Ashrafpur Copper-Plate Grants of Devakhadga. 



(With one plate.) 

 By Ganga Mohan Laskar, M.A. 



[Read ist November, 1904.] 



These two copper-plates, together with a small Caitya of bronze, were found in the 

 year 1884 or 1885 at the time of levelling clown an earthen mound, near a big old tank, 

 at the village of Ashrafpur, in the police station of Raipura in the Dacca district in East 

 Bengal. The village is about 30 miles north-east of Dacca and about five miles from the 

 Sital Laksa river. The plates and the Catya are now the property of the Asiatic 

 Society of Bengal. The Caitya is described by Dr. Hoernle on pages 1 19-120 

 of the Proceedings of the Society for August, 1891, and a photograph of it is 

 to be found after page 128 of the same. One of the plates, hereinafter called Plate A, 

 was published by Raja Rajendralal Mitra on pages 49-52 of the Proceedings for 1885, to- 

 gether with a facsimile and a tentative reading of the inscription. The other plate, to be 

 called Plate B, is shortly noticed on page 242 of the Proceedings for December, 1890, 

 and on page 119 of the Proceedings for 1891, and is now being properly edited for the 

 first time. The readings of Plate A, published with Dr. Mitra' s paper, contain several 

 apparent inaccuracies. Therefore a revised transcription, together with a short descrip- 

 tion of this plate and an abstract of its contents, will form part of the present paper. 



Each plate is surmounted by a seal which contains in high relief the figure of a bull 

 couchant, and below this figure a line of writing which also is in relief. This line is dis- 

 tinct on Plate B and reads Srimad- Devakhadga. The writing on the seal of Plate A has 

 become illegible through corrosion, but it seems to contain the same letters as the other 

 seal. 



Plate A measures in average about 10 inches by 6-| inches, and is not more than T V°f" 

 an inch in average thickness. It weighs 1 1 chhataks and 4 tolas, i.e., about 1*44 lbs. This 

 plate has been greatly damaged by corrosion especially at the edges. The inscription 

 has thus lost much at those parts, and does not therefore admit of a full and connected 

 translation. An abstract of the contents will, however, be given below. By this charter, 

 lands with a total area of 9 patakas and 10 dronas are granted to Buddhist monastic estab- 

 lishments, probably by King Devakhadga desirous to secure the longevity of his son 

 Rajaraja Bhatta. All these establishments seem to have been under the supervision of a 

 revered preceptor (^n^rra^) Sarnghamitra by name. Besides the names of Devakhadga 

 and Rajaraja, this charter mentions a mahadevi (Queen-Consort) named Prabhavati. 

 The charter is dated the 13th day of Baisakha of Samvat 13. 



Plate B measures y-| inches by 6 inches and has a thickness of about \ of an inch. 

 It weighs 10 chhataks and 4 tolas or about 1.3 1 lbs. Like the first plate, this one also is 

 inscribed on one side only. This charter conveys 6 paiakas and 10 dronas of land to the 

 monastery of Sarnghamitra. The donor seems to have been the prince Rajaraja. The 



Mem. A.S.B. 6-1-06 



