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No. 17.!
RITHAPUR PLATES OF BHAVATTA VARMMAN.
101
Western script : Cf. ekādaś=ēlha l. 20. (3) The form of ba is two-fold in this record : in Brāhmana l. 3 where it is a correction from pa, and in Boppadēvēna l. 26 where it is open on the left side: but in Bakasāmalakam 1. 19 it is closed on this side. The initial a occurs in Il. 1, 13 and 16; à in 11. 10, 12, 22, 23 and 24 ; è in ll. 10, 12, 17 and 20. The final t and m are reduced in size and slightly different in shape when compared to their usual symbols : Cf. t in ll. 1, 15, 16 and 24 and ma in 11. 6, 7, 9, 10, 21 and 23. The letter ma is written in this record in three different forms (1) with the box-head attached to the left arm of the letter (11. 1 to 5), (u) with this head attached to the right arm of it (grāmaḥ in l. 12), Omaryyādā (in 1. 14, etc.), and (ii) with the head attached to both the arms (Kumārao in l. 8, navamāga and Mātrā° in l. 10). Similarly there are also two different forms of the subscript m, viz., one with one box-head (varmma and Brāhmana' in l. 3, Osmābhih in l. 4), and the other without the box-head at all (ātma and Brāhmaṇao in 1. 10, asmābhih in l. 16). The letter su is written in two different forms: one with the u-sign turned to the right as in l. 11 and the other with the sign turned to the left as in 1. 13. The letter su is written differently from this letter in the box-headed type shown in Bühler's Palæographical Table VII, Col. XI, where the w-sign is turned to the right of the letter and not to the left as in this record. On this account there is a very slight difference between the shapes of a and sa in our inscription. The medial i is shown by one curve but the i is expressed by this curve supplemented by a smaller curve within it,
With regard to orthography we may note the doubling of consonants (with the exception of sibilants) following r, such as Mātrādhyāryyāya and Deväryyasya 1. 7. In this process of doubling, if the letter is the 2nd or the 4th of its class, the first member is replaced by the lst or the 3rd of its class, e.g., Nandivarddhanät l. 1. The letter va is doubled when it comes after the anusvära either in the same word or in the following ; see saṁvvaidye in l. 6 and lopar vvä in 1. 15. The class nasals are generally used in this inscription : Cf. kufumbinah 1. 4, Gangao (1. 5), etc. The rules of sandhi are often ignored vibhavaḥ Nalangipa-vamsa-prasūtah tripatāka- 1. 2;
asmābhih Bhagavataḥ 1. 4; ch=ety-evam ātmanavamaya 11. 9 and 10, etc. The Upadhmāniya occurs once (1. 23) and is used wrongly, being followed by cha. It is likely that the engraver discovered his mistake and tried to change hcha to ma. The engraver seems to have misread the draft in the following cases : -For samahattara he has put in sama-harttarao 1.3; for mwavichälyan he has engraved hchavachälyan 1. 23.1
The language is Sanskrit prose, excepting the verse in the Aryā metre which gives the date and mentions the writer of the grant.
Dhe inscription refers itself to Mahārāja Bhattaraka-Artthapati Bhavattavarmman of the Nala family. Artthapati, I understand, is only an epithet. It literally means the lord of riches', that is, ' a king'. But it is probably not used in its general sense in the present record. The Assistant Archeological Superintendent for Epigraphy, Southern Circle, Madras, copied sometime ago at Podāgadh in the Jeypore Agency (Vizagapatam distriot), en epigraph of the 12th year of the son of king Bhavadatta, also of the Nala family. This docu. ment has been briefly noticed in the Annual Report on Epigraphy for the year 1921-22, wherg a facsimile of it is also given. The possibility that Bhavatta may be & prākritised form of Bhavadatta is not altogether precluded. But it is presumptuous at this stage to identify
1 Vide f. n. 7 on p. 103 below.
* See p. 95 and plate II. (It was first noticed by the late Mr. Robert Sewell who in his Lists of the Antiquarian Remaine in the Malras Presiilency, p. 317, mentioned it as an inscription on the rock in Doranagari characters without giving its contents.-Ed.]
[It is interesting to observe here that another name, which in all probability was Durgga.datta, has been written (1.9) Durggatths', and that in Düvadatta' da was added as a correction below the line-Ed.]
