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THE

MADRAS JOURNAL OF LITERATURE
AND SCLENCE.

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TRING, 4
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MADRAS:

PRINTED AT THE LAWRENCE AsyLuM PReEss.—1894.

The
Madras Sournal of Literature
and Science

FOR THE SESSIONS

1889-94

PUBLISHED BY THE

MADRAS LITERARY SOCIETY AND AUXILIARY OF THE
ROYAL ASTATIC SOCIETY, OLD COLLEGE NUNGUMBAUKUM

1894
| All rights reserved |

irish MUs,
e TRING "Ung

*

CONTENTS.

Proceedings of the Society ...
On the Coins of the Sethupatis, by Rev. J. EK. Tracy, M.a.

On some old Graves in the Pollachi Taluk, Coimbatore, by
H. O. D. Harding, c.s.

On the Fauna of a Madras Pond and its monthly Variations, by
A. Sambasivan, M.A.

Note on Batrachians, by Edgar Thurston, C.M.z.s.

On the presence of stigmatic opercula in the Scorpion, by
A. Vaman Pai, B.A.

On a Tour in Mysore, by Edgar Thurston

Coinage of Travancore, by Rev. S. Mateer

An acconnt of the Antiquities of Mukhalingam and its neigh-
bourhood, by G. Venkata Ramamurti ...

PAGES.
vi—vViii

1—12
13—20
21—27
28 --29
30—34
35—48
49—67

68—102

Proceedings of the Madras Literary Society
and Auxiliary of the Royal Asiatic Society.

Sesston 1889-1890.
No meeting of the Society was held.

A paper ‘on the coins of Sethupatis’ was received from
the Rev. J. H. Tracy, m.a.

Session 1890-1891.
No meeting of the Society was held.

Sesston 1591-1892.
‘He first ordinary meeting of the society took place on
Thursday, the 3rd April, at 5-30 p.m., in the Reading Room
of the Old College, Nungumbaukum.
The Rey. Wiitiam MILLER, M.A., L.1.D., C.1.E.,
in the Chair.

Dr. Bourne exhibited, on behalf of H. R. P. Carter Esq ,
some specimens of crocodiles, and made some remarks upon
the characters proposed by that gentleman for the distinct-
ion of the two species :—C. porosus and C. palustris.

Mr. C. Michie Smith exhibited, and made some remarks
upon a new and convenient form of barograph, and also a
number of Madras barograms which had been taken by the
instrument.

Mr. Hdgar Thurston exhibited a collection of the various
species of Batrachia to be found in the city of Madras.

Mr. C. Michie Smith exhibited a copy of Rowland’s
enlarged photograph of the B and D lines.

The following papers were read :—
1. “On some old Graves in the Pollachi Taluk,
Coimbatore.’ By H. O. D. Harnprne, c.s.
(Communicated by Mr. Thurston).

PROCEEDINGS. ° vil

2. “ Note on-Batrachians.” By Epear THursvron.

3. “On the Fauna of a Madras Pond and its
Monthly Variations.” By A. Sampasivan,
B.A. (Communicated by Dr. Bourne).

The second ordinary meeting of the Society took place
on Thursday, the 14th May, at 5-50 p.m, in the Reading
Room of the Old College, Nungumbaukum.

H. B. Grieg, Hsq., u.a., ¢.1.e., in the Chair.

Mr. ‘Thurston exhibited the skin of a Hamadryad (Nava
bungarus, Schleg), one of the two species of Naia (N. bun-
garus and N. tripudians, the Cobra) which occur in Penin-
sular India. ‘The snake, whose skin was exhibited, was
shot about 20 miles from Russelkonda, and, when measured
after death. was found to be 15 feet in length. A note on

> was published in the Asian,

this snake by “Smocthbore’
April 24th, 1891.

The largest specimen of the Hamadryad in the British
Museum measures 15 feet.

In the Asian, April 24th, 1891, “ Smoothbore ” also refers
to a duck, shot by Major Felton of the 4th Madras Cavalry
near Gooty, which he believed to be the female of Anas

ce

hoschus, the mallard, and he says ‘‘if it proves to be Anas
boschus, this will be the first instance of this species being
found in Southern India. Jerdon says he has never found
it south of the Nerbudda.” The wingsand head were sent
to Mr. Thurston, who forwarded them to the Indian Museum
for comparison with the specimens of the mallard in the
collection of that institution. Mr. W. L. Sclater reported
that he thought “there can be little doubt that it is a mal-
lard though I was inclined to think it might be a Spotted
Bill ; but I think the bill shows that it is a mallard.”

Vill

PROCEEDINGS.

The following papers were read :—

AM

bo

[)

Ort

On the Transit of Mercury. By C. Micuig
SMITH, B.SC.

On the presence of stigmatic opercula in the
Scorpion. By A. Vaman Par. (Commu-
nicated by Dr. Bourne).

On the Salagrama Stone. By Gusvav Oppert,
PH.D.

On a'Tour in Mysore. By Epear THursron.

Wallace on Darwinism. By R. Epmonpson.

On Sanskrit Conjugation. By M. Susnacirr
SASTRI, M.A.

On Telugu Singular and Plural Suffixes.
By M..SesHacrri Sasrri, M.A.

Session 1892-1893.

No meeting of the Society was held.

A paper on the Comage of Travancore was received
from the Rey. S. Mateer.

]

Sethupati Coins.

(By Rev. JAMES E. TRACY, m.a., Trrumanca.am.)

Tue Sethupati line, or Marava dynasty of Ramnad, in
Southern India, claims great antiquity. According to popu-
lar legendary accounts it had its rise in the time of great
Rama himself, who is said to have appointed on his victorious
return from Lanka, seven guardians of the passage or bridge
(G=H) connecting Ceylon with the mainland. These legends
would carry the origin of the family back to the eleventh or
twelfth century B.C. and indicate an antiquity hoary indeed ;
such a supposition however without any trustworthy evidence
to support it will not be accepted as historical.

Another supposition places the rise of the family in the
second or third century B.C. It rests its case principally
upon a statement in the Mahawanso, according to which the
last of the three Tamil invasions of Ceylon, which took place
in the second or third century B.C., was under the leader-
ship of seven chieftains, who are supposed, owing to the
silence of Pandyan records on the subject of South Indian
dealings with Ceylon, to have been neither Cheras, Cholas or
Pandyans, but mere local adventurers whose territorial prox-
imity and marauding ambition had tempted them to the
undertaking. Some confirmation of this theory is supposed
to be found in the fact that these seven invading chieftains
are said to have had their capital at Nallar, which is identi-
fied as the town now known as Virava Nullur, situated near
Ramnad.

This supposition, though, like the preceding, quite un-
supported by worthy historical evidence, is nevertheless more

2 SETHUPATI COINS.

probable. It is unlikely, however, to receive the conclusive
confirmation of documentary records, since the very suppo-
sition of a wild marauding race renders it improbable that
they would value or leave to posterity such records.

Another supposition places the rise of the family in the
eleventh or twelfth century A.D. There are two statements
of this case differing according to the source from which
they come. According to the one, which has its source in
South India, the rise of the family took place in or about
1059 A.D., when Raja Raja, the Chola king, upon his
invasion of Ceylon, appointed princes, whom he knew to be
loyal to himself, and who, according to some, had aided him in
his conquest of all Pandya, to act as guardians of the passage
by which his armies must cross to and fro, and supplies be
received from the mainland. According to the other state-
ment, which has its source in Sinhalese records, the family
took its rise from the appointment of Parakrama Bahu’s
general Lankapura, who, according to ‘a! very trust-
worthy Sinhalese epitome of the Mahawanso, after con-
quering Pandya, remained some time at Ramespuram, build-
ing a temple there, and that while on the island he struck
Kahapanas”’ (small coins, similar to those of the Sinhalese
series).

Whichever of these statements we may accept, the facts
seem to point to the rise of the family in the eleventh or
twelfth century A.D., and inscriptions quoted from Dr. Bur-
gess by Mr. Robert Sewell,? show that grants were made by
Sethupati princes in 1414, again in 1489, still againin 1500,
and finally as late as 1540. These bring the line down to
within two generations of the time when Muttu Krishnappa
Nayakka in 1604 is said to have found affairs sadly dis-
ordered in the Marava country and to have re-established

1 Cf. Rhys Davids’ Numis. Orien., pl. vi, s. 63.
2 Sketch of Dynasties of South India, p. 87.

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SETHUPATI -COINS. 3

the old family in the person of Sadaiayaka Tevar Udaiyar
Sethupati. Mr. Sewell has summarized what is known of
the family since then, and mentions the fact that they had a
coinage of their own. The summary needs authentification,
and the coinage will, I am afraid, throw but little new light
upon the subject, since the extant specimens are at their
best very limited in their variety and number, and in the
amount of historical information which they convey ; yet, it is
quite admissible, as Nelson points out, for the family to claim
high antiquity as a royal line,’ ‘‘ seeing that Ramespuram
has been resorted to annually, for centuries, by large bodies of
pilgrims, and that this would have been simply impossible
unless some strong-handed prince or princes were ruling over
the country in its neighbourhood. I think it may be pretty
safely concluded that the principality of Ramnad has been
in existence many centuries.”

The shrine at Ramespuram was undoubtedly one of wide
renown from very early times, and possibly had been famous
for centuries before these invasions and counter-invasions
of Chola and Sinhalese rulers took place, but there seems to
be nothing in local tradition to indicate that the Sethupati
had any special concern with, or responsibility for, the
shrine.

The coins divide themselves into an earlier and a later
series, which are quite distinct from one another. The
earlier series of coins present specimens which are usually
larger, and better executed, and correspond in weight and
appearance very nearly to the well-known coins of the
Sinhalese series, together with which they are often found.
Rhys Davids says‘ “these coins are probably the very ones
referred to as having been struck by Parakrama’s general
Lankapura at Gea.”

3 Madura Manual, Til, p. 110.
4 Numis. Orien., VI, p. 63.

4 SETHUPATI COINS.

They are of two sizes, corresponding somewhat irregu-
larly with the massa and half-massa of the above series, and
are uniformly of copper or bronze, neither gold nor silver
specimens having been brought to light thus far. Captain
Tufnell in his article on Fanams in the J.A.8.B. figures
and describes a small gold piece (on one side of which is
seen a figure standing by an altar, &c.), and expresses the
opinion that it may be a coin of the Sethupati dynasty, but
as it is unlike any known Sethupati coins, I think it were
safer to wait for more specimens and clearer evidence, before
accepting it as such.

The coins of the later series, also of copper oaly, are
uniformly small, and very rude in device and execution.
The one face in those figured always shows only the Tamil
letters of the word Sethupati, while the other side is taken
up with one or another of various devices of hidden import.
A few coins of corresponding size in the collection of
Captain Tufnell also bear the same word in Nagarion one
side and on the other sometimes the figure of a god (Hanu-
man or Garuda usually), and on others that of an animal.
Those however in both characters are like the earlier series
in being of two sizes, the larger size weighing about 60 grs.
and the smaller about 38 grs.

Supposing from their similarity to the Sinhalese series
that the earlier series of Sethupati coins were in use about
the eleventh or twelfth century, when could this later series
have replaced them and come into currency. We know
what style of coins were in use by the Pandyan or rather
Nayakka line in the time of Visvanatha, and it is fair to
suppose that if the re-instated Sethupatis had a coinage of
their own at that time they would be likely to imitate the
types or in some way recognize the style of the Nayakka
coinage. But these coins are utterly dissimilar to those
known to have obtained currency at that time. Nor could
these coins of the later series well belong to any still later

} SETHUPATI COINS. 5

period. Itseems to me more probable that they belong to
an earlier time of confusion and decline which lies between
the period when Sinhalese re-ascendancy in Ceylon had, by
breaking off any considerable intercourse between that island
and the mainland, left the Sethupati and their followers
free to return to their wild birthright and natural instinct
for a lawless life, in which commerce and trade were less
secure.

There is also a small dumpy coin found in considerable
numbers and frequently among undoubted Sethupati coins,
which I mention with some hesitation, but which may possi-
bly confirm a fact in the later history of this family. The
legend on this coin has been read by Pandit Natesa Sastri
as Sri Tondaman, and it is supposed to have been issued by
the Tondaman family, which had its rise in Sethupati times
and through Sethupati influence, though now a distinct line.
It is possible that this coin, as an early and perhaps only
issue of its kind, may have its place in this series.

Another coin too which should be mentioned in this
connection, though it is by no means certain that it is.a
Sethupati coin has on the obverse a Garuda with Vishnu
emblems and on the reverse what has been read “ Vira
Bahu” in Grantha letters. Nothing however except its
dumpy style, and its having been frequently found with
Sethupati coins, could warrant our placing it in this series.

The earliest allusion to Sethupati coins in any published
form was made by Princep who figured and described * the
large bull coin. Examples of it are not uncommon and
have been found in Northern Ceylon as well as in various
parts of Southern India. The next published reference to
these coins was that which appeared in the Nuwmismata
Orientalia by Rhys Davids.® The coins there published will

5 Princep’s Essays, 1, p. 423, pl. xxxv.
5 Numis. Orien. ‘On the Coins of Ceylon,’’ by Rhys Davids, figs. 18
and 19, pp. 30 and 31.

6 SETHUPATI COINS.

be referred to below. Again in the Numis. Orien. (“ Coins
of Southern India’’) Sir W. Elliot’ has recently republished
the one specimen originally figured by Princep and added
one which will be noticed hereafter.

Description of the Coins.

The first eight numbers belong to the earlier series.

No. 1.—Copper. Weight 57 grs. (fig. 1).

Obverse.-—The sitting Ceylon figure to right with the
Tamil letters G= (Setu) below the arms.

Reverse.—The standing figure, face to right, with a
recumbent bull on the right and tall lamp on the left of the
figure.

This coin is a clear imitation of the “lion coin of
Parakrama” figured by Rhys Davids,® the Tamil letters
of the obverse being in the same relative position as the
legend on the Sinhalese coin, just as the bull of the reverse
replaces the lion of the coin of Parakrama. This similarity
confirms the supposition made by Rhys Davids that the coins
of the earlier series were first struck hy Lankapura, the
general of Parakrama, who in 1158 resided for some time on
the island of Ramespuram.

I know of but two specimens of this rare coin besides my
own copy. Following the analogy of later coins we may
suppose that a coin similar in device, of half-size, was issued,
which may be expected to come to light hereafter.

No. 2.—Copper. Weight 34 grs. (fig. 5).

Obverse—The same as in No. 1.

Reverse.—Same as reverse of No. 1 except that the bull
has been replaced by five dots to the right of the figure. The
dots, sometimes take the form of circles with a central dot in
each. They are found, in the same position and number, on
all the South Indian coins, which show the standing figure

7 Nwmnis. Orien., pls. iii and iv, figs. 1382 and 172, p. 134.
8 Numis. Orten., pl. vi, figs. 6 and 7, p. 21.

SETHUPATI COINS. 7

and their significance has been a matter of much conjecture.
The five, in symbolism, may refer to Indra who was the
regent of that number of the eight points of the compass, and
may be used to indicate that the country lay to the eastward ;
or the five may refer to the five regions which were allied to
one another as the parts of Dravida, and in which these
coins were current, viz., Chola, Pandya, Sethupati, Lanka
and Malayalam ; or the five may refer to the five known
products of the hill country (naOurG@er &8=), allusion
thus being made to the hilly nature of Ceylon, just as the
lamp, also used on all these coins, is an emblem for bright-
ness and therefore stands for Lanka, the name of the island
and meaning “ bright” or “shining.” Again the five may
be an allusion to the Pancha Pandavar or five Pandava
brothers to whom mythology attributes the earliest settle-
ment of Southern India: or, finally, and this theory seems
to me as probable as any, it may be merely ornamental and
devoid of any hidden meaning; it may mean none of the
foregoing at all, nor indeed anything of special or hidden
import.

This is the first of the two coins referred to above, as
first published by Sir W. Elliot.

No. 3.—Copper. Weight 58 gyrs. (fig. 2).

Obverse and Reverse-—Same as in No. 2, of which it is a
half-sized copy. The specimen in my own cabinet is much
worn. There is a copy in the collection of H.C. P. Bell,
Esq.

No. 4.—Copper.

Obverse-—Couchant bull to left : above, the sun and moon ;
and below, the Tamil letters G#s (Setu). Border, of dots
between double lines. Five triplets of dots filling the open
spaces.

everse.—Standing figure, face to left, with club in right
hand, and lamp in left. Border as in obverse. This coin
has been figured, in turn, by Princep, Rhys Davids and Sir

8 SETHUPATI COINS.

W. Elliot,° and being the best known of the series does not
need to be included in this plate.

No. 5.—Copper.

Obverse and Reverse.—Same as in No. 4. This coin is
figured by Rhys Davids, who describes it as “‘a half-sized
copy of the last, except that the large dots in the circle round
the edge of the preceding coin, are here circles, and only
three dots are required inside the circle to fill up the space
by the side of the bull.”

No. 6.—Copper. Weight 37 grs. (fig. 4).

Obverse and Reverse-—Same as in No. 4. This coin is
thinner than many of the same size in the series, though
well preserved. Probably there was a half-sized coin like
this, also.

No. 7.—Copper. Weight 40 grs. (fig. 3).

Obverse.—Sitting bull to left; facing it stands a bird,
probably a peacock, as the Vahana Subramanian, son of Siva:
below, the Tamil letters G+@ (Setu), and above, the sun and
moon. Border of dots.

Reverse.—Standing figure, face to left, with club and
lamp as usual. The figure is peculiar in being broad-waisted,
and showing a belt or girdle about the loins.

No. 8.—Copper. Weight 40 grs. (fig. 6).

Obverse.—Couchant bull, over the Tamil letters Gea
(Setu) with sun and moon above, triplets of dots in open
space, and border as in No. 2.

Reverse.—The Tamil letters G+ (Setu) within an eight-
pointed star which fills the entire space. The border is of
dots between double lines. This coin, which is a rare one, is
figured from the one in the cabinet of Captain R. H. C.
Tufnell, and the only other specimen so far as I know is in
the collection of H. C. P. Bell, Esq. There was doubtless
a full-sized coin of which this is a half.

9 See also Hints to Coin Collectors in Southern India, by Captain R. H-
Campbell Tufnell, p. 17.

SETHUPATI COINS. 9

The remaining numbers are of coins belonging to the
later series. That side of each coin which presents the
varying figures is treated as the obverse, and the other side
which shows the uniform Tamil legend as the reverse. The
coins are described very briefly as they afford but little
historical information. The ingenious suggestion has been
made, that the figure of the obverse, often, if not always, is
used to suggest the unrecorded name of the ruling Sethupati
of the time. For instance, Nos. 13, 14 and 15 would be
coins of Ganapati Sethupati and No. 25 one of Tulsi Raman
Sethupati, and so forth. It is possible that such names
may hereafter find confirmation from lists, grants or other
records, but till then we hesitate to accept as of much weight
a theory which seems more ingenious than scientific.

No. 9.—Copper. Weight 54 grs. (fig. 7).

Obverse.—Siva to front, on kneeling bull to left.

Reverse.—CGegsuG (Sethupati).

No. 10.—Copper. Weight 17 grs. (fig. 12).

Obverse.—Man on horse back : horse to left.

Reverse—_Ge#suS (Sethupati).

No. 11.—Copper. Weight 53 grs. (fig. 8).

Obverse.—Siva to front on peacock to right.

Reverse.—Ge5u (Sethupati).

No. 12.—Copper.

Obverse.—Unknown emblem upon peacock to left.

Reverse.—Ge su (Sethupati).

No. 13.—Copper. Weight 58 grs. (fig. 10).

Obverse.—Ganesha.

Reverse.—G su (Sethupati).

No. 14.—Copper.

Obverse.—Ganesha, variant of No. 13.

Reverse. —Ge5u8 (Sethupati).

No. 15.—Copper.

Obverse.—Ganesha, another variant of No. 13.

Reverse.—Gsegu@ (Sethupati).

10 SETHUPATI COINS.

No. 16.—Copper. Weight 19 grs. (fig. 16).

Obverse.—Man standing with drawn bow to 1.

Reverse.—Ge su (Sethupati).

No. 17.—Copper. Weight 52 grs. (fig. 11).

Obverse.—Man riding a donkey. (?).

Reverse.—GF gu (Sethupati).

No. 18.—Copper. Weight 20 grs. (fig. 9).

Obverse.—A scorpion.

Reverse. —Ge su) (Sethupati).

No. 19.—Copper. Weight 18 grs. (fig. 13).

Obverse.— Warrior standing in front of a horse or sitting

bull.

Reverse.—@egu (Sethupati).

No. 20.—Copper. Weight 173 gers. (fig. 14).

Obverse.—Rose pattern.

Reverse.—G «5u © (Sethupati).

No. 21.—Oopper. Weight 26 gts. (fig. 15).

Obverse.—Seated priest with lingam on his right.

Reverse.—@ =u (Sethupati).

No. 22.—Copper.

Obverse.—Seated figure facing to right.

Reverse.—Ge5u (Sethupati).

No. 23.—Copper.

Obverse—Lingam on an altar.

Reverse.—GeguG (Sethupati).

No. 24.—Copper,

Obverse.—Hanuman to left.

Reverse.—Ge gu (Sethupati).

No. 25.—Copper. Weight 20 grs. (fig. 17).

Obverse.—Tulsi plant in pot.

Reverse.—Ge gu (Sethupati).

The coins of the earlier and later series thus described
lead us to conclude—

(1) That the earliest known coins of the Sethupati line
belong to the period of the Chola invasions of Ceylon and

SETHUPATI COINS. 1

the counter-invasion of the mainland by Parakrama Bahu in
the twelfth century of our era. The condition of the people
previous to that time was probably such as to make any
extensive commercial relations with their neighbours imprac-
ticable, and probably barter was the most convenient medium
of exchange. As the Chola invasions from the well watered
and richer north, and the counter-invasions from the long-
settled and prosperous south took place, and the country
became more settled internally and more familiar with
enlarged commercial transactions, the need of coined pieces
became felt, and was probably supplied in the first instance
by the invaders themselves. ‘That this foreign form of money
was continued for any length of time there is no evidence
to show. On the contrary the very limited number and
variety of the coins in the earlier series seem to indicate that
the improved condition of the people, and more settled state
of the country, was not for any great length of time, but
that the people soon relapsed again into a semi-barbarous
and lawless life, and the coins of the later series show accord-
ingly a degeneration in size and design amounting in some
cases to utter insignificance.

(2) The coins indicate that during the period covered by
both the earlier and the later series, the religious preference
of the Sethupati was the worship of Siva, and not as now the
worship of Vishnu. The emblems on the coins,—bull, trident,
lingam, peacock and tulsi, are all specially significant of
Sivaism, and the use of the form of Ganesha in the latter
series is conclusive in the same direction. There is still a
Siva shrine at Ramespuram, but the worship for which the
place is famous and for which pilgrims come from far and
near is that of Vishnu. Thousands flock thither every year
to worship Vishnu while but very few come whose object
is Siva worship. When did this change probably occur ?
Those who are familiar with South Indian numismatics will
recall that the Garuda series of coins, which are probably of

12 SETHUPATI COINS.

the time of the Nayakkas, distinctly speak of a change in
the religion of that line. The Sethupatis had been restored
by the Nayakkas, and were feudatories of theirs, and it
seems natural to suppose that the Sethupati change must
have occurred somewhere about the same time. That the
religion of the Sethupatis at the time when our coins were
struck was Sivaism and not Vishnuvism is unquestionable.
(3) It would be interesting to know the geographical
extent of the country over which the Sethupati held sway, but
the data furnished by the coins are quite insufficient for
forming any very definite conclusion on this point. Their
coins have been found occasionally as far north as Tanjore ;
in considerable numbers in and about Madura ; and more or
less in Tinnevelly as far south as Tuticorin and old Kayal,
so that, speaking in a general way, probably these were about
the limits of the Marava power when at its highest; more
definite conclusions however are not warranted at present.

Mapras: PRINTED BY THE SUPERINTENDENT, Govt, PRESs.

Note on some old graves in the Coimbatore

District.
(By H. O. D. HARDING.)

In the fields in the villages of Makinaickempatti and Nattu-
kalpolliem about 2 and 4 miles respectively to the south-
east of Pollachi, are a large number of those stone dolmens
locally known as Pandava Kuris. The village of Nattu-
kalpolliem is particularly well favoured and its name denotes
that it is the village of the planted stones. Jn one field to
the south of this village are about 12 of these Kuris. They
differ in outward appearance, some being merely mounds
with a buried circle of upright stones surrounding them,
others being what I believe are dolmens proper—that is
one large flat stone lying as a roof above a chamber com-
posed of large stone slabs. On various sides of each of these
remains are planted large upright stones, sometimes as
much as 12 or 14 feet high. I have recently excavated
6 of these graves, and as I think some description of them
may not be uninteresting, submit this report.

The first opened will be best understood by a reference
to the accompanying rough plans.

It is a stone chamber sunk in the ground as they all are.
It was roofed by a slab of stone which rested on five up-
right stones which formed the two sides and two ends and
central partition stone. It is divided into two chambers by
a stone slabin the centre, Hach of these chambers is again

3

14 OLD GRAVES IN THE COIMBATORE DISTRICT.

divided into two chambers by another stone slab, not quite
in the centre. The general appearance of the construction
as looked at from above is shown in figure I.

Figure II] is a section of the same. The sub-dividing
stones of the two chambers are, as shown therein, only about
2 feet 6 inches high. About half a foot below the top of
each sub-dividing stone, a flat stone slab is laid to the cen-
tral stone, along the whole length of the dolmen, on both
sides. ‘To the outside of the sub-dividing stones, on both
sides, is an empty space. ‘The direction of the dolmen is
east and west, and the eastern wall is one large slab, which
contains two holes as shown in figures Il and III. These
holes are about 1 foot 8 inches in diameter, and are the
doors which lead into the building from outside. They
were closed outside with stone slabs. This dolmen was 6
feet deep, 3 feet 8 inches long, 5 feet broad, each chamber
being about 23 feet broad.

To one entering such a chamber through the round hole
in the east wall, and supposing there to be no choking up
by soil, the appearance would bea stone chamber 6 feet
high by 23 feet broad by 8 feet 8 inches long, one half of
which was a stone shelf or bed, and the other a vacant
space or passage.

Underneath the above mentioned stone shelves or beds,
were found buried in mud the following articles of pottery :
7 pots of the kind shown as a, 1 of b, 7 of c, 4 of d, 4 of e,
14 of f, 4 of g, 8 of h and 7 of i.

These are all of red earthenware. a to d, are very fine
work, the color isa dull red, but glazed, and barred by
parallel rows of yellow lines as is roughly shown ona. The
pots of a, b, and d muster are a fine polished black inside,
those of c muster are the same inside and out.

The vessels from e to 7 are of a coarser make, and have
no polish or ornamentation ; f and g appear to be intended

OLD GRAVES IN THE COIMBATORE DISTRICT. 15

as stands upon which to place a to d, all of which have
round bottoms and are unfitted to stand alone: h and 2,
are either plates or intended as covers to other vessels.
The size of each kind is shown below.

Height. Breadth,
a 5 inches. 4. inches.
b el Ona 10 at the greatest diameter.
c oe ee 54
d Oey 5p 9
e Sey ales 5
Sg 2 inches by 3 and 4 respectively.
CO ope ... 6 and 5 inches in diameter respectively.

After this, four other dolmens were opened. They were
of a different description and contained nothing but a few
fragments of bones. The 6th and last is identically the
same in construction as the first, and in the same manner
the same kind of pots were found under the stone benches
above described. This being the same as the first, needs
no description. As to the others, two were merely single
stone chambers; one measured 7 feetin length by 5 feet 10
inches high, and 3 feet 6 inches broad. It was roofed by
a massive block of stone and floored by a double thickness
of stone slabs. The entrance was a square hole in the
eastern wall about two feet from the top, the hole being
about 1 foot 6 inches square. The other was similar, so
was not measured.

The fourth again was different and in one particular the
most curious of all.

It was not measured, but is roughly some 7 feet long by
6 feet or more high by about 4 feet broad. It is entered
in the same way by a hole in the eastern wall; its.pecu-
liarity is that it is divided into two chambers by a cross
slab running lengthwise but only 4 feet high. In the
centre of this wall about half a foot from the bottom of it,

16 OLD GRAVES IN THE COIMBATORE DISTRICT.

is a hole 1 foot 2 inches in diamater which leads from one
partition to the other. An end-section of this grave would
be thus:

a side section thus :

the entrance being by the hole at a, into the south com-
partment.

Both compartments were floored with stone, but nothing
was found under the floors.

Many of the pots are in excellent preservation and from
the freshness of the colour suggest that they were new
when put into the grave.

I believe the generally accepted theory as to these kuris
is that they are graves. Small fragments of bones only
were discovered however. The people call them houses
and seem to think that they were inhabited in prehistoric
times by a race of dwarfs, but for this belief there is no
foundation but the smallness of the entrance holes.

One ct rious feature about them is that they all le due
east and west and that the entrance is invariably in the

OLD GRAVES IN THE COIMBATORE DISTRICT. L'¢/

eastern wall. The ryots say this was to keep out the
South-West monsoon which was more violent in the good
old days than now but I think this is little more than the
Goundens’ notion of a joke. Another ryot hazarded an
opinion that they built their houses of stone because there
was so much lightning that thatch was too liable to catch
fire. Two arguments against them being houses, seem
unanswerable. If they could make such excellent pottery,
they would be able to make more satisfactory houses to
live in, and if they lived in these stone graves and used
their pottery, they would not hide it in an inaccessible
place between 4 stone slabs. There was no means of get-
ting at the buried pottery without breaking up the stones
which covered it. On the other hand, it is very curious
that they should have—as in grave No. 4—left a passage
from the one partition to the other, and that in all the
graves there should be a small door as it were in the
eastern wall.

The expense of making these structures must have been
great and it seems to me that they are probably the graves
of the chiefs of some prehistoric people. ‘The pots were
probably buried that they might be of service to the de-
_ceased in his happy hunting grounds—a practice and a
belief which I think obtained among the Maoris of New
Zealand. The reason for the existence of the door-ways
however is still not clear. They are too small to admit
of the deceased being buried through them with any
decency. He must have been bundled in head first. I
should think, if they are graves, that the body would
be interred before the top slab was laid on. The holes
may have been left from a behef that he would pass in
and out thereby after death, and the hole in the parti-
tion in the grave No. 4, from a belief if one person were
buried in each partition they might like to communicate
together. In that case however it would be easier, one

18 OLD GRAVES IN THE COIMBATORE DISTRICT.

would think, for them to imagine the deceased climbing
over the four foot wall than creeping through a hole little
more than a foot in diameter.

This same argument applies if living people are supposed
to have dwelt in that grave. They could more easily climb
the wall than creep through the hole. Then grave or
house, for what purpose was the hole? It the people
were dwarfs and as the ryots think, only a foot or so in
height, it is comprehensible but then they would want a
race of giants to build for them. On the whole I do not
feel much wiser on the matter than the ryots, some of
whom thought the kuris must date from ‘‘ before the com-
pany” while others, referred them to a period before the
Kaliyuga. .

Since writing my letter 5th June 1890, I have opened
another kuri which deserves description. Outwardly before
excavation it was a mound of loose stones and earth, some
94 feet ia diameter. On the eastern side stood a large up-
right sfone, some 8 or 10 feet high, and all round were
visible the tops of a circle of smaller upright stones. On
excavation some 8 feet below the ground level was found
the usual massive stone slab which roofs the Kur. As in
the other cases this rested on the stones which formed the
sides and ends of the grave itself. On excavating all the
earth within the stone circle, a clear space was obtained
surrounded by a wall of stone slabs some 5 to 7 feet high,
the eastern slab being from that level, 12 or 14 feet high.
In the middle, or rather to the east, lay the grave. On
removing the cap stone, was found a square stone chamber,
some 8 feet deep, divided into two compartments by a stone
slab as shown by the double line in the plan accompanying.
The north compartment was again divided into two bya
slab some 3 feet high between which, and the partition
wall lay the usual flat shelf of stone. This grave differed
from those previously opened in that it was larger and

OLD GRAVES IN THE COIMBATORE DISTRICT. 19

deeper, and there was no shelf to the southern compartment.
Both cells as usual had a small hole in their eastern wall
which led—on removing a stone slab, to a front yard as it
were also shut in by stones, but not roofed. One curious
feature of this grave, was that each of the stone slabs
which shut the eastern entrance holes, was held inposition
by a heavy block of stone—more or less round and measur-
ing some 24, by 14 by 14 feet.

By the side of the stone block which closed the northern
cell, were the remains of an iron spear, much eaten away
by rust. A few fragments of pottery, and bones only were
found in the mud, no entire pots remaining. In the three-
foot partition to the northern cell, was a hole, rising from
the stone floor, about a foot, and leading under the stone
shelf, which thus formed a sort of cupboard. This feature
I have not observed before in any kuris and it is difficult
to see what purpose it can have served. The use of the
large stone blocks to close the entrances seems to dispose
finally of the people’s idea that a race of pigmies lived in
these cells, and passed in and out ; for no one—pigmy or
full grown—could find his way out against such blockading.
To my mind, the kuris are beyond doubt graves, dating
from time when sun-worship was in vogue. Hence the inva-
riable eastward position. It would also seem that ancestor
worship—some early form probably of the present Hindu
custom-—was practised. It is probable that once a year or
on stated occasions the relations of the deceased would visit
the grave, and offer libations through the holes in the eastern
wall—which would be left for that purpose. Closing them
with stone slabs and blocks would effectually keep out wild
animals, while leaving them accessible to the relations when
required.

The grave was clearly sunk in the ground, and not origin-
ally built up and subsequently buried by lapse of time, for
we came upon the natural rock some 3 feet below the cap

20 OLD GRAVES IN THE COIMBATORE DISTRICT.

stone. It was suggested that the name Pandava Kuri, is
a mistake for Mandaya Kuri, or hole for the dead—to my
mind a very plausible suggestion. There seems also to be
a legend, that in ancient times Yaman quarrelled with the
other gods, and lost his power of causing death for a time.
Consequently people—though they became old and trouble-
some, could not die, so their relations put them out of the
way—on the shelf as it were—in these Pandava or Mandava
Kuries. Pandava or Mandava they are remarkable enough,
and the pottery poimts to a perfection of the potter’s art
which we are commonly unwilling to allow to an unknown
people in prehistoric times.

On the Fauna of a Madras pond and its
Monthly Variations.

(By A. SAMBASIVAN, B.a., Government Scholar, Presidency
College, Madras.)

Communicated by Dr. Bourne.

Tue following notes upon the fauna of a pond in the
Chepak gardens have formed the subject of many observa-
tions conducted throughout a complete year. ‘lhe subject
was taken up at the suggestion of Professor Bourne, of the
Presidency College to whose constant aid and numerous
suggestions [ am deeply indebted.

The pond is situated in the compound of the house
attached to the Engineering College, and has not dried up,
nor undergone alterations during the last half-century if
one can believe the hearsay evidence of the gardeners.! The
water is but very slightly brackish although the pond is
situated within 300 yards of the sea. My object in these
investigations was twofold. In the first place I wished to
place on record a complete list of the fauna of such pond
and in the second to ascertain how the fauna was affected
by the varying seasons, with regard to this latter question
I found that some organisms flourished in quantities
throughout the year, while some were only to be found
during certain, and others though always to be found

2 Tt is probably untrue that it has never dried up within that period,
it is certainly absolutely dry now (April 1891) and although this is a
period of great drought there have been within the last fifty years other
periods of even greater drought. On the other hand it is a pond which is
not in the habit of drying up during the hot weather,

4

22 FAUNA OF A MADRAS POND AND ITS. VARIATIONS.

became much reduced in numbers at certain periods. I
proceed to enumerate with notes the organisms I found
and determined.

Protozoa.—Rhizopoda, Ameba ; Pelomyxa viridis, Bourne.
Infusoria, Vorticella; Paramecium ; Chilodon ;
Euglena; Monas and various gregarines para-

sitic in other organisms.

These are the only Protozoa which I found so that the
group is very poorly represented. One of these forms—
Pelomyxa viridis is a new species and possesses peculiar
mterest. I first noticed it lying on the surface of the mud.
which I had placed in a dish. ‘There were a large number
of specimens and they looked like eggs, rounded or oval in
shape and greenish in colour. I pointed them out to Dr.
Bourne who found that when mounted on a slide they
exhibited amceboid movements—the organisms being large
enough and these movements rapid enough to be seen with
the naked eye. Dr. Bourne has figured and described
the organism as Pelomyaa viridis and his paper will
appear in a forthcoming number of the Quarterly Journal
of Microscopical Science. It is therefore unnecessary for
me to refer further to it here. Most of the Infusoria were
found throughout the year, they do not appear to be
affected by changes in the weather and their miscroscopic
size and consequent limited requirements are always
satisfied by the conditions of the pond so long as any

water remains.

Pelomyza viridis was not to be found throughout the
year. I first found it in January 1890 and it was to be
found, though in diminishing numbers up till the end of
May, from June till the end of October it was not to be
found either in the water or the mud vf which latter I sifted
great quantities through fine sieves. In November and
December I saw it again and found a few specimens, Early

FAUNA OF A MADRAS POND AND ITS VARIATIONS. 23

in this year (1891) it disappeared, sometime before the
pond was completely dried up.

CatenteraAtaA—TI did not find any representatives of
this group. Fresh-water sponges although found in some of
the Madras tanks do not occur here and Hydra is not to
befound. I believe that Hydra has not been recorded from
Central and Southern India at all.t It was recorded by
Carter from Bombay and is to be found at Naini Tal whence
Dr. Bourne has had specimens sent to him.

TURBELLARIA.—Rhabdoccela, Mesostomum sp. ; Micreos-
tomum sp.; Dendroceela, Planaria sp. ;

Mesostomum occurs throughout the year. Microstomum
suddenly appeared in enormous quantities in March and
were seen reproducing themselves asexually.

The dendroccelous form appeared and disappeared at
about the same time as (Microstomwm) but I never found
it in great quantity.

Nemaropa.—Various free-living Nematodes were to be
found at all times.

Oxicocumra.—Alosoma ; Nais; Pristina; Devo.

I observed 3 distinct species of Dero. In February and
March all these oligochceta were reproducing themselves
asexually. They were most numerous in March and then
rather suddenly disappeared, by the end of April very few
specimens were to be found, and this state of things con-
tinued until August when they rapidly increased in number
and abounded during September, October and November.
They were notso numerous in December and January.
The rapid increase in the spring is due doubtless to the
asexual reproduction but I could not find any evidence of
sexual reproduction taking place either then or at any

17 am informed by Dr. Bourne that he has since this was written
found Hydra in a tank in Triplicane,

24 FAUNA OF A MADRAS POND AND ITS VARIATIONS.

period during the year. The diminution in numbers of
these forms, during the hottest months is easily accounted
for as they live for the most part in shallow water, 2.e., near

the margin so that as the pond dries, as they cannot rapidly
shift their /ocale, they perish.

Hirvupinua.—Olepsine. Three or four species of Clepsine
are to be found in the pond throughout the year but they
become most numerous from August—November.

RorirErA.—Two or three common species of Rotifera
flourished in the pond throughout the year and I observed
them in unusually large numbers about the end of April.

Crusracea.—Branchiopoda, Isp.

Cladocera.—Daphnia reticulata ; Moina fischeri, EH. J.
Beck ; Microthryx rosea ; 1 sp. n.

Ostracoda, Cypris ; Cythere.

Copepoda, Cyclops.

I have been unable to find any record of the occurrence
of freshwater Branchiopoda in this Presidency. Last year
Dr. J. R. Henderson showed me some specimens of a
Branchiopod which he found teeming in a pool on the
Shevaroy Hills. My species is undoubtedly different from
this and I hope to describe it in detail on another occasion.
This Branchiopod appeared suddenly in large numbers in
our pond during the latter part of August and remained
throughout September and was to be found not only in
this pond but in many others in Madras.

For the identification of the species of Cladocera I am
indebted to Miss. Beck to whom Dr. Bourne sent specimens.
I first saw Daphnia reticulata im January, Moina Fischeri
in February, Microthria rosea i» April and the fourth
species in November but as they were to be found in all

subsequent “takes” it is possible that want of knowledge

FAUNA OF A MADRAS POND AND ITS VARIATIONS. 25

only prevented my seeing them earlier. Parthenogenesis
appeared to be always taking place but I noted sexual re-
production in any of the forms during May to November
only.

The Ostracods and the Copepods thrive throughout the
year.

AracHunipa.—I have found three forms of fresh-water
Acarinae in the pond.

Hexapropa.—-Numerous insect larye and insects occur
in the pond throughout the year and are most abundant
during the rainy season.

Mottusca.—Gastropoda, Ampullaria ; Planorbis ; Lim-
Neus.

These three gastropod genera are all represented but I
found no Lamellibranch.

Poryzoa.—I came across a few leaves with an old Poly-
zoan skeleton upon them but could find no living specimens.

. Verresrara.—Little fresh-water fishes and Batrachian
larvee were obtained in large numbers during the rainy
season. It will thus be seen that of the various fresh-water
groups the only important ones which are entirely absent
are the Ceeleaterata, Amphipoda, Isopoda and Decapoda.

Resumé anp CaLpnpar.

The following erganisms were present throughout the
year, some of them appearing at one time in large numbers
and diminishing at other times but never altogether absent :
—Intusoria, Mesostomum, Dero, Clepsine, Cladocera, Ostra-
coda, Copepoda, Rotifera, Limneus, Planorbis, Ampullaria,
insects and insect larvee.

January.—Temperature: Max. 89°—Min. 62°; Weather:
fine,

26 FAUNA OF A MADRAS POND AND ITS VARIATIONS.

Pelomyxa viridis first seen, Mesostomum flourished,
Daphnia reticulata first seen.

Frsruary.—Temperature: Max. 92°—Min. 63°; Weather:
fine.

Pelomyxa and Mesostomum continued, Oligochcet worms

y o] 5
began to reproduce asexually, Moina Fischeri first seen.

Marcu.—Temperature : Max. 95°—Min. 72°; Weather :
fine.

Pelomyxa and Mesostomum continued, Oligochceta re-
producing asexually with great vigour, Microstuma repro-
ducing asexually, Moina bearing both Ephippial and Agamic
eggs, Planaria first seen.

Aprit.—Temperature : Max. 104°—Min. 74°; Weather :
fine. Oligocheta began to decline in number, Rotifera
abounded, Microthrix rosea first seen.

May.—T'emperature: Max. 109°—Min. 80°; Weather:
fine.

Oligocheeta very scarce, Wlosoma and Pristina entirely
absent.

Junu.—'emperature: Max. 103°—Min. 72°; Weather:

19 3
rainy, cloudy and stormy, rainfall 4°87 inches.

Pelomyaxa disappeared, Dero and Nais very scarce in-
deed, Aflosoma and Pristina absent. :

Jury.—Temperature: Max. 96°—Min. 73°; Weather :

Pp ;
cloudy and rainy, rainfall 7:2 inches.

The same state of things prevailed as in June.

Avaust.—Tlemperature : Max. 95°—Min. 74°; Weather :
cloudy and rainy, rainfall 2°14 inches.

Oligochceta began to increase in number, the species
of Branchiopod appeared.

Surremper.—Temperature: Max. 97°—Min. 75°; Weather:

cloudy, rainfall 2°72 inches.

FAUNA OF A MADRAS POND AND ITS VARIATIONS. 27
Clepsine specially numerous, the Branchiopod abounded,
enormous numbers of insect larvee appeared.
Ocroper.—Temperature : Max. 96°—Min. 71°; Weather:
cloudy, rainfall 4°35 inches.
The same state of things prevailed as in September.

Novemper.—Temperature : Max.88°—Min. 67°; Weather:
passing clouds, rainfall 3:64 inches.
A new species of Daphnia first seen, Pelomyza viridis
appeared again.
December.—Temperature: Max.87°—Min. 72°; Weather:
fine.

The same state of things prevailed as in November.

Note on Batrachtians.
(By EDGAR THURSTON.)

Tue volume of the ‘Fauna of British India’ which is
devoted to the Keptilia and Batrachia has been recently '
issued, and, so far as the Batrachia of S. India are con-
cerned, adds very little to our previous knowledge. It is,
in fact, admitted in the preface that many of the characters
of the genera and species now published are taken from
the Catalogue of Batrachians in the British Museum. The
genus Jzalus is now separated into Jvalus and Mierizalus,
species of the latter being said to be dwarfed forms of Rana,
which do not develope vomerine teeth.? Rana gracilis and
Callula olivacea of the British Museum Catalogue appear
as R. limnocharis and C. variegata. But little is recorded as
to life-habits ; and, as a matter of fact, many of the species
are known only from one ora very few specimens, and there
is no record as to their habits or appearance during life.

Among the few new facts which are mentioned are that
Nannobatrachus Beddomivis one of the smallest Batrachians
known, and that the male of Bufo melanostictus (the house
toad of Madras) has black nuptial excrescences on the two
inner fingers.

‘The habitats given for some of the S. Indian species,
which alone interest me, do not, in some cases, coincide
with those recorded in my Catalogue of the Batrachians
of Southern India, which was based on the British Museum
Catalogue ; and the following list contains a comparison

of the habitats of some species as given in the ‘ Fauna of

1 This note was read before the society in 1891.
? Fide Boulenger Proc, Zool, Soc. Lond. 1888., p 205,

NOTES ON BATRACHIANS. 29

British India and as recorded in my Catalogue, or observed
since its publication.

1. Hana verrucosa. “Malabar” (Faun. Brit. Ind.).
Add Nilgiris, where I obtained a single specimen in March,

1889.

2. Rana limnocharis—A very common species on the
Nilgiri plateau, which I have seen at Ootacamund, Coonoor,
and Kotagiri- In the ponds of the Government Gardens,
Ootacamund, it was swimming about together with Bufo
melanostictus and Rhacuphorus pleurostictus, The pond at
Davison’s Hotel, Coonoor, was teeming with the tadpoles
of this species in March, 1890.

3. ana breviceps.—Vhe specimens of this burrowing
species have been captured by Mr. J. Rk. Henderson in his
compound in Madras during the N. E. Monsoon.

4. Rana temporalis.—“ Anaimalai Hills and Ceylon.”
“ (Faun. Brit. Ind.). Add plateau of the Nilgiris (Coonoor.)

5. Iaalus signatus—“< Malabar.” (Faun. Brit. Ind.) add
plateau of the Nilgiris (Paikara and Coonoor).

5. Callula variegata.—This species lives, together with
Bufo melanostictus, in the overflow pipe of my bath-room,
as well as under flower-pots and in the nests of white ants
(Termites).

7. Callula triangularis.—“ Nilgiris, Malabar ” (Faun.
Brit. Ind.). Add Shevaroys.

8. Cacopus globulosus.—Previously recorded only from
Russellkonda in the Madras Presidency. The Kev. BH.
Léventhal informs me that he has seen it, on one or two
occasions, at Vellore.

“On the Stigmatic Opercula in the
Scorpion.

(By A. VAMAN PAT, from the Biological Laboratory, Presidency
College, Madras.)

Communicated by Dr. Bourne.

Last year, Dr. Bourne called my attention to the fact that
there is an arrangement connected with the pulmonary
stigmata of the Scorpion, by which the animal is enabled
to open or close those apertures at will. Quite lately, I
have been able to work out the subject more fully under
his kind direction.

An apparatus connected with the stigmata of Hexapod-
Insects, by which they can be opened and closed has been
described long ago.! In the Scorpion the walls of the
stigmata are strongly chitinised, and consequentiy cannot
be brought together as in insects so as to shut off commn-
nication with the exterior, But apart from the fact of such
an arrangement having any connection with respiration,
it is obvious that the animal would be hable to injury,
if the access of foreign bodies to the pulmonary cavity
cannot be prevented. The Scorpion has the habit of
burrowing in earth and sand. During the monsoons it
is frequently submerged in water. It is also necessary to
protect the lung-books from noxious gases and vapours
and to preserve them from desiccation. Hence it is clear,
that it is necessary for the scorpion to possess some means,
by which the stigmata can be opened and closed at

pleasure.

1 Huxley’s ‘Invertebrata’ page 375.

STIGMATIC OPERCULA IN THI SCORPION, 31

Obvious as this fact is, it has hitherto been almost en-
tirely overlooked by naturalists who have directed their
attention to the study of these interesting arachnids. The
only person who seems to have had any knowledge of the
fact that the stigmata can be opened and closed, is Hmile
Blanchard. He says “‘ les stigmates se ferment et s’ouvrent
plus ow moins; ces mouvements sont executes par des

” But serious doubts have been enter-

muscles...
tained as regards the accuracy of his observation. Felix
Plateau, writing four-years back says ‘on a vu, plus haut,
qw Emile Blanchard parle de mouvements effectués par les
orifices stigmatiques. Ces mouvements sont, pour moi,
tout ce qwil y a de plus douteux. Non seulement je n’ai
pas réussi a les constater mais Léon Dutour dont les études
sur les Scorpions ont été faites avec beaucoup de soin
s’exprime ainsi: “.... ma plus forte loupe braquée des
demi-heures entiéres sur les stigmates de l’animal vivant
et fixé sur le dos, ne m’a jamais permis d’y saisir le moindre
mouvement, malgré le soind’y projeter de temps en temps
un rayon de soleil. Mes lentilles, ma patience ont échoué a

me rendre sensible ce jeu, ce mécanisme respiratoire. ”’!

Attached to the posterior wall of each stigma, is a plate
covered with a thin layer of chitin, which may be called
the ‘‘ stigmatic operculum” In the anterior portion of the
operculum, which, when seen with the naked eye looks
whiter than the rest, the chitin is thick and peculiarly
modified. Viewed under the microscope it appears as a
mass of polygonal bodies which look like the cells of a
honey-comb. In section, it is seen to consist of ¢hitinous
rods, the free ends of which have somewhat the shape of
inverted cups. ‘l'hese rods look like mushrooms with long
stalks. When the stigma is open, this anterior portion of
the operculum is not seen. When it is shut, only half of it

* Archives Biologie, tome VII, page 339, —

32 STIGMATIC OPERCULA IN THE SCORPION.

is visible, the other half being overlapped by the portion
of the sternum which is in front of the stigma.

The free edge of the operculum is continued into a thin
membrane, which, together with a similar one attached to
the anterior edge of the stigma, and to the inner face of the
part of the chitinons sclerite in front, is joined to the axis
of the lung-book. Air passes between these two tothe
lung-book.

Attached to the stigmatic operculum all along its free-
edge, are a series of small muscles which arise from the
inner face of the sternum a little behind the posterior edge
of the stigma, and have hitherto been undescribed; I pro-
pose to call these the “‘opercular muscles ”
attached to the operculum itself, which pull it in the opposite

No muscles

direction, are present, so far as I can see.

How does this apparatus work? When the opercular
muscles contract, the operculum is drawn back and the
stigma opened. When they relax, the elasticity of the
operculum is brought into play, and it is shut. It is possible
that muscles attached to the lung-books or to the thin
membrane which is continuous with the free-edge of the
operculum, may help in closing the stigma. The pressure
of th: above-lying tissues and organs may also have some
effect in this direction.

The curiously modified chitin of the anterior part of the
operculum has animportant function, When it is applied
against the membrane attached to the anterior edge of the
stigma in the act of closing the last, the membrane
and the soft tissue which lies below it will be thrown into
innumerable little projections, which will fit in into the
spaces between the chitinous rods. Thus not only is the
operculum held on firmly to the anterior edge, but the
access of water and other fluids to the pulmonary cavity is
rendered impossible.

STIGMATIC OPERCULA IN THE SCORPION. 33

What is the disposition of the stigmata in the living
animal under ordinary conditions? Sometimes they are shut,
though generally one or two are slightly opened; some-
times some are shut and some open, more often partially
than completely. The opercula often remain fora long time
without moving ; this accounts for the fact that both Dufour
and Plateau failed to observe any movements connected
with the stigmata. But these movements do occur. Accor-
ding to Plateau, respiratory movements such as are found
in Hexapod-insects are absent in scorpions. But whether
this is the case or not, it is desirable for the scorpion to be
able to regulate the supply of air to its wants at different
times. I think it is very probable that these movements
serve that purpose.

But though no movements connected with the stigmata,
7.e. of the operculum, may be observed even for a long time,
ib is easy to demonstrate their existence by touching the
stigma with the blunt end of a needle or by putting a drop
of water on it when itis open. It is at once closed by the
operculum. On the other hand, if the stigmata are shut,
it is only necessary to hold the scorpion for a minute or two
under water; when taken out the stigmata will be found
to be wide open. This latter circumstance is a little re-
markable, seeing that in the scorpion as in most other in-
vertebrates, metabolism is very slow. The scorpion will
live for hours under water or in nitrogen gas; and ordinari-
ly its stigmata are shut for a long time. Perhaps, it only
indulges in a sense of freedom from recent restraint.

I tried several experiments with a view to ascertain
whether the stigmata would be shut when the animal is
exposed to irritating vapours and gases. When placed in
ammoma vapour or carbonic acid gas, the stigmata if
previously open, do not shut. Dr. Bourne has sug-
gested to me that substances which are irritant in the case
of man, may not be so in lower animals. It is possible

34 STIGMATIC OPERCULA IN THE SCORPION.

that highly irritating and corrosive substances, such as the
fumes of nitric acid, will make the animal shut the stigmata.
Chloroform seems to produce some effect. But all the
stigmata are not completely closed during the whole time
that the animal is in it, a state of things which can be
observed when the scorpion is put under water. In one
instance, I observed in a scorpion which was placed in
chloroform vapour, the stigmata which were previously
shut, open after a time and remain in that condition, to
within a short time of the animal’s death. In another in-
stance a scorpion which was in chloroform vapour for 15
minutes was taken out almost dead and put on the table.
The stigmata were shut at the time. After a while, they
were found to be wide open, the animal being still per-
fectly insensible and only exhibiting once or twice a slight
movement. It afterwards recovered.

To ascertain whether the pectines act as olfactory organs,
I tried similar experiments on scorpions in which they had
been previously removed. No difference was seen, It is
probable that they act as tactile organs. When a scorpion
is walking or climbing up the sides of an inclined glass-
jar, the pectines may be seen to move about and used like
feelers, ‘They possess a great range of movement. When
the animal is uncomfortable, as when placed im chloroform
vapour or gradually heated, the pectines may be seen
moving after the rest of the body is still.

In Thelyphonus, the openings of the two pairs of lung-
books are hidden by prolongations of the sterna. Proba-
bly, an arrangement exactly similar to that connected with
the stigmata of the scorpion, does not obtain. These and
other points in the anatomy of that interesting and little-
known Arachnid, I hope to be able to determine on a future

occasion.

Note on a tour in Mysore
ty 1891.
(By EDGAR THURSTON.)

I verr Madras at the end of February, 1891, for a month’s
tour in Mysore, with a view to acquiring specimens illus-

ERRATA. ;
Page 35 line 11 from top for‘ Chaus’ read ‘ chaus’
» 986 — 10 — bottom —~“bilatures’? — < filatures ’
» 39 — 6 — top — ‘Belgota’ — ‘Belgola’
» 40 — 2 — bottom —< But’ — ‘Cut’
40 — 11 — ‘top — ‘Satifolia’ — ‘Tatifolia’

a

tiger was starved, and then enticed into a long box, in which
there was no room for it to turn round, baited at the far
end with meat.

A short journey by train brought me to Channapatna,
between which place and Bangalore is the town of Closepet,
where I left some of my staff to collect butterflies, lizards,
snakes, &c., in the surrounding jungle country. At Chan-
napatna there is a ruined fort, and a big bazar in which
several industries and manufactures are carried out. A
manufacture for which Channapatna is celebrated is that
of steel-wire for musical instrnments (Vinas, &c.); and

1 The Madras Museum possesses an Albino Bandicoot. An Albino Nil-
giri black Robin was shot on the Nilgiris a few years ago.

34 STIGMATIC OPERCULA IN THE SCORPION.

that highly irritating and corrosive substances, such as the
fumes of nitric acid, will make the animal shut the stigmata.
Chloroform seems to produce some effect. But all the
stigmata are not completely closed during the whole time
that the animal is in it, a state of things which can be
observed when the scorpion is put under water. In one
instance, I observed in a scorpion which was placed in
chloroform vapour, the stigmata which were previously
shut, open after a time and remain in that condition, to

jar, the pectines may be seen to move about and used lke
feelers, ‘hey possess a great range of movement. When
the animal is uncomfortable, as when placed in chloroform
vapour or gradually heated, the pectines may be seen
moving after the rest of the body is still.

In Thelyphonus, the openings of the two pairs of lung-
books are hidden by prolongations of the sterna. Proba-
bly, an arrangement exactly similar to that connected with
the stigmata of the scorpion, does not obtam. These and
other points in the anatomy of that interesting and little-
known Arachnid, I hope to be able to determine on a future

occasion.

Note on a tour in Mysore
tw 1891.
(By EDGAR THURSTON.)

I uerr Madras. at the end of February, 1891, for a month’s
tour in Mysore, with a view to acquiring specimens illus-
trative of the arts, industries, natural history, &c., of that
Province. The time selected was, as regards temperature,
not judicious.

The day following my departure from Madras was plea-
santly spent in going over Dr. EK, Hultzsch’s excellent collec-
tiou of South Indian coins, and in exploring the Bangalore
Museum and Lal Bagh. At the latter the most interesting
objects to myself were an Albino Crow ! and some kittens
of the Jungle Cat (Felis Chaus). Some time ago one of
the tigers in the collection had the operation for in-growing
claws successfully performed. In order that the operation
might be performed without risk (to the operators), the
tiger was starved, and then enticed into a long box, in which
there was no room for it to turn round, baited at the far
end with meat.

A short journey by train brought me to Channapatna,
between which place and Bangalore is the town of Closepet,
where I left some of my staff to collect butterflies, lizards,
snakes, &c., in the surrounding jungle country. At Chan-
napatna there is a ruined fort, and a big bazar in which
several industries and manufactures are carried out. A
manufacture for which Channapatna is celebrated is that
of steel-wire for musical instruments (Vinas, &c.); and

1 The Madras Museum possesses an Albino Bandicoot. An Albino Nil-
giri black Robin was shot on the Nilgiris a few years ago.

36 NOTE ON A TOUR IN MYSORE.

glass bangles are also made. The processes of steel-wire
and glass | making are well described by Buchanan in his
admirable ‘ Journey through Mysore, Canara, and Malabar.’
I saw a few gold and silversmiths engaged in making vari-
ous small articles of jewellery. For three annas [ pur-
chased a large and representative collection of articles of
pottery made out of black and brown clay. These articles,
of which many were for sale here and also at Shimoga and
Mercara, are very ight in weight owing partly to the char-
acter of the clay and partly to skilful throwing on the wheel.
They are said to be made ata village seven miles from
Channapatna -and, also, in the Bangalore petta, and con-
sist of rudely ornamented miniature lamps of various pat-
terns, models of native kitchen-ranges, pots, tobacco-pipes
which are smoked by the inhabitants, dishes, &e.

But Channapatna is best known for its manufacture of
wooden toys and its silk industry. The toys are made of
wood which is lacquered and very brightly coloured and
consist of elephants, tigers, spinning tops, bedsteads, birds,
fruits, &c., cocoanuts scooped out and painted, figures of
Bala Krishna, and masks marked with the trisula on the
forehead and mounted as shields, which, though their object
is different, recall to mind the devil-masks of ‘Cey lon, whose
reputed virtue in curing or warding off epilepsy, s small- -pox
and other diseases is very great. These shields are, I
imagine, those which are referred to by Mr. T. N. Mukharji !
as representing the face of a giant, and being carried by
pilgrims to Tirupati.

As regards the silk industry of Channapatna, the silk is
obtained from coccoons of the mulberry silk-moth (Bombyx
mori or meridionalis). ‘The method of unwinding the silk
from the cocoons, as carried out at the bilatures of Piedmont,
is thus described by Mr. 'T. Wardle.” ‘‘A number of eoccoons
are immersed in an iron pan, in water nearly boiling, with a
little alkali to soften them, a semi-rotating brush is placed
over them, which quickly catches the exterior fibres of each
coccoon, and the more readily enables the reeler to find the
windable thread. They are then taken out and transferred
to the reeler, who sits leaning over an iron pan, in which she
has a few coccoonsin hot water, the found ends of several
being in one hand. Four or six coccoons, as the case may be,

1 Art manufactures of India, 1888S.
2 The wild silks of India,

NOTE ON A TOUR IN MYSORE. SU

are being simultaneously reeled into a single thread by the
reel at her back which draws off over her head the coccoon
threads, they dancing and turning in the water. Whena
thread breaks, or the coccoon is reeled, another is quickly
presented from the lot in the other hand, the manipulation
being one of great dexterity.’ At Channapatna the coc-
Coons are in like manner, boiled in a pan, from which the
threads are transferred directly to the reeling apparatus, and
no rotating brush is employed.

The reeling apparatus, which is of very rude construction
as compared with the machinery used in France and Italy,
is thus described by Mr. H. E. Sullivan ' as the result of
a visit to Kingheri near Bangalore. ‘‘'The native reeling
apparatus consists of a small axis working in bearings on
two uprights, the motion being communicated from the
hand by a winch-handle. Radiating from the axis at each

AB ao

Za = EEA
a. UY :

Uy - EE“.
GZ

CLL A OGLE

\ Silk in India. J. Geoghegan, Calcutta 1872 p. 96.
6 ;

38 NOTE ON A TOUR IN MYSORE.

end, within the uprights, are four or six arms of either
wood or metal, which are connected at the upper extremi-
ties by bars of smooth polished wood or bamboo. This
forms the reel. At the opposite end of the axis to that
where the winch-handle is fixed, a pulley is attached, which
communicating by a band with a rough eccentric, marked
C in the sketch, gives a lateral motion to the bar DD. In
the centre of this bar, and immediately in front of the basin
where the coccoons are steeped, two holes are punched,
through each of which a filament of silk (the two crossing
each other below) is led on to the reel. The object of the
crossing is to free the filaments from the gummy substance
present in the coccoon, and to give the silk a roundness ;
and the lateral movement of the bar distributes the silk
evenly on the reel. The silk is separated, according to its
quality, into three classes, sold in large quantities, to a
local soucar and exported.

From Channapatna I went on by tram to French Rocks.
The monotony of a railway journey can be relieved, by
those who know anything about the birds of the country,
by trying to identify all the different birds which perch on
telegraph wires, which they use as a fixed station from
which to watchfor their food. In the early days of tele-
graph wires birds used, before they had adapted themselves
to the new form of trap, to be frequently killed by striking
against the wires. In the same way birds are frequently
killed by striking against lighthouses; and, if notes are
taken, at different light-houses, of the date of striking and
direction from which the bird was coming, data can be
obtained for working out the course followed by migratory
birds. ‘To my friend Mr. H. R. P. Carter | am indebted
for the following list of insectivorous birds, which habitu-
ally perch on telegraph wires in Southern India :—All the
Swallows and Shrikes, Kestril, red-headed Merlin, black |

NOTE ON A TOUR IN MYSORE. 39

winged Kite, Indian and blue-tailed Bee-eaters, Indian
Roller, white-breasted and pied King-fishers, pied crested
Cuckoo, pied Wagtail, jungle and black-headed Mynas,
Weaver-bird, spotted and plain brown Munias.

At French Rocks carts were waiting to take me to
Sravan-Belgota. The first halt was made at the village of
Kikkeri, where the bungalow Kutwal pomted out a large
tank as good shikdér-cround for water-birds. Kikkeri,
though a small place, is the seat of a relatively big trade
in the manutacture of coarse cotton cloths, the weaving of
which I examined, in its various stages, in the streets of
the village. The cloths, for which prices ranging from
Rs. 3 to Rs. 12, were asked, are not only worn by the
inhabitants of Kikkeri, put are sold in other places.

Leaving Kikkeri I started off for Chanrayapatna, a dis-
tance of ten miles which, owing toa break-down on the
way, took eight hours in accomplishment. The entorced
halt was utilised in making a collection of the local rocks
from piles heaped up for road metalling. Chanrdyapatna
as a town possesses nothing of interest except a ruined
fort.

There is a large tank, on which natives were catching
fish from a boat for the evening meal. Several natives in
the bazar were earning a living by the sale of silk! obtained
from Chennapatna and other places.

From Chanrayapatna a pleasant drive of about 7 miles,
through a well irrigated and cultivated country, brought
me to Srdvan Belgola, the abode of some five hundred
Jains, prettily situated between two hills called Chandra-
betta and Indrabetta (or Dodabetta and Chikkabetta).
A chattram proved a convenient resting place for the night,

1 Sir G. Birdwood (Industrial Arts of India) mentions that silk purses,
cords, and tassels, are made largely by the Mahommedans of Sindkurgatea,
Narsikus, and Chanraypatna in the Hasan district.

40 NOTE ON A LOUR IN MYSORE,

and L was very soon after my arrival surrounded by a
crowd of natives inquisitive as to the object of my visit.
So well known is the amateur photographer even in this
out-of-the-way spot, that it was assumed that I was going
to take photographs, and the most popular spot (half way
up Indrabetta) was pointed out. Srdvan Belgola I was
anxious to see with two objects, viz: to examine the cele-
brated Jain figure of Gomata or Gomatesfara and the
bastis (temples) ; and also the local manufacture of brass-
ware.

The colossal figure, which I visited in company with the
courteous Amildar of Chanrayapatna, stands on the sum-
mit of Chandrabetta, which is reached by ascending
several hundred steps cut out of the rock. At the summit
we were met by Brahma Suri Sastri, who is referred to by
Mr. Lewis Rice as the greatest Jain authority in Southern
India. During the ascent of the hill no view of the figure
was obtained ; but when, after examining the bastis, a
certain spot on the summit was reached, boots being
removed, a door was opened, and [ found myself in full
view of it, rising in all its grandeur and simplicity from
the back of an open court, |

The symbolical lotus and ant-hills at the base, and the
branches of the tree (Ficus religiosa) turning over the
thighs have been described by Mr. Rice who has! published
a Bowdlerised photograph of the figure. It is also figured
by Buchanan, and in the plates illustratmg Moor’s ‘ Hindu
Pantheon ’ from a picture in the collection of Sir Arthur
Wellesley. But no photograph or drawing can convey an
adequate idea as to its size or proportions; and to be
realised, it must be seen. But, in all probability, out of the
solid rocks, according to tradition before the Christian era,

‘ Inscriptions at Sravana Belgota.

NOTE ON A TOUR IN MYSORE. 4.1

it stands, according to most recent measuremeats, 60 feet
high, though its height is given by Buchanan as 70 feet
3 inches. Summing it up in the words of Fergusson!
“nothing grander or more imposing exists anywhere out
ot Egypt; and, even there no known statue surpasses it in
height, though, it must be confessed, they do excel it in
the perfection of art they exhibit.”

The visit to Dodabetta completed, and limes, flowers and
cocoanuts received, we descended the hill, and, passing
through the village, mounted Indrabetta by steps cut in
the rock, down which native youths slide by a process
analogous to the Alphine glissade. On the summit we
examined the inscriptions cut in the rock and on pillars ;
and, shoes being again removed, explored the interior of
the Chandragupta busti, one of fifteen bustis on the summit,
the walls of which are ornamented with elaborate carvings
in black stone.

As regards the brassware of Sravan Belgola, concerning,
which Sir G. Birdwood says: °‘ in the Hassan district the
Jainas enjoy a monopoly of the manufacture, which employs
1,331 persons, who receive orders from all parts of Southern
India”, if the best specimens are required, it is essential to
have them made to order, as they are not kept ir stock.
But I was able to purchase a few small and well designed
trays on castors, with chased floral ornamentation, at the
rate of 1 rupee per sér. A more handsome tray, which I
ordered to be made according to the design of a tray
which was shown to me, was charged for at the rate of 3
rupees per ser. The man who was to make this tray for
me was, unfortunately killed by a cobra before it was
completed. A very handsome silver tray was also acquired
by me at Srivan Belgola, and was said to have been made

1 History of Indian and Eastern architecture,
2 op cit.

42, NOTE ON A TOUR IN MYSORE.

in the Mysore Province ; and this is probable, as its design
recalls that of a Mysore gold plate presented to H.R.H.,
the Prince of Wales, and figured by Sir G. Birdwood’.

A hunt for coms in the Sravan Belgola bazar brought to
light a number of common copper issues of Tipit Sultan
and Krishna Kaja Wodeiyar; and I acquired a double
Paisd of Tipiiin very good preservation. As regards the
caparisoned elephant carrying a flag on the obverse of this
coin, the following legend was gravely told tome. When
Tip was engaged in a battle against the English in Arcot,
one of his elephants refused to carry a gun up a hill which
was to be stormed, and was only persuaded to do so by a
promise from the Sultan that, if he carried the gun, his
portrait should be immortalised on the coins. But, untortu-
nately for the legend, the elephant device on the coins was
introduced by Haidar, and simply continued by Tipt after
his father’s death. During the course of my tour a mild
numismatic fraud was perpetrated. A leaden coin was
shown to me which, at first sight, read as follows :—

Obv. ...NAC between two stars.

Rev. Plain.

But, on closer examination, the legend resolved itself
into COGNAC. The coin was the lead button of a 2 star
brandy kottle !

From Srdévan Belgola | returned to Chanriyapatna, and
went on from there, through an unexciting tract of country,
to Hassan, which possesses good official buildings, but has
no merit from a curio-hunter’s point of view. On the fol-
lowing day the journey was continued, across open moor-
land with good views and a fresh breeze blowing across the
Western Ghats, to Bélur. Here I found two clever gold-

smiths, one of whom was making a handsome pair of ear-

= —

‘ op cst pl 10.

NOTE ON A TOUR IN MYSORK. 43

rings, and the other a head ornament for an approaching
local marriage in high life, of which I ordered a fascimile
for 130 rupees. Brass trays and lotas, said to be of
Jocal production, were purchased, and silver cups, with no
attempt ora very indifferent attempt at ornamentation, were
rejected. A sharp native lad piloted me round the mag-
nificent temple of Chenna Kesava, and showed me my ig-
norance by reading off the Kanarese inscriptions and des-
eribing the various sculptured figures—the Haysala king
Vishnu Vardana, “henna Kesava, Bala Krishna, Garuda,
Ganésa, Hanuman, Lakshmi, the grim representation of
Narasingha eviscerating Hiranyakasipu, etc. The most strik-
ing feature of the temple, a full account of which is given
by Fergusson,' as in the temples at Halebid, is the porch
with its elaborately carved windows, and the base with its
rows of exquisitely carved figures. The fact is referred to
by Fergusson that the succession of figures is always the
same, the elephants being the lowest, next above them the
shardtlas (tigers), then the horses, and then the oxen or,
sometimes, conventional figures, then birds. ‘‘ When we
know,” he says, ‘‘ the cause of it (this succession), it seems
as if this curious selection and succession might lead to
some very suggestive conclusion.” But at the Kaitabes-
wara temple (Halebid) I noticed that while, as at Bélur,
the base is formed of elephants, these are followed by a
row of horses, next above which are the shardtlas; the
birds still forming the topmost row.

From Bélur I marched on to Halebid, once the capital of
the Haysala Balldlas of Dv4rasamudra, specimens of whose
‘rare gold coinage, bearing the Kanarese legends Sri-
Nonambavadi gondani and Sri-Malaparolu-ganda are con-
tained in the collections of the Madras and Bangalore
Museums. Halebid is situated between two hills in a fer-

1 Op. Cit. Baillur,

44, NOTE ON A TOUR IN MYSORE.

tile plain, and, at the entrance to the village, one is greeted
by a well carved figure of Ganésa. There being no rest-
house, the night was past, in the company of owls, beneath
the shelter of one of the two stone bulls (Nandi), each of
which is contained in a large open pavilion. At Halebid
there are two temples, Hoysaleshwara and Kaitabeshwara,
between and around which are unromantic castor-oil plan-
tations. And in the fields between them isa Jain basti,
which would attract more attention were it not swamped
by the magnificence of the Hindu temples of these, which
were built by the same architect, Jakanatha, and on the
same lines of sculpture as the temple at Bélur. ‘The Hoy-
saleshwara is in good preservation, though many of the
sculptured figures of the base are broken, and a luxurious
growth of green and white fungi is producing sad disfigure-
ment. The natives, on the evidence of sasanams, say that
the temple is 1000 years old; but fact places the building
of it in the 12th century. ‘The Kaitabeshwara is in a
partially ruined state owimg to the dislodging of many of
the stones by a Fig tree which took root in the vimanah.
This tree is figured by Fergusson, in a wood-cut made from
a photograph, with its roots buried between the stones.
Lying scattered on the ground are masses of sculptured
stones in chaotic disorder, which should be preserved in
some museum for the benefit of future generations. But,
even in its ruined state, the temple bears testimony to the

marvellous skill of the sculptors.

Journeying on from Halebid I went on to Banavar, which
consists of a series of scattered villages, one of which is
inhabited entirely by native Christians, in an open country
in which an abundance of Palm trees of various kinds pre-
vails. From Banavar train was taken to Birur, and from
there the distance of 35 miles to Shimoga, through varied
hill and jungle scenery, was quickly accomplished by pony

NOTE ON A TOUR IN MYSORE. 45

(tattu) transit. The ill-used tattu I have seen recorded, in
a manuscript report, in a list of the wild beasts of a District
in the Madras Presidency.

At Shimoga the weekly market (shandy) was being held,
food-grains and vegetables being the main articles for sale.
But the most conspicuous feature were the groups of nomad
Lumbadis with their picturesque gipsy clothing ornamented
with embroidery and cowries. Gambling was going on in afar
corner of the market, natives squatting on the ground and
getting very excited over the fate of their pice and } anna
pieces. T'wo kinds of gambling board were in action. At
one acommon die with numbers on its six faces, and mounted
so as to form a top, was spun ina metal dish; and, at the
other, a ball with numbers marked on facets was spun in a
dish, the last struggles of the ball before coming to rest
producing tremendous excitement, In both cases the
stakes were deposited on a sheet divided into compart-
ments, marked with numbers corresponding to those of the
numbers on the die or ball.

At Shimoga an extensive manufacture of bangles is
carried out, and, for a few annas, I purchased a series
showing the various stages of manufacture from the cover-
ing of the glass rings! with lac over « charcoal fire to the
final ornamentation with tinsel spangles. Specimens
were also purchased of household articles made from stea-
tite soapstone and sandstone in the Shimoga District.
Similar articles are made from steatite in the Salem and N,
Arcot Districts. Through the Deputy Commissioner speci-
mens were purchased, or ordered, of the celebrated sandal-
woodcarving made by the Gudigars at Sorab aud Sagar in
the Shimoga District. The carved articles consist of boxes,
sticks, fans, images of Ganésa aud Kolota Krishna Devam,

1 The base of bangles consists, as a rule, of lac instead of glass rings.

u

16 NOTE ON A TOUR IN MYSORE.

combs, pen-racks, card-cases, paper-knives, &c. An ex-
quisite specimen of the Gudigar’s skill—a box supported
on recumbent elephants—is reproduced in autotype at plate
29 of Hawke’s ‘ Photographs of Madras Art Ware.’ The
Gudigars are, | am told, now working for European Firms
from patterns sent from Hurope.

From Shimoga I returned, without a halt, to Bangalore,
and, from there, went by train to Mysore, where I made
sundry purchases from a firm of Muhammadans, Al
Muhammad and Muhammad Makdum, who manufacture
well executed articles in “‘ rose-wood ” (Dalbergia Satifolia)
and Ebony inlaid with ivory.

The articles consist of flower-stands, boxes, teapoys, walk-
ing-sticks, easels, blotting-pads, cups, photograph frames,
watch-stands, pen-racks, &c. Very fine specimens of this
inlaid work are to be seen in a door of the Maharaja’s palace
at Bangalore and the doors of Tipt Sultan’s Mausoleum at
Seringapatam. ‘The same firm also make vina-handles
carved in rosewood, and copper figures of various Hindu
Deities under brass conopies. In the Mysore bazar some
quaint specimens of brass-ware were picked up.

From Mysore I proceeded by way of Hunstr, Peria-
pattana and Fraserpet to Mercara. At Fraserpet, where
the Kaveri—the home of the otter and crocodile—is crossed,
the Coorg Province is entered. ‘The first part of the road
from Fraserpet to Mercara, where travellers are sometimes
boycotted by elephants, leads through thick bamboo jungle
with clearmgs for coffee, the Plantain, and the ‘Sago
Palm” (Curyota wrens), the fibre of which is used, in the
Madras Ordnance Department, for the manufacture of

stable brushes ;! the fibre beimg procured from Ceylon at

1 Detailed information concerning the fibre of Caryota wrens for brush-
making is givenin my ‘ Hand-book of Commercial Products,’ Lnperial
Institute, No. 12, 1893.

NOTE ON A TOUR IN MYSORE. 47

a cost, including all charges, of Rs. 51-6-4 per cwt. The
cost of these brushes, as compared with that of brushes
made from hog bristles, is just half. Large trees of Caryota
urens are said to yield for 3-5 months a daily quantity of
5-15 sers of toddy ; small trees 1-5 sers for about 2 months.
The Madras Museum possesses a single specimen of the
longtailed Spiny Mouse (Platacanthomys lasiwrus) from the
Coorg hills. These curious little animals are reported! to
have a liking for the toddy of Caryota, eating through the
covering of the toddy pot as suspended, and enjoying them-
selves. Indeed they have been found half drowned in the
pots. On the ghat road gangs of peasants were met, carry-
ing live quails and partridges, and skins of jackals, leopards,
red squirrels and rib-faced or barking deer, commonly
known as the jungle sheep—a zoological error which is
upheld by natives, who call it bakri.

Mercara, though delightful from a scenic and (except
during monsoon) climatic point of view, proved to be
uninteresting from the collector’s point of view; the big
bazar being mainly devoted to foods, drinks, and cheap
articles of Huropean manufacture. Moreover, my collectors
were down with fever, and all idea of a zoological expedi-
tion among the hills had to be abandoned. Accordingly
my steps were speedily retraced, and the return journey
to Mysore made witha halt only at Hunstr.

The most prominent feature of Hunstr is the manufac-
ture of country carts, to whick an entire street in the
bazar is devoted. An extensive shoe-making industry is
also carried on; and leathern pouches and scabbards for
bayonets, metal bells for the necks and horns of cattle, cast
by the native process technically known as ‘ cire perdue’,
and coarse woolen kumblis are also made. The wool for

1 Jerdon. Mammats of India.

48 NOTE ON A TOUR IN MYSORE.

these kumblis is said! to be made from a strain of the
merino sheep, concerning which I learn, from a Bangalore
newspaper, “that many years ago the Mysore Govern-
ment, with the object of improving the quality of the wool,
imported a number of merino rams, and maintained a sheep
farm at Heringanahalli. It was abolished in 1868, as it
failed to answer expectation ; yet, in 1876, the good effected
was even then apparent in the quality of the wool obtained
in that part, which was infinitely superior to that sold in
other parts.”

2 Rice. Mysore and Coorg Gaszeteer.

Coinage of Travancore.
By Rey. S. MATEER. Ff. &. s.

TRAVANCORE is a Native State on the West Coast of India
stretching southwards trom Cochin to Cape Comorin. It
was originally but a small territory extending from north
of Quilon to the Cape, and occasionally into Tinnevelly.
It was probably ruled over at various periods from the
ninth to the twelfth centuries by the Pandian kings of
Madura, by Mysore, or by Tanjore, as each of these states
in turn succeeded in obtaining ascendency. The present
kingdom rose at the beginning of the fourteenth century.
Nearest to Trevandrum the country was divided amongst
a race of turbulent chieftains called “the Chiefs of the
Hight Districts” all claiming independence but finally
subdued by the Rajah of Vénadu or Travancore about A. VD.
1730. The kingdom was extended to almost its present
limits and consolidated by conquest about the year 1760.

The present population is two and a half millions. The
ruling dynasty still retains many primitive usages, espe-
cially the strange nepotistic law by which not sons but
nephews inherit, through the female line.

As the origin of the native rulers and the kingdom is
traditionally traced to the mythical Parasu Rima and to
king Cheruman Perumal of Calicut, it is probable that the
coinage was originally introduced from the Zamorin’s king-
dom of Calicut. The earliest gold coin still in use, the
Rasi, is attributed by natives to Parasu Rama. Probably
some coins were also imitated from Madura. ‘he earliest
date of coinage in Travancore of the gold fanam and the
Chuckram and Kasu appears not to be discoverable. Dr

50 COINAGE OF TRAVANCORE.

Day says that the Portuguese affirm that on their arrival
in Cochin none of the native princes along the coast had
the power of coining except the Zamorin.

Within the last thirty years coms of larger denomina-
tion have been issued and the workmanship improved by
the introduction of machinery from England, so that the
currency approximates more and more to the British India
ideal.

in the bazars of South Travancore one falls in with coms
of Pondicherry, Puducotta, Madura, &c., while in North
Travancore and Cochin those of Calicut, Mysore, and Tel-
licherry are obtainable. In the bazar at Trevandrum are
purchasable gold Turkish coins (“ Arabi cash”) mohurs,
pagodas, gold fanams, and sundry others. In the Treasury
at T'revandrum a large collection of miscellaneous coms
may be found, many of them brought into the country
by pilgrims from other parts of India and presented as
offerings at favourite temples.

In former times the value of Mohurs, Rupees, and Dollars
used in commerce was subject to great fluctuations owing
to the devices of the native shroffs in Cochin. ‘The Tra-
vancore coinage also was unsettled and fluctuating in its
relative value to the British currency; occasionally 30
chuckrams have been obtained for a British Indian Rupee,
but more frequently fewer than 284, the fixed value. The
difficulty of obtamming ckuckrams at equitable rates is
especially felt by the poor; for at times these small coins
become very scarce and cannot even be obtained at the
Treasury.

Formerly the public accounts were kept in Veeraraya
fanams and in Surat Rupees. ‘The rupee was divided into
400 Reis, the small Portuguese currency of former times,
but of these no specimens are now seen in Travancore.

The two coins that are in popular daily use are the small
copper Kagu or Cash and the silver Chuckram. Coins so

COINAGE OF TRAVANCORE. 51

small in value are required by so poor a people, and even
a single cash (about half a quarter of a farthing) will pur-
chase a determinable quantity of fruit, tobacco, vegetables,
oil, or other cheap commodity. But there must be consi-
derable loss of such tiny coins. British India rupees pass
current and are used for large transactions. Silver fanams,
equal in value to four chuckrams, and about the size of an
English three-penny-piece, were introduced in 1860. Gold
fanams, formerly in circulation, were re-introduced about
1881, and a variety of other comms have occasionally been
tried for a time. In 1876 the introduction of a double
standard by the coinage of Pagodas was attempted, but it
proved quite a failure. hardly any circulation of the coins
being realised.

Chuckrams being so small and globose are exceedingly
troublesome to count or handle. They slip out of the
fingers and run over the floor, and are only discovered
again with difficulty. £100 sterling amounts (at par) to
28,500 chuckrams weighing 24]bs. Avoidupois ; and hours
would be wasted in reckoning the number of the small
coins. They are therefore measured or counted (like half-
pennies in the mint at Birmingham) by means of a “‘ chuck-
ram board ”’, a square wooden plate with hollows the exact
size and depth of the com drilled in regular rows on its
surface. <A board contains 50, 100, 200 or more of these
holes according to convenience. A small handful of coins
is thrown on the board and after being gently shaken from
side to side so as to cause a single chuckram to fall into
each cavity, the surplus, if any, is swept off with the hand.
A glance at the board when filled shows that it containg
the exact number of coins for which it is intended.

The Mint Department was established in 1790 at Palpa-
nabhapuram, afterwards removed to ‘T'revandrum, then to
Mavelikara, Quilon, and Paravoor, and in 1828 it was again
at Treyandram, In 1827 it was abolished but subsequent..

52 COINAGE OF TRAVANCORE.

ly re-established. Its operations are now conducted within
the Fort at Trevandrum.

Silver was formerly procured from Bombay in Rupees,
afterwards dollars and other silver coins were bought up.
These are melted in clay crucibles, which are each used
but once, then ground to powder, and the atoms of precious
metal which adhere to the clay remelted and carefully
collected. The molten silver is suddenly poured into cold
water, where it falls into grains and dust. These are weigh-
ed out in delicate scales to the exact weight of a chuckram,
and the separate quantities thrown into small cavities
in a large earthen plate which contains several thousand
holes of the proper size closely arranged on its surface.
The plate with its whole contents, being put into the
furnace is exposed to a high temperature for three hours
and a half so that the grains of metal are fused and formed
into separate globules, of which there may be 3,000 ona
single plate. When cooled these are taken out and
punched by hand into chuckrams, one of the dies being
firmly imbedded in a stone underneath the coin and the
other die or punch held in the workman’s hand. Two men
will make 20,000 chuckrams in a day.

For fanam coins good presses with feeding machinery
were procured from Hngland and each strikes off 8,000
coins in a day. The acid of tamarind fruit is used for
cleansing the coins.

Copper is purchased in sheets and melted ina similar
way, but double the time is required for its fusion. The
copper globules are partially flattened by a single blow of
a hammer previous to the operation of stamping.

‘he technical mint term “‘ touch”, from the touchstone
used for testing the fineness, appears to be used to define
the proportion of alloy m coms by the number of decimals

compared to an integer of pure metal, Thus “8 touch”

COINAGE OF TRAVANCORE. 53

would mean ‘8 of pure gold or 19°2 carats ; and “9% touch”
925 pure or 22°2 carat gold.

The Malabar Era or Quilon year, according to which dates
are found on some of the coins, is supposed to be the date
of the foundation of Quilon. The Malabar Era 1069 begins
on loth August 1893.

Counterfeit chuckrams are sometimes common, and I
have seen a copper kasu plated with gold.

GOLD COINS.

Gold seems to have been the standard of value and money
of account throughout South India, and it was procurable
in India itself. It appears to have been the gold coin that
was called panam (corrupted by Huropeans into fanam)
derived from Sanskrit pana—wealth. Of this metal may be
named the following :—

1. Ananta Varahan Pagoda.

Obv. Vishnu between two lotus flowers.

Rev. Convex, granulated,

(Bidie Plate III, 22.)*

AV. Weight 52:48. Size. 5.

Coined under Dewan Raja Kesava Das A.D. 1789—
1798.

2. Travancore Varahan.

Obv. Conch shell surrounded by wreaths.

Rev. Centre within wreath R. V. 1877 (Mal.) 1052
above ; round margin, Travancore.

(Bidie Plate II, 18.)

AV. Weight 78:8. Size -7.

* Notre.-—The references are to descriptions already given of the coins.

Elliot. Coins of Southern India, Numismata Orientalia, by Sir W.
Elliot.

Bidie. Pagoda or Varaha coins by G. Bidie, Jour. Asiai. Soc., Bengal,
1883.

Tufnell. A collection of South Indian coins by R. H. C. Tufnell, Jour.
Asiat., Bengal 1886.

Weights, in grains: size, in English inches.

Mal,, Malayalam: Tam., Tamil; Hind., Hindustani,

8

D4 COINAGE OF TRAVANCORE.

3. Half Varahan.
Of same pattern as No. 2.
AV. Weight 38. Size ‘7.
Nos. 2 and 3 were struck by Maharaja Rama Varma in
1877 and declared a legal tender for Rs. 7} and Rs. 33
respectively. ‘l'his attempt to introduce a double standard
into Travancore was not successful.
4. Token or Medal.
Obv. Head of Maharaja to right. Margin in Eng,
Sri Rama Varma Maharaja of Travancore.

Rev. Arms of the State. Margin in Mal. Sri
Rama Varma Maharaja, Tiruvithankur, 1097.
Edges milled.

AV. Weight 131. Size °85. Plate I, fig. 1.

5. The half of No.-4.

These Tokens or comms are not mentioned in the State
Administration Reports. ‘They seem to have been struck
at the private cost of the Maharaja as a memorial of his
reign. ‘They are well executed and were struck in Bombay.
5,000 were issued, ‘They are now rarely procurable.

6to 17. Tulabhara Kasu, Royal Weight Token.

Twice during his reign each ruler of Travancore presents
his weight in gold to the Brahmans with elaborate
ceremonial.

The gold is previously made into coins or, rather, tokens
ready for distribution, of four sizes, worth respectively
from something like thirteen to about two shillings, an en-
graving of the largest of which in 1892 issve will be found

below.

COINAGE OF TRAVANCORE. 55

See Mateer’s Travancore and its people, pp. 169—175, and
Natwe iife, pp. 130 and 388; and Shungoonny Menon’s
History of Iravancore, pp. 55—72. On each occasion
specimens disposed of by the poorer Brahmans are pro-
curable in the bazar but most are soon hoarded up. This
ceremcny has been performed occasionally in Travancore
from ancient times and by the last eight Rajahs, since
1758, without interruption. The last occasion was on 29th
April 1892.

Previous to 1850 no details are available. The last obser-
vance before 1850 was in 1829.

6to9. Tulabhara Kasu of 1850.

Obv, Legend, Sri Patmanabha (the national deity)
in Mal. within dotted border.
Rev. Blank.
(Plate im Shungoonny Menon’s History, p. 72.)
AV. Sizes four, viz °8, °67, 57, °5.
10%0 13. Tulabhara KRaswu of 1870.
Obv. Legend Sri Patmandabha in Mal. within wreaths
and dotted border.
Rev. Conch shell within wreaths and dotted border
Edges roughly milled.
AV. Four, said to weigh respectively 78°65, 39°23,
19°66, and 9°83. Sizes -94, °8, °63, °5.
Altogether 45,421 tokens were struck.
14 to 17. Tulabhara Kasu of 1885,
Same design and weights as Nos. 10 to 13.

18. Gold Medals or Plates, value about Rs. 40, irregular
in shape, with the figure of Sarasvati, goddess of
learning rudely engraven, were presented by the
Maharaja to Brahmans who passed examinations
in religious rites and formulas.

Plate I, fig. 2.
19 to 22. Tuldbhara Kasu ot 1892,

56

COINAGE OF TRAVANCORE.

Design as in Nos. 10—13. See engraving above.
AV. Weights respectively 72 48- 24 16
Sizes ts So3 8. 260 ao) 43

23 to 27. From unused dies long lying in the Mint at

Trevandrum I have been favoured with several
interesting patterns struck in silver, some dated
M.E. 993=1817-8 and M.H. 1018=1842-3 and
A.H. 1286=1818-9. It is remarkable that the
half and the quarter rupee and other dies have
Hind. legends or dates and also Tamil for
South Travancore, where that language is spoken.
These may have been tentative efforts at an
improved coinage by General Munro (1810-19)
or Dewan Vencutrow (1817-22 and 1843-5).

Such are—

23.

25.

Parvathi Mohur, Pattern.
Obv. Conchvshell in centre. Margin, Mal. Parvathi
five rupa Mohur.
Rev. Hind. Mohur panj rupei zarab Parwati
(struck) 1256 (1818-9) and underneath, Tamil,
‘Parvathi five rapay.
Weight, in silver, 39. Size °68. Plate I., fig. 3.

Another pattern has above obv. repeated on rev.

Letchmi Varahan, Pattern.
Obv. Letchmi sitting on lotus. Dotted margin.
fev. Dotted margin enclosing, Tamil, Letchmi
Varahan half quarter. 993 year (1817-8).
Weight, in silver, 58. Size -8 Plate L., fig. 4.

Letehmi Varahan, Pattern.

Obv. Letchmi, goddess of prosperity, within circle
and dotted margin,

Rev. Same margin enclosing, Tamil, Vardhan one-
sixteenth. 993 year.

Weight, in silver, 19. Size -d56. Plate I., fig. o.

Or
“NI

COINAGE OF TRAVANCORE.

26. Patmanabhan Varahan, Pattern.

Obv. Patmanabhan reclining on the five headed
serpent, with lotus and Brahma issuing from the
navel, within a plain circle and dotted margin.

Rev. Solomon’s seal with central pellet within an
ornamental rayed circle and dotted margin.

Weight, in silver, 14-5. Size 67. Plate L., fig. 6.

27. Arukonchakram, six angle chuckram and_ shell,

Pattern.

Obv. Shell and date 1018, dotted border.

Rev. Solomon’s seal with central pellet and small
circle, within a plain inner and radiate outer
circle.

Weight, in silver, 39. Size 68. Plate I., fig. 7

Another and rather neater pattern has same obv. and
same rev. omitting the radiate circle. *

28. Rasi.

Obv. A curious emblem called by natives “ croco-
dile tail” with 12 dots above and 2 “legs”
below.

Rev. A design somewhat similar to that on the
silver chuckram, which see..

AV. Weight 5:75. Size -57. (Hlliot 192).

This appears to have been the principal and earliest coin
of Malabar. In Travancore natives say it was minted by the
mythical Parasu Rama. Logan in his “‘ Malabar” vol. II.,
appx. p, 179 says of the Malabar coin, “‘ It has the same 14
dots as the old Viray fanam. Rasi means \a sign of the
zodiac, so it is supposed the twelve dots are the twelve signs
of the zodiac and the two separate dots the sun and the
moon. ‘The twelve zodiacal signs are divided into four
good, four middling, and four bad, which may account for

* Notr.—The above patterns having all been struck in sites Tam un-
certain whether some of them were intended for issue in gold or in
silver.

58 COINAGE OF TRAVANCORE.

the appearance of the dots on one side of the coins, the
four prolonged dots being the good, the ordinary sized
ones the middling, and four tiny dots placed separately in
a corner by themselves the four bad signs. The other
emblems are not understood.”

For a long time past the Travancore Rasi has been an
almost extinct and nominal coin but used as the standard
in transactions relating to landed property, where it is
calculated at 10 chuckrams. It is said to “ date from the
seventh or eighth century’? probably referring to its use
in Malabar. Lately recoined in Travancore, it is now pro-
curable at the Treasury.

There are also other Rdsis which appear to have been
struck by minor chieftains, as Rasi of Valliyil Pull “ Chiet-
tain or house ;” and Shara Rasi (Elliot, 189) with same obv.
and rather different rev.

29 Ananta raya panam, ‘lrevandrum rasi fanam. Design
same as that on the silver chuckram and probably the
same dies are used for both.

AV. Weight 57. Size °28.

Ananta is a portion of the name of Trevandrum; Raya
seems equal to rasi though it is sometimes corrupted into
rama.

Coined about 1790 by Dewan Raja Késava Das; and in
1881, 10,000 were minted. Horsley in 1859 says it was
=34 to | Madras rupee.

30. Half Anantaraman panam or Chinna (little) panam.

Nearly same design as No, 29.
AV. Weight 8. Size ‘25.
Issued about 1790 with No. 29.

31. Veerardya panam.

Obv. A curious sign somewhat lke a pistol (which
also appears on the Cochin coins) with 12 dots

above and 2 below.

COINAGE OF TRAVANCORE. 59

Rev. Nearly same as obv. of silver chuckram.
AV. Weight 5°7. Size. :325 (Hlliot, 190,191;
Tufnell 30, 2°4)
Colonel Horsley in 1839 said it was “same value as

” The name seems

Ananta raya fanam but different device,
to mean “the noble or superior Rasi.”’ There appear to

have been many issues with minute differences in the dies.

32. Namapanam, Vaishnava sectarian mark Fanam,isso
called from the resemblance of part of the device to the V
shaped mark used on the foreheads of Vaishnavites. It
seems but slightly different from No. 31. See figures of a
number of such coins in Malabar by Captain Tufnell in
Jour. Asiat, Soc. Bengal No. 2., 1886.

AV. Weight 5°75. Size ‘31.
33. Kali panam, Travancore Cullian Fanam.
Obv. Like that of the silver chuckram.
Rev. A right angle and 2 parallel Jines with 12
dots above and one between the lines and one in the angle.
AV. Weight 5:5. Size. 325 (Tufnell 3:5) Plate I.,
fig. 8.

Coined in M. EH. 820 (1744-5). Half a century ago it had
become very rare but was still largely used in calculation
as equal to 4 chuckrams. It has been re-comed and is
procurable at the Treasury for 4 cks 3 cash. The name
appears to mean “inferior fanam.”

34. Madura Vella Panam.

Not unlike design of previous coin.
AV. Weight 55. Size °32 (Tufnell 30:8.)
Current in Shencottah.

SILVER COINS.

1. Travancore Half Rupee.
Obv. Conch shel] within wreath and legend in Mal,
Tiruvithankur halt rupa 1064.

60. COINAGE OF TRAVANCORE.

Rev. Half rupee 1889 within wreath and legend in
Eng. Rama Vurma Travancore.

Edges roughly milled.

AR. Weight 84. Size -96. Plate II, fig. 1.

The Travancore nominal rupee of 28} chuckrams being
of less value than the British Indian coin,* which is exten-
sively used, none have yet been struck, but this step is in
contemplation. Half and quarter rupees were minted in
1889, about 14,000 of the former and 27,000 of the latter.

2. Quarter Rupee of same period.

Obv. As No. 1 but Mal. Kal (2) rapa.

fev. 4% Rupee 1889.

AR. Weight 41. Size °8.

3. Parvathi Half Rupee, Pattern.

Obv. Hind. 1236 (A.D. 1818-9) Nim rapiya zarb
Parwati above, and ‘am. Parvathi ara (half)
rapay below, and Tam. 910? Dotted margin.

Rev. Hind. as on obv. above, and Tam. Parvathi ara
(half) rapa below.

AR. Weight 25. Size -82. Plate II, fig. 2.

4, Parvathi Quarter Rupee, Pattern.

Obv. Conch shell within legend, Tam. Parvathi Kal
(quarter) rupa.

Rev. Hind. above AH, 1236 (1818-9) pao (+) rupiya
Zarab Parvati and Tam. Parvathi rapay

AR. Weight 29. Size 68. Plate II, fig. 3.

9

d. Velli Panam, silver fanam.

Obv. Same device as obverse of chuckram within
wreath and dotted border.

Rev. Same as chuckram but with Mal. fanam 1.
year 1036,

AR. Weight 23. Size-5. Plate II, fig. 4,

* Notrr.—30} chuckrams weigh=1 British Indian rupee, 180 grains, of
which 165 is pure silver and 15 grains alloy. An English florin weighs
grains 174545 of which °925 per cent. or 16145 grains is pure silver,

COINAGE OF TRAVANCORE. 61

Minted in native style with punch dies. ‘This coin was
struck in 1860. ‘The fanam of four chuckrams was till
then rather an imaginary coin and the gold kali fanam
(No. 33) rare, yet used in all small accounts, chuckrams
when counted being calculated in fanams.

6. Silver Fanam.

Obv. Same as the preceding surrounded by plain
wreath and raised margin slightly milled.

Rev. R. VY. with elaborate wreath and raised border
shghtly milled.

AR. Weight 23°25. Size 58. Plate II., fig 5.

This more modern and Huropean-like coi was struck
two or three years after the preceding, with a stamping
press received from England.

R. V. are the initials of the Maharaja Rama Varma.

7. Kalyan Vella Panam, Cully Fanam.

Device nearly same as that of No. 33, gold kali fanam.

AR. Weight 30, size °5

This is probably an earlier form of Nos. 5 and 6.

8. Double Chuckram.

Obv. Conch shell within circle of dots.

Rev. Solomon’s seal with legend, Tam. Patmandbhan
and dotted circle.

AR. Weight 12. Size 33. (Hlliot, fig. 196).

These coins were issued in 1810, but immediately dis-
continued.

9, Chuckram.

Obv. The device so familiar on the chuckram and
the silver and gold fanams,-consisting of a smail
square figure above a horizontal crescent-shaped
line, and underneath two vertical curved lines
with dots between them, has been explained by
Logan as above (Rasi) with reference to the
twelve signs of the zodiac. In Travancore,

9

62 COINAGE OF TRAVANCORE.

however, the explanation given by natives refers
the symbol to the navel, legs, and toes of the
tutelary deity Patmandbhan, whose name means
“ the lily-navelled,” referring to the image of the
god with the sacred lotus proceeding from the
navel, from which flower the creator, Brahma,
issues. ‘This explanation seems very probable
were it not that in the chuckram, and generally,
the device contains 10+2—12 dots. On more
recent coins, however, as the silver fanams, the
dots are 8+-2=10, possibly adopting the popular
modern allusion and altering the number of dots

accordingly,

b

Chuckrams, cash, and chuckram beard.

Rev. ‘Twelve dots over crescent line with floreated
branching lines and right angles, and 3 or 2 dots
underneath as in No. 5. The chuckram beimg
too small te receive the complete design, it is only
seen to advantage on the fanam.

AR. 304 chuckrams being in weight equal to a

COINAGE OF TRAVANCORE. 63

British rupee, the chuckram weighs nearly 6 gr.
Size -25. (See engraving above, from Mateer’s
Travancore and its People. p. 110.)

The chakra (Sans. discus or wheel) is the emblem or
weapon of Vishnu, whose form as Patmanabhan is the
national deity of Travancore. This is a very early and
characteristic coin of this State and was, at times, current
even in Tinnevelly.

“Tn the British rupee 165 gr. are pure silver and 15 gr.
alloy=913 per cent. fine. he chuckram is 94°53125 fine
per cent. or nearly 3 per cent. better than the rupee, so
that the established rate of exchange (2831 Rupee) is
nearly 4 per cent. less than a fair equivalent. ”

There must have been many issues of the chuckram, but
I have seen only one device, which seems quite typical of
the State. This however occurs in two or three slightly
differing forms.

10. Chinna Panam, half chuckram.

Same design as the double chuckram.

AR. Weight 3. Size °23,

Issued in 1810 and now out of use, They are too small

for convenient handling,

——___

COPPER COINS.

1. Hight Kasu or Cash.
Obv. Conch shell with Mal. ara (half) chuckram
within circle of dots.
Rev. Solomon’s seal enclosing star of eight dots and
12 dots in the angles, and within circle of dots.
ZB. Weight 39, Size 6. Plate III., fig 1.
From Dr, HE. J. Waring’s collection. Old coinage and
inferior workmanship.

2. (Current) Hight Kasu, half chuckram.

64

COINAGE OF TRAVANCORE.

Obv. Conch with Mal. ara (half) chakram within
circle and dotted margin,
Rev. Solomon’s seal within ornamented circle with
dotted margin,
fh. Weight avg. 80°5. Size 625 to -775. Plate
III., fig 2. Coined in 1064 (1888-9) and now
current.
3. Four Kasu.
Design as in No. 1. and same period apparently.
Ai. Weight 54; size ‘6. Plate III., fig 3.
From Dr. Waring’s collection.
Old. Apparently same period as No. 1.
4. Four Kasu.
Obv. Conch in dotted circle.
Rev. Checker lines,
A. Weight 44:5; size*52. Plate ITI., fig 4.
Old coinage.
5. Ananthan Four Kasu.
Obv. Vishnu ndmam (see under No. 32 gold) with
Tam. date 911 within circle and dotted margin.
Rev. Five headed serpent coiled (Ananthan) with
Tam. Késu 4 within circle and dotted margin.
A). Weight 37. Size -6. Plate III., fig. 5.
From Dr. Waring’s collection.
6. (Current) Four Kasu.
Obv. Human figure with two pendents from the
hands.
Rev. Solomon’s seal within ornamental circle and
dotted margin,
ZE. Weight 39°75. Size *56 (Elliot 197).

‘Coined in 1064 (1888-9) like No. 2 and now current.

7. Ananthan Double Kasw.
Obv. Asin No. 5 but date 975 (1799-1800).

Rev. Asin No. 5 but Kasu 2

COINAGE OF TRAVANCORE. 65

@. Weight 18. Size-4.

8. Double Kasu,

Obv. Conch within circle, margin dotted.

Rev. Appears to be a conventional conch chiefly of
dots, small circle, and two curved lines, within
circle and dotted margin.

A). Weight 17:5; size 48. Plate III., fig. 6.

From Dr. Waring’s Collection.

9. (Current) Double Kasu.

Obv. Human figure (Vishnu) standing, crowned, two
pendents from the hands, Mal. 2 underneath, mar-
gin dotted.

Rev. Solomon’s Seal ornamented. Dotted margin.

Al. Weight 17°75. Size 425. Plate III,, fig. 7.

Same period as Nos. 2 and 6.

10. (Current) Kasu.

Obv. Degraded representation of human figure,
said to represent Vishnu, standing crowned, two
pendents from the hands. Or might it be four
arms of Vishnu?

Rev. Solomon’s seal within circle and ornamental
bordering, margin dotted, but the whole design is
too large to show on a single kasu.

Ai. Weight 96. Size 36. Plate III., fig. 8.

The term kdsu, like pana, rdsi, and chakram, is Sanskrit,
indicating that the refinements of coining and arithmetical
calculation came from that quarter. Huropeans mispro-
nounce it ‘‘cash” and the same term was applied by the
Portuguese to the small money of other foreign nations,
especially the Chinese.

The previous issue of single kasu, showing trifling dif-
ferences, will be seen in c, in the engraving on p.62. A
considerable variety of old kasus are found, with some of
whick we close this enumeration.

66 COINAGE OF TRAVANCORE.

Le erAasi.

Obv. Squatting figure (Vishnu), crowned, with
flower in each hand, within circle and dotted
margin.

Rev. Conch within circle and dotted margin.

Ai. Weight 8°75. Size °36. Plate III., fig. 9.

Before the present coinage.

12. Kasu.

Obv. Appears to be preceding squatting figure with
date underneath, 1005 (1829-30) within circle,
margin dotted.

Rev. Conch within circle, dotted margin.

Ai. Weight 88. Size 36. Plate III., fig. 10.

13, Ananthan Kasu,

Obv. Vishnu ndmam with Tam. date 911 underneath
in circle ; dotted margin.

Rev. Five headed serpent with Tam. Kasu 1] under,
in circle ; dotted margin.

Ah. Weight 8°5. Size ‘36.

Same period ana style as Nos. 5 and 7.

14. Kasu.

Obv. Conch, margin dotted.

Rev. Solomon’s seal with pellet in centre, dotted
margin.

A. Weight 10. Size 36. Plate II1., fig. 11.

15. ‘ Latchmi and Narasimha” Kasu.

Obv. Indistinct—An animal (?) im circle, dotted
margin.

Rev. Double trident with 2 dots, in circle.

fh. Weight 9. Size -36. Plate III., fig. 12.

Is this a Travancore coin? ‘he name was supplied by
one of the mint people.
16. Kasu.
Obv. The Tamil 4 4 in circle.

COINAGE OF TRAVANCORE. 67

Rev. Degraded conch in circle ; dotted margin.
4h. Weight 12. Size -36. Plate III., fig. 13.
Said by natives to be perhaps a century and a half old.
Is this a true Travancore coin, possibly intended for the
‘amil speaking part of the State near Cape Comorin ?

Travancore Money Table.

Copper ...16 Cash... = 1 Chuckram.
Silver ... 4 Chuckrams —o ae anamn
7 Fs. or 28 Cks. = 1 Trav. Rupee.
284 Chuckrams = 1 British Rupee.
Gold...Kali panam, (No, 33) = 4 Ck. 3 Ka.

Chinna panam (No. 30) = 5 Cks.

Nama panam (No.382) = 5 Cks.

Vella panam (No. 34) = 6 Ck. 12 Ka.

45 to=1 Brit. Rupee.
Veeraraya panam(No. 31)=7 Cks.

Ananta ramen panam(No.29)= 9 Ck..3 Ka.
Rasi (No. 28) = 10 Cks.

Trav. Varahan (No.2) =Fanams 52}.

or

=

An account of the Antiquities of Mukhalin-
gam and its neighbourhood.

BY GIDUGU VENKATA RAMAMURTI.

The omission cf the important antiquities of Mukhalin-
gam in Mr. Sewell’s Lists led me to visit the place which
T examined on the 15th and 16th of January 1893 as well
as my time and knowledge permitted. The following short
account which I give from the notes that I took then, does
not pretend to be either complete or quite accurate. It
is a place which should be examined by competent scho-
lars whom it is my object to induce by this account to go
there. Educated Hindts have some facilities which foreign-
ers have not and are, therefore, in a position to help the
Government, which has been taking a good deal of interest
in archeological researches, by bringing to its notice at
least the existence of antiquities in out of the way places.
With the help of Dr. Burnell’s South-Indian Palzography
and Mr. Sewell’s Lists of Antiquities much ‘useful work
can be done by Hindus, who are entitled to enter any
temple, and can examine the inscriptions and other curio-
sities even in the interior of the sanctuary. There are
inscriptions on isolated stones, on temples, and on copper
plates scattered here and there, and some of them have
not yet been examined. It behoves the educated gentlemen
of Ganjam and Vizagapatam particularly to workin this
direction as far as they can; because they live in the heart
of what was once one of the most important and ancient of

THE ANTIQUITIES OF MUKHALINGAM. 69

the kingdoms of India,—the famous Kalinga country, of
whose history so little is known that it reflects on their
patriotism and love of research. Mr. Sewell says in his
Antiquities of the Madras Presidency :—

“ We have stilla great deal to learn about the sovereigns
“and princes of Kalinga ; for though it is certain that
“they were powerful and independent sovereigns at a very
“early stage of the history of Southern India, as yet we
“know nothing of their names.

“The people and the reigning house of Kalinga are
“alluded to in the oldest extant chronicles of India and
“Ceylon and were known equally to the classical writers
“of Greece and Rome and to the inhabitants of the far
“ Hast. ‘hey appear to have been hardy and adventurous
“traders by sea to distant countries. ‘he oldest Buddhist
“ legends speak of the Kalinga monarchs as the rulers of a
“civilised country.” —Voi. II. p. 183.

Again, “The kingdom of Kalinga was one of the
“oldest in India. ‘Though not actually mentioned by name
“in the Rigvéda, the sage Kakshivat is alluded to, and
‘““he was the son of a female slave of the queen of
“ Kalinga. The country is mentioned in all the most ancient
“chronicles. According to Buddhist legends, when Bud-
*‘dha’s relics were divided at his death, Brahmadatta, the
“ king of Kalinga, obtained his left canine tooth ..... In the
“time of Asoka (B.C. 250) the country was of sufficient
“qmportance to justify that king’s engraving his cele-
“brated rock-edicts there for the enlightenment of the
“neople. Pliny divides the country into three portions,
“ Kalinga, Madhya-Kalinga, and Maha-Kalinga. With all
“this, very little is known of the names of the kings who
“reigned over the country, except through native chronicles,
“ which are very untrustworthy,’’—Vol. II. p. 258.

Mukhalingam is a noted place of pilgrimage in the Parla-

19

70 THE ANTIQUITIES OF MUKHALINGAN.

kimedi taluk, Ganjém district. It stands on the left bank
of the Vamnsadhara at a distance of about 20 miles from the
town of Parlakimedi. If the modern temple of Hanuman is
left out of account, there are only three temples of impor-
tance to be seen there, of which one is kept in good
repair and richly endowed by the Zamindar of Parlakimedi.
These are all dedicated to Siva. As will be explained
below, one of these temples was built in the beginning
of the ninth century. There is a Kshétramahdtmya, a
book lately printed, describing the sanctity and impor-
tance of the place, according to which, and in popular
estimation, that tract of country is as holy as Benares.
Thousands of pilgrims from far and near visit it annually on
the Sivaratri, the 29th day of the month of Magha, when
sanitary arrangements are made by the Deputy Tahsildar of
the taluk under the orders of the Government. The Kshétra-
mahatmya, though for the most part an untrustworthy
inythological account, may still serve as a guide to the
various places of interest to be seen there, and it contains
some facts which throw light on the history of the place.
I regret that I had not read it before visiting the place
or when I was there; else I would have noted some more
things of importance.

2. The temples and the inscriptions on them and the
several ruins scattered around are all of a very high anti-
quity, making the place interesting and well worthy of a
visit by all students of archeology. ‘Tull I went and read
some of the inscriptions, the inhabitants believed that they
were the writings of the gods which men could not under-
stand, and thus deluded themselves and the pilgrims that
visited the temples.

3. The points of interest that I have noted will be briefly
noticed in the following order :—
I, The temple of Mukhalingésvara.

THE ANTIQUITIES OF MUKHALINGAM. 71

II. The temple of Bhimésvara.
III. The temple of Somésvara.
IV. Ruins of oid temples, &c.
V. The Padmanabha Hill.
VI. Old coins.
VII. Old forts in ruins.
VIII. The Kalingas.
IX. A stone inscription and a linga at ‘leligipénta.
X. Copper-plate inscriptions.

4. (1.) The Mukhalingésvara temple. ‘The idol is called
Mukhalingésvara, because the linga has what is called a
face carved on it, or because (as the Kshétramahatmya
explains) it is the linga, the first and the most important
of the ten million lingas that are supposed to be there.
The village is now called after the idol, but formerly it
bore the name of Jayantapuram. ‘I'he inscriptions on the
walls and pillars of the temple refer to the idol as Madhuke-
Svara, a name which, the Kshétramahdtmya says, applied
to the god as he manifested himself in the trunk of a
madhuka tree.

5. The central shrine (garbhakovila) is a narrow room
with a high conical top, to which is attached a small manda-
pa or hall, the terrace of which is supported by only six
pillars of stone, without capitals and without any carvings,
three on each side, surrounded by a stone wall at a dis-
tance of about six feet from the pillars. The gateways of
the mandapa and the garbhakdvila open to the east in the
same line. The mandapa has another gateway to the
south, near the garbhakovila. 'Vhe outer walls of the man-
dapa have sculptured figures carved on them, represent-
ing various deities, which are of chaste design. The exterior
of the garbhakovila has perhaps likewise sculptured figures
on it; but a thick coating of plaster now covers all. All
round this edifice is a spacious courtyard, containing some

72 THE ANTIQUITIES Of MUKHALINGAM.

eight or nine small temples, enclosed by a prakara with two
gateways, the principal one, called Sizihadvara, in the east
opening into the street ina line with the gateways of the
central structure, and the other in the south. Between the
Sitnhadvdéra and the entrance into the mandapa 1s a
small vestibule, the gateway of which is surmounted by a
frieze representing a scene in the Kshétramahatmya how
the god Siva revealed himself to some Savaras who had
before been Gandharvas, but cursed to be born as Savaras
—a wild aboriginal tribe, by which that part of the country
was probably inhabited. There are some Savaras living
at present on hills near Mukhalingam. It is to be noted
that like the Orissan god Jaganndtha, Mukhalingésvara has
his origin connected with the Savaras.

From the information that | have received regarding the
religious customs of the Savaras, I may say that they do
not generally indulge in the worship of blocks of stone or
wood, as their neighbours, the Khonds, are said in the
reports of Macpherson and Campbell to do. But it must
be stated that once or twice in a year the Savaras cele-
brate a festival during which the inhabitants of each village
go ina procession toa neighbouring hill, brmg from it
a big cylinder-like stone to their fields, and fix itin the
ground there. ‘lo this block of stone they present some
offerings of truit and even sacrifice fowls and goats.
The feast being over, it is left alone and is no more wor-
shipped ; a fresh biock is brought the next time. Can this
Savara fetich be the origin of that Hindu idol of Siva?

6. The idol in the main temple is not as attractive as
many that could be seen in other places. Emblems of Siva
are almost everywhere mere cylindrical blocks of stone;
but this Mukhalingésvara is a piece of unpolished, rough,
broken stone. The Kshétramahatmya is full of miracles

said to have been worked here, attesting the sanctity of the

THE ANTIQUITIES OF MUKHALINGAM. 73

god. There is in the Garbhakévila, a big earthenware basin,
to store water in for washing the idol; the basin being
wider than the entrance of the kévila, a myth was manu-
factured by the priests. A devout potter brought the basin
to the temple as a present to the god, but it was too wide
to be takenin. The grief of the votary moved the god,
and the basin was miraculously transported into the kévila
behind the idol. With this and similar accounts relating
to the idol the clever priests work on the credulity of the
pilgrims. ‘The fact is, the depth of the basin is not more
than the width of the gateway.

7, What attracts the attention of a careful observer, is
the number of the inscriptions on the pillars and gateways
of the temple It is a pity that many inscriptions are hid-
den under a thick and strong coating of plaster, which
cannot be removed without the permission of the Zamin-
dar of Parlakimedi to whom the village and the temples
there belong. Only some eleven inscriptions are visible
where the plaster has come off. All of them record private
gifts of lands or money to the god Madhukésvara (the
former name of Mukhalingésvara); while five of them refer
to Anantavarmadéva as the king during whose reign the
eifts were made. The characters are Hastern Chalukya,
transitional, of the eleventh century. The following are
the eleven I have noted.

One on the southern gateway of the prakdra in Bengali
Nagari characters, which I could not read.

Two on the southern gateway of the mandapa, one of
which is dated in the Saka year 1100.

One at the gateway of the Asthina-mandapa, dated in
the Saka year 1004 in the reign of Anantavarmadéva.

One at the gateway of the mandapa, Saka year 1095,

One on the Ist pillar of the southern row near the idol,
Saka year 1042 in the time of Anantavarman.

74 THE ANTIQUITIES OF MUKHALINGAM.

Three on the wall of the store room near the garbha-
kovila, one of which is in Nagar? characters.

One on the southern wall of a small temple to the north-
east of the main temple. The characters belong to diffe-
rent types. The inscription does not appear to be a complete
one. The slab probably belongs to an older temple, from
the ruins of which it must have been brought there.

One on the eastern wall of a small temple adjoiming the
above, similar in style and likewise incomplete.

8. (IL.) The Bhimésvara temple. This is situated some
200 yards from the Mukhalingésvara temple. All the outer
buildings have disappeared, the garbhakévila and the
mandapu alone being now in existence. It is more or
less similar in structure to the preceding temple. The
linga is a big cylindrical, polished stone, called Bhimés-
vara after the famous Bhima of the Pandava dynasty who
is said to have placed it there. But all the imscriptions
there prefix the word “ Aniyanka” to the name, making it
Aniyanka-Bhimésvara. The etymology of the word is not
known. I have noticed some eleven inscriptions on this
temple in characters similar to those noticed above, latest
Eastern Chalukyan. Six of these refer to Anantavarma-
déva.

Three on the front gate, dated Saka years 1107, 1064,
and 1014 respectively; the 2nd referring to Ananta-
vaurmadéva.

Two on the gateway of the garbhakovila, dated Saka
years 1020 and 1022, during the reign of Anantavarma-
déva.

Two on the southern gate of the mandapa, Saka years
1110 and 1098.

‘Three on the first pillar of the mandapa, in the southern
row towards the front gate, one of which I could read. Itis
a Sanskrit sléka, recording a private grant in the Saka year

— Oe eS eee

THE ANTIQUITIES OF MUKHALINGAM. 75

1062, expressed by the numerical words ‘“‘nayana, (2) rasa,
viyat (3), chandra (1).”

One on the second pillar, containing a Sanskrit sloka, and
one or two on the opposite pillars, but worn out.

9. The dates and the reigning years of Anantavarma-
déva given in the inscriptions on the two above-mentioned
temples do not all tally with one another. But I did not
examine them critically when I was at Mukhalingam, and
my notes therefore require to be verified.

10. I may here remark in passing that in deciphering old
inscriptions, one has very little trouble in the case of San-
skrit ones. When the language is a vernacular it requires
much more patience and ingenuity to work at them. I
cannot say that I could understand every word of the
Telugu inscriptions. ‘They offer some curiosities to be
noted by a 'l'elugu philologist. Some of the Telugu words
and forms seem to have now become obsolete. Xxoxr¥end
was formerly used to mean the bank of the Ganges. Son
was perhaps some unit of land-measurement. oe and
ote (==to-day) were probably in popular use 800 years ago,
aS ToT, sfo7 now are in some parts. ‘I'he nasal in the
middle of the words is now dropped in pronunciation, but
can be recognised in the semi-anusvara substituted by the
learned in writing. Orthodox Telugu pandits do not allow
that the semi-anusvdra after a long vowel represents the
older full anusvara sounds. I have met with such words as
Gc Groen, which are now written by the learned thus |
srdssecaoen but which are in colloquial usage wGxsrew.
I have not seen Mr. Seshagiri Sastri’s recent publication
on the Ardhanusvara, but I expect such instances are
noticed and commented upon by him.

11. (II1L.) The Sémésvara temple. This is situated at a
distance of more than two furlongs south of the village..
One peculiarity of this temple is that it opens to the west,

76 THE ANTIQUITIES OF MUKHALINGAM.

while the other two open to the east. Of what seems to
have once been a vast building by the evidence of the
stone debris there, there now remains only the garbhako-
vila. Hven this is now in a dilapidated condition owing
to a recent stroke of lightning which has shattered a part
of the admalaka or top. But its structure, even as it
now stands, commands our admiration. It is a ctrious
piece of architecture such as is rarely to be met with. ‘he
whole temple is constructed of loose sculptured stones,
arranged skilfully one upon another without any cement
whatever, resembling a‘ kindergarten’ toy-temple built of
loose slabs prepared for the purpose. The style is Orissan.
Everything here is skilfully executed. ‘The carvings are all
of exquisite workmanship and elaborately ornamented. The
figures, representing various deities of the Hindi mytho-
logy, are excellent specimens of Hindti sculpture, tastefully
executed, graceful in form, and chaste in design. Hach ot
these deities occupies a splendidly carved cell or niche stand-
ing in bold relief ; in some cases it is a monolith, in others it is
formed of loose stones fitted into one another. ‘The furms of
these niches are various, triangular, circularandsoon. The
gateway is surmounted by an excellent frieze, representing
the Navagrahus, the nine Hindi planets—very beautiful
figures. The linga called Sémésvara after Soma, the Moon,
who is said to have brought it there, is, like Bhimésvara, a
thick stone cylinder. I could see no traces of any mscrip-
tion when the morning snn was shining behind the temple,
but the evening rays falling on the interior walls of the
kévila showed to me indistinct marks of what might be sup-
posed to have been inscriptions. ‘The general appearance
of the temple is dark and weather-worn, and I presume
that it is the oldest of the three I have noticed.

12. ‘These three temples are more or less similar in
form to those of Orissa, illustrated in Hunter’s Annals.

o—

THE ANTIQUITIES OF MUKHALINGAM. UG

13. (IV.) The ruins of old temples, 5¢.—A casual visitor,
the moment he sees the place, will not fail to be struck by
the number of idols, sculptured figures, and carved stones
scattered over the village and its neighbourhood. The
inhabitants of Mukhalingam do not need to burn bricks in
a kiln or cut stone from a quarry. They have only to dig
afew feet in their farms or compounds, and a plentiful
supply can be had ready for use. The whole quantity of
stone required for the construction of a very deep well
recently dug in a Brahman’s compound was thus obtained.
The bricks that are excavated are of extraordinary size, 3
feet by 2 feet. Sometimes huge slabs of stone are found
jointed by strong iron nails driven deep into them. Where-
ever one stands, one sees a brick or stone debris. Among
these remains, either blocks of cut stone or carved figures
are noticeable all along the way from Mukhalingam to
Nagarikatakam, a village two miles southwards, where a
temple is now under construction over a linga dug out
by a cultivator, and among the materials which were
likewise dug out I saw carved stone figures, monoliths
as tall as a man. I was told by a Brahman at Mukha-
lingam that he saw some inscriptions on the stone slabs
now lying buried in a field. I tried to get them dug
out, but a green crop growing on the spot prevented me. I
have myself seen an inscription in old Nagari characters
on a slab which a Mathadhikari placed under the door-
frame of his house. I could neither read it nor take a
copy of it, because of the inconvenient position in which it
was placed. These facts are, I think, sufficient to prove
the former existence of numerous old temples in Mukha-
lingam, which, all things considered, is entitled to boast of
2 high antiquity.

14. I may pause here a little and inquire into the age
and history of these temples, for which ample materials are

11

78 THE ANTIQUITIES OF MUKHALINGAM.

supplied by the Kshétramahatmya as well as by the inscrip-
tions on the temples, and some copper-plates. As I be-
lieve that no such inquiry has yet been made inasmuch
as the very existence of these temples has not been
brought to the notice of archeologists, it is desirable that
I should state here the facts that have enabled me to come
to the conclusions that I have arrived at.

15. The followimg account of the origin of the temple
is condensed from the Kshétramiahatmya. Brahmé, the
creator, who is deprived of his divinity, goes to Mahéndra-
girt, ® mountain in the Kalinga country, a cursed tract,
unworthy to be the abode of an Arya. He undergoes
there a severe penance. Siva, who is pleased with his
austerities, offers a boon. Brahmé requests him to sanctify
the Kalinga country by his presence on the bank of the
Vainsadhara river, to which Siva assents. The Fates so
contrive that certain Gandharvas are cursed by Vamadcvu,
for an act of youthful indiscretion with the Savara women,
to be born as Savaras, but they are to regain their former
status on seeing the divine form of Siva which is in time
to be revealed to them. So the Gandharva-Savaras live in
the forest of madhuka trees, to the west of the Mahéndra
Hill, on the bank of the Vamsadhara, near the city of
Jayanta. The Savara chief has a wife and a Saiva concu-
bine of Srisailam. The two women quarrel for a madhuka
tree, which the chief cuts off ; when lo! the divine light of
Siva issues forth from the hollow of the broken trunk......
BP cha Brahma, Vishnu, and all the gods come to glorify the
event. Brahma brimgs there ten millions of lingas.
Visvakarmaé builds beautiful temples of goldand gems. In
course of time (the book says in a prophetic strain) as the
Kaliyuga approaches, the gold and gems of the temples
will be stolen and the god will be without any shelter ;
when a king of Kataka, a descendant of Vishnuvardhana,

THE ANTIQUITIES OF MUKHALINGAM. 79

belonging to the Ganga dynasty, by name Madhukarna-
Gajapati will rebuild them, and Siva will send a shower of
gold to provide him with funds.

16. Such is the outline of the main story ; but there are
episodes in which some references are made incidentally to
the places in the neighbourhood. The Padmandbha Hillis
mentioned as the abode of Vishnu, as also is Sumanta-
puram, to a merchant in which, the wives of the Savara
chief used to sell madhuka flowers. All the physical
features and places referred to in these accounts can now
be identified.

17. And what do the inscriptions on the temples say ¢
The earliest dated inscription that I saw and could read
was one engraved during the reign ot Anautavarmadéva
in the Saka year 1004 (A.D. 1082). This only shows that
the temple was in existence more than 800 years ago.
But there are some inscriptions which | could not read on
the spot, evidently in older characters, pointing to a higher
antiquity. The temples of Mukhalingésvara and Bhimés-
vara seem to have been in a flourishing condition during
the reign of this Anantavarmadéva. There are several
inscriptions there, referring to him as the reigning king,
the latest of which is dated in the Saka year 1062; all
recording grants of land or money to the gods Madhu-
késvara and Aniyanka-Bhimésvara. Dr. Fleet published in
the Indian Antiquary, vol. XVIII., pages 161-176, three
inscriptions, Nos. 178, 179, and 180, all recording grants
of Anantavarmadéva in the Saka years 1005, 1040 and 1057.
These inscriptions contain valuable genealogical and histori-
cal information, from which it may be determined when
and by whom the temple of Madhukésvara was built.
Anantavarmadéva was the son of king Rajardja who
ruled Kalinga for eight years. This Rajardéja married
Rajasundur?, a daughter of the Chola king, after obtaining

80 THE ANTIQUITIES OF MUKHALINGAM.

victory in a battle with the Dramilas! and subjugating
Vimaladitya, king of Véngi. Rajardja’s son Anantavarma-
Chédagangadéva? was crowned in theSakayear 1000(current),
month Phalguna, Sukla 3, Saturday; corresponding to 17th
February, A.D. 1078. Previous to A.D. 1118, he seems to
have invaded Orissa? and Véngi. From the large number
of inscriptions on stones scattered all over the Ganjam and
Vizagapatam districts, it is evident that he was a powerful
ruler in his time, holding sway over a large tract of country,
perhaps almost the whole of the prehistoric monarchy of
Kalinga. There is reason to believe that this Anantavarma-
Chodagangadéva is the very king who established the
Gangetic dynasty in Orissa after the Késari line.* As
stated above, he went to Orissa before A.D. 1118, probably
at the invitation of the Utkala ruler who was dethroned®
by a rival, Anantavarmadéva reinstated him on the
throne only for a time; for soon afterwards, his protege
having proved weak and unable to hold his own against
his enemies, the invading prince availed himself otf
the opportunity to annex Orissa to his dominions, which
under his son (according to Sir W. Hunter) ‘reached from
the Godavari right up to the Gangetic valley.’ There are
some inscriptions on the walls of the Draksharama temple
from which it may be inferred that, in A.D. 1128, Anan-
tavarmadéva went on a pilgrimage to the place with his four
or five wives and the officers of state ; but it does not appear
that he was the ruler of that part of the country, as Vish-

nuvardhana is there spoken of as the reigning king in
whose time these inscriptions were engraved. Dr. Fleet
published some more Ganga plates issued by Dévéndra-
varman, also a Ganga prince, in which the name of Ananta-
varman® occurs; but these are probably of an earlier period,

to which the inscriptions of Ananiavarman on the temples
at Mukhalingam and those that have been just now noticed

1 Jayashya patir babhiiva Fg Dramila Oe

for an explanation of this word, see Dr. Oppert’s paper on the original
inhabitants of Bharatavarsha, Madras Journal of Literature and Science,
1887-88, p. 53. There isa village called Dimela in Vizagapatam which
per haps took its name from the Dravidas that settled there.

* This name is evidently assumed on account of the marriage between
Rajardja, a Ganga prince, and Réjasundart, a Chéda princess.

3 Parvasydin disi pdrvam utkala-patim rajyé nidhdya chyutam, Sc.
* See note under para. 21, p. 85. 5 Chyuita.

§ See the table given in my remarks (c) on Indravarman’s plate below.

THE ANTIQUITIES OF MUKHALINGAM. 81

cannot be referred. These two Anantavarmans cannot be
identified.

18. Some account having been given of Anantavarman
who is referred to in the temple-inscriptions, it remains to
be seen who built the temple. It is not this king that built
it ; can it be one of his ancestors ?

In the copper-plate inscription No. 179 there is a long
list of kings which may be put into a genealogical table,*

1A genealogical table tracing the descent of Anantavarma-Chida-
gqanga.
Virasim ha.

|

|
1) Kamarnaval. 2) Danarnava. Gunirnaval. Marasimha. Vajrahasta I.
(the first ruler) 40 yrs. (764-804).

36 yrs. (A.D. |
728-764). |
; 3) Kamarnava IT.
50 years (804-854).
4) Ranarnava.
5 years (854-859).
|
| |
5) Vajrahasta IT. 6) Kamarnava ITI.
~ 16 years (859-874). 19 years (874-893).
7) Gunarnava I.
27 years (893-920).
i pan ai
pe. |
8) Jitankusa. (?) eh Gundine IL, 11) Kamarnava IV.
15 years (920-935). | 7 years (947-954). 25 years (954-979).
9) KaligalankuSa.
12 years (935-947). 12) Vajrahasta TV.
35 uae (982-1017).
| | |
13) Kamarnava V. 14) Gundama IT. (by another wife)

+ year (1017-1017). | 3 years (1017-1020). 15) Madhu-Kamérnava VI.
19 years (1020-1039).

16) Vajrahasta V.
30 years (1039-1069).

17) Rajaraja.
8 years (1069-1077).
18) Anantavarma-Chéda-

gangadéva.
(from 1077-78).

82 THE ANTIQUITIES OF MUKHALINGAM.

tracing the descent of Anantavarma-Chéodagangadéva. The
inscription also gives some historical information from which
the following facts are extracted :—“ Kamdrnava I., one
of the five sons of Virasiinha (a remote ancestor of Ananta-
varman), gave over his country to his paternal uncle and,
with his brothers, set out to conquer the earth and came to
the mountain Mahéndra. Having there worshipped the god
Gokarnasvamin, through his favour he obtained the excellent
crest of a bull (vrishabhalanichhana); and then,decorated with
all the insignia of universal sovereignty, having descended
from the summit of the mountain Mahéndra, and being
accompanied by his four younger brothers, Kamdarnava 1,
conquered (king) Baladditya who had grown sick of war, and
took possession of the Kalinga countries. And his capital
(rajadhani) was the city named Jantavura. Having deco-
rated his younger brother Dandrnava with the necklace
(kanthika) of royalty as a token that he should succeed
him in that kingdom, he gave to Gunarnava the Ambavadi-
vishaya ; to Marasiiha the Scoddmandala; to Vajrahasta
the Kantakavartant. And thus for thirty-six years he
governed the Kalinga country.’—“ His (Danarnava’s) son,
the second Kamarnava, reigned for fifty years ; his city was
the city named Nagara in which he built a lofty temple for
an emblem of the god Isa in the linga form, to which he
had given the name of Madhukésa because it was produced
from a madhika tree.”

19. The account of the towns Jayantapura and Nagara
and of Madhukesa’s temple, as given in the Kshétramd-
hatmya (vide para. 15 above), tallies with what is stated in
this copper-plate inscription. Jantévura in the plate is a
mistake for Jayantapura. It has been seen that all the
inscriptions on the temple refer to the god as Madhukeésa.
The name of the village was until some years ago
Madhukésvaram, when it was changed into Mukhalingam.

a
ov

(oa)

THE ANTIQUITIES OF MUKHALINGAM. he

Nagara,! the city of Kamarnava II. is still in existence
under the name Nagarakataka. ‘he ruined temples here
and there along the way from the temple of Madhukésa
up to Nagarakataka testify to the fact that when the
temple was built the town was extensive, so much so that
the shrine was in the centre of the town, ‘The carvings on
the gate of the temple referred to in line 62 of the inscrip-
tion are still held in high estimation as beautiful specimens
of Hindi sculpture.”

20. Ithas now become clear that whatis now called
Mukhalingam is the town founded by Kimarnava under the
name Jayantapura and that the temple was built by his
nephew, Kémirnava II. The period of time during which
the town and the temple were built, can likewise be de-
termined from the information supplied by the inscription.
The long list of the twenty kings given in the genealogical
table covers a period of about three hundred and fifty years.
Itis known that the last-mentioned king Anantavarman
was crowned in the year 1078 A.D. Kéamdarnava I. must
accordingly have come to the throne about the year A.D.
728 and ruled until A.D, 764; and his nephew Kémdrnava
II. reigned from A.D. 804 to A.D, 854. The town was

1 This is the town where the temple was built. Mr. Sewell’s quotation
that Kamdrnava II. “built a palace, called Madhukésa in honour of
the finding of a linga under a madhiika tree, near the deserted city of
Trivishtapa” is evidently an incorrect translation. Tvrivishtapa-tiraskritam
(= excelling Trivishtapa, the city of Indra) is rendered into the deserted
city of Trivishtapa.

2 Yad-dvarérdhva-vichitra-patra-latikis-chitrani v6 pasyatam.

3 Plates Nos. 178 and 180 (Ind. Antiq. Vol. XVIII., p. 161.) also con-
tain genealogical information slightly differing from what is given in the
foot-note under para. 18. In these plates, Chédagangadéva’s decent is traced
oaly from Gundrnava (7th in the table). The names of Jiténkuga and
Kaligalankusa are omitted. The name of Vajrahasta, son of Gundrnava,
with a reigning period of 40 years in one plate and 44 yeas in the other,
is added in them while itis not found in the genealogical table given
above. Other differences are with regard to the reigning periods of
Gundama (10th king), Kamdrnava IV. (llth) and Vajrahasta (17th).
In the table given above, the number of years entered against these names
is 7, 25, and 80; while in the other two plates, it is 3, 35, and 33 respec-
tively.

84 THE ANTIQUITIES OF MUKHALINGAM.

therefore built in the beginning of the 8th century and the
temple in the beginning of the 9th century. !

21. Having traced the origin of the temple and of the
town in which it 1s situated, I have next to consider who it
is that, the Kshétramahatmya says, ‘ rebuilt the temples in
the Kaliyuga.’ He is said to be a Kataka (Orissa) prince,
by name Madhukarna-Gajapati of the Ganga dynasty, and,
curiously enough, a descendant of Vishnuvardhana. Sir
W. W. Hunter’s list of the Orissa Gangas does not contain
the name of Madhukarna; but in a list of the Parlakimedi
Zamindars, who are called Gajapatis and who claim to be
the descendants of the Orissa Gangas (published in Mr.
Sewell’s Antiquities, Vol. Il. pages 185-6), the name Mad-
hukarnadéva occurs and the prince is said to have reigned
from A.D. 1392 to 1428. Sir W. Hunter says that the Kim-
edi country was conquered by the Orissa Gangas; but it is not
known when that event took place. The Parlakimedi taluk
contains several villages that are known to be included in the
ancient Kalinga kingdom, before the invasion of Orissa by
Chédaganyadéva. Mukhalingam and many villages in its
neighbourhood and the Soda country, for instance, were
formerly parts of Kalinga ruled by Ganga princes, the
predecessors of Chédagangadéva ; and these are now in the
Parlakimedi taluk, stillin the possession of a Ganga prince,
the Parlakimedi Zamindar. Of the history of Kalinga
after Chidagangadeéva’s invasion of Orissa, nothing is known,
His descendants established themselves in Orissa, making
their original kingdom a mere dependency. But it is very
probable that some minor princes of the family were left
in Kalinga to maintain the authority of the Gangas. A cop-
per-plate inscription which I have partly deciphered and of
which an abstract of contents is given below, speaks of a

Ganga prince ruling over a small principality, while another

1 Or it may be fifty years earlier according to the other plates.

THE ANTIQUITIES OF MUKHALINGAM. 85

Ganga prince was the supreme lord of Kalinga. Whether
the Parlakimedi Gangas are directly descended from the
Ganga princes that remained in Kalinga after the establish-
ment of the Gangetic dynasty in Orissa in the twelfth
century, or from Kapiléndradéva, an Orissa Ganga king
according to the tradition! current in the district, is still a
problem to be solved. But that they are, though remotely,
connected with Anantavarma-Chédaganga is beyend doubt.
In a previous paragraph some facts were stated which
identify the Anantavarma-Chédagangadéva of Kalinga and
Chér Ganga, the founder of the Orissa Ganga dynasty.?
Two more proofs may be added confirmatory of what has
been said. One is the tradition noticed by Sir W. Hunter
that in the beginning of the twelfth century a Ganga chief
of ‘the Southern Kingdom,’ named Chor Gang, invaded
Orissa; and the other, more conclusive than the first, is that
the Orissa Gangas (before that dynasty became extinct in
Orissa on the murder of Pratéparudra’s second son and all
belonging to the royal family by the minister Gébind Bidya-
dhar, who afterwards ascended the throne in A.D. 1534)
and the Parlakimedi Gangas both belong to the gotra ot
Atri, the same from which the Kalinga Gangas trace their
descent.® Returning to Madhukarnadéva, it is certain that
he was the ruler of a part of Kalinga, in which it may be

1 Phe tradition is that Kapiléndradéva, a Ganga king of Orissa, had
eighteen sons by bis lawfully married queen and another by a concubine,
whom he appointed as yuvardj (heir apparent). Thereupon the eighteen
sons quarrelled with their step-brother and left the country ; one of them
went to Bémunda in the Central Provinces and another to the Kimedi
country and established separate kingdoms.

2In Sir W. Hunter’s list of the Orissa Gangas, the date given to
Chér Gang (still contracted into Chérang) is A.D. 1132-1152. ‘This, if
correct, will make the reign of the king too Jong, viz., 74 years including the
period of his administration of Kalinga before the conquest of Orissa. But
Hunter’s date is not based upon any genuine authority, as far us it can
be seen in his Annals of Orissa. Whereas, Anantavarma-Chédagangadéva’s
date is beyond question

seinweblate w No: 78. 173) ff. Atréyagétrandm...trikalingamahtbhujam
Gangandm.

12

86 THE ANTIQUITIES OF MUKHALINGAM.

that Parlakimedi was included. It is said that there is an
inscription on a wall of the central shrine of the temple,
which speaks of him as one that repaired the temple and
built a prékara or compound wall round it. But what
perplexes one in the account of the Kshétramahatmya, is the
statement that Madhukarnaisadescendant of Vishnuvar-
dhana, ‘‘ Vishnuvardhana-pirvakah.” Can it be that the
founder of the Eastern Chalukya dynasty is the person
that is meant here? Hven if the Kshétramahatmya be
supposed to be a Brahmanical manufacture of the period
of Madhukarnadéva, on account of the prophetic references
made to him, it is to be noted that, about 500 years ago, there
was a tradition current in these parts, connecting the Orissa
Gangas with some Vishnuvardhana, most probably of the
Chalukya dynasty. It may be, on the other hand, that
the poet who composed the Mahatmya, ignorant of the true
lineage of his hero, thought fit to glorify his descent by
tracing it from the first Vishnuvardhana of the Chalukya
dynasty, of whose fame the vanity of Madhukarna may
have, by this means, led him to partake. ’

22. Summing up my foregoing observations, I note
with pleasure that the village Mukhalmgam has been in
existence from the eighth century with a unique history of
its own. It is a Ganga prince, Kaémarnava, that built a
town there in the 8th century; it is a Ganga prince, another
Kémarnava, that erected the principal temple there in the
9th century; it isa Ganga prince, Anunta varman, that saw
the temples there in a flcurishing condition in the 12th
century; it is again a Ganga prince, Madhukarna, that
repaired them in the 14th century; it isa Ganga prince
too, Gourachendro, that owns the place and the temples
there at the present moment. For about eleven centuries
Mukhalingam has been in the uninterrupted possession of
the Gangas, a dynasty whose kings once extended their

THE ANTIQUITIES OF MUKHALINGAM. 87

sway from the Ganges to the Krishna; covered the country
with magnificient temples ; patronised learning by inviting
educated Brahmans for whose support villages were grant-
ed rent-free; and are still remembered by the people as
the great ‘“ Kalinga-Maharajas.” It may surprise many to
know for the first time that the present Zamindar of Parla-
kimedi is the real representative of these famous Ganga
kings. But it isa fact.

23. (V.) The Padmandbha Hill.—To the east of the
village at a short distance is a hill and one or two springs
on the top of it. There is anidol representing Vishnu, over
which an insiguificant pagoda was lately erected. The
Kshétramahatmya says that Vishnw came to reside there as
a Kshétrapalaka or guardian of the holy place. I had no
time to go to this hill and cannot, therefore, say anything
certain of the antiquities there.

24. (VI.) Old coins.—It is said that on rare occasions
during the rainy season a lucky person picks up some gold
coins which are not larger than a big chilly-seed. The
coins bear the impression of the bull Nandi. I have several
of these fanams, received from Mr. Fawcett, formerly
Superintendent of Police, Ganjam. One of the coins is
figured by Sir. W. Elliot in his Coins of Southern India,
Plate III. No. 938. Similar coins are said to have been
discovered at Dantavaktrinikéta, at a distance of about nine
miles from Mukhalingam, and also at Calingapatam. ‘I'he
Kshétramahdtmya states that, when Madhukarna-Gajapati,
whom the gods requested to rebuild the temples, was hesi-
tating to undertake the task for want of funds, a thick
shower of these coins fell round him by the favor of Siva.

25. (VII.) Old Forts.—It seems that formerly a large
part of this village was enclosed by a mud or brick wall. A
raised platform of brick work, extending over a large area,

is still visible,

88 THE ANTIQUITIES OF MUKHALINGAM.

Tradition and the Kshétramahatmya as well as the appear-
ance of the village and the inscriptions support this view.
I said above that there was a village at a distance of about
two miles, called Nagartkatakam, which is a place of con-
siderable importance. The very name implies that it was
the residence of a king. The town of Cuttack (Kataka),
meaning royal residence according to Hunter, in Orissa
can be supposed either to have given its name to this place,
or to have taken its name from it. Several forts now in
ruins are said to be in existence in some villages about
Mukhalingam, such as Lakshminarsupéta, Karakavalasa,
Pata-Hiramandalam, and Dantavaktrikéta. The Rev. J.
R. Hutchinson, who visited the last mentioned place, has
given an interesting note on the fort there in his Revised
List of Antiquities, published in the Journal of this Society
for the session of 1887-88. ‘The earthen embankment
of the ancient fort is still in good preservation, from 50 to
40 ft. high in some parts.’? There are references to this
fort in the Vishnupurana. In a paper entitled ‘the Dakhan
in the time of Gautama-Buddha, published by the Rev.
Thomas Foulkes (Ind. Antiq., vol. XVI.), a list of the impor-
tant cities in Kalinga is given, in which Dantapura is men-
tioned. “The Tooth-relic temple of Dantapura had one or
more upper stories containing hundreds of rooms; it was
inlaid with gold, adorned with hanging pearl necklaces,
difficult like the early sun to look at, owing to the radi-
ance of various gems dazzling the eyes.’ I was told that
costly jewels and gold coins had been until a few years ago
discovered by cultivators during the rainy season. Several
persons, originally poor, are said to have become wealthy
by such discoveries. There is a village named Dunta in the
Narasannapéta taluk, now in the possession of a landholder
whose son told me that he saw in the village a cave, and
some stone figures and building materials at its entrance.

THE ANTIQUITIES OF MUKHALINGAM. 89

An examination of these ruins will not fail to be instructive.

26. Kalinga.—There is a class of persons known by
this name, dwelling in some parts of Ganjim and Vizaga-
patam, but rarely met with elsewhere. As the priests of the
Mukhalingam temples belong to this class and as they
claim to have been such from time immemorial, I think it
will not be out of place to give a short account of these
people. As their name KAalinga implies, they must be
preeminently the inhabitants of the Kalinga country.
In the Malay countries, all natives of India are designated
as ‘ Kalings’ A sect of Baniyas or Komatis in this
district are called Kalinga Komatis; but between the
Kalingas and these Kalinga Kématis there is no con-
nection whatever. The Kalingas must have maintained
their individuality for a long time. They do not inter-
marry with any other caste; and they eat only food
cooked by Brahmans. They generally speak ‘Telugu,
but a few of them living in the north of the district
speak Oriya, the prevailing language there. They are divi-
ded in two classes, the Kintali Kalingas and the Booragam
Kalingas. The former allow the re-mariage of widows and
the divorced, and do not intermarry with the latter though
they dine with them. ‘The religion of the Kalngas is
mainly Saiva, though many now profess Vaishnavism ; but
religion does not create any social differences, a Vaishnava
being allowed to marry a Saiva, provided that both belong
to the same class. The profession generally followed by
these persons is idol-worship, cultivation, and cart-driving.
There are some landlords and a few officials among them ;
but as a class they are poor and uneducated. ‘hey are, no
doubt, a hard-working and contented people, never once
stooping to beg.

27. What makes these people interesting to a curious
observer, is their anomolous position in society. The

90 THE ANTIQUITIES OF MUKHALINGAM.

Kalinga-man, Aryan as he is by his appearance and by
his customs social and religious, is no better treated than a
Sidra. He wears a sacred thread like a Brahman, shaves
his head like a Brahman, and looks almost like a Brahman.
He belongs likewise to the gétra of some Védic sage like
Bharadvaja. He observes some religious rites, among
others the birth-ceremony, the upanwyana, the marriage
and even the stmanta which has fallen into disuse among
the Brahmans of these parts. He has the exclusive right to
worship in some temples, as in the case of those at Mukha-
lingam. He then utters Védic mantras. Like the Brah-
mans of the North. like his neighbours, the Oriya Brah-
mans, he eats fish and perhaps flesh also: (I hear the Muk-
halingam Kalingas have abstained from animal food) but
he offers none to the gods. And however justly he may
claim to be a Brahman, he is looked down upon by the pre-
sent Brahmans and is regarded as no better than a Stidra.
The majority of the Kalingas, by their profession as culti-
vators and cart-drivers, though equal mm rank to the Oriya
Brahmans following the same professions, have recently
come to be in a degraded position, whereby the Brahman
priest who is now invited to officiate during the celebration
of any religious ceremony, insolently declines to sanctify it
by the utterance of the Védic mantras. The Kalingas,
like some of the Vaisyas, have, I think, come to forego
their religious rights by their own indifference and negli-
gence combined with the jealousy and selfishness of the
Brahmans. Sir W. W. Hunter, m his Annals of Orissa
(Vol. I. pp. 242-264) recorded the chief varieties of Brah-
mans which he met with from the Himalayas to the Cape
of Comorin. There are fishing Brahmans, ploughing Brah-
mans, shepherd Brahmans, and so on, not a jot better, but
in some cases worse than the Kalingas in religion, in social
position, and in occupation. The older the colony, the less

THE ANTIQUITIES OF MUKHALINGAM. 91

sacred it has become, and the later Brahman colonists have
always regarded their predecessors with contempt. ‘‘ Al-
most every province of India,” says Hunter, ‘‘ contains two
widely diverse sorts of Brahmans, separated not merely by
family or social difference, but apparently by the more
rigid distinctions of race. The characteristics of these two
classes vary in different provinces. But two facts can be
almost universally predicated of them, viz., that the higher
order traces its origin to a comparatively recent migration
from the North, and deemed it necessary to explain the
existence of the lower sort by some local legend. They
nowhere intermarry, eat together, or have anything in
common.”

28. Even so, the Kalingas are, according to a legend,
said to have lost their sanctity. Sir W. W. Hunter did not
notice the Kalingas in his elaborate sketch, but his conjec-
tures regarding the origin of some of the oldest castes of
the present degraded Brahmans may be quite as well
applied to the Kalingas. He seems to say that the Kalin-
gas who colonised Java, were those Buddhist Yavanas or
Tonian Greeks, converted to Buddhism, who were in the
6th century driven out of Orissa by the newly invited Brah-
mans. ‘‘ The new comers professed the royal religion,
and were Saivites toa man. ‘They found however a priest-
ly class already existing, whom it was impossible to extir-
pate and unwise to ignore. The Buddhists recruited their
clergy from every class of the people; but doubtless the
preceding waves of Aryan settlers who had from time to
time made their way into Orissa, formed the upper ranks
of the Buddhist community. The Brahman colonists of
900 A.D. were not at first strong enough to degrade the
Buddhist element into the mass of the rural populace, and
they seem to have conciliated their predecessors by admit-
ting them to a sort of nominal equality. The old Aryan

92 THE ANTIQUITIES OF MUKHALINGAM.

settlers, who had lapsed into Buddhism, obtained the name
of the Brahmans and retain the title to this hour. But
as the power of the new comers expanded under the benig-
nant smiles of royalty, they interdicted these so-called old
Brahmans from all intercourse with themselves. They had
refused the jus connubw from the first, and the nominal
Brahmans formed a distinct caste, which by degrees sank
into the mass of the peasant population.”

29. J have not been able to make out whether the
iKAlingas of Ganjam are originally a branch of the Buddhist
Javana (or Yavana) Kalingas who left their home to colo-
nise Java, or an Aryan tribe who had been Buddhists
before they were supplanted by the later Brahman immi-
grants, and afterwards, by a natural compromise, admitted
into the Brahman pale. Nothing but a close examination of
their customs and institutions as well as of their traditions
can unravel the mystery attaching to this people, and it is
to be hoped that scholars will take up the subject and at-
tempt a solution of the problem.

30. (IX.) Teligipénta inscription and linga. When
I was at Mukhalingam, I was informed that at Teligipénta,
a village four miles down the river on its right bank, there
was an inscription ona stone. | went there and found it
in a field close to the river. It is on two sides of a stone.
The characters are transitional Hastern Chalukyan of the
11th century; the language is Telugu; it is dated in the
Saka year 1067, recording a grant of land to a temple of
Siva. The donor’s name appears to be Chédaganga.

One is naturally surprised to see the name of Chéda-
ganga used as it is here without any royal titles attached
to it, since it is likely to be identified with the well-known
name of Anantavarma-Chédagangadéva. But this Chéda-
ganga is an officer of Anantavarman, who in A.D. 1135-36
granted to him a village along with the hamlet of Trilling:-

THE ANTIQUITIES OF, MUKHALINGAM. 93

viataka,' the very place in which the present inscription is
to be seen. The name ‘Trillingi’ probably came to be
applied to the village on account of the people who spoke
the Trilingi language. Though its speakers have reduced
the word to ‘ Telugu,’ the Uriyas still use a fuller form
‘Telingi’; and Telingi or Teligi? is now the actual name
ot the village, with ‘pénta’ or ‘péta,® simply meaning a
suburb, added to it. There must have been in this village
a regular temple of which the floor and the linga or idol
alone are now visible. It is to this idol in all probability
that Chédaganga made the grant referred to in the inscrip-
tion, in A.D. 1145, about nine years after he had obtained
possession of that village by the favour of his master and
king. Ata short distance from Teligipénta is still in ex-
istence a village named Chodapuram, probably called after
Chodaganga.

31. (X.) Copper-plate inseriptions. 1 was told at Mukha-
lingam that, about eight years ago, a copper-plate inscription
had been discovered in a field there and sent to the Deputy
Tahsildar of Parlakimedi. But Mr. Sewell’s Lists do not
mention any inscription belonging to this village. Having
before heard that in some of the villages near Mukhalingam
two or three plates had been discovered, I made inquiries for

‘them and succeeded in getting one set of plates from a
Brahman landlord of Achyutapuram, who had some eight
years ago obtained it from his ryot. I took acopy of it and
returned it to the owner who could not make up his mind
to part with it on any terms. ‘The second of the inscrip-
tions dealt with below has jan unfortunate history. It is,

~1See Plate No. 180, Ind. Antiq. Vol. XVIII. The reading tittilingi in
line 32 is not correct. The alternative reading proposed in the foot note
is to be substituted.

2 An ardhénusvara is heard between /i and gi when it is pronounced.

5 The vulgar uses, in pronouncing this word, an ardhdnusnara between
the two syllables, but the learned use it only in writing.

18

94 THE ANTIQUITIES OF MUKHALINGAM.

I believe, one of the sets of plates which Mr. Grahame, C.S.
purchased at Chicacole ; but, having been mislaid, it was
not presented with the rest to the Madras Museum. As I
am known to be interested in these inscriptions, the head
clerk of the Principal Assistant Collector’s office gave me
information of its existence there and kindly permitted me
to take a.copy of it. The third sets of plates was bought at
my instance by Sri Padmanabha Narayanadeva, brother of
the Parlakimedi Zamindar whom I persuaded to make a
present of it to the Madras Museum. Dr. Hultzsch wrote
to me for a loan of these plates and also requested the
Collector to obtain them from me. I gave information to
the Collector as to where the original plates could be had,
as I had only copies of them with me. Dr. Hultzsch will
have obtained them by this time and will likely publish
them with his notes. but, having first brought them to
light and having also deciphered them, I may be allowed
to publish my own remarks on them, which may be taken
for what they are worth.

1.—INDRAVARMAN’S PLATES.

32. This is a set of three plates, each about 53 inches
by 2 inches, strung together by a ring with a seal on it,
worn out and not recognisable. ‘The letters are engraved
deep enough and legible. The language is Sanskrit
throughout ; and, except the usual benedictive and impreca-
tory verses and the lines containing the writer’s name on the
third plate, the text is in prose. From the predominance
of the Hastern Chalukya characters (of A.D. 680 according
to Burnell’s Plate No. 5; vide his South-Indian Palco-
graphy) it may be inferred that the present inscription
belongs to the seventh century. On historical as well as
paleographical grounds, Dr. Fleet is inclined to refer In-
dravarman to about Saka 579-582 (A.D, 657-58 to 660-61).

THE ANTIQUITIES OF MUKHALINGAM. 95

Abstract of Contents. (a) From the victorious city of
Kalinga (1.1), he who has had the stains of the Kaliyuga
washed away by bowing down before the feet of the god
Gokarnasvamin (1. 2) and who has acquired supremacy
over the whole Kalinga by the edge of his own sword (ll.
3 and 4), the founder of the pure Ganga dynasty (1. 6),
Maharaja Indravarman (1. 8) ;

(b) Commands the kutwmbins or house-holders of the
village Siddhardhaka in the district of Vardhavartani (ll.
8 and 9):

(c) Be it known that, inasmuch as we have separated a
portion of the land of the Rajatatdka Kshétra (1.10) and
bestowed it free from all dues, during the time of udaga-
yana (1.13), on Durgasarman, a brahmacharin of the Gétama
gétra, he should be allowed to enjoy it freely, and none
should molest him.

(d) The boundaries of the land are given from line 15 to
Ue

(e) The usual benedictive and imprecatory verses with a
request that future rulers should recognise the grant (Il. 17-
22).

(f) The grant was made in the 87th of the years (ex-
pressed in words as well as in figures) of the increasing
successful reign, on the amdvdsyd of the month of Chaitra
(I. 23).

(g) Written (composed) under the command of the best
king (rajasimha) by Vinayachandra, son of Bhanuchandra.

Remarks. (a) The characters used in this plate are quite
similar to those of plate No. CXLII. published in Vol. XIII.
of the Ind. Antig., page 119; and the text is word for word
the same as that employed in the ‘Parlakimedi grant’ of In-
dravarman (Ind. Antig., Vol. XVI. p. 131) as far as the end
of the tenth line, the only exception being that the word
sukha is added between sarvartu and ramaniydt (1. 1) in

96 THE ANTIQUITIES OF MUKHALINGAM.

the latter. The benedictive and imprecatory verses are
also the same in both the plates; only one more sléka is
given in the ‘ Parlakimedi grant.’ Both the documents
are dated on the same model, and the same writer composed
them, the anushtubh sloka which contains the writer’s name
being also the same. ‘They were issued at an interval of
only four years, in the 87th and the 91st years. The
name of the prince in both of them is Indravarman. It is
highly probable that the same king issued them. But there
are two more inscriptions issued by an Indravarman (Nos.
CXULII. and CXLIII., published in the Indian Antiguary,
Volume XIII, pages 119 and 122) in the 128th and 146th
years. Dr. Fleet is inclined to think that this Indravarman is
another king of a later period, perhaps a grandson of the
first. His opinion is based on the following grounds :—
1. Ifall these plates are referred to the same Indravar-
man, a reign of about sixty years has to be allowed to one
king; and this is improbably long. 2. The Indravarman
of the Parlakimedi grant has the biruda of Rajasiha, which
the ndravarman of the later plates has not. 3. One gene-
ration of scribes passed away in theinterval. 4. The king
of the earlier plate is called the founder of the dynasty,
Gangamala-kula-pratishthah, which the kings of the other
plates are not. Now. the first and the third grounds may,
toa degree, render Dr. Fleet’s supposition probable, though
one may as well he inclined to think that the same Jn-
drvarman issued all the plates and his reign was exception-
ally long. Dr. Fleet’s second and fourth grounds are,
in my opinion, frail. The word Rajasiha occurring in the
anushtubh sloka at the end of the inscription does not con-
vey the idea of any biruda. Sdsanaric rajasimhasya simply
means ‘ the order of a king, the best of the rajas.’ If the
idea of any title were implied in the word, the place for it

would be the beginning of the inscription where his name

THE ANTIQUITIES OF MUKHALINGAM. 97

is mentioned. Dr. Fleet has given too much importance
to the epithet Gangimala-kula-pratishthah. It is as mea-
ningless to me as the other epithet, applied to almost all,
namely, nya-nistrinnsa-dhdroparjita-sakala-kalingadhirdy-
yah, with its variant svési-dhara-parispandadhigata, Sc.;
“he who acquired sovereignty over the whole Kalinga by
(the force of) the edge of his own sword.’

(b) There are several plates, published in the Indian Anti-
quary, which were issued by the Ganga kings of Kalingana-
gara. Are the plates of Indravarman in any way related to
them? In order that the relation may be seen as clearly
as possible, it is necessary to arrange, in some intelligible
form, all the available facts bearing on the question.

; : | : ee ae:
z,| Reference to Plates. Nameict vine a aime of iui king's Date 2
| No. CXXXVIII. | Nandaprabhan-
1|(Vol. XIII. Ind. Antiq).| janavarman ...| Not given. Not given.|§
No. 214 of a
2. Mr. Sewell’s Lists. | Prithivivarman | Mahéndravarman. | do AZ}
3 (Vol. ent?) Dévendravarman| Anantavarman. | 51l | 2
aio; 1 of this account...! Jndravarman .. Not given. 87 |S
No. 169. | eae
5) (Vol. XVI. Ind. Antig.)| Indravarman ... do. 91 )°8
No. CXLII. b=iKe)
6 (Vol. XVI. Ind. Antig.)| Indravarman .. do. 128 2s
No. CXLIII. } 8
Z\(Vol. XIII. Ind. Antigq.)| Indravarman ... do. 146 | 3
8 No. 2 of this account...|Dévéndravarman| Gundrnava. 183 |
No. 177. ive 2
9 \(Vol.X VITI.Ind. Antig.)/Dévéndravarman| Anantavyarman. 254 S
10, Dr. Hultzsch’s. Anantavarman..| Indravarman. 304 | 5
No. CLIT. a
11 (Vol. XIV. Ind. Antig.)) Satyavarman ...| Dévéndravarman. |(51 ?) 351 =

In this list I have included all the plates that I have
had access to,! relating to what Mr. Fleet seems to term
‘the dynasty of the early Gangas °. I have not entered

1 The Rev. J. R. Hetenineon says that Ths “has in his possession
inscriptions which throw considerable light upon this (the history of the
Ganga kings)”’ (p. 154 of this journal for 1887-88). I do not know whether
these are published.

98 THE ANTIQUITIES OF MUKHALINGAM,

here those plates which refer to Anantuvarma-Chédaganga-
déva or to any king known to belong to his dynasty. The
information contained in No. 10 was first obtained by me
from a manuscript copy of it at Vizianagram; but Dr,
Hultzsch subsequently sent me a fac-simile of the original
plates which are now with him, and a paper on which is, I
am told, shortly to be published.

(c) I have to submit a different reading of the date of
the plates of Satyavarman (No. 11 in the table above).
Lines 34 and 35 of the grant contain the words expressing
the date, which are Gdangéya-vansa-sainvachhara-sata-tray-
atka-paichasat, &c. ‘The syllables that appear to me lke
tra and yai (in the fac-simile), were read by Dr. Fleet nam
and yé. It is not possible to make naj of the fifth letter
in the last line of the plate ; the dirgha or d-sign does not,
I think, descend so far as it is there, half enclosing the
letter as within a bracket, and there is no nasal sign on the
top of the letter. The curved line appears more hke a
répha mark. ‘The sixth letter has two strokes above it,
making it yat; only one would be necessary to make it ye.

(d) The table given above contains alist of buteleven plates
issued by eight or nine kings during a period of about 350
years. Until more information is obtained, nothing definite
can be stated regarding their relations to one another or
their relations to the Ganga kings of Chéda-gangadéva’s
dynasty. The era to which the dates of these plates refer,
is still unknown ; but there is no need to suppose that there
is more than one era to which they refer. Most probably
the era commences with the establishment of the dynasty
at Kalinganagara or in the Mahéndragiri country by the
father or the grandfather of Indravarman in the fourth
century A.D. To attempt an arrangement of the list of
names we have in a genealogical table is only to draw on
imagination for what is not supplied by actual facts.

THE ANTIQUITIES OF MUKHALINGAM. 99

2.—DEVENDRAVARMAN’s Pra'Es.

(a) This is a set of three plates strung ona ring to
which is attached a seal. The emblem on the seal is not
recognisable. The characters of the plate are for the most
part like those of Indravarman’s plate No. CXLII. The
date is given in decimal figures as well as in words. The
language used is Sanskrit.

(b) The village Voppangi mentioned in the plates as
having been constituted into an agrahdra, is situated ata
very short distance from Chicacole and near Arasavalle, a
place of pilgrimage containing a temple dedicated to the
sun-god. The donees are said to belong to the Krishnd-tréya
gotra, a name that does not generally occur. It is not
known how it differs from the Atréya gotra.

(c) The name of Dévéndravarman’s father is curiously
enough Gunadrnava Names ending in arnava frequently
occur in the genealogical table contained in the Vizagapatam
grant of Anantuvarma-Chédayanga.

Abstract of Contents. (a) From the victorious city of
Kalinga, he, who has had the stains of the Kaliyuga washed
away by bowing down before the feet of the god Gokarna-
svamin on the summit of the hill Mahéndra, the best of the
Ganga dynasty, and who has acquired by the edge of: his
own sword the supremacy over the whole Kalinga country,
Maharaja Dévéndravarman, son of Gunarnava (ll. 1—8) ;

(b) Commands the /utwmbins or householders of the
village Voppangi in Saradamadamba (?) in the district
Kréshtukavartani, (ll. 8—9) :

(c) Beit known unto you—whereas this village is by
us granted rent-free, constituted into an agrahira, on the
8th day of the bright fortnight of the month of Mdgha
in Udagayana (|. 11), to the brahmacharins of the Krishna-
tréya gotra, named Charambasarman, Bhavasarman,

100 THE ANTIQUITIES OF MUKHALINGAM,

Vishnusarman, &c., brothers inhabiting Kalinganagara, let
them enjoy it freely (1. 14).

(2) The boundaries of the village are given up to line 19.

(ec) Some benedictive and imprecatory verses, and one or
two lines requesting future rulers to continue the gift.

(f) Written (composed) by Pallavachandra, son of
Matrichandra, under the orders of the king, in the presence
of the great Sabara-Nandisarman.

(g) Inthe year 183 of the increasing successful reign
(expressed in words and decimal figures), on the 27th day
of the month of Srdvan Mc

(h} Engraved by Sarvachandra, son of Khandichandra-
bhégika.

3.—VAJRAHASTA’S PLATES.

(a) ‘This is a set of three plates, each 82 ins. by 24 ins.
joined by a ring which has a seal, 14 in. in diameter, bear-
ing the figures of a bull couchant, the moon above, and a
floral device below it ; between which and the bull are some
characters, perhaps “ sri hara......... ” The language in
which the inscription is composed, is Sanskrit, but very
faulty. Leaving out of account trifling errors, from which
very few inscriptions are free, the general form in which the
grant is recorded, is in the beginning of it quite irregular.

(b) As regards characters, it may be said that the plate
is a confusion, an amazing jumble of various types of differ-
ent periods, a curious specimen of the writing of a transi-
tional period in this part of the country where the northern
and the southern alphabets seem to have fought for sapre-
macy. Chalukya characters from the oldest to the latest,
early Nagar? as given in Dr. Burnell’s plate No. XXII. as
well as modern Nagar? are all represented init. Three
kinds of m, s, 7, y, and h and two kinds ef A, n, b, v, 7, g, ch
and a among others are noticeable.

“

THE ANTIQUITIES OF MUKHALINGAM. 101

(c) The text of the inscription is almost wholly on the
inner sides of the first and the third plates and on both
the sides of the second plate; but on the outer sides of the
first and the third are inscribed some more characters, not
so well shaped as those in the text, but more or less similar
to them inform. These seem to me to contain the date ;
but I could not decipher them. The plates were sent to
Dr. Hultzsch who may be able to make out what they are.

(7) . The importance of these plates consists in their being
the only ones that have been discovered relating to Vajrahasta.
There are four or five such kings whose names occur in the
Vizagapatam plate No. 179. It is worth noting that
during the reign of Vajrahasta, himself a Ganga prince,
another prince of the same family is said to be ruling over
a small principality. The names of some influential fami-
lies are mentioned in the plate: the Kadamba-vamsa, Nidu-
santi-kula and Naggari-santuki-kula. The mention of a
Kayastha, a Bengal scribe, as one of the prince’s officers and
the occurrence of Oriya words like patthara, ‘a stone,’ are
also to be noted.

Abstract of Contents. (a) During the reign of Maharaja
Vajrahasta, who has had the stains of the Kaliyuga washed
away by bowing down to the feet of the god Gékarnasva-
min on the Mahéndra hill, &c., (ll. 1—8.)

(b) S rimad-Dhérapardja, son of Chofta-Kaémadiraja
of the Ganga dynasty, the ruler of Pancha-vishaya ;

(c) Commands the kutumbins of Lankd-kéna (ll. 10-11.)

(d) Be it known unto you that to the kdjaputra, named
Kamadi, son of Hrayamardja of the Naggari-santuki-kula
who has become famous by his many victories in battle, we
have granted, on the occasion of marriage (kanydddna-
nimatté), the village of Hossalsi, free from all dues. (Line 15)

(e) Boundaries of the village (up to line 21).

2

14

102 THE ANTIQUITIES OF MUKHALINGAM.

(f) The head man (palaka) of this village, Sri-Ugrakhédi-
vaja of the Kadamba-kula, and those persons who belong to
the Nidusanti-vamsa—let them not molest him (I, 23).

(g) ‘The usual benedictive and imprecatory verses (1. 26).

(h) The Ajnapti of this grant is (?) of the Kayastha-
kula. Composed by Dréndchdrya and engraved by Kanch-
yamacharin.

Note.—It has not been considered necessary to print the
author’s transcripts of the plates as the texts have now appeared
in the Epigraphia Indica (Vol. III. Nos. 20, 21, & 31) with photo-
lithographs.

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