Introduction

• The accession of Vijaya Skandavarman II to the throne of Kāñci around the close of the 3rd century A.D., and the rise of the Sālankāyana dynasty in the 1st decade of the 4th century, led to the destruction of the supremacy of the Anandas of Kandrapura.

• A series of weak kings after Dāmādaravarman in the first quarter of the 4th century resulted in the establishment of the Pallava dominion in southern Andhra country.

• In the 33rd year of his reign, Pallava king Vijaya Skandavarman II granted a village in Karmarāstra to the Brāhmana Golaśarman as a sattvika gift, signaling his control over regions up to the southern bank of the Krsna river in Andhradesa.

• This event was made possible by the rise of the Sālankāyanas in Northern Andhradesa.

• The Sālankāyanas, also referred to as the Salakenoi by Ptolemy, were an ancient family mentioned in the Periplus and Ptolemy’s Geography.

• The Sālankāyanas were likely established by the Imperial Andhras to protect the sea-board and inland trade routes in the mainland by the 1st century A.D..

• The Sālankāyanas’ capital was possibly Vengīpura, with Magaris being identified as Manjira, a location linked with a Nāga dynasty.

• It is likely that the Sālankāyanas, Brhatphalāyanas, and Arournoi (Arvarnoi) were contemporaneous families under the Imperial Andhras in the 1st and 2nd centuries A.D..

• Other ruling families, such as the Kausikas, Musikas, and Avas, were stationed as Mahasénapatis by the Imperial Andhras to govern the eastern dominions.

• The Kausikas are mentioned in the Nāsik cave inscription of Emperor Śri Yajña Śātakarṇi.

• The Musikas and Avas are mentioned in the Hathigumpha inscription of Emperor Kharavela of Kalinga.

• Mūsikanagara, likely located in the Nalgonda district, is associated with the Musika dynasty and likely an important trade center.

• The Avas, identified with the Andhras, are mentioned in the Bhagavata Purana and the Vishnu Purana.

• Ava dynasty is associated with the foundation of the city of Pithumda (possibly Pithumda of the Hathigumpha inscription).

• The Sālankāyanas held a subordinate position under the Imperial Andhras and later the Andhrabhītyas or Śrīparvatiyas before assuming supremacy in their locality.

• The Sālankāyanas were among the earliest dynasties in Andhradesa, following the Brhatphalāyanas and Anandas.

Sources: Only the Copper-Plate Inscription of the Family

• The sources of knowledge about the history of this ancient dynasty are based on five copper-plate charters of the family.

• These charters have been brought to light by epigraphists and are published with notes and translations in English.

• The earliest record in terms of antiquity is the Ellore Prakrit grant of Vijaya Dēvavarman.

• The second record is the Kollēru charter of Vijaya Nandivarman.

• The third record is the Peda inscription of the Vegi copper-plate grant of Nandivarman.

• The fourth and fifth records are two copper-plate grants found at Kantēru in Guntur district, belonging to the reigns of Vijaya Skandavarman and Nandivarman respectively.

Sälankäyana: A Götra name Adopted as the Family Appellation

• The Śālankāyanas named their family after their götra name Sālankāyana, similar to the Brhatphalāyanas and Anandas.

• The Śālankāyanas were a Brahmaṇa family, like the Brhatphalāyanas and the Bhäradvāja-Pallavas of Kañci, though they attached the suffix varman to their personal names, as per the practice of the age.

• Śālankāyana seems to be originally the name of a Vedic rṣi, according to the Matsya Purana and the Pravaramañjarī of Puruṣottama. Śālankāyana was a descendant of śalanku or śalańka, one of the sons of Visvāmitra.

• In the Pravarakanda, two gotras are named after Śālankya:

  • One belongs to the Angirasa gana with the pravara Angirasa-Bārhaspatya-Bhäradvāja-śālankāyana.

  • The other belongs to the Visvāmitra gana with the pravara Vis’vāmitra-Śālankāyana-Kausika.

• The word Sālankāyana occurs twice in the Ganapatha of Panini, indicating it as an ancient family.

• Panini refers to Sālankāyanas and their territory as Śālankāyanaka, but it’s difficult to establish a connection with the Vengi Śālankāyanas based on this.

• The Sanskrit lexicon Medini gives Nandi, the sacred bull of God Śiva, as one of the meanings of Sālankāyana.

• The emblem on the seals of the Śālankāyana copper-plate charters, like the Bharadvāja-Pallavas, is a bull seated to the proper left, suggesting their connection with Nandi.

• The Śālankāyanas of Vengīpura appear to have a connection with the Bharadvāja-Pallavas:

  • The Śālankāyana charters resemble Pallava grants in the use of epithets.

  • Their crest is the bull, like the Pallavas.

  • The Śālankāyanas seem to have been on friendly terms with the Pallavas throughout their ascendancy.

• The Śālankāyanas belong to the same Angirasa gana as the Bharadvāja-Pallavas in their götra origin.

• The Śālankāyanas adopted the expression Bappa-bhattaraka-pada-bhaktah, meaning “devoted to the feet of the venerable lord the father”, from their southern neighbours.

• Bappa is not a proper name but refers to the venerable father in respectable terms, used in inscriptions of several dynasties like the Guptas, Vākāṭakas, Pallavas, and early kings of Kalinga.

• The adoption of the epithet Bappa bhattaraka-pada-bhaktah denotes a reaction in Daksināpatha around the middle of the third century A.D., marking a shift from the use of matronymic nomenclature (e.g., Vāsisthīputra, Gautamīputra, Mātharīputra).

• From the middle of the third century, the matronymic prefixes were abandoned, and kings began to honor their fathers as their predecessors on the throne in formal preambles of their charters.

Citrarathasvamin: Salańkäyanas: Sun Worshippers

• The tutelary deity of the Śālankāyanas was Citrarathasvamin, and the epithet Citrarathasvami-padanudhyatah (“one who is absorbed by devotion to the holy feet of the Lord Citrarathasvamin”) appears in all their charters, confirming their devotion to this god.

• Sanskrit lexicons like Vacaspalyam mention Citraratha as a synonym for the Sun-god.

• The Śālankāyanas are therefore believed to be worshippers of Citrarathasvamin, the Sun-god, and this is supported by the Sun-god emblem found on some of their seals, representing a disk with illuminating rays.

• The reference to the worship of Citrarathasvamin in the Śālankāyana records is the earliest instance of Sun worship in ancient Andhradesa.

• The temple of Citrarathasvamin was likely located in the metropolis Vengīpura, which is identified with Peda-Vegi, a ruined village about eight miles northwest of Ellore in the West Godavari district.

• The identification of Peda-Vegi with Vengīpura is supported by the presence of a small mound at Peda Vegi, believed to be the site of the ancient Citrarathasvamin temple, and the discovery of fragmentary Prakrit inscriptions.

• In the vicinity of this site, there is a temple dedicated to God Visnu.

• Sir Walter Eliot, who explored the area in 1840, described the remains of ancient Vengīpura, including several nearby villages:

  • Peda Vegi is located about eight or ten miles north of Ellore, with Cina Vegi to the north and Dendulür five miles south.

  • Dendulür and its attached hamlets, like Ganganagüdem and Sänigüdem, were traditionally part of one large city that had numerous temples dedicated to Śiva.

  • Ruins of about fifty temples dedicated to Śiva exist in Dendulür, and there are four statues of Vighnesvara, one of which is very large, located near a tank surrounded by date trees.

  • A high mound called Bhima-lingam dibba is found on the east side of Dendulür, and a tank named Macālamma-Ceruvu to the north has a mound with two stone bulls at the center.

  • Another tank, Närikalaväri-ceruvu, to the west of the village, has two Śilasasanams standing upright, with two more that have fallen down, indicating a rich historical context in the region.

  • The area between Peda Vegi and Cina Vegi also has a remarkable mound, suggesting treasures hidden in the locality.