________________
230
EPIGRAPHIA INDICA.
[VOL. VIII.
Asiatic Society, Vol. XVI. p. 1 ff. It is now re-edited from an excellent ink-impression supplied by Dr. Fleet, who contributes the following remarks on the original :
"The present facsimile of the plates has been prepared, under my superintendence, from ink-impressions made by me in 1884, when I obtained the original plates on loan, for that purpose, from Dr. Bhagwanlal Indraji. The seal has been done from a photograph of it which was made on the same occasion.
"The copper-plates are two in number, each about 8" long by 5' broad at the ends and 41" in the middle. The edges of them are here and there slightly thicker than the inscribed surfaces; but it would seem that this was accidental, and that the plates were intended to be smooth, without any fashioned rims. The plates are substantial; and the letters, though fairly deep, do not show through on the reverse sides at all. The engraving is good. The interiors of many of the lettere show marks of the working of the engraver's tool. The ring is about 1 thick, and 1}" in diameter. It had been cut before the time when it came into my hands. The soal, which is soldered on to the ring in the usual fashion, is circular, about 1' in diameter. It has, in relief on the surface of it, only the motto Sri-déraya. The weight of the two plates is 2 lbs.; and of the ring and seal, 5 oz.: total, 2 lbs. 5) oz."
The alphabet resembles that of other records of the early Chalukyas. The jihvamaliya occurs once (1. 12). Final forms are found of m (11. 1, 2, 20), t (1. 13) and (1. 17). The only mark of punctuation is a small vertical line after Suímantasvámi (1. 14). The date at the end of the inscription is expressed in words and numerical symbols.
The language is Sanskrit, mostly prose; two well known Anushțubh verses occur in l. 1 f. and 1. 19 f. Although the inscription is very well preserved, and though the engraving is neat and distinct, the text is full of serious blunders. As may be seen from the footnotes and from the brackets in the transcript, many letters and syllables are either omitted or corrupted. In line 15 a whole word seems to be missing, which cannot be supplied with certainty.!
The inscription opens with an invocation of the boar incarnation of Vishnu (1. 1 f.). It then states that in the family of the Chalikyas (1.5) was Pulaksi-Vallabha (1. 6), "who by the strength of his own arm had subdued the collection of all hostile kings, who resembled Rama and Yudhishthira, (and) who possessed true chivalry." His son was Dh[a]råśraya-Jays. simhavarman (1. 9 f.), "whose power had been increased by his elder brother, the glorious Vikramaditya-Saty[á]sraya-Prithivivallabha-Maharajadhiraja Paramésvara-Bhaffáraka, the fervent Máhêsvara, who meditated at the feet of his mother and father and of the holy Någavardhana, (and) who by unchecked prowess had overcome the Pallava family." His son was the heir-apparent (yuvarája) śryáśraya-Siladitya: (1.13), "who illuminated all quarters of the sky by the banner of (his) fame that was as pure as the great garland of the rays of the spotless full-moon in autumn, who was as liberal as Rajaraja (.e. Kuvėra), [who resembled) the god of love in being endowed with beauty, grace and loveliness, (and) who was as skilled in all arts (and) as brave as (Naraváhanadatta) the emperor of the Vidyadharas." While residing at Navasårikå, he granted to the Brahmana Bhögikkasvamin (1. 15) a village named Åsațţi-gráma (1. 16). The donee was an Adhvaryu (i.6. a student of the Yajurveda), the pupil (?) of Kikkasvamin, the younger brother of Matriśvara (?), and the son of (Samantasvåmin. The latter was the son of Agå misvâmin, who belonged to the Kasyapa gstra and resided at Navarárika. The village granted was included in tho district (vishaya) of Kanhavalahára, a subdivision of the Bahiriká district (vishaya). According to the two last lines of the inscription, " this edict) was written by the minister ([4]ndhivigrah [i]ka), the glorious Dhana[m]jaya,
See p. 232 below, note 14.
For this early variant of the name. Chalukya' see Dr. Fleet's Dyn. Kan. Distr. p. 336, note 3. * Ou the scal, Siladitya's surname Sryasraga is spelt Sri-díraya, without Sandhi.
