i6* The Belabo Grant of Bhojavarman, 



By R. D. Banerji, M.A., Indian Museum, Calcutta 



[With Plates XVIIl-XX.] 



The copper plate on which the above-mentioned record is 

 incised was discovered by a Muhammadan cultivator in the 

 village of Belabo or Belaba in the district of Dacca. It was 

 purchased from him by Babu Pramatha Nath Dutta, B.A., 

 Assistant Settlement Officer, Dacca, and brought to the town 

 of Dacca. A version of the text prepared by Pandit Bidhu- 

 bhushan Goswami, M.A., appeared in the Dacca Review for 

 August 1912, with a translation by Messrs. S. N. Bhadra, M.A., 

 K. K. Sen, M.A., and N. K. Bhattasali, MA., a historical 

 introduction by Mr. Bhattasali, and a preface by Mr. F. D. 

 Ascoli, M.A., I.C.S. A small photograph of the inscription 

 appeared in the next issue of the Journal. An improved ver- 

 sion of the text and translation by Mr. Radha Govinda Basak, 

 M.A., Lecturer in Sanskrit in the Rajshahi College, appeared 

 in the Bengali monthly journal Sahitya for Srdvana and Bhadra 

 of the Bengali year 1319. Mr. Basak 's edition of the text is 

 not free from mistakes, and he was obliged to leave gaps in two 

 or three places in the metrical portion of the text. I ob- 

 tained a loan of the original plate through Mr. F. D. Ascoli, 

 I.C.S. , who kindly brought it over with him to Calcutta and 

 handed it over to me for examination. The inked impressions 

 accompanying this paper were prepared under my personal 

 supervision, and the photograph of the seal was taken by 

 Messrs. -Johnston and Hoffmann of Calcutta. 



The inscription is incised on a single plate of copper and 

 consists of fifty-one lines of writing, of which 26 are to 

 be found on the first side and the remaining 25 on the 

 second. The royal seal is attached to the top of the plate. 

 The plate itself measures lOf " in length and 9|* in breadth. 

 The seal is round in shape with a row of round beads running 

 along its circumferences. There is a small rosette above the 

 topmost bead. The impression on the seal consists of two 

 concentric circles, the outer one of which is higher and thicker 

 than the inner one, and a circular sunken area inside. This 

 area again is divided into two equal parts ; the upper part 

 containing a wheel, with a thick axle, and spokes which are 

 thick in the centre but tapering towards extremities, and a 

 nude dancing human figure on each side of it. The lower part 



O — --— ~" "& 



evidently bore an inscription as faint traces of letters are still 

 legible. This part of the area bears signs of being recently 

 damaged. It seems that somebody has been trying to dig the 



