Indian Palaeography c14.s8: Eastern Deccan
Indian Palaeography c14.s8
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Eastern Deccan
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A number of Buddhist sites, such as Amaravati, Nagarjunikonda, Jogeyyapeta, Ghantasala, and Salihundam, have been explored in this region. The earliest inscriptions have been found at Amaravati. As has been shown in the last chapter, the writing here is a regional adaptation of the Nanaghat style, while the Bhattiprolu casket inscriptions are a rude version of the same style, with some mistaken forms and the evolution of a new letter *ḻa* to meet the needs of the local dialect. On the basis of the Nanaghat style these inscriptions have been dated in the first half of the first century A.D. This style continued until the time of Puḷumāvi, when new ornamental writing gradually penetrated into this region. The early inscriptions of Chanda¹ fall in this pre-Puḷumāvi period. To the same period belongs an unpublished inscription on a coping stone, recording the name of Rājakumārī Saṁmalī, the style of which is similar to no. 12 of Chanda. The second group of the inscriptions of Chanda is characterized by the optional head-mark, the curving of the verticals, and the extensive use of some of the forms from Western Deccan such as *ta*, *bha*, *ḍa*, and the crescentic *ya*—the older forms obviously affected by the new ornamental style. To the same group belongs the inscription published by Mr. D. Barrett.² These inscriptions should be dated to the time of Puḷumāvi. The inscriptions from Salihundam fall in this same group. The remaining inscriptions from Amaravati can again be divided into two groups: the first (Pl. IX. 11) belongs to the time of the later Śātavāhanas from Yajña Śrī Śātakarṇi onwards; the second shows a style identical with that of the inscriptions of the Ikshvāku rulers of this region, who must be dated towards the close of the third century A.D. There are only minor differences between the ornamental writing of Eastern and Western Deccan during the rule of the later Śātavāhanas. These include the optional form of *i*, which has three small crescents in place of dots, the rare use of *kha* with a prominent triangular base, and the optional use of the oval *va* earlier seen in the Bhattiprolu casket inscriptions. The Nagarjunikonda style is a further development from that of the later Śātavāhanas. It is characterized by the following features: (i) the head-mark is a solid triangle; (ii) the writing shows definite draftsmanship in so far as the main body of the letters is reduced in size to a definite proportion and aligned in the middle with flourishes going up and down; (iii) the verticals are exceptionally elongated; and (iv) the curves are exaggerated. The new forms of the letters seen here are the looped *na*, the looped *ṇa*, and optionally the hooked *ha*. The other change is seen in the medial *o* as applied to *to*, *tho*, and *no*. Here we have two separate strokes attached to the top of the letters in such a manner that one diverges from the other. This practice, together with the use of the solid triangular heads, looped *na*, and hooked *ha*, suggests that the writers of these inscriptions received some influence from the Middle Ganges Valley. However, it must be noted that all the inscriptions of the Ikshvākus do not show the same artistic excellence. There are some¹ which are in a very poor hand. Here the long verticals in medial *i* and *ī* are not seen, and even the loop in *ṇa*, *na*, and *ta* is omitted. This second group is a degenerate form of the main Ikshvāku style.
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¹ *Epigraphia Indica*, xv. 262–6.
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² *Arts Asiatiques*, tome III, fascicule 4, 1956, p. 289.
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¹ See nos. L and M-5 in *Epigraphia Indica*, xxi.