302 Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. {June, 1911. 
land to Brahmanas, but on the other hand, they are seals 
of the officer in charge of the Varaka mandala. This fact also 
is exceptional in character, as no other Northern Indian copper- 
plate bears the seal of an official. The only exception to this 
is the Tippera copperplate referred to by Dr. Bloch.! This 
copperplate was sent to the Asiatic Society of Bengal or the 
ndian Museum, This plate is written in characters of the 9th 
or 10th century A.D., but the seal attached to it is several 
centuries older, as it is written in the alphabet of the early 
Gupta Kings. The legend runs as follows: 
Kumaramatyadhikaranasya. 
This shows that several centuries after the downfall of the 
early Gupta empire, descendants of their officials in different 
centuries after the period of the early Gupta Kings.’’ Thus: 
we see that the seal belonged to an official of the Gupta 
empire and most probably retained in the possession of his 
descendants. It was used to forge these three grants in order 
to establish a claim to certain lands, evidently during a period 
of confusion and anarchy. Such periods were unfortunately 
only too frequent in the history of Eastern India during the 
century between the fall of the empire of Harsavardhana and 
the rise of the Palas in Bengal. 
(IV) THe LancuaGe or THE GRANTS. 
Nalakam-apavitichya, A comparison with the plate convinces 
me of the certainty of the reading. I may note in this con- 
1 Ibid., pp. 120-121, 
? Journal Asiat. Soc, Bengal, 1875, Part I, p. 12, and 1900, Part I, 
p- 64. 
3 Above vol. v, p. 461, pl. xx. 
