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EPIGRAPHIA INDICA
cursive form which appears to be the origin of the modern Karaṇī (i.e. pertaining to the writer
caste) form of the letter.[1] But the most interesting letter is ḷ which is found only in Oriya and
not in Bengali. This letter has not been traced on Orissan epigraphs earlier than the thirteenth
century.[2] Medial i, which has been only once used in line 29, is of the Oriya type. Of initial
vowels, the inscription uses a lines 16, 18, 24), ā (lines 10, 20-21, 24, 26-27, 31), i (lines
15-16, 20, 23, 25, 28, 31-32), u (lines 11, 15-16, 27) and ē (lines 7, 10, 12-14, 16, 20, 22-23, 26, 28-30,
33). The numerical figures 1, 2, 5, 7, 8 and 0 are found in the record (cf. lines 3, 11, 18). Of these,
1 is of the Telugu, 2 of the Oriya, 5 of the Telugu-Oriya and 8 of the Gauḍīya-Oriya type. The
Siddham symbol at the beginning and the two punctuation marks (meant for a double daṇḍa)
at the end look like the figure for 2.
The language is Oriya though there is a little influence of Sanskrit at the beginning of the
epigraph. The composition exhibits carelessness on the part of the scribe. Some of the expressions used in the record are not found in modern Oriya. The orthography is characterised by
a tendency to use the medial forms of ī and ū instead of medial i and u respectively. Indeed
medial i has been used only once in bhikshā (line 29, the word being elsewhere spelt as bhīkshā)
and medial u once in sujya (line 33) for Sanskrit sūrya. We know that y, when it is initial or the
component of certain conjuncts, is pronounced as j in the East Indian dialects in which v is
pronounced as b and ksh as kkh. The inscription uses y for j in vā(vī)yē (line 2) for Sanskrit vijaya
(cf. jētē kāḷa for Sanskrit yat-kāla in lines 32-33) and represents the original sound of y by īa as in
asīā (line 24) for Sanskrit aśītika. Interesting are the following modifications of Sanskrit words :
sīṅgha for siṁha, dēvaśa for dēvasya, pravradhamāna for pravardhamāna, vīyē-rājē for vijayarājyē, Kātrīka-krīshṇa for Kārttika-kṛishṇa, Ravī for Ravi, Kīttīvāsa for Kṛittivāsas (or Kīrttivāsa),
Sīdhēsvara for Siddhēśvara, maḍha for maṭha, āśa and āuśa for āyus, Taparāja-māhāmunī for
Tapōrāja-mahāmuni, Duggābhaṭa-āchāya for Durgābhaṭṭ-āchārya, Utrēsara-nāēka for Uttarēśvara-nāyaka, trīḥsēka for triṁśatka, sūnā for svarṇa, kaḷantara for kal-āntara, Sīva for Śiva,
Tapachakravartī for Tapaśchakravartin, sthānā-patī for sthāna-pati, rāsī for rāśi, Pāṇḍī for Pāṇḍya,
etc. The expressions aīkshā karī (line 31), āchāvanta (line 31), tapasāṅkā (line 32) and chadra
(line 33) are defective, standing respectively for dīkshā lābha kari, āchāravanta, tāpasāṅka (or
tāpasāmānaṅka) and chandra. There are several other errors of this kind in the epigraph. The
case-endings added to bases in a are : ē for both nominative singular (as in Duggābhaṭē in line 15,
Āchāyē in line 21) and locative singular or plural (as in rājē=Sanskrit rājyē in line 2, dēsē=Sanskrit
dēśēshu in line 30) ; kī (as in Chakravatīkī in line 25) and ṅka or ṅkara (as in ºdēvaṅkara in lines
5-6, ºnāēkaṅkara in line 12, tapasāṅkā for tāpasāṅka in line 32, kāḷaṅka in line 24) for genitive
singular or plural ; kai or ṅkai for dative singular (as in kīlākai in line 24, āchāyaṅkai in line 10) ;
raï (for rē in modern Oriya) for locative singular or plural (as in hātharaï=hātharē) ; ṅkara-tahū
for ablative (as in ºnāēkaṅkara tahū in line 12). Among verbal derivatives, the following forms
of the gerund occur in the epigraph : dēi (i.e. having given) in line 16, sūṇī (i.e. having heard) and
vōlī (literally ‘ having spoken ’ but used in the sense of ‘because’) in line 22, hōi (i.e. having been)
in lines 30-31, karī (i.e. having done) in line 31. The following are verbs in the Past Tense :
kalā (i.e. did or made) in lines 10 and 16, ghētalā (i.e. took or borrowed) in line 12,
hōilā (i.e. became) in lines 19-20, 22-23, dhīlā for dilā (i.e. gave) in line 26. For the verbal forms
dēvā in line 8 and karāivā in lines 28-29, see dēvā in Plate VI B, lines 5 and 11 of the Purī Plates
(B) of Narasiṁha IV.[3] The expression vaṁdhā kalā (i.e. gave in mortgage) in line 10, aṅka kalā
(i.e. calculated the sum) in line 16, mūḷa-kaḷantara karante (i.e. on the capital and interest having
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[1] See JBORS, Vol. X, pp. 168 ff., Chart XIII.
[2]Cf. above, Vol. XXI, p. 110 ; p. 127 and note 1. Originally ḷ seems to have been distinguished from l by
the addition of a diacritical mark ; but this diacritically marked form was later employed to indicate l while the
ordinary form of the letter indicated ḷ.
[3] Above, Vol. XXVIII, pp. 302 ff.
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