Kilibhana Grants

Summary

Dines Chandra Sircar summarises three notes contributed by P. C. Rath regarding the Kālibhanā or Kesarkella copper‑plate grants. Rath first compares the script of the Kesarkella grant with that of the Nivinna grant of Śailodbhava Dharmarāja and notes similarities to inscriptions of the Ganga kings Indravarman of the tenth century and Anantavarman Codaganga of the thirteenth century. He concludes that this script was used in the present‑day Oriya tract between the sixth and thirteenth centuries. Second, Rath examines references to Trikalinga in Somavaṃśi grants and disputes the view that Kosala formed part of Trikalinga. He suggests that during Mahā‑Bhavagupta’s time Trikalinga comprised Kalinga, Koṅgoḍa and Oḍra, while in later periods the term denoted different combinations of regions. Third, Rath addresses the identification of a king named Mahā‑Bhavagupta mentioned in the Kesarkella inscription. He proposes that this Mahā‑Bhavagupta was the father of Śivagupta and grandfather of Janamejaya, and that he might be identical with an otherwise hypothetical Mahā‑Bhavagupta whom some scholars have posited to explain genealogical gaps. Sircar reproduces Rath’s arguments without endorsing them and refrains from offering his own conclusions, intending primarily to place Rath’s observations on record.