Indian Epigraphy c11.t8.40

c11.t8.40

Some charters like the Neulpur plate³ of Śubhākara state that the record ‘was written by the Mahākṣapaṭalika (chief officer in charge of accounts and records) Bhogika (Jāgīrdār) Brahmadatta; heated by the Peṭṭapāla (keeper of the record-boxes) Nārāyaṇa; and incised by the Taṭṭhakāra (brazier) Eḍadatta.’ The expression ‘heated’ refers to the process of heating the plate or the ring holding the plates together for affixing the seal to it. An additional function, viz. that of authentication, is referred to in this connection in records like the Ganjam plates⁴ of the Bhañja king Vidyādhara-bhañja Amoghakalaśa, in which we have: ‘registered with a seal (lāñchita) by [the queen] Trikaliṅga-mahādevī, Mantrin Bhaṭṭa-Keśavadeva and Vārgulika (bearer of the king’s betel-box) Cācika; written by Sāndhivigrahika Stambha; engraved (utkīrṇa) by Akṣaśālin (goldsmith) Kumāracandra.’ The Nidhanpur plates⁵ of Bhāskaravarman mention the designations Ājñā, Sīmā-pradātṛ, Śāsayitṛ, Lekhayitṛ and Sekyakāra respectively meaning the executor, the demarcator of the boundaries, the composer of the document, the writer on the plates and the brazier (engraver).