The Stray Plate from Tirliṅgi: [Ganga?] Year 28
Summary
The note on the stray plate from Tirliṅgi examines a damaged copper‑plate charter dated to the Kṛṣṇāṣṭamī of the month Phālguna in the twenty‑eighth year of the “increasing régime” (pravardhamāna‑rājya). The scribe Vinayacandra, son of Bhānucandra, is identified as the engraver; his name also appears on several other Ganga‑era plates, prompting speculation about his longevity and suggesting that the present plate may belong to an earlier generation. The article reviews earlier attempts to date the plate and to identify the issuing ruler—some scholars attribute it to Mitravarman or Indravarman of the Eastern Gaṅga dynasty, while others propose different donors—but none of the conjectures is conclusive. The palaeography and orthography of the inscription link it to early Ganga charters of Kalinga, and the author argues that the plate predates the Jirjingi grant of Indravarman and probably falls between the fifth and sixth centuries A.D. A transcript of the surviving lines is provided, illustrating characteristic formulas about the merit of donating land and the curse on those who violate the grant. Despite its fragmentary state, the record is considered genuine and adds to the corpus of early Ganga inscriptions. The study emphasises the challenges of reconstructing dynastic history from isolated plates and cautions against over‑reliance on tenuous genealogical links.
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Conclusion
The Tirliṅgi plate is important because it offers a rare, albeit fragmentary, document from the formative period of the Eastern Gaṅga dynasty. Its uncertain date and donor illustrate the difficulties of epigraphic chronology, yet its script and formulas provide valuable clues to early administrative practices in Kalinga. The author calls for cautious interpretation and further discoveries to clarify this obscure period.