An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c8.s2: 3.2 Seals and Sealings
An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c8.s2
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3.2 Seals and Sealings
v1.c8.s2.1
A seal is a stamp bearing a device or letter(s) or both pertaining to its owner, while its impression on any material is called sealing. The purpose of a sealing is to authenticate or serve as signature or quality mark; it also served as a token, passport, talisman, amulet and votive offering. Literature abounds in references to seals in the form of signet rings. Kauṭilya's *Arthaśāstra* enjoins the sealing of goods by trades and prescribes fines for unsealed goods or those marked with forged seals and also refers to seal impressions used as passports.
v1.c8.s2.2
The earliest seals found in India are the ones from the Indus sites [4.9], and it is well-known that the discovery of a few such seals at Mesopotamian sites provided the Indus civilization with a firm chronology. The Indus people preferred stamp seals in contrast to ancient Mesopotamians who generally used cylinder seals. Seal dies of the Harappa period far outnumber seal impressions, while in the historical period the case is just the reverse. With a few exceptions the Indus seals are either rectangular or square, while those of the historical period exhibit a variety of shapes—pyramidal, cylindrical, square, rectangular, discoid, pedestal-shaped, button-shaped, ring-shaped, etc. The Indus seal dies are mostly of steatite, faïence [16.6] being the next common material. Seals of the historical period are of clay, stone, copper, bronze, silver, bone, ivory, etc.; gold seals are extremely rare and faïence ones are unknown. Stone, bone, shell and ivory seals were manufactured by cutting a piece of the material to the required size and giving it a finish, engraving letters and devices in reverse and sometimes boring a hole running horizontally in its back side for the insertion of a string for convenient handling. Metal seals were generally cast.
v1.c8.s2.3
The legends and devices are variously arranged. On the Indus seals which bear both, the legend is generally at the top and the device below, while on the historical seals the order is usually reversed. Animal figures on these seal dies generally face left, and on those of the historical period right. On some seals of the historical period the device and the legend are closely related, (e.g. a coffin between two *śāla* trees with the legend *Mahā-parinirvāṇa-vihāra* for KUŚĪNAGARA, and the wheel-and-deer symbol with the legend *Saddharma-cakra-vihāra* for SARNATH.
v1.c8.s2.4
While the Harappa script [20.4.1] has defied decipherment, the direction of writing seems to be from right to left. The legends on most of the historical seals are in Brāhmī and its derivatives, only a few being in Kharoṣṭhī. The legends on pre-Kushan seals are mostly in Prakrit, and those on the later ones in Sanskrit.
v1.c8.s2.5
Seals were generally applied on a lump of moist clay over a knot of string binding a parcel or cover. The moist clay was dried in the sun or in the heat of fire from a distance. Such sealings show string marks on their back. A clay sealing on the knot of a string tied found a document in the Bharat Kala Bhavan, Varanasi, is perhaps the only such sealing that has remained intact on a document; but some such sealings have been found in c. Asia (Stein, A., *Serindia*, I, Oxford, 1921, pp. 227 ff.). D.R. Bhandarkar's study of some BESNAGAR sealings (*ASI-AR*, 1914-15, pp. 80-1) shows that seals were also applied on the meeting points of the edges of two wooden tablets placed one upon another and secured with a string, as a well-defined mark at the meeting point runs longitudinally about the centre of the sealings. The wooden tablets (now lost) served either as writing pads or as covers for documents. (In Niya in c. Asia such wooden tablets have survived, Stein, *op. cit.*, p. 224). No instances of ancient ink-stamps on cloth have come to light.
v1.c8.s2.6
The single copper-plate generally had a metal seal welded to it. When a record consisted of more than one plate, the plates were strung together with a copper ring (or rings) passed through holes, and the ends of the ring (or rings) were secured by soldering with a lump of metal over which the seal was impressed. An intact seal was proof that no plate had been removed or tampered with.
v1.c8.s2.7
On some clay lumps impressions of more than one seal occur. These could be the result of testing seals on a clay lump or may indicate a contract between parties. The superimposition of Toramāṇa's seal stamp over the Ghoṣitārāma monastery sealing from KAUŚĀMBĪ would however indicate the assertion of his authority over the ecclesiastical institution.
v1.c8.s2.8
Seals are a valuable source of information of the history and culture of a period. Seals of kings provide information regarding their titles, genealogy and chronology. There are also seals of the tribes of the Mālavas and the Yaudheyas. Seals of officials like *kumārāmātya*, *daṇḍā-nāyaka*, etc., and those of administrative units like *bhukti*, *viṣaya*, *grāma*, etc., give an idea of administrative system. Temples (e.g. Amrātakeśvara, Avimukteśvara, etc.) and monasteries (e.g. Mahāparinirvāṇa-vihāra, Nālandā-vihāra, etc.) sometimes had their own seals, which together with many others bearing legends and devices connected with various deities throw significant light on religion and iconography. The majority of seals bear the creed *ye dharmā hetu-prabhavā* etc. [12.8] and were intended to be buried inside votive *stūpas* in large numbers. Seals of institutions of learning like *caraṇas* and *agrahāras* and economic organizations like *nigamas* and *śreṇis* have also been found. Nearly 300 sealings of a guild of bankers, traders and artisans were found in one single chamber of VAIŚĀLĪ. Clay lumps from RAJGHAT⁴ bearing Indo-Greek coin devices indicate external trade contacts.
v1.c8.s2.9
Thaplyal, K.K., 1973, *Studies in Ancient Indian Seals*, Lucknow, with full bibliography. For sites see respective entries in vol. II.—K.K. THAPLYAL
Linked texts (3)
- Kauṭilīya Arthaśāstra — Kauṭilya, Sanskrit
- Kauśāmbī
- Vaiśālī