Kanheri Cave 86 Back Wall Inscription

Authors of digital edition: Kelsey Martini (kema), Vincent Tournier (vito).

Contributor: Kelsey Martini (kema).

Language: Middle Indo-Aryan (pra) [Script (other) (script_other)].

Repository: Satavahana (tfb-satavahana-epigraphy).

Identifier: DHARMA_INSKI00046.

File path: texts/DHARMA_INSKI00046.xml.

Version: 2026-08-16 19:50 (8c6fcee), last modified 2026-07-17 15:36 (581605e).

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.

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