History of Hindu Mathematics: A Source Book v1.c7.s8.28

v1.c7.s8.28

(i) An examination of the plate, (*EI*, II, p. 19), will convince every one about its genuineness. The writing is bold and clear, the numerical figures occur at the end, as they ought to be, immediately after the words ‘three hundred years exceeded by forty-six.’ They are separated from the written words by bars, just as they ought to be. There is absolutely nothing suspicious about this method of separation, as it is common custom in India to do so and occurs frequently. That it was the practice to write the date at the end of a document is well known.¹ In fact, the numeral figures of the date occasionally mark the end of the document.¹ The double vertical bar, ||, is a sign of inter-punctuation. Although punctuation marks have been in use in India from the earliest known times, yet their use did not become either regular or compulsory till very recent times.² Different writers used the various marks differently. In inscriptions, the double vertical bar has been found at the end of sentences, half verses, verses, larger prose sections and documents. In the Junâr inscriptions it occurs after numerals and once after the name of the donor.³ In manuscripts, the practice of separating numbers by vertical bars is common. It is found in the Bakhshâlî Manuscript⁴ and in several others. Thus the occurrence of the numerals at the end and the inter-punctuation mark of the double vertical bar cannot form valid grounds for suspecting the document. The suggestion that the figures were added some time after the plate was engraved is absurd, as there appears to us no reason why one should take the trouble to add the figures when the date was already written in words.