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The Indian Analyst
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South Indian Inscriptions |
EPIGRAPHIA INDICA No. 21.─MUSANAGAR BRICK INSCRIPTION (1 Plate) A. S. ALTEKAR, PATNA The brick tablet upon which the inscription published in this paper has been inscribed was lying for a long time with Sri Yadavendra Kumarji, Rajasaheb of Jaunpur, U. P. In 1945, he sent to me its inked impression, through the Maharajkumar of Santosh, for decipherment and I communicated to him the contents of the document. Later on in 1948, he was so good as to present the brick to the Museum of the Banaras Hindu University through the then Vice-Chancellor, Dr. Amarnath Jha. The brick is at present lying in the Bhārat Kalā Bhavan Museum of the said University. It is an antiquarian piece of great interest being the earliest brick inscription recording the performance of an Aśvamedha sacrifice. Though the brick was lying at Jaunpur before its acquisition by the Banaras Hindu University, it was not found originally in Oudh. It was recovered by the janaka (as distinguished from the adoptive) father of the present Maharajasaheb of Jaunpur in his Zamindari in the Kanpur District in a mound neat the village of Musānagar. The village contain one of the numerous archaeological mounds of our country, awaiting the spade of the excavator. The Rajasaheb of Jaunpur informs me that coins as also burnt barley are occasionally found in the mound after the rainy season. Locally the mound is believed to belong to the time of Rājā Bali. The fire-burnt brick in question is 19″ long, 19″ broad and 4″ thick. Its dimensions are rather unusual, for we rarely come across such square bricks. It is interesting to note that the inscription is not inscribed on the square surface of the brick, but on one of its marrow sides, the other five faces being blank. It is not improbable that the brick was fixed in a structure, built in connection with the sacrifice it commemorates. This structure was most probably the ornamental platform round the sacrificial post or pillar (yūpa). In later centuries, we find Vedic sacrifices commemorated by inscribed stone yūpas. The average height of the letters is one inch ; but some letters like a, k and śv have a considerably greater height ranging from 1·5″ to 1·9″. The palaeography of the record would suggest its engraving during the century preceding or following the Christian era. The following peculiarities are worth noting. The length of the verticals of v, n and s is considerably shorter than that in the Aśokan script. The left and right verticals of p have equal height. D is still open to right | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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