The Buddhist Art of Ancient Arakan ( VIII )

By U SAN THA AUNG

A Copper-Plate Land Grant

Site of find

A copper-plate, bearing writing on both sides, was discovered in Arakan about 40 years ago. See Picture. Go This is the only copper-plate found, so far, in Burma. the place where the plate was found was a small brick mound situated 2 furlongs south-west of Tharlarwaddy village. The village lies close to the Mrauk-Oo-Kyauktaw road which passes through the south-west section of the old Vesali city wall. The Vesali city site is about 5 miles north of Mrauk-Oo.

The plate was discovered accidentally while the brick mound was being removed by the owner of the plot who wished to dig a drainage channel for his farm.

The plate was bought by the late historian U Tha Tun Aung of Mrauk-Oo from the finder. During the second world war the Japanese soldiers took the plate and cut off two pieces, one at the top and the other the right hand portion of the plate, to test whether the plate was made of gold. They also carried out flame tests on the remaining back from the Japanese in this damaged condition. At present the plate is in the safe custody of the Archaeology Department of the Ministry of Culture in Rangoon.

Description of the plate

The plate has a big seal affixed to the left margin and lines of writing running along its length. The top length of the plate is 32.4 cm. and the bottom length is 30.5 cm. The breadth at the right end is 22.2 c.m. and it is 1.5 c.m. thick. It weighs 10 lbs.

It can be inferred that a strip of about 4 c.m. has been cut off along the top of the plate (really the top of the obverse but the bottom of the reverse). Since a single letter of the epigraph is usually about 0.8 c.m. in height while a conjunct or letter endowed with vowel marks has neatly double that length, we can infer that the lost part contained only two lines of writing on the first side of the plate. The reverse side has no engraved lines on the lost part.

This copper plate was a royal document issued by a Vesali king of the sixth century A.D. The grant of land for religious purposes was engraved on it. It contained well known imprecatory and benedictory stanzas written on the reverse side. These stanzas make it possihand side. By careful study of the stanzas we have found that seven or eight words endowed with being about 1 c.m broad, the measurement of length covered by seven or eight of them would suggest that the lost strip would be about 10 c.m. in breadth. By correcting these losses we can estimate the original size of the plate as about 42 c.m. in length and 26 c.m. in breadth.

The Seal

The obverse side of the seal seems to represent a recumbent bull which was the royal insignia of the Vesali kings and the reverse is probably the pericarp of a lotus symbols.

Palaeographic determination of date

These are twelve lines of writing on the obverse side of the plate. Since we have estimated that two lines at the top were cut off, the original number of lines on this side must be 14. There is no loss of any line on the reverse side which contains only 8 lines. Thus the writing on both sides of the plate originally contained 22 lines.

A palaeographic study of the characters of the present record shows that the characters exhibits a local modification of the late Brahmi of East India, which may be assigned to a date about the sixth century A.D. The engraving was very neatly and carefully done. See Picture Go for the alphabets used. The language of the document is Sanskrit, thought it contains local elements in the personal and geographical names.

The inscription was dated in the regnal reckoning of the issuer of the charter. It was the 11th regnal year of the king.

Since we have to assign the charter on palaeographical grounds to a date about the sixth century A.D., the king who issued the copper plate should be a member of the Candra dynasty of Arakan of the Second period.

The Candra dyanasty of Arakan

The early history of Arakan is best elucidated by the Anandacadra Inscription inscribed on the west face of a stone pillar now at shitthaung Pagoda at Mrauk-Oo. The inscription contains 69 lines. It is a prasasti of King Anandacandra who ruled Arakan about 720 A.D.

It has been dated on palaeographic grounds to the beginning of the 8th century A.D. by Dr. E.H. Johnston and Dr. D.C. Sircar. Refer back Chapter II for more details.

Issuer of the charter

Considering the Gupta style of representing the reigning monarch as a descendent of the founder of the family through a number of successive generations, which was borrowed by many dynasties, lines 1.8 of the record appear to have originally contained the names of eight kings, the last of them mentioned in line 8, being the issuer of the grant.

Line 1 may have thus contained the name of a king who was the founder of the royal family. The donor of the grant was then mentioned along with seven of his ancestors. It is not improbable that line 1 could have mentioned Dvencandra, the founder of the dynasty. In that case, it was Bhuticandra (No. 8) who was the father of Niticandra and ruled in 496-520 A.D., ie., about the beginning of the sixth century A.D., ( See Picture. Go ) who was probably the issuer of the charter. As the last line of the inscription indicates the date of issue as the 11th regnal year of the king, acception D.C. Sircar’s dates for the Candra kings, the inscription would have been engraved in 507 A.D.

The queen mothers

As lines 1 and 2 are lost we may start from line 3. Lines 3_8 mention six kings and describes them as padanudyata (meditating on or favoured by the feet of his predecessor), as Paramamahesvara (a devout worshipper of the god Mahesvara or Siva) and as born of a particular mahadevi (chief queen). The kings enjoyed the title of Maharajadhiraja, indicating independent and imperial status in the Gupta age.

It is very unfortunate indeed that the name of the issuer of the charter and all his ancestors are engraved on the end portion of the lines, which were cut off by the Japanese.

However, the names of the queens can be read in lines 4_8, the queen’s name in line 3 being damaged. Thus we are previlaged to know the donor’s mother, grand mother, great grand mother, great great grand mother and great great great grand mother. Their names were respectively Kalyanadevi, Kyawdevi, Sukanya devi, Kimdal devi and Kimton devi.
Out of these names, Kalyanadevi and Sukanyadevi suggest contact with Sanskrit tradition. Other names starting with Kim are worth nothing. They suggest Tibeto-Burman affiliations.

Persons addressed

In lines 9-10 the issuing king addresses the charter to the rulers of his own family and of other dynasties in respect of the grant.
Purpose of issuing the charter

Lines 10-13 state that a village called Dengutta was granted by Kimmajuvdevi in favour of a vihara (Buddhist monastery) built by herself. It is probable that she was the queen of Buticandra as the palaeography of the inscription points to the beginning of the 6th century and we know the name of the queen of Niticandra, the son of Bhuticandra, as Savitam Candrasriya from a seperatre inscription.

Kimmajuvdevi was doubtless a Buddhist, although her husband and his ancestors were mentioned as Paramamahesvara. So far as I have noticed, there is practically no evidence of Saivism in the archaeological assemblage of Arakan. It may be conjectured that Saivite ritual may have been confined to certain court ceremonies necessary to legitimize kingship, but incompatible with Buddhism, perfomed by a small group of court Brahmins.

Again the lines mentioned that the income derived from the gift village was meant to be utilized on behalf of the Ratna-traya (Ratnatray-opayogaya) in respect of the catushpratyana and the repairs of breaks, cracks, etc, in the monastery. The expression Ratna-traya (i.e the three Jewels) indicates the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, while catush-pratyana are the four necessaries of the Buddhist priest, vizcivara (clothing), pindapata (food), sayanasana (bedding) and bhaishajya (medicine).

A damaged passage in lines 12-13 seems to suggest that the gift village was placed in charge of the fraternity of the holy monks of all lands including the elders of Jatavana, who were already in the monastery and who might in future come to reside there in. The original Jetavanna was in the suburbs of Sravasti (modern Set-Maheth in Uttar Pradesh), the capital of the ancient Kosala kingdom. It was built by the Financier Anathapindika for the use of the Buddha himself. It is difficult to say whether the original Jatavana is referred to in our record or whether it was an establishment in the neighbourhood of Arakan or elsewhere called by the ancient name.

The gift village called Dengutta is described as yielding 3000, the reference being apparently to the revenue income in the standard coin.

The boundaries of the village Dengutta are described in lines 13 -14 forming the concluding part of the writing on the obverse side of the plate. Unfortunately, the end of the lines being cut off, the boundaries in the east and the north of the gift village are lost. In the south, there were the Srilakkajola, a row of stone boulders and a mango tree, while Vangenkhalla lay on the west. The word jola seems to mean a channel and the word khalla seems to mean a canal.

Imprecatory and benedictory stanzes

The reverse of the plate starts with line 15 which contains the request of the issuer of the charter to the effect that those addressed should protect the gift out of a desire for religions merit (dharma-bhi-lasat) and out of great respect for the royal donor.

Lines 15-20 contain five of the well-known imprecatiory and benedictory stanzas identical to those found in the early 6th century inscriptions of Bengal. The verse were written by Vyasa and addressed confiscates land that has been given, whether by himself or another, becomes a worm in ordure, and sinks into hell together with his ancestors. The earth has been enjoyed by many kings, commencing belongs, at that time, the reward (of this grant that is now made, if he continue it): The giver of land enjoys happiness in heaven for sixty thousand years; (but) the confiscator (of a grant) and he who assents (to an act of confiscation) shall dwell for the same number of years in hell!”

Executor of the grant

Line 21 contains the name of the Mahamantrin (liberally, the great minster). His name was Rengadityadasa. He seems to be the Prime Minister of the king who issued the charter and may have been the executor of the grant.


Date of issue

The last line of the record contained the date of issue. It is the 11th regnal year of the king who issued the charter.

Present location of the village of Dengutta and the Vihara

The village of Dengutta must be close to the spot where the copper plate was found. That is to the south west of Vesali. The Vihara built by the queen might be on the spot where the tablet of auspicious symbols, lustration pot and two cart loads of artifacts, which I have mentioned in Chapter VI were found. That spot is also not far away from the spot where the copper plate was found. I am sure we will be richly rewarded if we could only excavate these spots.

The copper-plate grant, apart from giving us the interesting information presented above, provides us with a very neat and tidy example of the alphabets used in Arakan during the sixth century A.D. and before. See Picture. Go


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