42. Catalogue of Inscriptions on Copper-plates in the 



Collection of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. 



By Rakhal Das Banerji. 



1. The Sohgaura plate. — This plate was discovered by a 

 man while digging for a foundation of a house in the village of 

 Sohgaura, district Gorakhpur, in the United Provinces. The 

 man gave the plate to his landlord, from whom it was obtained by 

 Dr. W. Hoey, I.C.S. (Retd.) and presented to the Society in 1894. 

 The inscription is of considerable importance, being the oldest 

 Brahrai record on metal. The Proceedings of the Society for 

 June 1894 contains three notes on this plate, by Messrs. Hoey, 

 V. A. Smith and Hoernle, and a full-size facsimile of the inscrip- 

 tion. J The late Dr. Georg Biihler published it in 1896 in the 

 Vienna Oriental Journal. He translated the inscription as 

 follows : % — 



" The order of the great officials of Sravasti, (issued) 

 from (their camp at) Manavasitikata : — These two store-houses 

 with three partitions, (which are situated) even in famous 

 Vamsagrama, require the storage of loads (bkaraka) of Black 

 Panicum, parched grain, cummin-seed and Amba for (timers 

 of) urgent (need). One should not take (anything from the 



grain stored) ." 



Dr. J. F. Fleet, the latest writer on the subject, translates it 



as follows : 8 



" Notice for all the three great roads for vehicles ! At the 

 junction, (named) Manavasi, of the three roads, in actually 

 (the villages) Dasilimata and Usagama, these two store-houses 

 are prepared for the sheltering of loads of commodities of (i.e., 

 from and to) Tiyavani, Mathula, andChamchu, to meet any case 

 of urgent need, but not for permanent use V 



The inscription is in four lines of Maurya Brahml (B.C. 

 320—230) with a row of symbols at the top. The symbols are, 

 from the left, — (1) A tree inside a railing or in a box. Dr. Fleet 

 takes this to be ' ' the mark of the town Tryavani. " (2) A store- 

 house with a roof on four posts. (3) A javelin or arrow. (4) A 

 stupa, as the numismatists call it. or a representation of Mount 

 Meru according to Dr. Biihler. Dr. Fleet is, however, ot 

 opinion that the arrow, which he understands to be a spoon, 

 and the stupa are "the arms of Mathura." (5) The Taurine 

 symbol of numismatics. (6) Bare tree inside a railed enclosure. 

 (7) Another store-house, similar to no. 2. 



1 Proc. A.S.B., 1894, pp. 84-88. 



2 Vienna Oriental Journal. Vol. X , p. 147 

 * J.R.A.S.. 1907. p 522. 



