________________
Dec. 0, 1872.]
355
ON A COPPER-PLATE GRANT FROM BALASORE (A. D. 1483.)
BY JOHN BEAMES, B. C. S., &c. M HIS plate is in the possession of the Bhuyâns (The above is in Oriya ; the rest is in SanT of Garh adâ, an ancient and respectable
skrit.) family of zamindars. Their estate of Gashpada
Reverse. is situated on a rocky spur of the Moharbhanj As long as the moon and the sun, as long as the hills about 15 miles north of the station of earth shall stand, Balasore. The plate records the grant of the
So long be the gift upheld of this rich grainestate to their ancestor, Poteswar Bhat, a Brah
bearing land; man by Raja Purushottam Deb, King of Orissa. Whoso of his own or another's gift a Brahman This monarch ascended the throne in A.D. 1478
shall deprive, and the 5th year of his reign, the date of the For sixty thousand years a worm in dung shall grant, would be therefore 1433. The Bhuyans
be born and live. however read it the 25th year of his reign which
Sri Madangopal my protection. would make it 1503. This I shall show pre
The marks at the end are ; first, the ankush sently is incorrect. The text in Roman charac
or elephant goad, the special sign manual of the ters is as follows:
kings of Orissa, referring to their ancient title Obverse.
of Gajapati or lord of elephants ; second, the « Śrî jaya durgâyai namah bîra Śrî gajapati s'ankh or conch-shell of Vishnu (Jagannath), ganséshwara nava koti karnatakala-vargeswara third and fourth the khandá or straight sword, Sri purushottama deva maharâjânkar | poteswara and the katar or dagger, both emblems of the bhatasku dâna śâsana pata e 5 anka mesha di warrior-caste, the khandâ belonging especially 10am somabâra grahaņa-kâle gañga-garbhe pu- to the hill-people, and the katar to those of the rushottamapura sâsana bhûmî chaudasa ashtot- plains. tara bå 1408ți dâua delun e bhani yavachchân- With regard to the wording of the deed one drårke putra pautrâdi purushậnukrame bhoga
or two points may perhaps stand in need of exkaru thíba jalârâma nikshepa sahit bhQmi delun. planation. Reverse.
Gauseshwara or lord of Gaus i.e. Bengal, is a Yávach chandrascha süryascha yavat tishthati
constant empty boast of the kings of Orissa, medini
who claimed to rule from the great to the little Yavad dattamayahe eshâ sasya yukta basun
Ganga, i.e. from Ganga to Godavari. Their dhara
kingdom did frequently stretch as far as the Swadattâm paradattâm và brahmavrittim haret
latter river, and even beyond it; but only twice yah
in all their annals did they reach the Ganges Shashtir varshasahasrâņi vishțâyâm jayate kri
and then only for a brief period each time. mih
"Karnîta kala" is a mistake of the engraver Śrî madanagopalah saranam mama.
for karnâțotkala “Karnata and Utkala," the Translation.
form which occurs in all the deeds and descrip
tions of the monarchs of Orissa. This very Reverence to Sri Jaya Durga. Of the hero, Purushottam Deb conquered Kanjikaveri or Conthe illustrions Gajapati, lord of Gaur, lord of the jeveram and spent the greater part of his reign tribes [of the country) of the nine forts, Karnata on the Godavery. The expression later on in and Utkala Sri Purushottam Deb Mahârâja to this plate “Gangågarbhe" probably refers to Poteswar Bhat a deed of gift of a Sasan. In that river the "Sanganga" or little Ganges of this fifth year of my reign the tenth day of the Oriyas as there is no record of this king's Mesh, Monday, at the time of an eclipse, in the having ever visited the great Ganges. womb of Ganga, I have given Purushottampura " Sâsan" in Orissa is a patch of rent-free land Sâsan land fourteen [hundred] and eight be- with a village inhabited and cultivated exclusides, ba 1408 tis, as a gift. This land as long sively by Brahmans, generally on behalf of some as the moon and sun, son, grandson and the rest, god, whose temple is in their village and whose generation after generation enjoying remain worship they are theoretically bound to keep up. I have given the land together with its tanks As a rule the poor thakur gets very little worship and gardens.
1 and the money goes into the Brahman's bellies
