North Indian Inscriptions

THE GUPTA INSCRIPTIONS

MANKUWAR STONE IMAGE INSCRIPTION OF KUMARAGUPTA :
YEAR 129

according to the determination of the record-keepers Riśidatta, Jayanandin and Vibhudatta five drōṇas of land were given together with drinking-places and water-drawing wheels, on acceptance of two dīnāras, at the established rate of three dīnāras of each kulyavāpa, in the western quarter, in the waterless region destitute of cows.¹ These drōṇas (of land) should be respected by the future administrators, considering (them) to be a religious gift.”

       (Line 11) And there are these two stanzas connected with grants of land.

       (Verse 1) Carefully preserve the land that has already been given to the twice-born (Brāhmaṇas) Yudhishṭhira, the best of land-owners. Preservation is more meritorious than grant (of land).

       (Verse 2) Land has been granted, and will again and again be granted by many. (But) the fruit (of such grant) belongs to whosoever possesses the earth at any time.

No. 25 : PLATE XXV

MANKUWAR STONE IMAGE INSCRIPTION OF KUMARAGUPTA :
YEAR 129

       This inscription was discovered in 1870 by Bhagwanlal Indraji, and appears to have been first brought to notice by General Cunningham in 1880, in the CASIR., Vol. X, p. 7, where he published his own reading of the text, accompanied by a lithograph (ibid., Plate IV, No. 2) And, in 1885, Bhagwanlal Indraji published his own reading of the text, and a translation of it, in JBBRAS Vol, p. 354. It was afterwards edited by J. F. Fleet in CII., Vol. III, 1888, pp. 45 ff. and Plate VI A.

       Mankuwār² is a small village near the right bank of the Jamunā, about nine miles in a south-westerly direction from Arail or Arayal, the chief town of the April Pargaṇā in the Karchhanā Tahsīl or Sub-Division of the Allahābād District in Uttar Pradesh. The inscription is on the front of the pedestal of a seated image of the Buddha, which, when it came to the notice of General Cunningham, was in a garden at Mankuwār, belonging to the Gōsāī of Dēōriyā³ or Dēwariyā. But it is said to have been originally discovered in a brick mound between the five rocky hillocks called Pañch-Pahāḍ, a short distance to the north-east of Mankuwār. The image represents the Buddha, seated; wearing a plain cap, fitting close to the head, with long lappets on each side; and naked to the waist, and clad below in a waist-cloth reaching to the ankles. The first line of the inscription is at the top of the pedestal, immediately below the image. Then comes a compartment of sculptures, containng in the center, a Buddhist whole; on each side of the wheel, a man seated in meditation, and facing full-front; and, at each corner, a lion. Then follows the second line of the inscription at the bottom of the pedestal. The image has now been deposited in the Stae Museum, Lucknow.

       The writing, each line covering a space of about 1' 7" broad, by ¾" high in the first line, and 1" in the second, is in a state of excellent preservation. The size of the letters varies from ¼" to 7/16". The characters belong to the eastern variety of the Gupta alphabet, and approximate very closely to those of the Allahābad pillar inscription of Samudragupta, No. I, above,
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¹ Airāvat-āgu-rājyē paśchima-diśi has been translated by Basak as “in the west of Airāvata(?)–.” But one of the meanings given by Apte’s Dictionary to Airāvatam is ‘a vast and waterless region.’ This suits here excellently. In that case we have to read Airāvat-āgu-rājyē, where agu can be easily taken to signify ‘destitute of cows, poor.’ Such a tract of land must have been interspersed with “drinking-places and water-drawing wheels.”
² The ‘Mankūār and Manhowar’ of maps, etc.; Indian Atlas, Sheet No. 88, Lat. 25° 19' N.; Long. 81° 52' E.
³ The ‘Deoriya and Deorya’ of maps. etc.; about a mile to the north-west of Mankuwār, Bhagwanlal Indraji writes the name ‘Devaliā.’