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

THE GUPTA INSCRIPTIONS; No. 42, PLATE XXVIII. 201
the name of Îśânavarman should be substituted, in line 7, for the Śântavarman of Major
Kittoe's transcript.
Aphsaḍ or Aphsaṇḍ,¹ also called Jâfarpur, is a village near the right bank of
the Sakarî river, about fifteen miles towards the north-east of Nawâdâ,² the chief
town of the Nawâdâ Sub-Division of the Gayâ District in the Bengal Presidency. The
inscription is on a stone-slab, that was found here, and was afterwards removed by Major
Kittoe, in order "to re-examine it, and to restore it as much as possible, before having
it fixed in a pedestal near the Varâha" in Aphsaḍ. According to the local statement,
Major Kittoe removed the stone to Nawâdâ; but General Cunningham failed to find
it, or to hear anything more of it, either there, or at Gayâ and Benares. The loss of
the original stone, however, is as well compensated for as is possible by the existence,
in the Library of the Bengal Asiatic Society at Calcutta, of an exceptionally good red-
chalk rubbing, made by Major Kittoe himself, from which I now edit the inscription, and
from which my lithograph has been prepared.
The writing, with its margin, covers the entire front of the stone; and is ap-
parently on a slightly countersunk surface about 2' 9" broad by 1' 5½" high, with a co-
responding rim from ¾" to 1" broad. It has suffered a great deal from the effects of
the weather, about the centre of the stone ; but, even here, nothing of a historical nature
seems to be lost, except perhaps, in line 15, a completion of the hint as to the rela-
tions between Mâdhavagupta and Harshadêva, i.e. Harshavardhana of Kanauj. The
rest of the inscription is very legible. The impression indicates that the stone has been
broken at the lower proper right corner; but, as shewn in the note to line 25 of the
Text, the stone seems to have been originally imperfect here; and not so much of the
writing has been lost, as would be expected at first sight.—The size of the letters
varies from about 5/16" to 7/16". The characters belong to the northern class of alpha-
bets, and present a very marked development as contrasted with the preceding plates
of this volume. They belong to a particular type, to which the special name of Kuṭila
has come to be attached, in consequence of the upright strokes having at the bottom
a small tail which is 'crooked, curved, or bent' (kuṭila) to the right. The term Kuṭila
actually occurs in the 'Dêwal' inscription³ of (Vikrama)-Saṁvat 1049; in the last line
of which it is recorded that "this (eulogy) has been written by the scribe Takshâditya,
—(a native of) the (country of) Gauḍa; and the son of Vishṇuhari,—who is well ac-
quainted with the curved letters." The term used here for "curved letters" is kuṭil-
âksharâṇi. It does not seem to be employed with the specific object of recording a
standing name of this style of writing; any more than the expression vikaṭ-âksharâ,
"(an eulogy) in beautiful letters," is used in that way in line 27 of the present inscription;
and ruchir-âkshara-paṅktibhiḥ, "(this eulogy has been engraved) in lines of pleasing
letters," in line 27 of an inscription in the Provincial Museum at Nâgpur; and sad-varṇâ,
"(an eulogy) in excellent letters," in line 41 of the Sâsbahû temple inscription of Mahî-
pâla.⁴ But the term Kuṭila fits this type of letters so well, that, as the name has been
¹ The 'Aphsar, Ufsund, and Ufsund-Jafurpoor,' of maps, &c. Indian Atlas, Sheet No. 112. Lat.
25° 4' N.; Long. 85° 44' E.
² The 'Nawâda, Newadeeh, Nowada, and Nowâda,' of maps, &c.
³ Archaeol. Surv. Ind. Vol. I. p. 355, Pl. li.
⁴ Ind. Ant. Vol. XV. p. 41.