Pramāṇa · Search · About · API

Indian Epigraphy c8.s2.t5: 1. Marāṭhī

Indian Epigraphy c8.s2.t5

Language
English

1. Marāṭhī

c8.s2.t5.1

Among the Neo-Indo-Aryan languages, Marāṭhī appears first in epigraphic records.³ One of the earliest specimens of the Marāṭhī language is found in the Marmuri copper-plate grant⁴ (974 A.D.) of the Cālukya prince Iriva-beḍaṅga Satyāśraya. Certain private records of the 11th century, such as the Dive Agar plate⁵ of 1060 A.D. and the Sravana-Belgola epigraph⁶ of c. 1118 A.D., are written in Marāṭhī. In this connection, reference may also be made to the Ambe-Jogai (1144 A.D.), Ranjali (1148 A.D.), Chiplun (1156 A.D.), Tera (1163 A.D.), Savargaon (1164 A.D.), Parel (1186 A.D.), Patan (1206 A.D.), Navasem (1239 A.D.) and Ranebennur (1252 A.D.) stone inscriptions.¹ The earliest Marāṭhī literary work is the *Jñāneśvarī* (the popular name of the *Bhāvārthadīpikā* by Jñānadeva), a commentary on the *Gītā*, which was composed much later than some of the above records in 1296 A.D.² The Velapur stone inscriptions³ of 1300 A.D. are slightly later than the date of the composition of the said work.

c8.s2.t5.2

³ See A. Master, ‘Some Marathi Inscriptions, A.D. 1060-1300’ in BSOAS, Vol. XX, pp. 418 ff.; cf. S. G. Talpule, An Old Marāṭhī Reader, Poona, 1960, pp. 83 ff.

c8.s2.t5.3

⁴ Journ. Bomb. Hist. Soc., Vol. II, p. 214.

c8.s2.t5.4

⁵ Ep. Ind., Vol. XXVIII, pp. 121 ff.

c8.s2.t5.5

⁶ Ep. Carn., Vol. II, Sorab No. 974. Cf. Ep. Ind., Vol. VII, p. 109.

c8.s2.t5.6

¹ Cf. BSOAS, Vol. XX, 1957, pp. 417 ff.; A. R. Ep., 1933-34, No. B 117.

c8.s2.t5.7

² Talpule speaks of the *Jyotiṣaratnamālā* of 1050 A. D. and the *Līlācaritra* of 1278 A.D.

c8.s2.t5.8

³ See BSOAS, op. cit., pp. 433-34. The date of a Bhandak inscription in old Marāṭhī has been tentatively read as Śaka 1308 (1386 A.D.). See Ep. Ind., Vol. XXVI, p. 183.

c8.s2.t5.9

The popularity of Marāṭhī in the epigraphic field increased with the rise of the Yādavas who patronised the language and used it in some of their charters. Yādava grants like the Tasgaon⁴ (1250 A.D.) and Nandgaon⁵ (1254-55 A.D.) plates of Kṛṣṇa are written partly in Sanskrit and partly in Marāṭhī. The same is the case with certain Śilāhāra grants, e.g., the Kaseli plate⁶ of 1279 A.D.

c8.s2.t5.10

⁴ Ep. Ind., Vol. XVIII, pp. 208 ff. See also Sāmanta Jaitra’s grant of 1202 A.D. (BSOAS, Vol. XX, pp. 428 ff.).

c8.s2.t5.11

⁵ Ep. Ind., Vol. XXVII, pp. 9 ff.

c8.s2.t5.12

⁶ Cf. BSOAS, Vol. XX, pp. 432-33.

c8.s2.t5.13

A number of epigraphs of the time of the ’Adil Shāhī Sulṭāns are written in Marāṭhī.⁷ Among bilingual inscriptions written in Marāṭhī and another language, mention may be made of the Kandarpur plate⁸ of the Yādava king Jaitugi (1191-1210 A.D.) and the Lepakshi (Anantapur District) temple inscription⁹ of the 16th century, both in Kannaḍa and Marāṭhī, the Cuddapah Telugu-Marāṭhī inscription¹⁰ of 1689 A.D. and several Persian and Marāṭhī inscriptions.¹¹ The Dabhoi inscription¹² of 1652 A.D. records the purport of a *farmān* of Muḥammad ’Adil Shāh of Bijapur. Two of the three Marāṭhī inscriptions,¹³ discovered in the Bidar District and containing dates in the Shāhūr years 979 (1579 A.D.), 1001 (1601 A.D.) and 1010 (1609 A.D.), have their Persian counter-parts. The first of them mentions 'Alī Barīd (1542-79 A.D.).

c8.s2.t5.14

⁷ See A. R. Ep., 1952-53, No. B 60 (Śaka 1520); 1954-55, No. B 106 (Śaka 1515).

c8.s2.t5.15

⁸ Journal of the Oriental Institute, Vol. VI, p. 134.

c8.s2.t5.16

⁹ A. R. Ep., 1937-38, No. 15.

c8.s2.t5.17

¹⁰ Journal of the Oriental Institute, Vol. VI, p. 136.

c8.s2.t5.18

¹¹ See, e.g., Ep. Indo-Mosl., 1939-1940, p. 30, No. 2.

c8.s2.t5.19

¹² Ibid., 1933-1934, p. 9.

c8.s2.t5.20

¹³ Ibid., 1937-1938, pp. 1 ff.

c8.s2.t5.21

There are several copper-plate grants in Marāṭhī issued by Marāṭhā rulers such as the chiefs of Tanjavur.¹

c8.s2.t5.22

¹ A. R. Ep., 1930-31, p. 4, Nos. A 3-4. Some grants of the Marāṭhās of Tanjavur are written in Sanskrit and Tamil (cf. A. R. Ep., 1945-46, No. A 15; 1946-47, Nos. A 20-23) and some in Tamil only (ibid., 1946-47, Nos. A 17-18). For a Marāṭhī copper-plate of Amṛtarāva Raghunātha, see JBORS, Vol. V, pp. 216 f.

Linked texts (3)