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Dantivarman (Pallava)

Dantivarman, called Vijaya-Dantivikramavarman in his inscriptions, was a Pallava king of Kanchi who reigned for more than fifty years, from about 779 by G. Jouveau-Dubreuil's reckoning. Two records of his late years are in today's Tirupati district: one of his 49th year at Gudimallam, near Kalahasti, while the Bana chief Vijayaditya ruled the country, and one of his 51st year at Tiruchanur, near Tirupati. V. Venkayya noted that his earlier records lie near Kanchipuram.

Dantivarman was a king of the Pallavas of Kanchi, who reigned for more than fifty years.12 His inscriptions call him Vijaya-Dantivikramavarman.1 Two records of his late years stand in today’s Tirupati district, in the country of the Bana chiefs who served him.32

Who he was

G. Jouveau-Dubreuil’s family tree of the Pallavas (1920) makes Dantivarman the son of Nandivarman II.4 It dates his reign from 779 to 830, and makes Nandivarman III his son.4 V. Venkayya noted that the earlier inscriptions of the king, from his tenth to his twenty-first year, were found near Kanchipuram.3 He took this to show that Dantivarman’s territory was then small.3

Gudimallam

Gudimallam is a village about 13 miles south-west of Srikalahasti, in the old Chittoor district.5 Its Parasuramesvara temple has twenty-six inscriptions, which Venkayya studied in 1903.5 One of them is dated in the 49th year of Vijaya-Dantivikramavarman.1

It was set up while the Bana chief Vijayaditya-Mahavali-Vanaraya “was ruling over the earth”.1 The headman of Kaliyamangalam, a member of the village committee, gave a field called Nandikundil.16 V. Rangacharya’s list says that the gift was for digging pits and putting the silt on a local bund.6 Robert Sewell dated the record to about 827–28.7

Tiruchanur

Venkayya also noted a record of Dantivarman’s reign at Tiruchanur, near Tirupati, two years later than the Gudimallam one.3 Rangacharya’s list describes it as a stone of the 51st year of Vijaya-Dantivikramaraja.2 It records the gift of a lamp to the shrine of Tiruvilangoil-Perumanadigal at Tiruchchokinur, in the Tiruvengada-kottam district.2

The Banas

The Banas held the country “west of the Telugu road” as Pallava feudatories.7 Rangacharya’s list notes that the Vijayaditya of this record was the grandfather of a later Bana chief of the same name.6 See the Banas.

Where the sources disagree

  • When he began to reign. Jouveau-Dubreuil dated the accession to 779; T. A. Gopinatha Rao, as Sewell reports, put it in 808–09.7
  • Which Pallava line. Venkayya called him a “Ganga-Pallava” king and identified him, for the time being, with the Dantivarman of the Bahur plates.3 Jouveau-Dubreuil placed him in the main Pallava line, as the son of Nandivarman II.4

Footnotes

  1. Venkayya, “Five Bana Inscriptions from Gudimallam” (1911–12), p. 225, inscription B, translation (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  2. V. Rangacharya, A Topographical List of the Inscriptions of the Madras Presidency I (1919), p. 472, Chittoor district, No. 262 of 1904 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  3. Venkayya, “Five Bana Inscriptions from Gudimallam” (1911–12), p. 229 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  4. G. Jouveau-Dubreuil, Ancient History of the Deccan (1920), p. 70, genealogy of the Pallavas (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  5. V. Venkayya, “Five Bana Inscriptions from Gudimallam”, Epigraphia Indica XI (1911–12), p. 222 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  6. Rangacharya, Topographical List I (1919), p. 479, Chittoor district, No. 226 of 1903 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  7. Robert Sewell, The Historical Inscriptions of Southern India (1932), p. 34 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased except for the short phrase quoted. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

Dynasties

Pallavas

c. 250–900 CE

The Pallavas ruled from Kanchi (Kanchipuram) and held the Telugu country south of the Krishna for much of the 4th to 7th centuries CE. Their earliest charters, in Prakrit, were sent from Kanchi to an officer at Dhanyakataka near Amaravati. A later line issued Sanskrit grants of villages in the Guntur and Nellore country from camps such as Palakkada and Dasanapura. The Chalukyas took Vengi and the Guntur country early in the 7th century. But Pallava kings still granted villages in Nellore until about 700, and their vassals held parts of Chittoor and Rayalaseema until the Chola conquest about 900.

References

Sources (4)
  1. Sten Konow (ed.), Epigraphia Indica, Vol. XI (1911–12) (opens in a new tab), Office of the Superintendent of Government Printing, Calcutta (scan of the ASI 1981 facsimile reprint), 1912, pp. 222, 225, 229. V. Venkayya, Five Bana inscriptions from Gudimallam (No. 22). [Public domain]
  2. 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. 472, 479. Chittoor district, Chandragiri and Kalahasti taluks. [Public domain]
  3. 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. 34. Paraphrased. [Public domain in India]
  4. G. Jouveau-Dubreuil, Ancient History of the Deccan (opens in a new tab), The author, Pondicherry (translated by V. S. Swaminadha Dikshitar), 1920, pp. 70. [Public domain]

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