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No. 77
DAMODARPUR COPPER-PLATE INSCRIPTIONS.
12
I believe, have now to be closed ; and it is now evident from the reading of the texts of these Dāmodarpur copper-plate inscriptions that Mr. Banerji's view that the Faridpur grants are "ancient forgeries" is quite antenable. We shall now bave to follow Mr. Pargiter in saying that the four plates are quite genuine.
The mention in these inscriptions of orthodox Brāhmaṇas who performed the agnihotra rites (Plate No. 1) and the pancha-mahayajñas (Plate No. 2) bears witness to the fact that in the fifth and sixth centuries A.D. there was no such absence of Brāhmaṇas in Bengal as one has to nesume, if one has to believe in the origin of the Bengali Brāhmaṇas as given in the genealogical works of the Rādhiyas and Vārēndras. We have seen (Plate No. 3) that during Budha-gupta's reign people were anxious to provide residences for Brāhmaṇas, and that the government of those days also encouraged gifts made for the benefit of Brāhmaṇas. There is mention in Plate No. 4) of erecting two temples and two chambers for the two gods Kokamukha-svāmin and Svētavarāha-svāmin, evidently two Bräbmaņical gods. Mention is also made (in Plate No. 5) of making provision for the worship of gods and for the continuance of the bali, charı, sattra, etc., in connection with the daily worship of the god Svētavaraha-svänin. These instances gathered from the inscriptions, which cover the period of time from 443-44 A.D. to 533-34 A.D., corroborate the statement that during the early Gupta period, in Bengal, as in other parts of the vast empire, there was an uprise of Brahmanism, which was in a state of decline before the rise of the Gupta dynasty, owing to the ascendancy of Buddhism.
It is not easy to form an opinion as to the architectural design of the temples of those days in Bengal, e.g. those of the two gods mentioned in Plates Nos. 4 and 5, as we have no instance of relics of such temples of this early Gupta period. The Chinese pilgrim Hiuen Tsang, about a century later, makes mention of Brahmanic temples seen by him in Pundravardhana and other parts of Bengal through which he travelled. Perhaps he saw many of them still standing in their old position.
I now edit the inscriptions for the first time from the original plates :
PLATE No. 1. This plate is inscribed on both sides, the first containing eight lines, and tho socond five lines of writing. The edges of this plate were not fashioned thicker, nor raised into rims, to protect the writing. It is a thin plate, and the letters are engraved deeply. Except in some places here and there, the writing is in good state of preservation. There seems to have been a seal attached to the proper right middle of the plate; but it is lost. The weight of the plate is 111 tolas. It measures 68" x 4". Although the surface of the plate is in some places, especially on the second side, corroded by rust, the inscription is legible throughout.
The characters belong to the northern class of alphabets, which was in vogue in the fifth centory A.D., throughout Northern India, with some local variations in forms. The sign for the initial vowel a occurs in a(ra)rhatha, 1.7, aprada, 1. 7; and for u in uttara, 1. 11, and that for å in zvan, 1. 9. The peculiar way in which the sign for the vowel-mark of a is indicated by a stroke in the form of a hook attached to the lower right of some letters, especially na (e.g. oshthānādhi, 1. 4), ga (e.g. in oyogaya, 1. 7), and dha (e.g. odhārana, 11. 10-11), calls for notice. Another peculiar form is ta in bhattāraka, 1. 1. We find the right form of ba used along with a preceding m, e.g. in Sâmbapala, 1. 6, as also used in brāhmana, 1. 6, but the same form used instead of va in paradattām=bā, l. 12, is a mistake. The sign for the conjunct ima in
Vido Pargiter's papers on these plates in the Indian Antiquary, 1910, and J. 4. S. B., 1911, and Mr. R. D. Banerji's papers in J. d. S. B., 1910 and 1914.
