North Indian Inscriptions

KHAREPATAN PLATES OF RATTARAJA.

food and raiment for the ascetics (of the shrine), and for the benefit of disciples, learned men, visitors and others :—

......(1.) the village of Kûshmâṇḍî, bounded on the east by the cistern (prapâ)¹ of Maṇigrâma, on the south by the road to the village of Vâparavaṭa, on the west by the water-course (vâhalâ)² of the village of Sachândalakapittha, and on the north by a salt river (kshâranadî) ;³

......(2.) the village of Asanavîra, bounded on the east by a water–course caused by heavy showers of rain (? dhâra-vâhalâ),⁴ on the south by the river of the village of Kâraparṇî, on the west by the sea, and on the north by the river of the village of Gavahaṇa ;

......(3.) the village of Vaḍadgula, bounded on the east by the twin-rock (?) of the Bhôgadêva hill, on the south by the water-course of Akhaḍada, on the west by the stone of Paṭasaḍa and on the north by the sîsavî (?) hill of the village of Stâmâna ;

......also a jîvalôka⁵ at the village of Dêvalakshmî, a châkântara at Vyadgarula, and a jûhaka at Sayyâpalî.

......Raṭṭarâja at the same time (in lines 50-52) ordains, that these three villages and the rest, well defined as to their four boundaries, for every one belonging to the king (?)⁶ abhyantara-siddha, not to be entered by the regular or irregular troups, are to be enjoyed, with the exception of previous gifts to gods and Brâhmaṇas, by the learned teachers of religious studentship born in the Karkarôṇî branch of the famous Mattamayûra line (or school), to be preserved to them as long as sun and moon endure. And he adds (in lines 56-61), that he has further assigned a gadiyâṇa⁷ of gold from every vessel arriving from foreign lands, and a dharaṇa of gold from every ship arriving from Kandalamûlîya, excepting Chêmûlya and Chandrapura ;⁸ also families of female attendants, a family of oilmen, a family of gardeners, a family of potters, and a family of washermen ; also within the fort, for a jagatîpura,⁹ a piece of land bounded on the east by the wall of a dwelling-house, on the south by the “ monkey gate,” on the west by the road to Śîvata, and on the north by a street-well ; and outside the fort, for a flower-garden, the land formerly known as “the mare’s ground.”

......Lines 62-73 then contains an appeal to future rulers to protect this gift of religion (dharma¹⁰), threaten with the punishment of hell those who might resume it, and quote six of the ordinary
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......¹ The ordinary meaning of prapâ is ‘a place for watering cattle, a shed on the road-side for accommodating travellers with water.’ Bal Gangadhar Sastri has translated the word by ‘a creek,’ because the Marâṭhî synonym pôî in the dialect of the Southern Koṅkaṇ (according to him) has that meaning, and because sheds for the districution of water are as unknown as they are unnecessary in the Koṅkaṇ.
......² See Ind. Ant. Vol. XVI. p. 206, note 33.
......³ Kshâra-nadî may possinly have to be taken as a proper name ; compare Fhârêpâṭaṇ, the name of the town where this inscription has been found.
......⁴ Dhâra-vâhalâ also may perhaps be a proper name ; compare Akhaḍada-vâhalâ below.
......⁵ For the three words jîvalôka, ohâkântara and jûhaka, which are quite clear in the original, I cannot suggest any suitable meaning.
......⁶ If the intended reading in line 51 should be sarvvarâjakîyânâm=ahastaprakshêpaṇîyam=abhyantara- siddham, the translation (so far as it can be given) would be ‘not to be touched with the band (of appropriation) by any one belonging to the king, abhyantara-siddha,’ etc.
......⁷ This word, ordinarily spelt gadyâṇa, is in Mr. Kittel’s Kannaḍa-English Dictionary explained to mean ‘a weight about equal to a ruvvi or farthing, a kind of small gold coin (at Bellari, occasionally in Mysore) ;’ dharaṇa is in the same dictionary said to be ‘a sort of weight (for gold) variously reckoned.’
......⁸ [Compare above, pp. 84 and 92, where a tax of one fanam on every boat is referred to.— E. H.]
......⁹ The word jagatîpura, which I have not met with elsewhere, may perhaps be similar in meaning to brahmapurî,’ an establishment for learned and pious Brâhmaṇas.’— [Or, jagatîpura might be the same as jagati-kaṭṭe, ‘a raised square seat before a village, round a tree, etc. ;’ Sanderson’s Canarese Dictionary.— E. H.]
......¹⁰ This word is used here as a neuter noun.