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EPIGRAPHIA INDICA
[VOL. XXXII
our inscription also has rājānkara in line 4. Similarly it employs both the forms kapāle (line 7) and kapālaï (line 8) as the locative of kapāla. Interesting is also the words vijač (Sanskrit vijaya) in line 2 and nrivansa (Sanskrit wirrańéa) in line 8. The old dative form in odirankaï in line 5 is of grammatical interest. It is found in the form of rhai in such medieval records as the Puri inscriptions of the time of Anangabhima III (c. 1211-38 A.D.).
Tripathi reads the year of the date at the beginning of line 2 as 16 or a 6 supposed to stand for the anka year 6. The year no doubt refers to the arka reckoning since the ordinary regnal reckoning was not popular with the Ganga kings during the period in question. It is, however, well known that 6 and numbers ending with 6 were omitted in the arka rockoning and therefore either of the readinga 16 and 6 is impossible. At the beginning of line 2, we propose to read [sv]ā 72 srähi. It seems that srā of srāhi was redundantly engraved before the numorical figure through oversight. After srāhi, Tripathi reads Mina-krishna 2. But the figure read as 2 here is different from 2 in line 6. We are inclined to read the passage as Mina-Krishna 3 since, 88 indicated above, 3 of this type is sometimes found in the medieval records of Orissa.
The date quoted in lines 1-2 of our record thus appears to be Saturday (Sauri-vāra), the 3rd of the dark half of the solar month of Mina in the 7th anka or 5th regnal year of Bhānudēva. The 5th regnal year of Bhanu I, II and III appears to have corresponded to 1268-69, 1309-10 and 1356-57 A.D. respectively. Among these years, the details suit only March 3, 1268 A.D., and therefore the king referred to may be Bhānu I although it is difficult to be definite on the point.
The inscription begins with the auspicious word svasti and the passage sri-vira-Bhānudērasya pravadhyamāna-vijaè-rājē samvata (sr]ā 7 Mina-krishna 3 Saüri-vārē (Sanskrit éri-Vira-Bhānudevasya pravardhamāna-vijaya-rajye samratsarė 7 faradi Mina-Krishna 3 Sauri-vārē) in lines 1-2. The above is followed in lines 2-4 by Sūnapūra-kataka-Pachhima-desa-adhikari samanta-padiraVisa-padirānkra adhikāre (Sanskrit Suvarnapura-kaçaka-Paschima-des-adhikari-sämanta-pratirājaVisva-pratinājasya adhikarē). In the name Visa-padirā, Padirā is the family name; but Visa's official designation was also Samanta-padirā. Tripathi reads sāmanta-pădirāy-Isra-padisankara and takes the name of the officer as Isra (Sanskrit Jérara) and his family name as Padisa. The last akshara of what we have read as Visa-padira may possibly be also read as sa considering the form of the same akshara in Saüri-vārê in line 2 while the second akshara may also be sra or su. But the first akshara of the name is clearly vi. In any case, the passage quoted above from lines 2-4 refers to the tract under the government of a viceroy of the Ganga king, who enjoyed the designation Sämanta-padirā and ruled over the western province of the Ganga empire with his headquarters at Sunapura, i.e. modern Sonepur where the inscription has been found.
The following passage in lines 4-6 records the purpose of the document and reads : sri-ciraBhānūdēvarājānkara āiusva-kām-ārthe bri-Vaïdyanāthadēvankai Naēda-visaya-grāma vāraha data 12 (Sanskrit éri-Vira-Bhānudēva-rājasya ayushya-kām-arthe Sri-Vaidyanāthadēväya Naēda-vishayagrāmāḥ dvāda sa dattāḥ 12). It is stated that twelve villages situated in the vishaya or district of Naēda were granted to the god Vaidyanātha for the longevity and the fulfilment of the desire of king Vira-Bhānudēva. The names of the villages are not enumerated nor is the name of the donor specified. It seems that the king or his viceroy was the donor. The god Vaidyanātha
1 Above, Vol. XXX, pp. 197 ff. cf. imanankai in lines 5-6 of No. 1; "devankai in line 5 of No. 4. See also devankavi in line 4 of No. 3. This apparently exhibits the same case-ending under another spelling, though I offered a different suggestion while editing the inscription in question.
The figure has some resemblance with certain forms of 7 illustrated by C.H. Ojha in his Prāchina Lipimdla, Plate LXXI (Section II, last column), Plate LXXV (Section II) and Plate LXXVI (Section 11). But the upper ods of the two vertical strokes here do not appear to be joined by a curve as in other cases.
