South Indian Inscriptions

EPIGRAPHIA INDICA

No. 16─INSCRIPTIONS FROM BIHAR

(2 Plates)

D. C. SIRCAR, OOTACAMUND

In the course of my tour in parts of Bihar in February 1954, I examined and copied a number of new inscriptions, some of which are edited in the following pages.

A. Sanokhār Inscription of Ballālasēna ; Regnal Year 9

While camping at Colgong (Kahalgāon) about 20 miles from the city of Bhāgalpur in the District of that name, I arranged for a trip to a locality called Belnīgarh lying about 18 miles away in the Goḍḍa Subdivision of the Santal Parganas District, with the assistance of Mr. Bholanath Mukherjee of Colgong, and Dr. Lakshmikanta Misra and Mr. Janakinath Misra of Kasḍī (near Colgong). The village of Sanokhār, also called Sanokhār Bazār, lies on the way from Colgong to Belnīgarh at a distance of about 10 miles from Colgong. At Sanokhār I learnt that sometime back a few images had been discovered there from the bed of an old tank in the course of its re-excavation. I was also told that a bronze or ashṭa-dhātu image thus discovered was found under a metal cover bearing an inscription and that arrangements had been made for preserving these two objects in the local temple. Mr. Gangaprasad Tekariwala of Sanokhār kindly took me to the temple and showed me the image and the inscribed cover. The image was found to be that of the Sun-god of the usual North Indian type. The cover was completely coated with thick verdigris and it was impossible to read the inscription without cleaning it properly. With some difficulty I managed to secure the inscribed cover on loan. My thanks are due to the said gentlemen for their kindness in thus offering me an opportunity to examine the inscription which, when cleaned and deciphered later, proved to be a record of considerable interest to the student of East Indian history.

The cover, which is made of copper, is hollow and cylindrically shaped in the form of a Śivaliṅga on a circular pedestal. The thickness of the metal sheets used is about 1/16 inch. The height of the cover is 12½ inches. The circumference of its central part, which has a diameter of 10 inches, is 32 inches while the circular pedestal has a circumference of 45 inches and a diameter of 14 inches. The whole cover is made up of three separate parts which are rivetted one to the other from above by means of small copper bolts. On the outer side of the cover, both on the top and around the cylindrical portion, are found decorative designs of which those at the top are moulded and those on the body are engraved. The top part is moulded in the form of an expanded eight-petalled lotus with a circular hole in the centre about 1 inch in diameter. Around the outer periphery of the lotus are moulded four rows of decorative designs running along the circumference. The upper part of the cylindrical section is covered with decorations engraved in a row that runs similarly along the circumference. Below this is cut at one place an aperture, 1¾ inches by 1½ inches, in the shape of the vṛindā-vana (a raised mound of earth to plant and preserve the holy basil) as usually made in South India. This hole is flanked by engraved floral designs. A lotus is carved as emanating from the top centre of the aperture and there is another flower engraved above it. Below the aperture are engraved, in one line, seven running horses which clearly associate the cover with the Sun-god. It may be noticed in this connection that such ornamental shelters are now often used in South India as covers of the Śiva-liṅga.^[1] On that side of the circular pedestal which is opposite the part of the covering that has the aperture, an inscription is engraved in a single line running along the circumference. The length of the line is about 13 inches. The weight of the inscribed cover is 260 tolas.

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^[1] The practice is also prevalent in North India. The Śiva-liṅga in the Bihārēśvara temple at Sajeti (Ghatampur Tahsil, Kanpur District, U.P.) is known to be usually kept under an inscribed copper cover.