The Indian Analyst
 

South Indian Inscriptions

 

 

Contents

Index

Introduction

Contents

List of Plates

Additions and Corrections

Images

Contents

Altekar, A. S

Bhattasali, N. K

Barua, B. M And Chakravarti, Pulin Behari

Chakravarti, S. N

Chhabra, B. CH

Das Gupta

Desai, P. B

Gai, G. S

Garde, M. B

Ghoshal, R. K

Gupte, Y. R

Kedar Nath Sastri

Khare, G. H

Krishnamacharlu, C. R

Konow, Sten

Lakshminarayan Rao, N

Majumdar, R. C

Master, Alfred

Mirashi, V. V

Mirashi, V. V., And Gupte, Y. R

Narasimhaswami, H. K

Nilakanta Sastri And Venkataramayya, M

Panchamukhi, R. S

Pandeya, L. P

Raghavan, V

Ramadas, G

Sircar, Dines Chandra

Somasekhara Sarma

Subrahmanya Aiyar

Vats, Madho Sarup

Venkataramayya, M

Venkatasubba Ayyar

Vaidyanathan, K. S

Vogel, J. Ph

Index.- By M. Venkataramayya

Other South-Indian Inscriptions 

Volume 1

Volume 2

Volume 3

Vol. 4 - 8

Volume 9

Volume 10

Volume 11

Volume 12

Volume 13

Volume 14

Volume 15

Volume 16

Volume 17

Volume 18

Volume 19

Volume 20

Volume 22
Part 1

Volume 22
Part 2

Volume 23

Volume 24

Volume 26

Volume 27

Tiruvarur

Darasuram

Konerirajapuram

Tanjavur

Annual Reports 1935-1944

Annual Reports 1945- 1947

Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum Volume 2, Part 2

Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum Volume 7, Part 3

Kalachuri-Chedi Era Part 1

Kalachuri-Chedi Era Part 2

Epigraphica Indica

Epigraphia Indica Volume 3

Epigraphia
Indica Volume 4

Epigraphia Indica Volume 6

Epigraphia Indica Volume 7

Epigraphia Indica Volume 8

Epigraphia Indica Volume 27

Epigraphia Indica Volume 29

Epigraphia Indica Volume 30

Epigraphia Indica Volume 31

Epigraphia Indica Volume 32

Paramaras Volume 7, Part 2

Śilāhāras Volume 6, Part 2

Vākāṭakas Volume 5

Early Gupta Inscriptions

Archaeological Links

Archaeological-Survey of India

Pudukkottai

EPIGRAPHIA INDICA

No. 4] MANDASOR INSCRIPTION OF MALAVA SAMVAT 524

patthyaṁ l. 10 and vikkhyāpakē l. 11. Here the first aspirants are likewise changed to their corresponding surds. In places, a final m, instead of being turned to anusvāra, is changed to the nasal of the class the following consonant belongs to as in –ādiṅ=guṇa- l. 6, svēshām= balānāṁ l. 8 and śītalañ=cha l. 10. In –vaṅśa- l. 11, anusvāra is wrongly represented by . The sign of jihvāmūlīya occurs in –duhkha- l. [1].

The object of the inscription is to record the construction of a stūpa, a kūpa (well), a prapā (charitable water-stall), and an ārāma (garden or monastery) by Dattabhaṭa, the Commander of the forces King Prabhākara. Dattabhaṭa was a son of Vāyurakshita who was the General of the armies of Gōvindagupta, a son of the Gupta Emperor Chandragupta II. The year of the date is specified in words as 524 (expired) of Mālava Saṁvat (literally the era which proclaims the fame of the race of the Mālavas), the season of the year (viz., the spring) is expressed by a poetic description, while the month and day are not mentioned at all. The Mālava year 524 (expired) corresponds to A. D. 467-68. There is no reference to any place name.

>

The inscription opens with the auspicious word siddham. Verse 1 is a maṅgalācharaṇa expressing adoration to Sugata (the Buddha). Verse [2] introduces King Chandragupta who is eulogised as the moon in the sky of the Gupta dynasty. He forcibly deprived kings of their lordship over the earth which he bound over with the ties of his own family from which “ it is not liberated yet” (verse 3). He had a son having the noble appellation Gövindagupta (verse 4). While kings deprived of their prowess, touched his (Gōvindagupta’s) feet with their heads (in token of submission), even the lord of gods (Indra) was filled with fear and anxiety for the safety of his own throne (verse 5). Gōvindagupta had a General (sēnāpati) named Vāyurakshita who possessed many good qualities (verses 6-7). The latter’s son, by a northern princess, was Dattabhaṭa who like his father was an abode of fame and virtues and who resembled Kubēra in munificence, Bṛihaspati in intellect, Smara in the art of love, and Yama in fight or destruction (verses 8-9). King Prabhākara, who was a menace to the enemies of the Guptas, appointed him as the Commander-in-chief of his armies (verse 10). As an humble mark of his desire to requite the obligations of his parents, Dattabhaṭa excavated a well and constructed a stūpa, a prapā and an ārāma (verse 11). Verse 13 specifies the date of the inscription in the words ‘ when five hundred, and eight multiplied by three, autumns proclaiming the spotless fame of the Mālava race had expired’. Verses 14 and 15 contain a poetic description of the spring, implying thereby that the works were accomplished in that season of the year. Verse 18 states that the objects referred to in verse 11 were situated within the limits of Lōkōttara-Vihāra which was possibly the proper name of some local Buddhist monastery probably named after the Lōkōttaravādin sect of the Hīnayāna form of Buddhism. The Buddhist institutions alluded to in this inscription were evidently situated at or in the neighbourhood of Mandasor where the inscription was found, although no place name is mentioned in the record. The sculptures and inscriptions (5th and 6th centuries A. D.) found at Mandsor (Daśapura) so far are all Brahmanical. Our inscription is thus the first Buddhist record hailing from Mandsor.

The inscription does not refer itself to the reign of any king. In the genealogical portion two scions of the Gupta dynasty are eulogised, namely Chandragupta and his son Gōvindagupta. These are obviously none other than Chandragupta II of the Imperial Gupta dynasty and his son Gōvindagupta.

Chandragupta had been dead long before the date of our inscription. Though our inscription is the only stone inscription so far known, which mentions Gōvindagupta, he is already known

Home Page

>
>