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

94 CORPUS INSCRIPTIONUM INDICARUM, VOL. III.
of the Native State of Nâgaudh or Nâgaundh¹ in the Baghelkhaṇḍ division of Central
India. They were originally deposited in the Library of the Saṁskṛit College at Benares ;
but, with the ring and seal, were lost sight of in being transferred from there to the
Allâhâbâd Museum, and thence to the Provincial Museum at Lucknow (Lakhnau). I
am informed that the second plate has been recently found at Lucknow. But I have
not been able to obtain it, or an ink-impression of it, for examination. And I, therefore,
edit the inscription here from a hand-copy made by General Cunningham, which, though
not suitable for lithography, suffices admirably for reading the text.
The plates, two in number, and inscribed on one side only, appear to have been in
a state of excellent preservation throughout. From the original accounts, they seem to
have been connected as usual by a ring, the ends of which were secured in the lower
part of a seal, the front of which had on it the legend, Śrî-mahârâja-Hastinaḥ,
" of the illustrious Mahârâja Hastin," as on the seal of his grant of the year 191, No. 23
below, Plate xiv.—The characters belong to the northern class of alphabets, and are of
the same type as those of the following inscription of the same Mahârâja of the year 163,
No. 22 below, Plate xiii. The letter r in conjunction with a following y, is formed
in two ways; in kâryaḥ, line 14, and kuryât, line 14-15, the r is written within the top
line of the writing, with only a single y below it, as in kuryât, line 12, and sûryadatta,
line 19, of No. 23 below, Plate xiv.; while in sûryyadatta, lines 10 and 21, and maryyâdâḥ,
line 12, it is formed above the top line, as in the case of conjunction with other letters,
and the y is doubled.—The language is Saṁskṛit; and, except for the benedictive and
imprecatory verses in lines 16 to 20, the entire inscription is in prose.—In respect of
orthography, we have to notice (1) the use of the dental nasal, instead of the anusvâra,
before ś, in vanśa, line 6; (2) the doubling of k and t, in conjunction with a following r,
e.g. in vakkrâ, line 20; and sagôttra and puttra, line 9; (3) the doubling of dh, in conjunc-
tion with a following y, in avaddhyânêna, line 15; and (4) the occasional use of b for v, in
saṁbatsarê, line 2; and barsha, line 19.

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In addition to 'Uchahara,' Gen. Cunningham uses three other forms, 'Uchahaṛa,' 'Uchahada,' and
'Uchahaḍa,' (Archæol. Surv. Ind. Vol. IX. p. 5); but, in my inquiries at Satnâ, I could not obtain
anything in support of them.—He has also proposed (id. p. 10) to identify Uchaharâ with 'Udyâra,'
the supposed capital of Svâmidatta mentioned in line [19 of the Allâhâbâd pillar inscription, No. 1;
but the real reading there (page 7 above) gives Giri-Koṭṭûra, or "Koṭṭûra on the hill."—Uchaharâ
is probably by no means an unique name; as the maps give an 'Ocharah,' ten miles towards the north-
east, an 'Oocharah,' twenty-nine miles north by east, an 'Uchera,' thirty-one miles to the south-east
by east, and another 'Uchera,' about fifty-nine miles to the south-east by south, from the place under
reference.
¹ The 'Nagode, Nagound, and Nagudh,' of maps, &c. Indian Atlas, Sheet No. 70. Lat. 24° 33' N.;
Long. 80° 37' E.—On the badges of the Police Sepoys, I found the name written Nâgaud. But the
correct form is undoubtedly Nâgaudh, which is sometimes nasalised and pronounced Nâgaundh.—The
Râjâ is officially called the 'Râjâ of Nagode;' and Nâgaudh was formerly the capital of the State.
The present capital is Uchaharâ. And the Political Agency is now at Satnâ, which, in reality the name
of a river, has been adopted as the name of the station on the Great Indian Peninsula Railway. The
station and the Agency are really in the lands of the village of Bardâḍîh.—Gen. Cunningham has pro-
posed (Archæol. Surv. Ind. Vol. IX. p. 12) to identify Nâgaudh with the Nâgadêya that is mentioned
in line 5 of the Kârîtalâî plates of the Mahârâja Jayanâtha of the year 174, No. 26 below. But the
name would rather seem to be derived from nâga-vadha or nâga-bandha, 'the slaughter or the capture
of the hooded-serpents or of the Nâga tribe;' whereas Nâgadêya would mean 'the gift to the hooded-
serpents, or to the Nâga tribe.'