Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and the Other Indo-Aryan Languages c9.s1.2

c9.s1.2

In terms of their purpose and contents, the majority of the epigraphic materials in the Indo-Aryan languages fall into the two broad categories of “donative” and “panegyric” records (4.¹.1–4.1.3). However, the full range of their contents is very broad, comprising not only the several other categories described below but also combinations of the various types. Strictly speaking, few, if any, of the categories listed here are completely distinct and exclusive, and many of them overlap; for example, purely eulogistic inscriptions are rare, and most of the records placed in this group also partake of the character of donative and/or memorial records. Not only are the categories not mutually exclusive, they are also to some extent arbitrary; thus different writers on the subject have presented different arrangements, and no one formulation can be considered definitive. The divisions offered here should therefore be understood as convenient, rather than authoritative and mutually exclusive categories; various other classifications are given in the sources cited.