# Kanheri Cave 7 Cistern Inscription Kelsey Martini and Vincent Tournier Authors of digital edition: Kelsey Martini, Vincent Tournier Contributor: Kelsey Martini Identifier: DHARMA_INSKanheri00017 Repository: Early Western Deccan (tfb-earlywesterndeccan-epigraphy) File path: xml/DHARMA_INSKanheri00017.xml Language: Middle Indo-Aryan [Script (unspecified)] Commit: 2026-09-17 08:03 (159f390), last modified 2026-09-17 05:29 (3d6ac09) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ## Edition ⟨1⟩ 卍sopāragā negama⟨2⟩sa samikupāsaka⟨3⟩sa poḍhi deyadhama ## Apparatus ⟨2⟩ samikupāsaka ⬦ sāmikupāsaka G • There is no ā mātra. ## Translation ⟨1–3⟩ A cistern: the meritorious gift of the lay follower Sāmika, a market councillor from Sopāra. ## Commentary ⟨1⟩ Regarding l. 1 sopāragā, location names in the ablative singular are found frequently in early inscriptions at Bharhut, Sanchi, and Karle (cf. III Karl 8.1 sopārakā). See as well KI00003 kalīyanā suvaṇakerasa. ## Bibliography ### Primary [B&B] Burgess, James & Georg Bühler. 1883. Report on the Elura cave temples and the Brahmanical and Jaina caves in Western India: Completing the results of the fifth, sixth, and seventh seasons’ operations of the Archaeological survey, 1877–78, 1878–79, 1879–80. Vol. 5. Archaeological Survey of Western India. London: Trübner & Co. [G] Gokhale, Shobhana. 1991. Kanheri inscriptions. Pune: Deccan College Post Graduate and Research Institute. ### Secondary Naik, A. V. 1948. “Inscriptions of the Deccan: an epigraphical survey (Circa 300 B.C.-1300 A.D.)” BDCRI 9 (1/2), pp. 1–160. [URL]. Pages 4, 19, 21, 23. Lamotte, Etienne. 1958. Histoire du bouddhisme indien: des origines à l’ère Śaka. Bibliothèque du Muséon 43. Louvain: Université catholique de Louvain, Institut Orientaliste. Page 568. Hettiarachchy, Jayadevanandasara. 1973. “Buddhism in the Northern Deccan under the Śātavāhana Rulers (c. 30 B.C. - 225 A.D.)” Doctoral Thesis, University of London. London. Page 114. Ray, Himanshu Prabha. 1987. “Early Historical Urbanization: The Case of the Western Deccan.” World Archaeology 19 (1), pp. 94–104. [URL]. Page 98. Habib, Irfan & Faiz Habib. 1990. “A Map of India, B.C. 200 -- A.D. 300, Based on Epigraphic Evidence.” Proceedings of the Indian History Congress 51, pp. 103–114. [URL]. Page 112. Ray, Himanshu Prabha. 1994. “Kanheri: The archaeology of an early Buddhist pilgrimage centre in western India.” World Archaeology 26 (1), pp. 35–46. DOI: 10.1080/00438243.1994.9980259. [URL]. Page 39. Neelis, Jason. 2010–11–19. “Early Buddhist Transmission and Trade Networks: Mobility and Exchange within and beyond the Northwestern Borderlands of South Asia.” In: Early Buddhist Transmission and Trade Networks. Leiden: Brill. [URL]. Page 25 n. 74. Ollett, Andrew. 2017. Language of the snakes: Prakrit, Sanskrit, and the language order of premodern India. South Asia across the disciplines. Oakland: University of California Press. Page 44.