Summary
The Sohgaura copper plate inscription is an Indian copper plate inscription written in Prakrit in the Brahmi script. It was discovered in Sohgaura, a village on the banks of the Rapti River, about 20 km south-east of Gorakhpur, in the Gorakhpur District, Uttar Pradesh, India.[1]
| Sohgaura copper plate inscription | |
|---|---|
 The Sohgaura copper plate. | |
| Material | Copper plate |
| Writing | Brahmi script |
| Created | 3rd century BCE |
| Period/culture | 3rd Century BCE |
| Discovered | 26°34′N 83°29′E / 26.57°N 83.48°E |
| Place | India |
| Present location | Sohgaura |
  Sohgaura | |
The plate, consisting of a line of symbolic drawings and four lines of text, is the result of a molding.[2] The inscription is sometimes presented as pre-Ashokan, even pre-Mauryan, but the writing of the plate, especially the configuration of akshara would rather suggest a date after Ashoka.[2] Archaeologist Raymond Allchin believes it to be from Ashoka's period, and considers it to be a precursor of the later copper-plate inscriptions.[3]
The text of the plate has been translated as follows. Its mentions the establishment of two grain depots (Kosthagara) to fight against famine.[4]
Sāvatiyānam Mahāma(ttā)nam sāsane Mānavāsītika-
ḍasilimate Ussagāme va ete duve koṭṭhāgālāni
tina-yavāni maṃthulloca-chammā-dāma-bhālakān(i)va
laṃ kayiyati atiyāyikāya no gahi(ta)vvāya[5]At the junction called Manawasi,
these two storehouses are prepared,
for the sheltering of loads of commodities,
of Tiyavani, Mathura and Chanchu.— Translated by Fleet[2]
This is the oldest Indian copper plate inscription known.[3][4]
See also edit
References edit
- ^ THE SOHGAURA COPPER-PLATE REGISTRATION BM Barua Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute Vol. 11, No. 1 (1930), pp. 32-48 [1]
- ^ a b c Sircar 1942 Select Inscriptions Vol 1 OCR p.85
- ^ a b F. R. Allchin (1995). The Archaeology of Early Historic South Asia: The Emergence of Cities and States. Cambridge University Press. p. 212. ISBN 978-0-521-37695-2.
- ^ a b 2000+ MCQs with Explanatory Notes For HISTORY by Disha Experts p.63
- ^ Barua, B. M. (1930). "THE SOHGAURA COPPER-PLATE INSCRIPTION". Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute. 11 (1): 48. JSTOR 41688160.