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New copperplate grant of Śrīcandra (no. 8) from Bangladesh1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 June 2010

Benjamin J. Fleming
Benjamin J. Fleming*
Affiliation:
University of Pennsylvania
*
bfleming@sas.upenn.edu
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Abstract

This article is the first publication of the Bogra copperplate, the eighth known land-grant inscription issued by Śrīcandra (r. c. 925–975 ce), one of the kings of the Candra dynasty of Bengal. A diplomatic transcription is included, together with an annotated English translation and a critically edited text in Devanāgarī. The inscription describes a gift of land to a Brahmin named Śrīkaradatta Śarman, who probably hails from North Bengal (“Hastipada [in the region of] Śrāvasti”). While the praśasti (praise) portions largely parallel the king's other known inscriptions, the inscription contributes new information about place names and regions associated with the Candra dynasty, as well as attesting the movements of Brahmins associated with the Parāśara Gotra and Chandoga Caraṇa. The article also provides an overview and assessment of research on the inscriptions and history of the Candra dynasty, particularly in light of the discovery and identification of this new inscription.

Type
Articles
Information
Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies , Volume 73 , Issue 2 , June 2010 , pp. 223 - 244
Copyright
Copyright © School of Oriental and African Studies 2010

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Footnotes

1

I would like to thank Dave Smith for bringing this copperplate to my attention and for his generosity in allowing me to examine it first-hand. Thanks to Whitney Cox and Dragomir Dimitrov for their detailed critiques and suggestions, which have greatly improved the present article. I am also grateful to Daud Ali, Sucharita Adluri, Shayne Clarke, Michael Witzel, Victor Mair, Deven Patel, Shaman Hatley, Andrew Glass, Kevin Bond, Annette Yoshiko Reed, and Jamal Elias. I would like to acknowledge James F. Connell and the Antiquities-Science List for encouraging the discussion of this plate and providing a venue leading to its recognition. Preliminary findings on this plate were presented at the Oriental Club of Philadelphia (20 February 2008) and at the Canadian Society for the Study of Religion Annual Meeting (2 June 2008). Research for this article was supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

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