Expert: Anomaly in old epigraphs

?SOME OLD epigraphic records mention two different years of the reign of the same king, and this practice seems to have been followed by the Gupta emperors as well,? said Prof Maheshwari Prasad, director of Parswanath Vidyapeeth (Varanasi).

“SOME OLD epigraphic records mention two different years of the reign of the same king, and this practice seems to have been followed by the Gupta emperors as well,” said Prof Maheshwari Prasad, director of Parswanath Vidyapeeth (Varanasi).

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He was delivering a lecture on ‘Gupta inscriptions’ organised by Jnana-Pravaha, Centre for Cultural Studies and Research, in Samne ghat area on Tuesday.

Prof Prasad gave an example of the inscription of Chadragupta-II from Mathura, which records the ruler’s year of accession as well.

He added that this epigraph on the Trishul pillar was a specimen of the old Kushana paleography during the Gupta reign.

“The contents are also significant for the study of Shaiva sects in the Mathura region,” he said.

Prof Prasad also highlighted the importance of the cave inscriptions of Udaigiri, which were inscribed by Maharaja Sodhal, the chieftain of Chandragupta-II.

“Similarly, the second cave inscription of Udaigiri informs that Chandragupta-II came here with the intention of being victorious and got the epigraph recorded by paying homage to Lord Shiva,” he said.

Virasena of Pataliputra, who accompanied Chandragupta-II, executed this inscription, he added.

Jnana-Pravaha director Prof RC Sharma discussed the Gupta script in the light of paleography and legends, which were found on the beautiful gold coins of Gupta rulers.

“The significant point is that the language is chaste Sanskrit and sometimes, the expression is poetic,” he said.

The participants were given an opportunity to identify the Brahmi letters and read out some of the legends.