The

century.

I\'

8th verse of the Ajanta inscription

(cave

NV.-.

XVI,

Arch. Surv. \V. Ind., Vol IV, pages 53 and 124) say> that the
Vktaka king Prithivishna I. vanqui.->hed the king of Kuntala,
i,

e.

the

Kadamba

king.

reigned for a long time

It

is

certain

tradition says

th.it

th.it

Prithivislu

n.i

I.

he reigned for about

hundred years and Mr. Vincent A. Smith is of opinion that it

means "from about forty to sixty year>". We know that his son
Rudrasna II. married the daughter of Chandra-Gupta II. about

395 A. D.

We may

therefore be almost sure that Pritiiivishna

reigned between 350 and 390 A. D.

According

lo

I.

our chrono-

logy he uiu^t liav been the contemporary of the K-idmba

......

100

Kangavarman (360-385 A. D.) and it is probable that this

king of Kuntala is the one whose defeat is mentioned in tlie
Ajant inscription
and the Tlgunda inscription seems to
confirm this supposition, as it says that Kangavarman accompHshed "lofty exploits in terrible wars".
We have not got any information about Bhagiratha.
Raghu "subdued enemies by his valour". It is probably
kin;4

in

his

reign

that

his

brother

Kkustha bore

the

title

of

Yuvamahija and ruled over Palsik (Halsi in Belgaum) in

the year 80 of an unknown era which probably began with tlie
founding of the dynasty by Mayra^arman. In that case, the
Halsi plates (Ind. Ant., Vol. Vl, page 23) would be dated about
the year 420 A. D. and Kkustha would have come to the
throne in 425 and reigned till 450 A. D.

The Balaghat

plates (Ep. Ind., V^ol. IX., page 268) say that

Narndrasna was the grandson of Prabhvati-Gupt and that

he married the daughter of the king of Kuntala named Ajjhitabhattarik.

When

did this marriage take place

Mr. Vincent A. Smith

admitted with

(J.

R. A.

S.,

We

have

April 1914,

page 326) that the marriage of Kudrasna II with the daughter

of Chandra-Gupta II, the queen Prabhvati-Gupta, took place
about 395 A. D.

we may suppose

that the marriage of their

grandson took place 50 years later. So the marriage of the prince

Gupta-Vktaka with the daughter of the king of Kuntala must
be placed about 445 A. D. We have said above that it is certain
that the Kuntala

Kadambas

(see

may therefore

kingdom was no other than

Ep.

Ind., Vol. XlII,

put the question

page 299,

kingdom of the
verses 5862). We

the

who was the Kadamba

king that

reigned in 445 and gave his daugter in marriage to the Gupta-

Vktaka king? In our chronology Kkustliavarman is shown

to have reigned from 425 to 450 and it is quite possible that
in 445 he had a daughter of marriageable age: and the celebrated inscription of Tlagunda which contains the eulogy of

Kkusthavarman and is writhen in the "box-headed" alphabet

says that Kkusthavarman gave his daughters in marriage to
the Guptas and other kings.

The plates
man, are

of

Mrigsa and Mndhtri, "the sons of Sntivar-

also written in the

Two
Ant.. Vol.

sets of
'^'II,

same alphabet.

copper plates discovered

at

Devagiri

page 35 and page 37} are dated

in

the

(Ind.

3rd

.- 101
4ih yca^^

iiiKl

ot ihc

Ant., Vol. VI,

p,

ot

ieii;ii

Mrij^c.^;^; tlic

and the Hirc-Sakuna

24)

V.II, pa^e 12), are dated in the

8tli

year

Hal^i pla(es (hid.

of

Cam,

(Kp.

plates

same lei.^ii.
and Tlt^unda

the

The Hitnahabba^ilu {E\\ Cam., IV, p. 13o)

records are imt dated. The i.ist docmiient (Mysore Arclucolo^'ical

Report, lor 1910-11, page 35, and Plate IV, 2)

who was horn

the wife of Mi-igsa,

Kaikeya

in the

was called Prbhvati. In the lirst 8 years of

480 A. D. Miigsa ntprooted the Gahgas, .nid

mentions

and

faniilv,

his reign, alH>ut

w.is a

very hrc

of destruction of the:Pallavas (Halsi plates, Ind. Ant., VI, p. 24).

Mrig.4a reign

'd

at Vaijayanli.

It

8tli

probable thai he did not

we have got do

reign long, since the docunlenl^

the

is

iv-t

go bevond

year of his reign.

It is

probable that Mrigs'a was succeeded

who

Mndhtrivarnian

brother

in- his

reigned

also

the Kiidgere plates (Ep. Ind., Vol. V]., p.

at

y(;unger

Vaijayanti:

14) are dated in

Ih..-

2nd year of his reign. His private secretary Duiodaradalia

was probably the Dmdara of Konniir (Ind. Ant., Vol.
XXI.,

p. 93).

absence

In the

admit

more

of

Mrigesa reigned

that

Mndhtri from 490

precise

inforni.ition,

from 475

to

we may

490 A.

and

D.

500 A. D.
When Santivarman, Mrigesa and Mndh.itri were reigning at Vaijayanti, the northern provinces (Belgaum, Kaladgec
and Darwar), which had Palb'ik (Halsi) and Tripaivata (proto

bably Dvagri) for their capitals, were governed by princes

belonging to the younger branch uf the Kadamba family.

Kfishnavarman
Santivarman,

I.,

reigned

the Karajgi taluk of

Kakustha .md elder brother

son of
at

Triparvata

Dhrwd

(probably Dvagri,

He had

District).

the

of
in

prince

Dvav.irman as yuvamahraja (Dvagrc plates, Ind. Ant.,

Vol. VIII., p. 33). Almost at the same time, Vislinuvarman,
the elder (Birur plates) son of Krishna varman
in

made

grant

the Sindhuthaya-rashtra (Bijapur District) with the permis-

sion of his

cousin

Vol. VI., p. 91

Santivarman

Kadur

a Kaikeya princess

who

l'.ilsik

belonged

(Halsi),

to the

(Birur

jilates

ICp.

C.irn.,

Vislinuvarman was the son of

had married Krishnavarman 1. Who

Xu>. 1()2)

were the Kaikeyas? Xotliing

of

1,

is

known about

theui.

The kingdom

which was governed by Vishnuvarman.

Kadambas

of Vaijayanti

in fact,

when Mfig^a

was reigning

ut

oave orders for

Vaijayanli (Ind. Ant., vol. VI,

tlie

construction of a temple at Palsik.

probable that on the death of Mndhatri, the crown

It is

Kadambas came,

of the

page 24), he

the son of Mndhatri

Vishnuvarman

matter of right,

as a

being yoinig, his cousin

this prince

tried to size

Ravivarman

to

upon the throne with

the Pallavas; but Ravi killed his adversary.

In

Halsi plaies (Ind. Ant., Vol. VI, page 32) say

help

the

fact,

tiiat

set

of

Ravivarman

power by the strength and prowess

''acquh^ed the regal

of

of

his

own

arm", and another set of Halsi plates (Ind. Ant.,

Vol. V], page 29) also add that Ravivarman "having slain

Sri- Vishnuvarman

and

other

and

kings,

having

uprooted

Chandadanda, the lord of Kich has established himself at

The Nilambur plates (Ep. Ind., Vol. VIII,, page
Palsik".
and
146) are dated in the 5th year of Ravivarman's reign
;

(Ind. Ant., Vol. VI, page 25, 28

are three sets of plates

there

and 29)

that are dated in the

same reign from Palsik. The

Arch. Surv. West. Ind.,

(Progress Report,

Ajjibad-Sirsi plates

page 35) are dated in the 35th year of his reign

which corresponds probably to circ. 535 A. D. and it is likely,
for 1917-1918,

having come to the throne about 500 A. D. when

that,

young, he reigned for about 40 years and died

ciently

The

A. D.

Shimoga

on the stone

inscription

(Ep. Carn., Vol.

death of Ravi and of his wife

VIII,

who

at

Kavadi

suffi-

537

in

(Sorab

523,

page 167) mentions the

probably became a sati.

His son Harivarman succeeded him at Vaijayanti (Sangoli

plates
Ep. Ind., Vol. XlV., page 165
8th year of the reign)
;

and

at

Palsik (Halsi plates, Ind. Ant., Vol. Vl., page 31

year of his reign).

We

5th

have said that he ascended the throne in

537 A. D,

About the year 550 A. D., Pulaksin I.

family installed himself at Vtpi (Bdmi).

of the

Chalukya

This town being

situated exactly in the middle of the northern provinces of

Kadamba kingdom,
about 550 A. D.,

almost certain that Harivarman

it is

all

the

country that had for

its

the
lost,

capitals

Palsik (Halsi) and Triparvata.

We

have seen that Ravivarman killed V'ishnuvarman, his

cousin and settled at Palsik
Simhavarman, the son of
;

Visnuvarman, probably remained

the reign of Ravivarman

in

an inferior position during

but the son

of

Sirhhyarman

who

was called Krishravannan

The Bennur

II.

103

ascended the throne of Vnijnyanti.

Reliir 245)
Cam., Vol. V., pape 504
speak of a military expedition and the Bennahalli plates (Ep.
Carn.. Vol. V, Be. 121
and Ep. Ind.. Vol. VI., pa^'e 18) say
that Krishnavarman II. "has [gained the fortune of royalty hy

plates (Ep,

his

The

heroism".

kins^jdotn

between the Chalukva

Ganj^as

Uin<(l(nn

the south.

in

ef

Krishnavarnian
in tlu-

Madhava

II.

II.

extended

north and that

of the (afi^^a

t)t

the

dynasty

Krishnavarman II. Probably, it was

Krishnavarman II. that was defeated by the Chaluka Kirtivarman I. shortly before 570 A. D. and whose country was ruined
by the Pallavas (Anaji insc, Ep. Carn., Vol. XT, D^, Xo. 161).
For a lonf^ time it was believed that the dynasty was commarried the

of

sister

However, the discovery of the Ta^are plates

(Mysore Arch. Report for 1918, page 40 and plate XI) seems
to prove that the son of Krishnavarman IT. who was called
Ajavarman, did not reign, but that Bhgivarman, the son of
Ajavarman, was the "acquirer of an extensive kingdom by the
strength of his own arm". It is probable that this kingdom did
not last long, for, it appears that this country was occupied,
shortly after, by the Gangas (Tagare plates of Polavra, Mysore
.Arch. Report for 1918, page 41). Vishnuvarman son of Bhgipletely destroyed.

varman probably lived in the beginning of the VII centtuy.

The Chlukya king Pulikc^in 11 besieged Banavsi (Aihole
insc.) and, in the

Pulakesin

II

Kadamha country

(Sh,

10),

there

Vikramditya

are

(Sa.

inscriptions

79),

of

Vinayditya

and Vijayditya (Sk. 278).

At the end of the VIII century, the Pallava king Dantivarman married Aggafanimmati, *'the daughter of the celebrated

(Su. 154)

king, a

crest jewel

plates, vers 18

S.

of
I.

I..

the

Vol.

Kadamba
II.,

family" (Vlrplaiyam

Part V., page 511).

104

2.

Up

to the

moment

The Gangas,

of writin.i^ this,

the genealogv of this

dynasty has remained unsettled for the following reasons :

Tiie first documents that were discovered were no doubt
spurious.

They gave

the following genealogy

Konganivarman,

Mdhava

),

Harivarman,
I

Kishnugpa,
i

Mdhava

(II),

Avinita,
etc.

1913, were discovered the

give the following genealogy
In

Penukonda

plates

which

Konganivarman,

Mdhava,
.

Ayyavarman,

Madhava.
This document was certainly a genuine one
mitted that the genealogy given in the

erroneous and that the onlv

the

Penukonda

the following

is

plates.

It

one

rv:;liable

it

was ad-

spurious records
is

what

is

Konganivarman,

\\

Mdhava"^ I,
I

"

Ayyavarman,
I

Mdhava
I

Avinita,
etc.

II.,

is

iven in

has therefore been admitted

the correct genealogy

that


donor

Here ihe
the

oi

tutlici

suppositions,

records

is

the

ui

pliitcs

luentioned

is

against

protest

strongly

as

these

aftinn that the genealogy given in the spurious

now, no one has luulersdiNagrcenient that exists between the

quite correct, but that,

tood the true reason

Penukonda

Pciuikonda

Aviiiita.
I

to?

for ilu-

and

plates

tiie

Till

other documents.

F.

Fleet says

1915, page 472): "It must be obvious that two such

There lies the misdifferent statements cannot both be true".

(J.

H. A.

take

S.,

am

of opinion

that

both the genealogies are correct

but they are of two different dynasties.

Fn-st of

all,

genealogy given

have to declare most emphatically that the

in the sj-iurious

records

is

quite coriect. In the

Mysore Arclneological Report for 1916, Mr. R. Xarasimhachar

the Sringeri plates of
has published two sets of copper plates
and, as for the
Avinita and the Tttanur plates of Durvinita
Gummareddipuia plates of the same king published in 1912
69, "there are no indications, that would lead one to suspect
:

The dynasty referred

"Gangas of Talakad".

the genuineness" of those records.

documents

these

that of the

is

now proceed

which

to prove the existence of a

shall call the

to in

second dynasty

dynasty of the "Gangas of Paruvi".

possess two documents of this dynasty

We

which has remained

imknown till now

1) The Penukcmda plates issued by
when making a grant of land situated near
:

in

Paravivishaya

Epigraphy"
2)

(J.

R. A.

S.,

the

Mdhava

tank of Paruvi

1915, page 480 and "Report

for 1913-1914, Madras,

The Bendignhalli

the king

page 83-84)

plaies of

on

Krishnavarman, son

of

Mdhava, which mentions the grant ot Kuraur.i ui Paruvishaya

(Mysore Archaiol. Annual Report for 1914-1915, pkite XVIII).
Paruvi is identical with Parigi seven miles north of Hindupur
in the

Anantapur

district.

was perhaps Kavaipta from

which place are dated the plaies of Krishnavarman.
The chronolog\' of the Gangas has till now remained so
very uncertain that the authoi s who have treated the subject

The

capital of this dynasty

sometimes differ by several centuries.

However, all of them are almost agreed on the one point,
that

Mdhava

Krishnavarman

II,
I,

the father of Avinita, married the sister of

the son of Kku=;thavarman of the

13

Kadamba

dynasty

but

it

quite certain

is

was not the

it

The docuthe Kadamba

case.

ments say that Mdhava II. married the sister of

Krishnavarman, but this king was, I am sure, the second of
that name and not the first.
declare that Mdhava IL married
I

the sister of Krishnavarman

The

first

VIII century

Halkur

whose dale we are sure, reigned in the

1918, Mr. R. Xarasimhachar discovered at

king,
in

II.

of

an inscription on

(Sira tahik)

belonging to the

stone

reign of Sripurusha and dated S. 710 or 788 A. D. This king was

the son of^Sivamra (Vallim.ilai insc, No. 91 of 1889), and

grandson (Sdi plates. Ep. Inch. Vol. VIII, p. 181), of Bhvikrama. Since Sripurusha reigned in 788 A. D. we may suppose that
his grand father Bhvikrama ascended the throne in the first
quarter of the VIII century

The

(700-725 A. D.).

father

Bhvikrama named Srvikrama must have reigned

in the 4th

quarter of the VII

his grandfather

Mushkara

century

(650-675

father of

Mushkara reigned

pura plates

(Report,

paras 65-69)

are,

reign, and, as

we may

give

it

him

in
is

the

in

the

same

tiie

the

Gummareddi-

Mysore,

Depart.

dated

the

of

Duivinita

that

for a long time

for

40th year

1912
of

his

probable that he lived a few years more,

a reign of 45 years

605 to 650 A. D.

3rd quarter

We know

Archreol.
fact,

therefoie

century (675-700 A. D.) and

in

A. D.).

of

which

will

extend from

His father Avinita probably reigned for an

equally long period, for, the Sringri plates, which are dated in
the second year of his reign, say that he obtained the "sovereignty while still on the lap of his divine mother" and the

grant of Ep. Carn.,

Dodda-Ballpr, 68,

We may

year of his reign.

for a further period

and

9,

dated

in the

29th

therefore believe that he reigned

of 11 years after

making

that his reign lasted about

fore have reigned

is

40 years.
from 565 to 605 A. D.

the latter grant

Avinita would there-

According to these
calculations, Mdhava II., the father of Avinita, would have
reigned from 540 to 565 A. D. and this is exactly the epoch we
have assigned to the Kadamba Krishnavarman II.
If we now
bear in

mind

Ganga Mdhava

and the Kadamba

Krishnavarman II. both reigned over Mysore, the one in the
North and the other in the South, and that, in consequence,
they were neighbours, it would seem to be quite natural that
Mdhava H. should marrv the sister of Krishnavarman II. It is
that the

II.


clciu

th. il

hvcd

in

of

iiiidcilc

VI century, should

llic

Krishnavarman

ot

sister

the

century.

ubsolutclv imj)o>siblc that Mtlluivu

is

it

107

who

I.

lived

in

married the

hiivc

middle of the

the

We shall therefore conclude by sayint^

"Mdhava

the fatiier of Avinita, married the sister of the Kachunba

navarman

and reigned from 540

II.

This chronology
ments.

We

sliall

in perfect

is

presently see

to

II,

Krish-

565 A. D.".

accord with

that

who

II,

tile

.ill

docu-

Ayyavarman was placed

on the throne about 480 A. I)., by Siihhavarman, the Pallava

king that reigned from 475 to 500 A. D., and that the son of
Ayyavarman was crowncil by the Pallav.i Skandavarman
(500-525 A. U.).

We

get therefore

tiie

following genealogy and clironology

Kongaiiivarman,

Mdhava

fof the

Kanvyana

gtra),

1..

Avvavannan (480-505)

Harivarni.m

Vishaugopa

Mdhav.i (505-530)

Krishnavarman
(ace. circ. 530)

Mdhav.i

(540 565)

I!

(Paruvi dvnastv'l

Avinita (565-^05)
I

Durvinita (f)05-650i
I

.Mushkar.i

second

half

'

of the
I

Srivikramaj VII century

I

Bhuvikr.imaj

tiisi h..I'

of tile

'
I

SivamiM

VI

11

century

Siipurusha (788 A. D.)

etc.

Wc

shall

now

try to give the history ut these

kmy*.


We

have said

fought with

tlie

that,

108

about 480 A. D., the

Gangas and was "a

Kadamba

ver>- fire of

ISIrigesa

destruction

the Pallavas" (Halsi plates, Ind. Ant., Vol. VI., page 25).

information

is

very importait as

it

of

This

proves that about 480 A. D.

Gangas in their fight with the Kadambas.

The Pallava king at this epoch was probably Sirhhavarman who
reigned at Kichi and to whom we have assigned the date
475 to 500 A. D.; and this fact is confirmed by the Penugonda
plates that say that the Ganga king yyavarman "was duly
installed on the throne by Simhavarman Maharaja, the lord of
the prosperous Pallava family (Kep. on Ep. for 1913-14; G. O.,
No. 920, 4th Aug. 1914). The son of Ayyavarman wtio was
"installed on the
called JNIdhava alias Sirhhavarman was
throne by the illustrious Pallava (king) Skandavarman". We
have said that Skandavarman of Kchi, son of Simhavarman
It is probable that this Pallava
reigned from 500 to 525 A. D.
king had also to contend with the Kadambas for strengthening
the sovereignty of the Ganga king for, the Halsi plates (Ind,
Ant., V^ol. VI., p. 29) say that Rvivarman struggled against
"Chandadanda, the lord of Kaich". Since we do not know
of any Pallava king of that name, we may suppose that the
name "Chandanda" was a "biruda" of Skandavarman who
reigned at this epoch (500-525 A. D.)
Mdhava alias Simhavarman, who made the giant commemorated by the Penugonda plates, reigned over Paruvivishaya and must be identified witii the Madhva of the

the Pallavas aided the

Bendignhalli plates (Mysore Arch.x. Report for 1914-15, plate

XIII) whose son Vijaya-Krishnavarman reigned over Paruvishaya. This king

of the

Krishnavarman must have reigned

VI century,

for, the

in the

middle

alphabet of the Bendignhalli plates

almost identical with that of the Bannahalli (Ep. Ind, Vol.

VI, p. 18) and Chikkulla (Ep. Ind., Vol. IV., p. 196) plates.
is

Krishnavarman

known king of the Paruvi dynasty.

The king Mdhava II, who belonged to the dynasty of the

Gangas

is

the last

of Talakd,

"bought the sovereignty with the strength

of his own arm", and married the younger sister of the Kadamba Krishnavarman (II), who, in the middle of the VI century,
reigned over a large part of Mysore.

His son Avinita (565-605 A. D.) married the daughter of

Skandavarman king of Punnata,


We
The

capital of this province

Talakd.

here say a few words about the kings of Punnad.

iiiLibi

Ep. Carn., Vol.

56,

100

1\')

on

was

tlic

Kilthi})iira

river

or

Kal)baiii, to

Kittur

the

(Mg.

west

of

Xarasimhaehar discovered (Mysore

1917, page 40, Xo. 87) the Mnibalh

In 1917, Mr. K.

Arclu'eoh Report for

plates that give

The spurious

us

rehable

infonnation

Komarahhg.mi

about

this

dynasty.

Vol.

XVII I;

page 362) give further de'ails whicii aie very probably

histori-

plates of

(Ind, Ant.,

cal.

The genealogy
(of

would be the following

Rshtravarman
the Tmra-Ksyapa fainilv)
of this dynasty

Xagadatta

Prithivipati

(the eldest)
|

Bhujanga

(who married

the daughter ct vSingavarman)

"l

Skandavarnian.

probable that

It is

in

this

marriage to the Ganga

TalakcJ.

The

Punnad

to the

Skandavarman gave
Avinita

isbue of this marriage

kingdom

of the

(565-605 A.

his
D.),

daughter
king

of

was Durvinita who annexed

Ganga^.

Durvinita (605 to 650 A. D.)

is

known "ashavuig hishioad

embraced, of her own accord, by the goddess of

sovereignty, though she was intended by his father for another

chest

son", as the victor in the battles of Andari,

Pernagara

(in

Salem

district);

as

the

Punnada;

as the author of three works,

Archcol.

Report, for 1916, page 45).

lord

Alattiir,

of

Polul.ire,

P.innda and

namely a Sabdavalara,
a sanskrit version of the Vaddakatha or Brihatkatha, and a
commentaiy on the 15th sarga of the Kirtrjuniya (Mysore

to

et

a -

>

;;

r^

-:
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]n

The

The

3.

s^

mid the

,i;'eneaU)^y

kyas present no difticulty

Chlul^va'^.

Clialu-

chroiiolo;y oi ihr Wi-^icrn

Jaya>^iiiih:i (of

ihc

Mnavya

^otni)

Kanar,L;a

r
Han-ivikrama Pulakcsm

(ci;c.

>.-^0

A. D.^

Kirtivarman

Pulakcsin

Man^ak-sa (^97-60),

(5o6-597),

Kuhj-Vishnuvardhana

11.,

(founder of the Eastern Chalnkya dynasty)

[the k\^end given
The orit^in oi this dynasty is obscure
in the "grant of Vita-Choda," S. I. 1., Vol. 1.. page SO. has
nothing historical in ii ]. In 1905, (j. K. A. S., for 1905, page

(609-642)

360) Fleet found out that the hypotheses formed on this subject

were

all

of

them

baseless.

shall,

the grant of Undivtika (Ep. hid.,

is

probably dated

the

commander

in

the

of the

lirst

fort

however, make a remark

Vol. VI 11., page 163) which

half of the
of

century

VI

Harivatsakotta

was

says
a

that

certain

Cm

\h\^ Javasimha
jayasimha (see also Ind. Ant., Vol XXX^.
be the founder of the Chalukya dynasty ?
Pulikb^in 1., who probably came from a town called
Indukanti installed himself about 550 A. D., at Vatapi (Bdami).

We

have said

that

this

military

operation could

effected only by having defeated the

Harivarman) who reigned,

modern provinces

with

of Kaladgee,

Kadamba

Halsi

king (probably

capital,

over

the

Belgaum, and Dharwar. Tinhe performed a horse sacrifice.

historical

document^; say that

We

also (lidmi insc, Ind. Ant.,

know

for

have been

Vol.

Ill,

page

305;

Vol. VI. page 363; Vol. X. nage 58) that he married Durlabha-

dvi of the Batpra family.

from Goa

far

at

X,, page 348).

in

Rvatdvpa (Goa plates;

XIX, page 7]

Mahkta

of

1=

S.,

Vol.

succeeded him

(near Bdmi)

[Ind. Ant.,

says that Kirtivannan gained victories in the

Vanga and Anga (E. and W, Bengal), KaVattra, Magadha, Madraka, Kerala, Ganga, Mshaka,

following countries
linga,

B. B. R. A.

J.

not

probably

lived

His eldest son Krtivarman

%6-7 A. D.
The inscription

Vol.

family

Tliis

Pndya, Dramila, Choliya, Aiuka (the Aluvas or Alupas, in the

N.-E of Banavsi) and Vijayant. Again, the Aihole inscription
says that Kirtivarman was a "night of

doom

to the

Nalas,

the

Mauryas and the Kadambas." The Nalas probably occupied

Nalavdi {mentioned

and

Karnl

(see

Bombay

The

districts.

Northern Konkan
page 282).

in plates of

stone

(see

Vikramaditya

Mauryas

Bombay

were

Gazetteer,

near

I)

people

Vol.

Bellary

Part.

I,

of
II.,

Vda in the Thna district

Vol. XIV, page 373) mentions the

discovered

Gazetteer,

at

Maurya Seketuvarman. We have already spoken of the defeat

of the Kadambas a little before 570 A. D. It would appear that
Kirtivarman defeased a confedaration

probably Krishnavarman

11

and

of

Kadamba

feudatories.

his

princes

year of his reign, Kirtivarman had as Yuvamahrja his

brother Mangals^a; and

caves of Bdcmi dug in

12th

In the

young

had one of the

the year 500 of the Sika era, which

it

is

this

prince that

corresponds to 578 A. D. (Ind. Ant., Vol.

Ill,

page 305

Vol.

VI, page 363; Vol. X, page 58). Krtivarman married a princess

Sndraka family who was the daughter of Snnanda

Of this
raja (Chiplun plates, Ep. Ind., Vol. Ill, page 51).
uiion was born a son named Pnlaksin II. This prince was

of the

probably very young w^hen his father

sed

to

clied

and

tlie

crown

Mangal^a, the brother {or half-brother,

Vol. X!X., page 15) of Kirtivarman

The

pas-

Ind. Ant.,

I.

Mahkta which is dated in the 5th

year of the reign of Mangalsa i-e. 601-602 A. D. say (Ind. Ant.,
Vol. XIX, page 7) that this king vanquished Buddha, and the
Nerr plates (Ind. Ant., Vol. VII., page 166) say that he "put
to flight Samkaragana's son Buddharja and killed Swmirja
inscription of

of the Chlikya family

We

(see also Ind. Ant., Vol. VI,

page 363).

have already spoken of the defeat of Buddharja when

studying the Kalachuri dynasty. The Aihole inscription (Ep.

U
3

page 8) says that iMangalesa "took in

marriage the Fortune of the Katachcluuis" and seized upon the
perhaps in this island that Swmirja
it was
isle oi Rvati
VI, Xo.

Vol.

hid.,

1,

"when his elder

The Aihole inscription adds
brother's son named Folakin had lormcd the resolution to
wander abroad as an exile, that Mangala abandoned togelhei
with the effort to secure the kingdom for his own son, both
This event took place in 608 A. D.
his kingdom and his life".
Pulak^in was formally crowned in the following year.
The Aihole inscription (Ep. Ind. Vol. VI, page 4) gives us
reigned.

the following description of the exploits of Pulaksin

Two

11.

ppyika and Gvinda having tried to conquev

the north of the river Bhima, one is repulsed

chiefs,

the country to

and the other submits and becomes the ally of the Chluky,.-.
Pulaksin then lays siege to Vanavs and subdues the Ganga^,,
the lupas who reigned in this region, as also the Mauryas of
Konkan. He then besieges Puri, an important town on the
the

oi

coast

Malavas and

ocean

western
the

(Arabian

sea)

Grjaras surrender as

well

Ltas, the

the
as

the

inhabi-

Vindhyas, the banks of the Rv and the three

Mahrshtras. In the North-east, Pulakin subdues the king-

tants

of the

Kalinga and Kosala.

doni'- of

pura and fights

ne.u" tiie

He

seizes the citadel of

Pishta-

then he

tuin'^ lo

waters of the Kunla

the south, rout> the king of (he Pallavas (Mahndravarnian I.)

of Kaiichi. crosses the Kvri. causes "prosperity to the Chlas,

Pndva^" ami returns to his capital Bdnii, These

exploits took place at the beginning of his reign, circ. 609 A. D.
The conquest oi the Tehigii country comprising the districts
of Godavari, Krishna and Guiuur is a landmark in the history
Kralas,

of the Deccan,

owing

to the creation of an

important .kingdom,

that of the Eastern Chalukva-.

notewoithv that the Aihole inscription which bears

the date 634 A. 1). makes no mention of king Harsha Vardhana.
The documents po^lerioi to n mention the victory gained by
probable that it was about the
It is
Pulaksin over Harsha.
It

is

year 63^ A. D. that Harsha vanquished Dhruvasna

II,

king ot

extend bis conquests much more,

but was stopped bv Piilak^m. Thi- event probablv took place

Valabhi

Har>ha wished

about 637 or

6-.

\.

I).

to


^^'^ 'l" "'e

"0 A .;,
he who e
Hotn 610

IM

"Ancenl H,stry

f ,he

A, ,h epoch, Pulakes,,,
of the

A. IX

Deccan

I,,

Deccan" u,th the year

has become l^^ZZ

the ,>aava. have been

rlp7^ Z

(hedocmenls have become more

numerous
we enter .T;

and ch,onoloy ha. ..come

more precse
..ew epoch ,n thehistorv of
the
Deccan.

th,- tn.cldle

Poiiihchmx,

f)nc,,!h,,

age.

injg

CONTEXTS.

Page
5

Inirodndioii

CImpttr

I.

The early kin^^.

Asoka
Kubcra

1 )

2)

3) Kluiravola o\

The

4)
Chiipii'i

Chii(>tei

earliest

3)

The

Uw

ot

Saunuii a-(u[Ma

40

(>l

Thr Kal.irhm
ilviiiisties

of

02

71

Western ihrcdn.
...

80

I'.dstei

II

Ihwdii.

k^hvkns

S.i

2)

The

l-)j-ihatpliakiyHiias

84

89

The Salankvaiias
I

"he XishunkiHKJiiis

I'll'-

<l\'ii,islies of

The

90
93

Tlir kiPi^s oi Kahnj^^a

5)

81

82

i^

riu>

77

Sai abhipni a

4)

58

Ceiittn! />r.<vn;.

The IVaiktas

The

37

kiiii^s

The \bhiras

})

I'll.

expdition

riu' kiii^s

.>)

Chapiei

Tallava inystei

I'hr <l\'iiiistle^ of

26

Saka era

Ihr Vklaka-

2)

17.

SAtavhana

^^\'ll,1sties of

2)

Chopte)

later

ot the

\\w Tallavas Ironi .WO \o OlO A. D.

/r. ///<

Deectw.

rllifvs.

I'hr

})

r.

of the

16

Chashlana, toiiiuKM

2) The-

Chaf^U'i

13

kins^s ...

The Kshaliartas

Chdf'Ic-i

Stavhana

2)

III.

12

Kaliuii.i

S,ikn perioii ot the Insfoiv

II. Tlu1

Bhattipiolu

ot

Ktiiutrese districts.

Iv.uiainh,

'^S

2)

The (ian^as

o)

The

C4i;ihikv.is

104

Ul

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Archologie

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Sud de

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septime]

TOME

ci

FRENCH:

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[Annales

Tomes

Avvinicciure Avec

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V)2

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vingt-sixii.io

ei

vingt-

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IN

ENfiLISHr

Pullava Antiquities, Vol. 1. With ?>2 plates. Probsthain

and Co,, 41, Great Russell Street, London, 1916.

Dravidian Archiiecinie \v:tti 35 ligures. Edited with Preface

and Xotes by S, Krishnaswami Aiyangar, m.a., m.k.a.s.,
:

F.R, H;st. S-,

L'niversity

Professor of Indian Historv and Archaeologv,

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