Historical Geography of Ancient India c8.313

c8.313

The most important epigraphical discovery is that of a small tablet of buff sandstone at Mahāsthān. It is engraved with six-lines of writing in ancient Brāhmī characters of about the 3rd century B.C., and is the first record of its kind ever found in Bengal. The distinct mention of Puḍanagara (Skt. Puṇḍranagara) in this inscription² confirms the identification of Mahāsthān with the city of Pundranagara or Puṇḍravardhana which was first proposed by General Cunningham (*A.S.R.*, XV, 104ff.). For an account of exploration, see *A.S.I.*, Annual Reports 1934-1935, pp. 40ff.; *Excavations at Mahāsthān* by T. N. Ramachandran, *A.R.A.S.I.*, 1936/37 (1940).