गुप्त अभिलेख संग्रह (जे. एफ. फ्लीट - गुप्त सम्राटों एवं परवर्ती नरेशों के ऐतिहासिक पाषाण व ताम्रलेख)

42 CORPUS INSCRIPTIONUM INDICARUM, VOL. III.
No. 10; PLATE V.
BILSAD STONE PILLAR INSCRIPTION OF KUMARAGUPTA.
THE YEAR 96.
THIS inscription was discovered in 1877-78 by General Cunningham, and was first brought
to notice by him in 1880, in his reading of the text, and translation of it, published in the
Archæol. Surv. Ind. Vol. XI. p. 19 f., accompanied by a lithograph (id. Plate viii.)
Bilsaḍ or Bilsaṇḍ¹ is a village,—consisting of three parts, called respectively Bilsaḍ-
Puvâyaṁ, or Eastern Bilsad; Bilsaḍ-Pachhâyâṁ, or Western Bilsaḍ; and Bilsaḍ-Paṭṭî,² or
Bilsaḍ Suburb,—about four miles towards the north-east of Alîgañj,³ the chief town of the
Alîgañg Tahsîl or Sub-Division of the Êtâ⁴ District in the North-West Provinces. At the
south-west corner of Bilsaḍ-Puvâyaṁ, or the eastern division of the town, there are four broken
red-sandstone monolith columns,—two of them, towards the west, round; and two of them,
towards the east, square. Each pair of columns stands almost due north and south; and the
two western columns are both inscribed. The inscription now published is on the eastern
side of the northern column of the west pair.
On the eastern side of the southern column of the west pair, there is also an inscrip-
tion, which, as shewn by the remains of it, was a duplicate copy of that on the northern
column; but it was arranged somewhat differently, being, as counted by General Cunning-
ham, in sixteen somewhat shorter lines, instead of thirteen. From General Cunningham's
ink-impression, hardly any appreciable portion of this second inscription remains, except the
second and third lines, and lines 12 to 16; and these are not in sufficiently good order to
be lithographed, though they are of use in supplying more clearly a few letters which are
doubtful in the two verses at the end of the inscription on the northern column. In this
second inscription, line 2 begins with the svâdita-yaśasô of line 1 of the one now published;
—line 3, with the gat-ânêka of line 2;—line 12, with about the parshadâ of line 9;—line
13, with the kaubêrachchhanda of line 10;—line 14, with the [sa]ttra of line 11;—line 15,
with the .... śubhâ of line 12;—and line 16, with the yên=âpûrvva of line 13.
With this pair of duplicate inscriptions, we may compare the duplicate inscriptions of
Yaśôdharman on the two columns at Mandasôr, Nos. 33 and 34 below. But Yaśôdharman's
pillars were jayastambhas or 'columns of victory,' not connected with any building;
whereas the two inscribed Bilsaḍ pillars seem to have had a direct connection with a
temple, now ruined, the remains of which must be hidden under the rubbish that has accu-
mulated over the site,—viz. the temple of the god Svâmi-Mahâsêna, or Kârttikêya, referred
to in the inscription.
The writing of the inscription now published covers a space of about 2' 1½" broad
by 1' 10½" high. The first four lines are almost entirely destroyed, and a good deal of
¹ The 'Beelsur and Bilsar' of maps, &c. Indian Atlas, Sheet No. 68 Lat 27° 33' N.; Long.
79° 16' E.—The name is written and pronounced optionally with or without a nasal in the second
syllable; compare Aphsad, and Aphsaṇḍ, in the case of the inscription of Âdityasêna, No 42 below.
² The 'Beelsurpowa, Beelsurpucha, and Beelsurputtee,' of maps.
³ The 'Aliganj and Ulleegunje' of maps, &c.
⁴ The 'Eeta, Etah, and Eytuh,' of maps, &c.