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The Indian Analyst
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North Indian Inscriptions |
INSCRIPTIONS OF THE PARAMARAS OF MALWA dated 2-2-1907. A transcript of the inscription, with a translation and notes, is said to have been prepared and furnished to the authorities by a pleader of the name of Pyare Lal Ganguli ; and the record was subsequently edited by F. Kielhorn from his own reading of the text from impressions supplied to him by Cousens, who was then the Superintendent of the Archaeological Survey of Western India. Kielhorn’s article, with his transcript in Roman characters, was published in the Epigraphia Indica, Volume IX (1907-08), pp. 103 ff., with facsimiles between pp. 110-11. The inscription is edited here from an excellent set of impressions kindly supplied to me, at my request, by Shri V. P. Rode, the Curator of the Central Museum, Nagpur, where the plates were then transferred and are now exhibited. I have also revised my reading from the original plates kindly placed at my disposal by the Curator ...The plates are stated to have been found near the temple of Siddhēśvara at Māndhātā, better known by the longer name ōṁkāra-Māndhātā, [1] which is an island in the Narmadā and is attached to the East Nēmāḍ District in Madhya Pradesh. They were enclosed in a receptacle made of two stones, measuring, as stated by Kielhorn, 1’ high by 1’ 51/4” broad. [2] It is a set of three copper-plates, which are all substantial and held together by two circular rings, passing through two ring-holes, each of about 1.6 cms. diameter, pierced through the middle of the bottom of the first plate and at the top of the second and the third. The rings are open and do not seem to have been soldered together. The plates with the rings weigh 12.10 kgm.
... The first and the third plate are incised on one side only and the second on both the sides. The writing on the first plate covers a space measuring 14 cms. broad by 26 cms. high, but on the rest of the plates, whereas it is uniform in breadth, and measures 42.4 broad on each, the height of it varies ; that on the second plate first side it is 27 cms. on the second side of the same it is 28.2 cms. and on the third plate it is 26 cms. As to be found on most of the grants of the Paramāra dynasty, the proper lower rigḥt corner of the third plate shows a representation of Garuḍa with folded hands and facing proper left, carved between two snakes, in a double-bordered rectangular space, measuring 5.2 cms. broad by 7 cms. high. The writing is very carefully and elegantly executed. The engraving is fairly deep but does not show through on the other side. Some of the letters are subsequently corrected either by erasing or scoring off, which is seen comparatively more on the third plate, which also bears redundant chisel strokes, hampering smooth reading of the text. At two places (in 11. 40 and 54) letters which were originally left in writing are subsequently carved above the lines in smaller size. The composition shows a few grammatical and other errors, which are corrected in the text and in the foot-notes appended to it. ... Altogether there are 80 lines of writing, of which the first plate contains 19 lines, the second plate lines 20-38 on the first side and 39-59 on the second, and the third plate contains 60-80 lines, of which the length of the last four is shorter by about 6 cms. because of the rectangle containing the representation of Garuḍa, as stated above. The heigh of an individual letter is about 1 cm.
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The characters are Nāgarī of the thirteenth century A.C., and the language is Sanskrit.
With reference to palaeography, we note that the left limb of the initial a is formed by placing
a curve below another and superimposed by a vertical stroke, as in Akōlā, 1. 36, and Āṅgirasa, 1.60 ;
the initial i is formed of two loops placed placed side by side with a fine bend below and thus being
almost as a pre-cursor of the modern letter, as in iti, 1. 22 ; the initial ē is formed by two curved
horizontal lines with their ends joined, as in ēshaḥ, 1. 17 ; and the initial au by joining the
upper loop of a with the vertical, by a bar, as in Aurvva, 1. 40. The loop of ch, which has
developed its angle, is clearly distinguishable from v ; and the initial top-stroke of dh, though
separated from its lower left limb, shows a beautiful bend, as in Dharaṇī-dhara, 1. 39. But as a
subscript this letter loses its top-stroke and almost resembles v, as in sārddhaṁ, 1. 34 and
Samuddharaṇa, 1. 42. The vertical of the ā-mātrā of this letter continues to be joined to the main
stroke by a horizontal bar, e.g. in vaśudhā, 1. 75. The subscript ṇ is engraved as l, e.g., in dōshṇa.
[1] Long. 76° 9’ E. ; Lat. 22° 15’ N. For the description of the temple, see A. S. I., A. R., 1903-04, p. In
my visit to the place I learnt from some old persons there that the plates were found in the vicinity of
the Amarēśvara temple there.
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