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

THE GUPTA INSCRIPTIONS; No. 80, PLATE XLIV. 287
temple of the god Paraśurâma at this village; and, in accordance with the custom of the
country, it is kept nailed up on one of the walls of the temple. I obtained the original
plate, for examination, through the kindness of Mr. L. W. Dane, B.C.S.
The plate, which is inscribed on one side only, is of rather irregular shape, the
extreme measures being about 1' 6⅞" by 8⅝". The edges of it are neither fashioned
thicker, nor raised into rims. Three of the four corners are more or less damaged; but
nothing has been lost thereby; except in the upper proper right corner, where, unfor-
tunately, the name of the family of the Mahârâja, whose grant is recorded, has been
broken away at the commencement of line 1. The rest of the inscription is in a state of
very good preservation throughout. The plate is rather thin; and the letters, though not
very deep, shew through on the reverse side throughout; they were also engraved with
such force as to destroy entirely the original smoothness of the plate, and thus to give
the majority of them rather a blurred appearance in the lithograph. The engraving is
fairly good; but, as usual, the interiors of the majority of the letters shew marks of the
working of the engraver's tool.—At the top of the plate, in the centre, there is a hole,
which seems to have been made originally for a ring, with a seal attached to it; but
it has been broken through to the edge, and the ring and seal are not forthcoming.
There is another hole in the bottom of the plate; this was probably made later, in order
to nail the plate up on to the wall of the temple.—The weight of the plate is about 1 lb.
12 oz.—The size of the letters varies from ⅛" to 5/16". The characters belong to the
northern class of alphabets. In the combination of r with a following y, the r in this in-
scription is written on the line, with only a single y below it; e.g. in paryantâ, line 8, and
kuryât, line 11. The characters include, in line 14, forms of the numerical symbols
for 1, 6, and 10.—The language is Sanskrit; and, except for the benedictive and impre-
catory verses in lines 12 to 14, the inscription is in prose throughout.—In respect of
orthography, we have to notice (1) the use of the jihvâmûlîya and upadhmânîya, in
yugalaḥ=kratu, line 2; duḥkha, line 6; anudhyâtaḥ=parama, lines 2, 3, and 4; utpannaḥ=
pitrâ, line 2; and dayâluḥ=parama, line 5; (2) the use of the guttural nasal, instead of
the anusvâra, before ś, in vanśa, line 1; (3) the occasional doubling of k and t, in conjunc-
tion with a following r, in samatikkrânta, line 1; and attra and vâdittra, line 15; and (4)
the use of v for b throughout, in lavdha, line 3; vvali, line 7; kuṭumvina, lines 8 and
9; and kuṭumva, line 9.
The inscription is one of a Mahâsâmanta and Mahârâja named Samudrasêna.
Its date, in numerical symbols, is the year six, and the eleventh solar day of the bright fort-
night of the month Vaiśâkha (April-May). There is nothing to indicate any particular
era to which the date should be referred. On palæographical grounds, we might very
well refer it to the Harsha era, with the result of A.D. 612-13. But I feel rather doubt-
ful as to the probability of the years of Harshavardhana's reign having been constituted
an era, of general acceptance, quite so soon after his accession. And I am inclined
to look upon the date of this inscription as referring only to the years of the authority of
Samudrasêna himself, as in the Ârang grant of the Râja Mahâ-Jayarâja, No. 40 above,
page 191, the Râypur grant of the Râja Mahâ-Sudêvarâja, No. 41 above, page 196, and
the Chammak and Siwanî grants of the Mahârâja Pravarasêna II., Nos. 55 and 56 above,
pp. 235 and 243. And, in that case, all that can be said about the period of the present
inscription, is, that it belongs roughly to about the seventh century A.D.¹ The object of
¹ Gen. Cunningham (Archæol. Surv. Ind. Vol. XIV. p. 120 ff.) has referred this inscription to Vi-
krama-Saṁvat 1227 (A.D. 1160-61); but on grounds which will not stand for a moment. It is quite