The copper plates preserved in the Telangana State Museum, Hyderabad, record a royal grant of land and agricultural resources intended to support a Buddhist religious community.
Hyderabad: History enthusiasts, researchers and scholars can now access the details of copper plate inscriptions from south India at just a click of a button at bharatshri.asi.gov.in.
The 3rd-century CE Patagandigudem copper plate inscriptions, which had been issued during the reign of Ikshvaku ruler Ehavala Chamtamula, are among the earliest known copper plate inscriptions from south India. They have now been digitised and made available through the Bharat SHRI website by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
The copper plates preserved in the Telangana State Museum, Hyderabad, record a royal grant of land and agricultural resources intended to support a Buddhist religious community. They also facilitate the repair and maintenance of a monastery.
These plates are regarded as among the earliest and traditionally the oldest known copper-plate land grants from southern India. They offer an early example of the use of copper for recording permanent grants and administrative transactions.
Further, they provide valuable evidence for the changing religious landscape of early Andhra, particularly the continued royal patronage of Buddhism, alongside the growing prominence of Brahmanical and Hindu traditions.
Similarly, several inscriptions found in Phanigiri, Tirumalagiri mandal, Suryapet district, that throw light extending the known reign of the Ikshvaku ruler Rudrapurushadatta from 11 years to 18 years have also been made available in the digital form.
Issued during the 18th regnal year of Rudrapurushadatta, on the third day of the third fortnight of the Hemanta season, the inscription presents the Dharmachakra as superior to the symbols and powers associated with Hindu deities. The 10-line inscription is written in Brahmi script in Sanskrit and Prakrit.
So far, more than 3,500 inscriptions about Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have been digitised by the ASI and hosted on the website. Dr K. Muniratnam Reddy, director (epigraphy), ASI, said the ASI has commenced uploading digital data to the website.
Records about the Telangana region from the 1886 to 2014 period have been uploaded in the Andhra Pradesh section, while inscriptions found in Telangana after 2014 are available in the Telangana column, he said, adding that 27,000 records/inscriptions have not been digitised due to a pending court case.
History enthusiasts said the digitisation will be beneficial for research as it can be accessed from anywhere. “Earlier, we had to write to the ASI seeking the version of the inscription, which used to be a time-consuming process. The digital information will now help us access information at ease, helping our research,” said P. Aravind Arya, a history enthusiast.
