Tarkkari
By G. S. Gai
Summary
The article investigates the identification of Tarkkari, a Brahmanical settlement mentioned in the Silimpur stone inscription of Jayapaladeva. Earlier scholars placed Tarkkari either in Varendra (Bengal) or in Madhyadesa. The author reviews these arguments and introduces two mid‑10th‑century inscriptions from Kolagallu and Kudatini in Bellary District, issued during the reign of Rastrakuta king Khottiga. These records mention a poet Madhusudana whose ancestors hailed from Tarkkiri, described as a village of Karmara Brahmins situated in the sacred Varendra region north of a fort near a locality called Pahuniyojana. This evidence strongly supports identifying Tarkkari with a village in Varendra and refutes the Madhyadesa hypothesis. The article concludes that the Tarkkari of the Silimpur inscription was located in Gauda (Varendra) and suggests that its exact modern equivalent remains to be discovered.
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Conclusion
By presenting two Rastrakuta‑period inscriptions that trace a poet’s lineage to Tarkkiri in Varendra, the article settles the debate over Tarkkari’s location. The verses describe the village’s position in the Varendra‑mandala and show that Brahmins emigrated southward from there. This corroborates earlier identifications of Tarkkari with a Bengali site and demonstrates how epigraphic cross‑references can clarify geographical questions.