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No. 29.]
SONPUR PLATES OF KUMARA SOMESVARADEVA,
239
top is also of a smaller diameter. All the four plates, together with the seal which adheres to the ring, weigh 140 tolas.
The letters engraved are similar in the main to the letters of the plates of the Trikalinya Guptas. There is, however, sufficient evidence to show that they are of a later time. The compound lotters rnna (1. 1, plate A), chchha (1.3, plate B) in the genuine plates resemble wholly the modern Oriyā lotters; while the letters riga, rika throughout and rü in 1. 10, plate A, resemble the modern Bengali compound letters. The mistakes made by the engraver in engraving ta for gu (1. 3, plate A) and ti for bhi (1. 5, plate B), when copying from the original lines given to him, show that the letters given to the engraver resembled the modern Bengali letters: otherwise such mistakes could not occur. The forged plates contain many words such as vanda pand (1.7, plate C), gauda (1. 9, plate C), etc. which have been used in their popular Oriya sense. The letter ra in plates A, B and C is on its way to be evolved into the form of modern Oriya ra. The forged plate D shows an earlier form of ra.
This grant, issued from the town of Sonpur (Suvarnnapurät, plate A, 1. 1), makes a mention of a Paramamāhēśvara Paramabhaftāraka Maharajadhirāja Paramēsvara Sõms. kulatilaka Trikalingadhipati Sri-Mahabhavagupta-rāja dēva to start with. But from the manner in which this mention is made, it is difficult to say which Mahabhavagupta is referred to. It is not clear whether Srimad-U[d*]dyota, who is called a Kēsarin, is really & lineal descendant of the Guptas. The Brahmēsvara temple inscription at Bhuvanesvaral of the twelfth century A.D. mentions this Uddyota Kēkarin. It is quite evident that the Kosala country (11. 4 and 9, plate A), within which the Sonpur State was still then incladed, was being governed by the governors of the Guptas; for the whole tract of the Kosala country is said to have been granted (prasadikrita) by Uddyota Kesarin to Abhimanyu Dēva (11.4 and 5. plate A), and we learn that Kumāradhiraja Somēs vara-dēva of the Lunar race wag the lord of the Sonpur tract then known by the name Paschima-Lahka (11. 5 and 8. plate A). at the time of this grant. The people of Sonpur know it by tradition that once the State had such a name as Paschima-Lanka. A small rock in the bed of the Mahanadi within A stone's throw from the palace of the Mahārāja is called Lankaśvari, and this Lankavari has been referred to as Lankāvarttaka in the Mahadi copper-plates of Yogēśvaraděvavarman. The Ratnapur stone inscription of Jājalla Dēva mentions the fact that this Raja of Dakshina Kosala defeated the Raja of Andhra-Khimidi in Ganjam and also a neighbouring Raja. Somēgvara by name. I am inclined to identify the latter with the Somośvara of this grant.
I have given practically the translation of Plate A. Plate B contains only those imprecatory verses which are met with in other copper-plate grants ; as such they do not require to be translated. Besides the name of the grantor and his ancestors, there is nothing of such importance in plates and D that it is necessary to translate them. The grantee and his ancestors belonged to the Hārita gotra, had five rishis for their prarara and were students of the Midhyandina Kanva-fakha,
TEXT.
Plate A. i Om svasti [*] Sri-Suvarnnapurāt || || Paramamahēsva(Ava)ra-Paramabha2 taraka-Mahārājādhiraja-Paraměsvara-(II) Soma-kula-tilaka-Tri3 kaling-adhipati-sri-Mahābhavatapta-raja-dēva-påd-onudhyata-(ID) fri1 Journ. Beng. As. Soc., Vol. VII, pp. 568 ff. * See above, p. 219. Ep. Ind., VOL. 1, pp. 82 ft.
Rai Bahadur Hira Lal identifies him with the Någavami king Somo vars of the Kuraspal stone inscrip. tion; above, Vol. X, p. 26.-H. K. 8.] Expressed by a symbol.
. Read Mahabharagupta..
