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THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
[JUNE, 1889.
kindly disposed to Brahmâns, -he, (otherwise called) the glorious Chodagangadhva (1. 105), who meditates on the feet (pád-ánudhyata) of his parents, having called together the cultivators, headed by the Rashtrakútas (1. 106), in the Samvå vishaya, issues a command in the presence of the Purohita, Amátya, Yuvardja, Saindhivigrahin, Dauvárika, and other officials of his retinue :
"Be it known to you (1. 109) that there was Vasudevanayaka, born in a noble family; whose wife was Gandamanâyika (1. 110). Their son was Bhîmaya; whose wife was Médamanâyikå (1. 111). Their son is Mâdhaya. And to him, my dependent (pád-opajivin), for the increase of the religions merit of Our parents and of Ourself (1. 114), in the Saka year (1. 115) that is numbered by the sky (nought), the oceans (four), the sky (nought), and the moon (one), on & meritorious day, with libations of water there has been given by Us, decorated with the rank of entire sovereignty over the whole of Utkala (1. 115), and residing at the town of Sindarapora (1 116), the village of Tamarakhandi (1. 112), in your vishaya, together with the hamlets that have always belonged to it and have been uninterruptedly enjoyed with it, - including its water and dry land (1. 113); free from all exactions; and constituted to endure as long as the sun and the moon. Therefore it should be preserved in grant by future kings also." No. 180.-VIZAGAPATAM COPPER-PLATE GRANT or ANANTAVARMA-CHODAGANGADEVA.
SAKA-SAMYAT 1057. This inscription has been noticed by Mr. Sewell in the Archol. Suru. South. Ind. Vol. II. p. 32, where the plates are mentioned as having been obtained from the Senior Assistant Collector of Vizagapatam, and as belonging to the trustees of the temple of Sangam.
The plates, of which the first and last are inscribed on one side only, are three in number, each measuring about 9 by 41". The edges of the plates are fashioned slightly thicker than the inscribed surfaces; and the inscription is well preserved and legible throughout. - The ring on which the plates are strang, is about thick and 5" in diameter; it had been not cut when the grant left my hands again. The ends of it are secured in the lower part of a flat oval diso, similar to that of No. 178 above, and measuring about 2' by 1", which again takes the place of the ordinary seal. On the upper side of this disc again there is fixed an image of the ball Nandi, couchant; and on the surface of the disc there are visible the same emblems as in the case of No. 178. -The total weight of the three plates, with the ring, disc, and image, is about 6 lbs. 8 oz.-The characters belong to the South Indian Nagari alphabet. As far as the end of line 12, they are of exactly the same type with those of No. 178; but from there to the end they follow a different type of the same class, presenting older characteristics, especially in using the superscript form of the vowel i in combination with a consonant. This change in the characters occars, it will be noticed, at the beginning of the second plate; but the context runs on quite properly; and for this reason, as well as from the uniform size and appearance of the three plates, and from the fact that the ring had not been cut, there seems to be no doubt that the first plate is the one which belongs properly to the second and third. The engraving is good and fairly deep; but the plates are thick and substantial, and the letters do not show through on the reverse sides at all. As usual, the interiors of the letters shew marks throughout of the working of the engraver's tool. - The language is Sansksit; and the whole record is in prose, except for five verses in lines 18-23, and 27-31, and one of the customary benedictive verses in line 38. The formal part of the record, as far as the end of line 26, agrees almost word for word with the corresponding portion of No. 178. In line 37, the word gali-vanra, or possibly gali-vandha, requires explanation.-In respect of orthography, the only points that call for notice are (1) the use of the dental nasal, instead of the anusvára, before é, in trinsatam, lines 13 and 17; and in vinsats, line 15; (2) the repetition of bh, instead of its doubling by b, after , in chridámanér=bhbhagavató, line 4; and (3) the use of v for b throughout, e.g. in savda, line 5; samupalavdha, line 6; avdakán, line 9; Grhvuja, line 22; and kutumván, line 26.
