The Salankayanas of Vengi

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.

Chronology of the śalankayanas

Dévavarman, the First King

• The chronology of the Śālankāyana kings can be determined using the copper-plate charters of the family.

• It has been noted that Prakrit charters take precedence over Sanskrit records in terms of time, as discussed in relation to the Pallava Prakrit grants.

• Distinguished epigraphists like Dr. Fleet and Prof. Georg Buhler have argued, based on compelling reasons, that Prakrit records refer to an earlier time than those issuing Sanskrit charters.

• The Ellore grant of Maharaja Vijaya Dēvavarman, written in Prakrit, is considered the earliest record of the Śālankāyana family.

• The language of the Ellore grant is more archaic than the literary Prakrit seen in the British Museum plates of Yuvamaharaja Vijaya Buddhavarman’s Queen Cārudēvi.

• The Ellore Prakrit plates may be assigned to either the close of the third or the beginning of the fourth century.

• It is reasonable to assign the Ellore Prakrit grant to the beginning of the fourth century, assuming that archaic literary Prakrit persisted longer in Northern Andhradesa than in the southern provinces.

• Therefore, Vijaya Dēvavarman is likely the earliest member of the Śālankāyana family known to history and probably the founder of the Śālankāyana dynasty of Vēngipura.

Dr. Jayaswal’s Theory: Merging of Two Dynasties: Incorrect

• Dr. Jayaswal, a learned writer, is criticized for drawing conclusions about the dynasties of Andhra and Southern India in a somewhat arbitrary manner, leading to misleading conclusions.

• For example, Dr. Jayaswal assumes that Vijaya Dēvavarman (the Asvamedhayajña of the Ellore Prakrit plates) was a successor of Maharaja Vijaya Nandivarman (the donor of the Kollēru Sanskrit plates).

• It is pointed out that the copper-plate inscriptions of the Early Dynasties of Andhradesa have not been carefully studied in Dr. Jayaswal’s work.

• Dr. Jayaswal also mixes up two distinct dynasties: the Magadhas of Pistapura in South Kalinga and the Śālankāyanas of Vengi in Andhradesa as one dynasty, without any evidence.

• Vengi lay to the west of Kalinga, and the two kingdoms were separated by the Godavari River and its arms, or more precisely by the Yēlēru River which flowed on the southern side of Pistapura.

• The kingdom of Vengi extended as far as the Krsna in the south-west and into the hinterland of modern Telingana in the Nizam’s Dominions in the west. Its northern boundary was the left bank of the Godavari.

• Śālankāyanas were a separate dynasty and had no connection to the Magadha family of Pistapura.

• It is deemed impossible to believe that Vijaya Dēvavarman was a successor of Vijaya Nandivarman, even when their chronology is examined on palaeographical grounds.

The Genealogy of Peda Vegi Plates

• Vijaya Dēvavarman’s name is not repeated in the remaining four charters of the family.

• The Peda Vegi plates of Nandivarman mention four generations of the family, including the donor: Hastivarman, Nandivarman (I), Candavarman, and Vijaya Nandivarman (II).

• The Kolleru grant of Vijaya Nandivarman only mentions the donor as the eldest son of Candavarman.

• Two additional charters come from Kantēru for Vijaya Skandavarman and Nandivarman, which do not mention their ancestors, making it hard to place them in the family genealogy.

• Nandivarman of the Kantēru grant is likely the ancestor of Vijaya Nandivarman from the Kolleru and Peda Vegi grants, based on palaeographical evidence.

• Some scholars believe Vijaya Skandavarman might be a younger son of Candavarman, while Lakshmana Rao considers him to be the son and successor of Nandivarman II.

• Lakshmana Rao places Hastivarman, a contemporary of Samudragupta, at the top of the family pedigree and makes Dēvavarman his son.

• The theory that Hastivarman was the first king of the dynasty is untenable, as the contemporaneity of Hastivarman and Samudragupta does not conclusively establish his place in the family.

• Vijaya Dēvavarman is considered the earliest known member of the dynasty, with his Prakrit grant dating to the early 4th century.

• Lakshmana Rao’s scheme of the pedigree, which places Hastivarman as the founder, has been accepted by most scholars but is not universally accepted.

• The Prakrit Charters preceding the Sanskrit grants suggest that Vijaya Dēvavarman should be placed above Hastivarman in the family pedigree.

• Chronology of the Sälankāyana dynasty is based on the assumption of about twenty years per generation, with six generations spanning approximately 120 years.

• The reign of Vijaya Dēvavarman is assigned to around 300 A.D., and the last king, Vijaya Skandavarman, ruled until about 420 A.D..

• Samudragupta’s expedition into the Deccan, dated to roughly 343 A.D., provides a reference point for determining the chronology of the Sälankāyana kings.

• Palaeographical evidence confirms that all five records of the Sälankāyana dynasty belong to the 4th century, not earlier or later.