Dubi copperplate inscription

The Dubi copperplate inscription are the inscriptions of a grant issued by Bhaskaravarman of Kamarupa. This is the earliest of all copper plate grants issued by Kamarupa kings discovered so far.[1] This was an issue after an earlier charter, issued by Bhutivarman, was destroyed.[2] There are five copper plates in this collection, with seventy-six verses in Sanskrit, written in the eastern variety of North Indian alphabet prevalent in the sixth and seventh centuries.[3] All six plates in this grant were first discovered around 1950 during digging near a Siva temple in Dubi village about three miles from the Pathshala railway station, Kamrup district, Assam;[4] but the sixth plate was irrecoverably destroyed soon after discovery. These plates are currently in the Assam State Museum.[5] This plate was issued before the Nidhanpur copperplate inscription,[6] during the earlier part of Bhaskkaravarman's reign.[7]

Seal

The bundle of plates is held together with a ring and a bronze seal. The seal is oval in shape, with a countersunk figure of an elephant from front at the top, a typical feature of all Kamarupa seals.[8] The bottom two-thirds of the seal has eleven lines of Sanskrit text, with the text separated from the elephant figure with a line. The text gives the line of kings from the great king of kings Sri Pushyavarma, the lord of Pragjyotisha[9] to Bhaskaravarman, with some of the names replaced by synonyms.[10]

Notes
  1. (Sharma 1978:28)
  2. (Sharma 1978:29)
  3. (Sharma 1978:10)
  4. (Lahiri 1991:26)
  5. (Sharma 1978:10)
  6. Sharma 1978, p. 10.
  7. Sharma 1978, p. 29: in Sircar (1954)
  8. (Sharma 1978:34): "The figure of an elephant is invariably present in all the available seals attached to the CP grants of the Kamarupa kings."
  9. Sharma 1978, p. 33.
  10. Sharma 1978, p. 34.

References
  • Lahiri, Nayanjot (1991). Pre-Ahom Assam: Studies in the Inscriptions of Assam between the Fifth and the Thirteenth Centuries AD. Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt Ltd.
  • Sharma, Mukunda Madhava (1978). Inscriptions of Ancient Assam. Guwahati, Assam: Gauhati University.
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