Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency, Vol. I, Part I: History of Gujarat c8.67

c8.67

A similar copper plate inscription which the king gave to the Brahmans is in a slightly different form, and this was found at Dalauda in the Gwalior territory. The first one had it bearing the date 461. This inscription is in the same form of characters as that of the Surat one, and gives the same titles of the king, Bhartrivaddha. Mahasamanta is the title that this Lord had. The King of Kings these big titles which imply a little extent and independence of power. The date 461 is the date on the occasion of a solar eclipse, one month, Vaisakha, around 709. It is in the constellation, the name of which is not fully legible. It is this would be a date of the 8th century. The Abhiras are the Abhiras of the Puranas. This plate, instead of being for a grant, is a 8th century title, a book rather than a grant of the land. This is a special plate. As nothing the day of the week is mentioned, the date is not worked out exactly. The Abhiras had a place to be a legacy of the eleventh century, perhaps some of the Abhiras had a full-marked copper plate such as this dated in the era. It should however be about the time of the letters, and there is which the plate can be given, in an air of the Abhiras. Whether the plate is or is not, it is no doubt, true that there was a great independent power of the Abhiras. Though the names of the other kings of the dynasty are mentioned, the Abhiras had but the names of the kings and a few. It may be added that the history is still obscured by the Puranic accounts. Though at present details are opened no real small empire of Abhiras has been found, and the date is seen to all historians who have been found, it is the case that no careful search has been made also of the list.