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Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and the Other Indo-Aryan Languages c13.s1: 8.1 Primary Sources: Notices and Editions of Inscriptions

Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and the Other Indo-Aryan Languages c13.s1

Language
English

Contents

8.1 Primary Sources: Notices and Editions of Inscriptions

8.1.1 Periodicals

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8.1.1.1 Exclusively or primarily epigraphic periodicals

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*Epigraphia Indica* [EI]:¹ Vols. 1 (1892) to 42 (1977–78). From vol. 3, published by the Archaeological Survey of India under the texts of inscriptions in Roman transliteration with introduction and translation. In recent years, especially with the tardy and sporadic publication of EI, JES

8.1.2 Epigraphic serial publications

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Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum [CII; see also 6.3]: Presents collections for particular dynasties or classes of inscriptions in Devanāgarī or Roman transliteration, with extensive introduction and translation. The following volumes have been issued to date:

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1: *Inscriptions of Asoka*, by Alexander Cunningham, 1887; superseded by *New Edition* by E. Hultzsch, 1925. 2, part 1: *Kharoshṭhī Inscriptions with the Exception of Those of Aśoka*, by Sten Konow, 1929. 2, part 2: *Bhārhut Inscriptions*, by H. Lüders (revised by E. Waldschmidt and M. A. Mehendale), 1963. 3: *Inscriptions of the Early Gupta Kings and Their Successors*, by John Faithfull Fleet, 1888. Revised ed., *Inscriptions of the Early Gupta Kings*, by Devadatta Ramakrishna Bhandarkar, 1981⁶ (ed. Bahadurchand Chhabra and Govind Swamirao Gai). Fleet's original edition contained sixteen inss. of the Guptas and sixty-five inss. of related dynasties, while Bhandarkar's revised edition has forty-eight Gupta inss. but excludes those of contemporary and succeeding kings. 4, parts 1 and 2: *Inscriptions of the Kalachuri-Chedi Era*, by Vasudev Vishnu Mirashi, 1955. 5: *Inscriptions of the Vākāṭakas*, by Vasudev Vishnu Mirashi, 1963. 6: *Inscriptions of the Śilāhāras*, by Vasudev Vishnu Mirashi, 1977. 7: *Inscriptions of the Paramāras, Chandēllas, Kachchhapaghātas and Two Minor Dynasties*, by Harihar Vitthal Trivedi: part 1, *Introduction*, 1991; part 2, *Inscriptions of the Paramāras*, 1978; part 3, *Inscriptions of the Chandēllas, Kachchhapaghātas, etc.*, 1989.

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⁶ The revised edition consists principally of an edited version of Bhandarkar's manuscript, completed in 1949, with the addition of four inscriptions discovered subsequently.

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*South Indian Inscriptions* [SII]: Vols. 1–24++⁷ (1890–1982), by various editors, published by the ASI. Contains mostly inscriptions in Dravidian languages, but also some Sanskrit, Prakrit, and other Indo-Aryan inscriptions, especially in the earlier volumes. Texts are given in the appropriate Indian scripts (Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, Devanāgarī). English translations are given in vols. 1–3 only; the remaining volumes contain texts only.

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⁷ In this section the symbol ++ indicates an ongoing series, incomplete as of this writing.

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*Epigraphia Carnatica* [EC]: Original series by B. Lewis Rice and others, published by Mysore Government/Mysore Archaeological Survey; vols. 1–17, 1886–1965 [vols. 13–17 are supplementary volumes]. Texts presented in Kannada script and Roman transliteration, with translation. Mostly Dravidian language inscriptions, but also several Sanskrit and bilingual (Sanskrit and Kannada) records, usually copper plate grants.

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New edition: Vols. 1–8++, 1972–84, published by Institute of Kannada Studies, University of Mysore. Completely revised and expanded; in English and Kannada, with translations.

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*Archaeological Series* and *Epigraphical Series* of the Government of Andhra Pradesh:⁸ Both of these series, published since 1960 and 1965, respectively, include several important epigraphic publications. While most of them are principally concerned with Dravidian inscriptions, there is also much Sanskrit, Sanskrit/Dravidian bilingual, and Prakrit material. Among the most noteworthy publications in the *Archaeological Series* on epigraphic subjects are no. 5, *Copper Plate Inscriptions of Andhra Pradesh Government Museum* by N. Ramesan (nos. 6 and 28); *Salihundam, A Buddhist Site in Andhra Pradesh* by R. Subrahmanyam (no. 17); and *Select Epigraphs of Andhra Pradesh* by P. V. Parabrahma Sastry (no. 31). In the Epigraphy series, besides the publications cited in section 8.1.3.2 (under Andhra Pradesh), particularly useful is the *Annual Report on Epigraphy in Andhra Pradesh* for 1965–67 (nos. 1, 4, 10; published 1965, 1972, 1974).

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⁸ The former supersedes the Hyderabad Archaeological Series of the Archaeological Department of Hyderabad.

8.1.3 Anthologies of inscriptions

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8.1.3.1 General anthologies

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The largest, most complete, and most reliable anthology is Dinesh Chandra Sircar's *Select Inscriptions Bearing on Indian History and Civilization* [SI], in two volumes. *SI* is unquestionably the authoritative collection of inscriptions in the Old and Middle Indo-Aryan languages,⁹ and Sircar's selections have virtually defined the scope of the field for students and nonspecialists. Subsequent anthologies, such as Sadhu Ram's *Some Important Inscriptions of Asoka, The Guptas, The Maukharis and Others*, Raj Bali Pandey's *Historical and Literary Inscriptions*, Śrīrāma Goyala's *Prācīna Bhāratīya Abhilekha Saṃgraha*, Parameśvarīlāla Gupta's *Prācīnā Bhārata ke Pramukha Abhilekha*, Vāsudeva Upādhyāya's *Prācīna Bhāratīya Abhilekha* (vol. 2), and Radhakrishna Chaudhury's *Inscriptions of Ancient India*, are more or less derivative of *SI*. K. G. Krishnan's *Uṭṭaṅkita Sanskrit Vidyā Araṇya Epigraphs*. Vol. 2: *Prakrit and Sanskrit Epigraphs 257 B.C. to 320 A.D.* is a more extensive anthology (218 inscriptions) than most of the others, and seven further volumes of Sanskrit inscriptions up to A.D. 1600 are planned (foreword, v–vi). Jan Gonda's *Twenty-five Sanskrit Inscriptions for Use in Universities* presents an interesting selection in a small pamphlet, including several little-known late inscriptions. G. S. Gai's recent book *Some Select Inscriptions* consists of reprints of his articles from *EI*.

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⁹ *SI* contains, however, almost no Dravidian material. The only general anthology of Dravidian inscriptions is V. R. Ramachandra Dikshitar's *Selected South Indian Inscriptions (Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Kannada)*.

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There are also several anthologies which are primarily oriented toward inscriptions as literary specimens. These include Bhavadatta Śāstrī and Kāśīnātha Pāṇḍuraṅga Paraba's *Prâcîna-lekha-mâlâ*, Bahadur Chand Chhabra's *Abhilekhasaṃgrahaḥ*, and D. B. Diskalkar's *Selections from Sanskrit Inscriptions*.

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8.1.3.2 Regional anthologies

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8.1.3.2.1 *Anthologies arranged according to modern Indian states

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Andhra Pradesh: P. V. Parabrahma Sastry, *Inscriptions of Andhra Pradesh*; P. Sreenivasachar, *A Corpus of Inscriptions in the Telingana Districts of H.E.H. the Nizam's Dominions*. See also *Epigraphia Andhrica*, vols. 1–4 = Andhra Pradesh Epigraphical Series, nos. 4a–6, 11 (1974). For list and summaries, see M. Rama Rao, *Inscriptions of Āndhradēśa*. Assam: Padmanātha Bhaṭṭācārya, *Kāmarūpaśāsanāvalī*; Dimbeswar Sarma, *Kāmarūpaśāsanāvalī*; Mukunda Madhava Sharma, *Inscriptions of Ancient Assam*. [West] Bengal: Akshaya Kumara Maitra, *Gauḍalekhamālā*; N. G. Majumdar, *Inscriptions of Bengal*, vol. 3; Ramaranjan Mukherjee and Sachindra Kumar Maity, *Corpus of Bengal Inscriptions Bearing on History and Civilization of Bengal*. Bihar: Radha

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8.1.3.4 Anthologies by religion

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Inscriptional anthologies by religion are mostly limited to Jaina inscriptions, which are much better documented than most others. The principal Jaina anthologies¹¹ are A. Guérinot, *Répertoire d'épigraphie Jaina* [summaries only]; Puran Chand Nahar, *Jain Inscriptions (Jaina Lekha Saṃgraha)*; Muni Jinavijaya, *Prācīnajainalekhasaṃgraha*; Hīralāla Jaina et al., *Jaina-śilālekhasaṃgrahaḥ*; and Ram Vallabh Somani, *Jain Inscriptions of Rajasthan* [study with texts of inss. in appendix].

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¹¹ For further references, see IIEP, bibliography, 134, s.v. "Jain Inscriptions."

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An anthology of Buddhist inscriptions, though sorely needed, is yet to appear. An extensive list with summaries of Indian Buddhist inscriptions is, however, available in Masao Shizutani's *Indo Bukkyō Himei Mokuroku*.

8.1.4 Separate monographs

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Monographs on particular inscriptions or groups of inscriptions are too numerous to be listed completely here. A few examples of important or model monographs are Benimadhab Barua, *Old Brāhmī Inscriptions in the Udayagiri and Khaṇḍagiri Caves*; D. C. Sircar, *Epigraphical Discoveries in East Pakistan* and *Some Epigraphical Records of the Medieval Period from Eastern India*; and R. L. Turner, *The Gavīmaṭh and Pālkīgụṇḍu Inscriptions of Aśoka*. Important new additions to this group are Shobhana Gokhale's *Kanheri Inscriptions* and I. K. Sarma and J. Varaprasada Rao's *Early Brahmi Inscriptions from Sannati*.

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