Words inscribed on any object are termed abhilekha in Hindu religion. The constitute an indispensable source of information about our past,
especially the ancient period. Inscriptions in ancient India related to Hinduism
were mode on stone pillars, rocks, seals, bricks, coins, temple-walls, statues,
copper plates, ivory, etc. and they shed much light on the social and economic conditions
of a particular period. The language and style of the inscriptions have been of
immense value to the linguistic and literary history of Hinduism. The study of
inscriptions is called epigraphy and the study of the old writing used in these
inscriptions is called paleography.
The earliest inscriptions of India are the Harappan
inscriptions which still await final decipherment. These are mainly found on
seals and some seem to have been written in pictographic script. There are nearly
4,000 specimens of Harappan writing, which contain about 250 to 400 pictographs,
each standing for some sound, idea or object. The oldest inscriptions of the 3rd
century BCE, which are in the nature of royal proclamations on dharma. They are
mostly engraved in the Brahmi script and in the Prakrita language. But, some of
the inscriptions of Ashoka Maurya in the north-western part of India were also
in Kharosthi, Greek and Aramaic scripts.
Brahmi continued to be the main script prevalent in the
whole country till the end of the 7th century CE. More than 95
percent of the inscriptions prior to the Gupta age were written in Prakrita
language and concerned all religious sects – Brahmin, Sramana and Ajivikas. The
first long inscription in Sanskrit is the Girnar inscription of Rudradaman I
(130-150 CE), the most famous Saka ruler in India, which celebrates the
undertaking of the repair of the Sudarshana Lake of the Kathiawar region by the
ruler. In the country as a whole, the earliest inscriptions were recorded on
stone. But in the early centuries (CE) the practice of copper plate
inscriptions had begun. In South India, a large number of inscriptions were
also recorded on walls of temples.
The large mass of inscriptions in India can be classed as
official and private. Of the official records, some are royal orders conveying
decisions regarding social, religious and administrative matters to officials
and people in general. The Ashokan inscriptions belong to this category. Some
others are prashasti (eulogies) of kings written by their court poets and provide
an account of the achievements of the kings, enumerating their virtues and
victories. The most famous example is furnished by the Allahabad prashasti of
Samudragupta, which has preserved from oblivion the name and the fame of this
great hero. Allahaad prashasti, along with a number of other inscriptions,
forms the main basis of our knowledge of the Gupta period. Similarly, the
Gwalior prashasti of Bhoja and Aihole inscription of Pulakeshin II, the Chalukya
king, has thrown a flood of light on the imperial Pratiharas and the Chalukya
dynasty, respectively. Such inscriptions are important sources for the
reconstruction of genealogies and political history.
By far the largest number of official documents found is of
charters conveying the sale or gift of land, chiefly by princes and chiefs.
These are mostly engraved on copper plates and record the grants of lands,
revenues and villages made to monks, priests, temples, monasteries, officials
etc. These land grant inscriptions are very important for the study of the land
system and administration in ancient India as they often enumerate details such
as tiles and names of the officials, their duties, territorial units, taxes,
the price of land, the mode of its measurement, etc.
The introductory portions in the land grants often provide
an account of the donor’s family for several generations and describe the life
and achievements of the ruling king in a stereotyped manner. Such land grant
inscriptions are prolific for the early centuries (CE) and were written in languages
such as Prakrita, Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, etc. The majority of inscriptions are
private records covering a wide range, from a short inscription of two or three
words to pompous poetical compositions glorifying an individual or family. Many
of these are engraved on religious buildings, sculptures, tanks, etc.,
recording pious donations. They are of great help in tracing the evolution of
art and religion in ancient India and in fixing the dates of these images and
buildings. They throw light on various aspects of society and the general
conditions in any specified period. Some of them even supply dates, either in
regal years or in a specified or unspecified era, thus adding to our historical
knowledge.
Inscriptions also provide corroborative evidence of the
antiquity of some of the towns and routes and indicate the territorial jurisdiction
of the king. Sanskrit and Prakrita writings constitute an important branch of Hindu
literature. In inscriptional records, references are quite abundant to various
aspects of Hindu life and thought. Their study, therefore, is indispensable to students
of history as also to all interested in India’s contribution to world
civilization.