at Sripura. He had carried the title Sri
Maharaja of the small territory. His kingdom comprised several
Panchalis. There is a myth that matharas had donated a village namely Tapoyoka in one of these Panchalis to Pandavas, who had approached him in disguise as five Brahmanas/bhikshus, during the seventh year of his reign. According to the early Ganga kings records, the
Rarasodaka Panchali was included in
the Kalinga territory. During ancient times matharas had acquired a very high social status and they had matrimonial relations with several
powerful ruling families in Rosala and
South India.
During 420 to 450 CE, there was a rise of another vishnukundin dynasty. This dynasty was founded by Madhavavarman 1, who was a contemporary of Ananta-sakti-varman.
The vishnukundins had fought several battles with Matharas & Pallavas. They defeated mathara king Ananta-sakti-varman and pallava king Simhavarman 2.
At the time of issuance of these grants, the war had continued and Ananta-sakti-varman was forced to shift his capital from Pishta-pura to Simha-pura. However he consolidated his position in northern and middle Kalinga.
Inscription number 15.
Madras Museum Plates of Anantasaktivarman
Regnal Year 26.
Provenance: Not known
Script: Brahmi Southern class of about the 5th century A.D.
Language: Sanskrit
References: M. Venkataramayya, Ep.Ind, XXVIII, pp.226 to 235.
Footnote 1.
1. From the facsimile in EpInd, XXVIII, facing pp.234.Note that sandhi has not been effected between many words.
2. ब and रा are engraved over slightly erased रा and ह respectively. Apparently the engraver discovered after incising राह the omission of ब
and made the correction.
3. These words are also engraved over erased writing. Venkata-ramayya opines that the grant is a palimpsest written over a previous charter, whose script was not earlier than that of the present charter. But except for the correction is
noted above there is no trace of overwriting.
English Translation of the inscription.
Peace From the victorious city of simhapura, the ruler of Kalinga, the illustrious Maharaja Anantasaktivarman
who received (his) body, kingdom and prosperity through the grace of His Majesty, his revered father, a great devotee of the gods, desirous of ornamenting the Mathara family, commands all the assembly of house-holders in the village of Sakunaka,
adjacent to Avi in (the di strict of varahavarttanis:-
“we have granted this Village, making it an agrahara, to stay as long as the moon and the stars do to these two
brahmana brothers Nagarasaman and Durgasarman of Katyayana gotra
and student of the Taittiriya sakha, for the increase of our religious merit longevity and fame Therefore, knowing thus, you should attend upon him according to due customary rules.
And (he) enjoins the future kings that having obtained the earth through the agency of any one of the righteousness, inheritance and prowess while ruling over it you should protect
this agrahara, seeing the religious merit in this initiated pious gift. And in this context, there are verses sung by
Vyasa.
Here follow three of the traditional imprecatory verses.
The Dutakas are the to Kumaramatyas Senior Generals and Dandanetris. sivabhojaka and Vasudatta.
Written by the Keeper of the Area records, the Talavara Arjunadatta on the tenths of the bright half of the month Phalguna in the year 26.
Footnote 2.
1. Venkataramayya read the numeral as 8.
2. Identified with the modern simhapuram near srikakulam,
(chicacole.)
3. It seems to be identical with the sakunagrama described in
the Andhavaram plates of Anantavarman (C.P. No.6 of 1951-52)
as touching the villages of Dirghavata and sindhivasi.
These last two villages are identifiable with the modern villages Dirghasi and sindhuvada respectively. since these
and some other identified villages like Rohnaki (modern Ronanki ) avagrama (modern Naogam) siddharthaka (modern sidahantam) of the Varahavartani mentioned in the East
Ganga records, are all included in the modern Takkali and Sri-kakulam taluks Varahavartani district must have covered this area. Sten Konow Ep.Ind. XI, pp.140 located this division roughly along the course (Vartani) of the Varahanadi, which rises in golakonda hills and emptied into the Bay of
Bengal.
Footnote 3.
1. Venkataramayya takes it in the sense of a judge, But danda stands for armed forces. And Dandanetri should be
a designation of a military commander of a rank lower than the Mahabaladhikrita since one and the same officer, could not hold both the higher and the lower rank, it
appears, the two designations, compounded as they are with
the names of two officers, should be applied in the same order respectively to them, In other words, Sivabhojaka was a kumaramatya and Mahabaladhikrita, while Vasudatta was a Kumaramatya and a Dandanetri.