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

112 CORPUS INSCRIPTIONUM INDICARUM, VOL. III.
of) the bhôga¹ of the Mahârâja Śarvanâtha,—(this) boundary-pillar has been set up by
Śivadâsa, the grandson of Indana, and the son of the Grâmika² Vâsu;—in the Mahâ-
Mâgha saṁvatsara; the month Kârttika; the day 10 (and) 9.

No. 25; PLATE XV B.

KHÔH COPPER-PLATE INSCRIPTION OF THE

MAHARAJA SAMKSHOBHA.

THE YEAR 209.

THIS inscription,—which was first brought to notice by General Cunningham, in 1879,
in the Archæol. Surv. Ind. Vol. IX. p. 15, No. 7, where he published a translation of
it, with a lithograph of the two passages containing the date (id. Pl. iv. No. 4),—is
on another set of copper-plates that appear to have been found somewhere in the valley
near the village of Khôh,³ in the Nâgaudh State in the Baghelkhaṇḍ division of Central
India. I obtained the original plates, for examination, from the possession of the Râjâ of
Nâgaudh, through the kindness of Major D. W. K. Barr.
The plates, which are inscribed on one side only, are two in number, the first
measuring about 8⁷/₁₆" by 4⅞", and the second about 8¹/₁₆" by 4⅞". They are quite
smooth, the edges being neither fashioned thicker, nor raised into rims. They have
apparently been subjected to the action of fire; but the inscription is in a state of very
good preservation throughout. The plates are fairly thick; but the letters are deep, and
shew through very distinctly on the backs of them. The engraving is good; but, as usual,
the interiors of the letters shew marks of the working of the engraver's tool.—In the
upper part of each plate, there is a hole for a ring to connect them. The ring is about ¼"
thick and 2¼" in diameter. It had not been cut, when the grant came under my notice;
but one end of it had been forced out of the socket of the seal, so that it could be
separated from the plates. The seal, in the lower part of which the ends of the ring were
originally fused and so secured, is rectangular, about 1⅝" by ⅞". It must have had a
legend, on a countersunk surface; but it is now perfectly illegible, and not worth repro-
ducing by a lithograph. Also, from the shape of the seal, as contrasted with that of
the Khôh grant of the Mahârâja Hastin of the year 191, No. 23 above, Plate xiv.,
and compared with the seal of the Khôh grant of the Mahârâja Śarvanâtha of the
year 193, No. 28 below, Plate xviii., it would seem to be a seal of one of the Mahârâjas
of Uchchakalpa, rather than of one of the Parivrâjaka Mahârâjas.—The weight of
the two plates is 1 lb. 8¼ oz., and of the ring and seal, 6 oz.; total 1 lb. 14¼ oz.—The
average size of the letters is about ³/₁₆". The characters belong to the northern class
of alphabets. They include the somewhat rare initial ô, in ôpâni, line 14. In kuryât, line
17, and in kâryyaḥ, line 16, we have further illustrations of the two methods of forming r,
in combination with a following y, on which I have commented at page 94 above.
The characters also include, in line 24, forms of the numerical symbols⁴ for 9 and 20.

¹ bhôga, lit. 'enjoyment, possession, government,' is a technical territorial term, probably of
much the same purport as the bhukti of other inscriptions.
² Grâmika, 'a villager, the headman of a village,' is a technical official title corresponding to the
modern Kanarese Gauḍa and Marâṭhî Pâṭîl.
³ See page 93 above, and note 3.
⁴ As regards the symbol for 9, see page 110 above, note 2.