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Telugu Historyతెలుగు చరిత్ర

Nellore inscription of Sundara Pandya

Tamil inscription on the western wall of the Ranganayakaswami temple at Nellore, recording that 'the emperor of the three worlds, the unequalled among kings, Sundara Pandyadeva', at the request of Kalingarayar, gave the village of Mavadikundai in Mundanadu for offerings in a hall named after him and for the worship of the god Pallikondaperumal. The regnal year is lost. The Nellore gazetteer of 1942 identified the king with a Jatavarman Sundara Pandya who came to the throne in 1276 and was crowned at Nellore.

This Tamil inscription at Nellore records a grant by a Pandya king named Sundara Pandya.12 He gave a village to the Ranganayakaswami temple, for a hall built in his name.2 It is evidence that a Pandya king ruled at Nellore in the later 13th century.3

The record

The inscription is on the western wall of the Ranganayakaswami temple at Nellore.1 A. Butterworth and V. Venugopaul Chetty published an abstract translation in 1905.1 The year of the reign is lost at the start.1

The king is called “the emperor of the three worlds, the unequalled among kings, Sundara Pandyadeva”.12 At the request of Kalingarayar, he gave the village of Mavadikundai in Mundanadu.2 All its lands, wet and dry, its house sites and gardens, and all its taxes went with the gift.2 The income was to pay for offerings in a hall built in the king’s name, for festivals, and for the daily worship of the god Pallikondaperumal.2 The temple stood in Nellore, called Vikramasingapuram in the record.2

Which Sundara Pandya?

The record names no Jatavarman or Maravarman, and its date is lost.1 The Nellore gazetteer of 1942 identified the king with a Jatavarman Sundara Pandya.3 It wrote that he came to the throne in 1276, reigned for more than seventeen years and crowned himself at Nellore.3 The gazetteer cited this inscription as evidence of Pandya attacks on the Nellore country in the early years of the Kakatiya king Prataparudra.3 See Jatavarman Sundara Pandya I, the earlier king who was anointed at Nellore.

Footnotes

  1. A. Butterworth and V. Venugopaul Chetty, A Collection of the Inscriptions on Copper-Plates and Stones in the Nellore District, Part II (1905), p. 830, Nellore No. 61 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  2. Butterworth and Venugopaul Chetty, Nellore District, Part II (1905), p. 831, Nellore No. 61 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7

  3. Gazetteer of the Nellore District, brought up to 1938 (1942), p. 47 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

References

Sources (2)
  1. Alan Butterworth and V. Venugopaul Chetty, A Collections of the Inscriptions on Copper-Plates and Stones in the Nellore District, Madras, in Three Parts, Part II (opens in a new tab), 1905, pp. 830–831. A. Butterworth and V. Venugopaul Chetty, Nellore No. 61 (abstract translation). [Public domain]
  2. W. E. Johns, Gazetteer of the Nellore District, brought up to 1938, Vol. A (opens in a new tab), Government Press, Madras, 1942, pp. 47. Paraphrased. [Public domain in India]

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