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10 <titleStmt>
· <title>Mastakaśvabhra Grant of the time of Pradyumnabandhu, year 5</title>
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· <resp>EpiDoc Encoding</resp>
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15 <forename>Amandine</forename>
· <surname>Wattelier-Bricout</surname>
· </persName>
· </respStmt>
· <respStmt>
20 <resp>intellectual authorship of edition</resp>
· <persName ref="part:argr">
· <forename>Arlo</forename>
· <surname>Griffiths</surname>
· </persName>
25 <persName ref="part:amwb">
· <forename>Amandine</forename>
· <surname>Wattelier-Bricout</surname>
· </persName>
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30 </titleStmt>
· <publicationStmt>
· <authority>DHARMA</authority>
· <pubPlace>Cambrai</pubPlace>
· <idno type="filename">DHARMA_INSBengalCharters00063</idno>
35 <availability>
· <licence target="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">
· <p>This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported
· Licence. To view a copy of the licence, visit
· https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ or send a letter to
40 Creative Commons, 444 Castro Street, Suite 900, Mountain View,
· California, 94041, USA.</p>
· <p>Copyright (c) 2019-2025 by Arlo Griffiths and Amandine Wattelier-Bricout.</p>
· </licence>
· </availability>
45 <date from="2019" to="2025">2019-2025</date>
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50 <repository>DHARMAbase</repository>
· <idno type="filename">DHARMA_INSBengalCharters00063</idno>
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· <summary></summary>
55 </msContents>
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· <p>The script, which is identical on plate and seal, is a variety of Late Eastern Brāhmī that may palaeographically be assigned to about the 6th century CE. Among noteworthy features, I may mention the following. Vocalization <foreign>ā</foreign> is without exception in the form of a hook open toward the right placed on top of the <foreign>akṣara</foreign>, not recorded by <bibl><ptr target="bib:Dani1986_01"/></bibl> but well attested in Bengal epigraphy, for instance in the <ref target="DHARMA_INSBengalCharters00002.xml">Kotalipada plate</ref>. For vocalization <foreign>ī</foreign>, we consistently find a shape, not represented by <bibl><ptr target="bib:Dani1986_01"/></bibl>, which is formed by a wave first moving upwards, then turning downward and finally slanting again in upward direction, again a feature shared with the <ref target="DHARMA_INSBengalCharters00002.xml">Kotalipada plate</ref>. The <foreign>akṣara</foreign>s <foreign>ka</foreign> and <foreign>ra</foreign> have long descenders; <foreign>ṣa</foreign> and <foreign>sa</foreign> are clearly distinct, <foreign>ṣa</foreign> being based on the shape of <foreign>pa</foreign>; the shape of <foreign>ya</foreign> is always tripartite, consistently with an outward curl at the left extremity. By contrast with the <ref target="DHARMA_INSBengalCharters00002.xml">Kotalipada plate</ref>, the shape of <foreign>ha</foreign> is here consistently one that resembles the type <q><foreign>ha</foreign> with its base dipping down</q> (<bibl><ptr target="bib:Dani1986_01"/><citedRange unit="page">289</citedRange></bibl>). The shape of <foreign>dh</foreign> has a pronounced dent in the left bulge, a type not recorded by <bibl><ptr target="bib:Dani1986_01"/></bibl>. The opening symbol is that which current scholarship considers to represent the word <foreign>siddham</foreign> (see <bibl><ptr target="bib:Griffiths+Southworth2007_01"/><citedRange unit="page">352</citedRange></bibl>, note 10 for references); the final fleuron is a variant of the wheel motif (<bibl><ptr target="bib:Sarkar+Pande1999_01"/><citedRange unit="page">58</citedRange></bibl>), the best parallel known to me being found in a late-8th-century inscription of Campā in modern Vietnam (<bibl><ptr target="bib:Griffiths+Southworth2011_01"/></bibl> face A, end of l. 7, fig. 3).</p>
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60 </physDesc>
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65 <projectDesc>
· <p>The project DHARMA has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement no 809994).</p>
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· <p>Public URIs with the prefix bib to point to a Zotero Group Library named ERC-DHARMA whose data are open to the public.</p>
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· <change when="2021-11-08" who="part:amwb">Added the handDesc by copying remarks from Griffiths2015_02's article</change>
80 <change when="2021-10-21" who="part:amwb">Revision of my encoding and corrections</change>
· <change who="part:amwb" when="2021-06-01">started initial encoding of the inscription</change>
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85 <body>
· <div type="edition" xml:lang="san-Latn">
· <div type="textpart" n="A"><head xml:lang="eng">Primary Seal</head>
· <ab><lb n="1"/>ghoṇādvīpaka-viṣaye
· <lb n="2"/>Adhikaraṇasya</ab>
90 </div>
· <div type="textpart" n="B"><head xml:lang="eng">Secondary Seal</head>
· <ab><lb n="1"/><gap reason="illegible" quantity="4" unit="character"/>
·
· </ab>
95 </div>
· <div type="textpart" n="C"><head xml:lang="eng">Plate</head>
· <p><pb n="1r"/><lb n="1"/><g type="spiralR"/> svasti<supplied reason="omitted">.</supplied> ma<unclear>hā</unclear>rājādhirāja-śrī-pradyumnavandhor vvijayādhirājya-samvatsar<unclear>e</unclear> pañcama Āśvayuja-māsasya dvāviṁśatime divase tad-viniyuktoparika-cellake śrī<lb n="2" break="no"/>-puṇḍravarddhana-bhuktau vyavaharati tat-sam<choice><orig>v</orig><reg>b</reg></choice>addha-ghoṇādvīpaka-viṣaye mahāpratīhārāvadhūtena bhoga-la<choice><orig>v</orig><reg>b</reg></choice>dhe janmāntaropātta-dharmmaprotsāhita-matinaitad-viṣaya-nivāsi-mahā<lb n="3" break="no"/>mahattara-mahattarādayo v<unclear>ai</unclear>ṣayikās sādhikaraṇā Abhyarthitā<supplied reason="subaudible">.</supplied></p>
· <p> Icche 'haṁ bhavat-sakāśād viṣaya-maryyādayopakrīya mātā-pittror ātmanaś ca puṇy<unclear>ā</unclear>bh<unclear>i</unclear>vr̥ddhaye mastaka<lb n="4" break="no"/><unclear>śvabhra</unclear>-grāma<unclear>ṁ</unclear> saha vījapūraka-vr̥ndena tāmra-paṭṭī-kr̥tya vrāhmaṇāya dātum<supplied reason="subaudible">.</supplied></p>
· <p>evam-abhyarthitāḥ pratyuktavantas samavadya vijñāpayāma Iti<supplied reason="omitted">.</supplied> yattra mahāmahattarādityadeva-jayadeva<lb n="5" break="no"/>-jāvabhad<unclear>r</unclear><choice><sic>o</sic><corr>ā</corr></choice> <unclear>ma</unclear>hāmahattara-<space/>śarvvadeva-<space/>pāṭaka-mahattara-yaśodeva-<space/>praśastarudra-mittradeva-<space/>bhiloṭa-nivāsi-<space/>mahattara-nātharudra-<space/>pāṭaka-mahattara-<space/>śāntirudra-dharmmarudra
100
·<lb n="6" break="no"/>-vār<unclear>ddhapriye</unclear>ya-mahattara-pavittrasoma-kṣemadeva-<space/>ṣaṇḍadvīpa-vāsi-mahattara-gorakakiraṇasvāmi-<space/>rudrasvāmi-<space/>pravaradvīpa-nivāsi-vrāhmaṇa-gu<supplied reason="omitted">ha</supplied>yaśa<space/>navadevakula-nivāsi<lb n="7" break="no"/>-mahattara-śambhusvāmi-<space/>pippalivanikā-vāstavya-mahattara-bhākideva-<space/>pāttravāṭeya-mahattara<space/>-gopasoma-<space/>śāṅkarapallikeya-bhaṭṭadharmmasvāmi -<space/>śivanagara-vāstavya
·<lb n="8" break="no"/>-bhadrasvāmi-śrīcandra<space/>-kṣemaśarmma-dvīpakīya-mahattarāmr̥taśāntanu-varāhakoṭṭaka-vāstavya-mahattara-dharmmakuṇḍa-<space/>śivagupta-khātaka-nivāsi<space/>-mahattara-jalla-<space/>Ārdraleya
·
·<lb n="9" break="no"/>-mahattara-jālacandra-śyāmadeva-<space/>Audumvarikeya-mahattarābhinandana-<space/>malayarudra-<space/>karaṇi-kanaradatta-<choice><unclear>E</unclear><unclear>vā</unclear></choice>ḍita-<space/>devasena-viṣayādhikaraṇika-śambhudatta<space/>-kr̥ṣṇadatta
105
·<lb n="10" break="no"/>-porudattā<add place="below">da</add>yaḥ <space/> sa<choice><orig>n</orig><reg>ṁ</reg></choice>mantrayant<choice><sic>ī</sic><corr>i</corr></choice><supplied reason="subaudible">.</supplied></p>
· <p>smāstīyaṁ maryyādā pūrvva-sādhubhir apy u<add place="below">pa</add>krīya nānā-vaiṣ<choice><sic>ai</sic><corr>a</corr></choice>yika-janapadād devakula-vihāra-brāhmaṇa-viśeṣebhyo 'tisr̥ṣṭāni viṣaya-grāma-maṇḍa<lb n="11" break="no"/>la-kṣettrāṇi pūrvva-rājabhiś cānumoditāni śūnyā ca bhūmir avatiṣṭhamānā na kaṁ cid apy upakāraṁ rājñaḥ karoty evaṁ-prakāreṇa punar ddīyamānā dr̥ṣṭādr̥ṣṭa-phala-pradā bhava<lb n="12" break="no"/>ty asya ca grāmasyoparikarā bhāvya<surplus>ṁ</surplus>-varṣiṇa<supplied reason="omitted">ḥ</supplied> pañcacatvāriṁśat kārṣāpaṇā yad anyad v<supplied reason="lost">i</supplied>ṣayābhāvyaṁ tad asmābhir avacūrṇya voḍhavyaṁ kutaḥ yato vayaṁ viṣaya-nimittaṁ hira<lb n="13" break="no"/>ṇy<unclear>e</unclear>nārthino 'yaṁ ca mahāpratīhārāvadhūtaḥ prahvo 'bhyarthayati yuktam asya sa-phalaṁ vijñāpya-karmmam ity avadhr̥tavanto<supplied reason="subaudible">.</supplied></p>
· <p>'vadhr̥tya ca viṣaya-vārikai<supplied reason="omitted">r</supplied> grāma-mūlyaṁ cūrṇikā<lb n="14" break="no"/>-sahasra<unclear>ṁ</unclear> grāhayitvā śravaṇa-nimittaṁ ca gandha-puṣpa-vastrāṇi saha <unclear>v</unclear>ījapūraka-vr̥ndena mastakaśvabhra-grāma<unclear>ṁ</unclear> mahāpratīhārāvadhūta-haste vikrītavantas<supplied reason="subaudible">.</supplied></p>
· <p>tenāpy upakr<unclear>ī</unclear>ya k<unclear>ā</unclear><lb n="15" break="no"/>ty<unclear>ā</unclear>yana-sa-gottrāya vājasaneyasa-vrahmacāriṇe bhogadeva-puttrā<add place="inline">ya</add> vrāhmaṇa-jayadevāya puttra-pauttrādi-bhogya-krameṇā-candrārkka-kālīnaḥ pañca-mah<unclear>ā</unclear>-yajña-pravarttan<unclear>ā</unclear>ya<lb n="16"/><surplus>ya</surplus><supplied reason="subaudible">.</supplied></p>
110 <p>pratipādito 'sya ca mastakaśvabhra-grāmasya sīmā-liṅgāni bhavanti<supplied reason="subaudible">.</supplied></p>
· <p>yattra pūrvvasyāṁ diśi srotikā <space/> Uttarasyām iyam <unclear>e</unclear>va t<choice><orig>r̥</orig><reg>ri</reg></choice>ghaṭṭikāṁ praviśya śmaśānena paści<lb n="17" break="no"/>masyāṁ diśy omrakhātaḥ <space/> dakṣiṇasyāṁm apy <unclear>e</unclear>tad-anulagnena śr̥ṅgāṭaka-villikānusāreṇa vr̥hacchaṅka-joṭā tad-an<unclear>u</unclear>sāreṇa kāṇālatīya-śālmalī-samīpena punaḥ<lb n="18"/>srotikā yāvad iti<space/><supplied reason="subaudible">.</supplied></p>
· <p>l<unclear>i</unclear>khitaṁ kāraṇika-śam<unclear>bhudatte</unclear>na tāpitaṁ pusta-pāla-kr̥ṣṇadattena samvat· <num value="5">5</num> <space/> <abbr>Aśva</abbr> <abbr>di</abbr> <num value="22">20 2</num><space/><supplied reason="subaudible">.</supplied></p>
· <p> Asminn evārthe manvādayaḥ ślokān udāha<lb n="19" break="no"/>ranti sma<space/><supplied reason="subaudible">.</supplied></p>
·
115
·<lg n="1" met="anuṣṭubh" corresp="#Sircar1965_st0132">
· <l n="a">sva-dattāṁ para<unclear>da</unclear><choice><sic>tt</sic><corr>t</corr></choice>ām vā<space/></l>
·
·<l n="b">yo hareta vasundharā<choice><sic>ṁ</sic><corr>m</corr></choice><space/></l>
120
·
· <l n="c">sa viṣṭhāyāṁ kr̥mir bhūtvā<space/></l>
·
·<l n="d">pitr̥bhis saha pac<choice><sic>c</sic><corr>y</corr></choice>ate<g type="ddandaHooked">.</g></l></lg>
125
·<lg n="2" met="anuṣṭubh" corresp="#Sircar1965_st0123">
· <l n="a">ṣaṣṭi<supplied reason="omitted">ṁ</supplied> varṣa-sahasrāṇi<space/></l>
·
·<l n="b">svargge modati bhūmi<lb n="20" break="no"/>daḥ</l>
130 <l n="c">Ākṣeptā cānumantā ca<space/></l>
·
·<l n="d">tāny eva narake vaseT<g type="ddandaHooked">.</g></l></lg>
·<lg n="3" met="anuṣṭubh" corresp="#Sircar1965_st0023">
· <l n="a">vahubhir vasudhā dattā<space/></l>
135
·<l n="b">rājabhis sagarādibhiḥ</l>
· <l n="c">yasya yasya yadā bhūmi<space/>s</l>
·
·<l n="d">tasya tasya <lb n="21"/>tadā phala<choice><orig>ṁ</orig><reg>m</reg></choice><g type="ddandaHooked">.</g></l></lg>
140<lg n="4" met="anuṣṭubh">
· <l n="a">yānaśayyā-prado bhāryyā<foreign>M</foreign></l>
· <l n="b">sukham akṣayyam anna-daḥ</l>
· <l n="c">bhūmi-das sarvvam āpnoti<space/></l>
·
145
· <l n="d"><space/>go-do vradhnasya viṣ<choice><sic>ṭh</sic><corr>ṭ</corr></choice>apa<choice><orig><unclear>ṁ</unclear></orig><reg>m</reg></choice><g type="ddandaHooked">.</g><g type="circleWheel"/><g type="ddandaHooked">.</g>
·
·</l></lg><pb n="1v"/>
· </div>
150</div>
· <div type="apparatus">
· <div type="textpart" n="B"><head xml:lang="eng">Secondary Seal</head>
· <listApp>
· <app loc="1">
155 <lem><gap reason="illegible" quantity="4" unit="character"/></lem>
· <note>Given that only four <foreign>akṣara</foreign>s seem to be engraved, an hypothetical reading <foreign>pradyumnabandhoḥ</foreign> must be excluded.</note>
· </app>
· </listApp>
· </div>
160 <div type="textpart" n="C"><head xml:lang="eng">Plate</head>
· <listApp>
· <app loc="1">
· <lem>samvatsar<unclear>e</unclear> pañcama</lem>
· <note>Or read -<foreign>samvatsarapañcama</foreign>? No trace of -<foreign>e</foreign> can be made out with certainty, and although it
165is possible to assume that it was originally written and since effaced, assuming its original absence could be supported, e.g., by the sequence <foreign>vijayarājyasaṁvatsaraśate</foreign> in the Karamdanda inscription of Kumāragupta
·
· (<bibl><ptr target="bib:Bhandarkar1981_01"/><citedRange unit="page">285</citedRange><citedRange unit="line">3</citedRange><citedRange unit="note">5</citedRange></bibl> and <bibl><ptr target="bib:Balogh+al2019_01"/><citedRange unit="item">IN00025</citedRange></bibl>).</note>
· </app>
· <app loc="2">
170 <lem>matinaitad</lem>
· <rdg source="bib:Griffiths2015_02">-<foreign>matenaitad</foreign>-</rdg>
· </app>
· <app loc="4">
· <lem>samavadya</lem>
175 <note>It seems that this needs to be emended <foreign>samudya</foreign> or (although neither of these forms would be acceptable in chaste Sanskrit) <foreign>samodya</foreign> or <foreign>saṁvadya</foreign>.</note>
· </app>
· <app loc="4">
· <lem>Iti yattra</lem>
· <note>Perhaps to be read as <foreign>ity attra</foreign>. It seems that <foreign>iti</foreign> would have been better suited after <foreign>dātum</foreign>.</note>
180 </app>
· <app loc="5">
· <lem>-jāvabhad<unclear>r</unclear><choice><sic>o</sic><corr>ā</corr></choice></lem>
· <rdg source="bib:Griffiths2015_02">-<supplied reason="lost">śi</supplied><unclear>vabhad</unclear><supplied reason="lost">r</supplied><unclear>o</unclear></rdg>
· </app>
185 <app loc="6">
· <lem>-vār<unclear>ddhapriye</unclear>ya-</lem>
· <rdg source="bib:Griffiths2015_02">-vā<unclear>rṣagrime</unclear>ya-</rdg>
· </app>
· <app loc="6">
190 <lem>ṣaṇḍadvīpa-vāsi-mahattara-</lem>
· <note>Perhaps emend <foreign>ṣaṇḍadvīpa-nivāsi-mahattara</foreign>.</note>
· </app>
· <app loc="6">
· <lem>gu<supplied reason="omitted">ha</supplied>yaśa</lem>
195 <note>Emend <foreign>guhayaśa</foreign>. Cf. the <ref target="DHARMA_INSBengalCharters00002.xml">Kotalipada plate</ref>, line 5.</note>
· </app>
· <app loc="7">
· <lem>śāṅkara</lem>
· <note>Correct <foreign>śaṅkara</foreign>?</note>
200 </app>
· <app loc="9">
· <lem>-<choice><unclear>E</unclear><unclear>vā</unclear></choice>ḍita-<space/></lem>
· <rdg source="bib:Griffiths2015_02">-Eḍita<unclear>nu</unclear>-</rdg>
·
205
· </app>
· <app loc="12">
· <lem>bhāvya<surplus>ṁ</surplus>-varṣiṇa<supplied reason="omitted">ḥ</supplied></lem>
· <rdg source="bib:Griffiths2015_02">bhāvya<surplus>ṁ</surplus>-varṣiṇa</rdg>
210 </app>
· <app loc="12">
· <lem>v<supplied reason="lost">i</supplied>ṣayābhāvyaṁ</lem>
· <note>Is <foreign>viṣaya-ābhāvyaṁ</foreign> ‘unavailability of <foreign>viṣaya</foreign>’ intended?</note>
· </app>
215 <app loc="13">
· <lem>vijñāpyakarmma</lem>
· <note>Or understand <foreign>vijñāpya karmma</foreign>?</note>
· </app>
· <app loc="13">
220 <lem>'bhyarthayati</lem>
· <note>A middle verb form would have been better here. Maybe -<foreign>ti</foreign> is simply a mistake for -<foreign>te</foreign>.</note>
· </app>
· <app loc="17">
· <lem>omrakhātaḥ</lem>
225 <rdg source="bib:Griffiths2015_02">o<unclear>ptr</unclear>akh<unclear>ā</unclear>taḥ</rdg>
· <note>Is <foreign>omrakhātaḥ</foreign> an error for <foreign>āmrakhātaḥ</foreign> <q>Mango canal</q>?</note>
· </app>
· <app loc="17">
· <lem>śr̥ṅgāṭaka-villikānusāreṇa</lem>
230 <note>Correct <foreign>śr̥ṅgāṭaka-villikā tadanusāreṇa</foreign>?</note>
· </app>
· <app loc="19">
· <lem>ṣaṣṭi<supplied reason="omitted">ṁ</supplied> varṣa°</lem>
· <rdg source="bib:Griffiths2015_02">ṣaṣṭi-varṣa°</rdg>
235 </app>
· </listApp>
· </div>
· </div>
· <div type="translation" resp="part:argr">
240 <div type="textpart" n="A"><head xml:lang="eng">Primary Seal</head>
· <ab><supplied reason="explanation">Seal</supplied> of the council in Ghoṇādvīpaka district</ab>
· </div>
· <div type="textpart" n="B"><head xml:lang="eng">Secondary Seal</head>
· <ab><gap reason="illegible"/></ab>
245 </div>
· <div type="textpart" n="C" resp="part:argr"><head xml:lang="eng">Plate : first translation</head>
· <p n="1-3">Hail! In the fifth year of the victorious suzerainty of the suzerain of great kings Śrī Pradyumnabandhu,
· on the twenty-second day of the month Āśvayuja, when his appointee as governor,
· <supplied reason="explanation">named</supplied> Cellaka,
250 was managing affairs <supplied reason="explanation"><foreign>vyavaharati</foreign></supplied>
· <note>For similar expressions, see <ref target="DHARMA_INSBengalCharters00047.xml">Damodarpur plate #1</ref>, lines 3–6 (emended): <foreign>tan-niyuktaka-kumārāmātya-vetravarmaṇy adhiṣṭhāṇādhikaraṇañ ca nagara-śreṣṭhi-dhr̥tipāla-sārthavāha-bandhumitra-prathamakulika-dhr̥timitra-prathamakāyastha-śāmbapāla-puroge saṁvyavaharati</foreign>; <ref target="DHARMA_INSBengalCharters00032.xml">Damodarpur plate #3</ref>, lines 1–2 (emended): <foreign>puṇḍravardhana-bhuktāv uparika-mahārāja-brahmadatte saṁvyavaharati</foreign>.</note>
· in Śrī Puṇḍravardhana province,
· when the Ghoṇā-island district falling under it had been obtained
· as fief by the great chamberlain Avadhūta,
255 <supplied reason="explanation">at that time</supplied> the people of the district,
· beginning with the great notables and the notables,
· together with the council,
· were requested by him <supplied reason="explanation">i.e. Avadhūta</supplied>
· whose mind was inspired by merits acquired in a previous life:
260 <note>Cf. the <ref target="DHARMA_INSBengalCharters00076">Jayarampur plate</ref>, line 7: <foreign>sākṣād dharmma ivopāttajanmā</foreign>. Despite the availability of this parallel, the idea of an embodied Dharma does not seem to suit our context.</note></p>
·<p n="3-4"><q>I wish to make donation of the village Mastakaśvabhra
· along with its citron-grove to a Brahmin,
· after purchasing <supplied reason="subaudible">it</supplied> from you,
· in accordance with the custom of the district,
265 for the sake of increasing the merit of my parents and myself,
· and after making it a tract of land with copperplate <supplied reason="explanation">deed of purchase</supplied>.</q></p>
·
·<p n="4-10">Having been thus requested, they answered: <q>We inform <supplied reason="explanation">as follows</supplied>
· after having spoken together.<note>The placement of <foreign>iti</foreign> in line 4 is somewhat problematic. In a personal communication, Yuko Yokochi suggests to me that the structure is strange because the content of the <foreign>vijñapti</foreign> comes after <foreign>iti</foreign>, due to the length of what was informed. I translate as though one more <foreign>iti</foreign> stood between <foreign>dātum</foreign> and <foreign>evam</foreign>.</note>
270 In this matter <supplied reason="explanation"><foreign>yatra</foreign></supplied>,
· the great notables Ādityadeva, Jayadeva and Jāvabhadra;
· the great notable Śarvadeva;
· the hamlet notables Yaśodeva, Praśastarudra and Mitradeva;
· residing in Bhiloṭa, the notable Nātharudra;
275 the hamlet notables Śāntirudra and Dharmarudra;
· from Vr̥ddhapriya, the notables Pavitrasoma and Kṣemadeva;
· residing on Ṣaṇḍa-island, the notables Gaurakakiraṇasvāmin and Rudrasvāmin;
· residing on Pravara-island, the Brahmin Guhayaśas;
· residing in Navadevakula, the notable Śambhusvāmin;
280 residing in Pippalivanikā, the notable Bhākideva;
· from Patravāṭa, the notable Gopasoma; from Śaṅkarapallika, Bhaṭṭadharmasvāmin;
· residing in Śivanagara, Bhadrasvāmin, Śrīcandra and Kṣemaśarman;
· from the island, the notable Amr̥taśāntanu;
· residing in Varāhakoṭṭaka, the notables Dharmakuṇḍa and Śivagupta;
285 residing in Khātaka, the notable Jalla;
· from Ardrala, the notables Jālacandra and Śyāmadeva;
· from Audumvarika, the notables Abhinandana and Malayarudra <supplied reason="subaudible">as well as</supplied> the scribes <supplied reason="explanation"><foreign>karaṇika</foreign></supplied> Naradatta, Eḍita/Vāḍita and Devasena;
· the district councilors Śambhudatta, Kr̥ṣṇadatta, Paurudatta, and others, have deliberated.</q>
· <note>In translating all the references to the places of residence of the members of council, I have assumed that no significant difference of meaning is conveyed by the choice of terms (<foreign>ni</foreign>)<foreign>vāsin</foreign> or <foreign>vāstavya</foreign> (both rendered as ‘residing in’), while both of these seem also to be synonymous with the use of a nominal derivative in -eya (‘from’)</note></p>
290<p n="10-13">They have confirmed <supplied reason="explanation"><foreign>avadhr̥tavantas</foreign></supplied>:
· <q>There is this custom
· — also by good people in the past,
· fields in the surroundings of district villages have been purchased
· donated to temples, monasteries and excellent Brahmins;
295 and kings in the past have given their consent.
· And the land renders no benefit whatsoever to the king as long as it is lying fallow;
· if <supplied reason="explanation">on the other hand</supplied>, it is once again,
· in the stated fashion, made the object of donation,
· it will yield fruit in this world and the next.
300 <note>Cf. The <ref target="DHARMA_INSBengalCharters00064.xml">Panchrol plate</ref>, lines 23–25 (emended): <foreign>cira-khila-śūnyāvaskarāyāṁ bhūmāv avatiṣṭhamānāyāṁ na kāñ cid artha-māttrāṁ rājñaḥ puṣṇāty asya ca rājño dharmma-phala-ṣaḍ-bhāga-prāptir asty eva yato dīyatām iti</foreign>; and the <ref target="DHARMA_INSBengalCharters00003.xml">Ghugrahati plate</ref>, line 13–15 (emended): <foreign>rājño dharmārtha-niṣphalā yā tu bhogyā kr̥tā bhūmir nr̥pasyaivārtha-dharma-kr̥t tad asmai vrāhmaṇāya dīyatām iti</foreign>.</note>
· And this village’s additional taxes <supplied reason="explanation"><foreign>uparikara</foreign></supplied>
· for the coming years are forty-five <foreign>kārṣāpaṇa</foreign>s.
· What other income of the district there will be, that must be divided and borne by us.
· <note>On the sense of the word <foreign>ābhāvya</foreign>, see <bibl><ptr target="bib:Furui2011_01"/><citedRange unit="page">150</citedRange></bibl>: “accompanied by all the contributions supposed to go to the royal family (<foreign>rāja-kulābhāvya-sarva-pratyāya-sameta</foreign>)”. It is glossed as ‘income or proceeds’ by <bibl><ptr target="bib:Sircar1966_01"/><citedRange unit="page">1</citedRange></bibl>. In the present context, one might wonder if it means income from the district to the king, or separate revenue to be collected and used at district level, because the translation of <foreign>voḍhavya</foreign> depends on this. I settle in favor of the former interpretation by comparing the <ref target="DHARMA_INSBengalCharters00084.xml">Mallasarul plate</ref>, lines 12–13 (emended): <foreign>tat sampadyatām asyābhiprāya ity asmad-vāra-kr̥tair anena dattaka-dīnārān <supplied reason="undefined">saṁgr̥hya</supplied> vīthyāṁ samvibhajyāsmadvettra-garttāgrāme 'ṣṭābhyaḥ kulyavāpebhyo yathocitaṁ dānaṁ tad-vīthī-samudaya eva prāṇāyyaṁ voḍhavyam ity avacūrṇyāṣṭau kulyavāpā mahā-rāja-vijayasenasya dattāḥ</foreign>. See <bibl><ptr target="bib:Sircar1942_01"/><citedRange unit="page">375</citedRange><citedRange unit="note">5</citedRange></bibl>, who explains “<foreign>prāṇāyyaṁ</foreign> = honestly. <foreign>vīthīsamudaye</foreign> = in the revenue, i.e. revenue account, of the <foreign>vīthī</foreign>. <foreign>voḍhavya</foreign> = to be borne. <foreign>dāna</foreign> = <foreign>deya</foreign> = dues. <foreign>avacūrṇya</foreign> = <foreign>apaviñchya</foreign>”.</note>
305 From what source? <supplied reason="explanation">We do not have any source from which to pay these taxes.</supplied>
· Therefore, on account of the district, we are in need of cash.
· And this great chamberlain Avadhūta humbly requests an act that is proper and fruitful for this <supplied reason="explanation">village</supplied>, object of <supplied reason="explanation">the present</supplied> report</q>.
· <note>It is difficult to know how to divide the text into sentences in line 13. I only know one Bengal inscription using <foreign>yuktam</foreign> in a similar context, i.e. the <ref target="DHARMA_INSBengalCharters00064.xml">Panchrol plate</ref>, lines 21–23 (emended): <foreign>etad-dharmma-sahita-vacanām upaśrutyāsmābhir yair uparilikhitakair anyonyāvadhāraṇayāvadhr̥taṁ yuktam ayaṁ prārthayate</foreign>.</note></p>
·<p n="13-14"><q>And after having confirmed <supplied reason="explanation">this</supplied>,
310 we have let the district arbitrators
· <note>The term <foreign>viṣayavārika</foreign> is not found elsewhere in early Bengal inscriptions. Ryosuke Furui has recommended me to compare it with the functionaries named <foreign>kulavārika</foreign> and <foreign>vārakr̥ta</foreign>, appointed as arbitrators by the <foreign>adhikaraṇa</foreign> and <foreign>mahattara</foreign>s, in the <ref target="DHARMA_INSBengalCharters00081.xml">Faridpur #3</ref>, <ref target="DHARMA_INSBengalCharters00084.xml">Mallasarul</ref> and <ref target="DHARMA_INSBengalCharters00003.xml">Ghugrahati</ref> plates. <bibl><ptr target="bib:Sircar1965_02"/><citedRange unit="page">371</citedRange><citedRange unit="note">5</citedRange><citedRange unit="page">375</citedRange><citedRange unit="note">3</citedRange></bibl> has suggested that <foreign>kulavāra</foreign> possibly means ‘arbitrator’, and that the meaning of <foreign>vārakr̥ta</foreign> seems related.</note>
· receive a thousand <foreign>cūrṇikā</foreign>s
· <note>Comparison with line 12 suggests that taxes were calculated in the currency unit of <foreign>kārṣāpaṇa</foreign> (<bibl><ptr target="bib:Sircar1966_01"/><citedRange unit="page">149</citedRange></bibl>), whereas land was paid for in cowrie shells: according to <bibl><ptr target="bib:Chattopadhyaya1977_02"/><citedRange unit="page">53</citedRange></bibl>, the term <foreign>cūrṇikā</foreign> “possibly meant a sum of the value of 10 <foreign>kaparda</foreign>s or cowries used as coins”. While the unit figures elsewhere in early Bengal epigraphy only in the <ref target="DHARMA_INSBengalCharters00076.xml">Jayarampur plate</ref> (line 31), the unit <foreign>kārṣāpaṇa</foreign> seems not to be used anywere else in Bengal epigraphy at all (see <bibl><ptr target="bib:Chattopadhyaya1977_02"/><citedRange unit="page">57-60</citedRange></bibl>). Our plate thus provides valuable new light on the monetary system of early post-Gupta Bengal.</note>
· as price of the village
315 as well as incense, flowers and garments on the occasion of hearing <supplied reason="explanation" cert="low">of the king’s assent</supplied>
·
·,
· <note>The meaning of the expression <foreign>śravaṇanimittam</foreign> in this context is not clear to me, and I can find no parallels for it in other inscriptions. The phrase <foreign>ājñāśravaṇavidheya</foreign>, frequent e.g. in the Pāla corpus, is translated by <bibl><ptr target="bib:Kielhorn1896-1897_03"/><citedRange unit="page">254</citedRange></bibl> (Khalimpur Plate, line 55) as ‘ready to obey our commands’.</note>
· and we have sold the village Mastakaśvabhra,
320 along with its citron grove,
· into the hand of the great chamberlain Avadhūta.</q></p>
·<p n="14-16">And after he had bought it,
· by him it has been made over to the Brahmin Jayadeva,
· belonging to the Kātyāyana <foreign>gotra</foreign>, student of the Vājasaneya <supplied reason="explanation">school of the Yajurveda</supplied>,
325 son of Bhogadeva, to be enjoyed in sequence by his sons, grandsons, and so on,
· as long as moon and sun shall last,
· for purpose of the regular performance of the five great sacrifices.
·
·</p>
330<p n="16-18">And the boundary markers of this village Mastakaśvabhra are,
· in this connection <supplied reason="explanation"><foreign>yatra</foreign></supplied>:
· in the East, the stream; in the North, the same, after it has entered the Trighaṭṭikā <supplied reason="explanation">river</supplied> by the cremation ground;
· in the West, the Omra canal; in the South, too, along the latter, after the Śr̥ṅgāṭaka <supplied reason="explanation">‘Crossroad’</supplied> pond, the Br̥hacchaṅkajoṭā <supplied reason="explanation">‘Great-Conch-Joṭā’</supplied>;
· after the latter, down again to the stream near the silk cotton tree of Kāṇālatī.</p>
335<p n="18">Engraved by the scribe Śambhudatta,
· <note>Ryosuke Furui points out to me that <foreign>karaṇika</foreign> here could also be an abbreviation of <foreign>adhikaraṇika</foreign>, if this Śambhudatta is the same as the <foreign>viṣayādhikaraṇika</foreign> of that name who figures in line 9.</note>
· heated by the record-keeper Kr̥ṣṇadatta. Year 5, day 22.</p>
·<p n="18-19">And Manu and so on used to cite stanzas in this same sense:</p>
·<p n="1" rend="stanza">The one who would steal land given by himself or another becomes a worm in excrement and is cooked with his ancestors.<note>
340 This verse corresponds to the verse numbered 132 among the Stanzas on Bhūmidāna listed by Sircar <supplied reason="explanation">see <bibl><ptr target="bib:Sircar1965_03"/><citedRange unit="appendix">II</citedRange><citedRange unit="page">170-200</citedRange></bibl></supplied>.
· </note></p>
·<p n="2" rend="stanza">The giver of land revels sixty thousand years in heaven; the one who challenges <supplied reason="explanation">a donation</supplied> as well as the one who approves <supplied reason="explanation">of the challenge</supplied> will reside as many <supplied reason="subaudible">years</supplied> in hell.<note>
· This verse corresponds to the verse numbered 123 among the Stanzas on Bhūmidāna listed by Sircar <supplied reason="explanation">see <bibl><ptr target="bib:Sircar1965_03"/><citedRange unit="appendix">II</citedRange><citedRange unit="page">170-200</citedRange></bibl></supplied>.
· </note></p>
345<p n="3" rend="stanza">Numerous kings, starting with Sagara, have given land. Whoever holds land at a given moment, to him does the fruit belong.<note>
· This verse corresponds to the verse numbered 23 among the Stanzas on Bhūmidāna listed by Sircar <supplied reason="explanation">see <bibl><ptr target="bib:Sircar1965_03"/><citedRange unit="appendix">II</citedRange><citedRange unit="page">170-200</citedRange></bibl></supplied>.
· </note></p>
·<p n="4" rend="stanza">One who gives a carriage or bed obtains a wife; one who gives food <supplied reason="subaudible">obtains</supplied> permanent bliss; one who gives land <supplied reason="subaudible">obtains</supplied> everything <supplied reason="explanation">at once</supplied>; one who gives cattle <supplied reason="subaudible">obtains</supplied> the summit of the sun.<note>
· This verse corresponds to the <foreign>pāda</foreign>s ab and ef of the verse numbered 145 among the Stanzas on Bhūmidāna listed by Sircar <supplied reason="explanation">see <bibl><ptr target="bib:Sircar1965_03"/><citedRange unit="appendix">II</citedRange><citedRange unit="page">170-200</citedRange></bibl></supplied>.
350 </note>
·</p>
· </div>
· <div type="textpart" n="D" resp="part:amwb"><head xml:lang="eng">Plate : new translation</head>
· <p n="1-3">Hail! In the fifth year of the victorious suzerainty of the suzerain of great kings <foreign>mahārājādhirāja</foreign> Śrī Pradyumnabandhu,
355 on the twenty-second day of the month Āśvayuja, when his appointee as governor,
· <supplied reason="explanation">named</supplied> Cellaka,
· was managing affairs <supplied reason="explanation"><foreign>vyavaharati</foreign></supplied>
· <note>For similar expressions, see <ref target="DHARMA_INSBengalCharters00047.xml">Damodarpur plate #1</ref>, lines 3–6 (emended): <foreign>tan-niyuktaka-kumārāmātya-vetravarmaṇy adhiṣṭhāṇādhikaraṇañ ca nagara-śreṣṭhi-dhr̥tipāla-sārthavāha-bandhumitra-prathamakulika-dhr̥timitra-prathamakāyastha-śāmbapāla-puroge saṁvyavaharati</foreign>; <ref target="DHARMA_INSBengalCharters00032.xml">Damodarpur plate #3</ref>, lines 1–2 (emended): <foreign>puṇḍravardhana-bhuktāv uparika-mahārāja-brahmadatte saṁvyavaharati</foreign>.</note>
· in Śrī Puṇḍravardhana province,
360 when the Ghoṇā-island district falling under it had been obtained
· as fief by the great chamberlain Avadhūta,
· <supplied reason="explanation">at that time</supplied> the people of the district,
· beginning with the great notables and the notables,
· together with the council,
365 were requested by him <supplied reason="explanation">i.e. Avadhūta</supplied>
· whose mind was inspired by merits acquired in a previous life:
· <note>Cf. the <ref target="DHARMA_INSBengalCharters00076">Jayarampur plate</ref>, line 7: <foreign>sākṣād dharmma ivopāttajanmā</foreign>. Despite the availability of this parallel, the idea of an embodied Dharma does not seem to suit our context.</note></p>
· <p n="3-4"><q>I wish to make donation of the village Mastakaśvabhra
· along with its citron-grove to a Brahmin,
370 after purchasing <supplied reason="subaudible">it</supplied> from you,
· in accordance with the custom of the district,
· for the sake of increasing the merit of my parents and myself,
· and after making it a tract of land with copperplate <supplied reason="explanation">deed of purchase</supplied>.</q></p>
· <p n="4-10">Having been thus requested ,
375 they answered :
· <q>We shall deliberate and inform.</q>
· On this matter <supplied reason="explanation">yattra</supplied>,
· the great notables Ādityadeva, Jayadeva and Jāvabhadra;
· the great notable Śarvadeva;
380 the hamlet notables Yaśodeva, Praśastarudra and Mitradeva;
· residing in Bhiloṭa,<note>In translating all the references to the places of residence of the members of council, I have assumed that no significant difference of meaning is conveyed by the choice of terms (<foreign>ni</foreign>)<foreign>vāsin</foreign> or <foreign>vāstavya</foreign> (both rendered as ‘residing in’), while both of these seem also to be synonymous with the use of a nominal derivative in -eya (‘from’)</note>
·
· the notable Nātharudra;
· the hamlet notables Śāntirudra and Dharmarudra;
385 from Vr̥ddhapriya, the notables Pavitrasoma and Kṣemadeva;
· residing on Ṣaṇḍa-island, the notables Gaurakakiraṇasvāmin and Rudrasvāmin;
· residing on Pravara-island, the Brahmin Guhayaśas;
· residing in Navadevakula, the notable Śambhusvāmin;
· residing in Pippalivanikā, the notable Bhākideva;
390 from Patravāṭa, the notable Gopasoma;
· from Śaṅkarapallika, Bhaṭṭadharmasvāmin;
· residing in Śivanagara, Bhadrasvāmin, Śrīcandra and Kṣemaśarman;
· from Dvīpaki <supplied reason="explanation">the small island</supplied>, the notable Amr̥taśāntanu;
· residing in Varāhakoṭṭaka, the notables Dharmakuṇḍa and Śivagupta;
395 residing in Khātaka, the notable Jalla;
· from Ardrala, the notables Jālacandra and Śyāmadeva;
· from Audumvarika, the notables Abhinandana and Malayarudra
· <supplied reason="subaudible">as well as</supplied> the scribes <supplied reason="explanation"><foreign>karaṇika</foreign></supplied> Naradatta, Eḍita/Vāḍita and Devasena;
· the district councilors Śambhudatta, Kr̥ṣṇadatta, Paurudatta, and others,
400 [then] deliberated.
· </p>
· <p n="10-13"> They ascertained <supplied reason="explanation"><foreign>avadhr̥tavanto</foreign></supplied> <supplied reason="explanation">the following points</supplied> :
· <list rend="numbered">
· <item>There is this custom,
405 — also <supplied reason="explanation">followed</supplied>
·
· by good people in the past :
· <q>After being purchased from various people of the district,
· fields in the surroundings of district villages
410 are donated to
· <supplied reason="explanation">these</supplied> types <supplied reason="explanation">of recipients</supplied> -temples, monasteries and Brahmins-
·
·
· and in past, <supplied reason="explanation">these transactions</supplied> were ratified by kings;
415 yet
· the land, as long as it is lying fallow, renders no benefit whatsoever to the king,
· if <supplied reason="explanation">on the other hand</supplied>, it is once again made the object of donation
· in the stated fashion,
· it will yield fruit in this world and the next.</q><note>Cf. The <ref target="DHARMA_INSBengalCharters00064.xml">Panchrol plate</ref>, lines 23–25 (emended): <foreign>cira-khila-śūnyāvaskarāyāṁ bhūmāv avatiṣṭhamānāyāṁ na kāñ cid artha-māttrāṁ rājñaḥ puṣṇāty asya ca rājño dharmma-phala-ṣaḍ-bhāga-prāptir asty eva yato dīyatām iti</foreign>; and the <ref target="DHARMA_INSBengalCharters00003.xml">Ghugrahati plate</ref>, line 13–15 (emended): <foreign>rājño dharmārtha-niṣphalā yā tu bhogyā kr̥tā bhūmir nr̥pasyaivārtha-dharma-kr̥t tad asmai vrāhmaṇāya dīyatām iti</foreign>.</note>
420 </item>
· <item>And this village’s additional taxes <supplied reason="explanation"><foreign>uparikara</foreign></supplied>
· for the coming years
· are forty-five <foreign>kārṣāpaṇa</foreign>s. </item>
· <item>What other income of the district there will be,
425 that must be divided and borne by us.<note>
· On the sense of the word <foreign>ābhāvya</foreign>, see <bibl><ptr target="bib:Furui2011_01"/><citedRange unit="page">150</citedRange></bibl>: “accompanied by all the contributions supposed to go to the royal family (<foreign>rāja-kulābhāvya-sarva-pratyāya-sameta</foreign>)”. It is glossed as ‘income or proceeds’ by <bibl><ptr target="bib:Sircar1966_01"/><citedRange unit="page">1</citedRange></bibl>. In the present context, one might wonder if it means income from the district to the king, or separate revenue to be collected and used at district level, because the translation of <foreign>voḍhavya</foreign> depends on this. I settle in favor of the former interpretation by comparing the <ref target="DHARMA_INSBengalCharters00084.xml">Mallasarul plate</ref>, lines 12–13 (emended): <foreign>tat sampadyatām asyābhiprāya ity asmad-vāra-kr̥tair anena dattaka-dīnārān <supplied reason="undefined">saṁgr̥hya</supplied> vīthyāṁ samvibhajyāsmadvettra-garttāgrāme 'ṣṭābhyaḥ kulyavāpebhyo yathocitaṁ dānaṁ tad-vīthī-samudaya eva prāṇāyyaṁ voḍhavyam ity avacūrṇyāṣṭau kulyavāpā mahā-rāja-vijayasenasya dattāḥ</foreign>. See <bibl><ptr target="bib:Sircar1942_01"/><citedRange unit="page">375</citedRange><citedRange unit="note">5</citedRange></bibl>, who explains “<foreign>prāṇāyyaṁ</foreign> = honestly. <foreign>vīthīsamudaye</foreign> = in the revenue, i.e. revenue account, of the <foreign>vīthī</foreign>. <foreign>voḍhavya</foreign> = to be borne. <foreign>dāna</foreign> = <foreign>deya</foreign> = dues. <foreign>avacūrṇya</foreign> = <foreign>apaviñchya</foreign>”.</note>
· From what source? <supplied reason="explanation">We do not have any source from which to pay these taxes.</supplied>
· </item>
· <item>Therefore, on account of the district, we are in need of cash.
430 </item>
· <item>And this great chamberlain Avadhūta
· humbly requests
· an act that is proper and fruitful for this <supplied reason="explanation">village</supplied>,
· object of <supplied reason="explanation">the present</supplied> report.
435 <note>It is difficult to know how to divide the text into sentences in line 13. I only know one Bengal inscription using <foreign>yuktam</foreign> in a similar context, i.e. the <ref target="DHARMA_INSBengalCharters00064.xml">Panchrol plate</ref>, lines 21–23 (emended): <foreign>etad-dharmma-sahita-vacanām upaśrutyāsmābhir yair uparilikhitakair anyonyāvadhāraṇayāvadhr̥taṁ yuktam ayaṁ prārthayate</foreign>.</note>
· </item>
· </list></p>
· <p n="13-14">And having ascertained <supplied reason="explanation">these points</supplied>,
· they have let the district arbitrators<note>
440 The term <foreign>viṣayavārika</foreign> is not found elsewhere in early Bengal inscriptions. Ryosuke Furui has recommended me to compare it with the functionaries named <foreign>kulavārika</foreign> and <foreign>vārakr̥ta</foreign>, appointed as arbitrators by the <foreign>adhikaraṇa</foreign> and <foreign>mahattara</foreign>s, in the <ref target="DHARMA_INSBengalCharters00081.xml">Faridpur #3</ref>, <ref target="DHARMA_INSBengalCharters00084.xml">Mallasarul</ref> and <ref target="DHARMA_INSBengalCharters00003.xml">Ghugrahati</ref> plates. <bibl><ptr target="bib:Sircar1965_02"/><citedRange unit="page">371</citedRange><citedRange unit="note">5</citedRange><citedRange unit="page">375</citedRange><citedRange unit="note">3</citedRange></bibl> has suggested that <foreign>kulavāra</foreign> possibly means ‘arbitrator’, and that the meaning of <foreign>vārakr̥ta</foreign> seems related.</note>
· receive a thousand <foreign>cūrṇikā</foreign>s
· as price of the village
· as well as incense, flowers and garments
· under the auspicious sign of the constellation of Śravaṇa<note>
445 In <bibl><ptr target="bib:Griffiths2015_02"/></bibl>, the expression <foreign>śravaṇanimittam</foreign> has been translated by <q>on the occasion of hearing <supplied reason="explanation">of the king’s assent</supplied></q> with the following note : <q>The meaning of the expression <foreign>śravaṇanimittam</foreign> in this context is not clear to me, and I can find no parallels for it in other inscriptions. The phrase <foreign>ājñāśravaṇavidheya</foreign>, frequent e.g. in the Pāla corpus, is translated by <bibl><ptr target="bib:Kielhorn1896-1897_03"/><citedRange unit="page">254</citedRange></bibl> (<ref target="DHARMA_INSBengalCharters00088.xml">Khalimpur Plate</ref>, line 55) as ‘ready to obey our commands’.</q>. Here we suggest three other understandings of this expression. The first possibility is to supply an other word instead of the 'king's consent' and to assume it is the hearing of the prescribed <foreign>mantra</foreign>s that must be recited during the gift-ceremony. The second possibility is to translate it as an adverbial accusative in the sense of <q>according to the <foreign>śruti</foreign> <supplied reason="explanation">or Vedic texts</supplied></q> (<bibl><ptr target="bib:MonierWilliams1899_01"/></bibl> : <foreign>nimitta</foreign> <q><foreign>in fine compositi</foreign> caused or occasioned by</q> and <foreign>śravaṇa</foreign> <q>the act of hearing, also 'that which is heard' equals <foreign>śruti</foreign>-</q>). Finally, considering two specific meanings of each member of the coumpound - <foreign>nimitta</foreign> as omen and <foreign>śravaṇa</foreign> as the name of the 20th (or 23rd) <foreign>nakṣatra</foreign> presided over by Viṣṇu -, the expression <foreign>śravaṇanimittam</foreign> could be understand 'under the sign of Śravaṇa' and could express the time during which the transation should be made. In order to choose between these several meanings, one could take a look on the procedure of making gift described in the <title>Agnipurāṇa</title>, chapter 209. The verses 209.49cd-50 mention what the donor and the donee should say. The verses 209.56-63 detail the qualities of the donee, the auspicious place and time for the gift. This latter is defined by the position of the moon and the sun in the sky (<title>Agnipurāṇa</title> 209.57 : <foreign>somārkagrahaṇasaṅkrāntyādau ca kālake</foreign> 'in a darkness <supplied reason="explanation">moment</supplied> as the passage or the eclipse of the moon or the sun etc.'). Finally the verses 209.61-63 quotes the formula which should be recited. And the chapter 209 ends on this sentence : <foreign>anena dānavākyena sarvadānāni vai dadet</foreign> 'One must give all gifts by using this sentence of donation'. As this source belongs to <foreign>smr̥ti</foreign> literature and as the words to be recited are not coming from the Veda, the translation 'in the occasion the hearing of the prescribed <foreign>mantra</foreign>s' could be accepted whereas the one 'according to the <foreign>śruti</foreign>' is less likely. As the verses 209.49cd-50 of the <title>Agnipurāṇa</title> prescribe the time of the gift according to the planet positions, as the <foreign>pāda</foreign> 209.48d specifies that Viṣṇu is the presiding deity of all things given <supplied reason="explanation"><foreign>sarveṣāṃ viṣṇudevatā</foreign></supplied>, idea which seems to be shared by others sources and be quoted by several Dharmanibandha authors <supplied reason="explanation">see <bibl><ptr target="bib:Kane1941_01"/><citedRange unit="book">2.2</citedRange><citedRange unit="page">855</citedRange></bibl></supplied> and finally, as the constellation Śravaṇa is presided over by Viṣṇu, the third translation <q>under the auspicious sign of the constellation of Śravaṇa</q> has been retained here.
· </note>
· <supplied reason="explanation">and</supplied> they sold the village Mastakaśvabhra,
· along with its citron grove,
· into the hand of the great chamberlain Avadhūta. </p>
450 <p n="14-16">
· And after he had bought it,
· by him it has been made over to the Brahmin Jayadeva,
· belonging to the Kātyāyana <foreign>gotra</foreign>,
· student of the Vājasaneya <supplied reason="explanation">school of the Yajurveda</supplied>,
455 son of Bhogadeva,
· to be enjoyed in sequence by his sons, grandsons, and so on,
· as long as moon and sun shall last,
· for purpose of the regular performance of the five great sacrifices.</p>
· <p n="16-18">And the boundary markers of this village Mastakaśvabhra are,
460 in this connection <supplied reason="explanation"><foreign>yatra</foreign></supplied>:
· in the East, the stream; in the North, the same, after it has entered the Trighaṭṭikā <supplied reason="explanation">river</supplied> by the cremation ground;
· in the West, the Omra canal;
· in the South, too, along the latter, after the Śr̥ṅgāṭaka <supplied reason="explanation">‘Crossroad’</supplied> pond, the Br̥hacchaṅkajoṭā <supplied reason="explanation">‘Great-Conch-Joṭā’</supplied>;
· after the latter, down again to the stream near the silk cotton tree of Kāṇālatī.
465 </p>
· <p n="18">Engraved by the scribe Śambhudatta,
· <note>Ryosuke Furui points out to me that <foreign>karaṇika</foreign> here could also be an abbreviation of <foreign>adhikaraṇika</foreign>, if this Śambhudatta is the same as the <foreign>viṣayādhikaraṇika</foreign> of that name who figures in line 9.</note>
· heated by the record-keeper Kr̥ṣṇadatta.
· Year 5, Āśvayuja month day 22.</p>
470 <p n="18-19">And Manu and so on used to cite stanzas in this same sense:</p>
· <p n="1" rend="stanza">The one who would steal land given by himself or another becomes a worm in excrement and is cooked with his ancestors.<note>
· This verse corresponds to the verse numbered 132 among the Bhūmi Stanzas listed by Sircar <supplied reason="explanation">see <bibl><ptr target="bib:Sircar1965_03"/><citedRange unit="appendix">II</citedRange><citedRange unit="page">170-200</citedRange></bibl></supplied>.
· </note></p>
· <p n="2" rend="stanza">The giver of land revels sixty thousand years in heaven; the one who challenges <supplied reason="explanation">a donation</supplied> as well as the one who approves <supplied reason="explanation">of the challenge</supplied> will reside as many <supplied reason="subaudible">years</supplied> in hell.<note>
475 This verse corresponds to the verse numbered 123 among the Bhūmi Stanzas listed by Sircar <supplied reason="explanation">see <bibl><ptr target="bib:Sircar1965_03"/><citedRange unit="appendix">II</citedRange><citedRange unit="page">170-200</citedRange></bibl></supplied>.
· </note></p>
· <p n="3" rend="stanza">Numerous kings, starting with Sagara, have given land. Whoever holds land at a given moment, to him does the fruit belong.<note>
· This verse corresponds to the verse numbered 23 among the Bhūmi Stanzas listed by Sircar <supplied reason="explanation">see <bibl><ptr target="bib:Sircar1965_03"/><citedRange unit="appendix">II</citedRange><citedRange unit="page">170-200</citedRange></bibl></supplied>.
· </note></p>
480 <p n="4" rend="stanza">One who gives a carriage or bed obtains a wife; one who gives food <supplied reason="subaudible">obtains</supplied> permanent bliss; one who gives land <supplied reason="subaudible">obtains</supplied> everything <supplied reason="explanation">at once</supplied>; one who gives cattle <supplied reason="subaudible">obtains</supplied> the summit of the sun.<note>
· This verse corresponds to the verse numbered 145ab and 145ef among the Bhūmi Stanzas listed by Sircar <supplied reason="explanation">see <bibl><ptr target="bib:Sircar1965_03"/><citedRange unit="appendix">II</citedRange><citedRange unit="page">170-200</citedRange></bibl></supplied>.
· </note>
·</p>
· </div>
485 </div>
·
· <div type="commentary">
· <div type="textpart" n="A"><head xml:lang="eng">Protagonists and date</head>
· <p>This plate is the first document that will allow scholars to begin to fill the long gap in early Puṇḍravardhana history between the last <ref target="DHARMA_INSBengalCharters00056.xml">Damodarpur plate</ref>
490
· (224 GE, i.e. 544 CE) and the first plate of Dharmapāla in the late 8th century.<note>Cf. <bibl><ptr target="bib:Furui2015_01"/><citedRange unit="page">267</citedRange></bibl>: <quote>The political condition of Pupdravardhana after the mid-sixth century is unclear, due to the lack of contemporary sources. It can be surmised retrospectively from the inscriptions of the ninth century that this sub-region also experienced some tendencies witnessed in the other sub-regions.</quote> The inscription nicely confirms Furui’s surmise.</note>
· The name of the ruling sovereign (<foreign>mahā-rājādhirāja</foreign>) Pradyumnabandhu was not previously known from any historical sources, as far as I am aware. His name, with suffix <foreign>bandhu</foreign>, seems somewhat unusual for an Indian king, and may be intended as a synonym of Kr̥ṣṇa. It is perhaps no coincidence that the <title>Harivaṁśa</title> and several purāṇic sources situate in Koṭīvarṣa-Bāṇapura, an important site in the religious landscape of ancient Puṇḍravardhana, <quote>a conflict between <hi rend="italic">Śaiva</hi> and <hi rend="italic">Vaiṣṇava</hi> forces, centring around the mythological Bāṇa, the demon king ruling the city</quote> relating <quote>how Kr̥ṣṇa and his companions attack Bāṇa and his demons in this city, in order to rescue the captive Aniruddha, Kr̥ṣṇa’s grandson</quote> (<bibl><ptr target="bib:Bakker2014_01"/><citedRange unit="page">251</citedRange></bibl> and <bibl><ptr target="bib:Yokochi2013_01"/></bibl>). That said, there is nothing in the text of the inscription that obliges us to assume that Pradyumnabandhu’s center of power was in Puṇḍravardhana. His capital may have been elsewhere, as was that of the Gupta kings, and this is perhaps suggested by the fact that his appointee Cellaka is stated to have been serving as governor (<foreign>uparika</foreign>) in this province (<foreign>bhukti</foreign>), still quite in the style of all the locally found inscriptions of the Gupta period. This Cellaka and the great chamberlain (<foreign>mahāpratīhāra</foreign>) named Avadhūta are, just as their sovereign Pradyumnabandhu, entirely unknown from other historical sources.</p>
· <p>It is impossible to be any more precise about the date of the present inscription than to say that it most likely dates after the complete dissolution of Gupta power in North Bengal, i.e. after 544 CE, and that it is unlikely, from palaeographic perspective, to be later than 650.
·</p>
495
·
· </div>
· <div type="textpart" n="B"><head xml:lang="eng">Toponyms and landscape indications</head>
· <p>The name of the district (<foreign>viṣaya</foreign>), Ghoṇādvīpikā, suggests that Ghoṇā might have been the name of a river, an assumption that could be supported by a passage from the <title>uttarabhāga</title> of the <title>Liṅgapurāṇa</title> that figures several names of Śākta deities at least two of which known to be names of rivers: <q xml:lang="san-Latn">añjanī mohinī māyā vikaṭāṅgī nalī tathā | <hi rend="bold">gaṇḍakī</hi> daḍakī ghoṇā śoṇā <hi rend="bold">satyavatī</hi> tathā ||</q>.
500 <note><title>Liṅgapurāṇa</title>, <title>uttarabhāga</title>, chapter 27, stanza 158. On the textual history and ritual context of this part of the <title>Liṅgapurāṇa</title>, see <bibl><ptr target="bib:Sanderson2009_01"/><citedRange unit="page">250, 258</citedRange></bibl>. Yuko Yokochi points out to me that <foreign>śoṇā</foreign> might be the river Son, though it is usually denoted by the masculine noun <foreign>śoṇa</foreign>.</note>
· However, it is also possible that <foreign>ghoṇā</foreign> here has its lexical meaning of ‘nose’ or ‘beak’, and that we are dealing with a descriptive toponym ‘nose island’, perhaps suggestive of the shape of a formation in the landscape. I am unable to identify the precise location of this, or any of the other principal place names, on a map. </p>
· <p>Nevertheless, it must be noted that the village whose donation, ‘along with its citron grove’ (if <foreign>bījapūrakavr̥nda</foreign> is not itself a toponym), is the object of this record is called Mastakaśvabhra, while two place names in -<foreign>śvabhra</foreign> and even a specific name landscape indication <foreign>bījapūraka</foreign>, are also found in the <ref target="DHARMA_INSBengalCharters00088.xml">Khalimpur plate of Dharmapāla</ref> (<bibl><ptr target="bib:Kielhorn1896-1897_03"/><citedRange unit="line">30-39</citedRange></bibl>), in the context of a village Krauñcaśvabhra that lay in <foreign>śrīpuṇḍravardhana-bhukty-antaḥpāti-vyāghrataṭī-maṇḍala-sambaddha-mahantāprakāśa-viṣaya</foreign> ‘the district Mahantāprakāśa forming part of the Vyāghrataṭī circle of the Śrī Puṇḍravardhana province’. I do not find toponyms in -<foreign>śvabhra</foreign> in any other inscriptions of Bengal, and hence infer that this element may have been in vogue for forming toponyms only on a local level. Since the find-spot of the <ref target="DHARMA_INSBengalCharters00088.xml">Khalimpur plate</ref> lies within a few miles from the citadel of Gaur (cf. <bibl><ptr target="bib:Bhattasali1935_01"/><citedRange unit="page">76</citedRange></bibl>), there is reason to explore the possibility that the places intended in that plate — as well as ours — lay in the same area.</p>
· <p>Landscape indicators or toponyms including the word <foreign>śālmalī</foreign> (here, line 17) are also observed in the <ref target="DHARMA_INSBengalCharters00084.xml">Mallasarul</ref> (line 7) and <ref target="DHARMA_INSBengalCharters00088.xml">Khalimpur</ref> plates (line 37). The element <foreign>joṭā</foreign> (or derivatives), indicating some kind of waterway or canal, is found repeatedly in the cited passage of the <ref target="DHARMA_INSBengalCharters00088.xml">Khalimpur plate</ref>, as also in the <ref target="DHARMA_INSBengalCharters00084.xml">Mallasarul</ref> (line 7) and <ref target="DHARMA_INSCBengalCharters00003_insc.xml">Ghughrahati</ref> plates (lines 18–19). The word <foreign>trighaṭṭikā</foreign> (line 17) is also found in <ref target="DHARMA_INSBengalCharters00080.xml">Faridpur plate #2</ref> (lines 23–24), but Pargiter’s translation ‘three ghats’ does not fit in our context, and it seems Trighaṭṭikā must be a hydronym.</p>
· <p>The toponym Audumvarika, which underlies the derivative adjective <foreign>audumvarikeya</foreign> in line 9, may have been the same as the <foreign>viṣaya</foreign> named Audumvarīka in the Vappaghoshavata grant of Jayanāga
505
· (<bibl><ptr target="bib:Barnett1925-1926_01"/><citedRange unit="line">3</citedRange></bibl>). It may further be asked whether Śivanagara (line 7) is identifiable with the aforementioned important <hi rend="italic">Śaiva</hi> site at modern Bāṇgaḍh (<bibl><ptr target="bib:Yokochi2013_01"/></bibl>, <bibl><ptr target="bib:Bakker2014_01"/></bibl>), and whether Varāhakoṭṭaka (line 8) might be connected with the series of Vaiṣṇava foundations recorded in the <ref target="DHARMA_INSBengalCharters00053.xml">Damodarpur plates #4</ref> and <ref target="DHARMA_INSBengalCharters00056.xml">#5</ref> (<bibl><ptr target="bib:Willis2009_01"/><citedRange unit="page">92-3</citedRange></bibl>). If so, it is necessary to assume that the administrative situation has changed vis-à-vis the Gupta period, when those sites lay in Koṭīvarṣa-district; in our plate, all toponyms mentioned in connection with the notables etc. are explicitly stated to lie within the Ghoṇādvīpa district (lines 2–3).</p>
· </div>
· </div>
· <div type="bibliography">
510 <p>First edited by Arlo Griffiths. Re-edited here with small improvements based on direct inspection of the plate, in particular the place names Jāvabhadra <supplied reason="explanation">line 5</supplied>, Vr̥ddhapriya <supplied reason="explanation">line 6</supplied> and Omrakhāta <supplied reason="explanation">line 17</supplied>. Therefore, a new translation including these new readings and some other improvments is proposed here by Arlo Griffiths and Amandine Wattelier-Bricout.</p>
· <listBibl type="primary">
· <bibl n="G"><ptr target="bib:Griffiths2015_02"/><citedRange unit="item">II</citedRange><citedRange unit="page">27-33</citedRange></bibl>
· </listBibl>
· <listBibl type="secondary">
515 <bibl><ptr target="bib:Griffiths2015_02"/><citedRange unit="item">II</citedRange><citedRange unit="page">27-33</citedRange></bibl>
· </listBibl>
· </div>
· </body>
· </text>
520</TEI>
Commentary
Protagonists and date
This plate is the first document that will allow scholars to begin to fill the long gap in early Puṇḍravardhana history between the last Damodarpur plate (224 GE, i.e. 544 CE) and the first plate of Dharmapāla in the late 8th century.29 The name of the ruling sovereign (mahā-rājādhirāja) Pradyumnabandhu was not previously known from any historical sources, as far as I am aware. His name, with suffix bandhu, seems somewhat unusual for an Indian king, and may be intended as a synonym of Kr̥ṣṇa. It is perhaps no coincidence that the Harivaṁśa and several purāṇic sources situate in Koṭīvarṣa-Bāṇapura, an important site in the religious landscape of ancient Puṇḍravardhana, “a conflict between Śaiva and Vaiṣṇava forces, centring around the mythological Bāṇa, the demon king ruling the city” relating “how Kr̥ṣṇa and his companions attack Bāṇa and his demons in this city, in order to rescue the captive Aniruddha, Kr̥ṣṇa’s grandson” (Bakker 2014, p. 251 and Yokochi 2013). That said, there is nothing in the text of the inscription that obliges us to assume that Pradyumnabandhu’s center of power was in Puṇḍravardhana. His capital may have been elsewhere, as was that of the Gupta kings, and this is perhaps suggested by the fact that his appointee Cellaka is stated to have been serving as governor (uparika) in this province (bhukti), still quite in the style of all the locally found inscriptions of the Gupta period. This Cellaka and the great chamberlain (mahāpratīhāra) named Avadhūta are, just as their sovereign Pradyumnabandhu, entirely unknown from other historical sources.
It is impossible to be any more precise about the date of the present inscription than to say that it most likely dates after the complete dissolution of Gupta power in North Bengal, i.e. after 544 CE, and that it is unlikely, from palaeographic perspective, to be later than 650.
Toponyms and landscape indications
The name of the district (viṣaya), Ghoṇādvīpikā, suggests that Ghoṇā might have been the name of a river, an assumption that could be supported by a passage from the uttarabhāga of the Liṅgapurāṇa that figures several names of Śākta deities at least two of which known to be names of rivers: “añjanī mohinī māyā vikaṭāṅgī nalī tathā | gaṇḍakī daḍakī ghoṇā śoṇā satyavatī tathā ||”. 30 However, it is also possible that ghoṇā here has its lexical meaning of ‘nose’ or ‘beak’, and that we are dealing with a descriptive toponym ‘nose island’, perhaps suggestive of the shape of a formation in the landscape. I am unable to identify the precise location of this, or any of the other principal place names, on a map.
Nevertheless, it must be noted that the village whose donation, ‘along with its citron grove’ (if bījapūrakavr̥nda is not itself a toponym), is the object of this record is called Mastakaśvabhra, while two place names in -śvabhra and even a specific name landscape indication bījapūraka, are also found in the Khalimpur plate of Dharmapāla (Kielhorn 1896–1897, ll. 30-39), in the context of a village Krauñcaśvabhra that lay in śrīpuṇḍravardhana-bhukty-antaḥpāti-vyāghrataṭī-maṇḍala-sambaddha-mahantāprakāśa-viṣaya ‘the district Mahantāprakāśa forming part of the Vyāghrataṭī circle of the Śrī Puṇḍravardhana province’. I do not find toponyms in -śvabhra in any other inscriptions of Bengal, and hence infer that this element may have been in vogue for forming toponyms only on a local level. Since the find-spot of the Khalimpur plate lies within a few miles from the citadel of Gaur (cf. Bhattasali 1935, p. 76), there is reason to explore the possibility that the places intended in that plate — as well as ours — lay in the same area.
Landscape indicators or toponyms including the word śālmalī (here, line 17) are also observed in the Mallasarul (line 7) and Khalimpur plates (line 37). The element joṭā (or derivatives), indicating some kind of waterway or canal, is found repeatedly in the cited passage of the Khalimpur plate, as also in the Mallasarul (line 7) and Ghughrahati plates (lines 18–19). The word trighaṭṭikā (line 17) is also found in Faridpur plate #2 (lines 23–24), but Pargiter’s translation ‘three ghats’ does not fit in our context, and it seems Trighaṭṭikā must be a hydronym.
The toponym Audumvarika, which underlies the derivative adjective audumvarikeya in line 9, may have been the same as the viṣaya named Audumvarīka in the Vappaghoshavata grant of Jayanāga (Barnett 1925–1926, l. 3). It may further be asked whether Śivanagara (line 7) is identifiable with the aforementioned important Śaiva site at modern Bāṇgaḍh (Yokochi 2013, Bakker 2014), and whether Varāhakoṭṭaka (line 8) might be connected with the series of Vaiṣṇava foundations recorded in the Damodarpur plates #4 and #5 (Willis 2009, pp. 92–3). If so, it is necessary to assume that the administrative situation has changed vis-à-vis the Gupta period, when those sites lay in Koṭīvarṣa-district; in our plate, all toponyms mentioned in connection with the notables etc. are explicitly stated to lie within the Ghoṇādvīpa district (lines 2–3).