Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and the Other Indo-Aryan Languages c6.13

c6.13

⁸ The abundance of inscriptions in India may be attributed, in part at least, to the desire of the issuing authorities to preserve their records in a form which would survive the rigors of the Indian climate, where documents on perishable materials such as palm leaves or paper tend not to last more than a few generations. In particular, the widespread practice of recording land grants and other transactions on copper plates seems to reflect such concerns (see section 4.1.2).