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

the way in which they must have been finished off at the top,—they can hardly have been
connected by a beam, after the fashion of a tôraṇa or arched gateway; and there are no
traces of any temple to which they can have belonged. They are evidently an actual
instance of two raṇastambhas or "columns of victory in war," such as the Kauthêm¹
grant of Vikramâditya V., dated Śaka-Saṁvat 930 (A.D. 1008-9) expired, speaks of as
having been set up by the Râshṭrakûṭa king Karkara or Kakka III., and as having then
been cut asunder in battle by the Western Châlukya king Taila II.
To return to the inscription on the first column,—the writing, which covers a space
of about 3′ 2½″ broad by 1′ 2½″ high, has suffered a good deal from the weather; and, owing
to the difficulty of obtaining lights and shades, partly in consequence of the letters being
rather shallow, and partly because of the natural light colour of the stone, it is rather
difficult to read on the original column; but, in the ink-impression and the lithograph, it
can easily be read with certainty throughout.—The size of the letters varies from ¼″ to ⅜″.
Differing from the Mandasôr inscription of Kumâragupta and Bandhuvarman, No. 18
above, page 79, Plate xi., the characters here belong to the northern class of alpha-
bets, and are a development, in some respects, of the type of the Allahâbâd posthumous
pillar inscription of Samudragupta, No. 1 above, Plate i., and, in others, of that of the
Mathurâ inscription of Chandragupta II., No. 4 above, Plate iiiB. They include the
rather rare lingual ḍh, in upagûḍha, line 4. In vîrya, line 4, and sâmantair=yasya, line
5, the r is formed on the line of writing, with only a single y below it; in combination
with other consonants, e.g. in sumêrôr=vvighaṭita, line 1, and dharmmasya, line 8, the r
is formed above the top line of writing, and the consonant is doubled, in the usual way.—
The language is Sanskrit; and, except for the two words at the end, recording the
engraver’s name, the inscription is in verse throughout.—In respect of orthography, we
have to notice (1) the use of the upadhmânîya in śikhariṇaḥ-paśchimâd, line 5; (2) the
use of the guttural nasal, instead of the anusvâra, before ś, in aṅśu, line 5, and vaṅśa, line
8; and before s, in têjâṅsi, line 1, and pâṅsu, line 3; (3) the doubling of k and t, in con-
junction with a following r, in âkkrânti, line 4; chakkra, line 7; mâttra and yattra, line
3; anyattra, line 6; and nâyitô=ttra, line 7; but not in kriyantê, line 5, and śatru, line 1;
and (4) the doubling of dh, in conjunction with a following y, in addhyâsint, line 4.
The inscription is one of a king named Yaśôdharman,² whose dominions are de-
scribed as including the whole of the northern part of India, from the river Lauhitya, or
the Brahmaputra, to the Western Ocean, and from the Himâlayas to the mountain

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¹ Ind. Ant. Vol. XVI. p. 18.
² Having regard to the frequency with which, in the period of this inscription, varman occurs as
the termination of proper names, and to the rarity of dharman,—there might be some temptation to
suggest that Yaśôdharman should be corrected into Yaśôvarman. But the dh is very distinct in line 7
here, and in the corresponding place in line 7 of the remnant of the original duplicate copy of this
inscription, No. 34 below, Plate xxiC.; and again in line 8 below; and again in the same name
in line 4 of the inscription of Yaśôdharman and Vishṇuvardhana, No. 35 below, Plate xxii.—
The form dharman is not of frequent occurrence. But we do meet with it in other proper names;
e.g. Kṛitadharman, Kshattradharman, Kshêmadharman, Jayadharman, and Sudharman. And it also
occurs in ordinary composition; e.g. in Manv-âdi-praṇîta-vidhi-vidhâna-dharmmâ, in line 5 of the
Mâliyâ grant of the Mahârâja Dharasêna II. of the year 252, No. 38 below, Plate xxiv.; and in
têjôbhir=âditya-samâna-dharmmâ, in line 29 of the Kauthêm grant of Vikramâditya V. of Śaka-
Saṁvat 930 expired (Ind. Ant. Vol. XVI. p. 22).