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

172 CORPUS INSCRIPTIONUM INDICARUM, VOL III.
When they first came to light, they had been lying for some time in a merchant’s shop at
Alinâ. They are now in the possession of the Royal Asiatic Society in London, to
which they were presented by Dr. Bühler.
The plates, which are inscribed on one side only, are two in number, the first measuring
about 1' 2⅝" by 1' 1½", and the second, which is rather irregular in shape, about 1' 3⅛" by 1' 0½".
The edges of them were fashioned somewhat thicker than the inscribed surfaces, with cor-
responding depressions inside them, so as to serve as rims to protect the writing. The
surfaces of the plates, however, have suffered very much from corrosion; and in some places
the letters, though not destroyed, are so choked up with a hard deposit of rust, which I
found it impossible to remove, that. they fail to appear in the lithograph. But the inscrip-
tion is for the most part legible enough on the original plates; the only part that has really
suffered being at the top, especially towards the right corner, of the second plate. The plates
are thick, and very substantial; and the letters, though fairly deep, do not shew through
on the backs of them. The engraving, as displayed where the plates have not suffered
much injury, is fairly well executed; but the interiors of the letters shew, as usual, marks
of the working of the engraver’s tool throughout.—There are holes for two rings, in the
bottom of the first plate and the top of the second; but the rings, with the seal on one of
them, are not forthcoming.—The weight of the two plates is 17 lbs. 3¾ oz.—The size of
the letters varies from ⅛" to ¼". The characters belong to the southern class of alphabets;
they are a later development of the type of those of the preceding grant of the Mahârâja
Dharasêna II. of the year 252, No. 38 above, page 164, and Plate xxiv., and illustrate
what may be called the Saurâshṭra or Kâṭhiâwâḍ alphabet of the eighth century A.D.
They include, from northern sources, a separate form of the lingual ḍ, as distinct from
the dental d, e.g. in châḍâ, line 4; also the rather rare lingual ḍh in uḍûḍha, line 11, and
samupôḍha, line 56. They also include, in line 78, forms of the numerical symbols for
5, 7, 40, and 400.—The language is Saṁskṛit; and, except for four stanzas in lines 58
to 63, and for some of the usual benedictive and imprecatory verses in lines 72 to 75, the
inscription is in prose throughout. As is the case with all the later grants of this family,
the inscription was engrossed with great carelessness and inaccuracy; and there are
a few passages, the proper reading of which can hardly yet be determined with certainty.
—In respect of orthography, we have to notice (1) the occasional use of the guttural
nasal, instead of the anusvâra, before ś, in vaṅśa, lines 45 and 62, and nistriṅśa, line 51;
(2) the use of singha for siṁha, in line 56; (3) the use, once, of the dental nasal, instead
of the anusvâra, before s, in ansa, line 11; (4) the doubling of k, in conjunction with a
following r, once, in vikkrama, line 11; and once in conjunction with a following ṛi, a very
exceptional occurrence, in prakkṛiti, line 26-27; and (5) the doubling of dh, in conjunction
with a following y, in anuddhyâta, lines 10, 14, 19, 23, 50, 53, 54-55, and 58.
The inscription is one of Śîlâditya VII., who also had the title of Dhrûbhaṭa,
i.e. Dhruvabhaṭa,¹ of the family of the Kings of Valabhî; and the charter recorded

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¹ As pointed out by Dr. Bühler (Ind. Ant. Vol. VII. p. 80), Dhruvabhaṭa is the full and correct form
of the name; and the first two syllables have been contracted in this inscription, partly because the
metre required one long syllable, not two short ones, and partly because Dhrû was no doubt at that
time, just as now, the vernacular Gujarâtî form of Dhruva, especially in its meaning, in Kâṭhiâwâḍ and
Kachh (id. Vol. V. p. 205), as a technical official title denoting "persons who, on the part of the Râja,
superintend the collection of the royal share of the produce in grain which is made by the farmers
of revenue; their duty is to see that he" (? the Râja, or a farmer) "does not collect more than his
proper share."