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South Indian Inscriptions |
EPIGRAPHIA INDICA repeated use of the same sort of expressions and ideas, shows that the author was only a second grade poet. Interesting from the orthographical point of view is the frequent reduplication of a number of consonants, including the palatal and cerebral sibilants, in conjunction with r, either preceding or following. The same consonants, preceded or followed by r ;are, however, often found to be reduplicated in some cases but not so in others. Certain consonants followed by y are also found reduplicated in some cases (cf. ārāddhya in line 80). Final m, often before ś and h, has been changed to ṅ. It has been wrongly substituted by n in ºbhujān=rājāº in line 5 and is invariably changed to anusvāra at the end of the second and fourth feet of verses. In many cases, it has been changed to the corresponding nasal of the following consonant. Final n, which has been wrongly modified in dōshāṁ in line 35, has not been changed to anusvāra in sandhi in some cases (cf. ºmāns=tathaº in line 88). There is no trace of any date in the preserved portion of the inscription before us ; but it is well known from Bāṇa’s Harshacharita and other sources that the king who issued the charter was already on the throne in 606 A.D., when he sent an embassy to Harshavardhana of Thanesar and Kanauj, and that, according to Chinese evidence, he was continuing to rule as late as 648-49 A.D.[1] The first half of the seventh century may thus be roughly regarded as the reign-period of the issuer of our charter. The Nidhanpur inscription seems to have been issued about the beginning of the last decade of the king’s career,[2] while the present charter may have been issued some time earlier.
The charter under discussion was issued by king Bhāskaravarman of the Nāraka, Bhauma or Varman dynasty, the earliest known historical ruling family of ancient Assam. Its aim was the renewal of an older charter originally issued by a predecessor of the king. The first part of the name of this earlier king occurring in verse of 76 of our record is damaged ; but it may possibly be restored as Bhūtivarman who was the great-great-grandfather of Bhāskaravarman. It may be recalled in this connection that the Nidhanpur plates of Bhāskaravarman similarly record the revival of another charter of Bhūtivarman which was damaged by fire.[3] The original charter recording the present grant is also stated to have been completely damaged (ā-kshata) and that is why the plates were burnt (cf. samujjvālya) for removing the old writing on them, reshaping them and re-engraving the new document. From lines 112-117 of our record, it appears that the original grant was made in favour of two Brāhamaṇs of a Ghōsha family belonging to the Kauśika gōtra and Vājasanēya charaṇa. They were Bhaṭṭamahattara Priyaṅkaraghōshasvāmin and the āvasarika-Bhaṭṭa Dēvaghōshasvāmin. But when the charter was renewed after the lapse of more than half a century, Dēvaghōshasvāmin was no more and, besides Priyaṅkaraghōshasvāmin, a number of other persons, who were entitled to shares of the property granted to the original donees, had to be mentioned as aṁśa-patis or share holders. Of these, Parāśara, Vishṇu, Yajña, Rudra, Vājin, Dhruva, Bhūma, Daksha and Śrēyaskara belonged to the same Ghōsha family of the Kauśika gōtra and Vājasanēya charaṇa and were probably descendants of the deceased Dēvaghōshasvāmin or of both Priyaṅkara and Dēva. Some other persons, belonging to gōtras like Maudgalya, Māṇḍavya, Kauśika and Ātrēya and not to the Ghōsha family to which the original donees belonged, are also mentioned as aṁśa-patis. They were probably descendants of the latter on the female side.[4] The case of these Ghōshas adds ______________________________________________________
[1] History of Bengal, Dacca University, Vol. I, pp. 63-64, 78 ; Kāmarūpa śāsanāvalī, Introduction. p. 18.
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