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

surface inwards; and it is owing to this position, that the inscription has remained in so
perfect a state of preservation.—The writing covers the entire surface of the stone, with
a margin of from 1" to 1½"; and is in a state of excellent preservation almost throughout,
though there are just a few letters from which it was impossible to clear out the hard in-
crustation of lime, with which the writing was blocked up from beginning to end, sufficient-
ly for them to come out quite perfectly in the ink-impression, and so in the lithograph.
At the ends of lines 1, 2, and 3, a few letters have been lost by the edges of the stone
being chipped here; and at some other places a few letters have been damaged in the
same way. But the only place where the missing letters cannot be supplied, is at the
commencement of line 16.—The average size of the letters is about ¼". The characters
belong to the northern class of alphabets, and are of precisely the same type, being in
fact engraved by the same hand, with those of the Mandasôr duplicate pillar inscriptions
of Yaśôdharman, No. 33 above, page 142, and Plate xxiiB., and No. 34, page 149, and
Plate xxiiC. They include the very rare initial au, in aulikara, line 5; and the lingual
ḍh, in uḍûḍha and gâḍha, line 7; rûḍha, line 11; and ûḍha, line 18.—The language
is Saṁskṛit; and, except for the opening word siddham, and the two words at the
end recording the name of the engraver, the entire inscription is in verse.—In respect of
orthography, we have to notice (1) the use of the guttural nasal, instead of the anus-
vāra, before ś, in vaṅśa, lines 6 and 9; aṅśu, line 9; aṅśa, line 11; and abhraṅśin, line
12; (2) the use of the dental nasal, before s, in bhāyānsi, line 2, and yaśānsi, line 4;
though we have the more usual anusvāra in manāṁsi, line 22; (3) the doubling of t, in
conjunction with a following r, e.g. in śattru, line 4; kalattra, line 11; and pāriyāttra,
line 16; and (4), the doubling of dh, in conjunction with a following y and v, in addhyāsita,
line 16-17, and addhvani, line 18, though not in other places.
The inscription refers itself, in the first instance, to the time of Yaśôdharman,¹ here
called a tribal ruler,² whose name is already on record from his duplicate pillar inscriptions
at Mandasôr, No. 33 above, page 142, and No. 34, page 149. It then mentions a king³
named Vishṇuvardhana, who, though he had the titles of Rājādhirāja and Paramê-
śvara, would appear to have acknowledged a certain amount of supremacy on the part of
Yaśôdharman. Vishṇuvardhana's family is mentioned as the lineage that had the
aulikara-crest.⁴ The inscription is dated, in words, when the year five hundred and

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¹ See page 145 above, note 2.
² janêndra; lit. 'a lord of a people or tribe.'
³ narâdhipati; lit. 'a chief ruler of men.'
⁴ aulikara-lâñchhana.—I have not been able to obtain any explanation of the word aulikara;
but it seems to denote either 'the hot-rayed (sun),' or 'the cool-rayed (moon).'—As regards lâñ-
chhana, 'a mark, sign, token, spot,' which I render by 'crest,' it is the technical term for the principal
emblem impressed by kings on the copper-seals attached to their charters, and is quite distinct from
the emblem on their dhvajas or banners. Thus, the Raṭṭas of Saundatti and Belgaum had the
suvarṇa-garuḍa-dhvaja or 'banner of a golden Garuḍa,' but the sindhura-lâñchhana or 'elephant-
crest' (e.g. line 43 of the Têrḍâḷ inscription of Śaka-Saṁvat 1045, &c.; Ind. Ant. Vol. XIV. p. 18, and
p. 24, note 24). So also the Kâdambas of Banawâsi, and also those of Goa, had the śâkhâcharêndra-
dhvaja or vânara-mahâdhvaja, 'the banner of a monkey, or of (Hanumat) the king of monkeys,' but
the siṁha-lâñchhana, or 'lion-crest,' which latter appears on the seals of their grants and on their
coins (e.g. line 28-29 of the Kargudari inscription of Śaka-Saṁvat 1030, Ind. Ant. Vol. X. p. 252;
and line 9 of the Golîhaḷḷi inscription, Jour. Bo. Br. R. As. Soc. Vol. IX. p. 296; see also, for the
seals of their grants, id. p. 230, No. 8, and Ind. Ant. Vol. XIV. p. 288; and, for their coins, Jour. Bo.
Br. R. As. Soc. Vol. X. p. xxiv.) The Chalukyas, in all their branches, had the varâha-lâñchhana