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EPIGRAPHIA INDICA
[VOL. XXVII
first found. The plates are inscribed on one side only, and have raised rims. The inscription runs across the length of the plates and is well preserved. There are altogether thirty lines of writing, each plate containing fifteen. There are holes for two rings; but the rings, and the seal that must have been on one of them, have been lost. The two plates weigh 178 tolas.
The characters are of the western variety of the Southern alphabet and resemble those found on the inscriptions of the kings of Valabhi, both in the prevalence of round strokes instead of angular ones and in the size of the letters. The royal signature is written in perfectly formed Devanagari letters. With regard to the formation of individual letters we may note the immoderate length of the superscribed ā (lõkapāla, 1.4, and ōchitayā, 1.20) and ō (-prabhāvō, 1.11) and of the subscribed r (-pranīta, 1.8, and prachya-, 1.12). Attention may be drawn also to the form of the final t (vaset, 1.25, dadyat, 1.27 and samvat, 1.29). In the last example the right hand stroke of the letter is unusually long. The letter two forms, (kamal, 1.3, and likhita, 1.29). The first is by far the more frequent.
has
The language of the inscription is Sanskrit, and, with the exception of the imprecatory and benedictory verses at the end, the whole composition is in prose. In respect of orthography the following points are noticed: (1) anusvāra has taken the place of n (Vindhy, 1.25), m (gambhir-, 1.3), n (Gamgaditya-, 1. 19), and (-chamchala-, 1.22); (2) the vowel ri is replaced by ri (krishataḥ, 1.20); (3) a consonant after r is in most cases doubled (-Karnn, 1.2, the form of the subscript resembling that of n); (4) occasionally a consonant preceding r is also reduplicated (göttra and puttra, 1.19). The reduplication of sh in Harshsha (1. 4) and varshsha (1.24) is, however, ungrammatical. The text of the grant agrees closely with that of the Nausari plates1 of Jayabhața III and of the Prince of Wales Museum plates of Jayabhata IV.
The document is issued from Bharukachchha, which is modern Broach. Its object is to record the grant of the village of Uvarivadra in Kōrilla chaturasīti (i.e., a district or subdivision named Kōrilla, which comprised eighty-four villages) by the Gurjara king Dadda III. The donee's name has been omitted, perhaps inadvertently, but he is described to be son of Gangaditya, grandson of Dundubhibhațța, a resident of Savatthi (Srāvasti ?), a member of the Chaturvaidya community (of that place), and a religious student of the Bahvṛicha śākhā (of the Ṛigvēda), who belonged to the Bharadvaja götra. The date is given at the end in figures as Rathasaptami of the bright half of Magha in the year 427 (of the Chedi era3), corresponding to A. D. 675. The grant was written by the Mahāsāndhivigrahadhipati Sangulla, son of Durgabhața. The record ends with the sign manual of śri-Dadda.
The present inscription gives the following partial genealogy:
Dadda
Jayabhata
Dadda, or Bähusahāya
The dynasty is referred to here as Karn-anvaya, limeage of Karna'. It thus traces its origin to the Mahabharata hero Karna, the half-brother of the Pandavas. There is, however, no doubt that the chiefs mentioned in the present inscription belonged to the Gurjara dynasty. The names Dadda and Jayabhața occur in the two Kaira grants of Dadda II, who is distinguished by his second name Praśāntarāga. The dynasty in these two records is specifically mentioned as Gurjara (Gurjara-nripati-vas).
1 Ind. Ant., Vol. XIII, pp. 70-81, with a facsimile plate.
Above, Vol. XXIII, pp. 147-55, with a facsimile plate. This record is said to be that of Jayabhata III, but is, in reality, of Jayabhata IV.
The Chodi Era commenced on Kärtlika éu. di. 1 (the 6th October) in A. D. 248. See Prof. V. V. Mirashi. The Epoch of the Kalachuri Era'; above, Vol. XXIV, pp. 116 ff.
Ind. Ant., Vol. XIII, pp. 82 ff. and 88 ff.
