North Indian Inscriptions

THE GUPTA INSCRIPTIONS

ff., Bhagwanlal Indraji has given his own reading of the text, and a translation of it, with another lithograph reduced from his hand-copy. There years thereafter it was edited by J.F. Fleet in the CII., Vol. III, 1888, pp. 52 and ff. and Plate VII. Though his treatment of the inscription is an improvement upon that of the Pandit, the transcript of neither can be considered final or even satisfactory. This seems to be due to the fact that the stone is highly weatherworn and is also injured in some places. The extreme historical importance of the epigraph, however, deserves more attention being bestowed upon it. Accordingly I have checked not only the transcripts of the Pandit and Fleet in the light of the ink impressions, but also the results thereof by examining the original column.

       Bhitari¹ is a village about five miles to the northeast of Sayyidpur,² the chief town of the Sayyidpur Tahsil or Sub-Division of the Ghazipur³ District in Uttar Pradesh. The red-sandstone column of which the inscription is, stands just outside the village, on the south side. The inscription is on the eastern face of the square base of the column; and the bottom line is only a few inches above the level of the ground.

        The writing, which covers a space of a about 2’ 4-1/4” high by 2’ 2-1/4” broad, has suffered very much from the effects of the weather; also the stone has peeled off in a few places; and there is a crack running vertically down the inscription, near the left side. With care, however, the greater portion of the inscription is legible, on the original stone, with certainty; and nothing of a historical nature seems to be lost. The size of the letter varies from ¼” to 7/16.” The characters belong to the western variety of the northern class of alphabets. On the whole, the letters are somewhat squarely cut. The letters s and m, in some cases, resemble those of the Mathurā inscription of Chandragupta II (No. 10 above). The left downward stroke of m is curved. S has no loop, but has instead a slanting straight stroke at the bottom of the left limb. Sometimes, however, m is so squarely cut that it becomes difficult to distinguish it from p. Letters like g and ś are highly akin, and the one can be easily mistaken for the other. There are two doubtful cases where the m looks like its southern type; see mahārāja⁰ (line 3) and svayam (line 4). Medial i is generally indicated by a curve placed on the left limb of the letter. In cases of letters which have two parts, this ikāra is indicated on the top of the left limb. An exception to it may be seen in pituḥ (line 17). At times the curve comes down so much as to enclose the whole letter like the l of the southern type and hence more space is left out between it and the preceding letter than is usual; see e.g., -dauhitra- (line 3). Sometimes this curve is very much suppressed and looks like the ē as in sthāpitō (line 11). Medial ā is indicated by a horizontal stroke to the right, but in exceptional cases by an up-ward slanting stroke attached to the top of the letter as in sthāpitō (line 11). In the case of y, the ā is attached to the middle limb, excepting in nyāy-ā (line 2) where it is attached to the right limb. Au is generally indicated by three strokes as in –dauhitra⁰ (line 3), but the au in prapautra⁰ (line 2) is peculiar and looks like ai. U is indicated by a suppressed hook to the left. In the case of letters like m and s, only the right vertical line is prolonged downwards. Ś, however, has a hook to denote śu as in śubhram (line 12). The language is Sanskrit; and the inscription is in prose as far as the middle of line 6, and the rest in verse. In respect of orthography, we have to notice (1) the use of the guttural nasal, instead of the anusvāra, before ś in vaṅśa, lines 7, 13 and 14; (2) the doubling of k, in conjunction with a following r, in=vikkramēṇa and kkramēṇa. line 9; (3) the doubling of t, under the same circumstances, in –pauttrasya, line 3 (but not in-prapautrasya, line 2; putras=, line 4; and other places); and (4) in ⁰ –ānuddhyātō, line 5.
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¹ The ‘Bhītari, Bhitree, Bhitrī, and Bihtarī’ of maps, etc. Indian Atlas, Sheet, No. 103, Lat. 25⁰ 35' N.; Long. 830 17' E. Spelt Bhitrī in Imperial Gaȥetteer, Vol. VIII, pp. 117-18.
² The ‘Saidpur and Sydpoor’ of maps, etc.
³ The ‘Ghazeepor’ of maps.