North Indian Inscriptions

INSCRIPTIONS OF THE YAJVAPALAS OF NARWAR

No. 176 ; PLATE CXLI
SURWĀYĀ STONE INSCRIPTION OF THE TIME OF GŌPĀLADEVA
[ Vikrama ] Year 1341

THE stone bearing this inscription was found in an old ruined well, locally known as Dabia bāōḍī in a jungle about 5 kms. to the north of Surwāyā^[4] a tiny hamlet on the Jhāṅsī-Sīpri metalled road, about 20 kms. to the east of Sīprī, the headquarters of a tehsīl and district in Madhya Pradesh. Removed from its original place some time in 1918 by the late Shri M. B. Garde who found the stone in the well, it was for some time exhibited in the portico of a temple at Surwāyā and was subsequently transported to the archaeological museum at Gwālior where it now exists. The inscription was briefly noticed in a publication of the department of archaeology of the former Gwālior State and entitled ‘A Guide to Surwāyā’ (1919), on pp. 25-26 and illustrated on plate XII. It was also included by D. R. Bhandarkar in his List of Inscriptions in Northern India (No. 607). It is edited here for the first time from the original stone which I examined in the Museum where it exists, and from an impression of it which I owe to the Curator of the Museum.

The inscription covers a space 43. 5 cms. broad by 42.5 cms. high. It is engraved on a counterstruck surface of a dark pinkish stone which has broad borders on all the four sides including which, the stone measures 57.5 cms. in each side. The writing is in a state of good preservation, except a letter each in the middle of 11, 6-9, which has been abraded though it can be read with certainty. The letters are well formed and carefully cut and their size is about 1.5 cms., except in the last line where are a little smaller. On the upper border of the stone and separated from the main body of the record, is another line, 20 cms. long, in slightly bigger letters which are sparsely written. It reads Paṁḍita-Sōmadhara-putra-īśvara-vāpikā ; and similarly, on the right side of the lower border of it is engraved another line which gives the name of the engraver of the record with date in figures.

The characters are Nāgarī of the thirteen century A.C., to which the record belongs. They are symmetrical in form and are written and cut more carefully than those of the preceding

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^[1]The sign of repha on the bracketed latter is very faintly carved.
^[2] On this name, see n. in the edition of the inscription.
^[3 It is the sign showing auspiciousness. On the lower border of the stone, in the middle but slightly towards the left is engraved in the same hand
(Sanskrit) ||
^[4] The history and antiquities of this place are described ‘in A. S. I. R., XXIV, p. 25 and also in the P. R. A. S., W. C., for 1915-16, p. 11.