Imprecatory Verses in Copper‑Plate Grants

Summary

Copper‑plate grants, issued by Indian kings to record land donations, often conclude with imprecatory verses that threaten future violators of the grant. This article examines the language, structure and function of these curses. The author collates imprecations from grants spanning the Gupta to the Chola periods and identifies recurring motifs: kings invoke deities to punish anyone who revokes the gift, promise that violators will accumulate sins equivalent to killing cows or brahmins and declare that their own good deeds will be transferred to the offender. He argues that these verses served both as legal warnings and as religious deterrents; by embedding the curse in Sanskrit verse, rulers underscored the sanctity of their acts. The paper analyses variations in phrasing across regions – for instance, Pallava grants include references to local gods – and notes that later charters sometimes added blessings for those who uphold the grant. The author discusses how the imprecatory verses reflect changing notions of kingship: early rulers emphasised their own authority to punish, whereas later donors invoked a cosmic order that would enforce the curse. The article concludes by suggesting that the study of imprecations offers insights into legal practices, religion and rhetoric in pre‑modern India.