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No. 14.)
NARASAPATAM PLATES OF VAJRAHASTA III.
147
No. 14.-NARASAPATAM PLATES OF VAJRAHASTA III. ;
SAKA-SAMVAT 967.
BY PROFESSOR Sten Konow, Pa.D.; CHRISTIANIA. The grant inscribed on these plates was first brought to light by Mr. Appa Rao, and a short note on it appeared on page 111 of Mr. Krishna Sastri's Annual Report on Epigraphy for the year 1908-1909. I now edit it from ink-impressions supplied by Rai Babadur V. Venkayya, who has kindly sent me the following description of the plates :
"These are five copper-plates with slightly raised rims, of which the first bears writing only on the inner side. They measure roughly 73" in length and fluctuate between 31 and 31" in breadth. The plates are held together by a circular ring, which measures 44" in diameter and is nearly 1" thick. The edges of the ring are secured in the bottom of an oval seal, which measures roughly 2" and 21" in its diameters. The seal is surmounted by a high recumbent bull with various emblems sround it, which Mr. Appa Rao says represent a conch, an elephantgoad, a trifüla, a battle-axe, a crescent, a mace, & rope, and a drum. The plates with seal and ring weigh 295 tolas. The plates were received from the Narasapatam tālaka of the Vizagapatam district ".
The inscription consists of 74 lines and is in a fair state of preservation,
The alphabet is the same kind of NÄgari as in Vajrahasta's Nadagăm plates of Saka-Samvat 979,1 and in his Madras Museum plates of Saka 984. The i in conjuncts such as ñch and fij is placed after the consonant. The compound nj, which occurs in 1. 69, is not used in any of the other known plates of Vajrahasta. It will be seen that the form of the j of this compound is slightly changed. There is almost no difference between da (1. 55) and da (1.51); between tu (cf. 1. 25) and tta (cf. 1. 26); between lu (cf. 1. 23) and rnn (cf. 1. 22). The ansvara is usually denoted by a circle after the consonant. At the end of line 3 and before the sign of interpunotion in l. 52, a virama is added anderneath. The sign of the virama is also found in-nivahan, 1. 17; samabhunak, 1. 27. It has been omitted in -avdāna, l. 21; purassarana- . . janapadana, 1. 51; yavata, 1. 56; -ddityata, 1. 58; gaurdvāta, l. 64 f. In savdana, 1. 21, and janapadana, 1. 51, the bottom of the letter has been somewhat lengthened. There are several superfluous signs of interpunction in the grant itself, 11. 53 ff. The numerical figures 967 occur in l. 73.
In 11. 7 and 50 some syllables and words are written in Telugu letters.
With regard to orthography we may note forms like -prakshyalita- instead of -prakshalita-, 1. 4; nairityē instead of nairrityē, l. 67, and the use of v instead of b; compare -favda., 1. 9 f. ; -lavdha-, 1. 12; -valāts, 1. 16; ravilāna, 1. 21; ravdakan-, 1.,27; -luvdha-,1. 23; Vaidumu, 11. 36,58 : -Avda-, 11. 89, 79; -ivjayoh, I. 48 ; -vähira-, 1. 53. The olass nasal and not the anusvära is regularly written before surds. Before k and p we also find the antsvāra ; thus, fasanka-. 1.7; -alamkarishno, 1. 14; but = Aniyarika., 1. 26; pasika., 1. 46; Tampavd., 11. 52 f., 71; but
alimpanti, 1. 46. Before kh, gh and chh there are no instances of the class nasal, but the anusvira is used in all cases; thus, -sankha-, 1. 9; -8amghaffa, . 11; -saighe, 1. 39; lamchana, 1.e. lafohhana, 1. 10. In all other nasal compounds, the class nasal is used.
The consonants k,, t, dh, m, y, and v are doubled in all the instances where they coonr after an r; thus, -arkka-, 1. 56; -karnna-, 1. 8; -kirttēl, 1. 36; sarddha, 1. 53; dharmma-, l. 64; mryya-, 1. 40; saruva-, ll. 18, 54. Ag after sometimes remains single and is sometimes doubled ; thus, margëna, 1. 42; -vinirgata., 1. 58; but nripatir=Ggarg., 1. 26; -varg[ga], 1. 42. The other consonants which are used aftor in these plates, vis. j, th and bh, are never doubled.
Above, Vol. IV. p. 188 ft.
. Above, Vol. IX. p. 94
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