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

THE GUPTA INSCRIPTIONS; No. 66, PLATE XXXIX D. 267
TEXT.¹
1 ......... Mah[â*]r[â]jasya śrî-Bhîmavarmmaṇaḥ saṁva[t*] 100 30 9
.........
2 ......... .... 2(?)[²] diva[³] 7 [|] êtad-[d]ivasa kumaramê
.........
3 ......... .... pa ...................................................................
TRANSLATION.
............ (In the government) of the Mahârâja, the illustrious Bhîmavarman ;
—the year 100 (and) 30 (and) 9; .................... 2 (?);⁴ the day 7;—(on)
this day ............................................................................................
No. 66; PLATE XXXIX D.
GADHWA STONE INSCRIPTION.
THE YEAR 148.
THIS inscription was discovered in 1874-75 or 1876-77 by General Cunningham, and
was first brought to notice by him in 1880, in the Archæol. Surv. Ind. Vol. X. p. 11,
where he published his reading of the text, accompanied by a lithograph (id. Plate v.
No. 4).—This rendering of the inscription has remained the only published version of
it up to the present time. But in 1882, in the Ind. Ant. Vol. XI. page 311, note 3,
Dr. E. Hultzsch pointed out that the correct interpretation of the date gave the year 148 ;
not 140, as read by General Cunningham.
This is another inscription from **Gaḍhwâ,**⁵ in the Karchhanâ Sub-Division of the
Allahâbâd District in the North-West Provinces. It is on a sandstone fragment that
was found in the pavement of the Daśâvatâra temple of Vishṇu, and is now in the Imperial
Museum at Calcutta.
With the exception of a margin of about 1½″ at the top and bottom, and at the end of
the lines, the inscription covers the entire front of the stone, measuring about 2′ 4″ broad by
7¾″ high. The writing is a good deal damaged, but can be made out satisfactorily with a
little trouble. It is, however, only a fragment ; since the first part of each line, containing
nearly as much as is now extant, has been cut away in adapting the stone to some later
building purpose, and this part of the stone has not been found.—The average size of
the letters is about ⅞″. The characters belong to the northern class of alphabets.—The
language is Sanskrit ; and the entire inscription is in prose.—In respect of orthography,
we have to notice (1) the use of the guttural nasal, instead of the anusvâra, before ś, in
chatvâriṅśad and viṅśati, line 1 ; (2) the doubling of t, in conjunction with a following r,
in chittra, line 3 ; and (3) the doubling of v, after the anusvâra, in saṁvvatsara, line 1.
¹ From Gen. Cunningham’s ink-impression ; so also the lithograph.
² See page 266 above, note 4. ³ i.e. divasa, or divasê.
⁴ See page 266 above, note 4. ⁵ See page 36 above, and note 1.
2 L 2.