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]
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]
