Early Telugu epigraphy

Historians have deciphered writings on the walls of temples describing the names and gotras (family groupings) of some Telugu rulers and the contributions made by them to the temples and towns.

No. 1. (A. R. No. 581 of 1925) On a white marble pillar near the entrance into the temple of Ramalingavami at Velpuru, Sattenpalli Taluk, Guntur District. Undated. This is the only stone inscription of this dynasty so far found and it is damaged and incomplete. Only the name of the family Vishnukundi and that of a ruler Madhava Varma are legible.

No. 27. (A. R. No. 596 of 1909.) On the Naga pillar in the temple of Virabhadra outside the village of Gurazala, Palnadu Taluk, same District. S. [10]51. States that a Brahmin named Dara son of Kommana who was the head of Kummunuru village and who claimed to be an incarnation of the serpent king Sesha, put up a Naga stambha in front of the temple of Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva built by himself and that Betabhupa of the Haihaya family, a dependent of Bhulo Kamalla Deva (Someshvara III) made a gift of four kharis of land to the said temple.

No. 4. (A. R. No. 431 of 1915) On a nandi slab set up near the temple of Someshvara at Eluru, Narasaraopeta Taluk, Same District. S. 925. Records the grant of land to god Somanathadeva by Paricheda Chikka Bhimaraju.

No. 64. (A. R. No. 567 of 1925.) On a big white marble pillar set up near the dhvajastambha in the temple of Ramalingesvara, Velpuru, Sattenepalli Taluk, Guntur District. S. 1030

Records the gift of a perpetual lamp by Kota Gokaraju son of Bhima to the temple of Ramesvara of Velupuru.

No. 607. (A. R. No. 380 of 1904.) On two faces of a broken pillar lying in the courtyard of the temple of Chennakesavasvami at Kalamalla, Kamalapuram Taluk, same District. Undated. Damaged and unintelligible. Mentions Dhananjaya MuttaRasu(Raju) and Renadu. Here in this place these people population is so high

No. 651. (A. R. No. 99 of 1909.) On a stone lying near Paravastu Rangacharya's house at Vizagapatam. S. 101[3] (h) 17th year of Ananta Varma Deva. Records the gift of “perumbadi” (?) by the "city twelve" of Visakhapattanamu alias Kulottunga Chodapattanamu to Matamana of Malamandala. The description of the donor is not quite intelligible. No. 675 (A. R. No. 681 of 1926.) On a pillar in the mandapa in front of the central shrine in the temple of Nilakanthesvara, Narayanapuram, Bobbili Taluk, same District. S. 1053. Records gift of a perpetual lamp by Chodaraju Maha Devi (and another ?) to the temple of Nilisvara for the merit of Chodagangadeva. No. 727. (A. R. No. 827 of 1917.) On a stone lying at the entrance into the temple of Tumbesvara, Pratapur, Chatrapur Taluk, Ganjam District. Year missing. Incomplete. Mentions. Ananta Varma

No. 732. (A. R. No. 802 of 1922.) On the four faces of the Garuda pillar planted near the dhvajastambha in the temple of Chennakesava, Idupulapadu, same Taluk and District. S. 1422. (Raudri)

Records the gift by Pratapa Radra of the village Idvulapadu to the east of Vinikonda, to Madhava mantrin of the Bharadvaja gotra and the Yajnyavalkya saka. Gives a genealogy of the Gajapatis and of the donor. No. 733. (A. R. No. 375 of 1926.) On a stone built into a gate of the fort at Tangeda, Palnad Taluk, same District. S. 14[3]1 (Sukla)

Damaged. Unintelligible; Mentions some Khan. States that Pratapa Rudradeva Gajapati was ruling. No. 741. (A. R. No. 54 of 1912.) On a pillar in the temple of Kesavasvami at Chodavaram, Viravalli Taluk, Vizagapatam District. Saka year not given (Kalayukti)

Records the consecration of the image of Garutmanta by Bondu Mallayya for the prosperity etc. of Bhupatiraju Vallabha Raju Mahapatra.

No. 257. (A. R. No. 324 of 1915.) On the Garudastambha in the temple of Venugopalasvami, Uppumaguluru, Narasaraopeta Taluk, same District. S. 1133. Damaged and partly illegible. Refers to the gift of an oil mill and land made by Balli Chodaraju presumably to some temple. (A. R. No. 138 of 1917.) On a slab lying in front of the temple of Venugopalasvami, Potturu, Guntur Taluk, Guntur District. S. 1168. Incomplete. The portion which describes the actual grant is missing. The portion available refers to what was probably a gift made to a Siva temple by Paricheda Bhimaraja, Tammu Bhimaraju, Devaraju and Ganapa Deva Raju for the merit of their father Komma Raju and mother Surala Devi. Contains the usual Parichedi titles. No. 373. (A. R. No. 283 of 1924.) On a pillar lying in the temple of Chandramaulisvara, Anumanchipalli, Nandigama Taluk, Krishna District. S. 1182. (Raudri)

States that a certain Brahmin Chavali Bhaskara consecrated the image of Sagi Ganapesvara and that king Sagi Manma endowed the temple with land. Describes the Sagi family as of Kshatriya caste (bahujakula) and gives the donor's genealogy. No. 376. (A. R. No. 769 of 1922.) On a stone built into the back wall of the temple of Chennakesavasvami, Nayanipalli, Bapatla Taluk, Guntur District. Year unknown. States that, in the course of his conquest of the South, king Ganapati Deva protected the king of Nelluru have killed his enemies Padihari Bayyana, Tikkana and others, that he vanquished Kulottunga Rajendra Choda of Dravila mandala, that he received presents of elephants from the king of Nelluru, that he saved the Bhringi matha on the Sriparvata and that he consecrated the image of Kumara Ganapesvara mahadeva after his own name in palli. The concluding portion is missing. No. 381. (A. R. No. 142 of 1913.) On a slab brought from Yanamadala and preserved in the Collector's Office, Guntur, same District. S. 11. 3. Incomplete and somewhat damaged. States that a certain Beta Raju founded the temple of Gopalasvami and endowed it with land, that Queen Ganapama gave it an oil mill and a garden and that certain merchants assigned to it certain customs duties and taxes. Ganapama was probably the wife of the Kota chief. No. 395. (A. R. No. 94 of 1917.) On the huge Nandi pillar lying near the ruined temple in Malkapuram, Guntur Taluk, Guntur District. (Published in the Journal of the Andhra Historical Research Society, Vol. IV, pp. 147–64.) S. 1183. (Durmati)

Gives a detailed account of the Kakatiya family and of the foundation and pontifical succession of the Golaki matha of the Saivas and states that king Ganapatideva promised the village of Mandara in the Velanadu Kandravati country to his guru Visvesvara Sivacharya and that Ganapati's daughter Rudramadevi made a formal gift of that village along with the village of Velangapundi, that Visvesvara Siva established a new village with the name of Visvesvara Golaki and peopled it with person of different castes brought from various parts of the country, that he also established the temple of Visvesvara, a Sanskrit college, a matha for Saivas, a choultry for feeding people without distinction of caste and creed, a general land a maternity hospital, besides some other things and that he made grants of land for the maintenance of all these institutions. Gives a detailed description of the administration of the trust and of the village affairs. Incidentally, it mentions a large number of other religious and charitable institutions established by Visvesvara Siva in several other places. Kakatiyas are described as belonging to the Solar race of Kshatriyas. No. 426. (A. R. No. 222 of 1905.) On the north wall of the dark room in the temple of Tripurantakesvara, Tripurantakam, Kurnool District. S. 1192. (Pramoduta). States that Paricheda Vadamani Kota Deva Raju gave 17 cows for a lamp in the temple of Tripurantakadeva. No. 468. (A. R. No. 318 of 1924.) On a pillar lying near a dilapidated mosque among the ruins of the fort at Gudimetta, Nandigama Taluk, Krishna District. S. 1213. States that Dadi Somaya Sahini and Peddaya Sahini gave lands to the temple of Visvanatha Mahadeva who were the officers of Rudraraju. No. 544. (A. R. No. 270 of 1924.) On a pillar set up in the temple of Anjaneyasvami at Konakanchi, same Taluk and District. Undated. States that, while Sagi Potaraja "was ruling the Nathavadi country with Gudimetla as his capital", his kampu Birama's sons Kassevu Setti and Kurivi Setti and the latter's wife Surama got the temple of Narendresvara plastered, consecrated the images of Narayana Deva and Brahma Deva and also got the temples of attendant gods plastered, and gave two tanks for the naivedya and Patrapagudamu in these temples. Also states that Kurri Setti of the Teliki thousand tribe of Bejevada presented two lamps to the temples.

No. 45. (A. R. No. 491 of 1906.) Pulivendla, Pulivendla Taluk, Cuddapah District. On a slab set up at the entrance of the Ranganathasvamin temple. Krishnaraya, AD 1509. This is dated Saka 1431, Sukla, Kartika su. 12, Monday, corresponding to AD 1509, 24 October, which was, however, Wednesday and not Monday. It records a gift of the village Kunddal Kundu to the god Sri Ranga Raju of Pulivindla by Narasayya Deva Maharaju, brother of Basava Raju, son of Tamma Raju, grandson of Valla Bharaya and great grandson of Bejawada Madhava Varma of Vasishtha gotra and Surya vamsa. The gift village is said to be situated in Pulivindalasthala, a subdivision of Mulkinadu in Gandhi Kotasima of Udayagiri Rajya. No. 52. (A. R. No. 18 of 1915.) Srisailam, Nandikotkur Taluk, Kurnool district. On stones built into the floor of the platform in the eastern porch of the Mallikarjuna temple. Krishnaraya, AD 1515. This is dated Saka 1438 (current), Yuva, Sravana su. 15, Wednesday, lunar eclipse, corresponding regularly to 25 July 1515. The record is important for the historical information contained in it. The king, it is stated, started out from Vijayanagara on a campaign of conquest towards the east, conquered at a stretch Udayagiri, Addanki, Vinukonda, Bellamkonda, Nagarjunikonda, Tangedu, Ketavaram and other hill forts and land forts and captured Tirumala Kataraya Mahapatra. Having taken Kondavidu, he captured alive Virabhadra Raya, Nara Hari Deva, Rachuri Mallukhanu, Uddandakhanu, Jannala Kasavapatra, Pusapati Rachiraju, Srinatha Raju, Lakshmipati Raju, Paschima Balachandra Mahapatra and others. Later he reinstated the captives in their places, visited Amaresvara at Dharanikota and performed the Tulapurusha ceremony in the presence of the god on the banks of the river Krishnaveni. He had the Ratnadhenu and Sapta Sagara Mahadanas performed by his queens Chinna Devi and Tirumala Devi respectively. Finally he visited Sriparvata, where he had the mandapa built in the car street of the temple. The epigraph refers to the gift of the villages Paramanchala and Atukuru formerly made to the god of the place in the year Srimukha. It also mentions the remission of levies on loads (Kanchi kavadi), pack horses, bullocks, asses and head loads. The details of the date given for the said Srimukha viz., Vaisakha su. 11 and Thursday do not agree for the year. But they work out correctly for the previous year Bhava. Hence assuming the cyclic year to be a mistake for Bhava, the date would correspond to AD 1514, 4 May. No. 57. (A. R. No. 474 of 1919.) Little Kanchipuram, Kanchipuram Taluk, Chingleput District. On the north wall of the rock in the Arulala perumal temple. Krishnaraya, 1517 AD. This is dated Saka 1438, Dhatri, Pushya ba. 7, Wednesday, corresponding to AD 1517, 14 January. States that the king, having conquered Udayagiri, captured Ravutaraya mahapatra, and having taken the hill fortresses of Addanki, Vinikonda, Bellamkonda, Tangeda, Ketavaram, etc., captured alive Vira Bhadra Raya, son of Pratapa Rudra Gajapati Raju. Narahari Deva, son of Kumara Hamvira and others, performed Tulapurusha at Amaresvara in Dharanikota, returned to Vijayanagara and started out again on a campaign of conquest towards Kalinga, reached Bejawada, conquered Kondapalli, captured Praha Raju Siras Chandra Mahapatra, Bodajana Mahapatra, Bujilikhanu and others, took at a stretch all the fortresses of Telangana such as Anantagiri, Udrakonda, Urlugonda, Aruvapalli, Jallipalli, Kandikonda, Kappaluvayi, Nalgonda, Kambhammettu, Kanakagiri, Samkkaragiri, etc., installed the jayastambha at Simhadri Potnuru and performed the mahadana there, returned to Rajamahendra and desiring to have the mahadanas performed by his queens Chinna Devi and Tirumala Devi, returned to Vijayanagara and having visited, on the above date, with his queens, god Varada Raju at Vishnu Kanchi, and paid one thousand varahas as kanika, had the punyakoti vimana of the god gilded with gold and granted the villages Vershara, Tiruppalukadalu, Govindacheri, Nurappandangal and Peluru yielding altogether annually 1,500 varahas, to meet the expenses for the fort nightly pulukkappu service and daily offerings to the god. No. 73. (A. R. No. 353 of 1915.) Kundurru, Narasarowpet Taluk, Guntur district. On a Naga pillar lying in front of a deserted temple. Krishnaraya, AD 1522. This is dated Saka 1445 (current) Chitrabhanu, Vaisakha ba. 3. Monday, corresponding to AD 1522, 13 May (Tuesday). The record is incomplete. It registers the grant of a piece of land in the village of Konudortta in Vinukondasima for offerings to god Purushottama of the village by Maha Mandalesvara Sarvayya Deva Chodaraju, son of Alamandala Yarayya Deva Chodaraju of Kasyapa gotra. Vinikondasima is said to have been given to the donor as nayankara by Maha Pradhana Saluva Timmarasayya.

97 (No. 201 of 1967) Chidipiralla (Kamalapuram Taluk) On a stone near the Anjaneya temple. S. 1501; Bhadhanya, (AD 1578)
It records the digging of irrigation canals at Chadupurella as the old ones became out of use, by Mahamandal eswara Katta Mama Singa Raya Deva Choda Maharaja, who is said to be holding the Nayamkara of Chadupurala n the Ghandikota sima (as a subordinate chief) under his son in law Mahamandal eswara Nandyala Narashim ayya Deva Maharaja. 131 (No. 2 of 1968) ANnaluru (Proddutur Taluk) On a slab in front of the Chennakesava temple. Araviti(?) It registers the grant of the village Annaluru to the God Allimenu Mamgga Tiruvemggalanatha Deva by Bukka Raju Tirumalaraju. 169 (No. 227 of 1968) Gurijala (Pulivendala Taluk) On a slab near the temple of Ganesh. Maha Mandalesvara Tirumalaraja. Paridhavi
The record refers to a lease deed of some land executed by some Rama Raju of Mahamandela eswara Tirumalaraju, in favour of probably some cultivators of Gurizala, the levy or tax being at the rate of 2 rukas. Details not clear.

244 Siddhavatam (Siddhavatam Taluk) On the east wall near the entrance of the old fort. Saka 1527; Visvasu
The inscriptions refers itself to the reign of Venkatapati Raya and enumerates the achievements of the Matli Chiefs Ellama Raju and his son Ananta Raju. The latter is stated to have built the radiant and extensive stone wall at Siddhavatam which his father had acquired in the battle of Utukuru. In the Telugu portion, which is a stsamalika, it is stated that while Vira Venkata Raya was ruling the empire from Chandragiri sima, Anata Raju constructed the tank, Ananta Raju cheruvu at Siddhavatam which his father had acquired at the point of his sword after defeating Konda Raju Tirupati Raju in battle and built a wall around the town so that it might protect the temple of Siddhavatesvara. His is also said to be the author of Kakutstha vijayamu and of the Kavyas. (Published in Epigraphia Indica xxxxvii. pp. 103–112, by Dr. N. Venkata Ramanayya)

No. 776. (A. R. No. 56 of 1912.) On a pillar in the temple of Kesavasvami at Chodavaram, Viravalli Taluk, Vizagapatam District. S. 1658. (Akshaya)

Incomplete. Says that Pusapati Vijaya Rama Raju, son of Sita Rama Raju was ruling the land and mentions the god Kesavasvami and the village Chodavaram.