Shankarpur Charter of Harivarman

Author of digital edition: Dániel Balogh (daba).

Language: Sanskrit (san) [Southern Brāhmī (unspecified) (brāhmī_southern_unspecified)].

Repository: SIDDHAM (siddham).

Identifier: DHARMA_INSSiddham00067.

File path: XML-Provisional/DHARMA_INSSiddham00067.xml.

Version: 2026-09-16 10:40 (3083d2d), last modified 2026-09-16 09:24 (c200993).

Edition

⟨1⟩ *samvatsara-¿ṣ?at[e] ṣṭa-ṣaṣṭy-¿(o)?t⟨t⟩are mahāmāgha-samvatsar¿a? śrāvaṇa-[****] ⟨2⟩ myāṁ parama-deva-budhagupte rājani⟨.⟩ Asyā(ṁ) divasa-pūrvāyā(ṁ) śrīmahārāja-ṣā(ṭāna?) [*] [*] ⟨3⟩ kulodbhūtena śrī-mahārāja-(b?)ītavarmma-pautreṇa śrī-mahārāja-vijayavarmma-sute[na] ⟨4⟩ ¿mahadavya? śarvasvāminyām utpanne¿v?a śrī-mahārāja-harivarmmaṇā Asya brāhmaṇa-kauśa ⟨5⟩ -sagotra-gosvāmina (ta)ccit(r)apalyā tām(b)ra-paṭṭenāgrāhāro tisr̥ṣṭaḥ (A)karaḥ A-c¿a?ṭa-bhaṭa-prā ⟨6⟩ v(e)śya⟨ḥ⟩ ca⟨ṁ⟩dra-tārārkka-samakālīyaḥ| Uktañ ca bhagavatā vyāsenasvadattā⟨ṁ⟩ para-dattām (b)ā(y)o ⟨7⟩ hareta basundharāṁs(v)a-viṣṭhāyāṁ kr̥mir bh(ū)tvāpitr̥bhiḥ saha maj¿y?atebahubhir vvasudh(ā) ⟨8⟩ bhuktārājabhiḥ sa¿k?arādibhi⟨ḥ⟩yasya yasya yadā bh¿u?mistasya tasya tadā phalaṁ⟨9⟩ kumārāmātya-bhagava(mūla) chaḍi-bhogika mahāpratīhāra-(lu)ṭhanaḥ bapila-bhogika ⟨10⟩ -(dū)takana likhitaṁ (ru?)ya(ṣṭa?) _ rājena nāga(sa)rma(sya)

Bibliography

First edited (with plate) in Jain 1977. Reported as a new discovery in IAR 1978-79, p. 82 (number 38). Re-edited in Agrawala 1983. Also reported in Ramesh 1985, pp. 9–10.

Originally encoded for Siddham in the project Beyond Boundaries (Grant Agreement No. 609823) by Dániel Balogh (2019, № IN00067). Encoding updated to DHARMA conventions by Dániel Balogh.

Secondary

Agrawala, Prithvi Kumar. 1983. Imperial Gupta Epigraphs (गुप्ताधिराजलेखमण्डल). Ancient Indian Epigraphical Sources (प्रत्नाभिलेखसंहिता) 10, pt. 1 / 2. Varanasi: Books Asia, Distributed by Prithvi Prakashan. Item 55.

Thaplyal, Kiran Kumar. 1985. Inscriptions of the Maukharīs, Later Guptas, Puṣpabhūtis and Yaśovarman of Kanauj. New Delhi: Indian Council of Historical Research. Item I.B.Appendix.

Goyal, Śrīrām. 1993. गुप्तकालीन अभिलेख/Guptakālīna Abhilekha (Inscriptions of the Gupta Age). Jodhpur: Kusumanjali Prakashan. Items 292-295.

Display Options Word Wrap Line Numbers Comments Processing Instructions

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<title>Shankarpur Charter of Harivarman</title>

<forename>Dániel</forename>

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<change who="part:daba" when="2020-08-04" status="draft">Initial import: harmonising file structure with DHARMA inscription template v02. Text and comments as inherited from the Siddham archive of January 2019, unless otherwise indicated (by a name and date in the comment). Comments are offered "as is" and do not represent a thoroughly considered or researched opinion.</change>

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<p><lb n="1"/><g ref="sym:unclassified" type="symbol">*</g>samvatsara-<choice><sic>ṣ</sic><corr>ś</corr></choice>at<supplied reason="lost">e</supplied> ṣṭa-ṣaṣṭy-<choice><sic><unclear>o</unclear></sic><corr>u</corr></choice>t<supplied reason="omitted">t</supplied>are mahāmāgha-samvatsar<choice><sic>a</sic><corr>e</corr></choice> śrāvaṇa-<gap reason="lost" precision="low" quantity="4" unit="character"/><!--

The mangala symbol, which Jain transcribes as siddham and Agrawala as oṁ, is inline, shaped like a 6 with the top extending a bit to the right.

--><!--

Jain reads the date as (śa)te saṭsasṭyuttare, emending to śate ṣaṭṣaṣṭyuttare. The ṣa characters are peculiar and resemble sa, but are quite distinct. Jain's editor K. V. Ramesh (Jain_1977:66n17) notes that the correct reading is 168. Both previous editors read ṣṭyu, but there is nothing there that I can identify as an u mātrā; on the other hand, there is certainly something that looks very much like an o mātrā on top of this character.

--><!--

Jain restores the lacuna as śrāvaṇa-māse pañcamyāṁ, which is plausible but far from the only candidate. We could have śukla or kr̥ṣṇa in place of māse, and the day could be 5, 7, 8, 9 or 10.

--><lb n="2" break="no"/>myāṁ parama-deva-budhagupte rājani<supplied reason="subaudible">.</supplied> Asyā<unclear>ṁ</unclear> divasa-pūrvāyā<unclear>ṁ</unclear> śrīmahārāja-ṣā<unclear cert="low">ṭāna</unclear> <gap reason="illegible" quantity="1" unit="character"/> <gap reason="lost" precision="low" quantity="1" unit="character"/><!--

Agrawala reads rājani for rājati. The n is completely clear in the photo; Agrawala may have been influenced by his [imo correct] reading of rājati in l3 of IN00066.

--><!--

Agrawala reads the name as sādana. Jain's reading was sāṭana (also proposing sāntana), while K. V. Ramesh (editorial note in Jain_1977:66n13) suggested sālana (or, alternatively, sāryana). Bakker_2014:29-30n76 tentatively suggests sādana and also tentatively restores varmma for the lost syllables. He says the second character resembles da in paradattām, line 6, as well as dra in rudra and bapidra, line 9. In my opinion the first character is ṣā beyond reasonable doubt. The second character seems quite different from la in l6 (but not so much from that in l9); very different from both da in l6 and from ṭa in l5. The lines are completely clear in the photo, but the identification is uncertain due to a lack of meaningful context. I think the most likely reading is ṭā (ḍā is also a possibility, if in l9 we have chadi, not chaḍi). The third character could, instead of na, also be sa, which is drawn cursively in e.g. sr̥ in l5 and su in l8.

--><!--

There is at least one further character after "na", and possibly another one that is lost completely. Jain reads the partially extant character as sa (and corrects to śa, see comment to next line). Agrawala reads the end as (sya). From the facsimile, neither seems credible; the character looks like ra or possibly ka to me.

--><lb n="3"/>kulodbhūtena śrī-mahārāja-<unclear cert="low">b</unclear>ītavarmma-pautreṇa śrī-mahārāja-vijayavarmma-sute<supplied reason="lost">na</supplied><!--

Jain reads the beginning of the line as ka(dauhi)tena, emending to śakadauhitreṇa (with the end of the previous line, see comment there). I concur with Agrawala and Bakker that kulodbhūtena is quite certain.

--><!--

Jain reads the first name as gītavarmma, Agrawala (tentatively) as śīlavarmma. The second character is quite certainly ta (unless it's bha); the first looks like bī but could also be pī or mī. gī is unlikely, compare bhagavatā in l6. Could this be a badly written mita, emendable to mitra?

--><lb n="4"/><choice><sic>mahadavya</sic><corr>mahādevyāṁ</corr></choice> śarvasvāminyām utpanne<choice><sic>v</sic><corr>n</corr></choice>a śrī-mahārāja-harivarmmaṇā Asya brāhmaṇa-kauśa<!--

The i mātrā in Harivarmma is not visible in Agrawala's plate, but quite clear in Jain's.

--><!--

Jain and Agrawala both read the last character as tsa, but it is clearly śa. Reading kauśika would suggest itself, but no i mātrā is visible, and it's very unlikely that there could have been another character after this, or at the beginning of the next line. Is there such a gotra as kauśa?

--><lb n="5" break="no"/>-sagotra-gosvāmina <unclear>ta</unclear>ccit<unclear>r</unclear>apalyā tām<unclear>b</unclear>ra-paṭṭenāgrāhāro tisr̥ṣṭaḥ <unclear>A</unclear>karaḥ A-c<choice><sic>a</sic><corr>ā</corr></choice>ṭa-bhaṭa-prā<!--

Jain and Agrawala read taccitrapalya and emend to etac°, Agrawala noting that asya... gosvāminaḥ should correctly be asmai ... gosvāmine (though I see no problem with a genitive). There is something after na that may be a subscript sa inserted as a correction; it is quite certainly not a visarga. The next character looks more like bha than ta. Both editors seem fine with °palya, but I think the reading is lyā. The most likely intended text was gosvāminas taccitrapallyāṁ.

--><!--

Agrawala reads tā(mmra), while Jain reads tāmu and emends to tāmra. I am quite certain the correct reading is tāmbra.

--><!--

Both editors read āgrahāro, but it's clearly grā.

--><!--

Jain and Agrawala read cāṭa, but there's no trace of a vowel mātrā.

--><lb n="6" break="no"/>v<unclear>e</unclear>śya<supplied reason="omitted">ḥ</supplied> ca<supplied reason="omitted">ṁ</supplied>dra-tārārkka-samakālīyaḥ| Uktañ ca bhagavatā vyāsena<!--

Jain and Agrawala print candra, but the reading is cadra.

--><!--

The punctuation mark is a single vertical bar.

--></p>

<l n="a">svadattā<supplied reason="omitted">ṁ</supplied> para-dattām <unclear>b</unclear>ā</l>

<l n="b"><unclear>y</unclear>o <lb n="7"/>hareta basundharāṁ<!--

Jain and Agrawala read vā and vasundharāṁ, but the former is probably, the latter is clearly b.

--></l>

<l n="c">s<unclear>v</unclear>a-viṣṭhāyāṁ kr̥mir bh<unclear>ū</unclear>tvā</l>

</lg>

<l n="a">bahubhir vvasudh<unclear>ā</unclear> <lb n="8"/>bhuktā</l>

<l n="b">rājabhiḥ sa<choice><sic>k</sic><corr>g</corr></choice>arādibhi<supplied reason="omitted">ḥ</supplied></l>

<l n="c">yasya yasya yadā bh<choice><sic>u</sic><corr>ū</corr></choice>mis</l>

<l n="d">tasya tasya tadā phalaṁ</l>

</lg>

<p><lb n="9"/>kumārāmātya-bhagava<unclear>mūla</unclear> chaḍi-bhogika mahāpratīhāra-<unclear>lu</unclear>ṭhanaḥ bapila-bhogika<!--

There seems to be a small space before and after chaḍibhogika. This may be random (character spacing varies a lot throughout the inscription) or it may be meant for segmentation.

--><!--

For my bhagava(mūla), Jain reads bhagavadrudra. I think the reading is out of question, though I'm far from sure about mine. mū could be pū or even sū, and la could be something else too, but definitely not dra (which is completely different in l6).

--><!--

For my chaḍi, Jain reads chadi (Agrawala has °cchadi, which must be a typo). I believe ḍ is more likely than d.

--><!--

For the second name Jain reads lavaṇa, Agrawala lavana. But va is out of the question and la is not very convincing (na, not ṇa, is certain).

--><!--

Jain and Agrawala read bapidra instead of bapila. The character is probably the same as in bhagavamūla earlier in this line, and totally different from dra in l6.

--><!--

At the end of this line Jain (as cited by Agrawala) reads bhogik(e)na. There is certainly no na at the end.

--><lb n="10" break="no"/>-<unclear>dū</unclear>takana likhitaṁ <unclear cert="low">ru</unclear>ya<unclear cert="low">ṣṭa</unclear> <space/> rājena nāga<unclear>sa</unclear>rma<unclear>sya</unclear><!--

Here dū (if dū it is) is followed by two dots looking like a visarga, but given that taka is quite clear after it, the reading dūtaka is convincing and the dots (not circles) are random. The na is misshapen and could perhaps be something else.

--><!--

After likhitaṁ, Jain reads ruyaṣṭarājena, and his editor Ramesh remarks that the intended reading must have been śrī, which Agrawal accepts. But śrī is practically impossible; ru or rū is possible; ka (with the left limb gone or never engraved) would be a more daring guess. For the third character, ṣṭa is possible, but so are pta or pū. Can it be that the intended word was kāyastha, which would fit the context? I haven't heard of a kāyastharāja before, but compare sthapatisamrāṭ in IN00082 and IN00083. Or rāja could be the name of a kāyastha.

--><!--

At the end Jain and Agrawala read nāgasarmasu, restoring to nāgasarmasutena. The bottom of the plate is broken off after this point, but if there had been any further characters, then their tops ought to be visible on what's left of the copper. So sutena is unlikely, though theoretically there could have been as many as 8-10 further characters inscribed a bit lower down thatn the first part of this line. The last extant (and thus probably the last original) character does not look like su. It could well be sya (though none of the four sya-s in l8 look quite like this). Other possibilities include ṣta or ṣṭha.

--><!--

So can we make sense of this? How many people are we are dealing with? It would be most straightforward to assume three : a top courtier who issued (and probably composed) the order, a middling official who conveyed it to the scriptorium as dūtaka, and lower official who drew it on the plate to be engraved. For this we could emend to something like this: kumārāmātyo bhagavamūlaś chaḍi-bhōgikaḥ| mahāpratīhāro luṭhano bapila-bhogiko dūtakaḥ| likhitaṁ kāyastharājena nāgaśarmanā| "[Issued by] kumārāmātya Bhagavamūla, the bhogika of [the province called] Chaḍi. The messenger was mahāpratīhāra Luṭhana, the bhogika of Bapila. Written by the chief kāyastha, Nāgaśarman." This is pretty far removed from the text we have, but I don't think anything closer to it can make much sense.

--></p>

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<p>First edited (with plate) in <bibl><ptr target="bib:Jain1977_01"/></bibl>. Reported as a new discovery in <bibl><ptr target="bib:IAR1978-1979"/><citedRange>82</citedRange></bibl> (number 38). Re-edited in <bibl><ptr target="bib:Agrawala1983_01"/></bibl>. Also reported in <bibl><ptr target="bib:Ramesh1985_01"/><citedRange>9-10</citedRange></bibl>.</p>

<p>Originally encoded for Siddham in the project Beyond Boundaries (Grant Agreement No. 609823) by Dániel Balogh (<bibl rend="omitname"><ptr target="bib:Balogh2019_03"/><citedRange unit="item">IN00067</citedRange></bibl>). Encoding updated to DHARMA conventions by Dániel Balogh.</p>

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<bibl><ptr target="bib:Thaplyal1985_01"/><citedRange unit="item">I.B.Appendix</citedRange></bibl>

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