Setupati

      Madurai, 20th November 1606 AD.

    A single copper-plate received from the District Judge of Madurai  in 1911-12.
   
     Both the language and script of the inscription are Tamil.   

     The plate records the gift of five villages to the temple of Ramanatha and Parvatavardhani, at Ramesvaram, for workship and offerings, by Dalavoy Setupati Kattadevar, Raja of Ramnad, on a new moon day.
   
     The grant was made on the sixteenth day in the month of Kartika in the year Prabhava, Vikrama Samvat 1529 (20th November 1606 AD).

Vishnukundins

     Atikavani tank, Chikkulla agrahara in the Tuni Division of the Godavari district, Andhra Pradesh. 8th century A.D.

     Five copper-plates discovered some time before 1887, during the excavation of earth at the Atikavani tank in the Chikkulla agrahara in the Tuni Division of the Godavari district by Pindi Nammayya of Upperagudem, a hamlet of Amalapuram, in the Golgonda taluk of the Vizagapattinam district, and recieved from the collector of Vizagapattinam in 1896-97 to whom the plates were sent by the   karnam of Amalapuram, who secured them, when they were offered for sale in 1895 by the wife of Nammayya. The plates are strung on a ring, the ends of which are soldered to a circular seal bearing in relief on the countersunk surface a lion.
   
     The Inscription is in Sanskrit, though Prakrit words occur now and then. The script employed is pre-Chalukyan.
   
     Maharaja Sri Vikramendravarman, who was a member of the family of Vishnukundins, issued a proclamation from his royal residence at Lendulura granting the village of Regonram, which was south-east to the village of Ravireva on the bank of the river Krishnabenna (Krishna) in the Natripati district, to the Somagirisvaranatha temple.
   
     The grant was made on the fifth day in the eighth fortnight of the summer season in the tenth year of the king's reign. No other date is given. The Maharaja's grandfather is stated to have been connected with the family of Vakatas, which flourished towards the end of the seventh and in the 8th Century AD. This record may not be later than the 8th Century AD.

Private

      North Arcot. 4th May 1168 AD.

     A single brass-plate recieved from the Collector of North Arcot. A triangular brass-plate with figure of Kamakshiamman with the sun and moon on either side and five human figures which appear to be intended for the five artisans mentioned in the plate is soldered to the top. Both the language and script of the inscription are Tamil.

    The following incident is recorded: Five Panchalattars, who were the leading men of the Idangai section of the five artisan castes made a car of bell-metal for taking in procession the Goddess Kamakshi, round the streets of Kanchipuram. While the car was being drawn a magician senia Singappuli of the Valangai section stopped it by incantations. When the Panchalattars were at a loss to know what to do, Goddess Kamakshi told them in a dream that a magician might be brought from Cochin. A messenger was accordingly sent and Mangammal, wife of a Kambalattan, offered to draw the car with the help of her son. The latter with his father and mother came to Kanchipuram and found by incantations that several demons had been set up to restrain the car and that the magic could be averted only by offering a human sacrifice. The Panchalattars were not prepared for it. The son was thinking of some device, when Senia Singappuli intentionally picked up a quarrel with him, and a dispute arose as to their superiority. To settle this, the Panchallattars chained both of them, put them in a room and set fire to its roof but both came out unhurt. They were then tied in bags of chunam, the mouths of which were tied and the bags were then thrown in a river, but both escaped unhurt, Both appeared to be of equal capacity. They tried to establish their superiority in another way. A sula (trident) was set up in front of the Kamakshi temple and the son was placed horizontally over it. He remained there unhurt for three days. But Singappuli set up a sula in front of the Ekambareswara temple and had him placed over the sula. His body went down through the sula and he died suddenly. The son having proved himself to be superior tried to draw the car by incantations, but he did not succeed. He then decided to sacrifice his second wife, who came to the car in yellow robes after finishing puja. Her neck was cut and the head was hung on the top of the car and her entrails were offered as prey to the demons. Having thus satisfied the demons the son tied one end of a thread to the car and another to his nose. With the help of his mantrams he was able to draw the car in the twelve streets of Kanchipuram. The five Panchalattars were very much pleased with this and jointly executed this deed, binding themselves and every household of their community to pay the son annually quarter varaha and two marakals of rice.

    This happened at a time when the Chola empire extended from Kanchipuram to Comorin and from Nagoor to Palani.

     This record was issued on the eleventh day in month of Vaikasi in the year Sarvadhari, S.1098, Kali. 4421. These cyclic and Kaliyuga years do not correspond.

     The given data work out to 4th May 1168 AD, but the characters are too modern for this date. The document is evidently a forgery.