Indian Epigraphy c8.s2.t7: 3. Gujarātī
Indian Epigraphy c8.s2.t7
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3. Gujarātī
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The language of a number of inscriptions, discovered in Kathiawar and belonging to the second half of the 14th century, is an admixture of Sanskrit and Gujarātī while, from about the middle of the 15th century, we have inscriptions in the Gujarātī language written in the Nāgarī alphabet slightly modified by the later Gujarātī or Poḍiyā script.⁶ Some of the earliest private records entirely written in the Gujarātī language, so far discovered in Kathiawar, are the Khambhad and Kutiyana inscriptions⁷ of 1474 A.D., the Gosa inscription⁸ of 1480 A.D., and the Khodu inscription⁹ of 1488 A.D.
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⁶ See D. B. Diskalkar, ‘Inscriptions of Kathiawad’ in N. Ind. Ant., Vols. I-III (December 1938-March 1941); cf. op. cit., December 1938, pp. 587 and 588. For inscriptions in the mixed language, see loc. cit.: the Than inscription (No. 36) of 1376 A.D., the Nagichana inscription (No. 37) of 1377 A.D., the Phulka inscription (No. 50) of 1391 A.D., etc.
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⁷ Diskalkar, op. cit. (N. Ind. Ant., June 1940), p. 122.
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⁸ Ibid., pp. 123-24.
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⁹ Ibid., p. 125.
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There is a large number of similar late medieval private inscriptions in Gujarātī,¹ while many of them are bilingual being written partly in Sanskrit² or Persian³ and partly in Gujarātī. Records like the Sathod (Baroda District) inscription⁴ of 1369 A.D. are trilingual being written in Persian, Gujarātī and Sanskrit. Most of the private Gujarātī inscriptions are found engraved on hero or satī stones called pāliyā in Gujarātī.
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¹ See Diskalkar, op. cit. ; A. R. Ep., 1949-50, Nos. B 50-51; etc.
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² Cf. Ep. Ind., Vol. XXIV, p. 225 (cf. text lines 21-22). For some inscriptions in a mixture of Gujarātī and Sanskrit, see ibid., Vol IX, pp. 24 ff.
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³ See A. R. Ep., 1952-53, No. B 433-A; etc.
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⁴ Bull. Baroda Mus., 1953-55, pp. 73 ff.
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Among later inscriptions in the Gujarātī language mention may be made of the Borsad (1496 A.D.), Lasundra (1522 A.D.), Junraj (1620 A.D.), Sojitra (1627 and 1781 A.D.), Lal Darwaja (1782 A.D.) and Juna (1782 and 1794 A.D.) inscriptions.⁵
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⁵ See A. V. Pandya's 'Some Newly Discovered Inscriptions from Gujarāt' in Vallabh Vidyanagar Research Bulletin, No.2, Inscriptions Nos. 21-24, 26, 28-30.