________________
196 EPIGRAPHIA INDICA
[VOL. XXVIII About orthography, the following peculiarities deserve notice. Ri is generally substituted by ri with only two exceptions, viz., srishto (1. 18) and patal-ävrita (1. 21). A consonrat preceded by rēpha is doubled, except in krimir-bhütvä (1. 24) and nirbhukta (1. 25). If the doubled consonant happens to be the second or the fourth letter of a class, then the initial consonant is changed respectively into the first or the third consonant of the same class; for instance "otsarppan-ārttham (1.18), dharmm-ārttha- (1.35) and dirggha (1. 20). In anulthyātaḥ (11.5, 7) similarly dh has been doubled. In van aih (1. 19) the anus vāra has been replaced by n. Upadhmāniya has been used in two places : kālina Xputra (1.16) and ntipatibhi prabala (1. 19). In kāle (1.26) l has been substituted by !
The language of the inscription is Sanskrit prose all through, excepting the verses in 11. 22-25.
The record belongs to the king Nikumbhāllasakti of the Söndraka dynasty, whose father and grandfather were Adityasakti and Bhānusakti respectively. In all the records of this branch of the Sēndrakas that have come to light hitherto, the name of the last member was spelt as Nikumbhallabakti, i.e., with a short a in bha and we were unable to split the word correctly. But here the à in bhā is clearly long and we can easily split the word into Nikumbha and Allaśakti meaning thereby Allasakti of Nikumbha. In the following grant we actually get the name Allasakti as a variant for Nikumbhāllašakti. The same kind of genealogy appears in the Bagumra and Kalwan plates with the exception that the Kalwan plates carry the pedigree one generation further and names Jayasakti as the son of Nikumbhällaśakti. The plates under discussion supply no historical information about the three members of the dynasty mentioned in it. But being dated in Saka 577 current they would show that Nikumbhāllasakti died some time between Saka 577 and Saka 602 which is the date of the Kalwan plates of his son Jayasakti.
After the eulogy of the three members in general terms, which closely resembles that in the Kalwan plates, comes the description of the grant proper. We are told that Nikumbhällabakti, while camping near the lake Vpischi. ...ndha in the vicinity of the austerity-grove at Käyāvatāra, with a view to gain merit for himself as well as for his parents, granted the village Suschirākhõli, situated to the south of the hill Bāruvāņa, which was lying in the district of Nandipuradvāri to the Brāhmaṇa Bhögika, the son of Nannasvāmin, a student of the Rigvēda, belonging to the Atreya götra and a resident of the village Prāktangarā. The boundaries of this village are not specified. The charter was drafted by Mātpidatta by the order of the generalissimo Väsava and with the consent of Dēvadinna, the minister for peace and war. In the Bagumra plates, both Väsava and Dēvadinna figure in the same capacities and in addition it has been stated there that the latter was the younger brother of the former.
The date of the inscription is given as the year 577 without quoting any era, cyclic year Ananda, the month Mägha, and the 3rd day of the bright fortnight. As 577 of the Saka year current coincides with the cyclic year Ananda according to the southern system of reckoning, it must be referred to the Saka era. The corresponding Christian date is the 15th of January 655 A.C.
Of the place-naraes occurring in this record, I am unable at present to identify any except Kāyāvatāra. This place is referred to in another grant found at Nausari, which is later in date and issued by the Gārjara king Jayabhata III. The editor of the grant was inclined to look
Prof. V. V. Mirashi has rightly pointed out that the name Jayasakti in the Kalwan (Mundakhēdē) plates is preceded by the word Nikumbha, but I cannot understand how he calls it a biruda (D. R. Bhandarkar Commemoration Volume, p. 53, note 4).
* Ind. Anl., Vol. XIII, p. 71.
