Indian Epigraphy c9.t3.12

c9.t3.12

According to Yājñavalkya (I, 319), the royal charters were written on cloth (*paṭa* explained as *kārpāsika-paṭa* by the commentator Vijñāneśvara) or copper plate (*tāmra-paṭṭa*). Some of the Śātavāhana charters later engraved on cave walls refer to themselves as *paṭikā*.¹ It is however difficult to determine whether this word is derived from *paṭa* (cloth) or is an inscriptional Prakrit form standing for *paṭṭikā* derived from *paṭṭa* (plate).