Origin of the Pallava Dynasty

There were many debates among scholars regarding the origin of the Pallavas. There are two major theories regarding the origin of the Pallavas, one is the foreign origin tracing them to the Persians or Parthians or Pahlavas advocated by scholars such as Vincet Smith^[1], Lewis Rice^[2], Rai Bahadur Venkayya^[3], Jouvieu Dubreuill^[4], etc. However subsequently Vincet Smith^[5] himself totally rejects this view of foreign origin of Pallavas and regards them as of indigenous tribe, clan or caste.

Venkayya tried to connect them with the Pahlavas tribe of North -western India for their name sake, who finds mention in the Nasik cave inscription of Gautami Balasri^[6], in which the Satavahana king Gautamiputra Satakarni was said to have defeated the Palhava tribe along with the Sakas and Yavanas in 130 A.D., and also in the Junagadh inscription of Kshatrapa Rudradaman^[7], wherein one Pahlava minister Suvisaka is mentioned. He also gets the support of scholars like Professor Weber, who traces their origin to the Arsacidan Parthians.

Venkayya further quotes the view of Vincet Smith^[8] regarding the migration of Pallavas from the West and praises their accommodative nature in these lines:

“…we find a tribe from Persia migrating to India…down to Conjeevaram and further south as far as Trichinopoly…holds sway over the country for over five centuries. Whatever might have been the religion of Pallavas when they left Persia, they were quite ready to accept the creed of the country…this circumstance evidentially led to their fusion and absorption into the indigenous tribes”^[9].

Similarly Jouvieu Dubreuil^[10] tries to connect the Pallavas with the Palhavas of the Nasik cave inscription of Gautami Balasri and the Pahlava of the Junagadh inscription of Rudradaman with the Palava of the Mayidavolu plates^[11].

On the basis of the Velurpalaiyam plates of a later Pallava king Nandivarman III^[12], Dubreuil concludes that the first member of the Pallava became a king by marrying the daughter of a Naga king and says that

“..a Pallava prince, who was a native of the territory adjoining Aparanta married the daughter of Siva-Skanda-Naga, and became king of Kanchi, after the downfall of the Satavahana dynasty; and the son born of the marriage of the first Pallava king with the Naga princess bore, according to the custom of the Hindus, the name of his grandfather

¹⁰⁹. But as Dr. R. Gopalan^[13] says there is nothing in the charters to show that the Virakurcha mentioned in it was the first Pallava ruler. V. Venkatasubba Ayyar^[14], while discussing on the origin of the Pallavas draws attention to an inscription below the panels in the Vaikunthaperumal temple at Kanchipuram^[15], which refers to Tarandikondaposar assuring Hiranyavarman-maharaja, father of Nandivarman II, that the object is not the head of an elephant but the crown intended for his son. Ayyar tries to visualize these elephant shaped crowns by comparing them with those depicted on the coins issued by the Bactrian king Demetrius and comes to conclusion that the Pallavas could be of foreign origin.

The other group which traces an indigenous origin of the Pallava family can also be divided into two classes: one describing them as natives of Tamil speaking region and the other as descendents from northern parts of India. To the former class belong scholars like Rasanayagam^[16], who accepts a legendary story in Manimekhalai and views that the progenitor of the Pallavas was Tondaman-Ilam-Tiraiyan, born to the Chola king Velver-killi and Pilivali, a daughter of Naga king of Manipallavam. Almost similar views were put forward by M.S. Ramaswami Aiyangar^[17]. Prof. S. Krishnaswamy Aiyangar^[18] also refuted the theories of foreign origin of Pallavas and says that the two terms Pallava and Pahlava refer to historically different people and draws his support from a 9^th century work Kavyamimamsa. In this work its author Rajasekhara, a court poet of Gurjara kings Mahendrapala and Mahipala while describing the five territorial divisions of India in the seventh chapter, speaks of Pallavas as lying in the Dakshinapatha, beyond the Mahishmati and the Pahlavas as lying in the Uttarapatha, beyond the Prithudaka (i.e. modern Pehoa in Kurukshetra district, Haryana). However, he says that the Pallavas were certainly not the natives of Tamil speaking region and regards that the name Pallava as Sanskrit translation of the Tamil name Tondaiyar or Tondaman.

Regarding this name, he furher says that,

“The rulers of Kanchi had continued to be known as Tondamans all through historical times. The people of the locality were similarly known as Tondaiyar and the region inhabited by them consequently came to be known as Tondaimandalam. These names are all traceable in South Indian literature in the period of prominence of the Pallavas and even before”^[19].

Further, from the provenance of the inscriptions, the Prakrit and Sanskirt languages employed in their early charters and from the location of the victorious camps mentioned in the charters the scholar comes to a conclusion that the Pallavas started their rule as viceroys under the Satavahans in the south-eastern frontiers. He further, asserts that after the disintegration of the Satavahana empire, the Pallavas were one of the many smaller kingdoms that emerged and gradually, they extended their territory dislodging the local tribes. Finally their matrimonial alliance with the Chutu-Nagas of the Banavasi region, one of the viceroys of the erstwhile Satavahana empire, facilitated the Pallavas to rise to imperial status and practically became the masters of the territories previously held under the sway of the Satavahanas in the south^[20].

Prof. K. A. Nilakanta Sastri regarding the orign of the Pallavas finally concludes that,

“A foreign, Pahlava origin has often been postulated for them, and this seems to gain some support from the crown, recalling hat of the Indo -Greek king Demitrius, in the shape of an elephant’s scalp, offered to Nandivarman II on the occasion of his being chosen for the throne; but on a broad view they appear like the Kadmabas and even the Chutus before them to have been a dynasty of North Indian origin which moved to the South”^[21].

An examination of the copper-plate charters issued by the various kings of this dynasty is also not much useful to solve the problem of their origin. It only helped in constructing their geneaology after eliminating the legendary list of ancestors and by comparing all the varying genealogies listed in different charters. In the charters of Prakrit language issued by the early Pallavas viz., the Mayidavolu^[22], Hirahadagalli^[23] and Gunapadeya^[24] no genealogical list is found. They claimed only as belonging to the Pallava family of Bharadvaja gotra. It is only from the time of Skandavarman III (circa 400 A.D. -436 A.D.), i.e. the Omgodu (I) plates^[25] onwards, when the charters came to be written in Sanskrit language, a genealogical list can be seen mentioning up to four generations including the donor king. However, exception is the Vesanta grant of Simhavarman II^[26] (circa 436 A.D. -477 A.D.), where only three generation of rulers inclusive of the reigning king was mentioned. However, the prasasti in the charters issued by the imperial Pallavas, starting from the time of Simhavarman III (circa 540 A.D. -550 A.D.)^[27] give a long genealogical list, tracing their family to legendary ancestors starting from Vishnu, Brahma, Angirasa, Brhaspati, Samyu, Bharadvaja, Drona, Asvatthama, Pallava, etc. In an inscription from the Kailasanatha temple at Kanchipuram^[28] of the time of Narasimhavarman II Rajasimha, another new member viz., Pruthu was introduced as the son of Asvatthama and father of Pallava. However even among the charters of the imperial Pallavas two exceptional cases can be noticed, i.e., in the Vunna-guruvapalem plates of Paramesvaravarman I^[29], in which the old tradition of giving a genealogical list up to four generations was followed and also in the Reyuru plates of Narasimhavarman II Rajasimha^[30], which gives names up to only three generations. A study of the prasastis given in the copper-plate grants show that originally in the beginning they made no claim of their legendary ancestry and it was invented later, may be to trace their family to antiquity or to claim divine kinship. From the provenance of the solitary stone inscription (i.e. Manchikallu inscription of Simhavarman I) of the early Pallavas and their many copper-plate grants and also on the basis of the territories mentioned in their grants, it could be certainly said that initially they were ruling parts of Guntur and Nellore districts of Andhra Pradesh, before they moved down south to Kanchipuram to establish an independent rule of their own. Even after they made Kanchipuram as their capital, it seems that their hold over Guntur -Nellore region did not cease. This is proved by the Mayidavolu plates^[31], wherein it is mentioned that yuva-maharaja Sivaskandavarman issued an order from the capital Kanchipuram to the governor of Dhannakada (i.e. Dhanyakataka, modern Amaravati in Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh) concerning the villages of Viripara, situated in the provinces of Andhrapatha. Another grant found from the village Hirahadagalli^[32] refers to the location of the donated land as situated on the southern boundary of the village Chillakreka-kodunka in Satahani-rattha (Satavahana-rashtra).

Regarding the rise of Pallavas as an independent power, Dr. T. V. Mahalingamrelies on the account mentioned in the Velurpalaiyam plates of Nandivarman III (circa 846 A.D. to 869 A.D.)^[33], and says that,

“Considering the political situation during the aftermath of the fall of the Satavahana power, it is not unlikely that Virakurca by a matrimonial alliance with the Cutu-Nagas of Vanavasi was able to become an independent ruler”^[34].

The Vayalur pillar inscription^[35], Darsi plates^[36] and the inscription at Tirukkalukkunram^[37] further prove the existence of the king Virakurca and his son Skandasishya respectively. Further evidence for the relationship between the Chutus and the Pallavas can be got from an inscription from Banavasi^[38] (North Kanara district), which mentions one Sivaskanda Nagasri, probably the mother of Chuta king Vinhukada Chutukulananda Satakarni II. The name of the Queen is reminiscent of Sivaskandavarman of the Pallava family and the name of the Chuta king also shows the matrimonial relationship between Chutas and Satavahanas^[39]. Thus, it seems that the Pallavas are ultimately related to the Satavahanas, through the intermediary Chuta kings and they became independent after the downfall of the Satavahanas.

The son of Virakurca is mentioned in the Velurpalaiyam plates of Nandivarman III^[40] as Skandasishya and he is credited to have seized the ghatika at Kanchi from Satyasena. This incident is an important turnover in the history of the Pallavas, because the ghatika at Kanchi played a significant role over the selection and coronation of rulers in the Pallava kingdom as can be seen later in the case of Nandivarman II. After the seizure of the ghatika, till the reign of Simhavarman I (circa 295 A.D. -330 A.D.), their genealogy is not clear probably due to the conflicts between the Pallavas assisted by the Chutus and the Ikshvakus of Vijayapuri, who became powerful in the Andhrapatha region which was earlier ruled by the Satavahanas. It is only with the downfall of the Ikshvakus of Vijayapuri at about mid 3^rd century A.D., the Pallavas rose to imperial status. This changed status of the kings can also be seen especially in the Manchikallu stone inscription of Simhavarman I^[41], the Mayidavolu plates of his son yuvamaharaja Sivaskandavarman I^[42] and in the Hirahadagalli plates^[43] of the same ruler, but with the title Dharma-maharajadhiraja. From the time of Simhavarman I a systematic genealogy of their family and important political events comes to light, especially through a number of copper-plate grants issued by the successive rulers.

The individual important political events of the successive rulers of early Pallavas (circa 295 A.D. -610 A.D.) are briefed out below:

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Vincet Smith, Early History of India, 1^st edition, 1904, p. 348.

[2]:

Lewis Rice, Mysore and Coorg from Inscriptions, London, 1909, p. 53.

[3]:

V. Venkayya, The Pallavas, Presidential address delivered to the South Indian Association, at the Annual meeting held on the 27^th January 1907.

[4]:

Jouvieu Dubreuill, Ancient History of the Deccan, Pondicherry, 1920, Reprint Madras, 1991, pp. 54–57.

[5]:

Vincet Smith, Early History of India, 3^rd edition, p. 469.

[6]:

Epigraphia Indica, Vol. VIII, pp. 35 ff.

[7]:

Ibid., pp. 36–49.

[8]:

Vincet Smith, op.cit. 1^st edition, 1904, p. 348.

[9]:

Venkayya, op.cit. pp. 1–3 and 40–41.

[10]:

Jouvieu Dubreuill, op.cit., pp. 55–56.

[11]:

Epigraphia Indica, Vol. VI, pp. 84–89.

[12]:

South Indian Inscriptions, Vol. II, Part V, p. 510; T. N. Subrahmanyan, Thirty Pallava Copper Plates (in Tamil). Madras, 1966, p. 253.

[13]:

R. Gopalan, History of the Pallavas of Kanchi, Madras, 1928, p. 15.

[14]:

South Indian Inscriptions, Vol. XII, Introduction, pp. I–II.

[15]:

Ibid., Vol. IV, p. 11, section f.

[16]:

Indian Antiquary, Vol. LII, pp. 75–80.

[17]:

M.S. Ramaswami Ayyangar, Studies in South Indian Jainism, Madras, 1922, p. 143.

[18]:

Journal of Indian History, Vol. II, pp. 25–26.

[19]:

Introduction, in Dr. R. Gopalan authored History of the Pallavas of Kanchi, Madras, 1928, pp. x–xi.

[20]:

S. Krishnaswamy Aiyangar, op.cit., pp. xv–xviii.

[21]:

K. A. Nilakantha Sastri, A History of South India from Prehistoric times to the fall of Vijayanagara, New Delhi, 1955, p. 91.

[22]:

Epigraphia Indica, Vol. VI, pp. 84–88.

[23]:

Ibid., Vol. I, pp. 1 ff.

[24]:

Ibid., Vol. VIII, no. 12.; It is both in Prakrit and Sanskrit language, issued by the queen Charudevi.

[25]:

Ibid., Vol. XV, pp. 249–252.

[26]:

Transactions of the Archaeological Society of South India, 1962, pp. 85–96.

[27]:

The Pallankoyil Plates, Annual Report on Indian Epigraphy, A 10 of 1958–59.

[28]:

South Indian Inscriptions, Vol. I, p. 12.

[29]:

Epigraphia Indica , Vol. XXXII, pp. 91–98.

[30]:

Ibid., Vol. XXIX, pp. 89–97.

[31]:

Ibid., Vol. VI, pp. 84–89.

[32]:

Ibid., Vol. I, pp. 2–10.

[33]:

South Indian Inscriptions, Vol. II, Part V, p. 510; T. N. Subrahmanyan, op. cit., p. 253.

[34]:

T. V. Mahalingam, Inscriptions of the Pallavas, Delhi, 1988, p. xxx.

[35]:

Annual Report on Indian Epigraphy, No. 368 of 1908.

[36]:

Epigraphia Indica, Vol. I, p. 357.

[37]:

Ibid., Vol. III, p. 277.

[38]:

Indian Antiquary, Vol. XIV, p. 331ff.

[39]:

P. B. Desai (ed.), A History of the Karnataka, Dharwad, 1970, p. 55.

[40]:

South Indian Inscriptions, Vol. II, Part V, p. 510.

[41]:

Epigraphia Indica, Vol. XXXII, p. 87–90.

[42]:

Ibid.,Vol. VI, pp. 84–89.

[43]:

Ibid., Vol. I, pp. 2–10.