Revisiting a Tenth Century Copper Plate Inscription: A Rastrakuta Record Restruck by the Paramaras (original) (raw)
Related papers
Inscriptions as artifacts: Precolonial south india and the analysis of texts
This paper examines one assemblage of texts from southern India, stone inscriptions of the Vijayanagara period, and considers both how these texts have been studied and how that history of research has structured our understanding of the past. We ask how these texts might be interpreted differently, (1) under different conditions of sampling and recovery, with a specific focus on in-field locations of inscriptions, and (2) as sources of information combined with archaeological data. We suggest that traditional source-side criticism of texts might be profitably expanded routinely to include contextual analysis, such as archaeologists apply to studies of artifacts.
The fourth to the seventh centuries C.E., commonly referred to as the " Gupta Era " , are widely regarded as a formative period in South Asian history. Textual historical approaches to the study of this period have focussed on the examination of inscriptions, which constitute the largest single source of evidence. One group of inscriptions, the copperplate charters, have proved particularly important. They not only record the practice of royal land grants to Brahmins and temple institutions, but also embody wider processes of political legitimation, religious transformation and socioeconomic change. Thus far, however, studies have focussed on the texts of these inscriptions, which remain divorced from the contexts that produced them and in which they were used. Arguing for an archaeological approach to the study of these charters, this paper demonstrates the value of investigating their geographical and archaeological contexts—first, by mapping the find spots of these charters across the subcontinent; and second, by exploring the archaeological settings of these find spots in one particular region: Vidarbha. The results of this work have clear implications for the future study of these and other inscriptions, and suggest new directions for archaeological approaches to the study of historical periods.
The Kotalipada Copperplate Inscription of the Time of Dvādaśāditya, Year 14
2013
Bangladesh has many inscriptions unnoticed or not published properly. One of the most interesting among them is the copperplate inscription of the time of Dvādaśāditya from Kotalipada currently kept in Bangladesh National Museum. In the present article, I will provide a critical re-edition of the inscription with notes to the text, translation and discussions on its contents. The style and contents of the inscription attest to Dvādaśādityas identity as a king belonging to the same line as Dharmāditya, Gopacandra and Samācāradeva. The analysis of their plates establishes the chronological order of their reigns. The present plate also reveals a tendency towards more limited participation by local landed magnates in the process of land sale and donation. The donation recorded in it is peculiar for the fact that fourteen or more brāhmaṇa donees are given only a small plot of land.
Walking with the Unicorn Social Organization and Material Culture in Ancient South Asia Jonathan Mark Kenoyer Felicitation Volume Edited by, 2018
Writing, particularly carved inscriptions on durable material, can provide archaeological evidence of the nature of political authority and legitimacy, and increasing urbanism, trade, and socio-political complexity in ancient South Asia (Kenoyer 2006a,b). During the Early Historic period, imperial edicts commonly attributed to the Mauryan ruler Ashoka, (c. 272 to 232 BC) were inscribed on boulders and stone pillars, constituting the first stone inscriptions in South Asia. This paper explores inscription carving technology and styles through the methods of experimental archaeology and a metric analysis of a cluster of Ashokan edicts in South India. Results of carving the experimental inscription provided a model for investigating the carving styles of the Ashokan edicts. Research methods developed from the experiment were used to assess eight ‘Minor Rock Edicts’ located in the Southern Deccan region in Karnataka, far from the central Mauryan capital at Pataliputra. Analysis of the southern edicts revealed that carving styles differed among geographically separate edicts and within single monuments. Inscription styles, including depth of carving, thickness of lines, regularity of distribution, and height and width of the letters provide evidence of difference in carving techniques. The examination of technological style in the inscriptions was undertaken to assess administrative control and effort involved in creating the Ashokan edicts, providing an alternative line of evidence to contrast epigraphic studies of the significance of these texts. Comparing the Karnataka edict group with edicts in other areas demonstrated differing inscription contexts in the southern region, signifying elements of heterogeneity within the Mauryan polity at the time of their carving.
I have put together relevant pages of contributions by JF Fleet and Richard Salomon on spurious Indian inscriptions (including Janamejaya inscriptions which claim to be dated to the Kaliyuga Era of 32nd cent. BCE). Some astrologers have tried to counter these claims of Fleet and Salomon. Unfortunately, the arguments advanced are not convincing and tantamount to mere tantrums decrying colonial obsessions. For e.g., it is clear that the Janamejaya inscriptions which are in Samskrtam are reproduction copper plates created during some common era date, since there is NO EVIDENCE whatsoever of the existence of Devanagari script in 32nd millennium BCE. The earliest known inscription in Samskrtam is dated to 1st century BCE, such as the Ayodhya Inscription of Dhana and Ghosundi-Hathibada (Chittorgarh). Unlike the Great Epic texts which have been transmited orally with high-fidelity, establishing the reliability of Grantha or Sharada script versions of manuscripts of the Great Epic, the copper plate inscriptions attributed to land grants by Janamejaya could not have been so transmitted orally. The arguments advanced by Fleet and Salomon asserting that the Janamejaya inscriptions are forgeries cannot be countered by tantrums; researchers have to establish that a writing system with a particular script existed in 32nd millennium BCE or a date prior to the use of Brahmi and Kharoshthi syllabic writing scripts. I have also included Salomon's notes on tithi to answer some astrologer critics who claim that western scholars did not understand the Hindu concept of tithi.