Rare Inscribed Copper Plates Illuminate Indian Dynasty's History

KODAD, INDIA—The Deccan Chronicle reports that the Archaeological Survey of India recently recovered an important historical document from a graveyard in Kodad, Telangana, that provides new insight into the genealogy of an important ancient Indian ruling family. Inscribed on three copper plates, the text was written in both the Sanskrit and Telugu languages. According to epigraphy experts, the document is dated to March 6, a.d. 918, the coronation day of Vengi Chalukya King Vikramaditya II. The inscription records that during the ceremony, Vikramaditya II generously granted the village of Kovuru to a woman named Lokamamba, the widow of Gunda II, who had died helping the king regain his throne from a usurper. However, the object’s true historical significance is that it is the earliest copper plate listing the early ancestors of the Kakatiya Dynasty, who ruled much of the eastern Deccan region between the twelfth and the fourteenth century. To read about India's later Mughal emperors, go to "The Ancient Promise of Water: A Taste of Paradise."