Indian Epigraphy c11.t2.37

c11.t2.37

Some of the copper-plate records of the Gupta age discovered in Bengal were issued by the district officers. These were official records but not royal charters in the strict sense. They record the purchase of plots of State land for the purpose of creating rent-free holdings in favour of gods and Brāhmaṇas. With this end in view, a person had to apply to the district authorities and the record-keepers of the district office had to certify about the availability of land at the price offered by the applicant. The price was then accepted and the creation of the rent-free holding sanctioned. In many cases, such holdings were created out of fallow land in the possession of the State.¹