Which of the following dynasties of South India issued their documents first in Prakrit and later in Sanskrit?
- (a)The Cholas of Tamil Nadu
- (b)The Pandyas of the post-Sangam Age
- (c)The Pallavas of Tondaimandalam
- (d)The Gangas of Kalinganagara
Correct — C, The Pallavas of Tondaimandalam. The Pallava charters are the standard South Indian example of a dynasty changing its record language. The earliest Pallava copper-plates — the Mayidavolu and Hirahadagalli grants of the third and fourth centuries — are composed entirely in Prakrit, issued from Kanchipuram but recovered from what is now Andhra Pradesh. From the fourth and fifth centuries the dynasty's charters shift to Sanskrit, and Sanskrit becomes the language of court literature and royal eulogy as the Pallavas take on the classical imperial style; Tamil appears later in the mixed-language grants whose Sanskrit portion carries the genealogy and eulogy while the Tamil portion records the grant's terms. Tondaimandalam, the country around Kanchipuram, is their core, so the description in the option fits.
- (a)The Cholas of Tamil Nadu — The Chola record tradition is centuries later and is dominated by Tamil inscriptions on temple walls, with Sanskrit used for the eulogy sections. There is no Prakrit phase in it.
- (b)The Pandyas of the post-Sangam Age — The Pandya revival records are Tamil and Sanskrit. The Prakrit-to-Sanskrit shift documented in the copper-plate evidence belongs to the Pallavas.
- (d)The Gangas of Kalinganagara — The Eastern Ganga charters issued from Kalinganagara are Sanskrit records; they are not the dynasty whose earliest grants are in Prakrit.
Copper-plate charters are the main documents of early South Indian dynasties, recording grants of land or revenue to temples and brahmanas. Their language is itself historical evidence: the earliest layer of such records in the Deccan and the far south is Prakrit, following the Satavahana practice, and Sanskrit displaces it from about the fourth century as the language of formal royal proclamation, with the regional language later taking over the operative part of the grant. The Pallavas of Kanchipuram sit exactly across that transition.
The question can be answered by chronology alone. A Prakrit-then-Sanskrit sequence has to belong to a dynasty old enough to have issued records in the Prakrit era, which rules out the imperial Cholas of the ninth century onward and the Pandya revival. That leaves the Pallavas, whose earliest plates are third and fourth century, and the Kalinganagara Gangas, whose charters are Sanskrit. Tondaimandalam in the option is a useful confirmation — it is the Pallava country around Kanchipuram, and the option names it precisely because the examiner wants the dynasty identified by its region as well as by its name.
- The earliest Pallava copper-plate charters, including the Mayidavolu and Hirahadagalli plates, are composed entirely in Prakrit.
- Later Pallava charters are in Sanskrit, which becomes the language of court literature and royal eulogy.
- The early Prakrit plates were issued from Kanchipuram but have been found across what is now Andhra Pradesh.
- Tondaimandalam is the Pallava heartland around Kanchipuram in northern Tamil Nadu.
- In the later mixed-language grants of the far south, Sanskrit carries the genealogy and eulogy while the regional language records the terms of the grant.
- Choosing the Cholas because they are the most familiar Tamil dynasty; their record tradition is much later and is Tamil-dominated.
- Assuming Sanskrit was always the language of South Indian royal records; the earliest layer is Prakrit.
- Confusing the Eastern Gangas of Kalinganagara with the Western Gangas of Talakad.
As a dynasty-to-record-language item, or as a statements question about what early copper-plate charters were written in.
Match List I with List II and select the correct answer using the code given below the lists: List I I. Gupta II. Chandella III. Chalukya IV. Pallava List II A) Badami B) Panamalai C) Khajuraho D) Deogarh
- (a) I–D, II–C, III–A, IV–B
- (b) I–D, II–B, III–C, IV–A
- (c) I–B, II–C, III–D, IV–A
- (d) I–C, II–D, III–A, IV–B
Answer(a) I–D, II–C, III–A, IV–B
The same dynasty tied to its territory rather than its language. Pallava power is identified there by the temple at Panamalai in Tondaimandalam, the country whose charters this question is about.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The Mayidavolu and Hirahadagalli copper-plate charters, among the earliest records of the Pallavas, are written in which language?
- (a)Sanskrit
- (b)Prakrit
- (c)Tamil
- (d)Telugu
Answer(b) Prakrit — the Pallava charters shift to Sanskrit only from about the fourth century.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Tondaimandalam, the core region of the Pallavas, lay around which city?
- (a)Madurai
- (b)Thanjavur
- (c)Kanchipuram
- (d)Vatapi
Answer(c) Kanchipuram — the Pallava capital and the centre of Tondaimandalam.