Community: Gupta epigraphy

An octagonal pillar with a circumference about 168 cm (width and depth not reported and estimated here on the basis of the circumference). No. IN00216 is engraved vertically, probably on two of its faces, while No. IN00217 is engraved horizontally on the faces not occupied by the first inscription; there is a blank space of about 10 cm on one side and 15 cm on the other side of the latter inscription. The arrangement of the inscriptions is not entirely clear from the reports of Halder 1929 and Altekar 1947, but it seems most likely that the vertical inscription reads from top to bottom (characters rotated right) and occupies about the upper half of the pillar, while the top of the horizontal inscription is level with the top (relative left-hand edge) of the vertical one. There is no apparent difference in the extant part of the two inscriptions. Altekar 1947 believes the horizontal one was engraved later and may have referred to a second benefaction of the ruler in the lost portion, or may be a copy engraved to facilitate reading.