361
THE MERRARA PLATES.
DEC. 6, 1872.]
districts of Salem and Koimb at ur, with addi tion of parts of T in nev elli and Travan kor. The boundaries, according to the Tamil authori ties, are the Pal in i river on the north, Tenk a si in Tinnevelli on the east, Malabar on
7. Tiru" Vikrama Deva Chakravartí I., son of Chaturbhūja Kanara, succeeded, and was installed
the west, and the sea on the south.
the Jaina to the Saiva faith.
“According to this work, the series of Kong a or Cher a princes, amounted to twenty-six from Virará y a Chakr a v arti to Rāja Mall a deva, in the time of whose descendants the kingdom was subdued by the Chola Rāja, in the year of Sãli
he marched into the southern country and conquered the Chola, Pándya, Kerala, and Malayalam countries, after which he returned. He made many grants in charity and in encouragement of the learned ; a deed of grant, dated Vaisakha-s’uddh A. Sál. 100,—year of the cycle, Sidhárthi (A.D. 178), to Narasinha Bhatt, Guru, of the Bharadwaja gotra, is stated to be in the temple of Sankara Deva, at Skandapura. This king governed the Karnāta as well as the Konga des'a. 8. Kongani Varma Rāya succeeded ; he was of the Konāvar or Konväyan tribe and Ganga-kula, and was installed at Vijaya Skandapura in A. Sál. 111,–year of the cycle, Pramodóta (A.D. 188), and reigned for fifty-one years ; he exacted tribute from many réjas whom he conquered, and “by his muni ficence and charity cleared away the sins of his predecessors of the Ganga race;' his title was Srimat Sampati Kongani Varma Dharma Mahādhi Rāya. 9. Srimat Mādhava Mahādhi Rāya, son of Kon gani Varma, succeeded, and was installed in the government of the Konga desa, at Skandapura ; he was learned in all the sciences and maxims of jus tice, ruled with equity, and was renowned for his munificence to the learned and the poor. 10. Srimat Hari Varma Mahādhi Rāya, son of Mādhava Rāya, succeeded ; he was installed at Skandapura, but “resided in the great city of Dala vanpura, in the Karnāta desa.' He exacted tribute from many different rājas, and was renowned as an eminent hero among all kings; he ruled according to the maxims of polity, and being very wealthy made many grants of land, one of which is recited, viz., a grant of land in Tagatár, a petta (suburb) of Tālakād to the Brahmans for the worship of Mülas than Iswara in that place, dated Panguni, A. Sál. 210,—year of the cycle, Saumya (A.D. 288). 11. Vishnu Gopa Mahādhi Rāya, son of Hari Varma, succeeded, and was installed at Tālakād or Dalavanpura ; he conquered the Pūrva-dik (eastern country) and was renowned as a great warrior ; he made many grants to Brahmans and to the poor, and being a zealous votary of Vishnu, erected many temples to that deity; hence he derived his name of ‘Vishnu Gopa.’ ‘The Konga and Karnāta des'as were both under his command :' having no children he adopted a lad of his own race, named him Mādhava, and resigned the crown to him.
vāhan 816 or A. D. 894.”
“From the Tanjor sovereigns, Chera passed under the dominion of the Bel à la Rājas of Ma is ur, and finally under that of the princes of Vijaya n a gar, of whom some account is also given in this work.”
Professor Dowson gives an abstract from a MS. translation of this Kongades'a Rājākal at the India House,t from which the following account of the Chera kings is taken — 1. “Sri Vira Raja Chakravartí was born in the city of Skandapura, and was of the Reddiſ or Ratta tribe (kulam) and of the Sūryvansa (solar race); he obtained the government of the country and ruled with justice and equity. 2. Govinda Rāya, son of Víra. Rája, was the next king. 3. Krishna Rāya, son of Govinda Rāya, ruled next.
4. Kála Vallabha Rāya, son of Krishna Rāya, was next in succession.
Of these kings nothing more than their equity, justice, and renown is recorded. 5. Govinda Rāya, son of Kāla Vallabha, was the 5th in succession ; he conquered the hostile rajas, exacted tribute from them, and ruled his country with justice and renown. This king made a grant of land to a Jaina Brahman, named Aristánan, for the performance of worship in the Jaina basti (temple) of Kongani Varma, in Vaisãkha, A. Sál. 4, —year of the cycle Subhánu (A. D. 82.) 6. Chaturbhāja Kanara Devaş Chakravartſ suc ceeded, he was of the same race, but his parentage is not mentioned.
He is stated to have had four
hands; he was versed in the art of archery and various sciences, and ruled with equity and renown, “obtaining the honorary insignia of all the other rājas.' A Jaina named Nāga Nandi, a learned and vener able man, was minister to the three last named rājas.
in A. Sál. 100 (A.D. 178), at Skandapura. The cele brated Sankarāchārya (called in the MSS. Sankara Deva) came to this king and converted him from After his conversion
| The writer of the MS. has evidently understood the title Chaturbhūja, “four armed,” as having a personal and
- Wilson, Mack. Coll., Vol. I, pp. 198-9.
t Dowson “on the Chera kingdom of Ancient India,” Jour. R. As. Soc.,Vol. VIII., pp. 2-6. † A Telugu tribe, see Ellis's Mirasi Right, p. xii. § Wilson, Mack. Coll., p. 199, has Kumāra deva, and appa rently intended for the 7th king. He omits the names of the 12th and 15th in this list, and his series ends with
Vishnu, which is frequently assumed by his followers.
Gunottama Deva.-Ed,
translation of the Sanskrit Sri.-Ed.
literal reference to this prince; it is however a title of
- Lassen says (Ind. Alt. II. 1017, note) the word titi ra
preceding this name is Tamul, and is to be regarded as a
