Toshām, Haryana. Rock face with Vaiṣṇava inscription.
| Metadata | |
|---|---|
| Inscription ID | IN00111 |
| Title | Tosham Rock Inscription of Somatrāta |
| Alternative titles | |
| Parent Object | OB00102 |
| Related Inscriptions | IN00112 IN00113 |
| Responsibility | |
| Author | Dániel Balogh |
| Print edition recorded by | Dániel Balogh |
| Source encoded | |
| Digitally edited by | |
| Edition improved by | Dániel Balogh |
| Authority for | Own research. |
| Metadata recorded by | Dániel Balogh |
| Authority for metadata | |
| Metadata improved by | |
| Authoriy for improved | |
| Language | संस्कृतम् |
| Reigning monarch | |
| Commissioner | Somatrāta |
| Topic | Establishment of a residence and the building of water reservoirs. |
| Date: | |
| Min | 350 |
| Max | 499 |
| Comment | Basis of dating: palaeography. Fleet: late 4th or early 5th century. If that is correct, the inscription and building work was conducted in the time of Candragupta II. |
| Hand | |
| Letter size | 1.9-3.8 |
| Description | northern class but includes southern ḷ |
| Layout | |
| Campus: | |
| Width | 130 |
| Height | 67 |
| Description | Width approximate. Inscribed on the rock surface in 8 lines of irregular length. The beginnings of lines are not flush, owing to the unevenness of the surface. The first two lines form a block; the next three lines another block beginning further right, and the last three lines beginning further right again. The characters of the first two lines seem to be larger. |
| Decoration | A wheel is engraved on the rock about 30 cm below the last line of the inscription, but the two are not necessarily connected. IN00113 is closer to the symbol. ASIR 05: 138 calls the wheel a sun-standard; Fleet 1888: 269 says it may be a dharmacakra or a sun symbol. I think it is most likely a Sudarśana cakra, given the inscriptions. |
| Bibliography | |
| References | Reported in ASIR 05: 138-140, with eye copy (Plate 40 No. 5), transliteration and translation (by Babu Pratap Chandra Ghosh). First edited in Fleet 1888. Metrical issues discussed in Kielhorn 1899, Kielhorn 1905-06: 27, Venkatasubbiah 1936a, Venkatasubbiah 1936b. |
| Add to bibliography | |
| Misc notes | Local tradition (reported by Bird in ASIR 05: 138) believes the inscription is a clue to hidden treasure and that it says “बाईं ओर नौ करोड़”. |