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MAITRAKA-GURJARA PERIOD
195
its art-heritage is necessary. The best Gupta specimens date from the latter part of the reign of Candragupta II and Kumāragupta I.
Red and Black Ware: A typical mediaeval pottery having red slip and design in black over white background becomes profuse in this period. The mediaeval red and black ware, red burnished and black burnished wares are also found from old sites. They continue in the subsequent period also.
Inscribed Seals : Numerous Mahāyānist votive clay-seals bearing the images of Buddha and Stupa, inscribed with the Buddhist creed in the characters of about the sixth century A. D. were discovered from excavations at Valā, carried out by Rev. Fr. Heras. One of this variety is exhibited at Bhavnagara Gandhi Smțiti Bhavan (Old Barton Museum Section ).
The objects excavated at the site of Valabhi contain a variety of clay-seals with the Buddhist formula THTH9: etc. imprinted on them. The reference to 'Ratnatraya' (Frag. 1), Samgha' (Frag. 4) and Tathāgata' (Frag. 5) occurring in the ten fragmentary stone-inscriptions discovered from Valā (Diskalkar, ABORI, XX, pp. 1-8, No. 1 ) further show the influence of Buddhism in the 6th and 7th centuries A.D. There are references even to fields belonging to Buddhist monks or Samgha in copper-plates.
Clay Seal of Puşyeņa: This seal found from the ruins of Valabhi, measures 2.9 inches by 2.6 inches on the face, and about 24 inches high, bearing on the face a rude impression of the sun and the moon, and below it an inscription in 4 lines :
(1) 371 37474T agafya..cu (2) ASTRI STÅERFITA (3) THERTS HEI....
(4) wat op ( The seal) of the Mahārāja Mahä( senā) pati Puşyeņa, the son of the glorious Mahārāja Ahivarman, whose family of kings ( i. e., whose pedigree of royal ancesters) is uninterrupted from Jayadratha downwards (who was a mythical king of Sindhu-Sauvira, and was killed by Arjuna in the Mahābhārata war).
The letters of the inscription are sunk in and reversed. Consequently the letters of the metal or stone matris, of which an impression is taken on clay, must have borne raised letters, which had not been reversed by the engraver. It appears the impression was made for the purpose of stamping the legend on document, cloth or any other nonmetallic substance. The seal shows the legend which can be read direct, and not in reverse as it does on the original. The letters closely resemble those of the land-grants of Dhruvasena I of Valabhi ( 519-549 A.D.), mātrā being represented by a curve.-( Bühler, IA., XII, p. 274; E. Hultzsch, IA., XXXVIII, p. 145 )-( Plate ).
Amreli Clay-die of Silāditya: A clay seal bearing the legend "Sri Sīlāditya" was found from the old mound of Gohilvāda Timbo, which is situated on the fork of the two rivulets Vadi and Thebi, near Amreli in Saurāșțra, just about 40 miles to the east of
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