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Indian Inscriptions
The earliest undisputed deciphered epigraphy found in the Indian subcontinent are the Edicts of Ashoka of the 3rd century BCE, in the Brahmi script. If epigraphy of proto-writing is included, undeciphered markings with symbol systems that may or may not contain linguistic information, there is substantially older epigraphy in the Indus script, which dates back to the early 3rd millennium BCE. Two other important archeological classes of symbols are found from the 1st millennium BCE, Megalithic graffiti symbols and symbols on punch-marked coins, though most scholars do not consider these to constitute fully linguistic scripts, and their semiotic functions are not well understood. Writing in Sanskrit (Epigraphical Hybrid Sanskrit, EHS) appears in the 1st to 4th centuries CE. Indian epigraphy becomes more widespread over the 1st millennium, engraved on the faces of cliffs, on pillars, on tablets of stone, drawn in caves and on rocks, some gouged into the bedrock. Later th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ashoka Lauriya Areraj Inscription
Ashoka (, ; also ''Asoka''; 304 – 232 BCE), popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was the third emperor of the Maurya Empire of Indian subcontinent during to 232 BCE. His empire covered a large part of the Indian subcontinent, stretching from present-day Afghanistan in the west to present-day Bangladesh in the east, with its capital at Pataliputra. A patron of Buddhism, he is credited with playing an important role in the spread of Buddhism across ancient Asia. Much of the information about Ashoka comes from Edicts of Ashoka, his Brahmi edicts, which are among the earliest long inscriptions of ancient India, and the Buddhist legends written centuries after his death. Ashoka was son of Bindusara, and a grandson of the dynasty's founder Chandragupta Maurya, Chandragupta. During his father's reign, he served as the governor of Ujjain in central India. According to some Buddhist legends, he also suppressed a revolt in Takshashila as a prince, and after his father's d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Indian Copper Plate Inscriptions
Indian copper plate inscriptions are historical legal records engraved on copper plates in India. Donative inscriptions engraved on copper plates, often joined by a ring with the seal of the donor, was the legal document registering the act of endowment. It was probably necessary to produce them when required to prove ownership/ the claim to the rights.Thapar, Romila'', The Penguin History of Early India: From the Origins to AD 1300.'' Penguin Books, 2002. 295-96 and 339. The retrievability of the copper plates was perhaps crucial in the newly settled lands. Detailed information on land tenures and taxation available from these copper plate grants. History Indian copper plate inscriptions (''tamarashasana''), usually record grants of land or lists of royal lineages carrying the royal seal, a profusion of which have been found in South India. Originally inscriptions were recorded on palm leaves, but when the records were legal documents such as title-deeds they were etched on a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tamil-Brahmi
Tamil-Brahmi, also known as Tamizhi or Damili, was a variant of the Brahmi script in southern India. It was used to write inscriptions in the early form of Old Tamil.Richard Salomon (1998) ''Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and the other Indo-Aryan Languages'', Oxford University Press, pages 35-36 with footnote 103 The Tamil-Brahmi script has been paleographically and stratigraphically dated between the third century BCE and the first century CE, and it constitutes the earliest known writing system evidenced in many parts of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Sri Lanka. Tamil Brahmi inscriptions have been found on cave entrances, stone beds, potsherds, jar burials, coins, seals, and rings. Tamil Brahmi resembles but differs in several minor ways from the Brahmi inscriptions found elsewhere on the Indian subcontinent such as the Edicts of Ashoka found in Andhra Pradesh.Richard Salomon (1998) ''Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Stud ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sophytes
Sophytes, or Saubhuti was the name of a king in Bactria or the northwestern Indian subcontinent during the time of the Alexander's invasion. Sophytes surrendered to Alexander and was allowed to retain his kingdom. Probably another Sophytes, who was satrap in the eastern territories conquered by Alexander the Great, minted his own coins in the Greek style circa 300 BCE. Rapson and some others have considered them as the same person. Sophytes the Iranian ruler Sophytes is described in classical sources as a ruler in the Bactria and Punjab region between the Hydraotes and the Hyphasis in the area of the Salt Range, who submitted to Alexander and was, thereby, permitted to retain his realms.Who's Who in the Age of Alexander the Great: Prosopography of Alexander's Empire, Waldemar Heckel John Wiley & Sons, 2008, p.26/ref> He made a demonstration of four Indian dogs fighting a lion to Alexander. Sophytes is described as ruling along the Indus during the campaigns of Alexander the Great ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Taxila
Taxila or Takshashila (; sa, तक्षशिला; pi, ; , ; , ) is a city in Punjab, Pakistan. Located in the Taxila Tehsil of Rawalpindi District, it lies approximately northwest of the Islamabad–Rawalpindi metropolitan area and is just south of the Haripur District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. In 326 BCE, Alexander the Great gained control of the city without a battle, as it was immediately surrendered to him by Omphis. Old Taxila was an important city of ancient India, situated on the eastern shore of the Indus River—the pivotal junction of the Indian subcontinent and Central Asia;Raymond Allchin, Bridget Allchin''The Rise of Civilization in India and Pakistan''.Cambridge University Press, 1982 p.127 it was founded around 1000 BCE. Some ruins at Taxila date to the time of the Achaemenid Persian Empire, followed successively by the Maurya Empire, the Indo-Greek Kingdom, the Indo-Scythians, and the Kushan Empire. Owing to its strategic location, Taxila has changed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eran
Eran is an ancient town and archaeological site in the Sagar district of Madhya Pradesh, India. It was one of the ancient mints for Indian dynasties as evidenced by the diverse coins excavated here. The site has 5th and 6th-century Gupta era temples and monuments, particularly the colossal stone boar with sages and scholars depicted on the body of the sculpture. The inscription stones found at Eran are important to reconstructing the chronology of Gupta Empire history. Eran or Erakina was the capital of ''Erakina (Airikina) Pradesha'' or ''Airkina Vishaya'', an administrative division of the Gupta empire. Etymology The ancient name of Eran ( sa, ऐरण), ''Erakaina'', ''Erakanya'' or ''Erakina'' (as mentioned in the inscriptions); ''Airikina'' ( sa, ऐरिकिण, as mentioned in the inscription of Samudragupta) or ''Erikina'' (as mentioned in the inscription of Toramana) is derived from ''Eraka''. The word ''erakā'' probably refers to a tall grass commonly called the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mahasthangarh
Mahasthangarh ( bn, মহাস্থানগড়, ''Môhasthangôṛ'') is one of the earliest urban archaeological sites so far discovered in Bangladesh. The village Mahasthan in Shibganj upazila of Bogra District contains the remains of an ancient city which was called Pundranagara or Paundravardhanapura in the territory of Pundravardhana.Brochure: ''Mahasthan – the earliest city-site of Bangladesh'', published by the Department of Archaeology, Ministry of Cultural Affairs, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, 2003 A limestone slab bearing six lines in Prakrit in Brahmi script recording a land grant, discovered in 1931, dates Mahasthangarh to at least the 3rd century BCE. It was an important city under the Maurya Empire. The fortified area was in use until the 8th century CE. Etymology ''Mahasthan'' means a place that has excellent sanctity and ''garh'' means fort. Mahasthan was first mentioned in a Sanskrit text of the 13th century entitled ''Vall ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sohgaura Copper Plate Inscription
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.THE SOHGAURA COPPER-PLATE REGISTRATION BM Barua Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute Vol. 11, No. 1 (1930), pp. 32-4/ref> The plate, consisting of a line of symbolic drawings and four lines of text, is the result of a molding.Sircar 1942 Select Inscriptions Vol 1 OCp.85/ref> 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. Archaeologist Raymond Allchin Frank Raymond Allchin, FBA (9 July 1923 – 4 June 2010) was a British archaeologist and Indologist. He and his wife, Bridget Allchin, formed one of the most influential British partnerships in the post ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bhattiprolu
Bhattiprolu is a village in Guntur district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is the headquarters of Bhattiprolu mandal in Tenali revenue division. The ''Buddhist stupa'' in the village is one of the centrally protected monuments of national importance. One of the earliest evidence of Brahmi script in South India comes from Bhattiprolu. The script was written on an urn containing Buddha's relics. The script has been named Bhattiprolu script History The original name of Bhattiprolu was Pratipalapura, a flourishing town in the ancient Sala kingdom that predated Andhra Satavahanas. From available inscriptional evidence, King Kuberaka was ruling over Bhattiprolu around 230 BCE. Bhattiprolu is well known for its Buddha stupa (''Vikramarka kota dibba'') built about 3rd-2nd century BCE. The stupa and the script Three mounds were discovered in Bhattiprolu in 1870. In 1892 when excavations were undertaken by Alexander Rea, three inscribed stone relic caskets containin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barli Inscription
The Barli Inscription (obtained from a Bhinaika village 36 miles southeast of Ajmer) belonging perhaps to 5th-4th century B.C. is one of the earliest Jaina inscriptions reported from Rajasthan. History Earlier scholars assigned the Barli inscription to the pre-Ashokan period, but more recent scholars have assigned it to a later date. According to historian G. H. Ojha, who discovered the inscription in 1912, the inscription contains the line ''Viraya Bhagavate chaturasiti vase'', which can be interpreted as "dedicated to Lord Vira in his 84th year". Based on this reading, Ojha concluded that the record was inscribed in 443 BCE means 84 Years after the Nirvana of Tirthankara Mahavira. Vira is one of the epithets of 24th Tirthankara Mahavira. K. P. Jayaswal also agreed with Ojha's reading. Indian Magazine Editor Ramananda Chatterjee has assigned the inscription to 4th Century BCE. On Paleographic grounds, the inscription can be assigned to the 2nd-1st century BCE. Descripti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Piprahwa
Piprahwa is a village near Siddharthnagar city in Siddharthnagar district of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Kalanamak rice, a scented and spicy variety of rice is grown in this area. It lies in the heart of the historical Buddha's homeland and is 12 miles from the world heritage site of Lumbini that is believed to be the place of Gautama Buddha's birth. Piprahwa is best known for its archaeological site and excavations that suggest that it may have been the burial place of the portion of the Buddha's ashes that were given to his own Shakya clan. A large stupa and the ruins of several monasteries as well as a museum are located within the site. Ancient residential complexes and shrines were uncovered at the adjacent mound of Ganwaria. Excavation by William Claxton Peppe A buried stupa was discovered by William Claxton Peppe, a British colonial engineer and landowner of an estate at Piprahwa in January 1898. Following the severe famine that decimated Northern India in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Telugu Language
Telugu (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken by Telugu people predominantly living in the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, where it is also the official language. It is the most widely spoken member of the Dravidian language family and one of the twenty-two scheduled languages of the Republic of India. It is one of the few languages that has primary official status in more than one Indian state, alongside Hindi and Bengali. Telugu is one of six languages designated as a classical language (of India) by the Government of India. Telugu is also a linguistic minority in the states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, West Bengal, and the union territories of Puducherry and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. It is also spoken by members of the Telugu diaspora spread across countries like United States, Australia, United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand in the Anglosphere; Myanmar, Malaysia, South Africa, Mauritius; and the Arabian Gulf count ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
