Archaeological and Epigraphical Sources on the History of Bengal and Bihar in the 8th–12th centuries

The paper provides a brief but complete overview of material (archaeological) and epigraphical sources on the history of Bengal  and Bihar in the 8th–12th centuries published primarily in India  during the last century and a half. The material sources were  discovered in the course of excavations conducted under the  supervision of the Archaeological Survey of India founded in 1861  and Department of Archaeology and Museums of Bangladesh which  became an autonomous organisation in 1972. The epigraphical  sources are grouped around the Pāla dynasty who ruled over the  region for about four centuries — the longest period in North Indian  history — as well as their neighbours, such as the Chandras, Senas,  etc. All the inscriptions under consideration are divided into three  large groups, namely: land grant letters carved on copper plates (59 items); inscriptions on large objects — stones, rocks, steles, walls, etc. (over 30 inscriptions of the Pāla period); and inscriptions on small objects (about 70 ones of the Pālas). It is difficult to define  the exact number of all inscriptions of the period. The publishing process of pieces of Bengal and Bihar epigraphy goes back to the late 18th century when Narayanapāla’s inscription of the Badal pillar  was fi rst published in vol. 1 (1788) of the Asiatic Researches. There  were odd publications of Bengal and Bihar inscriptions throughout  the 19th century in various special journals like the Journal of the  Asiatic Society of Bengal (issued since 1832), The Indian Antiquary (issued since 1872) and Epigraphia Indica (issued since 1882 as a quarterly supplement to The Indian Antiquary). Collections of early  medieval Bengal and Bihar Sanskrit inscriptions including those of  the Pālas and their neighbours be-gan to be published commencing  from the first decades of the 20th century. All the publications, even  those issued about one hundred and fifty years ago remain relevant  to this day, principally because a substantial part of the sources have been lost, obliterated and deformed. Besides, the evidence of those who saw and described the inscriptions for the first time ever is of  great value for further generations of scholars due to the  accompanying details. In the final reckoning, palaeographers always make references to the initial publications when discussing the  meaning of any signs, figures, letters or ligatures. At the moment it  is difficult to define the exact number of inscriptions related to the  Pālas and their neighbours. The list of Bengal and Bihar inscriptions  is being constantly extended. In recent 25 years there have appeared numerous publications of inscriptions of Bengal rulers, particularly those of the Pālas. The inscriptions are published in  different subject-oriented editions like journals, jubilee volumes, etc.

1. Banerji-Sastri A. Ninety-Three Inscriptions on the Kurkihar Bronzes: Patna Museum // JBORS. Bankipore, Bihar and Orissa Research Society, 1915–1943. Vol. 1 (1915)–Vol. 29, no. 3 (1943) — Vol. 26 (1940), Part 3. Pp. 236–251.

2. Banik B. K. Mainā mā ti: Sanskrit inscriptional and archaeological study. New Delhi, Bharatiya Kala Prakashan, 2009. 338 p.

3. Bhattacharya S. Ch. The Murshidabad (Indian Museum) Copper-Plate Grant of Dharmapāla

4. and the Somapura Mahāvihāra // JBA. Dhaka, The International Centre for Study of Bengal Art, 2006–2007. Vol. 11–12. Pp. 237–249.

5. BLINI — Bhandarkar, Devadatta Ramakrishna. A List of Inscriptions of Northern India written in Brahmi and its Derivative Scripts from about A.C. 200 // Epigraphia Indica. Calcutta, Vol. 19 (App. pp. 1–42), 1928; Vol. 20 (App. pp. 43– 266), 1930; Vol. 21 (App. pp. 265–296, Index to App. pp. 297–310), 1932; Vol. 22 (Index to App. pp. 311–362), 1934; Vol. 23 (App. pp. 363–406), 1936.

6. BPP — Bhā ratī ya purā bhilē kha patrikā = Studies in Indian epigraphy: Journal of the Epigraphical Society of India / edit. by Z. A. Desai and Ajay Mitra Shastri. Mysore, Geetha Book House, 1975.

7. Broadley A. M. The Buddhistic Remains of Bihar (JASB NS. Vol. 41, pt. 1). Calcutta, Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1872. Repr.: 1979. 104 p.

8. CASIR — Cunningham A. Archaeological Survey of India Reports. Calcutta, 1871–1887. Vol. 1–23. Reprint, Delhi, Archaeological Survey of India, 2000.

9. CBI — Mukherji R., Maity S. K. Corpus of Bengal Inscriptions Bearing on History and Civilization of Bengal. Calcutta, K. L. Mukhopadhyay, 1967, viii, 436 p.

10. Choudhary R. K. Select inscriptions of Bihar (Introduction and appendix in English and text in Sanskrit; with a forew. by D. C. Sircar). [Madhipura], The author, 1958. 138 p.

11. Das Gupta C. C. Paharpur and its Monuments. Calcutta, K. L. Mukhopadhyay, 1961. 31 p.

12. DTCOI — Tripathy, Snigdha. Descriptive Topographical Catalogue of Orissan Inscriptions. New Delhi, Manohar, 2010. 1186 p.

13. EI — Epigraphia Indica. Calcutta, Delhi, etc.: Archaeological Survey of India, 1888– hitherto. Vol. 1–43 [Between 1892 and 1920 «Epigraphia Indica» was published as a quarterly supplement to «The Indian Antiquary»]. GLM — Maitreya A. K. Gauḍalekhamālā (The epigraphs of Gaud). Rajshahi 1319 B.S. (1912). 159 p.

14. Gosvami K. G. Excavations at Bangarh (1938– 1941). Calcutta, University of Calcutta, 1948. 42 p.

15. Husain A. B. M., Rashid M. H., Chowdhury A. M., Khan F. Mainamati–Devaparvata. Dhaka, Asiatic Society of Bangladesh, 1997. 304 p.

16. IA — The Indian Antiquary; A Journal of Oriental Research in Archaeology, Epigraphy,

17. Ethnology, Geography, History, Folklore, Languages, Literature, Numismatics, Philosophy, Religion, etc. Bombay, Education Society’s Press, etc., 1872–1933 [Vols. for 1925 to 1932 were «published under the authority of the Council of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland»]. IB 3 — Majumdar N. G. (ed., tr., notes). Inscriptions of Bengal. Vol. 3. Containing Inscriptions of the Chandras, the Varmans and the Senas, and of Isvaraghosha and Damodara. Rajshahi, 1929. 200 p.

18. IHQ — The Indian Historical Quarterly. Calcutta: Calcutta Oriental Press, 1925–1963. Vol. 1, no. 1 (March 1925) — vol. 39, no. 3, 4 (Sept. 1963).

19. Imam A., Haque E. Excavations at Mainamati: an exploratory study. Dhaka, The International Centre for Study of Bengal Art, 2000. 189 p.

20. JASB — Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. Calcutta, Asi atic Society of Bengal, 1832– 1864. Vol. 1 (1832) — vol. 33 (1864).

21. JASB NS — Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. Calcutta: Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1865–1904. P. 1: History, archaeology, numismatics, philology and literature. Vol. 34 (1865) — vol. 73 (1904).

22. JBA — Journal of Bengal Art / edit. by Enamul Haque. Dhaka, The International Centre for Study of Bengal Art, 1996.

23. JBORS — Journal of the Bihar and Orissa Research Society. Bankipore, Bihar and Orissa Research Society, 1915–1943. Vol. 1 (1915) — Vol. 29, no. 3 (1943).

24. Khan Sahib M. Abid Ali Khan. Memoirs of Gaur and Pandua / Edit. and revised by H. E. Stapleton. Calcutta, Bengal Secretariat Book Depot, 1931.

25. 190 p. Reprint. Abid Ali Khan M. History and Archaeology of Bengal or Memoirs of Gaur and Pandua. New Delhi, Asian Publication Services, 1980. 190 p.

26. Khan F. A. Mainamati: a preliminary report on the recent archaeological excavations in East Pakistan. Karachi, 1963. 38 p.

27. KLINI — Kielhorn F. A List of Inscriptions of Northern India from about A. D. 400. // Epigraphia Indica. Calcutta, 1899. Vol. 5 (App. pp. 1–121), 1906. Vol. 8 (App. 1: Suppl. to the List of Inscriptions of Northern India). Pp. 1–19.

28. Patil D. R. The antiquarian remains in Bihar. Patna, Kashi Prasad Jayaswal Research Institute, 1963. 665 p.

29. PB — Banerji R. D. The Pālas of Bengal // Memoirs of the Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal. Calcutta, 1915. Vol. 5. Pp. 43–113.

30. PSSS — Huntington S. L. The ‘Pā la-Sena’ Schools of Sculpture. Leiden, Brill, 1984. XXXIV, 296 p., [120] p. pl. [Ser. Studies in South Asian culture; vol. 10].

31. Ryosuke Furui. Indian Museum Copper Plate Inscription of Dharmapala, Year 26: Tentative Reading and Study // South Asian Studies: Journal of the Society for South Asian Studies. 2011. Vol. 27, No 2. Pp. 145–156.

32. Shastri H. Nalanda and its Epigraphic Material. Delhi, 1942 [Ser. Memoirs of the Archaeological Survey of India. Calcutta: Archaeological Survey of India, 1919. № 66]. Reprint. Delhi, Sri Satguru Publ., 1986 [Ser. Asian Arts &Archaeology series. № 3]. SIE — Studies in Indian Epigraphy: Journal of the Epigraphical Society of India / edit. by Z. A. Desai, Ajay Mitra Shastri; exec. ed. K. V. Ramesh. Mysore, Epigraphical Society of India; Delhi, Caxton Publ., 2008. Vol. 1 (1974) — Vol. 33 (2007).