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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 March 2011
The word śāsana means “a royal charter” and tāmra-śāsana “a royal charter engraved on a plate or plates of copper”. Revenue-free gifts, granted by ancient Indian rulers in favour of persons, deities, or religious establishments were usually endowed with a deed engraved on durable tāmra-paṭṭa, i.e. “a plate or plates of copper”. By lakṣaṇā, a tāmra-śāsana was sometimes called tāmra-paṭṭa. Often again the word indicating the deed or charter was applied, by lakṣaṇā, to indicate the land granted. But the expression tāmra-śāsana, in this modified sense of a gift of revenue-free land, was often indicated either by tāmra or by śāsana. The word śāsana in this sense is used not only in the medieval records of Orissa but even in modern Oriya. Numerous villages in Orissa still bear names ending with the word śāsana, indicating that originally they were gift villages. Besides the word tāmra-śāsana, early Orissan epigraphy knows of two other types of śāsanas. These are the deeds called kraya-śāsana and kara-śāsana.
page 4 note 1 The document was written usually on a piece of birch bark (bhūrja-patra) by a high official and later copied on copper by an engraver. Cf. Proc. I.H.C., Lahore, 1940, pp. 52–6Google Scholar. Often the official would write on copper plate (or stone) with some point or ink to facilitate the work of engraving. See Bul. Dec. Col. Res. Inst., vol. xi, December, 1950, p. 120.
page 4 note 2 Cf. e.g., tāmra-paṭṭa-dharmeṇa in Select Inscriptions, vol. i, p. 352, etc.
page 4 note 3 Cf. ibid., p. 353, text, line 24, etc.
page 4 note 4 See, e.g., I.H.Q., vol. xxiii, p. 240, text, line 33, etc.
page 4 note 5 See, e.g., Inscriptions of Bengal, vol. iii, p. 74, text, line 43, etc.
page 5 note 1 viii, 134–6: Pañca-hṛṣnalako mäṣas te suvarṇas tu ṣoḍaśa; palaṁ suvarṇāś catvāraḥ palāni dharaṇaṁ daśa, dve kṛṣṇale samadhṛte vijñeyo raupya-māṣakaḥ; te ṣoḍaśa syād dharaṇaṁ purāṇaś caiva rājataḥ, kārṣāpaṇas tu vijñeyas tāmrikaḥ, kārṣikaḥ paṇaḥ.
page 5 note 2 See Pramoda Abhidhāna, s.v. māṣa, maṣā.
page 6 note 1 See op. oit., p. 350. Chakravarti reads: rupya-pañca-navena aṃnkenäpi rupya 40 + 5.
page 6 note 2 Vasu reads: rupyaṣta-catvāri aṃke kapyaplat (op. cit., p. 154). Banerji reads: rupya 40 catvāri aṃke rūpya 40 + 4 (op. cit., p. 294).
page 7 note 1 Vasu reads: Singigràmah prayantād eva rūp-äpta 2 (op. cit., p. 160). Banerji reads: rūpya 40 + 4 (op. cit., 158). In an editorial note, Sten Konow rightly pointed out that the last figure is 2 and not 4, although he apparently agreed with Banerji in reading pla as 40.
page 7 note 2 Cf. Mitākṣarā on Yāj., ii, 114, quoted below.
page 7 note 3 Krishnamacharlu could not read either pla or 4. On his reading pralayā rupyā, there is an editorial note of N. P. Chakravarti, which runs: “Reading seems to be pratyayā rupyā. The symbol after rupyā in this line and the next appears to represent a numerical sign and may have to be read as 70.” He is silent about the figure 4 omitted by Krishnamacharlu. Moreover, the reading 70 is wrong. At p. 16, Krishnamacharlu says: “The symbol or ligature following the expression rupyā is perhaps meant as an abbreviation for rupyā.”
page 8 note 1 Op. cit., p. 54, Misra reads: Deśalagrāma-daśamaś ca tribhāgab karatrinīya laruka pratipāditaṁ dharmma-gauravāt Śakehavā-kharṇḍaḥ.
page 9 note 1 See op. cit., p. 5.
page 9 note 2 See op. cit., pp. 12–13.
