138 Exhibition of clay seals from Ludiana. [Sept., 



words, it is not easy, as may be readily conceived, to distinguish between 

 Sanskrit and the North Western Pali. But there are certain decisive 

 characteristics, which, when found to be present, cannot possibly leave 

 any doubt as to the language used in that particular case. Thus a very 

 distinctive mark of Pali, as against Sanskrit, is the use of certain inter- 

 calary letters, such as m or r, inserted between two words of which one 

 ends and the other begins with a vowel. Now among these seals there 

 are two which bear the inscription S'ri-r-Indraguptasya, or " (the votive 

 tablet) of Sri Indragupta." Here the meaningless consonant r, in- 

 serted between S'ri and Indraguptasya, unmistakeably proves the in- 

 scription to be in the North Western (literary) Pali. Another decisive 

 mark of the latter language is the use of the genitive inflexion sya with 

 substantives ending in i or u, where the Sanskrit only permits the in- 

 flexion eh and oh. Now there is another seal in the collection which 

 bears the inscription : S'ri-Sthanusya, " (the votive tablet) of S'ri 

 Sthanu." This, if it had been in Sanskrit, would have run thus : 

 S'ri-Sthanoh. There are a few other seals which also show legends in the 

 N. W. Pali, but their reading is not absolutely certain. 



3. There are three seals in the collection which show the clear 

 impression of certain early Hindu coins, those ascribed to the Yaudheyas. 

 All seals previously found, as well as all the seals in Mr. Stephen's collec- 

 tion (with the exception of the three) bear their inscriptions or 

 emblems in relievo, showing that the latter were sunk into the die by 

 which they were produced. But in the case of the three exceptional 

 seals, their devices are sunk into the clay, showing clearly that they were 

 in relievo on the die from which they were taken. Now coins would be 

 exactly that sort of die. Two of the seals show a standing human 

 figure, turned to the right, the right arm raised up before the face, 

 the left held a-kimbo, and dressed in a long flowing robe reaching to 

 the ancles. Under the up-raised arm is a conch shell, by the side of 

 the other, traces of some indistinguishable object ; all round the edge 

 of the impression there runs a circle of dots. The third seal shows 

 the standing figure of a man, turned to the front and dressed in a long 

 coat, reaching below the knees ; the right arm raised and holding a 

 spear, the left resting on the hip. Along the edge, to the right and 

 left of the figure, there are traces of a rude inscription in Gupta charac- 

 ters, ya dha being distinguishable by the side of the left hand of 

 the figure ; below that hand are indistinct traces of some object. In 

 this case there is no marginal circle of dots. It would have been de- 

 sirable to have some more specimens of this class for comparison, but 

 even with the three it is impossible to mistake the class of coins 

 from which the impressions must have been taken. These impressions 



