This Vākāṭaka copper-plate charter of Pravarasena II, currently housed in the Patna Museum, consists of a single surviving plate, likely, the third plate of an original set of four or five, discovered in circa 1919 in Balaghat, Madhya Pradesh. The text is engraved in the box-headed Brāhmī script. Composed in Sanskrit, the text concludes with imprecatory verses.
The surviving text records Pravarasena II's donation of Śrīparṇakā village to three brāhmaṇas: Gaṅgārya (Bhāradvāja gotra), Vasurārya (Kauṇḍinya gotra), and Rudrārya (Kauṇḍinya gotra, Taittirīya śākhā). The village, situated in the Sundhāti sub-division, was granted in exchange for the previously donated settlement of Māṇapallikā located in the Yaśapura sub-division. Notably, the endowment was made specifically for the spiritual merit and well-being of the king's mother (mātṛi-bhaṭṭārikā), Prabhāvatīguptā, and included the specific fiscal privilege to levy a tax equivalent to one-fiftieth of local sale prices.
Third Plate : First Side
1. prabhāvatiguptāyām samutpannasya śambhoḥ prasādadhṛtaśūlāyu-
2. dhasya vākāṭakānāmmahārājaśrīpravarasenasya vacanāt sundhāti-
3. mārgge brahmapurakasya pūrvvataḥ millukadrathasyāparataḥ
4. madhukajjharyyāḥ cottarataḥ darvbhavirakasya dakṣiṇataḥ śrīparṇṇakā
5. nāmnāgrāmaḥ tatra kuṭumbino grāmavāsinaśca vaktavyāḥ
Third Plate : Second Side
6. yathāsmābhiḥ yaśapuramārgge māṇapallikāyā pūrvvaparigra-
7. haprativastu mātṛbhaṭṭārikāṇām puṇyopacaye ihāmutrahitārtha-
8. bhāradvājasagotravedāryyaputragaṅgāryya-kauṇḍinya sago-
9. travasurāryya kauṇḍinya taittirīya rudrāryyāṇām samīmānta-
10. paricchedena sapañcāśatko grāmo dattaḥ ||
(The first two plates of this grant are not forthcoming.)
By the order of the illustrious Pravarasena II, the mahārāja of the Vākāṭakas, born of Prabhāvatīguptā, who, by the grace of Śambhu, wields a spear,……………………
There is a village named Śrīparṇakā, in the territorial division (mārga) of Sundhāti, which lies to the east of Brahmapuraka, to the west of Millukadratha and to the north of Madhukajjharī and to the south of Darbhaviraka. The householders and residents of the village should be informed that for the increase of the religious merit and for the well-being, in this world and the next, of Our Queen-Mother, We have donated this village extending to its boundaries together with the right to levy a tax of one-fiftieth of the sale price to the Brāhmaṇas Gaṅgārya, son of Vedārya, of the Bhāradvāja gotra, Vasurārya of the Kauṇḍinya gotra and Rudrārya of the Kauṇḍiya gotra and Taittirīya śākhā, in exchange for the previously donated Māṇapallikā in the territorial division (mārga) of Yaśapura.
(The subsequent plates of the grant are not forthcoming.)
| Dynasty: | Vākāṭaka |
| Ruler: | Pravarasena II |
| Date: | c. 420 to 455 CE |
| Place: | Patna Museum |
| Donor: | Pravarasena II |
| Donee: | Brāhmaṇas Gaṇgārya, Vasurārya and Rudrārya |
| Language: | Sanskrit |
| Script: | Box-headed Brāhmī |
| Nature of grant: | Land donation |
| Purpose: | To record the grant of village Śrīparṇakā to three Brāhmaṇas |
| Provenance of inscription: | Balaghat, Madhya Pradesh |
| Type of Inscription: | Copperplate grant |
| Source: |
Bibliography & Research
- Altekar, A. S. (1928). Patna Museum Third Plate of Pravarasena II. The Journal Of The Bihar And Orissa Research Society, XIV Part I, 465-475.
- Jayaswal, K. P. (1933). PART II: The Vākāṭaka Kingdom. In History Of India (62-111, here 74). Motilal Banarasidas.
- Mirashi, V. V. (Ed.). (1963). Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum: The Inscriptions of the Vākāṭakas (Vol. V). Archaeological Survey of India.
