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The Indian Analyst
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South Indian Inscriptions |
EPIGRAPHIA INDICA
BILAIGARH PLATES OF KALACHURI PRITHVIDEVA ; (1 Plate) P. B. DESAI, OOTACAMUND In September 1940, three sets of copper plates were unearthed from a field at the village of Paoni, about three miles from Bilaigarh, Raipur District, Madhya Pradesh. One set was passed on to the then zamindār of Bilaigarh. It belongs to the reign of the Kalachuri king Pratāpamalla[1] and is dated K. 969. Another set which fell into the hands of a sādhu, was subsequently recovered by the same zamindār. Proceeding on this information furnished by Pt. L. P. Pandeya, the plates were secured for examination in April 1945 by Dr. B. Ch. Chhabra, Government Epigraphist for India, through the good offices of the Commissioner, Chhattisgarh Division, Raipur.[2] With the kind permission of the former, I edit the inscription[3] here.
The set consists of two oblong copper plates held together by a ring with seal. The ring passes through a hole cut at the centre of one of the edges of the longer sides of the plates. The plates are engraved on the inner sides only and their rims are slightly raised to protect the writing. The plates measure 115\6 inches in length and 6½ inches in breadth each approximately. The inscribed faces of the plates contain marginal decorative designs on three sides save the upper one. The diameter of the ring is about 15/6 inch. The ring is flattened at the top and given the shape of a round thin disc. This disc comprises the seal which has marginal decoration all around. In its upper half is carved in relief a crude figure of Gajalakshmī in the usual fashion. The lower half contains the following legend engraved in two lines in Nāgarī characters : 1 Rāja-śrīma-2 t-Pṛithvīdēvaḥ. The seal measures two inches in diameter. The weight of the two plates together is 137 tolas and the ring with the seal weighs 8 tolas. The inscription consist of 36 lines which are distributed equally on the two plates. The average size of the letters is 1/5 inch. The characters are Nāgarī of the 12th century A.C. The daṇḍas and other punctuation marks are used in their proper places ; for instance, to mark the halves and ends of verses, etc. The avagraha sign is generally indicated ; e.g., -anvayē=’bhūt _________________________________________________
[1] This epigraph is edited in this journal, above, pp. 97 ff. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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