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OCTOBER, 1896.]
THE SOHGAURA COPPER PLATE.
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THE SOHGAURA COPPER PLATE.
BY GEORGE BÜHLER, P.D., LL.D., C.I.E. THE important Sohgaurd copper plate, which was discovered by Dr. Hoey in 1894, and
1 published in a full size facsimile together with notes by the discoverer, by Mr. V. A. Smith and Dr. Hörnle in the May-Jone number of the Bengal As, Society's Proceedings of 1894, p. 84 ff., has not yet received its due share of attention on the part of the epigraphists, and only a small portion of its ancient and corious inscription has as yet been explained.
What has been made out regarding the character, purpose and contents of the Sohgaura plate by the distinguished scholars mentioned, may be briefly stated as follows. Mr. V. A. Smith has recognised that it is a cast plate, differing in this particular from all other Tamraśksanas, and Dr. Hörnle has correctly inferred from the unevenness of its surface that “it was cast in a sand-moald of imperfect smoothness," in consequence of which circumstance various meaningless dots stand between the letters, that may be easily mistaken for Anusviras. Moreover, Mr. V. A. Smith has seen that the four holes in the corners indicate that it “was intended to attach by rivets to some other object," and his statement that the characters of the document are those of the Brahmi of the Maurya period is incontestable, as every one of them is traceable in the Edicts. His description of the illustrations above the inscription - A tree, a double-roofed pavilion with four pillars, an object like a long-handled spoon, the so-called Chaitya symbol, a disc with a crescent above, a second tree and a second pavilion -- is in general correct, and so is the greater portion of his transcript of the characters. But unfortunately the transcript admits, as he himself states, of no translation, and the meaning of the pictorial representations has not been stated.
Dr. Hörple who differs as to the reading of several letters, has begun the explanation of the inscription and has made some very important discoveries. First, he has recognised in line 1 the word sasane and has remarked that this may be equivalent to the Sanskrit kasane, as in this document "the length of the vowels does not seem to be always indicated." Secondly, he has recognised in the second half of line 2 the words ete duve Lothagalani and has proposed to explain the last either by the Sanskrit koshthárgaláni " (these two) bolts of storehouses" or by koshfhágárám" (these two storehouses," adding that these words "would seem to refer to the two houses, depicted above the writing." These remarks really give the key to the general interpretation of the whole document. Taken together with the fact that the plate "was intended to attach to some other object," they raise a strong presumption that we have here an official placard, giving some order or other about two royal storehonses. Dr. Hörnle's remark about the omission of the long vowels is equally valuable. If it is followed up, it will enable us to attempt a verbal interpretation of the whole inscription.
Before I try to substantiate these assertions and to give, with the help of an electrotype of the plate kindly presented to me by Dr. Grierson, my version of document, I have to offer some remarks on the figures above the inscriptions. Sculptured or engraved representations in connexion with inscriptions on stone or copper are of three kinds. We find (1) symbols of auspicious meaning, which take the place of the verbal Maigalas, like siddham, svasti and so forth, required according to Hindu notions in order to secure the completion and long duration of compositions, (2) illustrations allnding to the contents of the inscriptions, such as a lotus above an inscription recording the presentation of a silver lotus - or alluding to wishes or imprecations occurring iu the text, e.g. sun and moon, meaning that the donation is to have force kchan.trárkam, as long as sun and moon exist, (3) royal crests which take the place of the seal, such as the Garuda in the left hand lower corner of the grants of the Paramaras of Dhår. The Sohgaura plate tears five figures which undoubtedly are Mangala symbols, viz., (1-2) two trees
1 From the Vienna Oriental Journal. * See the Grundriss der Indo-Ar. Phil. und Alterthumsk. Vol. I. part 11, p. 85,
