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

THE GUPTA INSCRIPTIONS; No. 26, PLATE XVI. 117
No. 26; PLATE XVI.
KARITALAI COPPER-PLATE INSCRIPTION OF THE
MAHARAJA JAYANATHA.
THE YEAR 174.
THIS inscription,—which was first brought to notice by General Cunningham, in 1879,
in the Archæol. Surv. Ind. Vol. IX. p. 12. f. No. 3, where he published a translation of it,
with a lithograph of the two passages containing the date (id. Plate iv. No. 5),—is from
some copper-plates that were found, about 1850, in a small receptacle inside a ruined
temple of the god Vishṇu, in his incarnation as the Boar, at Kârîtalâî,¹ a village about
twenty-three miles north-east of Muḍwârâ,² the chief town of the Muḍwârâ Tahsîl or
Sub-Division of the Jabalpur District in the Central Provinces. I obtained the original
plates, for examination, from the possession of General Cunningham.
The plates, which are inscribed on one side only, are two in number, the first measur-
ing about 9⅛" by 6¾", and the second 9¹⁄₁₆" by 6⅛". The edges of them are here and
there fashioned slightly thicker than the inscribed surfaces, with corresponding depressions
inside them, so as to serve as rims to protect the writing; and the inscription is in a state
of excellent preservation throughout. The plates are fairly thick; but the letters are
deep, and shew through on the backs, so clearly that in many places they can be read
there. The engraving is good; but the interiors of many of the letters shew marks of the
working of the engraver’s tool.—In the upper part ³ of each plate, there is a hole for a
ring to connect them. But the ring, and the seal attached to it, are not forthcoming.—
The weight of the two plates is 2 lbs. 7 oz.—The average size of the letters is about ¼".
The characters belong to the northern class of alphabets; and the present inscription,
with the five that follow, and with No. 22 above, Plate xiii., No. 24, Plate xvA., and
No. 25, Plate xvB., illustrates what may be called the standard alphabet, with northern
characteristics, of Central India, from towards the end of the fifth to the middle of the
sixth century A.D. The characters include the rather rare initial ô, in ôghadêva, line 1, and
the equally rare jh, in ajjhitadêvî, line 5; also, in lines 24 and 25, forms of the numerical
symbols for 4, 10, 70, and 100.—The language is Sanskrit; and, except for the benedic-
tive and imprecatory verses in lines 14 to 21, the inscription is in prose throughout. From
a linguistic point of view we have to notice, in utpadyamânaka, line 10 f., the affix ka,
which I have commented on at page 69 above.—In respect of orthography, we have
to notice (1) the use of the dental nasal, instead of the anusvâra, before ś, in vanśa, line 10;
(2) the constant doubling of t, in conjunction with a following r, e.g. in puttra, line 2;
sagôttra, line 7; and ttrâtâ, line 20; and (3) the occasional use of b for v, in sambatsara,
line 21, and sambat, line 24.
The inscription is one of the Mahârâja Jayanâtha; and the charter recorded in it
is issued from the city or hill called Uchchakalpa.⁴ The date of the writing of the
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¹ The ‘Karîtalai and Kareetullaee’ of maps. Indian Atlas, Sheet No. 89. Lat. 24° 3′ N.;
Long. 80° 46′ E.
² The ‘Moorwari, Moorwarra, and Murwára,’ of maps, &c. ³ See page 101 above, note 2.
⁴ The 'iteral meaning, ‘that which is but little short of being a high place,’ points perhaps
rather to the name being properly that of a hill; but of course with a town on it.