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114 • EPIGRAPHIA INDICA
[Vol. XXXIV Among these names, those of Avanti-Vikram-õpādhyāya and Lāța-Phalihasvāmin suggest that the families of these two Brähmaņas originally belonged to the Avanti and Lata countries respectively. Some of the names, like Sthāvara, Kamalapaksha, Silapaksha and Unnatamēgha, are not quite common. The word phaliha in the name of one of the donees is the Prakrit form of Sanskrit sphatika. It is difficult to say whether Yoranga, the secondary name of Vishnubhavasvāmin, was derived from the original home of his family as in the case of Avanti-Vikramõpādhyāya and Lāța-Phalihasvāmin. The real meaning of the word sāppu in the name Säppupaksha is difficult to determine.
Among the privileges enjoyed by the donees, the majority are of common occurrence in royal records, viz. 'together with hidden treasure, together with minor underground deposits', 'free from the entry of chățas and bhatas (i.e. Päiks and Piadas)', 'together with all the taxes', and 'together with the right to the fines for the ten offences'. But the privilege indicated as 'together with the enjoyment of a putrika-vēni is not usually found in inseriptions. The word vëni means 'reunited property after it was once divided'. The expression aputrika-vēni has probably been used in our record in the sense of 'the property of a person who died without leaving an heir'. This is sometimes mentioned as aputrā, āputraka or aputraka-dhana in inscriptions.
The grant was made by the king for the merit of himself and his parents. The inhabitants of the gift land are asked to pay the bhāga and bhöga (i.e. the king's share of the produce and the periodical offerings payable to the king) regularly to the donees. This is followed by some of the ugual benedictory verses. It may be noted that the stanzas Bhumi-pradā divi lalanti, etc., and Raksha-pālanayos=tāvat, etc., are cited separately from those stated to have been quoted from Vyāge. The date of the charter quoted in lines 41-42, viz. the first day of Märga (i.e. Mārgaśīrsha) of the donor's fifth regnal year, has already been discussed above. The record ends with the statement that the grant was engraved by Boppanāga, son of the akshasālika (i.e. goldsmith) Yötranāga. This person was also the engraver of the Balodā plates of king Tivara.'
Of the geographical names mentioned in the inscription, Kösala (i.e. South Kõsala), over which Tivara ruled, is the present Raipur-Bilaspur-Sambalpur region of Madhya Pradesh and Orissa as already indicated above. Sripura, whence the grant was issued and which was Tīvara's capital, is the modern Sirpur in the Raipur District. The gift village called Böndaka is the modern Böndā which is the findspot of the inscription and lies about two miles from the bank of the Mahānadi near Bālpur in the Raigarh District. Avadika was apparently a locality adjoining Böndaks. The name of the bhukti or district of Piharāja is still preserved in that of Piharā lying about a mile to the south-east of Bondā. The village of Lödhia, where a copperplate grant of the Panduvamsi king Sivagupta Bālārjuna was discovered some years ago, is about 4 miles from Piharā and 3 miles from Bondā. These villages are now included in the Sarangarh Sub-Division of the Raigarh District. The names of the Avanti and Lāța countries appear to be prefixed to the names of two of the donees. Avanti was the old name of the territory around Ujjain in the former Gwalior State, while Lāta indicated the Nausāri-Broach area of Gujarāt.
TEXT:
Seal Srimat-Tivaradēvasya Kosal-ādhipatēr=idam(dam 1)
måsanam dharmma-vsiddhy-arttham sthiram=ā-chandra-tārakam(kam 1 1 Soe above, Vol. XXVIII, p. 291, text line 22 and note 13; Vol. Xxx, p. 170. * See ibid, Vol. VII, p. 106, text line 41. * From the original plates and impressions. Metre: Anushfubh.
