Indian Epigraphy c11.t9.27

c11.t9.27

Some royal families preferred the engraving of their charters on single plates of copper, while others incised their records on a number of plates.⁵ In the former case, the seal was soldered to the top or left margin of the plate. But, when a grant was engraved on several plates, they were strung together on a ring which passed through a hole in the left or top margin of each plate, and the seal was affixed to the ring. The seal, usually moulded in bronze, was placed on the joint of the copper ring, and its inner part was fixed with the ring with the help of a lump of molten metal completely covering that particular part of the ring. The rings were generally round in shape. But copper-plate grants of some kings of Kathiawar and Assam exhibit longish rings, the side of one end of which touches the side of the other end and not the face of one end the face of the other end as is usually the case.⁶