Indian Antiquary Vol 62

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple, Charles E A W Oldham, S Krishnaswami Aiyangar, Devadatta Ramkrishna Bhandarka
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 189

SEPTEMBER, 1933]
MISCELLANEA
MISCELLANEA.
IMPORTANT FRAGMENTARY INSCRIPTION FOUND AT MAHASTHAN (BOGRA DISTRICT).
(The following note on the Mauryan Brâhmî inscription recently found at Mahasthân in the Bogra district was read by Prof. D. R. Bhandarkar at the Symposium of the Asiatic Society of Bengal held on the 2nd January 1933.)
This fragmentary but most interesting inscription in Mauryan Brâhmi was discovered, on the 31st of November 1931, by one Baru Faqir of the Mahas. thangarh village in the Bogra district of Bengal, not far from a mound which was being excavated by the Archæological Department.
The fragment, as it is, contains six lines of writing in the Brâhmf Alphabet of the Aéokan records. The language is the same as that of his Pillar Edicts, that is to say, it was the language of Madhyadeśa influenced by Mâgadhi, or rather the court language of Magadha. The purport of the inscription is briefly as follows. Some ruler of the Mauryan period, whose name is lost, had issued an order to the Mahâmâtra stationed at Pundranagara, with a view to relieve the distress caused apparently by famine to a people called Samvargiyas, who were settled in and about the town. Two measures were adopted to meet this contingency. The first apparently consisted of the advance of a loan in gandaka currency, and the second of the distribution of dhánya, or paddy, from the district granary. A wish is expressed that the Samvaṁgîyas will thus be able to tide over the calamity. With the resto. ration of plenty they were asked to return the money to the Treasury and the grain to the Granary.
It will be seen that this epigraphic record is of great historical importance. In the first place, it establishes the identity of the present Mahasthân with the ancient Pundranagara. The last line of the inscription clearly shows that it was fixed into the structure of a Granary which could not have been far from the place where the stone plaque was found. The Granary was thus situated in the present area of Mahâsthân. And as the Granary originally belonged to Pundranagara, there can be no doubt as to Mahasthan being identical with Pundranagara. Cunningham, with his topographical instincts, had long ago identified the two on the evidence of the Chinese pilgrim, Yuan Chwang. But his identification had remained more or less uncertain for want of epigraphic evidence. But the find of our record now leaves no doubt on this point. The second point of historical interest that we have to note is the manner in which the state in ancient India endeavoured to combat the ravages of a famine. Mention is made in this inscription of the distribution of dhanya, or unhusked rice. This paddy obviously must have been used as seed for sowing operations, and, also when husked, must
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have served the purpose of food. It may, however, be asked: why money was at all distributed among the Samvargiyas? In this connection we have to remember that in East Bengal, where nature is so plentiful, a famine can take place only through the inundation of a river. Mahasthân, that is, Pundranagara, is situated on a river, namely, the Karatoya. And when a town is settled on a river, the floods cause devastation not simply to the crops in the fields, but also to the buildings and huts which are perched on its border. To meet this contingency, a money grant has to be made to the people whose belongings have been washed away or seriously affected by the floods. This is perhaps the only explanation that can be given of the disbursement of gandaka coins among the Samvargiyas. What again we have to note here is that this disbursement of money and this distribution of unhusked rice were made to this people without any interest. If they had been charged with any, surely there would have been some reference to it in our record.
Perhaps ours is not the first known inscription which relates to the putting up of a granary as a safeguard against scarcity of food. Of practically the same period is an inscribed copper-plate found at Sohagaura, about fourteen miles south-east from Gorakhpur (I.A., XXV, 261 f.). A cursory glance at its contents will convince anybody that it refers not to one but to two granaries, and that this plate is an order to some Mahâmâtra, stationed apparently at Sravasti, to open the two granaries and distribute their contents when any dire contingency called for it. In fact, the idea of counteracting the ravages of a famine by the erection of granaries and storehouses is pretty ancient in India, and it is not therefore a matter of surprise if the Mahasthân inscription also adverts to the measures commonly employed by the State to combat the devastation caused by a famine in ancient Bengal.
Let us now see what further light our record throws on the ancient history of Bengal. It is a pity that the first line of the inscription has not been preserved. The name of the ruler, if any was mentioned, is thus lost irretrievably. But as the alphabet and the language of our record are exactly like those of the Asokan edicts, it is not impossible that he was a prince of the Mauryan dynasty. We have already seen that the language of this epigraph is the language of Madhyadesa influenced by Mâgadhi. It was really the language of the Mauryan Court in Magadha, which, owing to its outgrowing imperialism, had spread not only over the whole of Madhyadesa but also over parts conterminous with it. In fact, it had become the lingua franca of almost the whole of North India. We now see definitely that this lingua franca had spread even to Bengal and was in vogue there as early as the fourth century B.c. as our inscription conclusively proves
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