Current Version: draft, 2024-05-22Z
Editor: Jens Christian Thomas.
DHARMA Identifier: INSTelugu00039
Alternative identifier:
Origin: Written in 694.
Classification: donative-religious land grant
Languages: Telugu
Corresponding Artefact: ARTTelugu000035 inscription on Stone in the vaṅka on the way to Banḍārlapalle near Igaḍūru
Layout: 5 lines are observed/preserved on the artifact.
1svasti śrī vinayāditya-satyāśraya śrī pr̥thivī-vallabha-mahārāja--
2paramēśvara-bhaṭāraḷa vijayarājya-saṁvatsaraṁbu padunālugu A(bu)n ēṇḍu va(ṇa)-
3rājul va(ṁ)gan(ū) nāṇḍu Ēḷā paṇṭaḷa peṇaviyāru puṟanur ēḷa vāri taṁbul mall(i)y(ē)ru
Iga-
4[ḍū] r ēḷucu bhāradvā(ja) sagōtra(ṁ)buna Ucca pāṟa kumāraśarmmarikiN rācamāna(ṁ)buna
Ē-
5(bha)[d](i) māṟuntuṟ(la) pannasa Udakapūrvva(ṁ) (cē)si I(ci)[r](i)[10+]N (pa)
1 pr̥thivī ◇ pr̥thvī
2 A(bu)n ◇ Agun • The akṣara does not look like the ⟨gu⟩ of the same line because the vowel points
towards the left side. It does not seem to be ⟨vu⟩ either, which is attested in this
position in Ramayya Pantulu 1948: № 596. — 2–3 va(ṇa)/rājul ◇ vā(ṇa)/rājul
3 va(ṁ)gan(ū) ◇ vaṁganūr • The estampage has a lot of dots and strokes that in this case might form a long
⟨°ū⟩. — 3 Ēḷā ◇ Ēḷa — 3 paṇṭaḷa ◇ baṇḍaḷa — 3 peṇaviyāru ◇ peṇaciyāru — 3 puṟanur ◇ puḻanūr • The second akṣara is a circle with a horizontal line. The difference between ⟨ṟa⟩
and ⟨ḻa⟩ is that - in all their shapes - ⟨ṟa⟩ has a horizontal stroke and optionally
a vertical one while ⟨ḻa⟩ only has a vertical one. If the vowel was ⟨°ū⟩ it would
have been written via a normal ⟨°u⟩ with another stroke to the right as on ⟨ru⟩ or
⟨ku⟩. — 3 mall(i)y(ē)ru ◇ mallayaru • The reading ⟨lli⟩ is very doubtful. The main akṣara looks like a halanta ⟨L⟩ but
there might be traces of ⟨°i⟩. The subscript ⟨°l⟩ is also unusual in that it starts
on the left lower corner instead of the right one.
4 bhāradvā(ja) ◇ bhāradvāja — 4 Uccapāṟa kumāraśarmmarikiN ◇ Uñcapāṟa kumāraśarmmari[k i]kkina • Because of the damage it is not clear whether ⟨N⟩ really is halanta. But this is to be expected grammatically. The editors state in a note — 4–5 Ē/(bha)[d](i) māṟuntuṟ(la) ◇ Ē/(bhadi) maṟutuṟlu
5 Udakapūrvva(ṁ) (cē)si I(ci)[r](i)[10+]N (pa) ◇ Udakapūrvvaṁ cēsi Icciri
The word taṁbulu (pl.) is an early variant of later tammuḍu “younger brother”. A viṣaya or nāṇḍu with the name vaṁganūr is mentioned (and written clearly) in 1949-1950: № 14, line 2 and also mentioned in 1948: № 604, line 2. The place name consists of the elements vaṁgan(V) and ūru “village”; the first element could go back to Telugu vaṁka “crooked”, compare Kannaḍa vaṁka “the winding course of a stream” (Kittel 1894: page 1370), with locative suffix. Hence, the place name could mean “village at the river curve”. The modern village Vaṁganūr actually is situated at a curve of the Pennar river. It might hence be possible that the viṣaya was also simply called vaṁgana “at the river curve” (Ramesh and Ramachandra Murthy 1969–1970: № 56 B, line 3) if it wasn’t really vaṁganūr. The attested vaṁgaru on the other hand (Ramesh and Ramachandra Murthy 1969–1970: № 56 C, line 3) very probably is a misspelling for vaṁganūru because of etymological reasons.
The inscription was noted in A. R. No. B 5 of 1959-1960 and first published by K. V. Ramesh and S. S. Ramachandra with annotations and a picture (1969-1970: page 334, № 56 B).