Ancient History of the Deccan c6.s1.24

c6.s1.24

(1) We have said, when speaking of the copper plates of the Pallava dynasty, that palæography was generally a bad auxiliary to the chronology of dynasties; very often, two documents dated in the same reign differ much from each other. However there is a special case to which I must draw the reader's attention. We know that in the middle of the V century the Gupta-Vâkâṭakas were very powerful in the Deccan. I call Gupta-Vâkâṭakas those kings of the Vâkâṭaka dynasty who were the sons, grandsons or great-grandsons of queen Prabhâvati, daughter of Dêvagupta (Chandra-Gupta II). We know that this queen was the regent of the kingdom during the miniority of her son; and the plates of Professor Pâtak (Ind. Ant., 1912, page 215), which are dated in the time of this princess, bear on the seal not the genealogy of the Vâkâṭakas but of the Guptas. The descendants of this queen considered themselves to be as much Guptas as Vâkâṭakas. They adopted a very peculiar alphabet which spread as a queer fashion in the V century, in the empire of the Guptas, at the time of Chandra-Gupta II (Bühler "Ind. paleography" Ind. Ant. Vol XXXIII, page 64). This has been styled the "box-headed" alphabet. I distinguish two sorts of "box" placed at the head of the letters :