Inscription number 75.
Vappaghoshavata Plate of Jayanaga
Provenance Uncertain.Now in the Museum of Perth. The provenance of this charter appears to be either improperly recorded for a long time or was unknown and was therefore handed over to Museum of Perth. This was followed by several unsuccessful attempts to translate and annotate the plate. Morrison had also committed similar mistake when he
referred to the find-spot of another Jayanaga’s copperplate.
L. D. Burnett and R. D. Banerji, the two editors of the plate,· regarding identification of the localities mentioned in the record. Burnett sug-
gests that The names of places mentioned by them, besides
Karrasuvarqaka, are the Audumbarika
is the village of Vappaghoshavata.
There were a few serious efforts recent studies on the provenances & archeological sites of
Bengal.
Jayanaga is also not known from any other source, except some coins. bearing the abbreviated name Jaya’ on
the obverse, and Lakshmi standing on lotus, elephants, on either side with trunks raised over her head
possibly emitting showers (see . Allan, B.MC. cat. of coins of the Gupta Dynasties, pp.1, xi, civ, cxxiii,
150-51 and Pl.xxiv) These coins, Allan has attributed to this king.
Jayanaga seems to have been one of the successors of the Imperial Guptas in east Bengal. Like Dharmaditya, Gopachandra and samacharadeva, assumed the imperial title, though,not ruling over a big kingdom. Possibly all these rulers were pretenders to the Gupta throne & their imperial
status.
Greig, who presented it to the Museum
has.left a signed note prefixed to a crude translation of the plate, made in the year 1854, *Translation of
a copper Plate found in the indigo Estate at Mallia,
etc. –” Mallia could not be located.
Script: Gupta Brahmi, of the later half of the sixth century A.D.
Language: Sanskrit.
References: D. Banett, Ep.Ind., XVIII, pp. 60-64.
Footnote 1.
- From facsimile in Ep.Ind, XVIII, facing pp, 63.
- Expressed by the spiral symbol.
- H Beviridge identifies Karnasuvarna, the capital of the ancient kingdom of the same name, with the
modern city of Rangamati near Murshidabad, which was earlier known as Kansona. These latter names correspond phonetically to Karnasuvarna.
Footnote 2.
- The Gangini, now known as the Jalangi in Nadia district of East Bengal is mentioned by the Bengali poet Bharata chandra Raya (1740 AD.) in his
Ananda-Mangala (Ed. M.R. Vidyavagish Calcutta, 1857, pp.136 and 151), as flowing by the village of Andulia,
which still exists.
English Translation of the inscription.
Om ! Peace ! In the year of the rise – – – of the Paramabhagavata, divine Maharajadhiraja Sri Jayanaga, when
he was resident in Karnasuvarnaka, and during the period when
his illustrious feudatory chief Narayanabhadra, who meditates
on his feet, is in enjoyment of the Audumbarika district
(vishaya), his Commissioner Mahapratihara Suryasena, is
functioning as administrator of justice, the illustrious chief
i.e Narayanabhadra, gave him ( the commissioner ) the order,
The village of vappaghoshavata has been given as a perpetual
endowment by me, to Bhatta Brahmavira svamin of Kasyapa lineage
and a student of the chhandoga sakha (of the samaveda), for
the increase of merit of my mo ther, Father and myself, You are
to issue (him) a copper-plate charter (duely) marked (lit. adorned) with the District seal, (and) specifying the boundaries.
The boundary marks in this respect are:- on the west, the
boundary of the existing copper-chartered land of the Brahmanas of Kutkutagramas, on the north is the Ganginika river, on the
east the same Gangikikas issuing thence and running along the
western boundary of Amalapautika-grama (the boundary mark) is the mustard road it is limited by the same boundary as far
as Bhatta Unmilanasvamins grant and from the southern section.
thereof, again turning along the very same boundary to the
north direction, reaches as far as the boundary of Bharani- svamins grant thence also zigzagging (pragunena enters the temple-pond of vakhatasumalika (located) on the boundary of Bhatta Unmilanasvamin’s grant (and) goes as far as the same
boundary of the Brahmanas of Kutkutagrama.
Line 15 and 2 or 3 Syllables at the end of 1.14 have been deliberately erased, according to Barnett.