A new site, built from published sources. Spotted a mistake? Please tell us
Telugu Historyతెలుగు చరిత్ర

Simhachalam inscription of Kulottunga I

Damaged Tamil inscription of the Chola king Kulottunga I on a slab in the mandapa of the Varaha-Narasimha temple at Simhachalam, near Visakhapatnam, dated Saka 1021 (1099). V. Rangacharya and W. Francis took it as confirmation of Kulottunga's conquest of Kalinga celebrated in the Tamil poem Kalingattupparani; Robert Sewell was more cautious.

Colour photograph of the domed tower over the shrine of the Simhachalam temple, painted gold and white, with a large stucco figure in an arched niche on its face and wooded hills behind.
Colour photograph of the domed tower over the shrine of the Simhachalam temple, painted gold and white, with a large stucco figure in an arched niche on its face and wooded hills behind. · Adityamadhav83 (opens in a new tab) · CC BY-SA 3.0 (opens in a new tab)

This damaged Tamil inscription at Simhachalam belongs to the reign of the Chola king Kulottunga I.1 V. Rangacharya read its date as Saka 1021 (Saka is an Indian way of counting years), which is 1099.1 Some scholars saw in it proof of Kulottunga’s war in Kalinga.12

The record

The inscription, No. 363 of 1899, is on a slab in the mandapa (pillared hall) of the Varaha-Narasimha temple at Simhachalam, in the old Visakhapatnam (then Vizagapatam) district.1 Rangacharya described it in 1919 as “a damaged record of the Chola king Kulottunga I, dated S. 1021”.1 It names a minister of peace and war (sandhivigrahin), Madurantaka Brahmamarayar.1 Its text was printed in South-Indian Inscriptions VI in 1928.3 See the Simhachalam temple.

The Kalinga conquest

Rangacharya thought the record proved “that the literary traditions of Kulottunga’s Kalinga conquest as given in the Kalingattupparani are true”.1 The Vizagapatam District Gazetteer (1907) wrote that the Cholas “seem twice to have invaded the south of Trikalinga”.2 It thought this Tamil record confirmed the first of these invasions.2 Robert Sewell was more careful.4 He called the date uncertain and thought the record no firm proof of a conquest of Kalinga.4 See Karunakara Tondaiman.

Where the sources disagree

The date has been read in several ways.12564

  • Saka 1021, that is 1099 (Rangacharya).1
  • 1089 in one place of the Vizagapatam gazetteer, and 1098–99 in another.25
  • Lost (Hultzsch, 1903) or uncertain (Sewell).64

Footnotes

  1. V. Rangacharya, A Topographical List of the Inscriptions of the Madras Presidency, Vol. III (1919), p. 1686, Vizagapatam No. 191 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9

  2. W. Francis, Madras District Gazetteers: Vizagapatam, Vol. I (1907), p. 27 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  3. K. V. Subrahmanya Aiyer (ed.), South-Indian Inscriptions (Texts), Vol. VI (1928), pp. 462–464, No. 1144 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  4. Robert Sewell and S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar, The Historical Inscriptions of Southern India (1932), p. 91 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  5. Francis, Vizagapatam (1907), p. 324 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  6. E. Hultzsch, South-Indian Inscriptions, Vol. III, pt. II (1903), p. 126 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

Photos

References

Sources (5)
  1. V. Rangacharya, A Topographical List of the Inscriptions of the Madras Presidency (collected till 1915), with Notes and References, Vol. III (opens in a new tab), Government Press, Madras, 1919, pp. 1686. [Public domain]
  2. K. V. Subrahmanya Aiyer (ed.), South-Indian Inscriptions (Texts), Vol. VI (opens in a new tab), Government of India, Central Publication Branch, Calcutta, 1928, pp. 462–464. South-Indian Inscriptions (Texts) VI (1928), No. 1144. [Public domain]
  3. E. Hultzsch (ed. and tr.); introduction to the volume by H. Krishna Sastri (1929), South-Indian Inscriptions, Vol. III, Parts I and II: Miscellaneous Inscriptions from the Tamil Country (opens in a new tab), Government Press, Madras (scan of the Archaeological Survey of India facsimile reprint, 1987), 1903, pp. 126. E. Hultzsch (1903), list of the inscriptions of Kulottunga I. [Public domain]
  4. W. Francis, Madras District Gazetteers: Vizagapatam, Vol. I (opens in a new tab), Government Press, Madras, 1907, pp. 27, 324. [Public domain]
  5. Robert Sewell (ed. S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar), The Historical Inscriptions of Southern India (Collected till 1923) and Outlines of Political History (opens in a new tab), University of Madras, 1932, pp. 91. Paraphrased. [Public domain in India]

Spotted an error on this page? Tell us

Last updated: