Indian Epigraphy c17.2

c17.2

Forgery of documents for the purpose of establishing one's title to a plot of land or some such object is well known throughout the ages. Students of Indian epigraphy are familiar with such records pertaining to the ancient and medieval periods, the earliest amongst them being the Nalanda and Gaya copper-plate grants¹ of Samudragupta (c. 335-76 A. D.). Similar records have been met with in all parts of India, though the southern part of the Kannada-speaking area has been especially productive of them and has offered us some of the most bare-faced specimens purporting to have been issued by such legendary kings as Janamejaya of the Mahābhārata, whom tradition places about 5000 years ago.²