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208.
EPIGRAPHIA INDICA.
(VOL. XXII.
The plate contains five lines only. The letters are very neatly cut and do not show through on the reverse, though the plate is very thin. The ends of the plate are neither fashioned thicker, nor raised into rims, still the inscription is in a perfect state of preservation.
As stated above, the plate records the charter of a Vākāțaka king and is, like most other plates of the Väkātakas, inscribed in the box-headed characters which were current in C. P. and Berăr from the fourth to the sixth century A.D. The boxes at the top of letters are not scooped out hollow, but appear like small squares as in many inscriptions of the Vākāțakas. The engraver has not engraved boxes at the top of the letters ja and la and, in some cases, ta, dha, and ga. The characters resemble, in a general way, those of the Riddhapur platest of Prabhāvatigupta and the Rithpur plates of Bhavattavarman and call for few remarks. The medial ā, é and o are generally denoted by horizontal mätrās, bent downwards at the end, added generally at the top (cf. Padmapurät, 1.1) and in some cases, particularly in that of m, at the middle of letters (cf. mëdha and samtājah, I. 2). One of the two mātrās for ai is on the top (cf. Bhairava, 1. 3). The medial au is bipartite as in the cognate records of the Vākātakas. The medial i is denoted by & curve turned to the left on the top of a letter often forming a loop (cf. Siva, 1. 3), while its length is expressed by adding to it another and smaller curve turned in the opposite direction (cf. Sri-Pravarasenasya, I. 2). The medial u is shown either by lengthening the vertical to end in a serif (cf. supari-, L. 3) or by a curve turned to the right (cf. chatur., 1. 1). The letters a, ka and ra have ornamental curves at the lower ends of their verticals as in the Southern alphabet ; da has a round back and is not clearly distinguished from da (cf. dasāsvamēdha, 1.5 and Shodashy., 1.1); va is distinguished from ba which latter has a notch on its left; ma appears in a transitional cursive form with the lower box added to its left arm. Its other form with the box attached to the right vertical which is generally seen in the charters of Pravarasēna II does not appear in this record. The two forms appear side by side in the Riddhapur plates of Prabhāvatiguptā and Rithpur plates of Bhavattavarman. The form of ma used in the present plate develops ultimately into that found in the charters of the kings of Sarabhapura as well as in those of Tivaradēva. The final é and m appear in a much reduced size and the latter has a looped base. The loop on the left side of ya has almost disappeared in two places (cf. Vājapēya, 1. 1 and Yājinaḥ, 1. 2). The right arm of la is longer than the left except in the case of li. The language is Sanskrit. As for orthography we bave to note the reduplication of the consonant following r, e.g., in Aptoryyāma, 1. 1; th is reduplicated before y in Uktthya (1.1) and Bhagiratthya (1. 4), the reduplicated letter being made unaspirate.
With the exception of the place of issue the record is identical, so far as it goes, with the initial portion of the charters of the Vākāțaka kings Pravarasēna II and Prithivishēņa II. It mentions by name only one prince of the dynasty, viz., Pravarasēna I, who assumed the Imperial title of Samrät and performed several Vēdic sacrifices. It then refers to his grandson who was & great devotee of Svāmi-Mahabhairava and who was the daughter's son of Bhavanäga the Mahārāja (of the family) of the Bhārasivas. The description of the Bhārasivas--their coronation with the water of the Ganges which they had obtained by their valour, and their performance of ten Afvamēdhasis given as in the other plates of the Vākāțakas. The record on the plate breaks off just before the mention of this grandson of Pravarasēna I, viz., Rudrasēna I. The plate purports to have been issued from Padmapura.
Here two questions present themselves :-(1) Was the inscription commenced on this plate finished or was the plate rejected for some reason or other! (2) Who was the king who intended to issne this charter? As for the first question, I am inclined to think that the inscription was 1J.P. A..B., Vol. XX, pp. 58 ff.
* Above, Vol. XIX, p. 100.
