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EPIGRAPHIA INDICA
style suggestive, at first sight, of their belonging to a period considerably earlier than the
time of the present inscription, though the two records are, in reality, of precisely the same date ;
this difference is to be attributed, of course, to the facts, that the two records were written by
different persons, and that the Bhaṭṭa who wrote the Nîlgund record for the engraver to transfer
it to the stone, or who painted it on the stone for the engraver to reproduce it there, was a better
writer or draughtsman than Mâdhavayya who wrote or painted the present record, and also was
more guided, in some details, by a prepossession in favour of the older types and style. The
writing of the present record is fairly uniform, the size of the letters ranging mostly between
about ⅞” and 1⅛”; the r, however, in Annigereyaḷ, line 19, and the ya in vijaya, line 16, are only
¾” high, and the l in ilnûrvvoruṁ, line 20, is somewhat less : the rjju in Nâgarjjunaṁ, line 23, is
2⅞” high. The record presents final forms, of l in râjyaṁ-bol, line 14, and of ḷ in Bâraṇâsivadoḷ,
line 21 ; there ought to have been a final t, of abhût, in line 3, but it was omitted. The distinct
form of the lingual ḍ is, curiously enough, presented in puḍidudu, line 24, where, however, it is a
mistake for the dental d ; whereas it is not shewn in the ḍu of eraḍum at the end of line 16 :
a remark, which might have been made earlier, may be made here, namely that it was seldom, if
ever, the early practice to use the distinct form of the ḍ in the combination ṇḍ ; we must suppose
that the ṇ was considered sufficient to mark the nature of the subscript consonant.
As regards
palæography,─ this record presents all the five principal test-letters. The kh occurs twice, in
śaṁkha, line 9, and in likhîtaṁ, for likhitam, line 23 ; and, in both places, it is distinctly of the
old square type, though there are no actually straight lines in it : it is exhibited best in the khî of
likhîtaṁ, line 23, No. 18. The j occurs freely, and is of the old square type throughout : we have
an open form of it in the jô of dhvajôru, line 9, No. 29, and again in the ja of paṁkaja, line 18 :
in some other cases, illustrated very well by the ja of mahâjanada, line 20, No. 19, there is a clear
space between the centre stroke and the upright part of the letter ; but, in other cases, that stroke
is joined to the upright stroke, according to the original practice, and we have the fully closed
form of the character, as is illustrated very well by the upper j of the rjju in Nâgarjjunaṁ,
line 22, No. 22. The ṅ occurs ten times, and, following the j in the usual manner, is of the old
square type, throughout : in some cases, it presents the open form, as in the ṅga of ttuṅga, line 11,
No. 2 ; in the other cases, it presents the fully closed form, with is illustrated very well in the
ṅga of Nṛipatuṅga, line 13, the last akshara. The b occurs eleven times : in nine cases, it is of
the old square type, sometimes in the closed form illustrated in the be of Beḷvola, line 18, No. 26,
and sometimes in the open form exhibited in the bî of bîṭṭoṁ, for biṭṭoṁ, line 20, the last akshara
but one : but in the bda of śabda, line 7, No. 4, we can recognise clearly, though the akshara is
somewhat damaged, the later cursive form, the occurrence of which here is made doubly peculiar
by the fact that the old square type was presented in the same word, of the same passage, in line 9
of the Nîlgund record ; evidently the writer of this official record, familiar with both types
but more accustomed to the later type for ordinary purposes, intended to use the older type of the
b throughout, but made an involuntary slip in the word śabda and inadvertently used the later
type there ; and it would seem that he began to do the same in the subscript b in nba, the last
akshara of line 4, but recognised the mistake almost directly after beginning the letter, and turned
it into a b of the old square type with a very abnormal dip down in the top stroke.[1] The l
occurs freely, and is here of the later cursive type throughout, though the Nîlgund record
presents the old square l much more frequently than the later character : the exact form aimed
at, as a rule, in this record, is perhaps exhibited in the la of kâlaṁ, line 20, No. 23, as well as
anywhere else : but the li of likhîtam, line 23, No. 17, exhibits very markedly the preservation in
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[1] It may be remarked that lines 4 and 7 present the first instances of the occurrence of the letter b in this
record ; and that may account for the peculiarity pointed out. After the first use of the old square b, in badde,
line 12, there is no relapse of any kind into the later cursive type. In the bâ of Bâraṇâsiyu, line 22, there is a
stroke in the centre, which seems to be due to a slip of the engraver’s tool ; though some mishap in the final printing, some of the copies of the collotype shew a break, which does not really exist, in the top stroke of this akshara.
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