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    Melikian Collection > Collections > Artworks > Collector's Favorites > Copperplate Land Grant (Vidyadharabhanjadeva)


MATERIAL: Copper
TYPE: Manuscript
DIMENSIONS: 10 x 15 cm (each plate) 8cm (exterior diameter of ring including boss)
COMPONENTS: 3 plates; ring
Inscription Translation: Translation Perfection. Victory to the browless eye of Hara, bright as a streak of gold, which is skilled in shattering the life of the Blossom-arrowed One, which renders the crescent of the moon pale by the strength of its own wreath of rays, [and] which is a brilliant light illuminating [everything] within the triple world. May the destroyers of all sin, the waves of the water of the River of the Gods protect you, which [waves] flash forth like the hoods of the serpent Shesha with the brilliance of the resplendent moon, which undulate ever so high, like the millions of peaks of the Snow Mountain, [and] which shine like the arms of Shambhu thrown about in the exuberance of dance. Greetings from victorious Vanjulvaka [town]. There is a king called (Anopamakalasha), who is the abode of fortune and victory, whose host of manifest virtues overpower all the multitude of [his] enemies, who has washed off the stain that is the sin of Kali [and] who is the ornament of the spotless family of Bhanja. [He is the] {great-grandson} of the great king Shri Ranabhanjadeva, the grandson of Shri Digbhanjadeva, the son of Shri Shilabhanjadeva, the supreme devotee of Maheshvara, dedicated to [his] mother and father, the ornament of the spotless family of Bhanja: the great king Shri Vidyadharabhanjadeva. [He], in sound health, honours according to merit the various governors and landlords and officials in the region of … and informs them: item, we are altogether well; item, let it be known to your honours that in a rite preceded by an offering of water we have given the village (Andaraha) belonging to this region, delineated by four boundaries, to … of the gotra Shandilya and the pravara Asita Daivala, son of Koruka, grandson of … [to belong to him] as long as the Moon and Sun [abide], in order to increase the merit of [our] mother {and father} and ourselves. Whoever owns land at a particular time, its fruit is his for that time. O kings, have no anxiety [that land may be] fruitless because it was given by another. Whoever should seize land, whether given by himself or given by another shall [in his next birth] become a worm and be stewed in his own faeces along with [his] ancestors. Thus, considering that glory and the human life are as fickle as a drop of water on a lotus leaf, and keeping in mind all this that has been quoted, men ought not to destroy the fame of another. [This deed] has been sealed by the great queen Shri Trikalinga [and] by minister (Bhattastambha)deva [and] by the aide …, written [i.e. composed] by the minister of peace and war Shri Stambha, and engraved by the goldsmith Kumarachandra. Marks used in the translations square brackets [] mark words supplied to make the translation smoother rounded parentheses () mark uncertain readings curly braces {} mark guesswork and conjecture based on similar inscriptions slashes / mark alternative translations of ambiguous or punning words italics mark translator’s comments
ITEM ID: 541

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Copperplate Land Grant (Vidyadharabhanjadeva)

DATE
Year: 1050
Decade: 1050s
Century: 11th (1001-1100)

A Copperplate land grand of Vidyadharabhanjadeva from Eastern India, Orissa in the 11th – 12th century AD. This is a land grant issued by Vidyādharabhañjadeva of the Bhañja Dynasty in present-day Odisha (formerly Orissa, Eastern India). The inscription bears no apparent date and the dynasty itself has not been assigned any accurate dates; the 11th to 12th century AD is a rather likely period. The site of the capital city Vañjulvaka has not been properly identified, but was probably located in the south-eastern part of today’s Odisha statesThe script is an eastern version of the Nāgarī script of Northern India; the language is Sanskrit, but – like other known inscriptions of this dynasty – it is full of grammatical and spelling errors. The plates should be read in the sequence F–B, i.e. the page with only three lines of script comes last.