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The Indian Analyst
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North Indian Inscriptions |
THE GUPTA INSCRIPTIONS Martin complied, and in 1838 published, the book entitled Eastern India, in which, for the first time, the inscription is noticed in Vol. II, pp. 366 ff., with a reduced lithograph (ibid., Plate V, No. 2). In the same year, in the JBAS., Vol. VII, pp. 37 ff., James Prinsep published his reading of the text, and a translation of it,1 accompanied by a lithograph (ibid., Plate i) reduced from a copy made by D. Liston. In 1860, in the Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. VI, p. 350, Fitz Edward Hall published his reading of the first verse of the inscription, and a translation, which as subsequently revised and reprinted in the JBAS., Vol. XXX, p. 3, note. In 1871, in the CASIR., Vol. I, p. 93 f., and Plate xxx, General Cunningham published another lithograph, reduced from his own ink impression. In 1881, in the Ind. Ant., Vol. X, pp. 125 ff., Bhagawanlal Indraji published his revised reading of the text, and a translation of it, accompanied by a lithograph reduced from an impression made by him when he visited Kahāuṁ in 1873. And finally, the whole of the inscription was carefully edited by J.F. Fleet in CII., Vol. III, 1888, pp. 65 ff., and Plate IX A. Kahāum or Kahāwam,2 the ancient Kakubha or Kakubhagrāma of this inscription, is village about five miles to the west by south of Salampur-Majhaull,3 the chief town of the Salampur-Majhaulī Pargaṇā in the Dēōriyā or Dēwariyā4 Tahsil or Sub-Division of the Gorakhpur District in Uttar Pradesh. The grey-sandstone column on which the inscription is engraved stands a short distance on the village.5 Of the sculptures on the column, the most important are five standing naked figures, one in a niche on the western face of the square base; and one in a niche on each side of the square block immediately below the circular stone with an iron spike in it, which, the original pinnacle having been lost, now forms the top of the column. As appears to have been first fully recognised by Bhagwanlal Indraji,6 these are distinctly Jain images. He suggested that they represent the five favourite Tīrthaṁkaras, Ādinātha, Śāntinātha, Nēminātha, Pārśva, and Mahāvīra. And they are, in all probability, the five images of Ādikartṛis, or Jain Tīrthaṁkaras, referred to in the inscription itself.
The writing, which covers a space of about 2' 2-1/2" broad by 1' 8" high, is on the three northern faces of the octagonal portion of the column; and the bottom line appears to be about 7' 6" above the level of ground. It is evidently in a state of excellent preservation throughout. The size of the letters varies from 5/8" to 7/8". The characters belong to the eastern variety of the Gupta alphabet, and are of the same type with those of the Allahābād pillar inscription of Samudragupta (No. 1 above). The language is Sanskrit: and, except for the opening word siddhaṁ the inscription is in verse throughout. In respect of orthography, the only points that call for notice are: (1) the use of the dental nasal, instead of the anusvāra, before ś, in vanśa, line 2, and ttrinśat, line 4; and (2) the usual doubling of k and t, in conjunction with a following r, e.g., in chakkrē, line 9 (but not in Śakrō, line 3), and puttrō, line 6. The inscription refers itself to the reign of the Imperial Gupta king Skandagupta. It is
dated in words, in the year one hundred and forty-one (459-60 A.D.); and in the month
Jyēshṭha (May-June); but without any specification of the day of the month of fortnight.
As is shown by the images in the niches of the column, as well as by the tenor of the record 1 The translation is reprinted in Thomas’ edition of Prinsep’s Essays, Vol. I, p. 250.
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