# Kanheri Cave 86 Back Wall Inscription

Kelsey Martini and Vincent Tournier

Authors of digital edition: Kelsey Martini, Vincent Tournier

Contributor: Kelsey Martini

Identifier: DHARMA_INSKanheri00046

Repository: Early Western Deccan (tfb-earlywesterndeccan-epigraphy)

File path: xml/DHARMA_INSKanheri00046.xml

Language: Middle Indo-Aryan [Script (unspecified)]

Commit: 2026-09-17 08:03 (159f390), last modified 2026-09-17 05:29
(3d6ac09)

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## Edition

⟨1⟩ 卐s(o)pāraya(ka)sa manikarasa (go)pāl(i)tasa saparivārasa leṇaṁ
deyadhamaṁ卍

## Apparatus

⟨1⟩ s(o)pāraya(ka)sa ⬦ ⟨sidhaṃ⟩(sop)ārayakasa B&B;
⟨sidhaṃ⟩(sop)ārayakasa G • There is no room for a sidhaṃ — ⟨1⟩
(go)pāl(i)tasa ⬦ nāgapalitasa B&B; nāgapalitasa G • It is difficult to
determine the reading of the beginning of this name. On the eye-copy it
appears to be a single akṣara while the photographs suggest that there
is space for two akṣaras, however the first possible akṣara is entirely
illegible and may rather be a space (presumably due a fault in the
stone).

## Translation

A cave, the meritorious gift of (Go)pālita, a jeweler of Sopāra,
together with his retinue.

## Commentary

The svastikas at the beginning and end of the inscription are
unacknowledged by G and B+B.

## 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. Page 82, item 20.

[G] Gokhale, Shobhana. 1991. Kanheri inscriptions. Pune: Deccan College
Post Graduate and Research Institute. Page 102, item 46.

### Secondary

Stein, Otto. 1933. “Formal Elements in Indian Inscriptions.” Indian
Historical Quarterly 9, pp. 215–226. Page 226 fn. 30.

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 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. Pages 192, 250.

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.