Indian Antiquary Vol 48

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

Page 37

MARCH, 1919)
ALLEGED SAIBUNAGA STATUES
33
II.-Inscription on the statue without the head. Canningham :- Yakhe Sanatananda (bharata ?). Jayas wal :--Sapakhate Vata Nandi.
Chanda :- Yakha Sa(?)rvaga nundi. The first letter is a characteristic Kughan y, as renarked by Mr. Chanda, and no comment would have been necessary but for the fact, that in his article Mr. Jayaswal has referred to me in a manner which might imply that I read it 48 8. The fact is that I read it as y the very first time it was shown to me by Mr. Jayaswal, but he contenced that the two parts of what I read as y were really two separate letters, and I suggested that in that case the left portion may be taken along with a fine line I discovered above it and read as s. I have since examined the inscription with great care and am convinced that the fine line is not a chiselled one but has been produced by a crack in the stone, and that the first letter must be read as y.
The second letter may be read as the although the e stroko is not quite distinct. The third letter has no doubt the appearance of t, but the reverse of the estanpage shows that the right hand stroke ends in an upward hook. So I am inclined to take it as e along with Messrs. Cunningham and Chanda. There is a deeply impressed dot on the top of the line, such as occurs on the sixth letter. I take it to represent an anusvdra. The letter may therefore be read as sa."
The fourth letter is undoubtedly v. The fifth letter I read as ji. Mr. Jayaswal reads it as tu but the central bar is quite clear. Mr. Jayaswal apparently takes it as part of the fold line but Professor Bhandarkar, who examined it along with ine, agrees in my view that it is more deeply impressed than the rest of the line and must therefore be taken as part of the letter. It may be noted that the eye-opy of Cunningham distinctly preserves the central bar and Mr. Chanda also admits the possibility of reading it as j. The i sign is marked by a slanting line at the top which is clearly visible on the reverse.
The sixth letter is nan. The lower base is a clear curve, a characteristic of the Kushan n (of. Bübler's Tuffel II, III-25). The anu svårt sign, a deeply impressed dot, occurs on the matra line and a slanting stroke on the right ending in a dot is faintly visible on the reverse of the estampage.
The last letter, looked upon as an archaic d by Mr. Chanda, I take to be a numerical symbol. Its upper portion consiste of a hook attached to a vertical on the right. Its lower portion is formed by another hook, with a long downward projection, joined to the lower end of the vertical line. Now the figure for 70 on Kshatrapa coins also consists of a vertical with two hooks at its two ends (Bühlers' Taffel IX, col. ). Its lower hook, is, however, attached to the right end of the vertical, whereas the symbol in our record has its hook on the left. This seems to be an eastern peculiarity, for we find that the Gupta figure for 70 has its lower hook on the left of the vertical line exactly as in the present case (ibid., col. ix) The only real difference lies in the fact that in our symbol the lower hook shows a considerable projection such as is met with neither in Kushan, Kshatrapa or Gupta period. This seems to be due to an attempt, on the part of the engraver, to enlarge the size of the symbol so as to distinguish it from the letters of the inscription. This suggestion is based on a comparison of Inscripiton No. 1. As already observed, both the numerical symbols in that
7. This form is used along with the Kushan form for 70.