182 Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. [June, 1909. 
IIT. — pistes of GE. 330. 
SAU ‘= ATT aTeaafag ac 1a- 
aacifacatwgeanmarfexreas faaqaalaa- 
aTaraat(a)faara | 
IV. Alina plates of G.E. 337. 
srauctafawawenaraa (Aare ue agra aaa aa- 
uifaeataay aaa a Lares MITA OAL T MTT , 
these are Ham four copper-plate inscriptions of different 
dates, but all found at Alina and belonging to the Valabhi princes. 
The grantees are all Brahmanas of the Sarkkarakshi gétra and 
natives of Anandapura or Anarttapura, i.c., Vadnagar. They 
were thus Nagar Brahmanas by caste. Now, what deserves to 
be noticed in this connection is that the names of the donees 
names themselves, and not anything separable from them / 
dered to be a necessary part of the proper name. Can we then 
suppose that it is a mere honorific suffix like sarmd, attached to 
the names of Brahmanas ? This supposition also does not seem 
probable, for such an honorific suffix as applied to the Brahma- 
nas is unknown to Sanskrit literature and Indian epigraphy.* 
Again, in Inscription No. II, both the grantee and his father, 
who are called mitra, are also styled bhatia, which would be 
superfluous if mitra were, like it, a mere respectful title of address. 
Besides, mitra is found conjoined to the na mes of those Brahmanas 
uty 
of Anandapura, in short, those whose claims to being of the 
agar caste were indisputable. This is worthy of note, that the 
suffix mitra, which occurs in the grants of the Valabhi princes, 
‘ Ind. Ant., vol. vii, p. 75. G tO 
3 So far mitra has been found attached to the names of kings only. 
Several coins have been found in Oudh, Rohilkhand, Gorakhpur, and 
ane earliest is attested by the find of these coins. It was at at this. time _— 
1e Magas also became known. The next two are described on p. 188 
