379

Art. X.?An unpublished Valabhi Copper-plate Inscription

of King Dhruvasena I. By Dr. Til Blocii.

The two copper-plates from which the subjoined transcript has been made were entrusted by Dr. Burgess to Professor

Buhler for publication, and he has kindly allowed me to

edit them. They are now in the British Museum.

They contain a Sanskrit inscription of King Dhruvasena I.

of Valabhi, dated (Gupta) Samvat 217 (536-37 a.d.), Asva

yuja, ba. 13.

The plates are by no means in good preservation. Both

in the upper margin and low down in the left-hand corner

of the first some pieces are broken off, and the right-hand side of the second plate is in a similar condition, so that

in the beginning of the inscription the name of the place from which the edict was issued has been totally destroyed; and, further, through the destructive influence of time,

parts of many letters have been lost, leaving only a few, and in some cases almost unreadable traces of them.

Nevertheless, it has been possible, by the help of similar

inscriptions, to make out the majority of the words, and

only a few have remained uncertain, amongst them, un

fortunately, being the name of the village granted by the

king. The language of the inscription is Sanskrit. It is written

in prose, with the exception of the two slokas from the

Malmbharata, quoted as usual at the end, to indicate the

blessings that follow land-granting, and the curses that will fall on those who steal land.

Concerning orthography or grammar there is nothing particular to notice except, perhaps, some of the usual clerical errors to be found in these plates, e.g. Bhatakkak instead of Bhatdrkkah (line 3) ; cf. another grant of

Dhruvasena I. (Ind. Ant. v. 205, plate i. 1. 4), and Seal

Th. Bloch, "An Unpublished Valabhī Copper-Plate Inscription of King Dhruvasena I" JRAS, (Apr., 1895), pp. 379-384

380 VALABHI COPPER-PLATE INSCRIPTION

of Maliya Copper-plate Inscription of Dharasena II.

(Corpus Inscr. Ind. vol. iii. p. 164), rdja-irih instead of

rdfya-irih (I. 8); cf. another grant of Dhruvasena I.

{Ind. Ant. iv. 104, plate i. 1. 9), and the spelling tdny=* eva instead of tdny-eva (1. 27), etc.

The inscription is in the usual form; after enumerating the well-known vamsdvall, beginning with the founder of

the dynasty, Srl-sendpati- Bhatarkkah, up to King Dhruva sena; I., it records the grant made by the king, strictly

prohibiting any future alteration of it, and concludes with

the subscription of the king's name and titles, the date

and names of the dittaka, Bhatti, and the writer, Kikkaka.

To give a translation, therefore, of the whole inscription would be a mere waste of time, and I think a few remarks

will quite suffice to assign to the inscription its true place in the rank of similar historical documents. Concerning its age, it may be noticed that though the date (Gupta

Samvat 217; 536-37 a.d.) does not precede the date of one other inscription published by Professor Buhler, Ind.

Ant. v. 205, viz. Gupta Samvat 207, which still remains

the first recorded date of King Dhruvasena I., nevertheless

it is one of the oldest Valabhl Inscriptions which have

come under our notice.

Its main object is to record a grant made by King Dhruvasena I., who calls himself by his usual titles?the

great chamberlain, the great general, the great kdrttdkrtika, and the great feudatory prince (1. 11), to the congregation of monks residing in the vihara, founded by the king's sister, Duddd (1. 17), and in another, founded by the

teacher, the venerable Buddhadiisa (1. 18, dearyya-bhadanta

Buddhaddsa). The grant consisted of a village, named,

perhaps, Vataprajyaka (?), which I have been unable to

identify, described as situated in the neighbourhood of a

district or village, the name of which is illegible, a few, most uncertain letters, aloue remaining (1. 14). Of the two

monasteries mentioned in our inscriptions, the first is well

known from other inscriptions of the same king and his

successors (e.g. Ind. Ant. iv. 175 ; ibid. 106; v. 63), and

OF KING DHRUVASENA I. 381

very often was favoured with land-grants by them. The

second is a new one, and, as far as I know, has not hitherto

been found in any other inscription. Probably it was one

of the some hundred sanghdrdmas, of which Hiuen Tsiang

gives us a short account in his Si-yu-ki (translated by

Beal, ii. 266), quoting by name only one great sanghdrdma, not far from the city which was built by the Arhat Acara

('O-che-lo), identified by Prof. Buhler with the monastery of Atharya, mentioned in a grant of King Dharasena II.

(Ind. Ant. vi. 9), and to which certainly also belonged the other monasteries at Valabhi, whose names are found

here and there in similar inscriptions.

However, this very fact that King Dhruvasena, himself

a worshipper of Siva and descendant of a Sivaitic family, is again seen in this inscription making a grant to

Buddhist monks, is of no small interest, as it confirms one

of the few historical accounts concerning these feudatory

kings of Valabhi, exhibited to us by their epigraphicai documents, viz. the fact that though themselves devoted to

Siva-worship, they were great protectors of the Bauddhas

who lived in their country. And it may be said that the

inscription forms an important link in the chain of historical

records, and that together with kindred facts, viz. that

Duddii, the sister of several Sivaitic kings or princes, was

a follower of the Buddhist faith (paramopasikii: Ind. Ant.

iv. 105 f., plate ii. 1. 5), and a founder of a Buddhist

monastery; that, perhaps, Bhatiirkka, the founder of the

dynasty, had already built a similar one (Ind. Ant. vi. 9), and that later on the illustrious King Guhaseua, who

formerly calls himself devoted to Siva (paramamiihesvera: Ind. Ant. iv. 174) is suddenly called "the ardent devotee of Buddha" (pararaopiisaka: Ind. Ant. v. 206), from which it appears that this ruler was actually converted to Buddhism ; it confirms in the first place the wide extent of Buddhism in this country during the sixth and seventh centuries a.d., and in the second exhibits an example of

religious tolerance among medimval kings, not unworthy indeed of the two great emperors Asoka aud Akbar.

382 VALABHI COPPER-PLATE INSCRIPTION

First Plate.

(1) Om [||*] Svasti [||*] Vijaya-Skandha[varat. vasa-ka]t=Pra[8abha]-pra[na]t[-ami]tr[an?Hm]M[ai]

trakunara==atula-bala-8a[m]panna-ma[n]da[l-a]

(2) bhoga - samsakta -

samprahara -

sata-[labdha -

praliipa]h

pratiip -

opanata-dana- nmn-arjjav- oparjjit -

anurag -

anurakta-maulabhrta

(3) mitftjra^srenl-bal-uvapta-rjijya-srih parama-mahe

svaras=srI-seniipati-BHATAKKAH2 [||*] Tasya sutas =

tac-carana-rajo-run-avanata

(4) [pav]i[tri]-krto-siras=siro-vanata-sat[t]ru8-ciidamani

prabha-vicchurita-piida-nttkha-pankti-didhitili din

anatha-jan-opa

(5) [jlvya]miina-vibhavah parama-mahesvarah srf-senapati Dhahasenah [II*] Ta8y=anujas=tat-pad-abhiprana

ma-prasasta4

(6) [vi]raala - mauli - manir=Mmanv - adi -

pranlta - vidhi -

vidhana-dharmmii Dharmmaruja iva vihita-vinaya

vyavastlm-paddba

(7) tir=akhila-bhuvana-mandal-abhog-aika-8vaminii par am a

sviimina svayam-upahita-rajy-iibhiseka-raaha

(8) [vi]si anan-iivapiita-raja 5-srIh parama-mahesvaras=srl

raaharaja-DK0NAsiMHAS=8imhaiva[||*]Ta8y==anujas=s sva-bhu

(9) ja-bala-parakkramena para-gaja-ghat-anlkanam=eka

vijayi saran-aisinam saranam ?avaboddha

(10) [sastr-a]rttha-tatvanam8 kalpatarur=iva suhrt-prana

yinam yatha-bhilasita-kama-phal-opabhoga-dah

(Jl) [parama-bha]ttiiraka-pad-anuddhyato mahapralihara

mahadandanayaka-raahakarttakrtika-mahasamanta

1 Doubtful, whether spelt with one or two fa.

* Read JBhafdrkkah. 8 tt doubtful. 4 The usual reading is prasastatara; tava is wanting also, Ind. Ant. v. 205,

plate i. 1. 7. 8 Read rajya.

Read tattv&n&m.

OF KING DHRUVASENA I. 383

(12) [maharaja] - sri - Dhkuvasenah [kusal]! sorvvan=eva

sviin?ayuktaka-viniyuktaka-drangika-mahattara-cata bha

(13) t-adin=anyaras=ca yatha-samfbajdhyamanakan ,ama

[jilapaya]ty =

[||*] Astu vas=samviditaiii yatha maya

(14) . man . sthaia^sannikrsta-VATAPRAJYAKA 2-gramah

8 - oparikaka(ra)s=sa -

[d]i[tya] - dana - vata -

bh[uta

pratya]

(15) [ya]h sah=anyais=ca kirttibha . . i . ribha . . aih8

bh[u]mic[ch]i[dra-ny]ayena.; .

Second Plate.

(16) [matu-pi]troh [pun]y-apyayanay=atmanas=c =

[ai]hik

amusmika-yatha-bhilasita-phal-avapti-nim[ittara =a] -

(17) [candr-iir]kk arnnava-ksiti-sarit-parvvata-sama-kalinah

ValabhI-tala-8va-bhagineyi-Dur)yA-karita-[viharaP]

(18).- [a]caryya- bhadanta-Buddhadasa -karita

vihara-kutyam pratistapita-bhagavatam4 Ssamya[k

sambu]

(19) [ddhanara Buddh]anam gandha-dhupa-puspa-dipa-tail

opayogi viharasya ca khanda-sphutita-pati[ta]

(20) [vi]s[i]rnna-prati8aTnsk{iran-arttham catur-ddis-abhya

gat-obhaya-vihara-prativasi-bhiksu-8aiighasya

(21) [ .

pijndapata-sayan-asana-glana-pratyaya-bhaisajya pariskar-opayog-arttham

ca pra

(22) [tip]aditah [||*] Yato bhiksu-sangh 5-adhikrtanam

bhunjatam krsatam pradisatam na kais=cit=svalpa

=

py=a

1 Tho first letter looks like ra or ka; the third may have been nda, but only a small na is visible; the th of stha seems also uncertain.

* va aud/ya uncertain. 9 I am uuable to make out the reading o! these fragmentary letters. The

last ai is uncertain. * dm and the double s are rather doubtful, but the reading of the whole

passage is obvious from a similar inscription of the same king, Ind. Ant. iv. 104 f., plate ii. 1. 6 ff.: Valabhydm sva-bhaffineiji-param-opasikd-Duddd-kdrita vihara-pratitfhapitdndm bhagava'tdm Samyak-sambuddhdnam Buddhdndm, etc.

* This reading is not quite certain.

j.r.a.s. 1895. 25

384 TALABHI COPPER-PLATE INSCRIPTION.

(23) [badhak]aryy?a8mad-vansa-jair=agarai-nrpatibhis=c?

anityany=aisvcryyany=a8thiram manusyam saman

yam ca

(24) [bhu]mi-dana-phalam=avagacchadbhir=ayam =asmad

diiy o * numan tavyah paripalay ita vy as=ca [ 11 *] Yas ?= c ?

acchi

(25) [ndyad] =acchidyamanam va=nuraodeta sa pamcabhir? mmaha -

piitakaih s - opapatakais=samyuktas=syad=

[II*] I[ty-m*]pi"? (26) [Vya]sa-gitau slokau bhavatah [||*] Sastim varsa-sa

hasrani svargge modati bhumi-dah [|*] acchetta

(27) [c=anumanta]ca tany=eva2narake vaset[||*]Bahubhir= vvasudha bhukta rajabhis=Sagar-adibhih [|*] yasya

(28) [yasya yada bhumi]h tasya tasya tada phaiam=iti || Sva-hasto mama

mahapratihara-mahadanda

(29) [n ^yaka-mahakartt]akrtika-mahasamanta-raaharaja-sri Dhruvasenasya I) Dutakorajastbaniya-BHATTiH [||*]

(30) [Likbi]tara KiKKAKEN=eti[ir] Sam 200-10-7 Asvayuja bal33||

1 Or, perhaps, J[AJss*]jpi. 8 Read tatty

= eva. 8

Though only a small portion of the letters tarn and ba is visible, and

something is wanting of the numeral signs of 10 and 7, the reading is quite certain.