Mysore and Coorg from the Inscriptions c10.17

c10.17

As to the form of official orders,—our Edicts of Aśōka, of the third century B.C., are prefaced, in the ancient mode, with a greeting wishing good health to the officials addressed (Mk 21), followed by—"the king thus commands." In the second century A.D. and onwards for some time, the early grants are prefaced by the word *siddham*, (?) confirmed (Sk 263). In mediæval times the inscriptions begin with invocations of deity, according to the creed of the donor. Then follow genealogies of the ruling sovereigns, with often long drawn out eulogies of their heroic deeds and conquests. The provincial governor is next introduced, with the phrase *tat-pāda-padmōpajīvi*, dweller (like a bee) at his lotus feet, and the same phrase is used of each subordinate with reference to his superior. The royal signature, where it is given, comes at the end. The style in the seventeenth century, as illustrated by the practice under the Keladi queen Channammāji (Sk 79), contains some up-to-date features. At the head are the words *nirūpa prati*, copy of order, followed by the date and the royal signature. At the end are the words *nirūpa band*, the order ends. The document was despatched by the hands of a court official, who was charged to see to its execution and that it was entered in the sēnabōva’s *kaḍita*.