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The Indian Analyst
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South Indian Inscriptions |
EPIGRAPHIA INDICA PURI PLATE OF KULASTAMBHA Eastern Chālukya dynasty and of Kulastambha with Guṇaka-Vijayāditya III or Kulōttuṅga I has generally been discarded. On the strength of other inscriptions of the family, since discovered, we have suggested, while editing the Hindol plate of Kulastambha in this journal,[1] that Chakravarti’s Kōdālō-Kachchhadēva of the Śulkī family never existed as the intended reading of the passage in question is undoubtedly Kōdālōkāt sa ēva (or, dēvaº). Recently we had an opportunity to examine the second (B) of the two plates, of which a few lines only were transcribed and translated by Cakravarti. A careful examination, however enabled us to trace numerous mistakes in Chakravarti’s views on the inscription, In the grant portion of the record, he read a passage as karastaru pla 10 and translated it as “ with Karaba tree worth (or rent ?) ten pals ”. The actual reading of the passage is, however, kara-sāsna ru-pla 10 which shows that the inscription, like those mentioned in connection with the plates of Narēndradhavala,[2] records a kara-śāsana (i.e. a grant liable to pay a fixed revenue) for which the rent apparently annual, was fixed at ten Palas of silver. Chakravarti therefore could not realise the nature of the document. It was also noticed that a large number of errors that crept in his transcript and interpretation of the other plate (A), which he fully transcribed and translated, could be easily eradicated with the help of the inscription under review. It will be seen that most of his suggestions (including the one relating to the mention of Kalinga) in regard to the two records, which have so long been troubling scholars,[3] can quite easily be proved to be wrong.
This is a single plate measuring about 9 inches in height, 5 inches in breadth and 0·1 inch in thickness. A circular lump of metal (nearly 2 inches in diameter and 0·4 inch in thickness), soldered on a semi-circular projection in the middle of the top side of the plate represents the seal, on which are counter-sunk the usual emblems of the Śulkī family of Orissa. These emblems are much corroded, although the crescent above, the legend in the middle and the standing boar to proper right below can be made out. The legend seems to read either śrī-Kulastambhadēva or śrī-Raṇastambhadēva. The preservation of the plate and of the writing on it (especially on its reverse) is not quite satisfactory. There is a break in the plate affecting the writing on lines 5-7 on the obverse and lines 24-26 on the reverse. The weight of the plate is 90 tolas. In point of palaeography, language and orthography, the charter closely resembles other grants of the family including the Hindol plate (which belongs, as will be seen below, to the issuer of the charter under review), edited above. Although nothing requires special mention in these respects, a word has to be said now in regard to the date of this record as well as of other inscriptions of the Śulkī family. It has been shown in our paper on the Hindol plate that the Śulkīs owed allegiance to the Bhauma-Karas and that the Talcher plate of Raṇastambha (grandfather of the issuer of the Hindol plate and of the present charter as well) is dated in the year 103 of the Bhauma-Kara era. But relying on the suggested identification of the era of the Bhauma-Karas with the Harsha era, an earlier date was then assigned to Raṇastambha and his grandson. It has, however, been shown recently that the beginning of the Bhauma-Kara era falls somewhere about the middle of the first half of the ninth century A.C.[4] The Talcher plate should therefore be ascribed to a date about the middle of the first half of the tenth century[5] and the inscription under review about the end of that century. The charter begins with the Siddham symbol and the word svasti, which are followed by seven verses forming the introductory part of the document. All the seven verses are found exactly in _________________________________________________
[1] Above, Vol. XXVIII, pp. 107 ff | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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