NDLI: Mahasthangarh Fragmentary Stone Plaque Inscription

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Mahasthangarh Fragmentary Stone Plaque Inscription

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Mahasthangarh Fragmentary Stone Plaque Inscription

Content Provider	Indian Culture
Spatial Coverage	Mahasthan, Bogra, Bangladesh
Temporal Coverage	3rd Century BCE
Description	This is an inscription in Mauryan Brahmi characters, discovered at Mahasthan in the Bogra district of Bangladesh, which is the earliest epigraphic record in Bengal. It is a small record of six lines, incised on a piece of semi-circular limestone, parts of which are broken. The inscription is palaeographically datable to c. 3rd-century BCE. The language of the inscription is Prakrit, but the influence of Magadhi is discernible. Different interpretations of the inscription have been given by scholars. It records an order issued by some ruler to the Mahamatra stationed at 'Pudanagala' (i.e. Pundranagara identified with Mahasthan in northern Bangladesh) to relieve the distress of the people called Samgvangiyas, who were settled in and around the town. The inscription speaks of four requisites viz tela (oil), duma (tree), dhania (paddy), and two varieties of small coins called Gandaka (ganda- a unit of calculation consisting of four kapardakas or cowries) and Kakanyika (Kakanika-kapardaka or cowry). The storehouse (Kothagala> Kosthagara) had to be filled up with these requisites as provisions against any emergency caused by water, fire, and devastation of crops by parrots. This inscription of enormous historical importance discovered by a local person named Baru Fakir in the year 1931 was brought to Calcutta by G.C. Chandra, the Superintendent, Eastern Region, Archaeological Survey of India.
File Format	JPG / JPEG
Language	English
Publisher	Indian Museum
Publisher Place	Kolkata
Access Restriction	Open
Subject Keyword	Stone Plaque Epigraphy
Content Type	Image
Resource Type	Historical Record

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