Object type: Charter

The set of five copper plates were found when a field was being dug near the village of Mirēgaon. The inscription records the donation of the village Jalapura-vāṭaka to support a group of Brāhmaṇas by Prabhāvatī Guptā in the 20th year of the reign of her son, Pravarasena II. The contents of the plates are the same as the Ṛiddhapur plates except for the details of donations. The plate was drafted by a minister named Candra.

This charter, issued in the 19th year of Pravarasena II’s reign, records the donation of a piece of land in the north west of Matsakadraha village in honour of 19 Brāhmaṇas who are named in the inscription.

This set of five copper plates were discovered during archaeological excavations undertaken at Māṇḍhaḷ by the Department of Ancient Indian History, Culture and Archaeology, Nagpur University. These plates were discovered with two other later Vākāṭaka copper plate charters. Each charter was complete with ring and seal attached. This charter was issued from Pravarapura and it records the donation of the village Mayasagrāma in favour of Upādhyāya Māṭrisvāmin by Pravarasena II. The charter dates to the 16th and 17th year of Pravarasena II reign, with the first date recording the year when the donation was made and the second year recording when the charter was written and issued. According to the inscription one third of the religious merit of the donation is to go to Ājnākabhaṭṭārikā, mother of Narendrarāja, although it is not known who these two people are. According to Shastri, the identification of Mayasagrāma is not possible at present, but it is also not possible to rule out Māṇḍhaḷ as the possible location of the ancient village.

This set of four copper plates was discovered during the ploughing of a field in the village of Māṇḍhaḷ in 1982. The plates date to the 5th year of Rudrasena II’s reign and record the donation of four villages, Selludraha, Achchhabhallikā, Suragrāmakā and Aragrāmakā, which were used as a Brāhmaṇa settlement, occupied by Brāhmaṇa’s from different sects. The charter was written by Senāpati Vibhīshaṇa for Rudrasena II, and is stated to have been issued by the king himself following a command from Viṣṇu. Records so far do not specify in which field the copper plates were discovered.

According to the single plate of this charter, it was issued at Vatsagulma and starts immediately by citing Devasena’s order of the grant. The inscription records the donation of a village (unidentified) to two Brāhmaṇas Dharmasvāmin and Bhavasvāmin of the Śāṇḍilya gotra. According to Shastri 1997: 40-41, the exact location of the donated land is not known but may possibly be in the Akolā district.

This charter records the donation of the village Ākāsapadda to fourteen Brāhmaṇas by Vindhyaśakti II. The charter records the names of the Brāmaṇas and the share of the village which they were given. According to Shastri 1997: 39, the charter is important in that it proves that Pravarasena I, who ruled as part of the undivided family, had at least four sons who all became kings, which until the discovery of this charter had not been satisfactorily proven.

The charter consists of five plates, but only three bear inscription and the attached seal is also without inscription. According to Shastri 1997: 70, this indicates that the charter was left unfinished. Mirashi 1963: 79 also states that the charter was left incomplete as it does not specify the donation. It does however record the planned place of issue, Pṛthivīṣeṇa II’s temporary residence at Vembāra, which Mirashi 1963: 80 has identified with the modern village of Bembāl, 28 miles east of Chandrapur and 2 miles west of the Waingaṅhā river. Although incomplete, the importance of the inscription lies in its mention of Pṛthivīṣeṇa II and his father Narendrasena II. Prior to the discovery of this charter, neither ruler was known as only grants of Pravarasena II were known before 1893. Because of this, the description of both Narendrasena II, Pravarasena II’s son (?) and Pṛthivīṣeṇa II were new contributions to the known Vākāṭaka history.

This plate, the fourth of a five plate charter, was discovered whilst digging for manganese in the Mānsar area. It is not know where the donated areas are or where the plate was issued.

This inscription, of which only one plate is now known, records the donation of the village of Śrīparṇakā by Pravarasena II to three beneficiaries: Gaṅgārya, Vasurārya and Rudrārya. The charter was issued to replace an earlier grant of the village Māṇapallikā. The donation was made to augment the religious merit of Pravarasena II’s mother, Prabhāvatī Guptā, indicating that she is still alive at the time of issue. However, as only one of the plates of this grant is known, the date and place of issue is not known.

The copper plates date to year 23 of Pravarasena II and record the donation to Varuṇārya, a resident of Cāndrapura, of the village Kosambakhaṇḍa in order to gain religious merit for both Pravarasena II and his mother Prabhāvatī Guptā.