• Materials for reconstructing the genealogy and history of the Early Pallavas are still inadequate.

• Inscriptions in Prakrit and Sanskrit languages primarily provide only the enumeration of names, often up to four generations, without any mention of political events or synchronisms.

• The lack of political or historical context in these inscriptions makes it difficult and confusing to construct the genealogy of the Pallava kings.

• Contemporaneous records, such as the Allahabad inscription of Samudragupta, copper-plate grants of the Kadamba and Western Ganga kings, and religious literature of the Jains, sometimes provide synchronisms that help determine the genealogical succession and reconstruct the political history of the Pallava dynasty.

• The inscriptions of the Early Pallavas are divided into two groups:

  1. The first group consists of Prakrit charters, representing the early period of the Pallavas.

  2. The second group consists of Sanskrit grants, belonging to the next epoch in the history of the dynasty.

Early Kings of the Prakrit Characters

• The earliest Prakrit inscription of the Pallava dynasty is on copper plates from Mayidavālu, located in Narasaraopeta taluk, Guntur district.

• The inscription refers to a grant made by Yuvamaharaja Śivāskandavarman, dated in the reign of his unknown predecessor.

• The grant was issued on the 5th day of the 6th fortnight of the summer season in the 10th year of the king, where Śivāskandavarman was the Yuvamaharaja (heir-apparent).

• The next record is on the Hirahadagalli plates from Bellary district, belonging to the reign of Śivāskandavarman.

• This grant was issued from the capital Kāñcīpura, and by this time, Śivāskandavarman was reigning as king, calling himself the Dharmamaharajadhiraja (the rightful supreme king of great kings) of the Pallava family.

• The grant was made on the 5th day of the 6th fortnight of the rainy season in the 8th year, written by the privy councillor Bhattisarman, the Bhojaka (Lord) of Kolivāla.

• The third Prakrit record of the family comes from Gunapadeya in Kandukur taluk, Nellore district, now preserved in the British Museum.

• This record is known as the British Museum plates of Cārudēvi, belonging to the time of Maharaja Śrī Vijayaskandavarman.

• The inscription is not dated, but contains an order by Cārudēvi, wife of the heir-apparent Yuvamaharaja Śrī Vijayabuddhavarman and mother of the prince Buddhyānkura.

• Vijayaskandavarman mentioned in this grant can be identified with Śivāskandavarman, as Śiva and Vijaya were mere honorifics for kings of the early post-Śātavāhana period.

• The Prakrit inscriptions of the Pallava kings provide records of four generations of the family.