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Bhimavaram inscription of Rajendra I

Incomplete inscription of the Chola king Rajendra I on the south wall of the Bhimesvara temple at Chalukya-Bhimavaram (Samalkot), in the Godavari district, written in the Tamil language but in Telugu characters. It contains only the usual historical introduction of Rajendra's Tamil inscriptions, and it is the only record of his reign in the Godavari district in V. Rangacharya's list.

The northern entrance through the high stone wall of the outer enclosure at Chalukya Bhimavaram (Samalkot), with a dark doorway and stepped cornices.
The northern entrance through the high stone wall of the outer enclosure at Chalukya Bhimavaram (Samalkot), with a dark doorway and stepped cornices. · M. Rama Rao, Eastern Calukyan Temples of Andhra Desa (Andhra Pradesh Government Archaeological Series No. 19, ed. Mohd. Abdul Waheed Khan, Director of Archaeology); photographer not credited (opens in a new tab) · Public domain in India

This is a short inscription of the Chola king Rajendra I at Bhimavaram, now part of Samalkot.1 It is written in the Tamil language but in Telugu letters.1 It is the only record of Rajendra’s reign in the Godavari district in V. Rangacharya’s list of 1919.1

The record

The inscription, No. 466 of the collection of 1893, is on the south wall of the Bhimesvara temple.1 Rangacharya described it as “an incomplete, usual historical introduction” of Rajendra-Choladeva I.1 Its text was printed in South-Indian Inscriptions V in 1925 as No. 41.2 The editor noted that this introduction “occurs in most of the Tamil inscriptions of Rajendra Chola I”.2 He added that the next record on the same wall, which names the teacher of a king Rajendra Choda, might belong with it.2 See the Bhimesvara temple.

Rajendra and the Vengi country

Rajendra’s part in the Vengi country is known mainly from other records.34 Inscriptions on Mahendragiri, in Ganjam, record his victory over the Eastern Chalukya Vimaladitya.3 His Tiruvalangadu plates say he reached the Godavari while his general marched to the Ganges.4 See the Mahendragiri inscriptions, the Tiruvalangadu plates and the Cholas of Tanjore.

Footnotes

  1. V. Rangacharya, A Topographical List of the Inscriptions of the Madras Presidency, Vol. II (1919), p. 715, Godavari No. 25 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  2. H. Krishna Sastri (ed.), South-Indian Inscriptions (Texts), Vol. V (1925), pp. 15–16, No. 41 and note (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  3. V. Rangacharya, A Topographical List of the Inscriptions of the Madras Presidency, Vol. I (1919), p. 710, Ganjam No. 425 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  4. H. Krishna Sastri, “The Tiruvalangadu Copper-plates of the Sixth Year of Rajendra-Chola I”, South-Indian Inscriptions, Vol. III, pt. III (1920), p. 425, vv. 118–120 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

Photos

References

Sources (4)
  1. V. Rangacharya, A Topographical List of the Inscriptions of the Madras Presidency (collected till 1915), with Notes and References, Vol. II (opens in a new tab), Government Press, Madras, 1919, pp. 715. [Public domain]
  2. H. Krishna Sastri (ed.), South-Indian Inscriptions (Texts), Vol. V (opens in a new tab), Archaeological Survey of India, 1925, pp. 15–16. South-Indian Inscriptions (Texts) V (1925), No. 41. [Public domain]
  3. V. Rangacharya, A Topographical List of the Inscriptions of the Madras Presidency (collected till 1915), with Notes and References, Vol. I (opens in a new tab), Government Press, Madras, 1919, pp. 710. [Public domain]
  4. H. Krishna Sastri (ed. and tr.), South-Indian Inscriptions, Vol. III, Part III: Inscriptions of Aditya I, Parantaka I ... and the Tiruvalangadu Plates of Rajendra-Chola I (opens in a new tab), Government Press, Madras (Archaeological Survey of India, New Imperial Series, Vol. XXIX), 1920, pp. 425. [Public domain]

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