Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and the Other Indo-Aryan Languages c8.s1.t3: 3.1.3 Other inscriptions of the Mauryan era
Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and the Other Indo-Aryan Languages c8.s1.t3
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3.1.3 Other inscriptions of the Mauryan era
c8.s1.t3.1
The scanty epigraphic remains of the Mauryan period other than the records of Aśoka (see 4.3.1.2) are all from the northeast, and most of them exhibit the typical Ardha-Māgadhī features of the "Chancellery Language" (-*e* for -*as*, *l* for *r*, *s* for all sibilants, etc.). Some of these inscriptions, notably Mahāsthān (SI I.79–80) and Sohgaurā (SI I.82–3), seem to reflect a more colloquial and/or archaic variety of this dialect.
c8.s1.t3.2
The Jogīmāṟā cave inscription (ASIAR 1903–4, 128–31) is the only one from any period preserving what seems to be pure Māgadhī, showing the sibilant *ś* instead of *s* (e.g., *śutanuka . . . devadāśikyi* = *sutanukā devadāsī*) besides the aforementioned characteristic features of Ardha-Māgadhī.¹⁶
c8.s1.t3.3
¹⁶ The Nāgārjunī hill inscriptions of Aśoka's grandson Daśaratha (SI I.77–8) have in some places the sibilant *ṣ*, e.g., in the king's name *daṣalatha*, and in others *s*. But this variation may not be dialectally significant; cf. the similar cases in Kālsī and some other Aśokan inscriptions noted previously (3.1.2.1. n. 5).
Linked texts (1)
- Jogīmārā cave inscription — Prakrit