North Indian Inscriptions

INSCRIPTIONS OF THE CHANDELLAS OF JEJAKABHUKTI

No. 129 ; PLATE CXVI

ICHCHHĀVAR COPPER-PLATE INSCRIPTION OF PARAMARDIDĒVA

[Vikrama] Year 1228

THE two copper-plates which bear this inscription are stated to have been found some time in the closing years of the century, in the ruins on the western side of the modern village of Ichchhāvar,⁸ which is also known as Nichhāvar and lies in the Pailānī tahsīl of the Bāndā District in Uttar Pradesh. The ruins go by the name of Dhanēsar, or Dhānīkhēḍā, and are surrounded by a lake which is called Bahī Tāl, and sometimes as the Madana-Sāgar, the latter of these names being applied to it in commemoration of the Chandēlla king Madanavarman who was the grandfather of the ruler who issued the present grant. The circumstances under which the plates were obtained are not known ; but it is stated that they somehow came in the possession of Dr. William Hoey and appear to have been presented by him to the Provincial Museum at Lucknow, where they are now preserved. Dr. Hoey published his article on the inscription, jointly with V. A. Smith, giving a full summary of the contents of it, in the Journal of the Bengal Asiatic Society, Vol. LXIV, Pt. I (1895), pp. 155-58, with a facsimile Plate (VII), but without a transcript. Subsequently, the record was edited by F. Kielhorn, who transcribed it from the photolithograph appearing in the Journal of the As. Soc., and his article, without a facsimile, appeared in the Indian Antiquary, Vol. XXV (1896), pp. 205 ff. The inscription is edited here from a set of fresh impressions which I owe to the Director of the Lucknow Museum where the plates are now exhibited.

As stated above, they are two copper-plates, each of them measuring about 33∙65 cms. in length and 25∙5 cms. in breadth. Both the plates are inscribed on the inner side only. For the
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¹ The reading of this letter is not certain but I have adopted Cunningham’s reading. The rēpha on the second syllable is indistinct, but it is clear on the same letter in No. 137, l. 5, below.
² Cunningham read naiyapadanam, but the first two of the letters are quite distinct, and the reading as in the transcript appears to be certain. However, with either of the reading the sense is not clear.
³ The whole line appears to have been intended for :.
⁴ The reading of this syllable is doubtful. If it is as taken here, this letter is a contraction of ṭhakkura. The other possibility of reading it is ṇa and taking the whole as -varēṇa.
⁵ The first letter in this line has disappeared, leaving only a trace. It has been restored here from the same word appearing in the inscription which is edited below, No. 137.
⁶ Perhaps it means ‘lord of the Saṁkāliyā- 12, applied to the excavator of the well. See n, on the same word on No. 121, above.
⁷ Some traces after this word probably indicate that a portion of the inscription is lost in this line.
⁸ Situated in Long. 80 ̊ 34’ E.; Lat. 25 ̊ 52’ N. The name is also spelt as Ichchhāvar.