Major Inscription of Ancient India : Nashik, Prayag, Deoria and Hathigumpha

NASHIK INSCRIPTION :

• Nashik Inscription or Nashik Prashasti gives details of the reign of Gautamiputra Satkarni. The inscription was issued by Gautami Balshri, the mother of Gautamiputra Satkarni in the 2nd Century CE.

• The inscription found in the Cave No. 3 of Pandavleni Caves in Nashik. The inscription is dated to the 19th regnal year of Vashishtiputra Pulumavi or Pulumayi who was the son of Gautamiputra Satkarni.

• The Nashik prashasti inscription states that Gautamiputra uprooted the Kshaharata (or Khagarata) family, to which Nahapana belonged.

• The Nashik inscription reaffirmed a grant of land to Buddhist monks living at the Triraśmi peak. This land was earlier in the possession of Nahapana's son-in-law Rishabhadatta (also known as Ushavadata), who had donated it to the monks.

PRAYAG PRASHASTI OR INSCRIPTION

• It was composed by Harishena, the Court poet of Samduragupta. It gives details about the reign of Samudragupta. This was inscribed on the Ashokan pillar at Allahabad.

• It is in excellent Sanskrit written in the more refined Gupta script (a later version of Brahmi).

• The inscription is a panegyric praising Samudragupta and lists the political and military achievements of his reign including his expeditions to the south.

• It mentions Samudragupta’s great grandfather, grandfather, father and mother. His mother, Kumara devi, belonged to the Lichchhavi gana, while his father, Chandragupta, was the first ruler of the Gupta dynasty to adopt the grand title of maharaj-adhiraja, a title that Samudragupta also used.

• His great grandfather and grandfather are mentioned simply as maharajas.

DEOPARA PRASHASTI OR INSCRIPTION

• Deopara Prashasti an important epigraphic source for the reconstruction of the history of ancient Bengal. This inscription contains some eulogistic verses which throw important light on the history of sena dynasty, especially Vijayasena (1178–1206 AD).

• Famous Sanskrit poet of Sena period Umapatidhara, a minister of Laksmanasena, composed it.

HATHIGUMPHA INSCRIPTION / ELEPHANT CAVE INSCRIPTION

• The Hathigumpha Inscription WRITTEN  in Prakrit language incised in Brahmi script in a cavern called Hathigumpha in Udayagiri hills, near Bhubaneswar in Odisha, India.

• It is dated between 2nd-century BCE and 1st-century CE, and was inscribed by the Jain king Kharavela of Kalinga kingdom.