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No. 9]
MADANPUR PLATE OF SRICH ANDRA ; YEAR 44
good his escape, after having descended from his elephant when the Choļa king, Rājēndra Choladēva I', invaded Bengal in about 1023 A.D., probably belonged to Srichandra's family and was a successor to that king. It may profitably be mentioned here that we have reference to the 12th and 23rd years of the reign of Govindachandra on the pedestal inscriptions of the Kulkudi (Faridpur) Sun-god and the Betka (Dacca) Väsudēva images respectively.
It may be remarked in passing as to how in those early days prevailed in all parts of India the spirit of religious toleration amongst the people. Here in this copper-plate grant we find Srichandra, a Buddhist king, making a gift of land to a Vēdic Brāhmaṇa in the name of his own worshipped god, Buddha-bhattaraka. The first historical instance of advocacy for religious toleration can be traced to the famous edict (Rock Edict XII) of the Maurya Buddhist Emperor, Asoka.
It has been stated above that the land donated by Srichandra was situated at a place in Yolāmandala. The name of this mandala occurs also in the hitherto unpublished Dhulla plate of the same king. Some of the localities, mentioned in the latter plate as situated in the same mandala, have been identified by Dr. N. K. Bhattasali with some places to the north of the river Dhaleswari in the Manikganj sub-division of the Dacca District, which is not far away from Sabhar and the find-place of our plate. So it seems quite likely that Yölämandala was once situated in that same area of the modern Dacoa District.
The gift of the land of our plate was made by Srichandra on the Agasti-tritiya day (line 28). Most probably this tritiyā belongs to the dark fortnight of the month of Bhadra. It is believed that with the rise of Agasti or Agastya (Canopus) the waters of rivers, etc., begin to become clear and it also ushers in the barat (autumn) season. In Bengal offerings are made to Agastya in Bhadra. So it may be that the king made the gift of land to Sukradēva in Bhadra and that the charter was formally issued on the 28th of Märgaśīrsha (Agrahāyaṇa) in the 44th regnal year of the king.
It now remains for me to make an attempt to explain the following new names of officials occurring in the list of functionaries addressed by the king while making his land-grant : Mahitantradhyaksha (1. 23), Gochohhakapati (11. 23-24) Arddha-nauväţaka (1. 24) and Nauva tala (1. 24). The term Mahātanträdhyaksha undoubtedly refers to the highest priest in charge of the religious rites which are performed on the king's behalf in accordance with the injunctions of the Srutis and the Smritis. The Ramganj copper-plate' of Isvaraghosha has a similar officer named as Mahatantrādhikrita. These two terms can easily be explained with the help of the definition of a Täntrika as we find in the Sukranitisāra. As for the term Gochchhakapati, it is difficult to explain it unless we imagine it to represent under Prākṣit influence the Sanskrit word Goshthakapati, the administrative head in charge of the pasture-land and cowsheds'. His functions may aptly be compared with those of the Vivitādhyaksha of Kautilya's Arthasāstra. The word nauvataka is very important. It is for the first time that we find this term used in a Bengal copper-plate along with the names of officials addressed by the donor king in land-grant documents. It occurs in another context (the description of Pataliputra situated on the Ganges) in the Khalimpur plate of Dharmapāla. The word was there interpreted by Kielhorn as a fleet of boats' and he equated it with nauvitāna used in Vijayasēna's Deopara inscription. We may in this connection also
1 Above, Vol. IX, pp. 232-233.
Above, Vol. XXVII, pp. 24 ff. • Inscriptions of Bengal, Vol. III, p. 153.
• C£. V, 185 in Chapter II (Śruti-emrit-itarair-mantr-anushthinairdēvar-archchanum kartinn hit siamo mated yalatt a cha Tantrikab).
. Cf. Chapter 34, Book II. . Above, Vol. IV, pp. 249 and 252, n. 5.
Toid., Vol. 1, p. 309.
