|
The Indian Analyst
|
North Indian Inscriptions |
THE GUPTA INSCRIPTIONS No. 43 : PLATE XLIII ĒRAṆ STONE PILLAR INSCRIPTION OF BHĀNUGUPTA: THE YEAR 191 This inscription was discovered in 1874-75 or 1876-77 by General Cunningham, and was first brought to notice by him in 1880, in the CASIR., Volume X, p. 89. It was first published by J. F. Fleet in the CII., Volume III, 1888, pp. 91 and ff. and Plate XII B. It is another inscription from Ēraṇ,1 in the Khurāī Sub-Dvision of the Sagar District in the Madhya Pradesh. It is on a small pillar, afterwards converted into a liṅga or phallic emblem of Śiva, which stands under some tall trees near the left bank of the Bīnā, about half a mile to the south-east of Ēraṇ, and halfway between it and the neighbouring village of Pēhēlējpur.2 The original lower part of the pillar is now broken away and lost; the remnant of it is about 3' 11" high and 1' 6" in diameter. The bottom part is octagonal; and the inscription is at the top of this octagonal part, on three of the eight faces, each of which is about 7" braod; the bottom line is about six inches above the level of the ground. Above this, the pillar is sixteen-sided. Above this, it is again octagonal; and the faces here have sculptures of men and women, who are probably intended for the Gōparāja of the inscription, and his wife and friends; the compartment immediately above the centre of the inscription, represents a man and a woman, sitting, who must be Gōparāja and his wife. Above this, the pillar is again sixteen-sided. Above this, it is once more octagonal; and on two of the faces here, there are the remains of a quite illegible inscription of four lines, in characters of the same type with those of the inscription now published, Above this, the pillar curves over in sixteen flutes or ribs, into a round top. The pillar was converted into a liṅga, by fitting an ablution-trough to it; this was attached over the part where the inscription lay; and it was only by the breaking of it, that the greater part of the inscription was disclosed to view.
The writing which covers a space of about 1' 9" broad by 11" high, has suffered a good deal from the weather, and from the sharpening of tools on the edges of the stone; but, on the original pillar, it is fairly legible almost throughout; and the only historical items that have been lost are, in line 2, the name of Gōparāja’s grandfather, and of the family to which he belonged. The size of the letters varies from 3/8" to 5/8". The characters belong to the northern class of alphabets, and, though not quite so well formed, are of almost precisely the same type as those of the Ēraṇ pillar inscription of Budhagupta, No. 39 above, Plate XXXIX. The letter r, as the first part of a compound consonant, is formed within the top line of the writing in pārtha, line 5, and bhāryā, line 7; but above it in sārddham, line 5. The characters include, in line 2, forms of the numerical symbols for 1, 7, 90 and 100. The language is Sanskrit; and, the inscription is in prose as far as the end of the date, in line 2, and the rest in verse. In respect of orthography, the only points that call for notice are (1) the use of the guttural nasal, instead of the anusvāra, before ś, in vaṅśa, lines 2 and 4; and (2) the doubling of k and t, in conjunction with a following r; e.g., in -vikkrāntō and puttrō=, line 3. The inscription does not refer itself to the reign of any particular king but mentions one
Bhānugupta who, though he may not have been a sovereign, was at least a contemporary scion
of the Gupta family. It is dated, in both words and numerical symbols, in the year one hundred and ninety-one (510-11 A.D.), on the seventh lunar day of the dark fortnight
of the month of Śrāvaṇa (July-August). It is a non-sectarian inscription; the object of
it being only to record that, in the company of Bhānugupta, who was a great ruler, his chieftain
1 See pp. 221 above.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| > |
|
>
|