North Indian Inscriptions

THE GUPTA INSCRIPTIONS

9); (3) the change of visarga to s in conjunction with that letter following it, as, e.g., vāstubhis=saha, line 15; (4) the omission of the sign of avagraha as, e.g., in -vikrayō=muvṛittaḥ, line 7; (5) the omission of sandhi, e.g., in saṁvyavahāribhiḥ dēva⁰, line 19; and (6) the joining of ending m with the following va, e.g., in para-dattām=vā, line 20.

       The inscription refers itself to the reign of a Paramadaivata Paramabhaṭṭāraka Mahārājādhirāja whose name has disappeared with the upper corner of the proper left side of the plate which is destroyed. According to Basak, “only two letters seem to be cut off from the portion of this plate and lost,” and he surmises that they might be Bhā-nu.¹ On the other hand, the late Rao Bahadur H. Krishna Sastri thought that the reading was probably Ku-mā-ra.² But if two letters only have been lost here as Basak rightly contends, they may perhaps be restored as (Vishṇu)gupta who, in that case, may be identified with Vishṇu(gupta)-Chandrāditya, one of the last Gupta kings of this period. Its date in numerical symbols, seems to be the year two hundred and twenty-four (=542-43 A. D.) on the fifth day of Bhādrapada (August-September). Under [Vishṇu ?]gupta, was a Mahārāja as Head (Uparika) of the Puṇḍravardhana Province (bhukti). His name also has not been preserved. But the titles Dēva, Bhaṭṭāraka and, above all, Rājaputra, which are coupled with his name show that he was some prince of the imperial family. Further, in the Kōṭivarsha District, the Court (adhikaraṇa) of the Town (adhishṭhāna) was being carried on by the Vishayapati Svayambhūdēva, appointed by the Uparika, along with the Nagara-śrēshṭhin Ribhupāla, the Sārtthavāha Sthāṇudatta, the Prathamakulika Matidatta and the Prathamakāyastha Skandapāla. We are then told that Amṛitadēva, a kulaputra from Ayōdhyā, applied to the Town Court of the Kōṭivarsha District for the purchase of some khila or waste land, on condition of apradā-dharma, ‘Law of Irrevocable (Endowment)’—practically, the same as Akshayanīvī-dharma—and, by the issue of a copper-plate charter, by paying the price at the usual rate of three dīnāras for each kulyavāpa of such land. The object of this purchase of land was to make provision for repairs, etc., to the temple of the god, Śvētavarāhasvāmin, for the establishment of the bali, charu, sattra, etc., and for the supply of the materials for daily worship of the god. In accordance with the ascertainment of the record-keepers, land, measuring five kulyavāpas, situated in four different localities specified in the inscriptions was sold to Amṛitadēva.

       It is worthy of note that Amṛitadēva, who bought the land, is described as Ayōdhyakakulaputraka. That means that he was a kulīn originally come from Ayōdhyā. It is tempting to remark that just as in later times Kanauj was the cradle of the kulīn Brāhmaṇas and Kāyasthas of Bengal, in the Gupta period this position of honour was occupied by Ayōdhyā as may be seen from the fact that in line 10 of Inscription No. 21 above Brāhmaṇas of various gōtras are referred to as having come from Ayōdhyā and settled in connection with the temple of Śailēśvara.

..........................................................TEXT

....................................[Metres : Verses 1 to 3 Anushṭubh]

       Seal–Kōṭivarsh-ādhishṭhān-ādhi[karaṇasya*]

..........................................................First Side

1 Sa[mva] 200 20 4 Bhādra di 5 Paramadaivata-Paramabhaṭṭāraka-Ma[hā] rājādhirāja-sri[. .³]-
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¹ Ep. Ind., Vol. XV, p. 142, note 1.
² Ibid., Vol. XVII, p. 193, note 1.
³ Basak seems to be right in supposing that two letters only have apparently been lost with the cut-off portion of the plate. As pointed out above, they can be restored as Vishṇu for the reasons assigned there.