Indian Palaeography c13.s2.t1.15

c13.s2.t1.15

Sanchi (Pl. VI *a* and *b*) has given us a great wealth of material for palaeographical study. Bühler, R. P. Chanda, and N. G. Majumdar have studied in detail the palaeography of these inscriptions. Their method is based on the old assumptions, and though Chanda and Majumdar have made many corrections on stylistic grounds, their conclusions do not stand the test of the new approach. As my purpose is not to write a memoir on the Sanchi inscriptions, this study is confined to selected inscriptions in order to throw more light on palaeography. The inscriptions up to the first century A.D. are divisible into three series. The third series includes the inscriptions from Stūpa III (except the casket inscriptions), illustrated by Marshall in pl. CXXXVII, lower half, and those on the eastern, southern, and western gateways of Stūpa I, illustrated in Marshall, pl. CXXXIV. The inscription of ‘Sātakaṇi’ is included in this series. There are others scattered among the railing inscriptions of Stūpas I and II, but it is not possible here to catalogue all of them. There is no fundamental difference between this series and the Mathura Kshatrapa inscriptions. They may be safely dated to the first half of the first century A.D.