Bhoighar Plates of Chittarāja

Success! May there be victory and prosperity!

Verse 1  

May that Gaṇanāyaka (i.e. Gaṇapati) protect you from calamity—he who destroys obstacles and who, by means of worship, receives attention in all undertakings!

Verse 2  

May that Śiva always protect you—he on whose head the Gaṅgā shines like the bright crescent of the moon as it rises over the peak of Sumeru!

Verse 3

May that Śaṇkara, adorned with a large mass of brown matted hair tied with the lord of serpents, secure your well-being at all times by means of his manifested boons—the god who bears the crescent moon which he has himself placed on his head and which resembles the extremely resplendent tender shoot of the Ketaka flower!

Verse 4

Jīmūtavāhana, the ever compassionate son of Jīmūtaketu, is well-known in the three worlds—who, valuing his own body as not better than a straw, saved, indeed, Śaṇkhacūḍa from Garuḍa.

Verse 5

In his family there arose Kapardin I, an ornament of the Śilāra race, who quelled the arrogance of his enemies. From him was born his son, Pulaśakti by name, who resembled the orb of the sun by his brilliant splendour.

Verse 6

From him sprang his praiseworthy son, the illustrious Jhañjha, who delighted all people even as the moon does, and who destroyed all blemishes even as the sun dispels all darkness; who erected twelve temples of Śiva, named after himself, which served, as it were, as steps to pious people, ready to repair to the path of heaven.

Verse 7

Then there rose his brother, the illustrious Goggirāja, who having a mass of brilliant fame, brightened the entire circle of the earth, and who mighty among the mighty; when that king bent down in the act of drawing the string of his bow, Bhīṣma, Droṇa, the son of Pṛthu i.e. Arjuna, and others felt surprised in their minds.

Verse 8

From him sprang a son named the illustrious Vajjaḍadeva I, famed for his astounding and attractive deeds, the crest-jewel of the circle of the earth. Royal Fortune, approaching him, all of a sudden and of her own accord, on the battle-field, felt delighted while sporting on the bosom of him whose strength lay solely in his own arm, as it does on that of Murāri.

Verse 9

He, who gave protection to other feudatories also who sought refuge with him in this world—that king is indeed victorious, being rightly called ‘the adamantine cage affording protection to those seeking refuge.’

Verse 10

As he covered this whole world with his unceasing gifts of gold, he became well-known in the world by the title of the world-excelling donor.

Verse 11

What else can be described of him who welcomed in various ways Gomma, who resorted to him for protection; who caused to be made firm the infirm rule of Aiyapadeva; who gave protection to the kings Bhillama, Ammaṇa and Mambuva; and who had the title of ‘Rāma among title-holders’?

Verse 12

From him was born the son named Vajjaḍadeva I, who mastered political science, and was a crest-jewel of kings, whose deeds all people even now praise, with their creeper-like bodies having clothes of horripilation.

Verse 13

Then there was born his brother, King Arikesarin, who had the grace of the thunderbolt in destroying the principal mountains in the form of arrogant foes; who, even when he was a boy, went with an army so Someśvara and having seen that god, came back after offering him the whole world as directed by his father.

Verse 14

Next his nephew, the illustrious Chittarāja, became king; the great prince, who, though a child, raised the Śīlāra race to high eminence.

Now, while the mahāmaṇḍaleśvara, the illustrious king Chittapaiyadeva—who has, by his own religious merit, obtained the right to the five mahāśabdas and who is adorned with all royal titles such as mahāsāmantādhipati, ‘the lord of the City of Tagara,’ ‘a king of the Śilāra family,’ ‘he who is a born Vidyādhara,’ ‘he who has the ensign of the Golden Eagle,’ ‘he who has excelled the whole world by his liberality,’ ‘the ocean of truth,’ ‘a goad to the elephant that is the Kali Age’ and ‘a scion of the family of Jīmūtavāhana’—is ruling over the whole Konkan country consisting of fourteen hundred villages headed by Purī together with several maṇḍalas (countries) conquered by his own arm, and while his mahāmātya, the illustrious Nāgaṇaiya, and his Sarvādhikārin, the illustrious Prabhu Dādapaiya are shouldering the burden of the cares of administering his whole kingdom entrusted to them by his favour—the King has made the following government settlement in respect of the tax on the orchards of the learned Brāhmaṇas who are always engaged in the performance of their six religious duties such as sacrificing for themselves and for others, and studying and teaching sacred texts, and are proficient in the performance of sacrifices, such as Kramavid Koṭama who hails from Karahāṭa  and is now residing at Chipalūṇa—the Brāhmaṇas who are residents of the two villages Karadāṇḍa and Kolapallikā comprised in the viṣaya (district) of Pāṇāḍa—in the presence of the five ministers such as the illustrious Saṅgalaiya and the illustrious Tikkapaiya.

Having realised the worthlessness of the whole worldly existence, I with my mind excellently engaged in discriminating between what is righteous and what is not, have settled the tax in respect of garden-trees by levying four drammas per hundred fruit-bearing areca-nut trees in all orchards situated in the aforementioned two villages, Karadāṇda and Kolapallikā, with the consent of my five ministers and at the bidding of the Mahārājñī the illustrious and all-prosperous Padmaladevi. That tax should be paid by all business-men in respect of all land enclosed on all the four sides, as has been the old custom. This order applies to all coconut, panasa (bred-fruit), campaka, mango and other trees, whether in orchards or in the adjoining forests. The trees of spirituous liquor, whether in orchards or outside, belong solely to the Government. They should not be uprooted, cut or damaged by anybody. Again, none should prevent the Brāhmaṇas of the villages from fetching grass, fuel and so forth from the outskirts of the villages.

Having regard to the sayings of the sages who are adept in discriminating between what is righteous and what is not, none should, under the influence of anger or greed, transgress the regulations laid down. None should go against the royal order in this matter.

Again, the settled custom is to regard fifty ripe areca-nuts as a unit while counting the areca-nuts. At the time of selling the areca-nut trees the tax to be paid is three per cent on the amount of the sale.

As it is, the giver of the charter records his approval by the hand of the scribe:- “What is written here has been approved by Me, the illustrious mahāmaṇḍaleśvara Chittapaiyadeva, the son of the mahāmaṇḍaleśvara, the illustrious Vajjaḍadeva.”

This has been written by Joupaiya, the nephew of the bhāṇḍāgārasena, the great poet, the illustrious Nāgalaiya, by the order of the illustrious King at the bidding of the illustrious Padmaladevi, on the 13th tithi of the dark fortnight of Bhādrapada in the year 946.

Whatever is written here in deficient or redundant letters—all that is authoritative. This has been engraved on the copper plates by Mānadharapaiya, the son of Vedapaiya.