Sohgaura copper plate inscription

The Sohgaura copper plate inscription is an Indian copper plate inscription written in Prakrit in the Brahmi script. It was discovered in Sohgaura, a village on the banks of the Rapti River, about 20 km south-east of Gorakhpur, in the Gorakhpur District, Uttar Pradesh, India.[1]

Sohgaura copper plate inscription
The Sohgaura copper plate.
MaterialCopper plate
WritingBrahmi script
Created3rd century BCE
Period/culture3rd Century BCE
Discovered26.57°N 83.48°E / 26.57; 83.48
PlaceIndia
Present locationSohgaura
Sohgaura

The plate, consisting of a line of symbolic drawings and four lines of text, is the result of a molding.[2] The inscription is sometimes presented as pre-Ashokan, even pre-Mauryan, but the writing of the plate, especially the configuration of akshara would rather suggest a date after Ashoka.[2] Archaeologist Raymond Allchin believes it to be from Ashoka's period, and considers it to be a precursor of the later copper-plate inscriptions.[3]

The text of the plate has been translated as follows. Its mentions the establishment of two grain depots (Kosthagara) to fight against famine.[4]

Sāvatiyānam Mahāma(ttā)nam sāsane Mānavāsītika-
ḍasilimate Ussagāme va ete duve koṭṭhāgālāni
tina-yavāni maṃthulloca-chammā-dāma-bhālakān(i)va
laṃ kayiyati atiyāyikāya no gahi(ta)vvāya[5]

At the junction called Manawasi,
these two storehouses are prepared,
for the sheltering of loads of commodities,
of Tiyavani, Mathura and Chanchu.

— Translated by Fleet[2]

This is the oldest Indian copper plate inscription known.[3][4]

See also

References
  1. THE SOHGAURA COPPER-PLATE REGISTRATION BM Barua Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute Vol. 11, No. 1 (1930), pp. 32-48
  2. Sircar 1942 Select Inscriptions Vol 1 OCR p.85
  3. F. R. Allchin (1995). The Archaeology of Early Historic South Asia: The Emergence of Cities and States. Cambridge University Press. p. 212. ISBN 978-0-521-37695-2.
  4. 2000+ MCQs with Explanatory Notes For HISTORY by Disha Experts p.63
  5. Barua, B. M. (1930). "THE SOHGAURA COPPER-PLATE INSCRIPTION". Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute. 11 (1): 48. JSTOR 41688160.
Edicts of Ashoka
(Ruled 269–232 BCE)
Regnal years
of Ashoka		 Type of Edict
(and location of the inscriptions)		 Geographical location
Year 8 End of the Kalinga war and conversion to the "Dharma"
Location of the Minor Rock Edicts (Edicts 1, 2 & 3)
Other inscriptions often classified as Minor Rock Edicts.
Location of the Major Rock Edicts.
Location of the Minor Pillar Edicts.
Original location of the Major Pillar Edicts.
Capital cities
Year 10[1] Minor Rock Edicts Related events:
Visit to the Bodhi tree in Bodh Gaya
Construction of the Mahabodhi Temple and Diamond throne in Bodh Gaya
Predication throughout India.
Dissenssions in the Sangha
Third Buddhist Council
In Indian language: Sohgaura inscription
Erection of the Pillars of Ashoka
Kandahar Bilingual Rock Inscription
(in Greek and Aramaic, Kandahar)
Minor Rock Edicts in Aramaic:
Laghman Inscription, Taxila inscription
Year 11 and later Minor Rock Edicts (n°1, n°2 and n°3)
(Panguraria, Maski, Palkigundu and Gavimath, Bahapur/Srinivaspuri, Bairat, Ahraura, Gujarra, Sasaram, Rajula Mandagiri, Yerragudi, Udegolam, Nittur, Brahmagiri, Siddapur, Jatinga-Rameshwara)
Year 12 and later[1] Barabar Caves inscriptions Major Rock Edicts
Minor Pillar Edicts Major Rock Edicts in Greek: Edicts n°12-13 (Kandahar)

Major Rock Edicts in Indian language:
Edicts No.1 ~ No.14
(in Kharoshthi script: Shahbazgarhi, Mansehra Edicts
(in Brahmi script: Kalsi, Girnar, Sopara, Sannati, Yerragudi, Delhi Edicts)
Major Rock Edicts 1-10, 14, Separate Edicts 1&2:
(Dhauli, Jaugada)
Schism Edict, Queen's Edict
(Sarnath Sanchi Allahabad)
Lumbini inscription, Nigali Sagar inscription
Year 26, 27
and later[1]		 Major Pillar Edicts
In Indian language:
Major Pillar Edicts No.1 ~ No.7
(Allahabad pillar Delhi pillar Topra Kalan Rampurva Lauria Nandangarh Lauriya-Araraj Amaravati)

Derived inscriptions in Aramaic, on rock:
Kandahar, Edict No.7[2][3] and Pul-i-Darunteh, Edict No.5 or No.7[4]

  1. Yailenko,Les maximes delphiques d'Aï Khanoum et la formation de la doctrine du dhamma d'Asoka, 1990, p. 243.
  2. Inscriptions of Asoka de D.C. Sircar p. 30
  3. Handbuch der Orientalistik de Kurt A. Behrendt p. 39
  4. Handbuch der Orientalistik de Kurt A. Behrendt p. 39
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