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The Indian Analyst
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South Indian Inscriptions |
EPIGRAPHIA INDICA In connection with the passage sāṁvatsarika-kara-paṇ-āgra-śatau(tē) dvau(dvē) pointing to the annual cess or nominal rent fixed for the agrahāra granted by our record, reference may be made to a passage of exactly similar import occurring in the Bobbili plates of Chaṇḍavarman edited by Mr. R. K. Ghoshal.[1] Unfortunately, Mr. Ghoshal entirely missed the real meaning of the passage in question, while an editorial note thereon from the pen of the late Mr. C. R. Krishnamacharlu hardly went far to improve upon his reading and interpretation. The passage in question runs as follows: ºChaṇḍavarmmā Tiriṭṭhāṇagrāmē sarvva-samavētān=kuṭumbinaḥ bhōjakāṁś=cha samājñāpayaty=asty=ēshō(sha) grāmō=smābhir=ātmanaḥ puṇy-āyur-yyaśasām=abhivṛiddhayē āsamudr-ādṛi(dri)-śasi(śi)-tārak-ārka-pratishṭham=agrahāraṁ kṛitvā sarvva-kara-parihāraiś=cha parihṛitya shaṭṭriṅśa(ṭṭriṁśā)d-agrahāra-sāmānyañ=ch=āgrahāra-pradēya[ṁ*] sāmba(sāṁva)tsarikaṁ sa(pa)ṇ-āgraṁ śata-bhu(dva)yan=ch=ā[ṁ*]śaṁ ch=ōpanibandhyaḥ(dhya) Tiriṭṭāṇa-vāṭak-āgrahāra[ḥ*] Brāhmaṇānāṁ nānā-gā(gō)tra-sabramachāriṇāṁ samprattaḥ. The meaning of the passage is quite clear. It should be noticed that the number 36 has been used here in the sense of ‘many’ or ‘all’ as in expressions like [Bengali] chhatriś-jāt (‘the 36 castes’,[2] i.e. all the castes or most of the castes), [Hindi] Chattīs-garh (literally, ‘the 38 forts’, a name applied to an area originally consisting of ‘many’ forts), etc. It may be pointed out in this connection that a copper-plate grant[3] of the Sūryavaṁśī monarch Kapilēśvara (1435-70 A.D.) uses the passage-āvēddanāni shaṭtriṁśat=tyaktvā in connection with a gift of land.
The word āvēdana (found in the form avadāna or āvadāna in some Oriya records) no doubt indicates the royal dues, thirtysix kinds of which are vaguely referred to in the passage. The number 36 is used here evidently in the sense of ‘all’. Similar significance of other numerical expressions such as 18 has been discussed in our paper on the Kanās plate of Lōkavigraha.[4] Thus the section shaṭṭriṁśad-agrahāra-sāmānyañ=ch=āgrahāra-pradēyaṁ sāṁvatsarikaṁ paṇ-āgraṁ śata-dvāyañ=ch=āṁśaṁ ch=ōpanibandhya would mean ‘having registered the amount payable for the agrahāra in advance annually at 200 paṇas as in the case of all other agrahāras’. The same thing is no doubt indicated also by the passage shaṭtriṁśad-agrahāra-sāmānyaṅ=kṛitvā occurring in line 6 of the Bṛihatprōshṭha grant[5] of Umavarman. Thus the usual custom referred to seems to have been the grant of agrahāras on a cess or nominal rent of 200 paṇas a year. As shown in my article on the kara-śāsanas referred to above, the amount fixed for annual payment was sometimes styled kara or rent ; but often the grant was specifically declared to have been made rent-free and the payment was given the style tṛiṇ-ōdaka which was the name of a particular cess. The Bobbili plates refer to the grant of the agrahāra as rent-free and therefore mention the amount payable by the donees annually as the agrahāra-pradēya aṁśa. The inadequately quoted date of the charter, already discussed above, comes in lines 15-16. The document ends with the mention of the ājñapti or executor of the grant, whose name seems to be Jyēshṭha. He is called a Mahādaṇḍanāyaka (possibly, a police officer) who acted as a dūta (envoy or representative) of the Mahāpratīhāra (officer in charge of the palace gate). The name of the Mahāpratīhāra is not mentioned. But it appears that he was originally entrusted with the work of executing the king’s grant, but that he did the work through another officer who may have been one of his subordinates. ________________________________________________
[1] Above, Vol. XXVII, pp. 33-36.
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