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No. 1]
TWO GRANTS OF RAGHUDEVA
which is about inch in diameter. The ends of the ring passing through the hole are soldered beneath a seal bearing the figure of a standing caparisoned elephant fixed on its surface. The diameter of the ring is about 44 inches while that of the seal is about 41 inches. The five plates together weigh about 271 tolas. The weight of individual plates varies between 50 and 58 tolas.
There are altogether 149 lines of writing on the ten faces of the five plates and they are distributed in the following order : IA-16 lines, IB-15 lines, IIA-17 lines, IIB-16 lines, IIIA16 lines, IIIB-15 lines, IVA-15 lines, IVB-15 lines, VA-17 lines, VB-7 lines. There is a linear drawing at the end of the epigraph on the reverse of the last plate. The same kind of sketch is also found on the other charters issued by the Süryavamsi Gajapatis of Orissa, in some of which it looks clearly like the representation of a sword or dagger (or several swords or daggers). The figure apparently stood for the signature of the donor on the original document later engraved on copper plates.
The inscription is written in Telugu characters and in the Sanskrit language and, excepting a short mangala passage in prose at the beginning of line 1, the whole record is written in verse. Its palaeography is characterised by the use of almost similar signs for letters like ch and bh in some cases and for others like bā and bhā, bi and bhi, etc. There is no distinction between pand v when used as subscripts in conjuncts. The mark distinguishing bh from b is generally a curve added to the top of the right limb of b. It is rarely a small vertical below the letter (cf. Tallu-bhatta in line 82); but sometimes it is a curve at the same place (cf. tanü-bhara in line 81). The indication of aspiration of this second type is found in chh (cf. chchhi in line 12) and sometimes in th (cf. stambhotha in line 126) in the form of an inward curve in the bottom line of the letters. In a few cases, an inward loop takes the place of the curve (cf. chchha in line 54). The samo medial signs have been used for i and e and for ð and o as the distinction between the short and long signs did not develop or was not popular as yet. There are two forms of t (cf. ditas yata stah in line 15). A noteworthy characteristic of the orthography of the record is the representation of th by dh, ddl by dhdh and ph by p in a large number of cases. In some cases, has been written for l. The letter t is often reduplicated after the nasal (cf. jagantti in lines 1-2) while h is often represented by hy and y by yy. Another peculiarity is the substitution of the class nasal by anusrāra which is again invariably used in the place of final m. Visarga followed by s or s has very often been changed to the respective sibilant in Sandhi. In several cases, medial ri has been represented by ru (cf. lines 103-04, 107).
The date of the charter is quoted in verse 30 in lines 58-59. It was the twelfth of the bright half of the month of Suchi in the year Dhātri of Jupiter's Southern Cycle corresponding to the Saka year counted by lasu (i.e. 8), saila (i.e. 7) and viéra (i.e. 13), i.e. 1378. The month of Suchi is Jyēshtha according to some authorities and Ashādha according to others, although in Oriya lexicons it is recognised in the latter sense only. The date thus appears to correspond to the 15th June 1456 A.D.
The inscription is divided into four sections, one separated from another by one or more floral designs. It is interesting to note that the stanzas of Sections I and II are numbered, but that the numbering is not continued from Section I to Section II in which the verses have consecutive numbers beginning again from 1. Section III actually begins with a Siddham symbol.
Section I may be subdivided into two halves, the first containing adoration to gods and the second a description of the donor's ancestry as well as of the donor and the grant he mado. It consists of 33 stanzas in various metres engraved in lines 1-64 on the four faces of Platos I and II.
1 Cf. the Chiruvroli grant of Hambers in Bharati, Novombor, 1941, p.530; the Balasoro oopper exe-bead inscription of Purushottama in Ind. Ant., Vol. I, p. 335; the Volioherla platos of Pratáparudra in Bharati, August 1936, p. 278; abovo, Vol. XXVIII, Plate facing p. 211; sto.
