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No. 33.]
THREE EARLY BRAHMI INSCRIPTIONS.
239
land as idaiyidu to the bhattarakar of Tiruchchenguprur:--I I, Devam-Pavittirap of Murunnaiyûr, also know;8
(L. 22). I, Sannaran Kandan of Idaiyámaņam, also know; (Ll. 22 to 23). I, Kandan Damodaran of Manalmúkku, also know; (Ll. 23 to 24). I, Iravi-Parandavap of Pupalúr, the adhikarin of Venadu, also know; (Ll. 24 to 25). 1, Parandavan-Kandap of Kudagôţtur, also know. (Ll. 25 to 26). This is the writing of Battap-Sadaiyan, the poduvaļ of Tiruchchenguprur.
No. 33.-THREE EARLY BRAHMI INSCRIPTIONS.
BY PROFESSOR H. LÜDERS, Ph.D., ROSTOCK. 1.-BRITISH MUSEUM STONE INSCRIPTION OF THE TIME OF KANISHKA. ... On the occasion of a visit to the British Museum in the autamn of 1906, I discovered in
one of the cases of the Northern Gallery the stone bearing the subjoined inscription, which, as far as I know, has never been published before. At my request impressions were taken, from which I have prepared the transcript. Subsequently Dr. Fleet kindly sent me the photograph of the stone reproduced in the accompanying plate.
Nothing seems to be known about the origin of the stone, but the characters, the language and the date of the inscription prove that it comes from Northern India.
The sculpture at the top of the stone represents a man and a woman sitting on a bench. The woman to the left, wearing a loin-cloth and a girdle and the usual ornaments round the neck, the wrists, the ankles and in the lobes of the ear, reste her left elbow on the knee of her left leg which she has placed on the top of the bench, and turns her laughing face to the spectator. The male person also is wearing a necklace, bracelets, ear-drops, and a dhoti covering the knees. He is sitting astride, and with the right hand he touches, or points to, & sort of stand placed between the two persons on the bench and bearing what would seem to be & cushion adorned by three small square marks and supporting some bell-shaped object. Right over the head of the man there appears something which at first sight looks almost like a club, but which in my opinion probably is the mutilated head of a cobra. As the stone is broken off immediately above the head of the female person, it is quite possible that her head also was overshadowed by a similar representation of a serpent's head, and it seems to me very probable therefore that the sculpture represents a Naga and his wife.
The writing is Brahmi of the earlier Kughana type. The subscript ya is expressed by the fall sign, and the sha shows the old form with the small cross-bar. The language is the usual mixed dialect. The inscription, which is dated in the tenth year of maharaja dévaputro Kanishka, records the gift of a temple. Details will be discussed below.
1 [In the original the name Adichchan-Umaiyammai is not repeated M it is represented in the translation. It looks m if Srlvallavaögðdai www seated with the members of the assembly of Tiruchchengupror in the palace at Kollam (11. 4-5) while making the gift to Adiobohan Umaiyammai. Accordingly I Avould translate this sentencem follow (The following aro) the addhua who know the transaction entered into) at the place at which (Adichohan Umaiyammai)-while Srivallavaögðdai ww sitting with the sembly P) - granted the bald (of the land P) to the lord (bhattaraka) of Tiruchchenguprar." The same fact lo referred to in lines 8 and 9. V.V.!
• The name of the man was apparently Dāvan Pavittiran.- V. V.] • I... the terms of this transaction and bear witness to the wine. • [Parandayag is apparently a tadbhava of the Sanskrit Parantapa.-V. V.)
