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EPIGRAPHIA INDICA.
[VOL, XXII.
of them resemble those of the Sirpur stone inscription of the time of Mahäsivagupta. The language is Sanskrit and prose throughout with the exception of the imprecatory and benedictive verses.
As regards orthography," the following points may be noted The visarga is omitted in namah (1.1) and antahpāti (1.4); i is used for i in abhio(1, 13), Sagar-adibhih (1. 20), etc. ; b and u have not been distinguished. The rule of sandhi has been overlooked in yadi akshara (1. 36).
The exact date of the record cannot be verified from the details given in the inscription and the reading of the day of the fortnight is not certain, though it appears to be 6. Accepting this reading to be correct, the record is dated the 6th day of the dark half of Bhadrapada of the 11th regnal year of the M. P. P. Mahābhavaguptarājadēva, the forehead ornament of the Sõma family (Soma-kula-tilaka) and the Lord of Trikalinga. The charter records the grant of the Liñjira village in the neighbourhood of the Přithurā-bhukti to a Brāhmana who was the son of Chakradhara and belonged to the Kapishthala-gotra, Vagishthapravara and the Maitrāyani-6ākhā (of the Black Yajurvēda). The donee is simply called Bhatta in the inscription and it is not clear whether this was his name or the usual brahmanic title. He was an inhabitant of Ullakhēta and had originally emigrated from Madhura in the Mid-country (Madhya-desa). The gift was made on the Simha-sankranti and the record was issued from the victorious camp at Kisarakëlla. The writer of the charter was the Mahāsandhivigrahin Rudradatta, the son of Dēvadatts who had emigrated from Ayodhyapura. The usual device on the seal of the Sõmavamsi kings is the gaja-Lakshmi but in the present inscription the device is, as has been noticed above, different and is similar to that used in the inscriptions of the Early Ganga kings. Though the dates of the two known Mahābhavaguptas of the Sõmavam a have not been properly fixed, their personal or birth namee, viz., Janamējaya and Bhimaratha are usually found in their grants. But the grant under publication does not give such a name to the donor Mahabhavagupta. It is, therefore, not certain if he is to be identified with either of the Mahābhavaguptas already known or is an altogether different ruler of the family.
Of the geographical places mentioned in the grant Kisarakēllă may be identified with the village of Kesarkelā, about six miles to the east of Bolangir in the Patna State of Sambalpur District. The village Litjira may be identified with the village of the same name close to Baramakēlā in the Sarangarh Feudatory State. Přithură is the present day Pithoră in the Padampur tract, about 45 miles to the north-west from Sambalpur town. The distance between Pithora and the Liñjira village in the Sarangarh State is about 20 miles. These two are on the opposite banks of the Mahānadi, which flows through the borders of both the Sarangarh State and the Padampur tract, forming respectively their northern and southern boundary. Ayodhyāpura is to be identified with the modern Ayodhya in the Faizabad District of United Provinces. Ulakhöta may be the present Ulakhara village in the Sarangarh Feudatory State. It is about 20 miles to the west of Liñjira.
TEXT.
Pirst Plate. i esat THC: *Ifwaret af [*] farercatore atafanalfaura2 बटवात्परममावरमातापितपादानुष्यातमहाराजाधिरा
1 Above, Vol. XI, pp. 290 f. * This plina is mentioned in Payini, VIII-3-91.
From the original plates.
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