Eastern Indian School of Mediaeval Sculpture c6.74

c6.74

The dates of specimens in classes II and III can be determined with some degree of exactness by means of a palæographical examination. The chronology of the Pāla kings of Bengal and that of the Pratīhāras of Kanauj or Mahodaya is practically settled. The dates of the Pāla Kings, though they cannot be determined with the same degree of exactitude as those of the Pratīhāra Kings of Kanauj, can now be definitely said not to fluctuate, in any case, over a period longer than a quarter of a century. The date of any of the inscribed specimens in classes II and III, described above, can be determined by a comparison of the form of its test letters to those used in inscriptions of the Pāla Kings. In this fashion it appears after a complete analysis that it is possible to determine the date of each and every inscribed sculpture with a very close approach to exactitude.