Chola

Locality unknown. 10th century AD.

These are five copper-plates, which have been in the Museum for a long time and have no history. They are strung on a ring, the ends of which are secured by means of a seal bearing in relief a seated tiger facing proper right. There are two fish to the right of this. These three figures have a bow below, a parasol and two Chamaras (fly-whisks) at the top and a lamp on each side. A round the margin a sloka is engraved in Grantha characters, which has been translated, "This is the matchless edict of King Parakesarivarman, who teaches justice to the kings of his realm".

A portion of the inscription is in Sanskrit and the rest is in Tamil. The script employed is a mixture of Grantha and Tamil.

The plates contain an edict issued by the Chola king Ko-Para-Kesarivarman alias Uttama Choladeva, at Kachhippedu (Kanchipuram) at the request of his minister, to confirm the contents of a number of stone inscriptions, which referred to certain dues to be paid to the temple of Vishnu at Kachhippedu. The villagers of Kuram and Ariyarperumbakkam had to supply five hundred kadi of paddy per year as interest on two hundred and fifty kalanju of gold borrowed by them from the temple treasury. Similarly the inhabitants of the villages near Kanchipuram got loans from the temple treasury and paid interest at the rate of five per cent per annum. A fresh grant was issued by this same king, which contains the arrangements made for the conduct of the Chittirai festival of the deity in the temple of Uragam, in Kachhippedu. Two hundred kalanju of gold were deposited with the residents of certain villages near Kanchipuram, who were asked to pay a yearly interest of fifteen kalanju of gold to meet the expenses. Arrangements made for the several services in the temple are also described.

This Parakesarivarman was the uncle and predecessor of Raja Raja I and the period may therefore be fixed as the 10th Century AD.