INSCRIPTIONS. 



219 



Gorre Raya Gangadevayagaru. The natives of India do not 

 now-a-days always adhere to one particular form of their 

 names, still less did their ancestors do so in those remote 

 times ; the difference of names does not, therefore, necessarily 

 indicate difference of persons. It is therefore possible, that 

 both titles apply to one and the same individual. Between 

 the first inscription of the Local Eecords, in which Gangaya 

 Deva Maharaja is mentioned, and the Racuru-inseription lies 

 only an interval of 35 years, (from 1181-1216 S.S., or 

 1259-1294 A.D.), which is not too long a period for one person 

 to occupy a post. It must also not be overlooked that accord- 

 ing to p. 224 Gangaya Deva could not have ruled long before 

 1181 8.8. The king Ganapati Deva and his grandson Pratapa 

 Rudra Deva might have entrusted their realm and army to 

 the same Gangaya, who filled both the offices of prime minister 

 and generalissimo. Moreover, it must not be forgotten, that 

 the same locality is everywhere mentioned as the residence of 

 the prime minister and commander-in-chief. 



On the other hand, if in the context two different indivi- 

 duals are alluded to, who held successively the same position 

 under the same dynasty and ruled over the same territory, a 

 close relationship may fairly be presumed to have existed 

 between them. 



At all events the extracts from the Local historical 

 Records* about Gangaya Deva Maharaja and those which 

 refer to Gorre Raya Gangadevayagaru, the personage speci- 

 ally mentioned in our inscription, are full of important details, 

 and are worthy enough of being rescued from oblivion. 



In the fifth volume of the Local Records (pp. 27, 28) 

 Maharaja Gangaya Deva is mentioned, as far as I can ascertain, 

 for the first time. The exact date of the inscription corre- 

 sponds to Saturday, the 27th December 1259 A.D., Old Style. 



The Records read as follows :— 



After Maharaja Tirukaliti Devacola had borne the burden 



