Object type: Plate

The inscription is engraved on a copper plate, which was found in 1893 at the ruins of what was then believed to be the Abhayagiri Vihāra in Anuradhapura. This vihāra has since been correctly identified as the Jetavana vihāra. The text of the copper-plate inscription is written in the Nāgāri script. It was first edited in the first volume of Epigraphia Zeylanica (p. 40) by Wickremasinghe, who believed the language of the inscription to be mixed Sanskrit. However, Paranavitana recognised that the text was actually in Pāli and published a revised in the third volume of Epigraphia Zeylanica (p. 170). As Paranavitana noted, apart from one or two clerical errors, the verse is identical with the verse of the Vaṭṭaka Jātaka. The plate was the votive offering of a Buddhist pilgrim. However, it is not known whether the pilgrim was from North India or a Sri Lankan devotee who was acquainted with the Nāgāri script. Although this script is used in a number of other inscriptions from Sri Lanka, including some stone records, many clay votive tablets and certain coin legends from the tenth century, this copper plate is an unusual – and perhaps unique – example of the script being used for the Pāli language in medieval times. The peculiar formation of some of the letters was probably due to the scribe being somewhat unfamiliar with script, while the orthographical errors in the inscription may be due to the fact that the script was not generally used to write in Pāli.

The verse was uttered by the Bodhisattva, then born as a quail, when the jungle fire was advancing to swallow him, and when his father and mother had fled. As soon as the verse was uttered, the progress of the fire was checked and the surrounding area was rendered immune from fire for a whole aeon. The incident is counted as one of the five great miracles of the Bodhisattva’s career. It is therefore easy to understand that this stanza should have been considered a fitting subject to be engraved on copper and used as a votive offering. It may also have been used as a charm against fire.

INIG1304a caitra śudi 1 budhavāra Kurethā (Sheopur). Copper-plate inscription. 19 lines, nāgarī, Sanskrit. Mentions the donation of Guḍhhāgrāma in favour of nāyaka Vaccheka or Vaccha by Pratīhāra king Naravarman, younger brother of Malayavarman. Composed by Purutyama (possibly a mistake for Puruṣottama) and engraved by the goldsmith Saḍheka. Now in Archaeological Museum, Gwalior.

INIG1277 jeṣṭha badi 15 ravidine Kurethā (Sheopur). Copper-plate inscription. 25 lines, nāgarī, Sanskrit. Mentions donations and the Pratīhāra king Malayavarman. The royal lineage is given as Naṭula, Pratāpasiṁha and Vigraha and his queen Ālhaṇadevī; she was the daughter of the Cāhamāṇa Kelhaṇa and mother of Malayavaman. The king granted Kudavaṭhe (modern Kurethā) to Vatsa and Haripāla, brahmaṇas of the Vāsala gotra. The plate is now in the Archaeological Museum, Gwalior.

INIG1233 kārttika badi 8 budhavāre Pachār (Jhānsī). Copper-plate inscription. 22 lines, nāgarī, Sanskrit. Records the grant of land in the village of Lauvā in Karigavā viṣaya to paṇḍita Keśavaśarman by paramabhaṭṭāraka mahārājādhirāja parameśvara śrī Paramardideva of the Candella dynasty. Now in the State Museum, Lucknow.

INIG1177b kārttika badi amāvāsyāyāṁ ravidine Narwar (Shivpuri). Copper-plate inscription of Kacchapaghāta Vīrasiṁhadeva. Number of lines not given, nāgarī, Sanskrit. Mentions Gaganasiṁhadeva, his successor Śaradasiṁhadeva and his successor Vīrasiṁhadeva who allotted Babāḍa village in various shares to a number of individuals. Written by Salakṣaṇa son of ṭhakkur Arjuna.