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Chandavarman (Salankayana)

Salankayana king of Vengi, son of Nandivarman I and father of Nandivarman II. He is known only from his son's grants, which say that subordinate rulers bowed to his power. He has often been confused with Chandavarman, a 5th-century king of Kalinga who issued the Komarti plates.

Name and family

Chandavarman was a son of Nandivarman I.1 The Peddavegi plates of his son name him as the son of Nandivarman I and the grandson of Hastivarman.12 No grant of his own is known.3

B. V. Krishna Rao compared the Peddavegi family list with that of the Kanukollu plates of Skandavarman.4 He concluded that Chandavarman had a brother, Hastivarman II, whom he took to be the elder son.4

His eldest son was Nandivarman II.51 The Kolleru plates, edited by J. F. Fleet in 1876, call their donor “the eldest son of the great king Chandavarma”.5 The Peddavegi plates use the same words.1 So Krishna Rao’s family tree shows Nandivarman II as the eldest of several sons.4

What the grants say about him

In R. Subba Rao’s translation, the Peddavegi plates describe Chandavarman as a king “who by his prowess controlled several vassals”.1 D. C. Sircar took the Sanskrit epithet pratap-opanata-samanta to mean that he was not a petty chief, and that some subordinate rulers accepted his overlordship.3

K. R. Subramanian thought that Chandavarman had inherited his grandfather’s warlike qualities and was master of his neighbours.6 Krishna Rao recorded that coins of Chandavarman had been found, but did not describe them.4

The Chandavarman of the Komarti plates

A set of Sanskrit copper plates found at Komarti in Ganjam district was issued in the 6th year of a king Chandavarman.7 Sewell’s chronology of 1932 calls him a Salankayana chief.7

E. Hultzsch, Sircar found, was the source of this view.89 Hultzsch had suggested that the issuer of the Komarti plates might be the same as the father of the Salankayana Nandivarman.89 His reason was that both used similar letters and a similar epithet.89

Sircar rejected the identification. The Komarti plates were found near Narasannapeta in Ganjam and were issued from Simhapura, while every known Salankayana grant was issued from Vengipura. Their king calls himself lord of Kalinga, which no Salankayana king did. He leaves out the two epithets that mark every Salankayana grant: the family name Salankayana and devotion to the god Chitrarathasvamin. Sircar concluded that the Komarti Chandavarman belonged to a separate line that ruled Kalinga from Simhapura. On grounds of script he placed its kings at about the same time as Nandivarman II, about the 5th century.91011

R. K. Ghoshal edited a second grant of this Chandavarman, from Bobbili, and likewise treated him as a king of Kalinga.12

Date

No grant of Chandavarman survives, so his date depends on the dates of his father and son. Sircar’s chart of 1939 placed him about 395–420.13

Footnotes

  1. R. Subba Rao, “Pedavegi Copper-plates of Nandivarman II”, Journal of the Andhra Historical Research Society I, pt. 2 (1926), p. 105, translation (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  2. D. C. Sircar, The Successors of the Satavahanas in Lower Deccan (1939), p. 68 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  3. Sircar, Successors of the Satavahanas (1939), p. 91 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  4. B. V. Krishna Rao, “Two Salankayana Charters from Kanukollu”, Epigraphia Indica XXXI (1955–56, publ. 1960), p. 8 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  5. J. F. Fleet, “Sanskrit and Old-Canarese Inscriptions, No. XVIII”, Indian Antiquary V (1876), p. 177, translation (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  6. K. R. Subramanian, Buddhist Remains in Andhra and the History of Andhra between 225 and 610 A.D. (1932), p. 92 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  7. Robert Sewell and S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar, The Historical Inscriptions of Southern India (1932), p. 18 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  8. Sircar, Successors of the Satavahanas (1939), p. 74 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  9. Sircar, Successors of the Satavahanas (1939), p. 75 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  10. Sircar, Successors of the Satavahanas (1939), pp. 76–77 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  11. Sircar, Successors of the Satavahanas (1939), p. 79 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  12. R. K. Ghoshal, “Bobbili Plates of Chandavarman, King of Kalinga”, Epigraphia Indica XXVII (1956), p. 34 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  13. Sircar, Successors of the Satavahanas (1939), p. 73, chronological chart (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

Dynasties

Salankayanas of Vengi

c. 300–470 CE

Dynasty of the country between the Krishna and the Godavari in the 4th and 5th centuries CE, ruling from Vengipura, the modern Pedavegi near Eluru. Seven copper-plate grants name seven kings in two lines descended from Hastivarman. Most scholars identify him with the 'Hastivarman of Vengi' of Samudragupta's Allahabad inscription. Their earlier grants are in Prakrit and their later ones in Sanskrit. Their seals bear a bull, and their family god was Chitrarathasvamin.

References

Sources (7)
  1. James Burgess (ed.), The Indian Antiquary, Vol. V (1876) (opens in a new tab), Education Society's Press, Bombay, 1876, pp. 175, 177. J. F. Fleet, Sanskrit and Old-Canarese Inscriptions No. XVIII. [Public domain]
  2. Not Available, The Andhra Historical Research Society, Rajahmundry, Vol.1,pt.2 (opens in a new tab), 1926, pp. 93–94, 105. R. Subba Rao, Pedavegi Copper-plates of Nandivarman II. [Public domain]
  3. N. Lakshminarayan Rao and D. C. Sircar (eds.), Epigraphia Indica, Vol. XXXI (1955–56) (opens in a new tab), Archaeological Survey of India, 1960, pp. 8. B. V. Krishna Rao, Two Salankayana Charters from Kanukollu; paraphrased. [Public domain in India]
  4. D. C. Sircar, The Successors of the Satavahanas in Lower Deccan (opens in a new tab), University of Calcutta, 1939, pp. 68, 73–77, 91. Cite-only; paraphrased. [All rights reserved (cited, not reproduced)]
  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. 18. Paraphrased. [Public domain in India]
  6. B. Ch. Chhabra and N. Lakshminarayan Rao (eds.), Epigraphia Indica, Vol. XXVII (1947–48) (opens in a new tab), Archaeological Survey of India, 1956, pp. 34. R. K. Ghoshal, Bobbili Plates of Chandavarman, King of Kalinga; paraphrased. [Public domain in India]
  7. K. R. Subramanian, Buddhist Remains in Andhra and the History of Andhra between 225 and 610 A.D. (opens in a new tab), Madras (with a foreword by G. Jouveau-Dubreuil), 1932, pp. 92. K. R. Subramanian. Cite-only; paraphrased. [All rights reserved (cited, not reproduced)]

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