Indian Antiquary Vol 16

Author(s): John Faithfull Fleet, Richard Carnac Temple
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 25

KAUTHEM GRANT OF VIKRAMADITYA V.
JANUARY, 1887.]
the people; and it is not an uncommon sight to see peasants walking about Rome and in the Campagna with foot-coverings of the same nature as those of the Scottish Isles and of Western Tibet; all being equally rude in formevidently made on the foot and fastened with twine or thongs of hide.
As a very curious instance of the development of European and Asiatic ideas in the same direction, and also to illustrate the wisdom of the oid adage that "there is nothing new under the sun," I may mention that the ordinary telephone (not the electric one of course) has been known and used in India for many generations. A friend (since retired from public service in India) had, when I was staying with him at Dehli, a native servant who had been many years in his employ. When any new or interesting discovery was made in Europe, his master was in the habit of telling
SANSKRIT AND OLD-KANARESE INSCRIPTIONS. By J. F. FLEET, Bo.C.S., M.B.A.S., C.I.E. (Continued from Vol. XV. p. 359.)
No. 168.-KAUTHEM PLATES OF VIKRAMA-DITYA V.-SAKA-SAMVAT 930.
This inscription, now published for the first time, is from some copper-plates which came to notice in 1884, through Mr. Ramchandra Rajârâm, Kârbhârî of Miraj. I edit it from the original plates, which I obtained, for examination, through the kindness of Lieut.-Col. H. N. Reeves, Bo. S. C., Political Agent, Kolapur and S. M. C., from the possession of Ananda Urf Appå Bin Raghu Khâde of Kauthêm, the chief town of the Kauthêm Pêtâ or Sub-Division of the Miraj State in the Southern Marâthâ Country. The present owner of the plates is a Jain, and therefore not a descendant of the original grantee. No information is forthcoming as to the circumstances under which his ancestors discovered, or obtained possession of them.
The plates, of which the first and last are inscribed on the outer side only, are three in number, each measuring about 1' 2" by 81" at the ends, and a little less in the middle. The edges of them were fashioned somewhat
The Kowteh' of the Indian Atlas, Sheet, No. 40; Lat. 16° 59' N.; Long. 74° 41' E.; about twelve miles almost due north of Miraj. Kauthêm (kauthêmh, or kawathem; also kawanth, and kawanthi; from the Sanskrit kapittha, the elephant or wood-apple tree, Feronia Elephantum') is a common name in that part of
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him about it. On the telephone being first spoken of, this gentleman mentioned it to this native, enlarging upon what might eventually be its use, when to his amazement the man. replied:-"Oh, Sahib, we natives have known of such things for a long time. My father and my grandfather used one, I know; and I am every day in the habit of talking with a fellowservant across Sahib's compound in this manner!" On being requested to produce his instrument, the servant went out and speedily returned with two pieces of bamboo each about eight inches in length and an inch or an inch and a half in diameter. One end of each tube was covered with a bit of parchment through which a string from 60 to 100 feet long was passed and thus connected them. It perfectly answered the purpose of communication from one side of the compound to the other!
thicker than the inscribed surfaces, with corresponding depressions inside them, so as to serve as rims to protect the writing. The surfaces are in some places a good deal corroded by rust; and towards the top of the first side of the second plate there are two or three flaws in the copper, which prevented the perfect formation of the letters at those places. The inscription, however, is in a state of excellent preservation throughout. The plates are thick; and the letters, though deep, do not shew through on the reverse sides of them at all. The engraving is fairly good; but, as usual, the interiors of the letters shew in many places marks of the working of the engraver's tool. Towards the left side of each plate, there is a hole for a ring to connect them. The ring is circular, about 1" thick and 3 in diameter; it had not been cut, or otherwise opened, when the grant came into my hands. The seal, in the lower part of which the ends of the ring are secured, is rec
the country. The present Kanthem is also called, by way of distinction, Kauthêm-Yêkand, and BirhaSiddhachem Kauthêm; and most of the other 'Kowtas and Kowtehs' of the map similarly have second distinctive appellations.