Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7fkt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-03T19:55:41.378Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

New copperplate grant of Śrīcandra (no. 8) from Bangladesh1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 June 2010

Benjamin J. Fleming
Benjamin J. Fleming*
Affiliation:
University of Pennsylvania
*
[email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This article is the first publication of the Bogra copperplate, the eighth known land-grant inscription issued by Śrīcandra (r. c. 925–975 ce), one of the kings of the Candra dynasty of Bengal. A diplomatic transcription is included, together with an annotated English translation and a critically edited text in Devanāgarī. The inscription describes a gift of land to a Brahmin named Śrīkaradatta Śarman, who probably hails from North Bengal (“Hastipada [in the region of] Śrāvasti”). While the praśasti (praise) portions largely parallel the king's other known inscriptions, the inscription contributes new information about place names and regions associated with the Candra dynasty, as well as attesting the movements of Brahmins associated with the Parāśara Gotra and Chandoga Caraṇa. The article also provides an overview and assessment of research on the inscriptions and history of the Candra dynasty, particularly in light of the discovery and identification of this new inscription.

Type
Articles
Information
Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies , Volume 73 , Issue 2 , June 2010 , pp. 223 - 244
Copyright
Copyright © School of Oriental and African Studies 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

1

I would like to thank Dave Smith for bringing this copperplate to my attention and for his generosity in allowing me to examine it first-hand. Thanks to Whitney Cox and Dragomir Dimitrov for their detailed critiques and suggestions, which have greatly improved the present article. I am also grateful to Daud Ali, Sucharita Adluri, Shayne Clarke, Michael Witzel, Victor Mair, Deven Patel, Shaman Hatley, Andrew Glass, Kevin Bond, Annette Yoshiko Reed, and Jamal Elias. I would like to acknowledge James F. Connell and the Antiquities-Science List for encouraging the discussion of this plate and providing a venue leading to its recognition. Preliminary findings on this plate were presented at the Oriental Club of Philadelphia (20 February 2008) and at the Canadian Society for the Study of Religion Annual Meeting (2 June 2008). Research for this article was supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

References

Ahmad, N. 1990. “Assam–Bengal trade in the medieval period: a numismatic perspective”, Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, 33/2, 169–98.Google Scholar
Ahmad, N. 1994. “Economy of ancient Assam: a review in historical perspective”, in Sangma, M. S. (ed.), Essays on North-East India: Presented in Memory of Professor V. Venkata Rao. New Delhi: Indus Publishing, 93–107.Google Scholar
Ali, D. 2000. “Royal eulogy as world history”, in Inden, R., Walters, J. and Ali, D. (eds), Querying the Medieval. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 165–229.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Banerji, A. 1960. “Identification of Vyāghrataṭi Maṇḍala”, Indian Historical Quarterly, 36/1, 78–9.Google Scholar
Banerji, R. D. 1913–14. “The Tarpandighi grant of Lakshmana Sena”, Epigraphia Indica, XII, 6–10.Google Scholar
Banerji, R. D. 1917–18. “The Naihati grant of Vallala-Sena”, Epigraphia Indica, XIV, 156–63.Google Scholar
Barua, B. K. 1952. Early Geography of Assam. Nowgong: Shri K.K. Barooah.Google Scholar
Basak, R. G. 1913–14. “Rampal copper-plate grant of Srichandradeva”, Epigraphia Indica, XII, 136–42.Google Scholar
Basak, R. G. 1949–50. “Madanpur plate of Srichandra; Year 44”, Epigraphia Indica, XXVIII, 51–8.Google Scholar
Bhandarkar, R. G. 1913. Vaiṣṇavism, Śaivism, and Minor Religious Systems. Strasbourg: K. J. Trübner.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bhattasali, N. K. 1923–24a. “The Kedarpur plate of Sri-chandra-deva”, Epigraphia Indica, XVII, 188–92.Google Scholar
Brough, J. 1953. The Early Brahmanical system of Gotra and Pravara. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Chattopadhya, A. (trans.). 1990. Tāranātha's History of Buddhism in India. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.Google Scholar
Chaudhury, K. G. 1966. “Paschimbhag copper-plate of Maharaja Srichandradeva (10th century A.D.)”, in The Nalini Kanta Bhattasali Commemoration Volume. Dhaka: Dhaka Museum, 166–98.Google Scholar
Chowdhury, A. M. 1967. Dynastic History of Bengal. Dacca: Asiatic Society.Google Scholar
Dani, A. H. 1961. “Chandras of East Bengal in light of the newly-discovered inscriptions”, Proceedings of Indian History Congress, 23, 36–44.Google Scholar
Dani, A. H. 1966. “Mainamati plates of the Chandras”, Pakistan Archaeology, 3, 22–55.Google Scholar
Datta, S. 1989. Migrant Brahmaṇas in Northern India: Their Settlement and General Impact, c. A.D. 475–1030. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.Google Scholar
Dimitrov, D. et al. 2002. “Tables of Old Bengali script (on the basis of a Nepalese manuscript of Daṇḍin's Kāvyādarśa)”, in Dimitrov, Dragomir et al. (eds), Indian and Tibetan Studies. Vienna: Arbeitskreis für Tibetische und Buddhistische Studien, Universität Wien, 27–78.Google Scholar
Emeneau, M. B. 1969. “Sanskrit syntactic particles – Kila, Khalu, Nūnam”, Indo-Iranian Journal, 11/4, 241–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ferrier, C. and Törzsök, J.. 2008. “Meditating on the king's feet? Some remarks on the expression pādānudhyāta”, Indo-Iranian Journal, 51, 93–113.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fleet, J. F. 1894–95. “Pattadakal pillar inscription of the time of Kirtivarman II”, Epigraphia Indica, III, 1–49.Google Scholar
Von Hinüber, O. 2005. “Der bhūmicchidranyāya”, Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft, 155/2, 483–95.Google Scholar
Huntington, S. L. 1984. The “Pāla-Sena” Schools of Sculpture. Leiden: E. J. Brill.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jahan, S. H. 2006. Excavating Waves and Winds of (Ex)change: A Study of Maritime Trade in Early Bengal. Oxford: John and Erica Hedges.Google Scholar
Kudo, Noriyuki. 2004. “Remarks on the orthography of the Kāśyaparivarta manuscripts: ‘Visarga-daṇḍa’ in verses”, in Tachikawa, Musashi and Hino, Shōun (eds), Three Mountains and Seven Rivers: Prof. Musashi Tashikawa's felicitation volume. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 73–95.Google Scholar
Luce, G. H., with Shin, Bo-Hmu Ba. 1969. “Old Burma–Early Pagán”, Vol. I: Text. (Artibus Asiae Supplementum, 25.) New York: J. J. Augustin.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Majumdar, G. S. 1983. Buddhism in Ancient Bengal. Calcutta: Navana.Google Scholar
Majumdar, N. G. 1929. Inscriptions of Bengal. Vol. III. Rajshahi: The Varendra Research Society.Google Scholar
Majumdar, N. G. 1933. “Irda copper-plate of the Kamboja king Nayapaladeva”, Epigraphia Indica, XXII, pt. IV, 150–59.Google Scholar
Majumdar, R. C. 1971. History of Ancient Bengal. Calcutta: Bharadwaj & Co.Google Scholar
Majumdar, R. C. 1943. History of Bengal, Vol. I. Dacca: Dacca University Press.Google Scholar
Mills, E. M. 1993. “A copper plate from the reign of Sricandra”, South Asian Studies, 9, 77–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morrison, B. M. 1970. Political Centers and Culture Regions in Early Bengal. Tucson: University of Arizona Press.Google Scholar
Mukherji, R. and Maity, S. K.. 1967. Corpus of Bengal Inscriptions. Calcutta: Firma.Google Scholar
Niyogi, P. 1967. Brahmanic Settlements in Different Subdivisions of Ancient Bengal. (Indian Studies Past and Present.) Calcutta: R. D. Press.Google Scholar
Salomon, R. 1998. Indian Epigraphy. New York: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sanderson, A. 2009. “The Śaiva age – the rise and dominance of Śaivism during the early medieval period”, in Einoo, S. (ed.), Genesis and Development of Tantrism. Tokyo: Institute of Oriental Culture, 41–349.Google Scholar
Sen, B. 1942. Some Historical Aspects of the Inscriptions of Bengal. Calcutta: Calcutta University.Google Scholar
Singh, J. P. 1994. “Kings of Kamarupa: friends and guests of Indra”, in Sangma, M. S. (ed.), Essays on Northeast India: Presented in Memory of Professor V. Venkata Rao. (NEHU History Series 2.) New Delhi: Indus Publishing Company, 86–92.Google Scholar
Sircar, D. C. 1949–50. “Epigraphic notes: 3. Madanpur plate of Śrīcandra, year 46”, Epigraphia Indica, XXVIII, 337–9.Google Scholar
Sircar, D. C. 1959–60. “Dhulla plate of Srichandra”, Epigraphia Indica, XXXIII, 134–40.Google Scholar
Sircar, D. C. 1965. Indian Epigraphy. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.Google Scholar
Sircar, D. C. 1966. Indian Epigraphical Glossary. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.Google Scholar
Sircar, D. C. 1967–68. “Pashimbhag plate of Srichandra, year 5”, Epigraphia Indica, XXXVII, 289–304.Google Scholar
Sircar, D. C. 1970. “Mainamati plates of the Chandra kings”, Epigraphica Indica, XXXVIII, pt. 5, 197–214.Google Scholar
Sircar, D. C. 1971. Studies in the Geography of Ancient and Medieval India. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.Google Scholar
Sircar, D. C. 1978. “Some aspects of the history of Assam and its neighborhood”, Journal of the Assam Research Society, 24, 1–12.Google Scholar
Sircar, D. C. 1983. Select Inscriptions Bearing on Indian History and Civilization. Vol. II. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.Google Scholar
Takakusu, J. (trans.). 1896. A Record of the Buddhist Religion as Practiced in India and the Malay Archipelago (ad 671–95) by Itsing. Oxford: Clarendon.Google Scholar
Tripathi, R. 1987. Social and Religious Aspects in Bengal Inscriptions. Calcutta: Firma.Google Scholar
Whitney, W. D. 1879. A Sanskrit Grammar. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Witzel, M. 1993. “Toward a history of the Brahmins”, Journal of the American Oriental Society 113/2, 264–8.Google Scholar
Young, I. 1993. Diversity in Pre-exilic Hebrew. Tübingen: Mohr.Google Scholar