Epigraphia Indica Vol 19

SR No.: 032573
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Hirananda Shastri
Publisher: Archaeological Survey of India
Publication Year: 1927
Total Pages: 444
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 23 MB

Page 264

No. 32.] A KHAROSHTHI INSCRIPTION FROM JAMALGARHI OF THE YEAR 359. 203
It is probably due to the peculiar pronunciation of the word as prevalent on the North-Western Frontier of India. Clear instances of lingualisation of the palatal sibilant occur in the word shamana (éramana) in the two Charsadda earthen jar inscriptions and the Hashtnagar pedestal inscription in the Lahore Museum, in the name Shamanamitra (Sramanamitra) in a Taxila image inseription, in the word shavaa (śravaka) in the Jamalgarhi inscription of the year 359, published below, and in the word Kashyavia (Kasyapiya) in a Bedadi copper ladle inscription. In the majority of cases, it appears, that the change of s into sha is the result of the proximity of the letter ra. This characteristic is very well represented by the Khotanese dialect in which Aryan ér is regularly converted into Khotanese sh. This old linguistic feature has survived in some of the modern dialects of the North-West as, e.g., the Bashgali and the Gilgit dialect of Shina.9
The object of the inscription is to record the excavation of a well inside a certain monastery. Trava is probably a Prakrit equivalent of Sanskrit trapa meaning 'bashfulness,' which would be a good Indian personal name befitting a lady. It is very likely that she was the actual donor. Her father-in-law Aga sahaya (Agrasahaya), who calls himself 'humble' (kshudra), excavated the well probably to carry out her pious wish, namely, to provide for drinking water, specially during the hottest part of the year. The record is dated the 15th day of Jyaishtha, the year 168 of an unspecified era. The mode of reckoning is, however, the same as in other Kharoshṭhi documents such as the Panjtär inscription of the year 122, which are now generally assigned to the era of 57 B.C. Referring the year 168 to that era the corresponding English date becques 110 A.D.
TEXT.
1 Sam 1 100 20 20 20 4 4 Jetha-mase divase parchadasa (se)
2 khudana Agasahayana Trava-sashurana dana-mu
3 khe kue khanavi[e] viharami
TRANSLATION.
(In) the year 168, on the 15th day of the month of Jyaishtha, a well (which is) a gift, is caused to be dug, within the Monastery, by the humble Agasahaya (Agra sahaya), the fatherin-law of Trava (Trapa).
No. 32.-A KHAROSHTHI INSCRIPTION FROM JAMALGARHI OF THE YEAR 359. BY N. G. MAJUMDAR, M.A.
This inscription was discovered by Mr. Hargreaves in December 1920, from the debris of Court No. VII adjoining the Stupa at Jamalgarhi in the District of Peshawar. It was afterwards removed to the Peshawar Museum where it is at present deposited. A short
1 Cf. Lüders, Ann. Rep. Arch. Sure. Ind., 1903-4, p. 290 and Sitz. Kön. Preuss. Ak. d. Wiss., 1913, p. 421, n. 1; also Vogel, Ann. R. Arch. Surv. Ind., 1903-4, p. 252.
If Prof. Läders is right the feature would also occur in the word shavachi (bravakai) in the Manikiālā inscription of the year 18 Jour. Roy. As. Soc., 1909, p. 645). The reading of sha in Dashalatha in the inscriptions of Afōka's grandson at Barabar in Gaya District, and in all cases where one would expect other sibilants, in the Kälsi edicts of Aoka is probably unwarrantable.
5 Ann. Rep. Arch. Surv. Ind., 1303-4, p. 289.
Ibid., p. 250.
5 Mem. Arch. Surv. Ind., No. 7, p. 9.
See my edition in Jour. As. Soc. Beng., N. S., Vol. XIX (1923), p. 345.
? Konow, Jour. Roy. As. Soc., 1914, p. 353.
Konow, Jour. Roy. As. Soc., 1911, pp. 30, 31.
Cf. Gilgit fash (=babu). Lorimer, Jour. Roy. As. Soc., 1924, p. 178
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