1838.] 



Hhidu InscriptionSc 



195 



the same means, also, certain names of different princes were identifi- 

 ed with particular titles adopted by them. In some inscriptions they 

 are designated by one title, and in others by a different one, having all 

 reference to the same, though at first appearing lo point out different 

 individuals. 



Some difficulty vi^as likev^ise experienced in the obsolete characters 

 employed in the earlier inscriptions. An alphabet of such of these 

 forms as were deciphered, was prepared by the Kanarese copyists in 

 my service, which was printed at the Bombay lithographic press, for 

 general distribution, A few copies accompany this paper. 



The inscription so arranged are found to relate to four dynasties of 

 princes, reigning over the greater portion of that part of India now de- 

 nominaied the Dakshana, or Dekkan, but at that time Kuntala desa^ 

 The capital was first Kalyan (in the Muhammadan province of Kal- 

 barga), and subsequently Devagiri, now the modern city of Dowlata- 

 bad. The limits of this kingdom appear to have been the Nermada, 

 or Nerbudda, on the N. ; the Ocean on the W. ; the line formed by the 

 Kanarese language on the S. E., which includes part of the Bellary 

 collectorate ; and on the S. W. they would include the provinces of 

 Naggar, or Bidnur, and of Sunda. The best defined natural line is, the 

 course of the Krishna, and Tungabhadra ; but many inscriptions, par- 

 ticularlj' of the Devagiri princes, have been obtained considerably to 

 the south of the latter river. The eastern boundary I have not been 

 able to ascertain, but it is probable that it did not extend beyond the 

 Ghats, under which lay the kingdoms of Kalinga and Andhra, which 

 are both mentioned as occasionally hostile to Kalyan. I have procur- 

 ed records throughout a considerable portion of the limits above stat- 

 ed, as far as the Godavery N., and Kalyan E., and from the frequent 

 contests mentioned in them with the princes of Gurjara, Malwa, Kalin- 

 ga, Chola, &c., I conceive them to be pretty correct. 



The term Karnataka desa, is likewise used to designate this tract 

 in the later inscriptions. The Karnataka province would seem to be 

 more naturally marked out by the range of the Karnataka language, 

 which would both fall short of the extent of the Chalukya sway on 

 the N., and likewise carry it too far to the S. ; to places where there 

 is no record of their authority having ever reached. The boundary of 

 the Kanarese tongue on the W. and N. may be designated by a line 

 drawn from Sadaseoghur, on the Malabar coast, to the westward of 

 Dharwar, Belgaum, and Hukairi, through Kagal and Kurandwar, 

 passing between Keligaon and Pandegaon, through Brahmapuri, 

 on the Bhima, and Sholapur, and thence east, to the neighbourhood of 



