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No. 10 GODACHI PLATES OF KATTI-ARASA; YEAR 12
59 No. 10-GODACHI PLATES OF KATTI-ARASA ; YEAR 12
(1 Plate)
P. B. Desar, OOTACAMUND These copper plates were discovered in 1927 by Dr. S. C. Nandimath, Principal, Basavēsvara College, Bagalkot, Bijapur District. They were in the possession of a Svāmi of a Virasaiva Matha at Godachi, a village in the Torgal tāluk of the Kolhapur District, Bombay State. Nothing is known in regard to their previous history and how they came into the possession of the Svāmi. Dr. Nandimath has edited the record on these plates twice. But on account of certain misreadings in the published text and other defects, I edit it here again in this journal."
The plates which are three in number and contain holes bored at the extremities must have been originally held together by a ring which is now missing. It is not known whether the ring bore the seal also. The writing is engraved on one side only of the first and the third plates and both sides of the second. The plates are of almost equal size and each measures 6.75" in length, 2.6" in breadth and about in thickness. The diameter of the circular hole is ". The total weight of the three plates put together is 31 tolas. Though the rims of the plates are not raised, the writing is in a good state of preservation. The record comprises twenty lines which are distributed evenly on the four sides.
The characters are boldly incised and belong to the southern class of alphabet which was prevalent in the Kannada country in the 6th century A. D. They are quite regular for the age and the locality. The initial a occurs in three places, viz., lines 2, 5 and 11. The letters r and k present two-fold forms, viz., one having its lower loop half developed (1.4) and the other fully developed (1.3). The medial short and long i are distinguished by a complete circle and a spiral respectively drawn at the top of the letter; for instance, Hariti in l.2, pavitri in ll. 3-4, niti in 1. 9, etc. The sign for the ligature ri of the letter kri is made out in two different ways, one by a hook attached to the lower end of the letter k (1. 4) and the other by suffixing a knotted curve underneath it (11.8 and 16). The form of the letter dh in the expression A svamēdha in l. 3 is rather peculiar in that it looks more like b (cf. 11. 11 and 12) as contrasted with its more normal forms in 11. 4, 5, etc. The Dravidian letters r and I are used once each in the expressions, marumannam and Nulgāla respectively in l. 13.
In regard to orthography, the consonant following in a conjunct letter is invariably doubled with the exception of rsha in 1. 19. The writing is generally free from errors. The following two instances of wrong spelling may, however, be noted ; fästrärtta for tāstrārtha in 1.5 and dattāṁ wā for dattář võ in l. 19. The last mistake may be attributed to the undue stress laid on the syllable nvā in pronunciation.
The language of the record is Sanskrit.
The inscription is of great importance in more than one respects. It is the earliest epigraphical record of the Western Chālukya house with the solitary exception of the Bädāmi Rock Inscription of Chalikya Vallabhēsvara, of Saka 465, discovered recently in 1941. No copper plate records of the early rulers of this family have been discovered so far till we come to the reign of Pulakēsin II. So it may be further claimed that this is the first copper plate document of the family.
1 Journal of the University of Bombay, History, Eoonomics and Sociology series, Vol. V, pp. 165 ff.; Prabuddha Karpafaka, Vol. XXIII, No. 1, pp. 25 ff.
My thanks are due to the Government Epigraphist for India for having kindly secured the copper plates for my stady and to Dr. Nandimath for his kind permission to edit them here.
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