194 Dr. Hoernle — Exhibits a seal of Kurnara Gupta. [Aug. 



Dr. Hoernle exhibited a large silver seal of Kurnara Gupta, found 

 at Bbitariand forwarded by Mr. J. Nicholls, C. S., and read tbe following 

 abstract from bis letter referring to it : — 



" The seal was dug up in 1885 when digging for those old bricks of 

 great size which so frequently occur at Bhitari. They were wanted for 

 use in some new buildings. I think these are of the sort of bricks 

 which Cunningham says are often marked with the name Kurnara. 



" The man who brought me the seal from his father was in Government 

 employ for six years in Ghazipur, and for about three years under me as 

 Judge. He was lately turned out, as he had never passed the Middle Class 

 examination, and he came to me for help in his trouble. I think it 

 impossible for him or any of his people to have attempted an imposition. 

 My father-in-law, Mr. Richard Tregear, has known these people and 

 had business with them for very many years. They always grow indigo 

 for his factory and are respectable people." 



Dr. Hoernle observed that the seal had been announced as one of 

 silver, but it was more correct to describe it as a copper seal, because 

 from an assay, made by Dr. Scully, it appeared that the metal con- 

 tained about 63 per cent, of copper to 36 per cent, of silver. There was 

 also a very small quantity of gold in the mixture. The characters, as 

 usual on such seals, were slightly raised, while on copperplate grants 

 they were usually engraved. In all probability the seal had once be- 

 longed to a copperplate grant ; but it differed from other seals, in 

 that it appeared to have been soldered on to the plate by the two knobs on 

 its back ; while usually the seals were attached to the plate by means 

 of a sliding ring passing through a hole in the plate. There were only 

 three other seals like the present one known : a copper one of Harsha 

 Vardhana, which was a little larger, another of S'arva Yarman, of about 

 the same size, and a third of Samudra Gupta, of about half the size. The 

 characters of the inscription belonged to the North Indian class of alpha- 

 bets ; and the inscription was in a fairly good state of preservation. This 

 was a most fortunate circumstance, as the inscription was one of very 

 considerable importance. It carried the genealogy of the early Gupta 

 dynasty two generations further than in any record hitherto known. 

 The line was given thus : 1, Gupta, 2, his son Ghatotkacha, 3, his son 

 Chandra Gupta I., 4, his son Samudra Gupta, 5, his son Chandra Gupta 

 II., 6, his son Kurnara Gupta I., 7, his son Pura Gupta ; 8, his son Nara- 

 simha Gupta ; 9, his son Kurnara Gupta II. It was distinctly stated that 

 the series ran from father to son in every case. The list contained three 

 new names, vie., Pura, Narasimha and Kurnara II., while all the other 

 names were the same as those given in all Gupta genealogies hitherto found. 

 The difficulty, however, was that the genealogies hitherto known, gave 



