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No. 23] PESHAWAR POTSHERDS WITH KHAROSHTHIWRITINGS 135 No. 23-PESHAWAR POTSHERDS WITH KHAROSHTHI WRITINGS
(1 Plate)
B. CH. CHHABRA, OOTACAMUND In September 1945, Mr. Md. Waliullah Khan, at that time one of the Sub-Overseers attached to the then office of the Superintendent, Archaeological Survey of India, Frontier Circle, Lahorn, under the direction of this latter officer, sent me twentyfour potsherds from Peshawar. They bear the Register Numbers 1249/1 to 1249/17, 1249/19 to 1249/24, and 1249/26. Their exact findspot is not known, but most probably they were found in the vicinity of Peshawar itself.
These potsherds are of various dimensions. No. I is the smallest of the lot, its extreme length being 16", extreme breadth 11', and thickness 1". No. XXIII is the biggest, its extreme length being 74", extreme breadth 4", and thickness varying from 1" to ". They vary in texture also. Besides, no two pieces can be dovetailed. Judging from their curvatures, all except two are fragments of biggish pots or pitchers. The two exceptions are Nos. XVIII and XXIV. Both of them exhibit a superior finish. The former is evidently a fragment of a thin platter, painted red both inside and outside. The latter is likewise a piece of a deep cup or beaker.
No. XXIV is exceptional in another respect, too. The writing on it, consisting of five clear letters, is incised', whereas on all the other pieces it is 'painted'. The 'incision' was done obviously with a stylus or some other sharp instrument while the object was still wet after it had been turned out from the potter's wheel, whereas the painting' was done on the baked and finished products.
As is to be expected, the inscription on No. XXIV is very distinct, while the painted writings have very much faded. The faint traces of the latter could be deciphered with great difficulty. In order to make out the contour of individual letters, I had to moisten repeatedly the 'painted' surface of each piece with a wet sponge. The same method was followed by the draftsman, Mr. S. N. A. Subrahmanya Mudaliar, the Photographer of my office, who is responsible for the drawings reproduced here. It may be seen from the accompanying photographic reproductions of some of the pieces that the traces of the painted writings are, except in a few cases, mostly indiscernible.
Their fragmentary nature does not allow us to draw any far-reaching conclusions. It is, however, clear from some of them, especially from Nos. IX, X, XII, XX, and XXIII, that the pots containing these inscriptions belonged to a Buddhist establishment. The name Budhamitra, occurring on No. XXIV, is also quite consistent with that. The name actually must be Buddhamitra, the form budha being due to Prakrit influence.
Below I offer my readings of these fragmentary inscriptions and comments on them.
I This sherd contains faint traces of two almost complete letters that can be read as:
sa dha There is just a very small remnant of another letter after the second letter, but it is too small to be recognized as a part of a particular letter. The first letter seems to have a slanting stroke over its right side, but it is comparatively thin and may not be a part of the writing.
The reading sa dha recalls to mind the name of an individual Sadhala, that occurs in one of the minor Kharoshthi inscriptions from Taxila (see C.I.I., II, 100, Inscribed gold ring. pl. XX-1).
1 Mr. Md. Waliullah Khan is now the Superintendent, Archaeological Survey, Western Pakistan Circle, Lahore.
