JOURNAL 



OK 



THE ASIATIC SOCIETY. 



No. 61. — January, 1837- 



I. — Restoration and Translation of the Inscription on the Bhitdri Ldt, 

 with critical and historical remarks. By the Rev. W. H. Mill, 

 D. D., Principal of Bishop's College, Vice-President, 8{C. &c. 



The discovery in the Ghazipur district, of a pillar with an inscrip- 

 tion hearing the same royal names and genealogy as No. 2 on that 

 of Allahabad, and continuing the series downward by three or four 

 generations from Samudra-gupta, the principal subject of panegyric 

 in both, might be expected to furnish valuable supplementary infor- 

 mation on points which that monument left in obscurity. What was 

 the seat and extent of the empire of this Gupta dynasty, and what 

 was the precise place which the acts and events there described bore 

 in the general history of Northern India in the ages that followed 

 the great eras of Vicramaditya and Sa'livahana, — are points on 

 which we might hope to gain more light by a document of this length, 

 than from any others which the progress of antiquarian discovery has 

 yet produced. 



The actual information obtained from this inscription, though not 

 altogether destitute of new and interesting particulars relating to the 

 state of India at the time of these kings, as I hope to shew in the few 

 historical remarks subjoined to the reading and translation, is yet far 

 from affording the desired satisfaction on the principal points just men- 

 tioned. Except the bare point of succession, and some adventures rather 

 alluded to than related in verses of a somewhat obscure style of compo- 

 sition, the information of a directly historical nature extends little 

 beyond what is obtained from the numismatic researches so ably and 

 indefatigably conducted by our Secretary. Whether a more complete 



