The Dubi copperplate inscription are the inscriptions of a grant issued by Bhaskaravarman of Kamarupa. This is the earliest of all copper plate grants issued by Kamarupa kings discovered so far.[1] This was an issue after an earlier charter, issued by Bhutivarman, was destroyed.[2] There are five copper plates in this collection, with seventy-six verses in Sanskrit, written in the eastern variety of North Indian alphabet prevalent in the sixth and seventh centuries.[3] All six plates in this grant were first discovered around 1950 during digging near a Siva temple in Dubi village about three miles from the Pathsala railway station, Kamrup district, Assam;[4] but the sixth plate was irrecoverably destroyed soon after discovery. These plates are currently in the Assam State Museum.[5] This plate was issued before the Nidhanpur copperplate inscription,[6] during the earlier part of Bhaskkaravarman's reign.[7]
Seal edit
The bundle of plates is held together with a ring and a bronze seal. The seal is oval in shape, with a countersunk figure of an elephant from front at the top, a typical feature of all Kamarupa seals.[8] The bottom two-thirds of the seal has eleven lines of Sanskrit text, with the text separated from the elephant figure with a line. The text gives the line of kings from the great king of kings Sri Pushyavarma, the lord of Pragjyotisha[9] to Bhaskaravarman, with some of the names replaced by synonyms.[10]
Notes edit
- ^ (Sharma 1978:28)
- ^ (Sharma 1978:29)
- ^ (Sharma 1978:10)
- ^ (Lahiri 1991:26)
- ^ (Sharma 1978:10)
- ^ Sharma 1978, p. 10.
- ^ Sharma 1978, p. 29: in Sircar (1954)
- ^ (Sharma 1978:34): "The figure of an elephant is invariably present in all the available seals attached to the CP grants of the Kamarupa kings."
- ^ Sharma 1978, p. 33.
- ^ Sharma 1978, p. 34.
References edit
- Lahiri, Nayanjot (1991). Pre-Ahom Assam: Studies in the Inscriptions of Assam between the Fifth and the Thirteenth Centuries AD. Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt Ltd.
- Sharma, Mukunda Madhava (1978). Inscriptions of Ancient Assam. Guwahati, Assam: Gauhati University.