South Indian Inscriptions

EPIGRAPHIA INDICA

TWO PALA PLATES FROM BELWA

The list of officials and others associated with the above three pieces of the gift land is quoted in lines 31-40. This is practically the same in all Pāla records.^[1] In this list is included servants like chāṭas and bhaṭas (regular and irregular soldiers, or policemen and peons) of various nationalities such as Gauḍa, Mālava, etc. These are for the first time noticed in the Nālandā plate^[2] of Dharmapāla. The privileges to be enjoyed by the donee specified in lines 41-44 are also common with other records of the Pāla kings.^[3] As in so many other records of the Pālas, the above three villages are said to have been granted in the name of (uddiśya) the lord Buddha-bhaṭṭāraka for the increase of merit and fame of the king and his parents. The specified land was made a permanent rent-free holding in favour of the Brāhmaṇa Jīvadharadēvaśarman, who belonged to the Hastidāsa gōtra having the Āṅgirasa, Āmbarīsha and Yauvanāśva pravaras and was the son of Dhīrēśvaradēvaśarman and grandson of Vishṇudēvaśarman. The king’s request to the officials and others as well as to the future rulers of the area for the protection of his grant and his order to the cultivators to offer in due time to the donee all dues including bhāga, bhōga, kara and hiraṇya are couched in the same language as in the other Pāla charters. After giving the date (Samvat 5 Śrāvaṇa-dinē 26) in line 49, the imprecatory verses, found not only in the Bāṇgarh plate of the same king but also in other grants of the Pāla kings, are quoted in lines 50-56. The last two verses of the record mention the dūtaka (executor) of the grant and the engraver of the plates. It is said that Mahīpāladēva made the mantrin (minister) Lakshmīdhara the executor of the charter. The plates are said to have been engraved by the artisan Pushyāditya who was the son of Chandrāditya hailing from the village of Pōshalī. The artisans of Pōshalī are also known to have engraved some other records of the Pāla kings such as the Bāṇgarh plate of Mahīpāla I and the Āmgāchhi plate of Vigrahapāla III.

Of the geographical names mentioned in the charter, the jaya-skandhāvāra called Sāhasagaṇḍanagara, which was apparently situated on the Ganges, cannot be satisfactorily identified. The gift villages, viz., Ōsinna-Kaivarttavṛitti (i.e., Ōsinna which had been once allotted to the Kaivarttas for their service), Nandisvāminī and Gaṇēśvara cannot also be identified. These three villages

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^[1] These are : rājan (subordinate king) ; rājanyaka (feudatory chief) ; rājaputra (possibly, noble man); rājā-mātya (minister or executive officer) ; mahāsāndhivigrahika (minister for war and peace) ; mahākshapaṭalika (accountant) ; mahāsāmanta (feudatory) ; mahāsēnāpati (general) ; mahāpratīhāra (officer in charge of the palace-gate) ; mahākārtākṛitika not mentioned in our record ; dauḥsādhasādhanika ; mahādaṇḍanāyaka (judge) ; mahākumārāmātya (minister of the rank of a price of the royal blood) ; rājasthān-ōparika (viceroy) ; dāśāparādhika (minor judge) ; chaurōddharaṇika (prefect of the police) ; dāṇḍika ; dāṇḍapāśika (police officer) ; śaulkika (customs officer) ; gaulmika (officer in charge of a police station) ; kshētrapa (officer in charge of the royal lands) ; prāntapāla (warden of the marches) ; kōṭṭapāla (governor of a fort) ; khaṇḍaraksha or aṅgaraksha ; those appointed or commissioned by the above-mentioned ; those in charge of elephants, horses, camels, navy and army ; those in charge of foals, mares, cows, she-buffaloes, goats and sheep ; dūtaprēshaṇika ; gamāgamika ; abhitvaramāṇa ; head of a district ; head of a village ; ferry-man ; chāṭa, bhaṭa and other servants of such nationalities as Gauḍa, Mālava, Khasa, Hūṇa, Kulika, Karṇṇāṭa and Lāṭa ; other unnamed subjects and servants of the king.
^[2] Above, Vol. XXIII, pp. 291 ff.
^[3] These were : ‘up to its boundaries, grass and pasture land’ (sva-sīmā-tṛiṇayūti-gōchara-paryanta) ; ‘with its ground’ (sa-tala); ‘with the space (above the ground)’ (s-ōddēśa); ‘with its mango and madhuka trees’; ‘with its water and dry land’; ‘with its pits and saline spots’(sa-gartt-ōshara) ; ‘with the tax from temporary tenants’ (s-ōparikara), although this is omitted in our record ; ‘with daśāpachāra (daś-āparādha of other records which refers to the fine realised for ten minor offences)’; ‘with thing recovered from thieves’ (sa-chaur-ōddharaṇa) ; ‘with exemption from all oppressions’ ; ‘not to be entered by chāṭas and bhaṭas (usually interpreted as regular and irregular troops, but may be policemen and peons)’; ‘nothing to be taken (by way of tax, etc.)’ ; ‘together with all revenues such as bhāga (royal share of the produce), bhōga (periodical supply of fruits, etc.), kara (taxes), hiraṇya (tax to be paid in coins), etc.’ ; ‘according to the maxim of bhūmi-chchidra’ ; ‘to last as long a time as the moon, the sun, and the earth shall endure’. Bhūmichchhidra-nyāya refers to the custom of allowing a person who brings a piece of fallow or jungle land under cultivation to enjoy it without paying rent.