Indian Epigraphy c11.t9.73

c11.t9.73

As indicated above, some of these seals served the purpose of letters of introduction. They were what was called abhijñāna. The carriers of letters from a king often carried a royal seal to be delivered to the addressee in order to prove his bona fides and the genuineness of the letter he carried. The bigger and heavier seals discovered in the ruins of Buddhist religious establishments as those of Nalanda appear to be of this kind. Some of the smaller seals discovered at such places may have been tied to the letters to be delivered to the head of the religious institutions.