Epigraphia Indica Vol 26

SR No.: 032580
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Hirananda Shastri
Publisher: Archaeological Survey of India
Publication Year: 1945
Total Pages: 448
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 24 MB

Page 36

No. 2.] RAJAHMUNDRY MUSEUM PLATES OF TELUGU CHODA ANNADEVA. 23
of a certain Prōlaya-Nayaka, expelled the Muhammadans and re-established the Hindu independence. Prōlaya was succeeded by Kapaya, and after the demise of the latter the petty chiefs asserted their independence; but soon the stronger subdued their weaker neighbours and laid the foundations of powerful kingdoms. One of these was the Reddi chief Prōlaya-Vēma, the ruler of Addanki, in the southern fringe of the present Guntur District. He welded together the small states in the coastal region to the south of the Krishna into a strong kingdom, and extended his territory further by bringing the whole of the east coast as far as the frontier of Orissa under his sway. His victories on the east coast are detailed in a copper-plate charter dated in A.D. 1336, where, among other things, it is said that he crushed the honour of Kalingaraya, burnt the abode of Oddiyaraya and confounded the Raya of Janturnaḍu, sported in the waters of Kundiprabha (the Gunḍlakamma), Sabyajā (the Krishna) and Gautami (the Godavari), and that he granted many agrahāras to the Brahmans, and established satras (feeding houses) in the country lying on both the banks of as well as in between the rivers Brahmakundi (the Gundlakamma), Krishnavēņi, Godavari and Mahanadi1. It is obvious that Vêma's military activity extended over the whole east coast from the river Gundlakamma in the south to Cuttack on the banks of the Mahanadi in the north. He does not, however, appear to have retained all his northerr conquests; and his authority in the north of the Godavari did not perhaps long outlast the period of conquest, for the Gajapati seems to have soon reasserted his power and recovered the country as far as the Godavari, as is covertly alluded to in the charter under consideration. Moreover, an epigraph at Pañchadharala in the Vizagapatam District dated A.D. 1403, suggests that Chōda II, the grandfather of the Kōna-Haihaya chief Chōda III, who must have lived about the middle of the 14th century A.D., was an ally, if not actually a subordinate of the Gajapati. Chōda II probably ousted the Koppula family from its hereditary possessions with the help of the Gajapati; and the dispossessed member turned for help to Annavõta, who, by this time, had succeeded his father Vēma on the throne of Kondavidu. As a matter of fact, Annavõta's presence in the neighbourhood of Rajahmundry at a striking distance from the southern frontier of Kalinga about this time is testified to by an inscription at Draksharama of A.D. 1357. Moreover, in one of Annavěma's early records dated A.D. 1371 it is stated that Annavõta overthrew his enemies from the Krishna to the Godavari, thence as far as the Vindhyas. There is thus sufficient evidence to justify the assumption that Annavõta had marched with his army against the Gajapati about A.D. 1357 to drive him back and restore the Koppula chief to his throne; and Bhaktiraja, who must have been a subordinate of Annavõta at that time, had accompanied him and distinguished himself in the campaign. If what is said above is not unreasonable, it may be stated that the battle of Pañchadhara mentioned in this charter appears to have been a decisive engagement, which finally brought the campaign to a close.
iii. Victory at Bharanipadu :-Bhaktiraja is said to have vanquished a king called Singa in the vicinity of the city of Bharanipadu. This king still remains unidentified. There were at
1 No. 5 of 1919-20, above, Vol. XXI, pp. 267 ff.
8. I. I., Vol. VI, No. 657.
8. I. I., Vol. IV, No. 1387.
Andhrapatrika (Annual Number 1922, p. 168).
Jitva briy-Anapota-bhulalapatir-viran-arätin balad
a Krishna-tațini-tatad-bhuvanam-apy-à Gautami-srotasabl
à Vindhyaditi yat-kavindra-vachanam
yasy-apadana-stutau
pratyabdam pratipaksha-déba-jayinas-tal-pürvapakshayitam ||
In the Annual Report on Epigraphy (Southern Circle) for 1911-12, Part ii, p. 80, it is said that Bhaktiraja killed a king called Singa close to the town of Bharanipadu. This is not quite accurate as the text of the inscription has vyanaishit meaning only 'vanquished'.