Indian Epigraphy c8.s2.t10: 6. Bengali (Vaṅgālī) and Maithilī
Indian Epigraphy c8.s2.t10
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6. Bengali (Vaṅgālī) and Maithilī
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In the Bengali-speaking area, Sanskrit was more popular than the regional language for official purposes. It has been suggested that lines 29-51 of the Bhatera copper-plate grant¹ are written in the Sylhet dialect of the Bengali language. But the language is really Sanskrit influenced by the local dialect as in the case of 13th century inscriptions of Bengal and also of various other localities. The date of the epigraph has been read as Pāṇḍava 4328 (1245 A.D.) or Kali 4151 (1049 A.D.), the first of which is more probable.
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¹ *Ep. Ind.*, Vol. XIX, pp. 277 ff.
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Official and private records of the medieval period such as the Tripura plate² (1488 A.D.) and Maharani inscriptions³ of the reign Vijayamāṇikya, the Dhurail inscription⁴ (1533 A.D.) of the time of Maḥmūd Shāh, the Muhammadpur stone inscription⁵ (1703 A.D.) of Sītārāma-rāya, etc., are written in Sanskrit. The coins of the Tripura kings and other ruling families of the Bengali-speaking area and its neighbourhood, also have legends in the Sanskrit language.⁶
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² *JAS*, Letters, Vol. XVII, pp. 73 ff.
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³ IHQ, Vol. XXXII, pp.99ff., where another Sanskrit epigraph of the same area and age has been noticed.
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⁴ *A. R. Ep.*, 1953-54, No. B 436.
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⁵ Ibid., No. B 433.
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⁶ See Smith's Catalogue, pp. 307 ff.
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Epigraphic records were written during the late medieval period in this area mostly in Sanskrit and only rarely in Bengali.⁷ Thus a few copper-plate grants, such as those issued by king Govindamāṇikya (15th century) of Tripura,⁸ are principally written in Bengali, although many of the charters issued by the Tripura kings including the successors of Govindamāṇikya, e.g. Kṛṣṇamāṇikya (17th century), are written mainly in Sanskrit.⁹
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⁷ *A. R. Ep.*, 1949-50, Nos. B 3-4.
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⁸ See ibid., 1951-52, Nos. A 13 ff.
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⁹ See ibid., Nos. A 18-19. For a copper-plate grant and a stone inscription of the time of Vijayamāṇikya (16th century), both in Sanskrit, see *JAS*, Letters, Vol. XVII, pp. 73 ff.; IHQ, Vol. XXXII, pp. 99 ff. For another copper-plate grant belonging to the Tripura kings, Rāmamāṇikya and Ratnamāṇikya, both of the 18th century, see *A. R. Ep.*, 1952-53, No. A 28.
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Similar was the condition in Mithila or North Bihar. Very few epigraphs in the Maithili language have so far been published, one such being an inscription dated 1665 A.D.¹
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¹ See R. K. Choudhary, *Select Inscriptions of Bihar*, p. 138. For a paper document in Sanskrit and Maithilī, see *Proc. Hist. Rec. Comm.*, Mysore, 1942, pp. 87 ff. For the Sanskrit legend on the coins of a late medieval ruler of Mithilā, see *JNSI*, Vol. XX, pp. 192 ff.