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238 AN EARLY HISTORY OF ORISSA tion begins on the southern face and continues upto a place where the stone has become actually the roof of the cave. The last 8 or 9 lines of the inscription occur on the sloping surface, where it is difficult to read or copy them. It is, hence, accessible with great inconvenience. One has to recline partly on his back to read the portion from the rock. The present height of the inscription from the ground level is some 32 feet.
A history of the decipherment and publication of this record as given by R. D. Banerji' and Dr. Barua’ would indicate towards one and a quarter century of ceaseless labour and hard work on the part of well-known Western and Indian scholars, viz., A. Stirling and Col. Mackenzie in 1825 ; James Princep and Major Kittoe in 1837 ; General Sir A. Cunningham in 1877 ; Raja Rajendra Lal Mitra in 1880 ; Dr. Bhagwanlal Indraji in 1885; G. Buhler in 1895 ; J. F. Fleet in 1910; K. P. Jayaswal and R. D. Banerji in 1917 and a host of other eminent Indologists like R. P. Chanda, Sylvain Levi, Dr. R. C. Majumdar, Sten Konow, Dr. B. M. Barua and others.
Condition of the Record
Unfortunately, the inscription in question has been badly preserved. The entire inscribed surface of the rock, which was roughly dressed, is misleading due to long and irregular chisel-marks and tend to produce mis-readings of letters. It has also suffered very badly from exposure to wind and rain of 2000 years. Rain water, which trickles down the roof of the cave, has cut into letters and has produced a few letter-like marks. Natural decay produced by time has also given misleading turns to numerous letters. Even
1. JBORS, III, 1917, pp. 486 f ; Jaysawal and Banerji, E. I., Vol. XX, pp. 71 f.
2. OBI, pp. 3-5.
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