Indian Antiquary Vol 48

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple, Devadatta Ramkrishna Bhandarkar
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 35

MARCH, 1919]
ALLEGED SAISUNAGA STATUES
With these short prefatory remarks I proceed to the detailed examination of each inscription.
I.-Inscription on the statue with the head on. Cunningham :- Yakhe Achu Sati (or ni) gika. Jayaswal :- Bhage Acho chhonidhise.
Chanda :- Bha (?) ga Achachha nivska. . Cunningham's reading of the first two letters has been dismissed as improbable by both Mr. Jayaswal and Mr. Chanda, and it may be at once conceded that the two letters, as they appear to us at present, can scarcely be read as ya 'khe. There are, however, one or two small pints which may be considered in this connection. In the first place, the two letters are considerably smaller than the others, and secondly, the space which they occupy is peculiar in this respect, that it does not contain the deeply cut parallel folds which appear on its right as well as on its left. It is thus certain that the space has been rubbed over and polished, and if this has taken place after Cunningham's time it is just possible that the two letters are really fragments of what was visible to him. Now it is indeed curious that if we cut off the lower portion of the letters ya khe there will remain something very nearly approaching to what we have at presen'
The eye copy of the inscriptions which accompanies Cunningham's reading shows the full form of y and kh and it is difficult to suppose that anyone could have drawn such a sketch unless he had before him something very different from what meets the eye at present. In these circumstances I cannot dismiss Cunningham's reading of hand, but cominend it to'the attention of the scholars.
As it is, the first letter seems to be an angular form of a though the top stroke still retains the curvilinear form. It may be compared with the first variety of g in Allahabad inscription. (Bühler's Chart Plato IV, I-9).
The second letter may be read as te. The top stroke of t is faint but just where it begins the reversu shows something like a dot, which denotes the starting point of the letter, As is the case with all other letters in the inscription.
The third letter at first sight looks like a, and I was also inclined to read it as such. It appeared, however, on a closer examination, that whereas in known letters of this type, the iwo huoks on the loft, although soparate, are close to each other, branching off from some points in the middle of the vertical stroke, in the present case thəy are widely apart, heing Joined almost to the two extremities of the vertical strokes. Secondly, in known cases, the lower hook slants downwards but the hook in our lettor has an upward airection. So I now read it as le. Omitting the upper hook, the letter approximates must closely to the i of the Allahabad inscription. Similar occurs in other Gupta inscriptions in Tastern India although later inscriptions from the western parts of the country retain the . Kushana form (f. Bühler's Tables). It would appear, therefore, as already observed, that
this was a peculiarity of the eastern parts. The upper hook denotes the conjunct e or i. Numerous instances of the use of this form along with the regular e stroke occur in the Hathigumpha inscription of Khåravela (cf. for example che in Chela raia (1.1), le in lekharupa (1. 2), and se in rajavrise (1.3), in the plate facing p. 472 of JBORS., December 1917). But similar stroke denotes i in Kuda Cave inscription (Bühler's Taffel III, XV-33).
3 Ct. the excellent facsimile published with Mr. Jayaswall's paper. He has very prudently. Živen 119 also the reproduction of the reverse side, inasmuch as it is sometimes of invaluable help in tracing the correct outline of the letters.
3 Arch. Suru. Rep., Vol. XV, p. 3. For some emendations of Cunningham's readings of. Lüder's Liu of Brahmi Inscriptions Nos. 987-958.
4 What appears as the horizontal stroke in the first letter may be taken as part of the fold. 5 Mr. Jayaswal noticed this feature although he drew a quite different conclusion. (p 92.