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The Indian Analyst
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South Indian Inscriptions |
INSCRIPTIONS OF THE VATSAGULMA BRANCH
plates of Prabhāvatīguptā, for instance, do not contain it. For all we know, the later Vākāṭaka princes of the Vatsagulma branch may have purposely shortened the introductory portion of their grants; for we have no copper-plate grants of this branch after Vindhyaśakti II’s time. As for grammatical and other mistakes, they are noticed in still greater numbers in several genuine grants of the Vākāṭakas. It would not therefore be wise to reject this grant as unauthorised or spurious. Its importance lies in the fact that it is the only record of Dēvasēna’s reign. In fact it showed for the first time that Vatsagulma was a capital of the Vākāṭakas, which was later confirmed by the discovery of the Bāsim plates of Vindhyaśakti II. ...As for the localities mentioned in the present grant, Vātsyagulma is evidently identical with Vatsagulma which has already been shown to be modern Bāsim in the Akōlā District of Vidarbha. Nāṅgarakaṭaka probably denoted a territorial division corresponding to the modern district, though the names of such divisions usually ended in kaṭa. Nāṅgara, its chief town, cannot be satisfactorily identified. If Nāṅgara is the writer’s mistake for Māṅgara, the place may be identical with Mangrul, (ancient Māṅgarapura), the headquarters of a tahsil of the same name in the Akōlā District1. It lies about 25 miles north by east of Bāsim, on the high road which connects Bāsim with Kāranjā. It was therefore situated in the northern subdivision (uttara-mārga) as stated in the present inscription. It seems to have been an ancient place since a large hoard of more than 1500 coins of the Sātavāhanas was found in its neighbourhood2. Yappajja, if this is the correct name of the donated village, cannot be identified.
TRANSLATION ...Hail ! From Vātsyagulma−By the order of the illustrious Dēvasēna, the Mahārāja of the Vākāṭakas- ... In Nāṅgarakataka, in the Northern subdivision (mārga)7, Our touring Officers of noble birth such as soldiers, Bhōjakas and Daṇḍanāyakas should be addressed (as follows) :- ... (Line 2). This village Yappajja (has been granted by Us ) to Dharmasvāmin of the Śāṇḍilya gōtra and to Bhavasvāmin . . . . . . .
...
(The subsequent plates of the grant are not forthcoming.)
1 This was first pointed out in my note in N.I.A., Vol. II, pp. 721 f.
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