27. DIHRM -MAHM AMT – III rd sem – Origin of Bhrami

1. Dr. Ashwani Asthana

2. Introduction
 Epigraphy is the study of Inscription literally means
any writing engraved on some object.
 In India, rocks as well as lithic, metallic, earthen or
wooden pillars, tablets, plates and pots as also bricks,
shells, ivory plaques and other objects were generally
used for incising inscription.
 Often writing in relief such as we find in the legends
on coins and seals.
 Early Indian coins bear no legends it was came in to
being after Indo-Greeks who conquered N-W part of
India in about 2nd C.BC.
 Sealing is mostly of clay and steatite bearing emblems
and legends.

3.  Some time an epigraph contains only a mark or one
single word or expression, including the name of an
individual, often a pilgrim at a holy religious
establishment engraving his name on a wall or stone to
commemorate his visit, or standing as the label of
sculptured scene from epics or the Jataka. Longer
inscription may record the dedication of the images of
deities or commemorate such events as the fall of a
hero in battle or such curious social customs as the
self-immolation of a widow or head-offering of a
devotee.

4. Prakrit and Sanskrit Language
 The earliest epigraphic records of the indigenous
rulers of India are written in the Prakrit and Sanskrit
language.
 Sanskrit gradually ousted Prakrit from the field of
Indian epigraphy in all part of India.
 Essentially, the popularity of Sanskrit at the courts of
the rulers either of foreign or indigenous extraction
was due to the influence of grammarians.
 Panini (5th C BC) was the most outstanding amongst
all, he was an inhabitant of Shalatura in Gandhara
(Peshawar-Rawalpindi).
 Patanjali a habitant of Gonarda (between Ujjayini and
Vidisha) was a great commentator he wrote a book
named Mahabhasya on the Panini’s Ashtadhyayi.

5. Script of Indus valley civilization
 Before we talk about ancient script and language of India first
and foremost it is pertinent to mention script of Indus valley
civilization.
 It is not deciphered yet though several scholars tried to do so.
 This script have been found written on potsherd, on a wooden
board at Dholavira (Gujrat) on the entrance of a gateways during
excavation and on seals of steatite.
 This script runs from right to left just like kharoshthi.
 It is considered as a pictographic script by scholars.
 This script represent an intermediate stage between the
pictographic and alphabetic forms of writing.
 It seems that this script may have ultimately developed in to the
Brahmi alphabet several centuries before the rise of the Mauryas
in the latter half of the 4th CBC

6. Ten letter script found at Dholavira Gujarat
The famous ten-signed inscription of unusually large size was surely in use during
classical Harappan stage. All the elements such as pottery, seals, weights, beads,
items of gold, silver, copper, ivory, shell, faience, steatite, clay and stones are found in
abundance.

7. Close up view Seals found during excavation
One of the most significant discoveries at Dholavira was made in one of the side
rooms of the northern gateway of the city, and is generally known as the Dholavira
Signboard. The Harappans had arranged and set pieces of the mineral gypsum to
form ten large symbols or letters on a big wooden board. At some point, the board fell
flat on its face. The wood decayed, but the arrangement of the letters survived. The
letters of the signboard are comparable to large bricks that were used in nearby walls.
Each sign is about 37 cm (15 in) high and the board on which letters were inscribed
was about 3 m (9.8 ft) long. The inscription is one of the longest in the Indus script,
with one symbol appearing four times, and this and its large size and public nature
make it a key piece of evidence cited by scholars arguing that the Indus script
represents full literacy. A four sign inscription with big size letters on a sand stone is
also found at this site, considered first of such inscription on sand stone at any of
Harappan sites.

8. New Hypothesis
 According to D. P. Sharma, “the two ancient races
Aryan and Dravidians were native of India and none of
them came outside of our country. The Aryan and
Dravidian races in India have the same genetic basis.
This suggests that proto Dravidian and proto Aryan
races were present in Harappan population and
Harappan were using proto Dravidian and Sanskrit as
their language and their script was proto Brahmi only.

9. The antiquity of writing in India and the origin of
the oldest Indian Alphabet i.e. Brahmi
 The tradition of both the orthodox and the heterodox sects
of India ascribes the invention of writing, or at least of
chief script, to the creator Brahma, and thereby claims it as
national invention of the remotest antiquity.
 The above view is mentioned in the Narada Smriti (100B.C.
approx.),in Jaina granth Samavayanga Sutra (300 B.C.)and
pannavana Sutra(168 B.C.).as well as in travelogue of Hiuen
Tsiang.
 The two jaina works mentioned above, and the
Lalitavistara (a Buddhist text by Ashwaghosh)indicates its
existence by naming the most important script bambhi or
brahmi.

10. This fact is also verified in the representation of Brahma at Badami of about A.D. 580, where the
deity holds in one of his hands a bundle of palm leaves for which in later representations an
inscribed sheet of paper is substituted.

11. Evidence of early writing
 Ancient Brahmi script runs from the left to the right is an
invention of Brahma.
 Popularity of this language in at least in 300 B.C can
easily be make out by this fact that the majority of the
Asoka edicts are written in Brahmi.
 Al-Beruni (1017A.D. Tarikh al hind) mentioned that the
Hindus once had forgotten the art of writing and that
through a divine inspiration it was rediscovered by Vyasa
the son of Parashara. Accordingly , the history of the
Indian alphabets would begin with kaliyuga in BC 3101.

12. Different script prevailed in ancient India
 The two jaina sutras referred earlier, contain a list of 18 separate
alphabets.
 The Lalitavistara enumerates 64 script which are said to have
existed in the time of Buddha.
 The main script among these scripts was Brahmi, Kharoshthi
(Indo Becterian or bactrian language) or kharotthi in which
writing running from right to left and third important script was
dravidi or damili which is evident from the relic vessels from
Bhattiprolu in the Krishna district.
 Another was yavanaliya yavananiya ( the writing of yavanas or
Greeks) which was the result of ancient commercial intercourse.
 The Jaina tradition assert, since the third century B.C. only 46
letters .

13. Kharoshthi-script
 It was generally in use almost exclusively in undivided N-W India, Punjab,
Haryana.
 It is almost unanimous regarded as derived from Aramaic Script of Iran
adjusted to Indian requirement.
 Kharoshthi inscriptions have been found in Gandhara region.
 Mixed Brahmi-Kharoshthi inscriptions were also found at several place
like Bihar, Bengal, Bangladesh, the people who were originally resided in
the north-west but in later times migrated to other areas in search of bread
and butter carrying with them the traditions of their original home
including Kharoshthi which they used in their newly adopted homes and
also used it along side Brahmi, which was the script of these areas giving
rise to what may be called Brahmi-Kharoshthi. This is mentioned as
Vimisrita-lipi in the list of scripts in the Buddhist work Lalitavistara.
 Around 3rd-2nd CBC some jaina monks immigrated to these places from
Madhyadesha and brought with them the Brahmi script which they adapted
for writing Tamil by introducing a few signs to express typical Tamil
sounds. It is called Tamil Brahmi script or Dakshina lipi or Dravida lipi.

14. Terracotta figure of a Boy writing Brahmi on board from sugh,
Haryana

15. Literary evidence for use of writing
 Vasistha Dharmasutra which originally belong to a
school of the Rigveda offers clear evidence for the
widely spread use of writing during the Vedic period.
 Panini’s Astadhyayi grammar which belongs to
vedangas mentions lipikara (writer) or maker of
inscriptions.
 Later Vedic works contain some terms such as aksara,
kanda, patala, grantha.
 In Buddhist litrature words like lekha, lekhaka,
potthaka, akkharika (a game is mentioned in
vinayapitaka in which the letters were read in the sky.
 A Jataka mentions the wooden writing board
(Phalaka) varnaka (wooden pen).

16.  Scriptures which were written before Christian era
mentioned the words Lekha (writing), ganana (arthmatic),
rupa (shape), pathshala, chindati, likhati, lekhaka,
akkhara.
 Wood or bamboo, panna (leaves) suvannapatta or gold
plates, birch bark were used for writing.
 Evidence of ink have found on the inner side of the lid of
the relic vessel from stupa no. III at Andher.
 Interesting fact is that lipi is derived from the word dipi
which is having Persian origin the word came with the
conquest of Punjab by Darius about BC500 and which
later became lipi.

17.  Megasthenes speaks of milestones indicating the distance and
the halting places on the high roads.
 The characters of the Asoka edicts, which have to be considered
first, prove very clearly that writing was no recent invention in
the third century BC.
 It seems therefore natural to conjecture that the alphabet known
to the earlier Buddhist authors was a form of the Brahmi and
there are some further facts which favour this view.
 The Brahmi has been commonly used since the earliest times
even in North-Western India and that it was indeed the real
national script of all Hindus. In the ruins of Taxila the modern
Shah-Deri in the Punjab (now in Pakistan)coins have been found
which are struck according to the old Indian standard, and some
of which bear inscription of Kharoshthi while the majority show
legends in the oldest type of the Brahmi.
 It is more than probable that the Brahmi was used several
centuries before the beginning of the Mauryan period and had
had a long history at the time of which the earliest Indian
inscription belong

18.  The Maurya emperors ruled over the major portion of the
Indian sub-continent as well as over parts of Afghanistan.
 Mauryan inscriptions which have been found outside the
Uttarapatha division of ancient Bharatavarsha, lying
roughly between eastern Punjab and the Oxus river in
central Asia, are written in the Brahmi alphabet. In the
olden days, however, the knowledge of alphabet was
transmitted from teacher to pupil. The want of a definitely
fixed model as well as the natural eagerness of man to write
quickly led to the gradual modification in the forms of
Brahmi letters. This ultimately gave rise to the various
regional alphabets of India.
 Brahmi is the mother not only of all the Indian alphabets of
today but also of the alphabets of other countries which
came in early times under the influence of the Indian
civilization. The alphabets of Ceylon, Tibet, Burma,
Siam(Thailand), Malaysia, Indonesia and French Indo-
China are derivatives of the Indian Brahmi script.

19. Important edicts of Asoka-(Mauryan period)
 The inscription of Asoka are written in Greek, Armaic, and
Prakrit languages.
 The alphabets/script used are Aramaic and Greek in
Afghanistan and Kharoshthi at Mansehra and
shahbazgarhi in north western Pakistan, but Brahmi
elsewhere in the empire.
 Kharoshthi was a modification of the Aramaic script of
western Asia introduced in the Uttarapatha division of
Bharatavarsha when that area was under the Achaemenians
of Persia during the two centuries before Alexander’s
invasion. It was written from right to left. Kharoshthi was
died a natural death after some centuries as it was not quite
suitable for writing Sanskrit or Prakrit.
 As told earlier Brahmi alphabet seems to have derived from
the prehistoric Indus valley script of a semi-pictographic
nature and was popular in the major part of Bharatavarsha.

20.  Asokan inscription can be broadly divided into two classes viz.,
those engraved on rocks and those incised on pillars of stone.
 The rock inscriptions fall into 3 groups viz., Minor Rock edicts,
Rock edicts and cave inscriptions. The pillar inscriptions may also
be classified under 3 groups viz., Minor pillar edicts, pillar edicts
and pillar inscriptions. Minor rock edicts were the earliest records
issued by him.
 According to pillar edict VI, Asoka began to issue edicts relating
to Dharma twelve years after his coronation(269 BC).
 Minor rock edicts of Asoka has been found in Ahraura
(U.P.),Bahapur (Delhi), Bairat (Raj.),Gavimath,
Palkigunda,Brahmagiri,Jatinga Ramesvara, Siddapura & Maski
(Karnataka), Gjjara and Rupnath (M.P.),Sahasaram (Bihar),
Rajula-Mandagiri (A.P.).
 Rock edicts of Asoka was discovered in Erragudi(A.P.),Girnar
(Guj.),Kalsi(UK), Kandahar (Afghanistan),Mansehra &
Shahbazgarhi (Pakistan), Sopara (M.H.).

21. Girnar rock edict- mentions place names during the reign of Asoka
 “ Everywhere in the dominions of king Priyadarshi,
beloved of the gods, and likewise in the bordering
territories such as those of the chodas and Pandyas
as well as of the Satiyaputra and Keralaputras as far
south as Tamraparni and in the territories of the
Yavana king Antiyoka and also the kings who are in
the neighbors of the said Antiyoka everywhere king
Priyadarshi, Beloved of gods has arranged for two
kinds of medical treatment, viz., medical treatment for
men and medical treatment for animal.
 And wherever there were no medical herbs beneficial
to men and animal they have been caused to import
and planted. On the roads, wells have been caused to
be dug and trees have been caused to be planted for
the enjoyment of animals and men.

22. Girnar rock inscription
 The Girnar rock bears two other interesting records of
the later dates. These are Saka Rudradama’s
inscription of AD 150 and Skandagupta’s epigraph of
AD 455-57 both these inscription records the
reconstruction of the dam of the Sudarshana lake; but
the earlier one, while recounting the past history of
the lake, says how it was created by Rashtriya Pushya
gupta during the reign of Chandragupta Maurya and
how Yavana raja Tushaspha endowed it with
irrigational canals on behalf of Asoka Maurya.

23. Meerut & Topra pillar of Asoka text no. IV
 The said pillar were brought to and set up at Delhi by
Sultan Firuz Shah (AD 1351-88) of the Tughluq dynasty.
 Thus saith king Priyadarshi, beloved of Gods. This record
relating to Dharma has been caused to be written by me
twenty six years after my coronation. The Rajjukas have
been placed by me over many hundred thousands of souls
among the people of my dominions. The award of rewards
or the imposition of punishment by them has been placed
by me under their sole control. Why? Because the Rajjukas
should perform their duties with confidence and without
fear and they should bring welfare and happiness to the
people of the countryside and bestow favours upon
them..…. Thus saith Priyadarshi, beloved of the gods
having this very matter in view, I have set up pillars bearing
records relating to Dharma, appointed Mahamatras to deal
with the affairs connected with dharma and issued
proclamations on dharma.

24. Rummindei pillar inscription
 There are two pillar inscription of Asoka discovered in
the Nepalease Tarai to the north of the Basti district of
UP. The first of these stands near the temple of
Rummindei in the vicinity of the village of Pararuya
(Nepal) The other inscribed pillat stands on the bank
of a large tank called Nigali Sagar near the village of
Nigliva. These two inscriptions commemorate Asokas
pilgrimage to the places in question. The first was a
holy place owing to the fact that Buddha was born
here, while the second contained a stupa enshrining
the relics of Kanakmuni regarded as Buddha as one of
the former Buddhas.

25. Erragudi inscription
 …You should act as instructed by the beloved of the
gods. You should order Rajjukas, and the Rajjukas in
their turn should order the people of the countryside
as well as the local officers called Rashtrikas in the
following words: “Mother and father are to be obeyed.
And similarly elders are to be obeyed. Living beings
should be treated with kindness. Truth must be
spoken. These attributes of Dharama are to be
propounded”. You should order in the same way the
elephant rider, scribes, charioteers and teachers
of the Brahamana community in the following words
“you should instruct your pupils in accordance with
what is the ancient usage.

26. Bairat inscription (Raj)
 King Priyadarshi of Magadha salutes the monks of Sangha,
wishes them good health and comfort in their movement and
addresses them in the following words. “It is known to you how
far extend my reverence for and faith in the Buddha, the
Dhamma and the Sangha. Wharever, has been said by the Lord
Buddha, is well said. But I deem it proper to speak out what
appears to me the way as to how the true Dharma may be of long
duration. I desire that the largest number of monks and nuns
should constantly listen to and reflect on the following which are
the texts of Dharma.
 Vinayasamutkarshah or the Exaltation of Discipline.
 Aryavasah or the noble states of living.
 Anagatbhayani or the fear to come.
 Munigatha or the song of Hermit.
 Mauneyasutram or the discourse on the state of a hermit.
 Upatishyaprashnah or the question of Upatishya and
 Rahulavadah or the Exhortation to Rahul which was delivered
by the Lord on the subject of falsehood…….

27. Mansehra text- mentioning western countries of the time of Asoka
 ….. In the ages gone by there were no officers called
Dharma-Mahamatras so I created the post of Dharma-
Mahamatras 13th after my coronation. These officers
are occupied with all the religious sects for the
establishment of Dharma and for the promotion of
Dharma as well as for the welfare and happiness of
those who are devoted to Dharma even among the
Yavanas, Kambojas and Gandharas, the Rashtrika-
paitryanikas and the other people dwelling about the
western borders of my dominions. They are occupied
not only with the welfare and happiness of the servile
class and the community of traders and agriculturists
as well as the Brahmanas and the ruling class and
likewise of the destitute and the aged, but also with
the release of the devotees of Dharma amongst them…

28. Inscription of Kushana period from Mathura
 Inscription on a standing figure, discovered 1911
 from the Tokri Tila near mat villagenow in Mathura
museum: The head and the arm of the statue are missing.
The figure wears a tunicreaching below the knees, held
round the loins by means of a girdle, and a long overcoat.
The feet are shod with very heavy boots. The inscription
reads “The maharaja rajatirajadevaputra
Kanishka”(maharaja rajatiraja devaputro kanisko)

29.  Inscription around the outer upper age of a
hemispherical stone bowl supported on the broaken
head of a male figure. The stone was lying in Jamna
bagh on the right bank on the river just out side
Mathura where it was used for watering cattle.
 “ The gift of Ayala son of Imadrasama (indrasarman),
for the worship of all Buddhas in the
Suvanakaravihara(Suvarnakaravihara) for the
acceptance of the
Mahopadesaka(mahopadesaka)teachers.

30. Kharvella inscription
 The Hathigumpha inscription is one of the most
important source so far as the history of Bihar is
concerned. After the Mauryan period, Kalinga became
independent underKharvela and this inscription
preserves the political and philanthropic activities of
the Kalinga ruler. It contains the events of first 14 years
of his reign. In the eighth year of his reign, he sent his
army towards the north and sacked the town of
Rajgriha. He defeated the Magadha king Bahastimitra
and took back the image of Jain Tirthankara which
had been brought to Magadha by Nandraja. He also
took away a good amount of wealth from Anga and
Magadha.

31. Iron Pillar of Meharauli Gupta period
 The Delhi Iron pillar at Mehrauli represents a unique feat of
metallurgical skill of ancient Indian craftsmen. Both the high purity
of the metal 99.7% and the massive size of the pillar represent a high
watermark in the iron-working technology of so early an age. The
pillar carries an inscription which refer king Chandra who has been
identified with Chandra Gupta II. He died in 413 AD so the
inscription which was posthumously executed is datable to AD 415.
The pillar originally put up at Mathura was brought to Delhi in 1050
AD by Ananga Pala II, when he founded his city of Delhi. “He, on
whose arm fame was inscribed by the sword, when, in battle in the
Vanga countries, he kneaded back with breast the enemies who
uniting to gather came against him; he, by whom, having crossed in
warfare the seven mouths of the river Sindhu, the Vahlikas were
conqured; he by the breezes of prowess the southern ocean is even
still perfumed…..who having named Chandra, carried a beauty of
countenance like the full moon , having in faith fixed his mind upon
the god Vishnu, this lofty standered of the divine Vishnu was set up
on the hill called Vishnupada”

32. Alphabets of Brahmi inscription

33. Important Asokan inscription
 At Maski and at Gujarra in the Datia District of
Madhya Pradesh was found Minor edict I which
mentions the emperor as Asoka Raja.
 A version of the minor pillar edict IV has been
reported from the famous Buddhist site of Amaravati
in the Guntur District of Andhra Pradesh, showing
that the great Chaitya at the place was built originally
during Asoka time.

34. Asokan inscription from Ratanpurwa Basaha village
60km from Varanasi discovered in 2009
 The inscription was found engraved on the wall of one of the caves at what may
be described as an almost inaccessible location is close to the Basaha village.
 This cave inscription is closely related to Sahasram minor rock
inscription(Rohtas district Bihar)
 Briefly stated, the Basaha inscription states that “Devanampiya (beloved of
gods, Asoka) speaks thus. For more than two and a half year, I have been an
upasaka (a lay Buddhist worshipper). But I did not exert myself much. For
more than a year now, I have been intimately associated with the Samgha (
Buddhist congregation). During this period, persons living in Jambudvipa were
inspired by me to mingle with the gods. This is the result of my efforts. This can
be achieved not only by persons of high rank but also even by lowly persons
who can all aspire to attain the great heaven as a result of sincere efforts. Now
for the following purpose this proclamation has been issued to the effect that
both the lowly and the exalted may become zealous, that even those persons
living on the borders(of my kingdom) may know it and that this enthusiasm
may last long. And this enthusiasm will grow and will grow further. It will
increase one and a half times. And this proclamation (was issued by me) while
I was on tour. I have been on tour for the last 256 nights. This proclamation
should be engraved on rocks. And wherever there are stone pillars (in my
kingdom) on them also this proclamation should be engraved.

35. Kharoshthi script
 Kharoshthi was an Indian modification of the old Aramaic
script ofwestern Asia, which was popularized in north-
western bharatavarasha during the rule of the
Achaemenian emperors of Iran. Portion of uttarapatha
formed a part of the Achaemenian empire for about two
centuries before the rise of the Mauryas. Some inscriptions
in the Aramaic script have also been discovred in that
region.
 Kharoshthi flourished for several centuries in Uttarapatha
and the neighbouring areas of central Asia andafterwards
died a natural death, as it was not quite suited for
transcribing words of the Sanskrit language.Some
interesting records in this script are the Prakrit documents
on wooden tablets discovered in Central Asia. Such
epigraphs found at Niya have been assigned to 3rd c.

36. Sanskrit and Prakrit in early inscription
 The language of the early epigraphs of India is Prakrit,
Superseded as the language of the royal courts by
Sanskrit at a later date. The earliest Sanskrit
inscriptions have been found in the western part of
northern India; They belong to the early two centuries
of the Christian era. When that region was under the
domination of foreigners like Scythians and the
Kushanas. Sanskrit as the court language was originally
patronized by the foreign ruler of uttrapatha. Prakrit
was in use till the end of 3rd CAD. It was in the courts
of the kings of southern India till the end of 4th cAD.A
few early inscription in Prakrit may be similarly
classed as gadya kavya for example Nasik cave
inscription..

37. Epigraphs can broadly be divided by 2 groups
 1. Those engraved by or on behalf of ruling authority.
 2. Those engraved by the private individual.
 The largest number of epigraphs of the second category records
donations made in favour of religious establishments or installation of
images for worship.
 By far the most important are, however, the records incised by or on
behalf of the ruling authority. These inscription may be classified
under such heads as 1. royal edicts (the rock and pillar edicts of the
Maurya emperor Asoka and 2.epigraphs commemorating particular
achievements of a king in a eulogistic kavya or prashasti.(for example.
Junagarh, Allahabad and Aihole inscription. 3. grants in favour of
leaned Brahmanas, religious institutions or deserving individuals and
officials.4. Epigraph recording grants of lands were usually engraved on
copper plares.This charters or lekhya (as described in Yajnavalkya
smriti fourth century AD)was made for guidance of future rulers. This
record was endowed with the king’s seal and signature and the date of
issue. In the end of 3rd century Pallava king Sivaskandvarman of
Kanchipuram issued such grant in Mayidavolu (Guntur district AP)

38. Kandahar Bilingual Rock Inscription
 The is a famous bilingual edict in Greek and Aramaic,
proclaimed and carved in stone by Ashoka around
258 BCE. It was discovered in 1958. It is considered as one
of the several "Minor Rock Inscriptions" of Ashoka, by
opposition to his "Major Rock Edicts" which contain
portions or the totality of his Edicts from 1 to 14.Two edicts
in Afghanistan have been found with Greek inscriptions,
one of these being this bilingual edict in Greek language
and Aramaic, the other being the Kandahar Greek
Inscription in Greek only. This bilingual edict was found on
a rock on the mountainside of Chehel Zina in the vicinity
of Kandahar, or Alexandria Arachosia, Kandahar’s Old City.
The Edict is still in place on the mountainside. In the Edict,
Ashoka advocates the adoption of "Piety" (using the Greek
term Eusebeia for Dharma) to the Greek community.

39.  Ashoka proclaims his faith, 10 years after the violent beginning
of his reign, and affirms that living beings, human or animal,
cannot be killed in his realm. In the Hellenistic part of the Edict,
he translates the Dharma he advocates by "Piety" , in Greek. The
usage of Aramaic reflect the fact that Aramaic had been the
official language of the Achaemenid Empire which had ruled in
those parts until the conquests of Alexander the Great. The
Aramaic is not purely Aramaic, but seems to incorporate some
elements of Iranian. According to D.D.Kosambi, the Aramaic is
not an exact translation of the Greek, and it seems rather that
both were translated separately from an original text in Magadhi,
the common official language of India at the time, used on all
the other Edicts of Ashoka in Indian language, even in such
linguistically distinct areas as Kalinga.
 This inscription is actually rather short and general in content,
compared to most Major Rock Edicts of Ashoka, including the
other inscription in Greek of Ashoka in Kandahar, the Kandahar
Greek Edict of Ashoka, which contains long portions of the 12th
and 13th edicts, and probably contained much more since it was
cut off at the beginning and at the end.

40. Important inscriptions- Besnagar Pillar inscription
 There are many inscriptions which throw light on the religious
conditions prevailed through the ages. For instance, the Besnagar Garuda
pillar inscription of Heliodora (113 B.C.) attests to the strong Vaishnavite
movement i.e., Bhagavata cult in north India and its adoption by a foreigner.
 At Besnagar near Bhilsa in the extreme south of Gwalior state there stands a
stone column which is 21.1/4feet in height. Its shaft is a monolith octagonal
at the base, sixteen sided in the middle and 32 sided above with a garland
dividing the upper and middle portions. This column contains an inscription
in Brahmi characters which is in two parts and read as follows- “This
Garuda-column of Vasudeva (Vishnu or Krishna) the god of gods, was
erected here by Heliodorus , a worshipper of Vishnu(or Krishna), the son of
Dion, and an inhabitant of Taxila, who came as Greek ambassador from the
great king Antialkidas to king Kashiputra Bhagabhadra, the savior, then
reigning prosperously in the 14th year of his kingship”.
 Three immortal precepts (footsteps) when practiced lead to heaven, self –
restraint, charity, conscientiousness.

41.  It thus appears that this column was erected by heliodorus son of
Dion and a Greek Ambassador from the court of Maharaja
Amtalikita or Antialkidas to that of Rajan Bhagabhadra.
 This pillar inscription is dated to 105-104 B.C.
 Bhagbhadra or bhagavata who rulled 32 yeats was the father of
last sunga ruler Devabhuti who ruled for 10 years.
 Heliodorus ( in Greek means gift of the sun) came from Texila
(Takshashila) which was the capital of Yavana king (Basileus
)Antialkidus.
 We had found his coins struck in the district of Takshashila. His
coins bear these legends, Greek on the obverse and Prakrit
language in Kharosthi script on the reverse.
 Obverse-Basileos nikephoros(bearer of victory) Antialkidon.
 Reverce –Maharajasa jayadharasa Amtialikitasa.
 He ruled sometime between 155 BC when Eucratidas became
king of Bactria in 90 B.C.

42. Place-names mentioned in Sanchi inscription
 The label inscriptions found at Sanchi have furnished valuable material
bearing on the historical geography.
 The names of several of these occur more than once in the Sanchi
inscriptions :
 Erakina: the place has been identified with Eran in Sagar district in
M.P. later Known as Airikina in Gupta period.
 Mahisati: recognized as Mahismati (present day Maheshwar in MP
 Ujeni: is recognized as Ujjayini
 Vedisa: is present day’s Vidisha
 Kuraraghara: is recognized with modern day small town Kurwai near
Bina junction in MP
 Tumbavana: This place is undoubtedly the present day Tumain in the
Guna district of Madhya Pradesh. Here excavation was conducted and
stone sculptures, metal objects, pottery punch mark coin bearing the
legend rano siri satasa was obtained. A big hoard of silver coins was
also found.
 Snara: Present day Sonari here remains of stupa railing pillar cross bars
and few sculptures were also found.

43.  Nandinagara: it has been identified as nandner in
Sehore district in MP. Some inscribed punch mark
coins of king Ramabhadra and hathideva assignable to
the 2nd -1st century BC and few other coins with the
legend Kuraraya have been obtained at the site. The
mound near Nandner clearly indicate that there
existed a big town at the site during a few centuries
before the Christian era.
 Isaravada: This name can be identified with the
present day Isaravada a village in the Sagara District.
The site has yielded punch marked coins.

45. Inscription recording religious benefaction (early Gupta
period)
 Two inscription engraved on stone in Brahmi of 3rd century
were found at Kosam (Kosambi) near Allahabad.
 First inscription : In the year 87 on the 5th day of the 3rd
fortnight of the rainy season, in the reign of Maharaja
Bhadramagha, on the day specified as above this stone slab
for sitting on, was set up, near the tank, by Sanika and
Sandhaka, the uterine brothers, sons of Sapara, the maker
of arrow-heads, and Mangani. May their moral and
religious merit increase.
 Siddham. In the year 87 on the day 5 of the third fortnight
of the rainy season in the reign of Maharaja Bhadramagha,
on the day specified as above, this stone slab for sitting on
was set up near the tank by the uteriane brothers, son of
Sapara, the makers of arrow-head, and mangani, for use of
the revered lady, the wife of the noble yadava. May their
religious and moral merit increase.

46. Meharauli Iron Pillar Inscription of Chandra
 Script : late Brahmi of the Northern class of the 5th
century AD.

47. Suggestive readings
 Ancient India No.9- Epigraphical research
 Ancient India No.5-Ten years of Indian Epigraphy (1973-
46)
 King Chandra and the Meharauli Pillar-Joshi &Gupta
 Selected Inscriptions from Bihar-Prof.Radha Krishan
Chaudhari(1958)
 Mathura Inscriptions-Heinrich Luders(1961)