Indian Epigraphy c11.t4.17

c11.t4.17

Some kings of the Kathiawar region issued charters incised on the inner sides of two plates, their outer sides being kept blank.² The majority of the multi-plate documents of the early period were, however, written on three plates. The records of the Somavaṁśī kings of Orissa speak of such charters as *triphalī-tāmraśāsana*,³ i.e. a deed written on three plates or tablets of copper. The outer sides of the first and third plates of these records are usually uninscribed. This practice was no doubt meant for the preservation of the writing. We have stated above how, for the same purpose, the borders of the inscribed sides of the plates were sometimes slightly raised.