Inscription number 25.
Indore Grant of Maharaja Svamidesa -(Gupta) year 67 (=386-87 A.D.)
The right of subinfeudation that is not only cultivate the land oneself but also be able to get it cultivated by someone else has been mentioned in this indore inscription.
Indore occupies an important place in
the ancient history of India. It is
situated in west Madhya Pradesh on the southern edge of the Malwa plateau. It’s original name is Indrapura. Indore’s recorded history begins from the Gupta Empire as far back as 465 AD.
Provenance: Some unknown place in Madhya Pradesh.
D.R Bhandarkar obtained them from a Brahman in the erstwhile Indore state, Madhya Pradesh.
Script: Southern class of Brahmi closely resembling the script of the Sanchi stone inscription of Chandragupta 2.
Language: Sanskrit.
References: R.C. Mazumdar, Ep.Ind. XV, pp.286-90.
Footnote-1
1. His title Maharaja and his epithet परमभट्टारक्यादानुद्वयात
indicate that he was a feudatory chief, almost certainly under the Imperial Guptas who without exception bore the title Parama-bhattaraka. since
67 year reign is extremely rare, and since the characters of the record resemble those of the sanchi inscription of chandragupta 2 Vikramadiyta, dated in the Gupta Year 93, the year 67 of this grant
should also be referred to the Gupta era.
Footnote-2
1. From the facsimile in Ep.Ind, facing pp.289. The record is on one side of a single copper-plate.
2. पथक = district.
3. Mazundar suggests the identification of Nagarika with the site of the ancient town Nagar or Karkot. Nagar
about 120 km. from the borders of erstwhile Indore state,
and of Valmika-tallavataka or Tallavataka with the two
villages, naned chhota and Bara Adalwara, located north
and south of each other. The mention of Dakshina Tallavataka indicates that both of these villages existed
at the time, the present grant was made, necessitating differentiation.
English Translation of the inscription.
From Valkha, the illustrious Maharaja Svamidasa, who meditates on the feet of His supreme Majesty, commands all
the Ayuktakas, serving us. Be it known to you that we permit the grant as brahmadeya of the farm-land transferred by the merchant Arya and situated in the village of South Valmikatalla-vataka, in the district of Nagarika, to the Brahmana named
Munda, of Sandilya gotra, to be enjoyed by his sons, grandsons and their descendants as long as the sun, the moon and the stars endure. Thus having been hereby permitted by us to
enjoy (the farmland), all the persons attached to us and those belonging to their families should approve of his
enjoying it, cultivating it and causing it to be cultivated according to the proper (terms and conditions of) enjoyment
of bramadeya. The dutaka is Nanna-bhatti. The 5th day of
the bright half of (the month of) Jyeshtha, in the year 67 of Maharaja Sri Svamidasa.
Footnote-3.
1. S in sma is incompletely incised.
2. The Santaka is a Prakrit word derived from as and means, belonging to. It is used in the Divyavadana
several times, and is also frequently found in inscriptions (e.g. Pardi Plates of Dahrasena, Ep.Ind. X: pp- 51 ff, Supra II, 55 j and the inscriptions of the Vakataka kings, Supra III, 4 -7,9-11, (Fleet, Nos. 55,56). Valkha has been identified with modern Bagh.
Footnote-4.
1. The appendage, padam, indicates some sort of sanctity attached to the farm.
2. Fleet (Gupta Inss, pp.170) interprets the word pratyaya in the technical sense of ‘a holding’. But it is difficult to believe that a holding of another
man, is being transferred by the king, arbitrarily without compensation to the Brahmana. It is clear from the
text that the king was only permitting (samanujanimah) the enjoyment of the farm as a brahma-deya, i.e. along
with the immunities and concessions attached to land-gifts for Brahmanas. A mere transfer by the merchant would not have conferred upon him the immunities related to a brahmadeya.