North Indian Inscriptions

VERAWAL IMAGE INSCRIPTION.

2 sakala-râjâvalî-pûrva¹ Gallakajâtîya-śrêshṭhi-Mûlajôga bhâryâ śr꺲- Môḍhî³ tathâ su-
3 ta-gaṁdhika-Jôjâ bhâryâ Shêvaḍa tathâ putra-Jayatâ-dvitîyaputra-Jasadêva- tṛitîyaputra-
4 Jasapâla-prabhṛitaya⁴ śrî-Gôvarddhana-mûrtti⁵ namaskaraṇâr[ttha]ṁ sva-śrêyasê pûrvajânâṁ śrêyô-
5 bhivṛddhayê sva-bhaktyâ kârâpitâ || Sûtraº⁶- Vîṁjhadêva-putra-sûtraº⁶- Râghavêna(ṇa) ghaṭitâ || chha [||]

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No. 42.─ SITABALDI INSCRIPTION OF THE TIME OF VIKRAMADITYA VI. ;
SAKA-SAMVAT 1008.

BY F. KIELHORN, PH. D., LL.D., C.I.E. ; GÖTTINGEN.

......This inscription is on an elaborately sculptured pillar which was found by the late General Sir A. Cunningham at Sîtâbaldî, near Nâgpur, in the Central Provinces, and is now in the Government Museum at Nâgpur.⁷ To judge from the photograph before me, the sculptured part of the pillar measures about 5’ high by 2½’ broad, of which the inscription occupies the middle portion. Above the inscription is a row of small figures, and above these are, in the centre a liṅga, and on the sides of it representations of the gods Brahman and Vishṇu ; below the inscription are some cows and calves, and below these there is again a row of small figures, apparently fighting. I edit the inscription from an estampage, supplied to me some ago by Dr. Fleet.

......The inscription contains 11 lines of writing which covers a space of about 2’ broad by 11* high, and is fairly well preserved. The size of the letters is about 1” in the upper lines, and rather less than ¾” in the lower ones. The characters are Nâgarî. The language is very incorrect Sanskṛit, and the whole is in prose. In respect of orthography, it will be sufficient to note that the consonant b, with perhaps one exception,⁸ is expressed by the sign for v, and that the dental sibilant is generally employed for the palatal, and the palatal once for the dental (in sahaśravâhu, l. 6). As regards grammar and lexicography, attention may especially be drawn to the Prâkṛit termination⁹ u in saku, l. 1, dâsu, l. 8, tatparu and dhavalu, l. 9, and dvâdasu, l. 10 ; to the employment of the words chaḍaka, l. 5, and paṇatî, ‘a great-grandson, ‘ and nîtî,‘a grandson,’ l. 8, which must have been taken from the author’s vernacular ; and to the peculiar construction of the numerals in line 10.

......Opening with the words ‘ôṁ, may it be well,’ and a date which will be considered below, the inscription (in lines 2-4) refers itself to the reign of victory of ‘the refuge of the universe, the favourite of Fortune and of the Earth,’ the Mahârâjâdhirâja Paramêśvara Paramabhaṭṭâraka, the glorious Tribhuvanamalladêva, the frontal ornament of the family of Satyâśraya and
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......¹ With this phrase, for the employment of which there was no reason here, compare râjâvalî- pûrrvam in Ind. Ant. Vol. VI. p. 191, line of the inscription.
......² i.e. śrêshṭhinî.
......³ The superscript line of ô is very faint in the estampage.
......⁴ i.e. -prabhṛitayaḥ, for -prabhṛitayaḥ
......⁵ Read -mûrttir=.
......⁶ i.e. sûtradhâra-.
......⁷ See Archæol. Survey of India, Vol. VII. p. 142 ; and Gazetteer of the Central Provinces, p. 341.
......⁸ In the name Bôpapai in line 8, if my reading of it is correct.
......⁹ Compare Ind. Ant. Vol. XVI. p. 207.