1. In 1898, British engineer William Claxton Peppe discovered a buried stupa at Piprahwa near India-Nepal border while excavating a large mound. 2. Inside the stupa, Peppe uncovered a soapstone casket containing various relics and gold objects that were dated to the time of Buddha. 3. The most notable find was an inscription on a soapstone vase describing the relics as belonging to the brothers of Sukiti and their family members.

1. Piprahwā relic casket Inscription
Dr. Priyanka Singh
Banaras Hindu University

2. Piprahwā relic casket Inscription
Place Piprahwā
(Siddhārthnagar District, U.P.)
Present Location Indian museum, Kolkata
object Soapstone Casket
Line two
Script Brāhmī
Language Prākrit
Discovered by William Claxton Peppe
Year 1898

3. William Claxton Peppe was a British colonial
engineer and landowner of birdpur. In 1890 a
number of monuments were discovered in
northern India near the Nepalese border. This
included in 1896 the discovery of an Ashokan
stone pillar at Lumbini that was believed to
identify the place of the Buddha’s birth. These
activities caught the attention of W.C. Peppe.
He discovered a buried stupa at Piparahwā in
1898.

4. In 1898, William Claxton Peppe excavated a large mound in Piprahwā close to India’s
border with Nepal. Inside the mound Peppe discovered a soapstone casket ,gold jewels
and cut stars scattered around it. Further below at the depth of 18 ft he discovered a
soapstone coffer 2.5 in height and 2 ft, in width. The coffer contained the following
objects:
1. A soapstone vase 7.5 inches high and 4.5 inches in diameter.
2. A similer but inscribed soapstone vase 6 inches high and 4 1/8 inches in diameter.
3. A soapstone loṭā shaped vessel with lid 5.5 inches high and 5 ¾ inches in diameter.
4. A small soapstone round casket 3 ¾ in diameter and 2 ¼ inches high.
5. A crystal casket 4 ¼ inches in diameter and 4.5 inches high. The lid had a beautiful
handle in the shape of a hollow fish, filled with seven granulated stars in gold leaf and
several tiny beads.

8. The objects included fragments of bone, gold ornaments in different
design, elephant and lion figure in gold leaf, gold and silver flowers
and stars, tiny amulet-like gold box, gold tri-ratnas, plain gold bars,
rolls of gold leaves, pearls of many sizes, some of which are welded
together in sets of two, three or four, a carnelian and malachite bird,
beads of various shapes and sizes in gold, silver, carnelian,
amethyst, topaz, garnet, coral and crystal, pieces of mica rolled
copper wire etc. of all the finds, the most important was the inscription
on the lid of the soapstone vase.

9. The relics and jewels discovered by Peppe were kept with him for him
for more than one year at his house at Birpur. A year after the
discovery of the relics at Piprahwā, Peppe offered the relics , jewels
and caskets to the British government of India . According to the Indian
treasure Trove Act of 1878, Peppe was given one-sixth of the finds
(jewels). The sandstone coffer and caskets were deposited at the
Indian museum in Kolkata and relics and jewels were offered to the
king of Siam. The king of Siam offered a part of his portion of the relics
and jewels to monasteries and temples all over the world.
In 1971, K.M. Srivastava, superintendent of the Archaeological Survey
of India undertook further excavation of stupa at Piprahwā believing
that Peppe did not excavate till the bottom of the stupa that there might
be an older casket.

10. At the depth of 19.7 ft. K.M. Srivastva discovered two soapstone
caskets contained twenty-two fragments of charred bones and ashes.
The bone fragments and caskets recovered by Srivastva are currently
located at the national museum, New Delhi.

11. Summary of discovery of different relics and jewels and its present locations

12. Handwritten note by discoverer W.C. Péppe to Vincent Arthur Smith about the inscription, 1898

14. First of all inscription read and interpreted by Buhler. He read
the inscription as –
‘Iya salilanidhne Budhasa bhagavata sakiyana sukiti
bhatinaṁ sabhaginikana saputadalana’
He translated the inscription –
“The relic shrine of divine Buddha (is the donation) of the
sākya Sukiti brothers ( i.e. either of sukiti’s brother or of sukiti
and his brothers), associated with their sisters, sons and
wives’’.

15. A. Barth read the inscription and interpreted it almost in the
same manner as Buhler-
iyaṁ salilanidhane budhasa bhagavata sakiyanaṁ
sukiti bhatinaṁ sabhaginikanaṁsaputadalanaṁ.
He translated the inscription-
“ this receptacle of relics of the blessed Buddha of the
Sākyas ( is the pious gift)of the brothers of sukirti ( or Sukirti
and his brothers) jointly with their sisters, their sons and their
wives”.

16. V.A. smith observed two lines in the inscription and read it
thus:-
Line 1. iyam salila nidhane budhasa bhagavato
sakiyanaṁ bha-
Line 2. tinaṁ sabhaginikanaṁ saputa dalaṁ
J.F. Fleet was the first scholar who changed the order of the
text of the inscription. He was of the opinion that record does
not begin with the word Iyam, as believed by other scholars,
but with sukiti-bhatinaṁ.

17. According to Fleet the inscription should be read as-
“Sukiti bhatinaṁ sabhainikanaṁ saputa-dalanaṁ iyaṁ salila-
nidhane budhasa bhagavate sakiyanaṁ”
Fleet interpreted the inscription in two different ways which are
inconsistent with each other. In the beginning he considered the relics
to be of buddha himself. With this views he translated the inscription
thus:-
“ of the brethren of the well-famed one, together with ( their) sister,
and together with their children and wives, this is receptacle (or
deposit) of relics of Buddha, the blessed one, (namely) of the sakiyas”

18. Fleet gave a new interpretation a year later in the following
lines:
“ of the brethren of the well-famed one, together with (their) sisters and
together with (their) children and wives, this is a deposit of relics,
(namely) of the kinsmen of Buddha, the blessed one”
on the basis of the above translation Fleet tried to impress that
the relics were not of Buddha, but of his kinsmen.
Elucidating his interpretation further , Fleet said that the
kinsmen of Buddha were Sākyas of Kapilvastu massacred by
king Vidūḍabha, son of Prasenjit as a revenge of the stinging

19. Reproach by the Sākyas on account of his mother having
been a slave girl of the Sākyas.