Balaghat

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 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.