________________
180
EPIGRAPHIA INDICA.
[VOL. XXIV.
No. 25.-GAUTAMI PLATES OF GANGA INDRAVARMAN : YEAR 4.
BY KUNJA GOVINDA GOSWAMI, M.A., CALCUTTA. This set' of three copper-plates, which are in a good state of preservation, was discovered in 1937 in the village Gautami in the Badakhimedi Estate of the Ganjam District by a villager, while preparing the site for the construction of a house. Mr. Tumul Krishnamurti of Nuapara obtained the plates from the villager and handed them over to Pandit Nilkantha Das, M.L.A. (Central). Mr. Das again gave the plates to Pandit Binayak Misra, Lecturer in Oriya, Calcutta University, and the latter has very kindly made them over to me for publication. I am extremely grateful to Messrs. Das and Misra for thus providing me with an opportunity of editing these plates in the Epigraphia Indica.
These three plates together with the ring and the seal weigh 95 tolas. Each plate measures 67 inches in length and 47 inches in breadth. The ring is almost round, and is inch in thickness, with its inner diameter of 37 inches. The seal is very small and is 4 inch in diameter. No emblem or legend is any more traceable on it. The plates are strung on the ring passing through the holes which were bored in the middle of the left hand side of each plate. The first and the third plates are inscribed on one side only while the second plate bears writing on both the sides. There are altogether thirty-one lines of writing, the first three sides containing eight lines each and the fourth seven.
The characters belong to the Northern variety showing signs of southern influence at places. Considering its script, the present inscription seems to be one of the early records of the Ganga Kings of Orissa, though not so early as the Dhanantara plates of Samantavarman of the same dynasty. It may be pointed out in passing that the name Padmachandra of the engraver of this latter record happens to be identical with that of the engraver of the present charter. It is, however, extremely doubtful whether one and the same person is meant thereby, as the soripts of the two records exhibit so marked a difference in the style of writing that thay cannot be taken to have been incised by an identical hand; the script of the Dhanantara plates on the whole appears to be earlier than that of the plates under consideration.
The language of the inscription is Sanskrit, and the composition is in prose except that two customary verses occur in the concluding portion.
As regards orthography, there are some peculiarities to be noted the consonants after are doubled in some cases while in others there is no such doubling, as in thèlor=mMahendrachala-1.3, and in chaturdasa 11. 1-2. Again followed by r is doubled in fakti-traya, 1.7, ksheltra and goura, l. 15. The spribe does not make any distinction between the signs for medial short i and long i The Sorms of b and u also are not differentiated : everywhere we find the use of v only for both the letters. In ligatures & class nasal is sometimes used, e.g., $aśārka, 1. 2 and sometimes represented by anusvára, e.g., Gamgo, 1. 5. In certain cases a letter or visarga has been wrongly left out. An anuevāra almost invariably takes the place of a finalm, while occasionally it also stands for a final, as in sa-karanán, 1. 12. In l. 16, the sign obviously meant for vant looks more like that for uta. Besides, there are certain other errors which have been duly corrected in the transcribed text.
The first four syllables, containing a name, in l. 17 have been rendered obscure by some scratchings over these letters. It may be the correction made by the original scribe bimself or somebody might have tampered with it subsequently.
Referred to above, p. 133, n. 8. . Above, Vol. XV, pp. 278 . and plates.
