Epigraphia Indica Vol 19

Author(s): Hirananda Shastri
Publisher: Archaeological Survey of India

Page 19

EPIGRAPHIA INDICA.
[VOL. XIX.
Ka is usually angular, thus in Kanishkasa, 1. 2; occasionally, however, it is rounded, as in kue, 1. 2. Similarly kha has an angular top, as in the Pālāțu Dhēri and Jaulia inscriptions, in khade, 1. 2, but the same rounded shape as in the Ara record in danamukhe, 1. 2. Ja has the regular shape with a straight upright in rajami, 1. 2. In pujane in the same line it has been bent so as to avoid running up into the u-matra of kshu, 1. 1, and in -rajasa, 1. 3, the upper right-hand termina. tion has been bent backwards.
Only the cerebral n is used throughout. The e-mātrā has been added at the top in -phagune, 1. 1, but projects from the middle of the vertical in pujane, 1. 2.
De in khade, 1. 2, has the same shape as in the Ara inscription, with the e-matra at the bottom and the top resembling that of na.
The rare pha occurs in phagune, 1. 1, and has the regular shape.
Y'a is narrow and angular as in the Sue Vihar inscription, and se, with the e-mātrā in the left corner, in ise, 1. 1, has almost the same shape as in that record.
Sa has different forms. The very last letter of the inscription has a strong backward bend, evidently in order to avoid its running into the ja standing above it; the first akshara is sam, where the sa looks almost Hike ra. Similar forms, without any break or bending of the vertical, are also found elsewhere, thus the second sa of masasa, l. 1. A more regular form is found in Kanishkasa, 1. 2; the sa which opens 1. 3 is a semi-circle opening towards the left and provided with a short top-stroke, etc.
The compound rjh in marjhakasa, l. 2, shows the loop-shape of r. In the compound shk in Kanishkasa, 1. 2, the verticals of sha and ka form one unbroken line as in Vajheshka in the Ara record.
There are several flaws and accidental strokes, which resemble letters and considerably add to the difficulties of interpretation. The easiest portion of the whole record is 1. 1, which contains the date, and which has been written in very large letters. Abstracting from insignificant details such as the transliteration of the nasal and the addition of an e in-phagune I accept the reading of M. Boyer, who again agrees with M. Senart except in the reading of the numeral figure after di, which the latter read 10: sam 10 1 ashadasa masasa di 20 utaraphagune ise kshunami. There cannot, I think, be any doubt with regard to the figure 20. There is a distinct indenture in the middle, and it is quite distinct from the figure for 10 which occurs after sam. I also think that the ne of utaraphagune is certain. The restoration of that word is due to M. Senart; Cunningham and Thomas read udeyana gu 1. The e of ise was recognised by Professor Bühler.
It will be seen that the date contains one detail which is not usually met with in Kharōshthi records, viz., the mentioning of the nakshatra current on the particular day when the inscription was engraved. There is only one other Kharōshthi epigraph where the same arrangement is found, viz., the Und inscription, where I read sam 20 20 20 1 chetrasa masasa divase athami di 4 4 isa kehunami sa viranakha (?) purvashade. Und and Zeda belong to the same neighbourhood, and it is probable that the addition of the constellation was customary in that region. It should be borne in mind that both inscriptions are essentially private records. I shall have something to say about the conclusions which can possibly be drawn from these dates later on."
L. 2. The first four aksharas were read chonam uspa by Cunningham, bhanam uka by M. Senart and khanam uspha by M. Boyer, who is the only one who has attempted to give a continuous translation of the whole record. He was of opinion that three different donations are recorded in the inscription, the first one being a khanam. This word he took to be a synonym
1 See my remarks above, Vol. XIV, p. 131 f.
For the transliteration kah cf. my remarks, Deutsche Litteraturzeitung, 1924, pp. 1899 .