Indian Palaeography c14.s7: Gujarat and Western Deccan
Indian Palaeography c14.s7
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Gujarat and Western Deccan
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After the Aśokan edicts the next group of the inscriptions of this region belongs to the time of the early rulers of the Sātavāhana dynasty. The standard style of the Western Deccan is revealed in the Nanaghat inscriptions, which, as has been shown in the last chapter, cannot be dated earlier than the first century A.D. Next in the series is the Nasik inscription of Haku Siri¹ (Pl. IX. 1). This follows the Nanaghat style, and there should not be much difference in date between it and the Nanaghat inscriptions. No headmark is seen in the inscription and no particular attention has been paid to the equalization of the verticals, though, generally speaking, uniform length is maintained. The medial vowel-marks follow the same old style. Letters such as *ga*, *gha*, *ṭa*, *ṭha*, *ṇa*, *ta*, *tha*, *da*, *na*, *pa*, *ya*, *la*, *sa* and *ha* are in the same tradition. But definite change is seen in the curving of the verticals in *a*, *ka* and *ra*. *Ḍa* has its angles rounded. *Cha* has developed a beaked form, while triangularity is unmistakable at the base of *ma* and *va*. On the basis of these features it can hardly be doubted that this inscription belongs to about the middle of the first century A.D.
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¹ *Epigraphia Indica*, viii. no. 19.
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The next series of inscriptions belongs to the period when the Śakas and the Yavanas had already become influential in this region. From the numerous private records we select the Karle inscriptions published by M. S. Vats² and Nasik inscription no. 18.³ No head-mark is seen in the letters, but a faint trace of the tapering style can be observed in some of them. The angularity is well marked and some of the long verticals are curved. The connexion with the older style is seen in the forms of *a*, *da* with its mouth open to the left, and the crescentic form of *ya*, and in a disregard for the equalization of the verticals. But the Nasik inscription establishes the connexion between this style and that of the inscriptions of Nahapāna. These inscriptions may be dated in the last quarter of the first century A.D. and the beginning of the second century A.D. With the coming of the foreigners in this region there is a marked improvement in the style of the writing. These inscriptions have not been shown in the plates as it is hard to distinguish them from those referred to in the following paragraph.
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² Ibid., xviii. 325–9.
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³ Ibid., viii. pl. V.
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The next group of inscriptions of the Western Deccan belongs to the reigns of Nahapāna and Gautamīputra Śātakarṇi (Pl. IX. 2), which partly overlap the earlier series and partly come soon after them. Here again no head-mark is found in the letters. Tapering is faintly noticeable in a few inscriptions of Nahapāna from Nasik. The Karle inscriptions of Nahapāna and Gautamīputra Śātakarṇī show a surprising and remarkable difference in style from those of Nasik, but they are all, no doubt, contemporary. Hence the only conclusion that we can derive is that the older style of writing continued side by side with the new style in Western Deccan right down to the first quarter of the second century a.d. The older style is clearly seen in the persistence of the older system of marking the medial vowels. The change is specially noticeable in the ornamental signs for medial *i* and *ī* and the medial *ā* in *jā*. The two different systems are especially clear in the forms of *a*, *ka*, *kha*, *ga*, *gha*, *ḍa*, *ta*, *pa*, *bha*, *ya*, *la*, *sa* and *ha*. In the older style no particular care is taken over the length of the verticals. But in the new style the verticals are equalized and angularity is clearly marked. The letter *da*, with its mouth open to the left, retains the older form, though it is in some cases cursively drawn. The changes do not indicate borrowing from the Kushāṇa style of Mathura and Sanchi. The optional form of *kha* still gives prominence to the upper hook, while its triangular appendage is insignificant. The stem of the double-looped *chha* is moved on to the left. *Ḍa* is here round-backed. *Bha* is of the broad variety, though the notch does not yet appear. *Ya* does not show a loop or curl, and in the conjuncts maintains its tripartite form. The form of *sa* is still rounded. These fundamental differences clearly show that the writing style of the Western Deccan at this time cannot be derived from the Kushāṇa style of Mathura and Sanchi. On the other hand, they preserve the older features of the Nanaghat style mixed up with the forms derived from the Śaka Kshatrapas of Mathura. It is possible to see some connexion between the Nahapāna inscriptions from Nasik and the ‘early group’ of the inscriptions from Mathura,¹ which may be dated between the Mathura Kshatrapa style and the Kushāṇa style. Could it be that these Kshatrapas were survivors from the Mathura Kshatrapas in the Deccan? On such an assumption we could understand the presence of the Yavanas and the Śakas in the second half of the first century a.d. in the Deccan, where they make a solid contribution in bringing a new style of writing from the north.
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¹ See above, p. 85.
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Another definite change is seen in the inscriptions of the Chashṭana group of the Western Kshatrapas (Pl. IX. 5). All their records so far known are from north Gujarat and Kathiawad. The new style that these inscriptions introduce did not develop from the older Western Deccani style, but, as the detailed description will show, borrowed much from Eastern Malwa and from the Kauśāmbī region. It seems that some new cultural elements must have entered Gujarat during the rule of the Chashṭana group of the Western Kshatrapas. The changes are traceable in three distinct features. (i) For the first time in this region special attention is paid to the head-mark. The Junagadh inscription of Rudradāman shows the line head-mark, while a few others have a solid triangular head-mark. The tapering style of the earlier Deccani inscriptions is not found here at all in this period. (ii) Some new shapes of letters are introduced. These remained confined to this region and hardly reached the Deccan. Among them may be mentioned the form of *kha* which gives greater prominence to its triangular base, as opposed to the Deccani *kha* where the upper hook is important. *Ya* with its left arm curled is seen only here. The tailed *ma* and the hooked *ha* are used optionally in the Gadha (Jasadan) inscription of Rudrasena. The hooked type of the subscript *ya* is also employed optionally in this region. There are other forms of the letters which penetrate even to the Deccan. The most important are the forms of *ta* with its rounded appendage and the round-backed *da* with its mouth open to the right. (iii) The third remarkable change is seen in the ornamental forms of the letters. The curves and notches in the verticals and horizontals and the flourishes in the medial vowels are noteworthy. These flourishes seem to be a further development from the earlier practice seen in the Deccani inscriptions. This characteristic is shared equally by the later Śātavāhana inscriptions and it may be that this Gujarat style influenced the ornamental forms of Eastern Malwa. Other Deccani influences are traceable in the use of the medial vowels, the round-backed *da*, the simple *na* and *ṇa* with bent base, and the medial *o* optionally added to the middle of *ma*.
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In the Western Deccan the change imperceptibly set in from the time of Vāsisthīputra Śrī Puḷumāvi (Pl. IX. 3) who was a contemporary of the early rulers of the Chashṭana group. It was from his time onwards that records of the Śātavāhanas are found in the Eastern Deccan and as far south as the Bellary and Shimoga districts. But the Śātavāhanas seem to have lost for good their territories in Malwa, Northern Gujarat, and Kathiawad to the Western Kshatrapas, who were the real masters of the overseas trade, as is evidenced by their silver currency. The only exception was Gautamīputra Yajña Śrī Śātakarṇi, who managed to lay hands on the region temporarily and to issue some silver currency. The Śātavāhanas from this time onwards became predominantly a Deccan power, and the style in their inscriptions influenced the growth of the southern characters. In the inscriptions of the time of Puḷumāvi a mixed style is seen—the older Deccani style continued side by side with the new influences which possibly came from Northern Gujarat and Kathiawad. In Amaravati and other places of the Eastern Deccan the older Deccani style is seen at this time. The ornamental style developed alongside it, and by the time of Yajña Śrī Śātakarṇi this became the predominant way of writing in the Deccan. In the new style the line head-mark is occasionally seen, the curves and the notches characterize the verticals and horizontals, and ornamental flourishes are added to the medial vowels. Two special forms are the looped *ta* and the triangular *dha* with its left side curved. The subscript *ya* retains its tripartite form. Among the older forms that persisted are *kha* with its prominent upper hook, *chha* with its stem to the left of its double loop, the round-backed *ḍa*, the Deccani *ta*, the cursive angular *da* with its mouth opening to the left, the medial vowels attached to the middle of *ma*, the tripartite *ya* showing no curl or loop at the left arm, and *la* with its long vertical curved outwards. The new forms included the angular *a* with an additional hook attached to the angle of the upper left stroke, *o* in the shape of reversed 's', the notched type of the beaked *cha*, the round-backed *da* with its mouth open to the right, and *la* with its vertical curved inwards. In all these cases the older system of applying medial vowels continued, the only change being that the vowel signs were now more ornamental. In fact in the Deccan, in the period from the time of Haku Siri to that of the Nagarjunikonda inscriptions, ornamental forms in the shape of curves began to appear. They assumed standard forms in the time of Puḷumāvi and Yajña Śrī Śātakarṇi.