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EPIGRAPHIA INDICA
(VOL. XXXI troubled by the above-mentioned peoples or by others in the slightest degree by seizure, restraint, robbery or in any other way. Whoever will act contrary to this will, in violating my order, commit a great offence. Something proper may be done in regard to the dwelling of that god by the Brahmacharins attached to the tapovana belonging to Badarik-asrama ; whatever is to be done in this regard should all be done by the Brahmacharins.
(L. 24-25) In the twentysecond year of the increasingly victorious reign : year 22, the 18th day of the dark half of Kärttila. The Dütaka (executor of the grant) in this case is the illustrious Prūka, the officer in charge of the Department of Gifts. (The plate has been) engraved by means of a chisel by the illustrious Gangabhadra from the words (of the document written by, or, under the order or instruction of) the illustrious Aryata, the officer in charge of the Department of Peace and War.
(Lines 25-28) Imprecatory and benedictory verses.
II. Plate of Padmaţadēva, Year 26 This is also a single plate inscribed on one side only. It measures about 23-1' in length and 17.2' in breadth with a projection about 4-8" long containing a squarish hole, meant for fixing up the seal, towards the proper right. Like the inscription of Lalitaśūra edited above, this plate also contains 28 lines of writing, the size of the aksharas being similar.
The characters closely resemble those used in the inscription of Lalitasura ; but the date of the charter, as is indicated by internal evidence to be discussed below, must be several decades later. In line 26, there occur the ordinary numerical figures for 2, 3, 4 and 5. The language of the inscription is Sanskrit and, with the exception of only one benedictory stanza at the end, the entire charter is written in prose of an ornate style. The orthography is similar to that of the records of Lalitasūra, but exhibits considerable influence of local pronunciation. This is indicated by the occurrence of cases like asva for abva in line 13, kisöra for kisora and ähira for ābhira in line 14, yathāraham for yathārhan in line 16, etc. It is also interesting to note that final n has in & number of cases been changed to anusvira; cf.ogatāṁ for gatān and osthāṁ for Osthan in line 10, eto. But the anusvāra is replaced by n in oanyant-cha in line 16 and si in vinsati in line 26. Some of the orthographical features are common with Lalitaśūra's records discussed above. Noteworthy is the retention of the final m before v in many cases and the non-observance of the rules of sandhi in a number of places.
The date of the charter is given as a day (possibly the 3rd) of the dark half of Māgha in the 25th regnal year of king Padmataděva who, as we shall presently see, ruled about the first half of the tenth century A.D. Line 21 refers to the uttarayaņa-sankranti as the occasion of the grant.
The charter was issued from the city of Kārttiköyapura by Paramabrutfäraka Mahārājadhiraja Paramēsvara Padmatadēva who was the son of P.M.P. Dēsaţadēva and Mahadevi Padmalládēvi, the grandson of P.M.P. Ichchhatadēva and Mahädēvi Singhüdēvi, and the great grandson of Saloņāditya and Mahādēri Singhuvalidēvi. Like Nimbara, grandfather of Lalitaśūradēva, Salonāditya is mentioned without imperial titles. He is likewise described as devoted to the god Chandrasekhara (Siva) and the goddess Nandādēvi. His successors Ichchhatadēva. Dēsatadēva and Padmatadēva are endowed with imperial style and are called paramamāhèsvara and paramabrahmanya just as Nimbara's successors. Padmata was probably named after his mother Padmallādēvi. It will be seen that both Lalitaśūra and Padmaţa ruled from Kärttikêyapura. There are, however, some indications that the latter ruled several decades later than the former. Attention may be drawn in this connection to the orthographical peculiarities of the present inscription, which have already been discussed above and appear to indicato a later date. There is also some indication in the style. It appears that the description of the
