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The Indian Analyst
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South Indian Inscriptions |
EPIGRAPHIA INDICA The language of the inscription is Sanskrit. The formal part of the grant in lines 26-35 and 44-58 describing the locality and its boundaries, etc., is in prose. The remaining portion giving the genealogy of the donor and the donee is in verse. The characters of the inscription belong to a variety of the alphabet used in the eastern part of India in the 12th century A.D. The letter r retains mostly its old form though its more developed triangular shape is also in evidence here and there (cf. vīrº in line 25, viśāradaḥ in line 36, Harēḥ in line 41, etc.). Another peculiarity is the use of three varieties of the sign of the initial i. The first of these consists of two dots or ringlets with a complicated hook below. The second one is composed of two similar dots or ringlets with a circumflex above and hook below. The third variety is similar to the second except that, instead of a regular hook, it has got a slanting stroke below. Anusvāra is formed sometimes by a dot or ringlet alone (cf. bhinnaṁ and Bhāratīyaṁ in lines 2 and 17 respectively) but sometimes as in modern Bengali by a dot with a slanting line below it (cf. Bhīmaṁ in line 6, paraṁ in line 22, etc.). B and v are denoted throughout by the same sign. As regards orthography, the following points call for remarks. N has been need in the place of anusvāra in nistrinsa in lines 22 and mīmānsā in line 42. Visarga before the dental sibilant changes into that letter in bhūs=sa in lines 10-11. Final m is often wrongly substituted by anusvāra. Consonants following r are sometimes doubled. The execution of the inscription is unsatisfactory. Letters or syllables are often omitted (cf. kaṇaº for karaṇaº in line 30, rādhikṛitān for rāṇak-ādhikṛitān in line 31, pratīn for prabhṛitīn in lines 31-32). There are occasional confusions of sibilants, as in sṛiṅgāraº for śṛiṅgāraº in line 2, sasāsa for śaśāsa in line 4, etc. Prakritism is to be found in vachchharē for Sanskrit vatsarē in line 43. The present charter was issued by king Dharmapāla (son of Harshapāla and grandson of Gōpāla) of Prāgjyōtisha in Assam. Two other copper-plate grants of this king are known. They are the Śubhaṅkarapāṭaka and Pushpabhadrā grants, both edited by Padmanātha Bhaṭṭāchārya in the Kāmarūpaśāsanāvalī, pp. 146 ff. The introductory as well as the genealogical portion of the present inscription is also found (with but few divergences) in the Śubhaṅkarapāṭaka grant. This agreement which is due to these two inscriptions having been composed by one and the same poet, named Prasthānakalasa, has helped us in restoring some of the portions missing in the present record.
The present inscriptions is the earliest of the three grants of Dharmapāla.[1] It was issued in the first regnal year of the king while his Śubhaṅkarapāṭaka inscription was issued in the third year of his reign. The Pushpabhadrā grant which contains no date was issued in his advanced age as Bhaṭṭāchārya has convincingly shown.[2] The inscription begins with svasti and is followed by a laudatory verse in honour of Ardhayuvatīśvara (i.e. Ardhanārīśvara-Śiva).[3] It then gives in the next thirteen verses the genealogy of king Dharmapāla. There was a king Naraka by name, who was born of the Earth and Vishṇu in his Boar incarnation. His son was Bhagadatta. Then after an undefined interval flourished in the latter’s family a king named Brhamapāla.[4] His son was Ratnapāla[5] and grandson Purandarapāla ______________________________________________________________ [1] Mr. Jenkins, Agent of the then Governor General, made mention of a grant of one Dharmapāla, dated in
the year 36, when he sent a copy of the grant of Vanamāla to the Asiatic Society, Calcutta. See JASB, 1840, p. 766.
But nothing about its contents or whereabouts is known to us.
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