North Indian Inscriptions

ADDITIONAL INSCRIPTIONS

those of the Kānākhērā inscription^¹ of Śrīdharavarman. The size of the letters is about .5". At the top of the letters there are knobs which in some cases appear triangular. The peculiarities of individual letters are as follows:-The apex of the initial ē is on the left in ētad-divasam=, 1. 4; the lower horizontal line or j slants downwards and in some places ends in a curve; see-vijayinaḥ, 1. 2 and -vijaya-,1. 1 ; the subscript lingual ṭ is slanting in Māhārāshṭrēna, 1. 7, but not in yashṭi-, 1.9; the subscript th is laid on its side in-sthiti-, 1. 9 and sthānam=,1. 10, but not in tirtthaṁ, 1. 5; m appears in two forms:- (і) that which shows a horizontal base line with or without a loop on the left ; see the superscript m in-varmmaṇaḥ, 1.2 and dharmmān, 1. 9 and (ii) the older one with a loop at the bottom ; see Mahākshatrapasa, 1. 1 ; v is generally triangular, but in some places it appears roundish ; see -Śrīdharavarmmaṇaḥ, 1. 2; and ś is cursive in some places; see-vimśati-, 1.3. The numerical symbols for 7 and 20 occur in 1. 3. The language is Sanskrit. Like the Kānākhērā inscription, the record begins in prose and is rounded off with a verse at the end. Worthy of note are the Prakritisms, the genitive affix sa instead of sya in Mahākshatrapasa, 1. 1, which occurs often in pre-Gupta Kshatrapa records,and viṁśatimē for viṁśatitamē in 1. 3. The rules of sandhi are either not observed or are violated in some cases ; see rājñaḥ Ārakshikēna, 1. 6 and Māhārāshṭrēna 1. 7. Otherwise, the record is written in a good style^².

The inscription refers itself to the reign of the Rājan and Mahākshatrapa Śrīdhara-varman, the son of the Śaka Nanda, who was probably described in the lost portion of the record as a devotee of Mahāsēna (Kārttikēya). As in the Kānākhērā inscription, he is described here as dharmavijayin or a righteous conqueror. The record is dated in the twenty-seventh regnal year, expressed both in words and in numerical symbols. The month, fortnight and lunar day were also probably recorded at the end of line 3 as in the Kānākhērā inscription, but are now completely obliterated. Unlike the latter record, however, the present inscription does not contain any date of the Kalachuri or any other era, at least in the preserved portion.^³

Owing to the unfortunate loss of its one-third portion, the record does not admit of a complete description of its contents ; but its object appears to have been twofold: (i) to record the construction, by a person whose name appears to be Nārāyaṇasvāmin, of a tirtha or stairs for descent into the river⁴ at the adhishṭhāna of Ērikiṇa in the territorial division Bāhirikā of the Nagēndra⁵ āhāra for the well-being of the adhishṭhāna headed by the cows and the Brāhmaṇas as well as for the increase of the religious merit of the person's father and mother, and (ii) to mention the erection of a memorial pillar, called yashṭi in 1. 9, by Satyanāga, the Ārakshika and Sēnāpati of the Śaka Mahākshatrapa and Rājan Śrīdharavarman, at the same adhishṭhāna for the removal of calamities, the attainment of
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¹ Above, No. 5.
² The form śishṭām, 1. 9, is, however, against Pāṇini, VI, 4, 34. See Tativaòôdhinī on the sūtra.
³ The record seems to have ended with prajânām in 1. 10 as shown by the large slanting line at the top of m. It may be noted that there is no sign of punctuation following that word though it occurs at the end of a verse. This precludes the view of N.G. Majumdar that the symbol following the verse in the Kānākhērā inscription is a mark of interpunction.
⁴ The name of the river which must have occurred at the end of line 4 is now lost, but it is conjecturally restored as Vēṇvā (modern Bīnā). The stone pillar lies only a few yards from the left bank of the Bīnā. See also C. A. S. I. R., Vol. X, P1. xxiii.
⁵ Bāhirikā occurs as the name of a vishaya in No. 27 No. 1. 16, above. Perhaps the territorial division was so called because it was an outlying part of the āhāra. Bāhirikā is probably connected with the Prakrit word bāhiriya, which occurs in Jain literature in the sense of ‘a suburb’.