Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and the Other Indo-Aryan Languages c9.s1.t7: 4.1.9 Seal inscriptions
Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and the Other Indo-Aryan Languages c9.s1.t7
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4.1.9 Seal inscriptions
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Inscriptions on seals and sealings,³⁵ which were used to authenticate and protect letters, legal and administrative documents, and the like, form an important field of study which, though closely allied to numismatics, is traditionally treated within the sphere of epigraphy. Thousands of inscriptions in this class are known, often found in large numbers at a single archaeological site; for instance, 710 individual pieces with 1,100 separate seal impressions, mostly inscribed, were found at Basāṛh, the ancient Vaiśālī (ASIAR 1903–4, 101–22). Other important sites which have yielded large numbers of seal inscriptions include Bhīṭā, Nālandā, Besnagar, and Rājghāṭ. Seals and seal inscriptions are most frequently published in the various reports of the ASI and in the *Journal of the Numismatic Society of India* and other numismatic publications. Kiran Kumar Thaplyal's *Studies in Ancient Indian Seals* provides a detailed survey of the subject.
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³⁵ Technically, a seal is a mold made of a hard material such as fired clay, stone, or copper used to form an impression or sealing on a soft material, usually clay. Thus a seal inscription in the strict sense appears in reverse or mirror image, while a sealing inscription appears in the normal direction. In practice, however, the term "seal" is often loosely used to apply to sealing inscriptions (which are much more common) as well as to seals in the proper sense.
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Inscribed seal(ing)s typically comprise a graphic or symbolic device accompanied by a legend below or around it. The simplest legends consist of the owner's name given in the nominative, genitive, or bare stem form. More elaborate formulae may add the individual's title(s), father's name, and other genealogical information. The most extended formulae are found on royal seals such as those of the Gupta and other kings, providing a full dynastic genealogy; see, for instance, the Nālandā clay seals of Narasiṃhagupta, Kumāragupta [III], and Viṣṇugupta (CII 3, rev. ed., 354–8, 364).³⁶
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³⁶ Similar seal inscriptions on metal (usually bronze or copper) were usually originally parts of copper plate grants from which they have been detached (e.g., the Asīrgaḍh copper seal ins. of Śarvavarman, CII 3, 219–21; fig. 7). In such cases the inscriptions are often described and treated as separate "seal inscriptions." But there are also copper and bronze seals which were originally separate items (see 4.2.2.1 and 4.2.2.2).
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Besides royalty and private individuals, many seal inscriptions belong to various governmental officials, guilds and other economic organizations, or temples, monasteries, and other religious institutions. Others are devotional in character, recording the name of a deity or pious formulae such as *jitaṃ bhagavatā* ("The Lord has triumphed") or *dharmo rakṣati rakṣitaḥ* ("Dharma protects when protected").³⁷ Among Buddhists, seal(ing)s with the *ye dharmā hetuprabhavā* formula are common (see 4.1.7).
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³⁷ See Thaplyal, *Studies in Ancient Indian Seals*, 163–4, 328.