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Four copper plates furnished with original plate numbering inscribed vertically in the left margin on one side of the plates. As clarified by Panchamukhi 1939-40: 42-43 , the seal associated by Lakshmana Rao 1930 to EIAD 163 in fact belongs to EIAD 168. h. 2,8 ×  w. 12.7 ×  d. unavailable cm.
Text
Sanskrit language, Southern Brāhmī script. h. unavailable ×  w. unavailable cm.
Date
Unstated regnal year of a king Nandivarman of the Śālaṅkāyana dynasty, i.e. approximately in the first half of the 5th century. It is not clear if the king is Nandivarman I or Nandivarman II. The identification of Nandivarman II is based on the assumption that under this king we find for the first time inscriptions entirely composed in Sanskrit. The Kantēru (set I) is in any case the oldest Sanskrit charter of the Śālaṅkāyana corpus.
Origin
Kantēru, Guntur district and taluk.
Provenance
Found buried underground in Kantēru. The precise date of discovery is unknown. Not identified during fieldwork from February 2016 onward.
Visual Documentation
Photo(s):
  • No facsimiles available
    • Editors
    Emmanuel Francis and Arlo Griffiths.
    Publication history
    First described, edited and translated by Lakshmana Rao 1930 . In the absence of published facsimiles, the text is presented here following Lakshmana Rao, with suggestions in notes based on parallels, to be confirmed if the original plates kept in the Chennai Government Museum become accessible. Our translation is based on the readings proposed in our apparatus. Extra punctuation added by Lakshmana Rao has been removed. Lakshmana Rao 1930: 23 states that the plates are numbered, but does not indicate the plate numbering in his edition. We have added them below, assuming their location from parallels.

    Edition

    1b 1 (1) svasti vijayave[ṅgīpurād] [bha]gavaccitraratha(2)svāmipādānudhyāto bappabhaṭṭārakapā2a (3)dabhaktaḥ paramabhāgavataḥ śā[la]ṅkāya(4)ṇo mahārājaśrīnandivarmma kudrāhāre 2b 2 (5) viṣaye kuruvāḍagrāme munuḍasahitā (6) grāmeyakāṇāṁ jñāpayati svasti | °asmābhiḥ 3a (7) brāhmaṇāya maudgalyasagotrāya (8) prasiddhāya svāmicandrāya °asmatkulago3b 3 (9) [tradharmayaśo]bhivr̥ddhyarddham· °asmin grāme dvādaśa (10) bhūminivarttanāni pradattāni tad avetya 4a (11) (°a)māsyām paṭṭikā dattā ||
    IAnuṣṭubh
    a bahubhir vasudhā dattā b (12) bahubhiś cānupalitā |
    c yasya yasya yadā bhūmi- d (13) s tasya tasya tadā phalam·
    IIAnuṣṭubh
    a 4b 4 (14) ṣaṣṭivarṣasahasrāṇi b svarge krīḍati bhūmidaḥ
    c °ākṣeptā cābhimantā ca d tāny eva narake vased iti
    plate 1b 1
    (1) svasti vijayave[ṅgīpurād] [bha]gavaccitraratha-
    (2)svāmipādānudhyāto bappabhaṭṭārakapāplate 2a -
    (3)dabhaktaḥ paramabhāgavataḥ śā[la]ṅkāya-
    (4)ṇo mahārājaśrīnandivarmma kudrāhāre plate 2b 2
    (5) viṣaye kuruvāḍagrāme munuḍasahitā
    (6) grāmeyakāṇāṁ jñāpayati svasti | °asmābhiḥ plate 3a
    (7) brāhmaṇāya maudgalyasagotrāya
    (8) prasiddhāya svāmicandrāya °asmatkulagoplate 3b 3 -
    (9) [tradharmayaśo]bhivr̥ddhyarddham· °asmin grāme dvādaśa
    (10) bhūminivarttanāni pradattāni tad avetya plate 4a
    (11) (°a)māsyām paṭṭikā dattā ||     bahubhir vasudhā dattā
    (12) bahubhiś cānupalitā |     yasya yasya yadā bhūmi- -
    (13) s tasya tasya tadā phalam·     plate 4b 4
    (14) ṣaṣṭivarṣasahasrāṇi     svarge krīḍati bhūmidaḥ °ākṣeptā cābhimantā ca tāny eva narake vased iti 
    <ab xmlns="http://www.tei-c.org/ns/1.0">
					          <pb type="plate" n="1b"/>
					          <fw type="pageNum" place="marginleft">
                  <num value="1">1</num>
               </fw>
					          <lb n="1"/>
               <w xml:id="tok5720">svasti</w>
					          <w xml:id="tok5721">vijayave<unclear>ṅgīpurād</unclear>
               </w>
					          <w xml:id="tok5722">
                  <unclear>bha</unclear>gavaccitraratha<lb n="2" break="no"/>svāmipādānudhyāto</w>
					          <w xml:id="tok5723">bappabhaṭṭārakapā<pb type="plate" n="2a"/>
                  <lb n="3" break="no"/>dabhaktaḥ</w>
					          <w xml:id="tok5724">paramabhāgavataḥ</w>
					          <w xml:id="tok5725">śā<unclear>la</unclear>ṅkāya<lb n="4" break="no"/>ṇo</w>
					          <w xml:id="tok5726">mahārājaśrīnandivarmma</w>
					          <w xml:id="tok5727">kudrāhāre</w>
					          <pb type="plate" n="2b"/>
					          <fw type="pageNum" place="marginleft">
                  <num value="2">2</num>
               </fw>
					          <lb n="5"/>
               <w xml:id="tok5728">viṣaye</w>
					          <w xml:id="tok5729">kuruvāḍagrāme</w>
					          <w xml:id="tok5730">munuḍasahitā</w>
					          <lb n="6"/>
               <w xml:id="tok5731">grāmeyakāṇāṁ</w>
					          <w xml:id="tok5732">jñāpayati</w>
					          <w xml:id="tok5733">svasti</w>
					          <pc>|</pc>
					          <w xml:id="tok5734">°asmābhiḥ</w>
					          <pb type="plate" n="3a"/>
               <lb n="7"/>
               <w xml:id="tok5735">brāhmaṇāya</w>
					          <w xml:id="tok5736">maudgalyasagotrāya</w>
					          <lb n="8"/>
               <w xml:id="tok5737">prasiddhāya</w>
					          <w xml:id="tok5738">svāmicandrāya</w>
					          <w xml:id="tok5739">°asmatkulago<pb type="plate" n="3b"/>
                  <fw type="pageNum" place="marginleft">
                     <num value="3">3</num>
                  </fw>
                  <lb n="9" break="no"/>
                  <unclear>tradharmayaśo</unclear>bhivr̥ddhyarddham·</w>
					          <w xml:id="tok5740">°asmin</w>
					          <w xml:id="tok5741">grāme</w>
					          <w xml:id="tok5742">dvādaśa</w>
					          <lb n="10"/>
               <w xml:id="tok5743">bhūminivarttanāni</w>
					          <w xml:id="tok5744">pradattāni</w>
					          <w xml:id="tok5745">tad</w>
					          <w xml:id="tok5746">avetya</w>
					          <pb type="plate" n="4a"/>
               <lb n="11"/>
               <w xml:id="tok5747">
                  <supplied reason="lost">°a</supplied>māsyām</w>
					          <w xml:id="tok5748">paṭṭikā</w>
					          <w xml:id="tok5749">dattā</w>
					          <pc>||</pc>
				        </ab>
    <lg xmlns="http://www.tei-c.org/ns/1.0" xml:id="seq3035" met="Anuṣṭubh" n="I" xml:lang="san-Latn">
					          <l xml:id="seq2550" n="a">
						            <w xml:id="tok5750">bahubhir</w>
						            <w xml:id="tok5751">vasudhā</w>
						            <w xml:id="tok5752">dattā</w>
					          </l>
					          <l xml:id="seq2551" n="b">
						            <lb n="12"/>
                  <w xml:id="tok5753">bahubhiś</w>
						            <w xml:id="tok5754">cānupalitā</w>
						            <pc>|</pc>
					          </l>
					          <l xml:id="seq2552" n="c">
						            <w xml:id="tok5755">yasya</w>
						            <w xml:id="tok5756">yasya</w>
						            <w xml:id="tok5757">yadā</w>
						            <w xml:id="tok5758">bhūmi-</w>
               </l>
					          <l xml:id="seq2553" n="d">
                  <lb n="13" break="no"/>
                  <w xml:id="tok5759">s</w>
						            <w xml:id="tok5760">tasya</w>
						            <w xml:id="tok5761">tasya</w>
						            <w xml:id="tok5762">tadā</w>
						            <w xml:id="tok5763">phalam·</w>
					          </l>
				        </lg>
    <lg xmlns="http://www.tei-c.org/ns/1.0" xml:id="seq3036" met="Anuṣṭubh" n="II" xml:lang="san-Latn">
					          <l xml:id="seq2554" n="a">
						            <pb type="plate" n="4b"/>
                  <fw type="pageNum" place="marginleft">
                     <num value="4">4</num>
                  </fw>
						            <lb n="14"/>
                  <w xml:id="tok5764">ṣaṣṭivarṣasahasrāṇi</w>
					          </l>
					          <l xml:id="seq2555" n="b">
						            <w xml:id="tok5765">svarge</w>
						            <w xml:id="tok5766">krīḍati</w>
						            <w xml:id="tok5767">bhūmidaḥ</w>
					          </l>
					          <l xml:id="seq2556" n="c">
						            <w xml:id="tok5768">°ākṣeptā</w>
						            <w xml:id="tok5769">cābhimantā</w>
						            <w xml:id="tok5770">ca</w>
					          </l>
					          <l xml:id="seq2557" n="d">
						            <w xml:id="tok5771">tāny</w>
						            <w xml:id="tok5772">eva</w>
						            <w xml:id="tok5773">narake</w>
						            <w xml:id="tok5774">vased</w>
						            <w xml:id="tok5775">iti</w>
					          </l>
				        </lg>

    Apparatus

    • (4) -nandivarmma -nandivarmma⟨o*⟩ KVLR . We do not understand what Lakshmana Rao meant: -nandivarmma to be corrected to -nandivarmmo or -nandivarmm[o] ? We suggest reading -nandivarmmo or, more likely, -nandivarmmā.
    • (5-6) munuḍasahitā grāmeyakāṇāṁ jñāpayati svasti KVLR . We suggest reading mutuḍasahitān· grāmeyakān ājñāpayati °asti. See EIAD 166, lines 8-9: mutuḍasahitān grāmeyakān sam⟨ā⟩jñāpayati °asti.
    • (9) -vr̥ddhyarddham· KVLR . We suggest reading -vr̥ddhyarttham·.
    • (11) (°a)māsyām KVLR . We suggest reading °amāvāsyām, but the formula would still be incomplete. Several words seem to have been omitted in this part of the grant ( Lakshmana Rao 1930: 32, n. 4 ).

    Translation

    (1-6) Hail! From the victorious city of Veṅgī, the glorious great king Nandivarman, who is favored by the feet of the lord Citrarathasvāmin, devoted to the feet of his lord and a supreme devotee of the Lord, the Śālaṅkāyana, orders the villagers along with the headmen in the village of Kuruvāḍa in the province of Kudrāhāra:
    (6-10) ‘There are in this village, given by us to the famous Svāmicandra, who belongs to the gotra of the Maudgalyas, for the sake of increasing the merit (dharma) and fame or our lineage and gotra, twelve nivartanas of land.’
    (10-11) Knowing this, a charter has been given on a new-moon day.
    I.

    By numerous [kings], land has been given; and by many it has been protected. Whoever holds land at a given moment, to him does the fruit then belong.

    II.

    The giver of land revels sixty thousand years in heaven; the one who confiscates [land] as well as the one who allows [the confiscation] will reside as many [years] in hell.

    Secondary bibliography