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of Parikud's residence. This practice of worshipping a substitute is widespread in Orissa. Thus the god Jagannath of Puri is represented by the minor god Madan Mohan on the occasion. of the Chandan Jatra which is performed in the Narendra tank; and in Bhubaneshvar the principal god, Lingaraj, whose image is a phallic symbol, which is not capable of being moved, is represented by Chandra Sekhar on the occasion of the Asokāstami festival. People wishing for a boon, such as the birth of a son or recovery from disease, make votive offerings of sheep, goats and fowls. These animals are not sacrificed, but are marooned on the island. As the herbage dries up during the hot weather and the water in the lake at that season is undrinkable, the fate of these unfortunate animals can be better imagined than described. This inhuman practice has recently come to notice, and in consultation with the Raja of Parikud and the Mahants and Pandits of Puri, it has been arranged to remove the animals at frequent intervals to the main land and let them loose there after affixing to them some distinguishing mark to indicate the fact of their dedication.

VI.-A Seal of King Bhaskaravarman of Pragjyotisa found at Nalanda.

By R. D. Banerji, M.A.

In the Annual Report for the Archæological Survey, Eastern Circle, Mr. K. N. Dikshit, M.A., Officiating Superintendent of that Circle, describes some of the most important finds discovered by Dr. D. B. Spooner at Nalanda. Dr. Spooner has brought to light seals of three different dynasties :

(1) The Vais Dynasty of Thanesar.

(2) The Maukhari Dynasty of the Middle Country.
(3) The Dynasty of Pusyavarman of Assam.

(4) An unknown dynasty of kings.

It would not have been necessary for me to write this short note if Mr. Dikshit had succeeded in identifying the scal of the third dynasty of kings mentioned above. The seal described by Mr. Dikshit on page 45 of the Annual Report is undoubtedly the most important of the civic seals discovered by Dr. Spooner at Nalanda. This seal is one of Bhaskaravarman, king of Pragjyotiṣa who was a contemporary and ally of Harṣavarddhana. Before the discovery of the Nidhanpur grant of Bhaskaravarman, this prince was known to us from the meagre account by Bāņa in the Harṣacarita and the mention of the prince in Hiuen Tsiang's Itinerary. Dr. Spooner's Nalanda find is the second record of Bhaskaravarman and of the dynasty of Pusyavarman that has come to light as yet. In his description of this seal Mr. Dikshit states "Another fragmentary seal introduces us to a hitherto unknown genealogy, with names ending in varman ". Further on he states "the names Nārāyaṇavarman, Chandramukhvarman, Supratisthita varman and Pushkasavarman, as also Yajnavati and Nayanaśobha are not known so far to belong to any North Indian dynasty of the late Gupta period ".

If Mr. Dikshit had looked into the Epigraphia Indica, I am sure he would have been able to correct is readings and to identify the royal personages mentioned in this record. On page 69 of the twelfth volume of the Epigraphia Indica, Professor Padmanatha Bhattacharya has given a complete genealogy of the dynasty of Pusyavarman from the founder to Bhaskaravarman. A reference to this would have shown that the dynasty is not a new one and the names Nārāyaṇavarman, Candramukhavarman, Yajnavati, Nayanasobha and Supratisthitavarman are not altogether unknown. With the aid of the Nidhanpur grant I am able to restore the inscriptions on the Nalanda seal to some extent :

1. [Ganapati ]varmā Śr[ i ]Yajñavatyā[m] Śrī [Maken

dravarmā.

2. [Śri-Suvra]tāyāṁ Śri-Nārāyaṇavarmā. [ Śrī Devavatyāṁ Śri-Mahābhūtavarmā }.

3. [Śri-Vijñāna ] vatyam Sri Candramukhavarma SriBho [gavatyām].

4. [Śrī-Sthitava ]rma tena Śri-Nayanaśobhāyāṁ

[STI

Susthitavarmā].

5. | Śrī-Śyāmādevyām ] Sri-Supratisthita.

6. [ Varma Sri-Bhā ]şkara-varmeti.

Mr. Dikshit is certainly wrong in reading Sri-Ko instead of Sri-Bho in 1. 3 and in restoring Puskara instead of Bhașkara in 1. 6. I am not sure of his reading lakshmyam in 1. 5 but as I have not seen the original I cannot offer any suggestion. It ought to be Sri-Syāmāderyāṁ according to the Nidhanpur grant. The name of the mother of Suthita varmman is Nayanadevi according to the Nidhanpur grant but according to the Nalanda seal it is Nayanagobha. We have a similar abbreviation of a proper name in early Gupta genealogies. The name of the queen of Candragupta II and the mother of Kumaragupta I is Dhruvadevi in inscriptions but her full name was Dhruvasvāminī as found by Bloch in one of his Basarh Seals.1

Annual Report of the Archæological Survey of India, 1903-4 (p. 107, pl. XL.).

In conclusion I venture to suggest that it would be highly convenient for Indian Epigraphists and students if important records like this are reproduced in the Annual Reports in which they are described.

VII. Ferry Tolls in an Orissan Copperplate.

A copper-plate measuring 10" x 8" and provided with a ring by means of which it could be suspended was recently found at Manikpatna in the Puri District. It contains in Oriya the under-mentioned table of rates, but there is nothing to show the date when it was prepared. As the rates would be high even now, it probably refers to some old ferry across the Chilka Lake. This plate has been presented to the Patna Museum by Rai Bahadur Sakhi Chand, Superintendent of Police.

TABLE OF RATES.

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One bahungi man with load

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