The Prince of Wales Museum grant of Mahāsāmanta Indrakēśī
By B. C. S. Sharma
Summary
An inscribed stone slab preserved in the Prince of Wales Museum at Bombay forms the basis of this article. The grant records a donation made in Śaka 982 (A.D. 1060) by Mahāsāmanta Indrakēśī, a feudatory of the later Kākatīya or Eastern Cālukya line. The author provides a transliteration and translation of the Sanskrit inscription, which opens with invocations and describes the donor’s genealogy. It records that Indrakēśī, son of the mahāsāmanta Mādhava and grandson of Dhavala, belonged to the Maṅḍalera family. The grant bestows land, income from customs duties and the village of Caturthikā on a Brahman named Śrīdharaśarman, stipulating the boundaries of the gifted land and the rights of the donee. The article analyses the orthography and palaeography of the record, dating it by comparison with other eleventh‑century inscriptions. It notes the use of titles such as mahāsāmanta, mahāpradhāna and rājamātya and comments on the religious formulas. The grant is placed in the context of the disintegration of the Eastern Cālukya state and the rise of local chiefs who issued their own charters.
Conclusion
The inscription demonstrates how regional lords in eleventh‑century Andhra asserted authority through land donations and adoption of high sounding titles. The author concludes that Indrakēśī’s grant reflects both loyalty to a waning dynasty and a desire to legitimise his own position by supporting Brahmanical institutions. It enriches our understanding of feudal politics and the spread of Sanskrit epigraphic culture.