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The Indian Analyst
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South Indian Inscriptions |
EPIGRAPHIA INDICA samvvat (line 34) and so is final t in the same word and in vasēt in line 31. The numerical signs for 100, 20 and 1[1] are used in line 34 and those for 5 and 2 in lines 26 and 27 respectively. The language of the inscription is Sanskrit. With the exception of five imprecatory verses at the end, the entire record is in prose. As in the Damodarpur and Raigram plates, the suffix ka is occasionally used, as in nirddishṭaka (lines 16 and 24) and upasaṅharitaka (line 20). Errors of the engraver may be noted in Yaśarāma (line 4) and rakshya (line 33). The word kulyavāpa is used both in the masculine (line 15) and in the neuter (line 27.) As regards orthography, the following may be noted. The letter b is occasionally used for v as in viditam=bō (line 2), kulyabāpa (lines 13, 15, 16, etc.), sambyavahāriṇō (lines 28-29) and paradattām=bā (line 30). The letter k is not doubled before y in dīnārikya (lines 13 and 19) as in the Damodarpur and Baigram plates, but is occasionally doubled before r, as in Śukkra (line 9), vikkrayō (line 19 ; cf., however, line 13). The letter t is not doubled before r as in the Baigram plate, while consonants are doubled after r, as in śarmma (line 8), Sarppa (line 9), Śarvva (line 10), nirddishṭaka (line 16), svarggē (line 31). Final m is retained before v in samvvat (line 34). The guttural nasal takes the place of the anusvāra before h, in siṅha (line 4) and upasaṅharitaka (line 20). The document is dated the first day of Vaiśākha of the year 121,[2] which undoubtedly refers to the Gupta era. As such, it would fall in April, 440 A. D. The name of the reigning monarch is not mentioned ; but there is no doubt that the record belongs to the reign of the Gupta emperor Kumāragupta I, whose known dates range from the Gupta year 113 to 136. The date of the present record falls between that of the Dhanaidaha plate of 113 G. E. and that of the Damodarpur plates of 124 G. E. Dr. Sircar reads the date of the record under study as “ the first (?) day of Vaiśāksha of the year 120”[3], and further observes, “ The scratches in which Mr. Sanyal finds the figure 1 could have been considered to be the faint traces of a figure if only they were close to the symbol for 20 as those for 100 and 20 actually are.”[4]
Like other copper-plate inscriptions of the Gupta period, so far recovered from North Bengal, the inscription relates to the grant, made by the state, of unoccupied uncultivated lands, yielding no revenue, with the object of creating an endowment in perpetuity. The document records that the artisan Bhīma, the scribes Prabhuchandra, Rudradāsa, Dēvadatta, Lakshmaṇa, Kāntidēva, Śambhudatta and Kṛishṇadāsa, and the record-keepers Siṁhanandin and Yaśōdāman, for increasing the religious merit of their parents, presented an application to Achyutadāsa, who was the king’s officer (Āyuktaka) in charge of the Śṛiṅgavēra vīthī, and also to the local adhikaraṇa (board of administration) and the leading men and house-holders of the vīthī, for the grant of nine kulyavāpas of uncultivated land, yielding no revenue, distributed in the villages of Hastiśīrsha, Vibhītakī, Gulmagandhikā and Dhānyapāṭalikā, all within the area of Gōhāli, at the prevalent local rate of two dināras for each kulyavāpa, for the purpose of endowing them in perpetuity in favour of the Brāhmaṇas Dēvabhaṭṭa, Amaradatta and Mahāsēnadatta, who belonged to Puṇḍravarddhana and were students of the Vājasanēya school and were versed in the four Vēdas, to enable them to perform the five great sacrifices. The representation was referred to the record-keepers Siṁhanandin and Yaśōdāman for investigation and report. They verified the statements made in the application as regards the unoccupied and uncultivated lands and also the local rate quoted for their sale. Having ascertained that there was no objection to the proposal, they recommended the grant, whereupon the sale was finally sanctioned. Having received payment of the sale price, nine kulyavāpas of land in the said localities were conveyed to the grantees─ five kulyavāpas _______________________________________________
[1] [See below.─ Ed.]
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