i837.] on the Allahabad pillar. 967 



Kichhiganiya litiye deviye sendni sava. . . . 

 Dutiydye deviyeti ti valamdtu kdruvdkiye 



* By the mandate of Devanampiya, at all times the great truth (Mah4~ 

 mdtd m ) is appointed to be spoken. These also, (namely) mango-trees and 

 other things are the gift of the second princess (his) queent. And these 



for of Kichhigani' the third princess, the general ( daughter's ?) 



Of the second lady thus let the act redound with triple forcej, 



Unable to complete the sentence regarding the third queen, it is 

 impossible to guess why the second was to enjoy so engrossing a share 

 of the credit of their joint munificence, unless she did the whole in the 

 nam-e and on the behalf of them all! — It will be interesting to inquire 

 whether by any good chance the name of queen Kichhigani is to be 

 found in the preserved records of Asoka's reign, which are so circum- 

 stantial in many particulars. It' is evident the Buddhist monarch 

 enjoyed a plurality of wives after his conversion, and that they shared 

 in his religious zeal. 



As for the interlineation, it may be dismissed with a very few words. 

 Instead of being a paraphrase or translation of the ancient text as 

 from its situation had been conjectured, it is merely a series of uncon- 

 nected scribblings of various dates, cut in most likely by the attendants 

 on the pillar as a pretext for exacting a few rupees from visitors, — and 

 while it was in a recumbent position. In the specimen of a line or 

 two in plate LVI. the date Samvat 1413 is seen along with the names 

 of Gopdla putra, Dhanara Singh and others undecipherable. In plate 

 LV. also may be seen a Bengali name with Ndgari date 1464 and a 

 bottle-looking symbol ; and another below HT<T ^^\ ^f^Tai Samvat 

 1661 Dhamardja. These may be taken as samples of the rest which 

 it would be quite waste of time to examine. 



It is a singular fact that the periods at which the pillar has been 

 overthrown can be thus determined with nearly as much certainty 

 from this desultory writing, as can the epochs of its being re-erected 

 from the more formal inscriptions recording the latter event. Thus, 

 that it was overthrown, sometime after its first erection as a Silas- 

 thambha or religious monument by order of the great Asoka in the 



* See page 574. In Sanskrit ■^^•Tff^^T ^«J *T ( or perhaps rather ■g"T^«l«r 

 by his desiring, wishing) ^J^T ^^T^TT^T 3"W3fl ( fit or P r <>per to be said,) 

 meaning perhaps that this object had been provided for by pecuniary endowment. 



+ f%<ffaT*?T ^3iT ^ta^^Wf ^T^TT^, corresponding as nearly ai the 

 construction of the two languages will allow. 

 6 g 2 



