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The Indian Analyst
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South Indian Inscriptions |
EPIGRAPHIA INDICA PHERAVA GRANT OF SAMANTAVARMAN, KING OF KALINGA, YEAR 185 109 The alphabet is of the southern type such as is used in the early Gaṅga records, and is very neatly engraved. For this reason it offers a great contrast to that of the Dhanantara plates[1] of king Sāmantavarman. In spite of slight differences, the alphabets of these two plates show essentially the same characteristics, and may be referred to the sixth or seventh century A. D. The language is Sanskrit. With the exception of the five imprecatory verses at the end (ll. 18-24) the inscription is written in prose. As compared with the other Gaṅga records, the language is fairly correct and the mistakes are very few. As regards orthography the following points may be noted. Consonants are doubled after r with a few exceptions such as prakarsha (l. 5), chaturbhyō (l. 11), and varsha (l. 21). Consonants k and t followed by r are also doubled. The final t is indicated by a small-sized letter with a short horizontal stroke underneath. Same sign is used for b and v, but separate sign for b is used in the conjunct mb (ll. 4, 8). Anusvāra is used in place of final m in the imprecatory verses (cf. phalaṁ in l. 20, pālanaṁ in ll. 21, 23 and 24, and bhaṅguraṁ in l. 24). The inscription records the grant of the village of Phērava in Lauhaśṛiṅgāra vishaya as an agrahāra to four Brāhmaṇas viz. Kīrttīśaśarmā and his three sons Dēvaśaramā, Raviśarmā and Divākaraśarmā by the Gaṅga king Mahārāja Śrī-Sāmantavarman, Lord of Kaliṅga, in the year 185.[2] The grant was issued from the victorious city of Śchētaka.
King Sāmantavarman of the present grant may be identified with the king of the same name who issued the Dhanantara plates. The opening phraseology is the same in both with one important exception. The latter contain, as a qualifying phrase of the king, “ who has the supremacy over the whole of Śvētaka, won by the strength of his own arms ”. But in the corresponding passage of the present grant, Kaliṅga is substituted for “ the whole of Śvētaka ”, and this form is continued by all thekings of the dynasty, with the addition of ‘whole ’ (sakala) before Kaliṅga. Further, the present grant adds the epithet “ sakala-Kaliṅg-ādhipatir=Mmahārājaḥ ” (Mahārāja, the Lord of the whole of Kaliṅga) before the name of the king, whereas the other simply refers to the king as “ Śrī-Sāmantavarmā ” without any royal epithet. These differences cannot but be regarded as being deliberate, and, therefore, of material significance. It is legitimate to infer that Sāmantavarman began his career as a local chief of Śvētaka, rose to political importance by dint of his own prowess, and possibly conquered a portion of the Kaliṅga territory. For, in spite of the phrase ‘ Lord of the whole of Kaliṅga ’, it is difficult to accept, without further corroborative evidence, that Sāmantavarman’s authority extended over the whole of Kaliṅga, specially when we remember that similar claims are made on behalf of the other kings of Śvētaka, while a long line of Gaṅga kings with Kaliṅga-nagara as capital had been ruling in Kaliṅga both before and after the time of Sāmantavarman. We know altogether twelve copper-plate grants[3] issued by the kings of the Gaṅga family from Śvētaka. They are connected by the conventional opening phrase, which practically __________________________________
[1] Above, Vol. XV, p. 275. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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