I
mpor
tantAnci
entI
nscr
ipt
ions&Edi
cts
Inscri
pti
onsstudyiscal
ledepi
graphyandthest
udyoft
heol
d
wr i
ti
ngusedininscri
pti
onsandotherol
drecor
dsis
call
edpalaeography.
1.
MandasaurInscripti
on
ByKu mar aguptain437-38AD.
Me nt
ioningconst r
ucti
onofSuntempl
e.
Co mposedbyVat sbhatt
i.
InMandsordi st
ri
ct,M.P.
2.
Kudumi yamal aiInscript
ion
Pu dukottaidist
rict,
Tami lNadu.
I nscri
ptionwr it
tenonr ocksofcav et
emple.
I sacel ebratedmusi cali
nscript
ionasitgi
vesthemusi
cal
not
esi
nsev
en
classicalragas.
7 t
hcent ury,mostpr obablybyMahendr aPal
l
av a.
3.
Utt
aramer urInscr i
ption
Th eUt taramer urinscr
ipti
on, foundint hevil
l
agebyt hi
snamei nChengalpat
tu
(nowKanchi puram)districtsouthofChennai .
I ti
snot edf oritstempleinscriptionsthatdescri
beaself-
governancesystem
exist
ingar ound7t hto9t hcent uryCE.
I tmentionst hequal i
fi
cations, modeofel ecti
on,di
squali
fi
cat
ioncrit
eri
aand
constit
utionofcommi tteef orlocalgov er
nance.
Or igi
nallyexistedasaBr ahmi nset t
lement.
4.
EranInscripti
on
Me ntionedasAi raki
nainGupt aandHunainscri
pti
ons.
Sa gardi strict,
M. [Link]
er.•Variousinscri
pti
onsment i
onof
Budhagupy t
a,SakaandHunsr ul
erandofSamudr aguptafound.
Bu tmosti mportantisGoprajSatiPi
l
larI
nscri
pti
on, t
heear l
i
estSatipill
ar
foundi nIndi a.
Va ri
oust empl esf r
om Guptaerafoundwithcharacteri
sti
cofearlytemple
architecture.
F amousf orcollossalbear
,thezoomorphi
cincarnationofVishnu.
Punchmar kedcoinsandcoi nofRamaguptafound.
Pu nchmar kedcoi nsandcoinsofRamagupta,theNagashav ebeenf ound.
As eal bear i
ngthef i
gureofGajaLakshmiofGupt aperiodisaninteresti
ng
fi
nd.
5.
Besnagar/VidishaInscript
ion
L ocatedatt heancientsi
teofVi
dishainpr
esentMadhyaPr
adeshstat
e.
Th ispil
larinscr
ipt
ionwasconstructedbyHel
oidor
us,t
heGreekambassador
andbelongst oSungaper i
od(2ndcentur
yBC).
Wr i
tt
eni nPrakri
tlanguage(
wi t
hafewSanskrit
icspel
li
ng)andBr
ahmiscr
ipt
.
Thispill
arinscri
pti
onisdevotedtolor
dVasudev.
Remai nsoflargetempleofthelat
ePar amar
aperiodknownasBi
jamamandal
foundher e.
6.
JunagarhInscr i
pti
on
J unagarhdi st
ri
ct,[Link] hef
ootofGi r
narhi
l
ls.
F i
rstpureSanskr i
tinscripti
on,bykingRudr amanofSakady nastyinaround
150CE.
Itsay sthatPushyagupt a,thegov ernorofChandragupt
aMaur ya,buil
tadam
onSudar shanlake.
An otherinscri
pti
onofSkandagupt ament i
onedthatdam wasrepairedduri
ng
hi
sreign, al
most800y earsafteritwasbuilt.
7.
Mehr
auliInscri
pti
on/Gar udapi l
lar
ErectedbyChandr agupt aVikramadit
yaor i
ginal
lyatVi
shnupada(
Udayagi
ri
),
[Link] ransport edtoDel hi
lat
er.
I
tment i
onsChandr agupt aI
Iconquestov erVangacountr
iesandVat
[Link]
pi
llarbearsaSanskr i
tinscriptioni
nBrahmi scri
pt.
Pil
larhadastrol
ogical signi
ficanceduri
ngGupt aage.
8.
All
ahabadPi l
larinscri
ption(
PrayagPrasasti)
IssuedbySamudr agupt
aandcomposedbyHar i
sena.
Wr itteninr efi
nedSanskri
tinChampuKav yastyl
e.
Me ntionstheconquestofSamudr agupt abothi
nNor t
h&Sout handdescr
ibed
theboundar i
esofGupt aEmpireandhisdiplomaticr
elat
ions.
Th et itl
eofKav ir
ajawasment i
oned,itthustest
if
iesSamudr agupt
aasa
patronofpoet i
cartandapoethimsel f
.
9.
Nasi
kInscri
pti
on
Me nt
ionstheachiev
ementofGautamiputr
aSatkarni
.
Co mposedbyhismot herGaut
amiBalasr
i.
Me nt
ionstheboundari
esofhiski
ngdom andhisvict
oryov
erSakaKi
ng
Nahapanaandt husrestor
ingt
heprest
igeofSatav
ahanas.
10.
NanaghatInscri
ption
InWest ernGhat s,Pune.
Me nt
ionsSatakarni-
Ias‘Dhakhi
napatha-pat
hi’t
husimply
ingcont
rol
over
Deccan.
Time–60t o70BC.
Co mposedbyNagani ksawi f
eofSatakarni-
I.
Isacav ei
nscri
pt i
on,alsocar
ryi
ngli
fesizesculptur
esofKingSat
kar
niand
queenalongwi t
hhi sfamil
ymember s?
11.
AiholeInscripti
on
Ba galkot
, Kar
[Link]
pti
ondiscover
edinMagutit
emple.
I saeul ogyofChal ukyakingPulakeshi
nIIandmenti
onshisvi
ctoryover
Har shavardhan.
Wr it
teninSanskrit,composedbyRav i
ki
rt
i,t
hecour
tpoetofPulakeshi
n–II
.
12.
Hat
higumphaI nscr
ipti
on
Ud ay
agiri
,nearBhubaneswhar ,
Odisha.
ByKh aravelatherulerofKal
ingaduringsecondcenturyBC.
Me nti
onst hemi l
it
aryexpedi
tionscarri
edbyKharavelaandal
soshowshi
s
Jainabeli
efast heinscri
pti
onst ar
tswithJainNamokarMantra.
13.
Kal
siI
nscr
ipt
ion
Kalsii
swel l-
knownf ori tshi stori
calsignif
icance.I
ti sasmal ltownont he
banksoft heYamunaRi verlocatedbet weenChakr ataandDehr adun.
ThesiteofAshoka' si nscr i
pt i
onsatKal siisuniquei nthati
tist heonlyplacein
NorthIndiawher et hegr eatMaur yanemper orinscribedtheent ireset
offourteenrockedi cts.
Thelanguageandscr iptoft heseedi ctsarePrakritandBr ahmi ,respecti
vel
y.
TheRockedi ct,whichi s8f eetwi deand10f eetlongandmadeofquar t
z,
waswr itt
enar ound450B. C.
WhenAsokaconv ertedt oBuddhi sm, heusedahumanappr oachi nhis
i
nternaladmi nistr
ation, whi chi srefl
ectedintheser ockedicts.
I
talsor efl
ectspol i
ciespr omot i
ngnonv iol
enceandt helimit
ationofwar .
Theinscripti
onal sodescr i
beshi slif
ebef orehechoset hespiritualpath.
14.
Maski
Inscr
ipt
ion
Maski isavil
lageandar chaeol ogi
calsiteinKarnataka'
sRai churdistri
ct.I
tis
l
ocat edonthebanksoft heMaski River,atri
butaryoftheTungabhadr a.
Ami norrockedi ctofEmper orAshokacanbef oundatt hesit
[Link]
Emper orAshoka' sfir
stedictt hati
ncludedt henameAshokar at
herthan
'
Dev anampr i
ya'or'Piyadassi.'
Th einscr
ipt
ion,whi chisstil
l adharmashasana, inst
ructspeopletof ol
lowthe
tenetsofBuddhi sm.
Furthermore,theinscripti
onsuggest sthatMaur yanrul
eext endedalltheway
totheKr i
shnav all
eyi nnorth-easternKarnataka.
15.
Kal
ingaEdi
cts
Kali
nga, i
nmoder n-
dayOdisha,st
il
l standsasat estamentt oit
sthousand-
year
-oldlegacy.
TheKalingaWarwasawat ershedmomenti nAshoka'scar eer
,ashenotonly
abandonedhi sambiti
onofbecomi ng" Digv
ij
aya,
"butal sochoset hepathof
non-vi
olenceandBuddhism.
ThesetofRockEdi ctscontai
nselev enofAshoka' swel l
-knownfour t
een
RockEdi cts.
Theedictsarewritt
eninMagadhiPr akri
tawithanear l
yBr ahmiscript.
Inplaceoftheel
event
h,t
wel
fth,andthi
rt
eenthrockedict
s,t
wospecialedi
cts
knownasSepar at
eRockEdictsorKali
ngaEdicts,
whicharepeace-
makingin
natureandmeanttopaci
fyt
henewl yconquer
edpeopleofKali
nga,hav
ebeen
i
ncor por
ated.
16.
Rummi
ndeiPi
ll
arEdi
cts(
Lumbi
ni)
Thesei nscri
pt i
onsareclassifiedasMi norPi ll
arI
nscr
ipt
[Link]
i
nscriptionst hatr
ecordtheirdedi cati
on.
Theinscr i
ptionsmentionAshoka' svisi
ttoLumbi ni(
Rummi ndei)
,Rupandehi
di
strict,Nepal ,
LordBuddha'sbi r
thpl
ace.
Ashokaexempt edLumbi nifrom pay i
ngt axesandsetit
sgr ai
ncontri
buti
onat
one-eighth.
Brahmi scriptisusedtowr itet heinscri
ptions.
I
tisaroyal
commemorat
ivei
nscr
ipt
ionr
ecor
dingAshoka’
svi
sitt
o
Buddha’
sbir
thpl
ace
17.
Sohgaur
aCopperPl
ate
TheSohgaur acopperpl
ate,t
heearl
i
estknowncopperpl
ate,i
saMauryanrecor
d
thatmentionsfami
nerel
iefeff
ort
s.I
tisoneofI
ndi
a'sfewpre-
AshokaBrahmi
i
nscript
ions.
18)
Bhi
tar
iinscr
ipt
ionr
elat
edt
oSkandagupt
a
19)
Erani
nscr
ipt
ionr
elat
edt
oNar
asi
mhagupt
aVal
adi
tyaorVanugupt
a
20)
Uday
gir
icav
einscr
ipt
ionr
elat
edt
oMahendr
adi
tyaor
Kumar
gupt
a
21)
Gwal
i
orpr
asast
inr
elat
edt
oPr
ati
aharki
ngBhoj
,wr
it
tenbyRaj
sekhar
21)
Dey
opar
aPr
asast
inr
elat
edt
oVi
jay
asena,
wri
tt
enbyUmapat
idhar
23)
Khal
i
mpor
ecopperpl
ater
elat
edt
oDhar
mapal
a
24)
Ganj
am l
i
pir
elat
edt
oSasnka
25.
)Nai
hat
icopperPl
ater
elat
edt
oBal
lal
sena
27)Gar
urdhwaj
inscr
ipt
ionr
elat
edt
oHel
idor
us(
indoGr
eekki
ng)
28)
Sampati
nscr
ipt
ionr
elat
edt
oKani
shka
29)
Tamr
asashani
nscr
ipt
ionr
elat
edt
oHar
shabar
dhan
30)Gi
rnari
nscr
ipt
ionr
elat
edt
oSakaki
ngMahakhat
rapRudr
adaman
31)
Badal
pil
l
ari
nscr
ipt
ionorHar
agour
iLi
pir
elat
edt
oDev
apal
a
32)
Mandashor
einscr
ipt
ionr
elat
edt
oYashobar
man,
wri
tt
enbyBat
syabhat
tya
33)
Badami
inscr
ipt
ionr
elat
edt
oPul
akeshi
-i
34)Madhmani
inscr
ipt
ionHar
shav
ardhanawasment
ionedi
nthi
sinscr
ipt
ion
35)
Nagar
juni
cav
einscr
ipt
ionDashar
ath(
Ashoka’
sgr
andson)
36)Anul
i
aTamr
ashsanLaksmanSena