1858.] Of two Edicts lestowing Land. 233 



publish our father's deed of gift, been assigned anew ; ive record- 

 ing the grant on a plate of copper, accompanied by a seal* engraven 

 with our name.f 



Bearing this in mind, and observant of our injunctions, you will 

 pay ail dues, as they fall to be discharged ; namely, share of pro- 

 duce, J imposts, money-rent, and the rest. 



The annexed sfcanzas§ are here appropriate : 



* This seal has, for legend, the words ^|^^"*fqT^f^"^: ' The auspicious 

 Madanapala Deva.' The addition deva ' divine' is generally affixed to the name of 

 a Hindu king, to mark his rank. 



The figure of a conch is incised, by way of device, beneath the name in question, 

 which is surmounted by a sketch of Garudn. 



f Portentous as is the length of this period, it is surpassed in the original. 

 Considering, however, that we are dealing with a formal deed of transfer, it is 

 neither unusually protracted nor unusually involved. It will be perceived that, 

 with a view to greater perspicuity, I have transposed, in my translation, several 

 clauses of the Sanskrit. 



The date of the ceremonial washing at Benares I should be disposed, but for the 

 word sndtwd, to refer to Madanapala' s father rather than to Madanapala himself. 

 But, if it was the former that bathed at that time, the instrumental case of the 

 past participle, or snatena, would have been used, to agree with chandradevena. 

 On the construction accepted, the year of the primitive grant is wanting ; a default 

 which might be argued as leaving, in ordinary circumstances, an opening to endless 

 contestation retrospective from the time of its renewal. 



The original document, at the issuing of the present edict, was, it should seem, 

 lost, and not even a certificate of its date producible. But the author of the re-grant 

 being the king, his bare admission that the grantor was his royal sire, would be 

 sufficient to preclude ail action at law bearing on the title of the village propound- 

 ed in the patent. 



In the recital of the forms attending the primary grant, it will be remarked that 

 no mention is made of bathing on the part of Chandra Deva. The specification 

 of this important observance must, for completeness,. be resumed from the notice, 

 higher up the sentence, of its performance by Madanapala; in whose case it is, 

 perhaps, just to conclude that no other rite over and above ablution was impera- 

 tive. But, to ascertain whether completeness of detail has here been sacrificed to 

 brevity of expression, requires investigation which must be remitted to another 

 opportunity. 



+ VJTWl'JT, or, as elsewhere, *T[*JIT"HT'JT ; ' rent m kind :' in contrast to f%*;tnj 

 'gold,*' 'rent in cash,' See Colebrooke's Miscell. Essays, Vol. II., pp. 306 and 

 312. 



§ Almost all inscriptions recording charters of land are embellished with some 



2 l 



