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EPIGRAPHIA INDICA.
(VOL. VII.
of that fertile part of the valley to which Pathyår certainly belongs. For, if this had been the case, & man belonging to the Rathi caste would hardly have designated himself as such in order to distinguish himself from his neighbours. This, as far as I can see, is the only historical conclusion which can be drawn from the Pathyår inscription. Its chief interest, therefore, is purely palæographical
If we compare the two inscriptions, it is obvious that the Pathyår stone exhibits a much earlier type of script than the Kanhiêrs one. This is evident in part from some of the Kharðshthi letters, e.g. the s, which at Pathyar has the closed shape of the Asoka period, whereas at Kauhiara it is open as in the Saka-Kushana inscriptions. On the whole, however, the Kharðshthi of both inscriptions is fairly identical. But a striking difference is shown in the Brahmi legends. The Kanhiara inscription was assigned by Bayley and Cunningham to the first century after Christ. Possibly it is later. They with its three vertical strokes of equal length agrees best with forms of the 2nd and 3rd centuries. The á shows a great resemblance to the type of this letter in the 2nd century. The mis angular instead of rounded as in the more ancient type. The &, on the contrary, with its straight strokes, has a more archaic form. So has the g, which is angular and not rounded.
The Brahmi type of the Pathyår inscription, however, corresponds entirely with that of the Asoka period - the earlier Maurya type as Professor Bühler called it--and therefore can safely be said to belong to the 3rd century B.C. We may infer that both Brabmi and Kharðshthi were known and used in the Kångra valley from that time until the first or second century after Christ.
It is a fact worth noticing, that, while the indigenous character had developed considerably during the course of the three or four centuries, the foreign alphabet had practically remained the same. The most plausible explanation would be that in those parts the Brahmi was the popular script used in commerce and common life, while the use of the Kharoshtbî was limited to official documents and was in consequence fairly constant. The greater importance attached to the Brahmi may also appear from its taking the first place in the Pathyár inscription and from the larger size of the letters, though it must be admitted that the fuller reading is given in Khazôshthi. In the Kanbiåra inscription the Brahmi has the additional word. But in both inscriptions the mangalas are placed after the Brahmi and not after the Kharoshtbi. . Now, to return to the Kanhiara inscription, it remains to be considered whether the newly found inscription throws any light on its meaning. First of all one feels inclined to assign to the word arama the ordinary meaning of 'garden,' and not that of monastery' as Cunningham did. For, considering that Váyula found it worth while to cut an inscription which would stand the ages, simply to indicate that he was the owner of a lotus-pond, there is no reason to assume that Krishnayasas did not do the same with regard to his garden. Moreover, in the case of a monastery the founder would preferably have written bis name on the building, and not on two boulders lying near it.
With regard to the doubtful term medaingisya, we may with Cunningham reject Bayley's supposition that the word was added by some wag in order to ridicule Kfishnayasas. It would have been a very poor joke indeed and scarcely worth the trouble of cutting into hard granite. And are we to believe that the same wag had cut the two margalas also, possibly to make amends for the offence ? Corpulence, moreover, is looked upon with a different eye by the Hindû
See Bühler's Indische Palaographie, Plate iii. 31, XV. and XVIII. • Ibid. 2, XI.
• Since writing the above, I had an opportunity of showing the impression to Dr. M. A. Stein, who, judging from a superficial examination of the Kharðshtht, thought that the inscription was rather of the early Saka type.
• This meaning is not even mentioned in the St. Petersburg Dictionary.
