VELURPALAIYAM PLATES OF NANDIVARMAN III 521

This distinctly seems to suggest the use of some form of the abacus, in the shape of a board ?the well-known

phalaka1 ? coloured black and ruled ready for use so

that calculations could be made on it with a piece of chalk.

Perhaps some of our Buddhist and Jain specialists can tell us more about the gainfra. Perhaps, also, they or

others can adduce other literary passages which may be

interesting in connexion with the general question of the use of the abacus in ancient India.

J. F. Fleet.

Velurpalaiyam Plates of Nandivarman III

Velfirpahuyam is a village in the Arkonam division of the North Arcot District, about seven miles from the

Arkonam ltailwa}' Junction. The existence of a copper plate grant at this village was made known to me by a certain Subrahmanya D?sika who is collecting materials for a history of the Tondai-n?du and its twenty-four districts (k?ttam), and the plates were eventually obtained

by me for examination.

The inscription on these plates is engraved partly in Grantha characters and partly in Ta.mil. The portion in the Grantha characters is in the Sanskrit language, and

the rest is in Tamil. The former opens with the usual

mythical genealogy of the Pallavas. Then we are introduced to Asokavarinan.'2 V?rakfircha is said to have married a N?ga princess and to have obtained the

insignia of royalty with her. Then there was Skandasishya, who took possession of the ghatik? of the Briihmanas from Satyas?na. Kum?ravishnu, who took Kfinchinagara (Conjeeveram), came next, and after him was Buddha varman, who defeated the Ch?ja army. After the death

1 See R?hlcr, Indian Paleoyraphy, p. ;"i and >j 37, ('. 2 It is worthy of note that kings like Sivaskandavartnan and VishnugOpa are not even referred to.

Venkayya, V. 1911. "Velurpalaiyam Plates of Nandivarman III." Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, (Apr., 1911), pp. 521-524.

522 VELURPALA1YAM 1'LATKS OF NANDIVARMAN III

of Vishnug?pa and other kings came Nandivarman (I),1 who, by the grace of the god Siva, made the serpent Drishtivisha dance. Then came Simhavarman, from whom was born Siihhavishnu, who conquered the Chola

country. His son was Mah?ndra, who was succeeded by Narasiihhavarman I, the conqueror of Vat?pi (B?d?mi).2 Paramesvaravarman I is reported to have conquered the

Chalul^ya army, and Narasiihhavarman II3 is said to have built a temple of Siva resembling Kai lasa.4 His son was Parames vara varnian II. Nandivarman (II) is said to have subsequently obtained, together with the

goddess of the earth, the goddess of the glory of the Palla va family. His son was Dantivarman, who married the Kadamba princess Aggalanimmadi. And their son

was the donor, Nandivarman (III), called K?-Vijaya Nandivarinan in the Tamil portion of the record. He is

reported to have obtained the kingdom by killing his enemies in battle. The object of the record is to register the gift of the village of Tirukk?ttuppalli in N?yaru-n?du, a subdivision of Pulark?ttam, to a temple of Siva named

Yaj??svara built by a certain Yaj?abhatta, who seems to have been the priest of the king. The vij?apti was made by a Ch?la-Mali?raja called Kum?r?nkusa.

The importance of the inscription for the history of the Pallava dynasty will be clear from the foregoing brief

summary of its contents. This is not the place for a lengthy discussion of the historical facts furnished by the grant, and I intend to publish the record in full, with

1 Yirakiirclia. Skandavarman, Kunmravishnu, Buddhavarman, Vishnu

g?pa, and Nandivarman are mentioned in the earliest Sanskrit charter of the dynasty ; Ind. Ant., vol. 37 (1908), p. 283 f. 2 His son MahCndravannan II is omitted here.

* Narasiihhavarman II is described as the son's son (pntra-s?nu) of ParauH'HvaravarmUn I.

4 This evidently refers to the Kail?sanfitha templo which was called in ancient times K?jashiihesvara after the builder Rajasiihha (also called Narashiihavarnian (II), Narasimhaviahuu, and Narasiriihap?ta varman).

VKLURPALAIVAM PLATES OF NANDIVARMAN 111 523

a photo-lithograph, at an early date in the Epigraphy*} Indica. But we may note here the following points.

The usurpation of Nandivarman Pallavamalla on the death of Parames vara varman II, which is hinted in the K?s?ikuili plates,1 seems to be confirmed by the present grant. The successors of Nandivarman Pallavamalla

appear to have been in power until the Cholas became

supreme in the Tamil country about the end of the ninth

century. And K?- Vijaya-Nripatungavarman2 of the, Btlhfir plates was apparently the son of Nandivarman III, the donor of the Velurpfilaiyain giant. This branch of the Pallavas Dr. Hultzsch has called the Gaiiga- Pal lavas for want of a better name.

Either the successors of Chitramfiya- Pal lava who was killed by the usurper Nandivarman (II) Pallavamalla according to theUday?ndiram grant,3 or the descendants of Parames vara varman II, seem to have continued some sort

of rule in the ancient Pallava dominions. To this branch

may be tentatively assigned Dantivarma-Mah?r?ja of the Triplicane inscription,4 Dantivartnan and Nandivarman who belonged to the Pallavatilakakula,5 and Nandivarman who conquered (his enemies) at Tell?ru.0 Perhaps the Ganga-Pallavas were not always supreme ; and it is not

unlikely that the other branch occasionally asserted itself. This may account for the fact that the inscriptions of

K?-Vijaya-Dantivikraina and K?- Vijaya-Nandivikrama are not found over any very large extent of country.

1 South. Ind. Insers., vol. 2, pa?t 3, p. 344. 2 The word vijaya prefixed to the names of Dantivikrama, Nandi vikrama, Nripatu?gavikrama, and other kings of this series, may be taken to show that the first king of their line acquired dominion by victory. The word was probably added to distinguish Dantivarman and

Nandivarman from their namesakes of the other line. It is worthy of note that Nandivarman (II) is altogether omitted in the Bahflr plates. Besides, Vimala and Konkanika are mentioned as the ancestors of the

dynasty. 3 South. Ind. Insers., vol. 2, p. 372. 4

Ep. Ind., vol. 8, p. 290. ?

Ibid., p. 293, n. 4. 6 Director-General's Annual Report for 1900-7, p. 240.

524 THE OltltilNS OF BENUALI

The political relationship between these two series of

kings cannot be satisfactorily made out at present. And much of the history of the Pallavas during the eighth and ninth centuries is still obscure. It would be easy to

identify K?-Vijaya-Dantivikramavarman with Dantipp?t tarasar or Dantivarma-Mah?r?ja, and K?-Vijaya-Nandi vikramavarman with Tell?rrerinda - Nandipp?ttaraiyar, i.e. " Nandipp?ttaraiyar who defeated (his enemies) at

Telhlru ", or even with Nandipp?ttaraiyar of the Pallava tilaka family.1 But the available facts do not warrant

any such identification. We have to keep the two series of kings quite distinct until their identity is established

beyond all doubt. _

V. Vknkayya.

The Origins of Bengali

May I venture to call the attention of members of the

Society to the work that is being done by Bengalis in the investigation of the origin and history of their native

speech ? It seems to me that their inquiries might often be aided and directed to practical ends if they had the

advice of Europeans acquainted with similar studies in

the West. Dr. Grierson in his work on The Languages of India has told us that Bengali is a secondary Prakrit, into which, in comparatively recent times, was imported

an enormous number of pure Sanskrit words, so that the difference between the literary speech and the language

spoken by common folk is far more marked than in any other Indian language. The result is that the dictionaries of Bengali are practically Sanskrit dictionaries, from which all but a few popular and domestic words are banished.

1 Even if Dantivurman and Nandivarman are disposed of in this way, there will still be left K?-Vijaya-Narasinihavarman, Vijaya J?varavarman, and K?-Vijaya-Skandasishyavikramavarman, who seem to have been Ganga- Pal lavas, but whose relationship to the other members of the

Palla va family remains to be disclosed by future researches.

Article Contentsp. 521p. 522p. 523p. 524

Issue Table of ContentsThe Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, (Apr., 1911)Front MatterDr. Stein's Turkish Khuastuanift from Tun-Huang, Being a Confession-Prayer of the Manichan Auditores [pp. 277-314]Kanauri Vocabulary in Two Parts: English-Kanauri and Kanauri-English [pp. 315-364]A Preliminary Study of the Fourth Text of the Myazedi Inscriptions [pp. 365-388]Ancient Historical Edicts at Lhasa (Continued from JRAS., 1910, p. 1282) [pp. 389-435]Chinese Riddles on Ancient Indian Toponymy: II. Nan-ni-hwa-lo [pp. 437-445]The "Unknown Languages" of Eastern Turkestan. II [pp. 447-477]The Kaliyuga Era of B.C. 3102 [pp. 479-496]Note sur la Langue et l'Ecriture inconnues des Documents Stein-Cowley [pp. 497-507]Miscellaneous CommunicationsScraps from the Saddarsana [pp. 509-514]Brihaspati and Tishya [pp. 514-518]The Use of the Abacus in India [pp. 518-521]Velurpalaiyam Plates of Nandivarman III [pp. 521-524]The Origins of Bengali [pp. 524-528]Hero and Rao [p. 528-528]The Dalai Lama's Seal [pp. 528-530]

Notices of BooksReview: untitled [pp. 531-535]Review: untitled [pp. 536-541]Review: untitled [pp. 541-543]Review: untitled [pp. 543-546]Review: untitled [pp. 546-551]Review: untitled [pp. 551-553]Review: untitled [pp. 554-556]Review: untitled [pp. 556-560]Review: untitled [pp. 560-562]Review: untitled [p. 562-562]Review: untitled [pp. 563-568]Review: untitled [pp. 568-570]Review: untitled [pp. 571-573]Review: untitled [pp. 573-576]Review: untitled [pp. 576-579]

Notes of the Quarter (January, February, March, 1911) [pp. 581-584]Additions to the Library [pp. 585-588]Back Matter