Vijayasiddhi

A copper-plate grant of the Eastern Cālukya King Vijayasiddhi (681–705 AD), 46 × 165 mm, 3 copper-plates inscribed on five sides, bound with a royal seal bearing the name “śrīvijayasiddhi” courtly Sanskrit prose and verse (Seen with an art dealer in London, present location unkown).

The seal bears in relief in a countersunk surface his assumed royal name Vijayasiddhi. Such titles ending in -siddhi were commonly taken up by the early Eastern Cālukyas. Beneath the elegantly styled calligraphic name is placed the seven-tongued fire of Vedic sacrifice, above it the auspicious first digit of the waxing moon, symbolising that the Eastern Cālukyas counted themselves as descended from the Moon-god.

The opening panegyric states that the Cālukya dynasty is of the Mānavya lineage “lauded in the entire world”, descended from the Goddess Hārīti, that they gained their royalty as a boon from the Goddess Kauśiki, that they are “protected by the host of Mother-Goddesses”, that their bodies are purified by the rites of the sacrificial bath performed after the horse-sacrifice to commemorate their triumph over their foes, won by the grace of the God Viṣṇu, whose banner bears the emblem of a boar. After briefly tracing their lineage the text introduces the King Vijayasiddhi as the “beloved son of Viṣṇuvardhana”. This probably intends to clarify that he was Viṣṇuvardhana's designated sucessor and not an usurper. He is described as the master of all sciences, broad-minded, adorned with the virtues of beauty, valour etc. surpassing even his own father in power, conversant with logic etc. His feet are illumined by the rays streaming from the diadems of countless vassal kings bowing their heads before him.

The copperplate then goes on to record the details of a landgrant, the details of which could be deciphered if the plates were cleaned of verdigris.

A tentative transcript of the uncleaned first plate:

A:
1: svasti śrīmatāṃ sakalajagadabhipūjayamā[na]māna[vyasagotrāṇāṃ hārīti-]
2: putrāṇāṃ kauśikivaraprasādalabdharājyāṇāṃ mātṛgaṇaparipāli[tānāṃ]
3: bhagavannārāyaṇaprasādas{ā}mās<ā>ditavarāharalañchanā+++śva
4: medhāvabhṛtasnānapavitrīkṛtavapuṣāṃ cālukyānā[ṃ] kula[m alaṃkariṣṇoḥ]
5: mudite *n nayavinayavikramopajāta[...]
6: +yavaprabhamahārājā priya[nu]jasyendrasamā[...]

B
1: [dre]++++sya ssaraṇekasa...
2: +ya++gandhādhivāsitasa[ka]ladi[ś*ṇ]ūlasya nānā śāstrāny as[ope*ra]
3: hi[ta]vimalaviśālabuddhe tyāgo [dh]āryya[śau]ryyak[ā]ntyādiguṇālaṃ
4: kṛtasyaḥ śrīViṣṇuvarddhanamahārājasya priyatanayaḥ samati[krāṃ]ta
5: pi[tṝ]guṇaśaktisampannaḥ ānvīkṣikyādividy[ā]prayogeṣu vijayasiddhi[r a]
6: sidhāraṇanamitaripunṛpatimakuṭata[ṭayaṭimaṇaka]maṇikiraṇa[...]