inscriptions in the hassan district

xxvi
INTRODUCTION.
His younger brother was Damodara, a great devotee of Vishnu and most
profuse donor of gifts. But he had another younger brother, Kunjanambi, who
was an expert in testing all manner of gems. He made himself agreeable to
both the Hoysala emperor in the south and Ballaha himself in the north 0 ,
and gained groat credit as a truthful negotiator by effecting an alliance
between the two kings. He at once supplied all the wants of the Malava,
Kahnga, Chola and Pandya kings, so that no Setti was equal to Kunjanambi
throughout the Hoysala kingdom. His son-in-law, from making gifts from a
cart-load (bhandi) of money, was called Bhandmambi. His son-in-law Kandanambi,
had a son Kunja. who died young as a Jaiigaina, and in his name his
father, besides charitable works in other places, erected the Kunj&Svara temple,
making his daughter the Gana-kumari Chandavve the proprietress. And the
raja-guru Rudrasakti-deva, the 120 temple priests, with all the Jiyas and
mahd-Oanahgalu, acknowledged her authority by binding on her a crown or
vibhuti-patta and giving her the rank of Gana-kumari, (daughter or princess of
the ganas, the hosts or followers of Siva; the Jangamas)2 ) .
Bl. 73 of 1254, is a grant by Narasimha III, but signed Sdmesvara.
Bl. 126, however, later in the same year, shows that Narasimha was then on
the throne. He paid a visit to the Vijaya-Parsva basadi at Halebidu and read
the genealogy of his line in the former sasana granted to it (no doubt Bl. 124).
He was the son of Somesvara by Bijjala-Rani (Bl. 92) and to this basadi he
made grants on the occasion of his upanayana (or initiation by binding on the
sacred thread), which took place on the 25th of February 1255. This ceremony,
in the case of Kshatriyas 3) , is performed between the ages of 11 and 22.
According to Kd. 100 (Vol. VI) the date of his birth seems to have been the
11th of August 1240. He was now therefore in his fifteenth year. On. 289
says that he was known as sahitya-sarwajna (omniscient in literature). Also
that being steady as a boy, on his being of age (or else in the desire that he
should be firmly established from boyhood) 4) with the king Soma's approval
he assumed the splendid crowu for the protection of the Hoysala kingdom.
We know from other records that a partition of the kingdom took place at
Somesvara's death, whether airanged by him or by the respective claimants to
the throne. The result was that while Narasimha retained possession of the
ancestral kingdom, with its capital of Dorasamudra, the Tamil provinces and
the Kolar district fell to the share of his half-brother Ramauatha (the son of
Devala-mahadevi), who, from On. 231 it may be inferred, had Kannanur as his
capital. But, as might be expected, the two sometimes came into collision.
i) Probably the 84 sevuna or Yadava king Kandhara is meant.
2) Some of these Maleyala merchants are again mentioned in later reigns, Ak 109, Bl. 80.
3) Bl. 17 says that Vishnavarddhana was of the Kshatriya-kula.
4) saisavade susthirateyain bayisikeyolu.