Indian Epigraphy c11.t8.61

c11.t8.61

At the end of certain early medieval copper-plate grants of East India, e. g. those of the Senas, we have abbreviated endorsements like *śrī-ni*, *śrī-ni mahāsā-ni*, *śrī-ni mahāsām-karaṇa-ni*, etc.¹ In these endorsements, *ni* is generally taken to stand for *nibaddha*² meaning ‘registered’, though the intended expression may also be *nirīkṣita* meaning ‘seen’ (i.e. ‘approved’). *Śrī* is a contraction of *śrī-hasta* or *śrī-caraṇa* meaning ‘the king’ conventionally, while *mahāsā* or *mahāsām* stands for *mahāsāndhivigrahika* (minister for peace and war) and *mahāsām-karaṇa* for *mahāsāndhivigrah-ādhikaraṇa* (the office of the minister for peace and war). The mention of other officers is also noticed in such endorsements by their designation. Sometimes we have the endorsement as *ni anu makākṣa-ni* which seems to stand for *śrī-hasta-nirīkṣitaṃ tad-anu mahākṣapaṭalika-nirīkṣitaṃ*, ‘[It has been] seen by the king and then by the Mahākṣapaṭalika (officer in charge of records and accounts).’ Here *ni* at the beginning may also be the same as the contraction *śrīmat-karaṇa-ni* (i.e. seen by the palace staff of the king).