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No. 7.]
DAMODARPUR COPPER-PLATE INSCRIPTIONS.
115
Budha-gupta. The applicant's prayer was granted on receipt of the price in coins at the usual rate prevailing in the villages of this province, and the land was given to him after being surveyed and inspected by the mahattaras, etc., and measured by the customary nalas. In this Care also, as in Plates Nos. 1 and 2 of Kumāra-gupta I's time, the record-keeper's approval was necessary in determining the sale.
PLATE No. 4, of the time of Budha-gupta (date in years lost from the upper left corner of the plate).
The guild-president of the town (nagara-śrēshthin), Ribhupala, himself a member of the town-board, applied before the local Government of Kotivarsba vishaya,-administered by ayuktaka Sandaka (or Gandaka), appointed to this position by uparika-mahārāja Jayadatta, governor of the bhukti of Pandravardhana, who, again, was enjoying the royal favours of the imperial "ruler of the earth," parama-daivata, parama-bhattaraka, maharajadhiraja, the glorions Budha-gupta-for permission to purchase some kulyavāpas of vastu (dwelling-site) land on payment of the price at the usual rate of three dināras for each kulyavā pa. The purpose of this purchase of land was to erect thereon two temples and two chambers for the two gods, Kokāmukha-svamin and Svētavaraha-svāmin, to whom eleven kulyavāpas of land had already been dedicated by the same donor to enhance his own religious merits, as apradas (perhaps as permanent endowments) in Dongågråma in a place called) Himavachchhikhara. His application was granted, the record-keepers having approved of the noble purpose and having corroborated the statement of the donor's former gift of eleven kulyavāpas, mentioned in the application. The plate has a seal attached to the middle of its left side : the symbol and the legend, now quite indistinct, seem to have been similar to those used in the seal of Plate No. 5, below.
PLATE No. 5, of the time of Bhānu(?)-gupta, dated in 214 (G.E.) (=533-34 A.D.).
Amritadēva, a nobleman (kulaputra) from Ayodhyā, approached the local Government of Kotivarsha vishaya,-administered by Svayambhädova, as the vishayapati (ruler of the district), who was appointed to this rank by the uparika-mahārāja rājaputra-deva-bhattāraka (the king's son), the head of the bhukti of Pandravardhana, who again was favoured by the imperial "ruler of the earth," parama-daivata, parama-bhattāraka, maharājādhiraja, the glorious Bhāuu(?)-gupta (two letters at the end of line 1, and before the word "gupta" in the beginning of line 2, are cut off, and hence only the Gupta-remnant of the proper name remains)—and applied for the purcbase of some uncultivated khila land, on condition of apradh-dharma (very likely the condition of non-transferability of endowments by further gift), by paying the price in coins at the usual rate of three dināras for each kulyavāpa of such land, i.e. the rate prevailing in this vishaya. The purpose of this purchase of land was to provide for the means of repairs, etc., of the temple of the god Svētavarāha-svåmin and to supply means for the continuance of the bali, charu, sattra, etc., and the materials for daily worship of the god. According to the determination of the record-keepers land measuring five kulyavapas in four different localities was sold to Amritadēva, who in turn dedicated the same to the god for his perpetual enjoyment. This plate has a seal attached to the middle of its left side and bears the symbol of & trident in relief with the legend Koțivarsh-adhishthan-adhi(karanasya), 1.e. (the seal) of the office of the capital of Koţivarsha, inscribed below it.
Our inscriptions cover a period of 90 years, from 124 G.E. to 214 G.E., i.e. from 443-44 A.D. to 533-34 A.D., during which the imperial Gupta rule continued to prevail in Northern India. A discussion of many of the already known historical events will be resumed in connec. tion with the contents of our plates. Although we are specially concerned in these five plates with three only of the imperial Gupta rulers, viz. Kumära-gupta I, Budha-gupta and Bhanu
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