Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and the Other Indo-Aryan Languages c8.s3.t5.1

c8.s3.t5.1

With the exception of the very early Ayodhyā inscription discussed earlier (3.3.1), there are few early Sanskrit inscriptions from eastern and northeastern India. Some brief records of the "Magha" kings of Kauśāmbī of the second century A.D. are in Sanskrit or in a highly Sanskritized hybrid: for example, the Bāndhogarh inscriptions nos. 18 and 19 of Vaiśravaṇa (and apparently also the fragmentary no. 14 of Śivamagha; EI 31, 184–6) and the Kosam pillar inscription (EI 24, 146–8) of Vaiśravaṇa. Apart from such scattered and marginal examples, the earliest true Sanskrit inscription from the northeast (besides Ayodhyā) is probably the Susuniyā (West Bengal) rock inscription (SI I.351–2), datable to about the middle of the fourth century.