Two Terracotta Sealings from Mallār (Malhar), District Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh

Chandrashekhar Gupta1

1. 546/ Nand Bhavan, Bhutiya Darvaja Marg Navi Shukravari, Nagpur‐ 440 032, Maharashtra, India (Email: [email protected])

Received: 30 July 2018; Revised: 11 October 2018; Accepted: 05 November 2018 Heritage: Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies in Archaeology 6 (2018): 831‐837

Abstract: Two Terracotta Sealings was recovered from Mallār excavations by Prof. K. D. Bajpai and Dr. S. K. Pandey and is presently deposited in the Archaeological Museum of the Department of Ancient Indian History, Culture and Archaeology of Dr. Hari Singh Gaur University Sagar, Madhya Pradesh. In this article, the author has rediscussed the findings and interpretations found on the sealings putting forth his views on the same.

Keywords: Epics, Janapada, Malhar, Praśasti, Terracotta, Seals, Sealings

Introduction The ancient city of Malhar (Mallalapattana) (21° 53’ 38” N, 82° 17’ 6” E) falls within the ancient territorial jurisdiction of the Chedi (Cheti) later identified as the region of Dakshin Kosala Janapada, which was once a flourishing township on the ancient route from Kausambi to Puri on the south‐eastern coast of India. Bharhut, Bandhavgarh, Amarkantak, Kharod, Sirpur are few major towns on this route. Malhar benefited with this strategic location witnessed cultural and political developments. Pilgrims going to Puri halted here to pay homage to various shrines. J D Beglar mentions about a mud fort at Malhar during his tour in 1873‐74, however he skipped visiting Malhar. Later, he found about the ruins of two temples in this town. Malhar is, referred as Mallala or Mallala‐pattana in the Kalachuri epigraphs of the twelfth century AD. K D Bajpai suggests that Mallal is probably a derivation of Mallari, a title of Shiva. A demon named Malla is, found in the Puranas, as Shiva killed this demon so he is, called Mallari. Old Mallal was, surrounded by three rivers, Arpa in the west, Leelagar in the east and Shivnath in the south.

Discussion K. D. Bajpai and S. K. Pandey, the excavators have read [Mahāraja Mahendra/ Mahendrasya on the first and Gāmasa Koṣalīyā on the second sealing]. The text on one sealing refers to a King namely Mahendra who may be equated with Kosalaka Mahendra a King of Kosala, found mentioned in the famous Praśasti of the Gupta King ISSN 2347 – 5463 Heritage: Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies in Archaeology 6: 2018

Samudragupta composed by Harisheṇa and inscribed on the Aśokan pillar in Allahabad. The text on the other sealing was, read by them as ‘Gāmasa Koṣalīyā (of the village Kosalī). This clearly indicates its belonging to the village Kosala/ Kosalī.

Some years ago, Susmita Basu Majumdar visited Archaeology Museum of Sagar University and herself verified the readings on both the Sealings. She found no traces of legend on the first sealing (Except faint traces of the angular letter ‘Ma’ supposed to be the logo of the city of Malhār). However, she agrees well with the reading given for the second sealing. Moreover, she has her own interpretation of Kosalaka which (according to her) stands for a feminine (but bigger part of the territory!?) form (It is believed that the feminine form represents smaller size as compared to masculine form). She has expressed her thoughts on this theme in her book entitled, ‘Select Early Historic Inscriptions: Epigraphic Perspectives on the Ancient Past of Chhattisgarh’, written jointly with Shivakant Bajpai. We have our own views on these Sealingsʹ readings and interpretations and their contents. The same is being, discussed here in the following pages.

Figure 1: Sealing I

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Sealing I This sealing from Mallār (also spelt as Malhār) (Figure 1) bears the legend ‘Mahendra’ or ‘Mahendrasya’. This Mahendra was, equated with the king of ‘Kosala’ found mentioned as ‘Kosalaka Mahendra’ in the Prayāga Prashasti i.e. inscription found on the Allahabad Pillar describing the expeditions of the Gupta King Samudragupta. Mahendra was supposed to be a Śarabhapurīya King and brother of Narendra, son of Śarabha, supposed to be the founder of the house. He is, known through a couple of Copper Plate inscriptions issued by Narendra, his son and successor. Dr. Susmita Basu Majumdar and Shivakant Bajpai while commenting on the sealing said that there is no sign of any legend on it (as it is, worn out considerably). Only faint traces of Mallār (Malhār) symbol could be made out against the claim by the excavators. This Seal/Sealing (They are probably confused about its nature) was, said to have been, excluded from the discussion in their book, as neither the photograph was published earlier nor there were any traces of the legend at all as claimed by Vajpeyī and Pandey. Comments on this sealing and the photograph was published by Basu Majumdar and Bajpai and physically examined by Dr. Susmita. Further in this regards some interesting remarks were, made by them. They wrote “Though it has been read as Kosalaka by the editors of the record [i.e. Prayāga Praśasti], but long ā is clearly visible. It was intentionally, ignored as a superfluous stroke for Ka pratyaya, and is only used with masculine words. Reading it as Kosalā would make it feminine.

The editors of the record obviously were influenced by the pre‐existing toponymn, Kosala in north India and they suggested the name Kosala in Chhattisgarh too. So no efforts were made even to record the long a in the inscription. The addition of Ka also denotes the existence of a larger territory. So Hariṣḥena was also aware of the existence of another Kosala hence he used the ‘ka’ to denote a smaller homonymous territory. Thus, it is clear from the above statement made by Basu Majumdar and Bajpai that there were, two Kosalas (or one was Kosalā). One was, feminine and bigger in extant (!?) was named as Kosalā and Mahendra was associated with it, since no legend could be traced on the sealing there would be no question of its association with the name ‘Mahendra’ read, however the faint traces of ‘Malhar symbol’ suggests its possible association with the village Mallār. The find spot of the sealing also supports this suggestion. ‘Malhār Symbol’ is the alphabet ‘Ma’ written in angular form of Brāhmī letter found on local coins of Malhār which include Punch marked, die‐struck and cast coins and Sealings too. The recent finds of terracotta Sealings from the archaeological excavations at Damaroo (in Baloda Bazar Tahsil of Bhatapara district) displayed the same ‘Mallār Symbol’ in the centre with circular legend around it. This symbol stands for the initials of name of the place, which is, known as Mallār, Malhār, Mallalapattan etc. Even during the medieval period the coins of the Kalachuris of Ratanpur the solitary letter ‘Ma’ stood for the place (of some of the coins) in the contemporary Nāgarī script. This may be taken as a later practice of depiction of mint place. The illustration published by Basu Majumdar and Bajpai show some faint traces of legend and Mallār Symbol, but nothing definite could be made out. If we have to believe what Vajpai and

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Pande has read as correct, we have to accept that this ‘Mahārāja Mahendra’ was none other than one mentioned in the Prayāg Prashasti of the Gupta King Samudragupta who has restored his Kingdom after defeating him. This indicates the introduction of the influence of the Guptas in Chhattisgarh through cultural contacts. Adoption of Gupta era in local inscriptions, coins, Garuḍa‐aṁka, on copper plate, seals and repose coins etc (Some repose coins are made on the basis of Gupta type and repose coins with the titles and names: Mahendraditya and Kramaditya are associated with Gupta King Kumara Gupta I, Mahendraditya I and Skandagupta – Kramāditya). A better photograph of the sealing under discussion or a good new find will shed new light on the problem. Until then we have to bear with the condition described and discussed above.

Sealing II Second terracotta sealing (Figure 2) also from Mallār and presently housed in the Archaeology Museum of Sagar University, is in much better state of preservation. It is slightly broken and of spherical shape. The impression of the seal has come quite prominently. Even the finger (or palm) print has come on the right lower portion of the flan, which must have been impressed when the clay was quite wet. After getting it dried, it was baked carefully. The back of the object is neither illustrated nor described by the scholars; hence, it is difficult to tell anything in this regards that whether the Sealing was fixed to some document or was used as a token or object of identity or a passport. The Sealing is at present with the Sagar University Archaeology Museum as already stated has been studied by Dr. Susmita Basu Majumdar herself. It is, described as having a symbol of a tree, in the centre, with branches and leaves spreading out and reading ‘Gāmasa Kosaliyā’ meaning – of the village Kosalī.

Figure 2: Sealing II, A ‐ With Image of Tree with Branches and Leaves B – with Inscription Gāmasa Kaṁpilīyā

Majumdar and Bajpai, who speak well about their ideas on the territory of Kosala, have given a long discussion on the Sealing (or it would be better to call it as Kosalī from which they derive Kosalā). It is therefore better to quote them ad vertum for better idea

834 Gupta 2018: 831‐837 of their thinking – “This Brahmī inscription datable to second century AD on a Sealing from this site reads ‘Gāmasa Kosaliyā’, which indicates the name of this place as Kosalī (which is feminine). It was probably this village, which gave the name to the larger ‘region’ lying between the foothills of the Vindhyas and eastern Maharashtra sometime around third century AD.

Figure 3: Allahabad Pillar Inscription of Samudragupta

The hypothesis is, based on a set of numismatic evidence from the village of Malhar. This village was known as Kosalī in ancient times, if we accept the above‐mentioned seal (sic) as evidence. Moreover, the region was located on the trade route from Magadh and Kauśambī via Bandhogarh or even from Ramgarh via Malhar to Andhra, Kosalī initially for these long distance travelers. At Ramgarh permanent caves were, constructed for the travelers from far off places to spend the night, or in other words, Ramgarh also developed as a resting station for the travelers. The construction of the Sitabenga and Jogimara caves on this route was an organized effort indicating its location on this route as early as second century BC. Malhar or the village Kosalī also developed as a resting place for the traders. The indigenous coins from this region from first century BC to third – fourth century AD clearly indicate that this village was

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gaining prominence and its gradual transformation from a village to an urban centre and finally this urban centre gave its identity to the region Kosalā (Kosalī / Kosalā). This discussion brings us to the reference to this region in the well‐known Allahabad Praśasti of Samudragupta (Figure 3), which mentions Mahendra as the ruler of Kosala. In the footnotes, appended to this text, the thoughts of the authors are, further expressed regarding the big and small territories of Kosala, Kosalī, and Kosalā. We need not go into the details here, as we have to discuss here the reading and significance of the Sealing under the discussion.

Coming to the decipherment of the legend on this Sealing, we wish to put on record that this text does not mention the name of the village as ‘Kosalīya’ at all. It is astonishing that instead of it ‘Kaṁpilīya is found inscribed. Let us go into its details a little further. The first three alphabets on the sealing are the same i.e. ‘Gāmasa as read correctly by Vajpai and Pandey (and also agreed by Basu Majumdar and Bajpai). The fourth letter read by them, as ‘Ko’ is actually ‘Kam’ clearly showing the aṇusvāra sign i.e. the dot on the top portion of the character ‘Ka’. Moreover, there are no strokes added to it to indicate the medial signs for ‘a’ and ‘e’ to make it ‘Ko’. The fifth letter read by the earlier editors and accepted by the subsequent editors as ‘sa’ is also not read correctly. It is actually ‘pi’. The shape of the letter is, simply drawn in angular form of the sign for ‘pa’ with a short stroke attached to it on top right side making its appearance as ‘pi’. The bends required for making it look like the alphabet ‘Sa’ is totally absent here; hence, it is to be, read as ‘pi’ only. The next letter ‘lī’ is, correctly read, so no comments are, needed. Similar is the case with the last letter i.e. seventh letter of the legend, it is also read correctly as ‘ya’. This makes the total text to be, read as ‘Gāmasa Kaṁpilīyā’, meaning of village Kaṁpilya and not ‘Gāmasa Kosaliya’ as read earlier. This further rejects the name ‘Kosalī’ accepted by Basu Majumdar and Bajpai and the hypothesis build on the same by them. Now let us see the meaning and significance of the legend on the Sealing. ‘Kaṁpila or Kāṁpilya was the name of a famous city of ancient times found mentioned in Vedic (Ṛig and Yajur Vedas), epic (Rāmāyana and Mahabhārata), Purānaṇic, Jātakas, Aṣṭhadhyāyī etc. Archaeological explorations and excavations also have added much material to the heritage history of Kaṁpila. Kaṁpila or Kāṁpilya was the capital of the ancient Janapada known as Panchāla. It was later bifurcated into two parts viz. north and south Panchāla. Capital of the north Panchāla was Ahichchhatra (also called Adhichchhatra) and Kaṁpila was that of the south Panchāla. According to one legend the city was, established by King Kaṁpila son of King Bhṛmyaśva. This was the place where the, Svyaṁvara of Draupadī was held and the two sons of King Drupada were slain in the battle that took place afterwards. There are several monuments and legend associated with places in the city. A number of antiquities in the form of Seals, Sealings, coins, pottery etc. were found but the sealing with the name of the city (here called village) was found for the first time.

It may be mentioned there that Seals and Sealings are normally associated with the place of origin i.e. issue and place of destination respectively. Hence, it is clear that the Sealing found at Malhar originated here in Kaṁpila, this reflects the cultural contacts

836 Gupta 2018: 831‐837 between the two regions of ancient Panchāla and Kosala. Malhar is well‐known site situated in Bilaspur district of Chhattisgarh State having a hoary past and rich heritage. It has yielded numerous antiquities and monuments. It has been archaeologically excavated several times by the Dept. of State Archaeology and Dept. of Ancient Indian History Culture and Archaeology of Dr. Hari Singh Gaur University, Sagar Madhya Pradesh. They have excavated several heritage sites viz. Tumain, Tripuri, Eran, Malhar etc. Locals and eminent citizens like Shri Sukhanandan Pandey, Gulabsingh Thakur, and Hari Singh Kshatri etc. have collected evidences of various types from the local sites and through some scholars like Dr.L.S.Nigam, Shri Rahul Kumar Singh, Dr.Susmita Basu Majumdar etc. got them published. Archaeological Survey of India has also excavated the mud fort for a couple of seasons recently. It is, expected that the archaeological excavations will be revived and efforts to bring out the rich culture of the place will be promoted by the authorities.

Acknowledgement My Heartiest thanks and compliments to Shri. K. S. Chandra, UGC NET, Contributory Lecturer, Department of Ancient Indian History Culture and Archaeology, RTM Nagpur University, Nagpur for compilation of this article

References Bajpai, Shivakant and Singh Rahul Kumar. 2014. Archaeological Investigations at Damaroo, Kosala 7, pp. 54‐ 58, pl.13. Bhagat, J. R. 2015. Tarighat Excavation (2012‐13), Directorate of Culture and Archaeology, Raipur, p.82. Bhandarkar R. D, 1981. Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum Vol. III (Revised), plate‐I, pp. 212‐13. Dallaporta, Anumaria and Lucia Marcato. 2011. Kampil‐ Archaeological Study of a Site in the Ancient Kingdom of Panchala, Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi. Indian Archaeology – A Review. 1965‐66. Archaeological Survey of India. New Delhi. p.48. Indian Archaeology – A Review. 1974‐75. Archaeological Survey of India. New Delhi. pp.21‐22. Majumdar Susmita Basu and Bajpai Shivakant, 2015, Select Early Historic Inscriptions: Epigraphic Prospective on the Ancient Past of Chhattisgarh, Shatakshi Prakashan, Raipur, p.14, 69 and 88. Majumdar, Susmita Basu. 2000. Local Coins of Ancient India a new series; coins of Malhar, Indian Institute of Research in Numismatic Studies, Anjneri, Nasik. Malhar 1975‐77. 1978. Sagar University, Sagar. Sushama, 2001, Aryā, Panchāla Rājya kā Itihāsa, Prāchīna Bhāratiyā Shodh Parishad, Dilli, (Review by B. R. Mani) Puratāttva, No 41, pp.234‐35, Indian Archaeological Society, Delhi. Tewari B.P. The Ceramic traditions from Kampil Excavations, Purātattva 44, pp. 194‐20.

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