Epigraphia Indica Vol 09

SR No.: 032563
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: E Hultzsch, Sten Konow
Publisher: Archaeological Survey of India
Publication Year: 1907
Total Pages: 498
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 28 MB

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No. 26.] DAULATABAD PLATES OF THE RASHTRAKUTA SANKARAGANA.
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No. 26. DAULATABAD PLATES OF THE RASHTRAKUTA SANKARAGANA; SAKA-SAMVAT 715.
BY D. R. BHANDARKAR, M.A., POONA.
These plates were in the possession of a Tongawalla, named Bhau Devram Bhat, a Brahmakshatri by caste, and residing at Daulatâbâd, in the Nizam's territory. They seem to have been preserved as heirloom in his family, and, according to the account given by him, it appears that they were given to his great-grandfather as a sanad. The plates were obtained on loan by me from the owner through Maulvi Syed Mohammad Bilgrami, First Talukdar, Aurangabad district, who was kind enough to accede to my request promptly.
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There are three plates, each of which measures about 73" long by about 5" broad. The first plate is inscribed on one side only, and the remaining ones on both sides. The edges of the inner sides of them are fashioned slightly thicker so as to protect the writing, and the inscription is, on the whole, in a state of almost perfect preservation. The plates are strung on a circular ring, the ends of which are joined together by means of a knob bearing a roughly round seal, containing, in relief on a countersunk surface, a representation of Garuda, squatting and facing full-front; his hands are joined, palm to palm, on the chest, and are turned upwards; his legs rest one upon the other, and two projections at the sides denote his wings.
The characters of the original inscription belong to the northern class of alphabets prevail. ing in the 8th century. With regard to the forms of individual letters, attention may be drawn to d, e.g. in Ast, 1. 2; to n, which looks almost exactly like m, e.g. in °pulina, 1. 12; to nga in bhanga, 1. 14; to nka in Sri-Sankaraganarája, 1. 27; to rya in viryo, 1. 20; and to ficha in panchabhi, 1. 35. The alphabet also includes signs for the numerals 7, 1, and 5 in line 41. The last sign is almost exactly like that for 5 given in the Sâmångaḍh grant of Dantidurga, where the date is also expressed in words. No reasonable doubt can, therefore, be entertained as to the correct reading of the date of our inscription. The language is Sanskrit. Up to almost the close of line 24 the insoription is in verse, and two benedictive and imprecatory verses occur in lines 38-40; the rest is in prose. The number of verses at the beginning is 12. Of these, verses 1-9 also occur in other early Rashtrakuta records. The remaining three verses are peculiar to this inscription, and are historically important. The whole of line 31 after the word vra(bra)hmachari and a part of the line following have unquestionably been tampered with. They contained names of the donee and the village granted, which have been cancelled. and replaced by new ones by heating the plates and beating in the letters originally engraved. The boundaries of this new village are specified after about the middle of line 42, where the original inscription really ends, down to line 55. The letters of these lines are as carelessly written and are of exactly the same type as those incised in lines 31-32 jast referred to. Lines 42-55 are thus a continuation of the forgery commenced in lines 31-32. In respect of orthography, the letter b is throughout denoted by the sign for v; there is an indifference about the doubling of consonants after r; the visarga is often wrongly omitted; the vowel ri is employed instead of ri in bhupas trivishtapa, 1. 5, Kanakádrir-iv-Endrardjaḥ, 1. 8, and priy-d[tma*]jaḥ, 1. 24; the letter gh is employed instead of honoe in raja-simghah, 1. 4; and an anu svåra in conjunction with a following n is changed to that letter once in dhvastin=naya, 1. 2.
The inscription records a grant by Samarávalôka-sri-Sankaragana-raja of the Rashtrakuta family. In the introductory metrical portion, his genealogy is given, beginning with Govindaraja I. The genealogy set forth as far as Krishnaraja I. is in verses 1-9 which, as already said, are to be met with in many other grants of this dynasty, and which consequently teach us nothing new. It then describes Govinda II. in the following words in verse 10, occupying 11. 19-21 and bearing a double entendre: "His son was king Govindaraja who was like Hari (Krishna) inasmuch as both were fond of battles, inasmuch as the former was celebrated for
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