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The Indian Analyst
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South Indian Inscriptions |
EPIGRAPHIA INDICA The copper plates which bear the subjoined inscription were receiver in June 1901 from Mr. R. Morris, I.C.S., Collector of the Kistna district, along with an abstract of their contents by Mr. J. Ramayya, B.A., B.L. They had been recently discovered in a mound in the village of Koṇḍamudi in the Tenâli tâluka of the Kistna district and will be deposited in the Madras Museum. The copper plates are eight in number, and measure about 7″ in breadth and about 31¼″ in height. Their edges are not raised into rims. In the upper left corner of the first side of each plate is cut a hole for the ring on which they were strung. The ring measures about 3½″ in diameter and about ¼″ in thickness, and its ends are soldered into the base of a circular seal of about 1¼″ diameter. The ring had not yet been cut when the plates came into my hands. In the centre of the seal is, in relief, a trident the handle of which seems to end in an arrow, a bow (?), the crescent of the moon, and an indistinct symbol of roughly triangular shape. Round the margin of the seal runs a Sanskṛit legend in archaic characters which differ totally from those employed on the plates.[1] The preservation of the plates is tolerably good ; but the first side of the first plate is so much corroded that it can be read only with great difficulty. Besides, two corners of the first plate are broken off, and it has in this way become detached from the ring. The alphabet of this inscription closely resembles that of the Mayidavôlu plates of Śivaskandavarman (No. 8 above). It shows the same peculiar s, m, j, and e. The group jâ (ll. 5, 11 and 34) has a different shape, the vowel-mark being attached on the right, and not at the top of the letter as in the Mayidavôlu plates (ll. 18 and 24). The n (or ṇ) is identical in shape with the lingual ḍ, but the dental d is represented by a separate character, while in the Mayidavôlu plates no distinction is made between all the four letters. Initial o occurs twice (ll. 19 and 27), and ph (l. 4), ḍh (l. 17), gh (l. 19), th (l. 37) and initial î (l. 18) once.
The language is Prâkṛit, with the exception of the two Sanskṛit word Mahêśvara (l. 3) and Bṛihatphalâyana (l. 4) and the Telugu village name Pâṁṭûra (ll. 24 and 29). As in the Mayidavôlu plates, the orthography follows the practice of the cave inscriptions, where a single consonant does duty for a double letter.[2] Double n and double m are expressed by anusvâra and n (ll. 15 and 19) and m (ll. 5 and 44), respectively ; a superfluous anusvâra occurs before the groups mh and nh (ll. 7, 8, 10, 16, 17, 24, 26, and 29). The instrumental etehi naṁ (l. 35) is known from the Andhra inscriptions and from the Jaina Prâkṛit.[3] The curious phrases etasa chasa (l. 28) and etaṁ chasiṁ (l. 36) also have their parallels in the Andhra inscriptions.[4] A peculiar word is asi (ll. 13, 14, 15 and 18), aṁsi (ll. 17, 20 and 22) or aṁsikâ (l. 21), ‘ a share,’ which seems to be derived from the Sanskṛit aṁśa. Divaḍha (l. 17) represents the Ardhamâgadhî divaḍḍha, ‘ one and a half.’[5] _________________________________________________ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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