South Indian Inscriptions

EPIGRAPHIA INDICA

are often disregarded ; (2) that there is an indifference about the doubling of consonants after r ; (3) that the letter b is throughout denoted by the sign for v ; (4) that dh is doubled (by d) in conjunction with a following y or r ll. 42 and 82 ; (5) that the vowel ṛi is employed instead of ri in bhûpas-tṛivishṭapa° (l. 6) and -Kanakâdṛir=iv=Êṁdrarâjaḥ (l. 7), and (6) gh instead of h in râja-siṁghaḥ (l. 3) ; (7) that the jihvâmûlîya and the upadhmânîya are used in bhṛityaik=kisha(ya)dbhir= (l. 9) and in udyatah=praṇatê (l. 49) ; (8) that the visarga followed by s has been twice changed to that letter, in manastas=samam=êva (l. 4) and tanayas=samabhût (l. 41) ; (9) that the final m of a word, instead of being changed to an anusvâra, is joined to a following p, bh or v in ll. 9, 25, 40, 45, 46 and 78 ; (10) that the anusvâra before y, v and s is sometimes represented by n (ll. 3, 21, 25, 26, 58) ; and (11) that the sign of avagraha is employed once in l. 51.─ The characters belong to the northern class of alphabets and in general agree with those of the grants of the Gujarât Râshṭrakûṭa princes ; but the sign for d in the words yadâ and âra(da)dîta in ll. 76 and 78 and the sign for the conjunct nn in the words dhvastin=nayann= abhimukhô (l. 2), prabhinna (l. 6), etc. are worthy of note. Another point that calls for special notice is that most of the letters of the sing-manual of Dhruvarâja and one letter of that of Dantivarman at the end, and a few in the benedictory verse at the beginning, are engraved with their tops nail-headed.

The inscription is one of Dantivarman, of the Gujarât branch of the Râshṭrakûṭa family, or, as he is described in line 56 f., ‘ the Talaprahâri śrî-Dantivarmadêva, who has the biruda of Aparimitavarsha, who is the lord of great feudal chiefs (mahâsâmanta), and who has obtained the five great sounds (mahâśabda).’ The inscription opens with the salutation ôṁ ôṁ namô Buddhâya, which furnishes an indication, at the very outset, of the grant being Buddhist. It then gives one verse (which is well known from other Râshṭrakûṭa grants) invoking the protection of Vishṇu and Śiva. Then in lines 1-49 the genealogy of Dantivarman is set forth, exactly in the same verses (with a few unimportant variants) as in the Bagumrâ plates of Dhruvarâja II. Then follow three verses (ll. 49-52) which are peculiar to this grant, and which tell us that Dantivarman was a younger brother of Dhruvarâja II. After this there is another well known verse on the vanity of this life. The proper object of the inscription is stated in prose, in ll. 53-67. Dantivarman informs all the officials called râshṭrapati, vishayapati, grâmakûṭa, niyukta, âdhikârika, vâsâpaka, mahattara, etc. that, having bathed in the great river Pûrâvî, on the ninth tithi of the dark half of Pausha in Śaka-Saṁvat 789 (in words and in figures), on the great occasion on the Uttarâyaṇa, he granted to the vihâra at the sacred place (tîrtha) of Kâmpilya the village of Chokkhakuṭi, situated in the north-west of, and included in, the forty-two (villages) named after Sarthâtailâṭa, to be enjoyed by the succession of the pupils of the holy Âryasaṁgha, for defraying the expenses of perfumes, flowers, frankincense, lamps and ointments, and of the repairs of the temple broken in parts. The boundaries of the village granted were, in the east the village of Da[nt]ellaṁka, in the south the village of Apasundara, in the west the village of Kâlûpallikâ, and in the north the river Mandâkinî (Gaṅga). Lines 67-72 contain a request to future rulers to respect the donation, and threaten with spiritual punishment those who might resume it. Lines 73-80 quote seven of the customary benedictive and imprecatory verses. And the inscription then (from line 80) concludes thus :─ “ The dûtaka of this (charter) is the great minister śrî-Kṛishṇabhaṭṭa. And this has been written by the sênabhôgika Golla, the son of Râṇappa. (This is) the pleasure of me, the glorious Dantivarman, the son of the glorious Akâlavarshadêva. Also, (this is) the pleasure of me, the glorious Dhruvarâjadêva, the son of the glorious Akâlavarshadêva.”

The gain from this inscription for the social and political history of Gujarât is considerable. In the first place, this grant, as will be seen from the above summary of the content, was made to the Âryasaṁgha, or Buddhîst community, settled at Kâmpilya. This shows that Buddhism was still in the latter half of the ninth century of the Christian era a living religion, favoured by kings in Western India. Secondary, the inscription adds to the list of the Gujarât