Thiruenthalur (Inde) : Deciphering Chola-era inscriptions
Deciphering Chola-era inscriptions
D Madhavan
CHENNAI: He might have fallen to a poisoned arrow on the battlefield in the 11 century. But Chola emperor Rajadhiraja Chola I made sure the promises he made to his subjects were fulfilled.
Epigraphists have recently unearthed a stack of engraved copper plates which show that Rajadhiraja Chola I ensured that his successor and younger brother Rajadhiraja Chola II made donations he had pledged. "The famous king was a man who kept his word," said R Sivanandan, chief epigraphist, state archaeological department, who was part of the team that deciphered the engravings on 85 copper plates. "He died in 1054CE in a battle against the Western Chalukas. His brother Rajadhiraja Chola II, won the war and not only made the donations in 1061CE but also added 40 more villages," he said.
The 85 copper plates were unearthed in May 2010 by workers of the Hindu Religious & Charitable Endowments department at Kazhukani Muttam in Thiruenthalur village in Nagapattinam, 307km south of Chennai. The workers were digging a 20-ft deep trench in front of the 900-year-old Kailashnatha temple.
"It is a rare find. Such a large number of copper plates have not been found at a single location anywhere else in the country. We have decoded entire inscriptions and will publish them shortly," said Sivanandan. The plates had inscriptions in Sanskrit and Tamil.
The inscriptions assume historical significance as they indicate that it was Vijayalaya Chola of the Later Cholas who took back the capital city of Tanjore from the Pallava king Kamba Varman rather than the existing theory that the Pallavas retrieved the capital from Cholas.
The workers also discovered a dozen bronze statues, including figurines of Lord Ganesha and Tamil scholars and saints like Appar, Manickavasagar, Thirugnanasamandar and Karaikal Ammaiyar, and a few musical instruments and ritual objects.
After the initial chemical preservation was done at the site by the archaeology department's chief chemist M S Ashok Deen, the objects were brought to the department headquarters in Chennai. From August last year, a team of veteran epigraphists, comprising R Nagaswamy, Sankaranarayanan, Maxi Gandhi and A Padmavathi, worked to decode the inscriptions. Nagaswamy and Sanksaranarayan dealt with the Sanskrit inscriptions, while Gandhi and Padmavathi worked on the Tamil plates. The team got a special fund of Rs 2.5 lakh from the state government.
Plates two to nine are engraved in Sanskrit in the Grantha script in use since the Pallava era of 6th century, and deals with the achievements of Rajadhiraja Chola I and the lifestyle during his reign from 1018CE to 1054CE. The poems heap praise on his leadership, administration, welfare of his subjects and warfare.
The remaining plates between 10 and 85 written in Tamil and contain details about the biggest-ever donation made by Rajadhiraja Chola I and endorsed by his younger brother, Rajadhiraja Chola II, who succeeded him after he died on the battlefield in 1054CE.
CIV 109 : Ancient India
REL 207 : Religions d’Asie et Mythologie / Asian Religion and Mythology
The plates were tagged with a copper ring with the official seal of Rajadhiraja II. This indicates that the actual donation occurred only during his younger brother's reign. The seal depicts a sitting tiger, two fish, a bow and arrow and oil lamps with an umbrella above them. "Each plate is 44cm long, 21cm wide and two cm thick. Each plate has about 20 lines, written from left to right on both sides. The 85 plates weigh 150 kg," said Sivanandan.
The main theme of the plates in Tamil deal with Rajadhiraja Chola I donating a group of eight villages to 330 Sanskrit scholars residing in the head village, Thiruendalur, in return for their blessings when he went to war. The plates give detailed information on the donations, including the posture of Rajadhiraja Chola I in his palace at the capital city of Tanjore while he gave orders for the donation in 1053CE. The king sat in a courtyard surrounded by ministers, poets, provincial chieftains, merchants, village headmen, scholars, and announced the donation of Thathamangalam, Kuthanur, Panchavannallur, Karanbaigudi, Melnagakudi, Kelnagakudi, Kottranallur and Periyankudi to the Sanskrit scholars. The scholars had to spread their wisdom to others through revenue earned from these villages. "In order to ensure that his donations are recorded for posterity, he also invited draftsmen, writers and scribes to record the donations on the copper plates," said Sivanandan.
The inscriptions contain details about the size and boundaries of the land given to each scholar based on age and experience, their religion, caste and sub-caste, their lineage and successors to the land. It also gives the income from the land and instructs the scholars to maintain at least a dozen ancient temples in the villages.
The inscriptions also mentions the order of king Rajendra Chola I asking his sons Rajadhiraja Chola I, Rajadhiraja Chola II, Veera Rajendra and Adhira Rajendra Chola to serve their subjects.