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Indian Epigraphy c8.s2.t9: 5. Oriya (Oḍiyā)

Indian Epigraphy c8.s2.t9

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5. Oriya (Oḍiyā)

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In Orissa, the influence of the Oriya language in inscriptions written in Sanskrit appears as early as the 10th century.¹ Records, both private and royal, written entirely in Oriya appear in the 13th century.² A few official charters of the later members of the Eastern Gaṅga dynasty such as the Puri plates³ of Narasimha IV (c. 1378-1402 A.D.) are written partly in Sanskrit and partly in Oriya. Similar is the case with Gajapati charters like the Veligalani grant of Kapileśvara (c. 1435-66 A.D.),⁴ which has a section in Oriya, its other sections being written in Sanskrit and Telugu. But we have the same king’s stone inscriptions, together with a number of records of his successors, in the Jaga-nnātha temple at Puri, which are all written wholly in Oriya.⁵ Some official charters of the Gajapati kings and many issued by the later rulers of Orissa are written entirely in Oriya.⁶ Private inscriptions in Oriya belonging to the late medieval period are numerous.⁷

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¹ See the Madras Museum plates of the time of Narendradhavala (Ep. Ind., Vol. XXVIII, pp. 44 ff.).

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² See, e.g., the Puri inscriptions of the time of Anangabhima III (ibid., Vol. XXX, pp. 197 ff.). For the Kapilas inscriptions of Narasimha I, one in Sanskrit and another in Oriya and the Sonepur inscription (1268 A.D.) of Bhānu I, see ibid., Vol. XXXII, pp. 325 ff.; Vol. XXXIII, pp. 41 ff.

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³ Ibid., Vol. XXVIII, pp. 302 ff. For a private record of the same king’s reign written completely in Oriya, see ibid., Vol. XXIX, pp. 105 ff. For another private record of the reign of Narasimha IV in Oriya and Tamil, cf. ibid., Vol. XXXII, pp. 229 ff.

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⁴ Ibid., Vol. XXXIII, pp. 275 ff.; JAS, Letters, Vol. XXIII, pp. 13ff. For private records of his time written in Oriya, see Or. Hist. Res. Journ., Vol. I, No. 2, p. 9.; A. R. Ep., 1953-54, No. B 92; etc.

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⁵ See JASB., Vol. LXII, Part i, 1893, pp. 90 ff.; LXIV, Part i, 1895, pp. 149 ff. See also A. R. Ep., 1955-56, No. B 353.

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⁶ For a Gajapati charter completely written in Oriya, see the Balasore copper axe-head inscription of Puruṣottama (Ind. Ant., Vol. I, p. 355; JBORS, Vol. IV, p. 363). For later copper-plate grants and stone inscriptions, see, e.g., JAHRS, Vol. III, pp. 1 ff.; A. R. Ep., 1951-52, No. A 20; 1952-53, Nos. A 23-26; 1953-54, Nos. A 3-4 and B 422 ff.; etc., and 1957-58, Nos. A 40-41; etc. The Warangal inscription (1460 A.D.) of Raghudeva, the Gajapati viceroy of Rajahmundry, is written in the Oriya language, but in Telugu characters (Ep. Ind., Vol. XXXIII, pp. 125 ff.).

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⁷ For various official and private Oriya records of the medieval period, mostly of the age of the Gaṅgas and Gajapatis, see SII, Vol. V, Nos. 1006, 1119, 1152, 1161; Vol. VI, Nos. 697, 700-03, 720, 748-49, 778, 793, 895, 903, 908-09, 927, 940, 1078, 1089, 1110; etc.

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