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BORI researchers decipher copperplate grant dating back to 959 AD

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A two-and-half month study by scientists at Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute (BORI) of a recently discovered copperplate grant believed to date back to 959 AD has helped them mark the exact time period of the reign of an eminent king from Odisha.

BORI’s assistant curator Dr Shreenand Bapat and Dr Pradeep Sohini, retired engineer and collector of rare antiquities claimed that the grant gives the exact time period of the reign of Bhanja ruler Ranaka Ranabhanajadeva from Odisha.

The researchers said 10 such copperplates have been discovered previously, yet this is the only one that could give concrete evidence about the precise time period of the reign of the ruler. “Besides, the copperplate’s significance lies in the fact that it could have possibly been a Gurudakshina given by the ruling sovereign to his teacher,” said Bapat.

The grant comprises three copperplates measuring 16.5 cm by 10 cm and weighing 1.987 kg. There are 1,350 letters inscribed on the plates, which have been held together with the help of a ring and a bronze seal. 

The sun and the moon at the top, a bull at the bottom and the king’s legend Ranabhanjayadevasya are depicted in the seal. The Sanskrit text, running into 41 lines on the plate, is of the Odishan variety of the ancient northern script. It has also been understood as a link between the Brahmi script and  current day Oriyan script.

The important rulers of the Bhanja dynasty include Yathasukha, Mallagambhira, Silabhanja, Satrubhanja and Ranabhanjadeva among the many who ruled the Khinjali province of current-day Odisha. The grant dates to June 23, 959 AD in the ninth year of the ruler’s reign.

At a recent event, the copperplate was put up for display by BORI and the session was chaired by eminent archaeologist and former director of Deccan College, Dr MK Dhavalikar.

After a painstaking study, the researchers have been able to understand that the copperplate grant comes from a village on the right bank of River Mahanadi named Sigadi of Phulabani district in Odisha and was a donation made to Asinimar Siddha. 

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