Indian Epigraphy c11.t3.29

c11.t3.29

Rent-free holdings in the possession of gods, Brāhmaṇas and others were generally called agrahāra, sarva-mānya, sarva-namasya, namasya-vṛtti, etc. Sometimes particular names were applied to such holdings in order to indicate the special character of a gift. Thus the Garra plates⁵ (1205 A.D.) of Candella Trailokyavarman refer to the rent-free holding granted to the son of one who died while fighting the Turuṣkas (Muhammadans) on the king's behalf as a mṛtyuka-vṛtti (literally 'death-grant'). In the inscriptions of the Śātavāhanas, the expression *bhikṣu-hala* is used to indicate a rent-free holding to be enjoyed by the Buddhist monks while the privileges of the donees are collectively styled as *parihāras*.¹ The same records² show that sometimes an *akṣaya-nīvī* or permanent endowment was created by means of land instead of a sum of money.³