Indian Epigraphy c10.s1.35

c10.s1.35

The name of the person who engraved the copper-plate grants is often mentioned in medieval records. The word for ‘engraved’ is generally *utkīrṇa* and rarely *utkīlita*, etc. These engravers were artisans styled the *pitalahāra*, *lohakāra* or *ayaskāra*, i.e. a brazier, blacksmith or coppersmith,⁵ the *sūtradhāra*, i.e. a mason,⁶ the *hemakāra* or *sūnāra*, i.e. a goldsmith,⁷ the *śilpin*, *vijñānin* or *vijñānika*, i.e. an artisan,¹ etc. In the inscriptions of the Ganjam-Srikakulam region, the engraver is often mentioned as the *akṣaśālin*, *ākṣaśālika*, *arkaśālin*, *akhasāle*, etc. This refers to the goldsmith caste now called Akasāle in the Telugu- and Kannaḍa-speaking areas.