________________
JULY, 1883.]
RÅTHOR GRANTS No. III.
179
RATHOR GRANTS No. III.-A GRANT OF DHRUVA III., OF BHAROCH.
BY DR. G. BÜHLER, C.I.E., AND DR. E. HULTZSCH. THE subjoined grant was found in 1881, to- Saka Samvat 749, still imitate the old Gujarat
I gether with a considerable number of older characters. It is also interesting to note that and later inscriptions, by a labourer of Surat, in this grant no attempt is made to introduce who was engaged in excavating the pro tempore here and there antiquated forms, such as we find kitchens for a large wedding party at Bagumra, side by side with the real Kâyastha letters, in the (Zilla Balesar) in the Gaikovâd's territory. Rådhanpur and Van Dindori grants of Gôvin. My old friend, Râo Saheb Mohonlâl R. Jhaveri, da III. The wording of the grant closely Deputy Educational Inspector of Surat, brought resembles that of the other Rashtrakůta edicts, the find to my notice, and kindly purchased for and those portions of the Varnsdvali which me a number of the plates.?
refer to the earlier kings, literally agree with The grant is written on three strong plates, the Kåvi, Bâroda, and Såmangadh plates. The measuring twelve inches by 10%, which are held new portions, too, are written in that turgid together by a stont ring, passed, as is usual in style of Sanskrit poetry, in which all the courtRathor Sásanas, through holes in the left poets of the Rathors seem to have excelled. sides of the plates. The third and first plates The Rashtrakūta Vannéávali stands according are inscribed in the inner sides only. The to our grant as follows: ring bears a seal, which shows the usual RA
A. Dekhan Line. shtrakața emblem, a figure of Siva, seated
1 Govinda I. on a lotus and holding snakes in his hands. The
2 Kakka I. preservation is tolerably good, though some letters here and there have been injured or de
3 Indra I. stroyed by the formation of verdigris, and the
5 Krishna, Subhatunga. carbonisation of the copper. A triangular piece
4 Dantidurga, has been cut off from the right-hand lower
Vallabha corner of the first plate, but has been preserved.
6 Gôvinda II, 7 Dhruva I. The letters which have been carefully incised
Vallabha. by a skilled kansár, on the whole, closely resemble those of Dantidurga's Sâmangadh 8 Govinda III, B. Gujarat branch. plates of Saka Samvat 675, but show in some Prithvivallabha. 1 Indra II. particulars more modern-looking forms. Thus,
9 Sarva,
2 Kakka II. (Śaka 734). as I have stated already in my paper on the
Amoghavarsha. Dhiniki plates, ta is invariably represented by
3 Kakka III. the modernt. Further tha, which on the Saman
Amoghavarsha. gadh plates consists of a circle only, shows
4 Dhruva II. the additional topstroke, J. Finally, the kands
Nirupama. or á strokes, are made, as in modern Devana gari, fully as long as the aksharas. The
5 Akálavarsha, letters of the sign manual (Pl. II. 1. 19) are
Subhatunga. somewhat larger than those in the body of the grant, but their shape is exactly the same. At 6 Dhruva III. unnamed Govinda the end the peculiar flourish or mark occurs Dhäråvarsha, rebel. which is also found on the Kåvi plates.
Nirupama. From an epigraphic point of view the Såsana About the kings of the main or Dekhan line possesses considerable interest, because it is the we learn two important particulars (vs. 12-13). earliest grant of the Gujarat Rathors that shows First, it appears that Krishna I. bore also throughout the literary, or Kayastha-Nagari the Biruda Sabhatunga, and derived his alphabet. The Baroda plates of Karka II, titles king of kings and supreme lord,' from and the Kavi plates of Gôvinda IV., dated his victories over one Rahapya or RS
The original plates of the grant under notice will be presented to the Oriental Museum at Vienna, and there be open to inspection.
