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The Indian Analyst
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South Indian Inscriptions |
EPIGRAPHIA INDICA BAMHANI PLATES OF PANDAVA KING BHARATABALA ; YEAR 2 script of the latter record bears a striking resemblance to that of the present one. This is obviously to be accounted for by the comparative proximity between the two : they belong more or less to one and the same period and their findspots are far removed from each other.1 Prabhāvatiguptā’s charter is earlier than these two by about a century. Its character, though otherwise similar, appears sons what slanting as compared with that of the other two inscriptions, which is upright. It must, however, be observed that the character of the present inscription, in spite of the similarities noticed differs greatly from that of the other two in one respect. To wit, it pertains, as has been stated above, to the Southern class of alphabets, while the script represented by the Majhgawāṁ plates belongs to the Northern class and that used in the Poona plates is found to be a mixture of both. In fact, an analysis of the script of the last-mentioned record has shown that ‘it is rather difficult to ascertain whether the northern or the southern characters predominate’[2]there. A comparative study, on the other hand, has revealed the character of the present record to be pre-eminently southern, as will presently be demonstrated.
As already remarked, the top of each letter in the script under discussion generally consists of a triangle or a nail-head. There are, however, certain exceptions to this rule. Among the initial vowels, of which the present inscription affords insurances of a (l. 37), ā (ll. 1, 38, 45), i (ll. 3, 16, 17, 33),u (l. 34), ē (ll. 25, 29) and au (l. 16), three, namely, i, ē, and au, are not provided with a nail-head.[3] Of the consonants, the following five are likewise without a nail-head : kh, j, ṇ, b and l. Possibly ṅ and ñ are also like that. The former may be seen used as the first member of a conjunct letter, ṅkṛi (l. 4), and the latter as the second in another, jña (l. 5). In the case of g. ṭ, th, dh, v and ś the triangle at the top has, as necessitated by the upper curve of the letters, become almost an oblong, whereas with m it is definitely a square or a box-head, a general characteristic of another variety of alphabets, mainly found in the Vākāṭaka inscriptions, which has on that account received the designation ‘box-headed’. The most conspicuous of the test letters, stamping the character of the present inscription as pre-eminently southern, are the initial a, ā, ē and au as well as k, m, r and l. It may be pointed out that the Poona plates, in common with the present charter, have the southern a, k and r. Examples of initial au are extremely rare, but a comparison between its northern and southern forms has been rendered possible by the fact that they are found respectively in the Majhgawāṁ plates (l. 8) and in the present record (l. 16). The form found in the latter appears to be essentially the same as is met with in the Māṅgaḷūr grant of the Pallava Siṁhavarman.[4] A slight notch in the top stroke of the letter j, and the manner of expressing medial i by a circle and ī by a circle with a dot in its centre, as noticed in the present inscription, are further southern peculiarities. _____________________
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