Mayidavōlu copper plates, time of Śiva-Skandavarman, year 10

Metadata

Current Version: draft, 2024-04-22Z

Editor: Emmanuel Francis.

DHARMA Identifier: INSPallava00002

Summary: Grant (brahmadeya), with all exemptions, of the village of Viriparam to two Brahmins.

Hand Description:

See Hultzsch 1900–1901 (EI 6, no. 8, p. 86).

Additional Metadata

Alternative identifier:

Origin:

Classification: religious land grant

Languages:

Corresponding Artefact:

Layout:

Edition

Seal

¹śivaska[davarmmaṇaḥ]

Plates

^{⎘ plate 1r}⁰¹diṭhaṁ

^{⎘ plate 1v}^1v1=1[kāṁ]cīpurāto yuvamahāraj(o)
^1v2=2bhāradāya-sagotto palavānaṁ 2
^{⎘ plate 2r}^#2^2r1=3sivakha(ṁ)davammo dhaṁñakaḍe
^2r2=4vāpataṁ Ānapayati

^{⎘ plate 2v}^2v1=5Amhehi dāni Amha-vejayike
^2v2=6(dhaṁ)māyu-bala-vadhanike ya 3
^{⎘ plate 3r}^#3^3r1=7bamhanānaṁ Agivesa-sagottasa
^3r2=8puvakoṭujasa Ag¿ī?⟨i⟩vesa-sagottasa
^{⎘ plate 3v}^3v1=9gonaṁdijasa Aṁdhāpa¿t?⟨th⟩īya-gāmo
^3v2=10[vi]r(i)[pa]raṁ Amhehi Udakādiṁ 4
^{⎘ plate 4r}^#4^4r1=11saṁpadato

Etasa gāmasa
^4r2=12viriparasa sava-bamhadeya -
^{⎘ plate 4v}^4v1=13pa(r)i(h)āro vitarāma A-lona-khādakaṁ
^4v2=14A-raṭha-saṁv(i)nāyikaṁ A-paraṁparā-baliva⟨daṁ⟩ 5
^{⎘ plate 5r}^#5^5r1=15A-bhaḍa-papesaṁ A-kūra-colaka-
^5r2=16vināsi-khaṭ¿a?⟨ā⟩-saṁvāsaṁ

Etehi
^{⎘ plate 5v}^5v1=17Anehi ca sava-bamha-
^5v2=18deya-majādāya 6
^{⎘ plate 6r}^#6^6r1=19savaparihārehi parihārito

^6r2=20pariharatha parih(ā)r¿(ā)?⟨a⟩petha ca

^{⎘ plate 6v}^6v1=21jo Amha-sāsanaṁ Atichi-
^6v2=22tūna pīlā bādhā karejo {(vā)} 7
^{⎘ plate 7r}^#7^7r1=23{(ta)} kārāpejo vā tasa Amho
^7r2=24sārīraṁ sāsanam karejāmo

^{⎘ plate 7v}^7v1=25sa(ṁ)vacharaṁ dasamaṁ 10 gimhā(naṁ)
^7v2=26pakho chaṭo 6 divasaṁ paṁcami 5

8
^{⎘ plate 8r}^#8^8r1=27Ānatī sayatti

dattā
^8r2=28paṭṭikā

Apparatus

Seal

¹ śivaska[davarmmaṇaḥ] ◇ śivaska(davarmmaṇaḥ) EH • EH quotes the description of the seal by Venkayya: "The seal bears in relief an animal couchant and facing the proper right—apparently a bull, as it has a hump on its back—and below it, the legend śivaska[ndavarmmaṇaḥ?] in an alphabet which appears to be slightly different from that of the inscription. The bull and the legend are enclosed in a circle which is partially preserved."

Plates

¹ [kāṁ]cīpurāto ◇ [kāṁ]cīpurāto EH • Read kāñcīpurato or kāñcīpurāt. As noted by EH, "[t]he first syllable of this word is almost entirely obliterated, but can be supplied with certainty from line 1 of the Hīrahaḍagalli plates." • DCS reads siddham before this word, but there are no trace of it. — ¹ yuvamahāraj(o) ◇ yuvamahārajo EH • compare with jo in line 21.
⁶ ya ◇ ¿y?⟨c⟩a IP
¹⁰ [vi]r(i)[pa]raṁ ◇ (viripa)raṁ EH • As noted by EH, this placename is clearly legible in line 12. — ¹⁰ Amhehi • DCS suggests to delete this word as redundant compared to its occurrence already in line 5.
¹³ pa(r)i(h)āro ◇ pa(r)i(hā)ār¿o?⟨e⟩ EH — ¹³ °khādakaṁ ◇ °khādakaṁ EH • Alternative possible readings are °khāḍakaṁ and °khāṭakaṁ.
²⁰ parih(ā)r¿(ā)?⟨a⟩petha ◇ pariharāpetha EH DCS
²² bādhā ◇ bādh(ā) EH — ²² karejo ◇ karejjā EH • According to EH, "[t]he group jjā in karejjā (l. 22) and kārāpejjā (l. 23) is identical in shape with jo (l. 21)" whereas "[i]n the Hīrahaḍagalli plates the jjā of kārāpejjā (l. 40) differs from the jo of °rājo (l. 2)" . — ²² {vā / ta} ◇ {(vā) / (ta)} EH • These two letters are possibly crossed-out by the engraver. EH notes about vā at the end of line 22: "This akṣara and the first akṣara of the next plate seem to have been scored out by the engraver, who had omitted karapejjā and had begun to write vā tasa, but found out his mistake when he had got as far as ta." Note also that the letter ta in this occurrence is the only case in the whole set where a letter is engraved above the binding hole. — ²² kārāpejo ◇ kārāpejjā EH
²⁵ gimhā(naṁ) ◇ gimhā(naṁ) EH • EH points to parallels in inscriptions in Nāsik (no. 11, line 12; no. 14, line 1).

Translation by Hultzsch 1900-1901

Seal

[This edict] has been seen.^↓1

Plates

¹From Kañcīpura the yuvamāhāraja Śivaskandavarman [of the family] of the Pallavas,^↓2 who belongs to the gotra of the Bhāradvājas, orders [his] official (vyāpṛta) at Dhaññakaḍa^↓3 [as follows]:—

⁵For conferring on ourselves victory [in war]^↓4 and for increasing [our] merit, length of life, and power, we have now given, with libations of water, the village of Viripara in Andhrāpatha to the [two] Brāhmaṇas Puvakoṭuja of the Āgniveśya gotra and Gonandija^↓5 of the Āgniveśya gotra.

¹¹To this village of Viripara we grant all the immunities [enjoyed by] brahmadeyas.

¹³[Let it be] free from diggings for salt,^↓6 araṭhasaṁvināyika, free from [the supply of] bullocks in succession,^↓7 free from the entrance of soldiers, free from [the supply of] boiled rice, water-pots, ... ^↓8 cots and dwellings.^↓9

¹⁶With these and all the other immunitics [prescribed] by the rules regarding all brahmadeyas [we have] caused it to be exempted.

²⁰[Accordingly] you^↓10 have to exempt [it] and cause [it] to be exempted.

²¹Who, transgressing our edict, shall give or shall cause to be given trouble [and] annoyance^↓11 [to the donees], on him we shall inflict bodily punishment.

²⁵The tenth—10th—year, the sixth—8th—fortnight of summer, the fifth—5th—lunar day.

²⁷The executor (ājṉapti) [was] myself. Accordingly [this] set of plates (paṭṭikā) has been given [to the donees].

Translation into French by Emmanuel Francis

Seal

¹De Śivaska[ndavarman]

Plates

⁰¹Vu.^↓12

^1-4De Kāñcīpuram, le yuvamahārāja Śivaskandavarman [de la famille] des Pallava et du gotra des Bhāradvāja ordonne à l’officier en charge à Dhānyakaṭa :

^5-11"Viriparam, village de l’Andhrāpatha, a été désormais donné avec aspersion d’eau, par nous, en vue de notre victoire et de l’accroissement du dharma, de la santé et de la force, aux brahmanes Puvakoṭuja ^↓13 du gotra d’Agniveśa et Gonandija ^↓14 du gotra d’Agniveśa."

^11-16"A ce village de Viripara nous accordons toutes les exemptions propres à un brahmadeya : l’interdiction de le creuser pour du sel, l’exclusion de l’autorité régionale (a-raṭha-saṁvināyika ?), l’interdiction d’en saisir des bœufs d’attelage, l’interdiction d’y entrer pour les soldats et l’interdiction d’en saisir du riz cuit, des pots d’eau, du combustible (vināsi ?), des lits, des maisons."

^16-19"Il est exempté de toutes les exemptions, celles-ci et les autres, conformément à l’usage valable pour tous les brahmadeya."

²⁰"Exemptez-le et faites-le exempter !"

^21-24"Celui qui, enfreignant notre ordre, causerait ou ferait causer des ennuis ou dommages [à cette donation], nous lui infligerons un châtiment corporel."

^25-26"Dixième (10) année, sixième (6) quinzaine de l’été, cinquième (5) jour."

²⁷"Exécution : nous-mêmes."

^27-28Des tablettes ont été données.

Commentary

For a description of the Prakrit language of this grant, see Hultzsch 1900–1901 (EI 6, no. 8, p. 85-86), Mehendale 1948.

Bibliography

Edited in Hultzsch 1900–1901 (EI 6, no. 8) with facsimile and English translation; text and sanskritised text in Sircar 1965 with facsimile; text and summary in Mahalingam 1988 (IP no. 2); re-edited here for DHARMA (ERC n° 809994) by Emmanuel Francis (2023), based on published estampages and photos of the original plates in the Chennai Government Museum (2008).

Primary

Hultzsch, Eugen Julius Theodor. 1900–1901. “Mayidavolu Plates of Sivaskandavarman.” EI 6: 84–89.

[siglum EH]

Sircar, Dines Chandra. 1965. Select Inscriptions Bearing on Indian History and Civilization. Volume I: From the Sixth Century B.C. to the Sixth Century A.D. 2nd edition revised and Enlarged. Calcutta: University of Calcutta.

Pages 457–461. [siglum DCS]

Mahalingam, T. V. 1988. Inscriptions of the Pallavas. New Delhi; Delhi: Indian Council of Historical Research; Agam Prakashan.

Pages 31–34, № 2. [siglum IP]

Secondary

Francis, Emmanuel. 2013. Le discours royal dans l’Inde du Sud ancienne : inscriptions et monuments Pallava, IV^ème-IX^ème siècles. Tome I : Introduction et sources. Publications de l’Institut orientaliste de Louvain 64. Louvain-la-Neuve; Paris: Université catholique de Louvain, Institut orientaliste; Peeters.

№ IR 2.

Mehendale, M.A. 1948. Historical grammar of inscriptional Prakrits. Poona: Deccan College, Postgraduate and Research Institute.

Pages xvi, 107–108.

Notes

↑1. With the word diṭhaṁ or, in Sanskrit, dṛṣṭam we have to supply idaṁ śāsanam. It is the equivalent of the modern ’true copy’ or ’examined’ at the foot of official letters and Government orders. For a different explanation of dṛṣṭaṁ see above, Vol. III [i.e. EI 3], p. 259.
↑2. For other instances of this elliptical use of the genitive see above, Vol. IV [i.e. EI 4], p. 197, note 6, and Vol. VI [i.e. EI 6], pp. 15 and 19.
↑3. Compare ānapayati govadhane amaca in the Nāsik inscriptions Nos. 11, A and 15.
↑4. The corresponding word in the Hīrahaḍagalli plates, vijaya-vejayike (l. 9), is omitted in Professor Bühler’s translation (Ep. Ind. Vol. I, p. 8).
↑5. I.e. Gonandyārya. Compare nandija in line 21 of the Hīrahaḍagalli plates.
↑6. This term and the next one occur in the Nāsik inscriptions Nos. 11, A, 11, B and 15.
↑7. Compare line 33 of the Hīrahaḍagalli plates.
↑8. vināsi, left untranslated.
↑9. With the last term compare a-khaṭvā-vāsaudanam (above [i.e. EI 6], p. 14, text line 8), and see line 31 of the Hīrahaḍagalli plates, where the photo-lithograph reads °akūra° and not akara° as the printed text. The word colaka or yollaka is probably related to cullakī, ’a kind of water-pot;’ vināsi or vinesi remains obscure.
↑10. Viz. the inhabitants and officials of the district, etc. See line 35 of the Hīrahaḍagalli plates, and Ind. Ant. Vol. IX, p. 101, I. 10 f, where Professor Bühler’s improved reading (Ep. Ind. Vol. I, p. 2, note 2) has to be further corrected by reading with the photo-lithograph pariharatha parihārapetha. The translation would then run:— “Knowing this, you, the villagers [and] officials, exempt [it and] cause [it] to be exempted with all the immunities!" In line 7 of Dr. Fleet’s text join mahānarakadevakula, and in line 6 f. read ātukasa kasita . . chettaṁ “the . . . . field ploughed by Ātuka."
↑11. Here and in the Hīrahaḍagalli plates (l. 40) one would expect the acc. sing. pīlaṁ bādhaṁ instead of the acc. plur. pīlā bādhā.
↑12. C’est-à-dire « Vérifié ».
↑13. Sanskrit Puvakoṭvārya.
↑14. Sanskrit Gonandyārya