HYDERABAD: Of the nine copper plate inscriptions discovered earlier in Kodad, Suryapet district, two more sets have now been decoded, offering fresh insights into the Vengi Chalukya dynasty’s political history, royal grants, and military achievements. These inscriptions are preserved at the Department of Heritage in Hyderabad.
According to Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) Director (Epigraphy) K Muniratnam Reddy, the seventh set, dated Saka 843 (April 22, 921 CE), is written in Sanskrit using the Telugu script. It records the grant of the village Eramgundi and 12 khandugas of land in Etavakili to the temple of Erisvarabhattaraka in Kondapalli visaya.
The inscription praises Vijayaditya IV, who ruled for six months, for defeating the Kalinga Gangas, burning the city of Madanapura, and vanquishing a Ratta commander before performing the grand Tulapurusha dana ceremony, donating heaps of gold to several Brahmins.
The sixth set, issued by Vikramaditya II, son of Chalukya Bhima I and Vijayamahadevi, bears the royal Varaha (boar) emblem and includes a detailed genealogy tracing the Eastern Chalukya line from its founder Kubja Visnuvardhana, brother of Badami Chalukya emperor Pulakesin II.
It highlights the valour of Kakatiya warrior Gundayya, son of Erra and grandson of Gunda, who killed a rival named Talapa in battle, enabling the king to reclaim his ancestral throne. As a reward, Vikramaditya II granted two villages, Envuru and Locheruvulu in Kondapalli visaya, to Lokanavva of the Haridra lineage, Gundayya’s first wife.
The inscriptions contain precise descriptions of village boundaries, landmarks, and agricultural features, offering crucial data on medieval Andhra’s geography and land administration. Such boundary details, common in South Indian copperplate grants, served as legal safeguards to prevent future disputes.
The closing section includes religious and legal sanctions warning that anyone attempting to revoke or interfere with the donation would incur the sin of land theft and be reborn as a worm in hell for sixty thousand years.