Pramāṇa · Search · About · API

Indian Palaeography c15.s9.t1: (a) The Inscriptions of the Bṛihatphalāyanas

Indian Palaeography c15.s9.t1

Language
English

(a) The Inscriptions of the Bṛihatphalāyanas

c15.s9.t1.1

Pl. XVII. 1 is taken from the Kondamudi grant of Jayavarmma, which is the only record of this dynasty published so far. A newly discovered inscription¹ gives the name of another king Śrīvarman. The writing in the Kondamudi grant is very corrupt and some of the letters have not been properly formed. No head-mark is seen here. The medial *ā*, *e* and *o* are horizontal lines with short ticks at either end. But *e* in *be*, *ā* in *dhā*, and *o* in *mo* are applied to the middle of the letters. The medial *i* is a short curve to the left, and the medial *u* is a short stroke as in *yu* and *tu*. Śātavāhana influence is noticeable in the curves of the verticals in *a*, *i*, *ka*, *ra*, *la*, and the vertical type of the medial *u*. Again, some of the Śātavāhana forms are preserved, e.g. *i* with a vertical and a dot on either side, as is also seen in the earlier cave inscriptions of the south;² *kha* with the lower end of its vertical bent towards the left; the round-backed *ḍa* and *da*; the Deccani type of *ta* as used in the Śātavāhana inscriptions; and the round-bottomed *pa*, *ya* and *gha*. The most crudely drawn forms are *a* with its right vertical drawn separately from the main left-curved body, and having a hook hanging downwards; *e* with the left arm of the triangle missing; *ka* with its middle bar in *ke* slanting downwards to the left; *cha* being of the beak-form with its upper end open; *ja* having the upper two arms drawn together in a curve; *ma* having its top two strokes drawn in a curve and a lower loop detached from the upper curve, but formed with the same sweep of the hand—a type also seen in the Bhattiprolu inscriptions; *la* with its left-hooked part drawn in a curve; *sa* having its left hook separate from the body; and *ha* optionally dropping the right vertical and attaching the hook to the base line. These crude forms are also noticeable in the conjuncts *nhu* and *mha*. The forms of *ṇa* and *na* are exactly the same and resemble that of the round-backed *da*. The corners of *o* are rounded; *chha* has hardly any stem and its left loop is triangular; *ḍa* and *da* are round-backed; *tha* is also drawn with one sweep like an oval similar to the form of *dha*; *ba* is a rough quadrangle with its upper arm broken; *bha* is of the broad type; and *va* has a loop attached to a short vertical. The corrupt forms of most of the letters suggest that the highly sophisticated style of the Ikshvākus was hardly known to the writer of these plates.

c15.s9.t1.2

¹ *Indian Archaeology, A Review*, 1955–6, p. 23.

c15.s9.t1.3

² See above, p. 73.

c15.s9.t1.4

*(b) The inscriptions of the Śālaṅkāyanas and the Vishṇukuṇḍins*

c15.s9.t1.5

These inscriptions fall into two groups: (i) the earlier inscriptions of the fourth to sixth centuries A.D., showing an evolution of the local forms in Andhra from the late Sātavāhana records; and (ii) the inscriptions of the seventh century A.D., which are clearly influenced by the Chālukyan style of this period.

c15.s9.t1.6

(i) Pl. XVII. 2 is taken from the Narsapur plates of Vijaya Devavarman and the Kollair plates of Nandivarman, both belonging to the second half of the fourth century A.D. Pl. XVII. 3 is derived from the Kanteru plates of Vijaya Skandavarman (fifth century A.D.), and Pl. XVII. 4 is from the Ipur plates of Mādhavavarman I (late sixth century A.D.). Not much evolution is seen in the letters, and the influence of the stylus is not clearly marked. The head-mark is negligible except in no. 4, which has notched lines. The tendency in this region is to have short curves at the verticals, as may be seen in *ka*, *ra*, the vertical type of the medial *u*, and optionally in *a*, though broad round curves as an influence from the Chālukyan writing appear optionally in *a*, but usually in *la* and the medial *ṛi*. The features distinguishing this from the Chālukyan style are seen in the circle type of the medial *i* and *ī*, the Deccani type of *ta* with a loop at the left side, both *ṇa* and *na* with their bases bent, the latter sometimes of the looped variety, *tha* with a dot or a short mark within a rough quadrangular form, the tripartite *ya* with its left vertical never uniformly given, and the triangular form of *va*. Other medial vowels follow the common southern pattern. It is important to note that the medial *ā* is sometimes given in the middle of the letters in *thā*, *dhā*, *bā*, *mā*, and similarly the medials *e*, *o* and *ai* hang down from the middle of the letters in *je*, *ṇe*, *dhai*, *bo*, *me*, *mo*, *yo* and *le*. The initial *e* has a stem. *Ka* has the curved mid-bar. *Kha* bends its vertical sharply to the left. *Ga* and *śa* have equal arms and rounded tops, and the former in nos. 3 and 4 has its left arm slightly curved inwards. *Gha* has a straight base with its left vertical bent in the middle. *Cha* is of the broad type, and *ja* has three arms attached to a vertical. Both *ḍa* and *da* have rounded backs, with the lower horizontal of *ḍa* slightly prolonged. The left sides of *pa*, *pha*, *ba*, and *ha* are slightly bent. *Bha* is of the broad type, and *ma* has its lower loop slightly tilted to the left. *Ṅa* in the conjuncts has its vertical bent. The *upadhmānīya* has a cross within an oval. No cursive forms are seen in the conjuncts. The vowelless *m* is indicated by placing a short *ma* at the right bottom of the letters, as in *rttam*. The main evolution in the letters of the different centuries is seen in the extension of the curves, and the prolongation of the verticals in the medials *ā*, *e*, *o* and *ai*.

c15.s9.t1.7

(ii) Pl. XVII. 5 is taken from the Ramatirtham plates of Indravarman and the Chikkula plates of Vikramendravarman II, both of the seventh century a.d. These show the definite influence of late Chālukyan writing. They have thick head-marks, their curves are extended farther, and some of the typical Chālukyan forms are adopted. Among these last the most notable are the medial *ī* with a broad curve having a curled end, *ka* with its lower vertical doubled, *ṇa* and *na* with angular hooks on the left, the curved type of the Chālukyan *ta*, *ya* with a loop in place of the left vertical, *va* with its quadrangular loop attached to a vertical on the right, and the Chālukyan forms of *ṟa* and *ḷa*. The influence of stylus writing is also seen in the frequency of the notches in the horizontal lines. But along with these Chālukyan features the local forms are also preserved. We have *a* of both the types, with broad and short curves; *ka* also has a short curve along with the double-vertical variety; *kha* optionally has a looped base; and *ta* also is optionally of the looped variety of the Andhra region. Of the other letters the initial *i* has a curved roof, *e* shows a stem, both *ga* and *śa* have their left arms curved inwards, *cha* is of the broad type, and round backs are seen in *ṭa*, *ḍa*, *ḍha* and *da*. A remarkable form among the conjuncts is that of *mme*, in which the lower *ma* lies horizontally.

c15.s9.t1.8

*(c) The inscriptions of the Gaṅgas*

c15.s9.t1.9

Pl. XVII. 6 is taken from the Siddhantam plates of Devendravarman, dated in the (Gaṅga) year 195 (a.d. 694), and the Alamanda plates of Anantavarman, dated in the (Gaṅga) year 304 (a.d. 803). These inscriptions show a fundamental difference from the styles of writing seen in the earlier groups. Their square-headed letters¹ betray some influence from the Northern Deccan, and these inscriptions reveal borrowings from the proto-Nāgarī and proto-Kannadi scripts of the Rāshṭrakūṭas. The proto-Nāgarī influence is seen in the form of the initial *i* with two dots above and a line below, the looped form of *ka*, the open-mouthed *ṇa* or its cursive form, and *ta* with its arms meeting in a top curve. The proto-Kannadi influence is seen in the doubled vertical of *ra* and of the vertical-type of the medial *u*, *la* with its upper curl extended downwards to form an almost complete circle and its left limb reduced to a small hook, and *tha* in the conjunct with a small inner circle. As in the proto-Kannaḍi style the line head-mark is also found here. Influence may also be detected in the peculiar form of *a* which has the lower half of its right vertical double and the left hook of which is optionally assimilated to the loop on this side. The initial *u* is a semi-circle. *Kha* has a broad triangular base. The left arms of both *ga* and *śa* are curved inwards. *Cha* is of the foottype without the stem. *Chha* has a triangular loop on the left. *Ja* optionally loses the third upper arm. *Na* is of the looped variety. The influence of stylus writing is clearly marked in the notches seen in *pa*, *pha*, *bha*, *ma*, *ya*, *va*, *ṣha* and *ha*. *Mā* shows a unique form with its top mouth closed by the horizontal stroke of the medial *ā*.

c15.s9.t1.10

¹ See above, p. 179.

Linked texts (4)