North Indian Inscriptions

INSCRIPTIONS OF THE PARAMARAS OF MALWA

No. 4; PLATE IV
DHARAMPURI GRANT OF VAKPATIRAJADEVA
[Vikrama] Year 1031

...THIS inscription is incised on two copper-plates which are stated to have been dug out by a farmer in his field at Dharampurī[6] , the chief town of a parganā in the former State of Dhār, which is now the headquarters of a District of the same name in Madhya Pradesh. Some time after, the plates were sent to Indore in the Archives Office of the Central India Agency. The record was first brought to light, in 1861, by Fitz Edward Hall, who tranalated it and commented upon it in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Volume XXX, pp. 195-210. Subsequently. in 1877, the inscription was edited by Nīlkanṭha Janārdana Kīrtanē, with his own reading of the text, in Nāgarī, and a fresh translation, in the Indian Antiquary, Volume VI, pp. 48 ff. and Plates, showing full size facsimiles (facing pp. 51 and 52).[7] The plates are now in the India Office, London. The record is edited here from the facsimiles published in the Volume of the Indian Antiquary, referred to above.

...As stated above, the plates are two in number, each engraved on one side only and each measuring 12” (30.5 cms.) wide and 8.6” (21.60 cms.) high, and contain 18 and 16 lines respectively, the last line containing only a part of the sign-manual of the king. The lower left corner of the second plate, in a rectangular space of about 9 cms. high by 8 cms. broad, shows the figure of a flying Garuḍa, in human from and facing left, holding a snake in the left hand. The figure measures 7 cms. broad by 8.5 cms. high The lower edge of the first plate and the upper of the second contain two round holes, each about 1 cm. in diameter and obstructing the continuity of writing in a line, showing that both the plates were originally held together by two rings which are now not forthcoming.

...The writing is bold and from the facsimiles it appears to be in a perfect state of preservation. The height of individual letters is between .5 and .8 cms. The characters belong to the tenth century A.C. and they bear a general resemblance to those of the Harsōlā Grant A. The new forms of letters exhibited in the present record, however, are as follows. The initial a is engraved so as to resemble p with the sign of medial u attached to its left limb, see, e.g., agāra, 1. 11 and asmat, 1.27. The vertical stroke of k is turned above at its lowest extremity so as to form the loop, see kuśalī, 1. 8 ; the rare chh in Ahichchhatra, 1. 20, appears as a hollow circle with a tail
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[1]The horizontal bar of the superscript of this letter is not carved.
[2] This daṇḍa is superfluous.
[3] The superscript of this letter appears as न्..
[4] This daṇḍa is so close to the preceding letter as to look like a mātrā attached to it.
[5] In this letter the middle slanting bar is missing ; on the other hand, it is seen in the following प, making it appear as ष.
[6] Dharampurī of the maps, situated in 75° 27’ E. Long. and 22° 10’ N. Lat. The place is of some historical and archaeological importance and lies on the north bank of the Narmadā. about 96 kms. south-southwest from Indore and about 77 kms. Straight south of Dhār. the capital of the former State of that name and controlled by the Central India Agency.
[7] The following are some of the points which show that Kīrtanē’s reading of the text is not quite correct. though from the point of history it makes little difference. The syllables sī, rā and ka, which the plate shows as closing the lines 3. 29 and 30 respectively, are written by him at the beginning of each of the following line: he wrongly put two avagraha signs after cha in chāśvāsitaṅ, 1. 4: on the last letter in bhagavantaṁ, 1.15, the sign of anusvāra, which is clear on the plate. is omitted by him ; in pavitraka, 1.14 and Ahichchhattra. 1.20. he read a single t for double; and in 1.25 he read dharmāwhereas the facsimile does not show the medialā.

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