Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and the Other Indo-Aryan Languages c9.s2.t4.10

c9.s2.t4.10

From eastern India, the most important inscription of the Śuṅga period is the Hāthīgumphā inscription of Khāravela (SI I.213–21), which records the dedication of residential caves to Jaina monks and contains a detailed, year-by-year account of Khāravela’s exploits. The Hāthīgumphā inscription is poorly preserved, so that its readings, translation, and historical interpretation by different scholars vary widely, and it is not possible to establish a single standard version (cf. 5.2). Some further light has been shed on the history of Khāravela’s little-known Mahāmeghavāhana dynasty by a new inscription duplicated on four different pillars from Guṇṭupalli (JESI 5, 49–51), mentioning a King Siri Sada (= Śrī-śāta?) who may have been a successor of Khāravela.⁷⁸