Field Trip in Odisha 2024: Two Catalogues of Copper Plates Available

The photographs and information collected during the DHARMA fieldwork in Odisha in February 2024¹ have been integrated in two catalogues available online. They provide documentation of the copperplate collections preserved in the Archaeological Museum, Departments of History and Ancient Indian History Culture and Archaeology, Utkal University, Bhubaneswar, and in the Prof. N.K. Sahu Museum, Sambalpur University.

For each item displayed in the showcases of these museums, the catalogues indicate:

• An internal DHARMA identifier
• The dynasty to which it belongs
• A brief description of the item
• Its provenance (when known)
• Some details on its content
• Its language
• The number of faces inscribed
• The total number of lines
• A measurement table
• And some bibliographical references.

A picture of each item illustrates the description, while a hypertext link provides access to the data set of the photos taken during the mission. The photos, licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 FR, have been uploaded to the Didomena data repository.²

1. The copperplate collection preserved at the Archaeological Museum, Utkal University

The catalogue (available here) describes the nine copper plates displayed in the showcases of the museum. At the time of our visit, there was little or no information at all available in the showcases, making identification difficult but essential to highlight the collection and enable future research into its treasures.

For instance, although no information was associated with this plate, it was possible to identify the Talmul Copper Plate Charter of Devānandadeva thanks to the reading of its well-preserved seal. This charter was issued by a king belonging to the Nandodbhava dynasty, of which eight records are known to date.³ Another unlabelled record is actually a charter issued by Anālastambha of the Śulki dynasty. These two dynasties ruled over parts of modern Dhenkanal district and were contemporaries of the Bhaumakara and Somavaṁśin dynasties.⁴

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In other cases, even the slightest clues made identification much easier. The words ‘bhañja dynasty?’ on the back of a stray plate were a very useful hint: this record was indeed issued by a Bhañja king of Khiñjali-Maṇḍala.⁵ The mention ‘Ādibhañja royal dynasty of Khijjingakoṭa’ pasted on another plate, the information collected and the research in secondary literature enabled me to identify this other charter as the Suhagpur Copper Plate Grant of Śrī Narendrabhañjadeva. Thanks to the bibliographical reference in the catalogue, it is now possible to compare the existing edition of this text with the photos online.

2. The copperplate collection preserved at the Prof. N.K. Sahu Museum, Sambalpur University

 

By making these two catalogues available in Open Access, I hope that it will contribute to furthering research into the fascinating history of Orissa, and to promote the collections of these two museums, which preserve a representative selection of valuable historical documents.

Bibliography

Acharya, S. K. 2014. Copper-Plate Inscriptions of Odisha: A Descriptive Catalogue (circa Fourth Century to Sixteenth Century CE). New Delhi: D. K. Printworld.

Padhan, B. 2011. Catalogue of Prof. N.K. Sahu Museum. P.G. Department of History, Sambalpur University.

Singh, U. 1994. Kings, brāhmaṇas and temples in Orissa: An epigraphic study AD 300–1147. New Delhi: Munsshiram.

Tripathy, S. 2010. Descriptive Topographical Catalogue of Orissan Inscriptions. New Delhi: Manohar Publishers & Distributors.

Wattelier-Bricout, A. 2024. Catalogue of the Archaeological Museum, Departments of History and Ancient Indian History Culture and Archaeology, Utkal University, Bhubaneswar. Preprint. ⟨hal-04543317v2⟩

Wattelier-Bricout, A. 2024. Catalogue of the copperplate collection, Prof. N.K. Sahu Museum, Sambalpur University: With three stone inscriptions in Appendix. Preprint. ⟨hal-04649198⟩

1. See the blogpost: https://dharma.hypotheses.org/5795 [↩]
2. See here for the collection preserved at the Archaeological museum, Utkal University and here for the collection preserved at the Prof. N.K. Sahu Museum, Sambalpur university. [↩]
3. For further information on these eight records, see Acharya, S. K. 2014. Copper-Plate Inscriptions of Odisha: A Descriptive Catalogue (circa Fourth Century to Sixteenth Century CE). New Delhi: D. K. Printworld, n°1-8, pp. 398-408. [↩]
4. See Singh, U. 1994. Kings, brāhmaṇas and temples in Orissa: An epigraphic study AD 300–1147. New Delhi: Munsshiram, p. 66-71. [↩]
5. See Tripathy, S. 2010. Descriptive Topographical Catalogue of Orissan Inscriptions. New Delhi: Manohar Publishers & Distributors, n°21, pp. 70-71. [↩]
6. See Padhan, B. 2011. Catalogue of Prof. N.K. Sahu Museum. P.G. Department of History, Sambalpur University. [↩]
7. Three other grants issued by the king Vinītatuṅga are known: the Khaḍgaprasāda Plate (Tripathy, S. 2010. Descriptive Topographical Catalogue of Orissan Inscriptions. New Delhi: Manohar Publishers & Distributors, n°8, pp. 55-56; Acharya, S.K. 2014. Copper-Plate Inscriptions of Odisha: A Descriptive Catalogue (circa Fourth Century to Sixteenth Century CE). New Delhi: D. K. Printworld, n°8, pp. 395-396), the Talcher Plate (Acharya, 2014, n°8, pp. 395-396) and the Bonai Plate (Tripathy, 2010, n°1, pp. 474-475; Acharya, 2014, n°7, pp. 393-394). [↩]
8. Acharya, Subrata Kumar. 2014. Copper-Plate Inscriptions of Odisha: A Descriptive Catalogue (circa Fourth Century to Sixteenth Century CE). New Delhi: D. K. Printworld, pp. 386-397. [↩]
9. For more details on this plate, see Tripathy, S. 2010. Descriptive Topographical Catalogue of Orissan Inscriptions. New Delhi: Manohar Publishers & Distributors, n°55, pp. 231. [↩]

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