Valipattana Plates of Silara Rattaraja Saka-samvat 932
By Haran Chandra Chakladar
Summary
This article presents a critical edition and translation of a set of copper plates discovered in Maharashtra that record a land grant issued by the Silāra chief Rattarāja in the Śaka year 932. The plates were loaned to the editor by Professor D. R. Bhandarkar and consist of three copper sheets linked on a ring engraved with the image of Garuḍa. The inscription is in Sanskrit and uses an early Nāgarī script that exhibits distinctive orthographic features: avagraha signs are often omitted, certain consonants appear doubled without the expected virāma, and nasalization is indicated by alternate signs. The article painstakingly transliterates 96 lines of text, noting such anomalies as the absence of a proper dedication, the use of prose intermixed with metrical verses, and occasional errors by the scribe. At the beginning of the inscription the donor invokes Śiva and cites his genealogy back to the earlier Silāra chiefs. The main body of the grant describes the exact location and extent of land being bestowed, enumerates the rights and exemptions conferred on the donee, and includes both benedictive and imprecatory verses warning against violating the grant. The editor compares these verses with those found on other Silāra charters and notes that the formulas for transferring land, specifying witnesses, and threatening future rulers with sin have parallels in contemporaneous grants from the Deccan. In addition to the philological analysis, the article offers historical observations: Rattarāja seems to have consolidated territory around Valipattana and issued the grant to gain religious merit and legitimize his rule. The geographic references within the inscription, such as boundaries defined by rivers and temples, help reconstruct the local landscape of tenth‑century Maharashtra. Overall, the article illustrates how meticulous study of copper plates can illuminate the political authority and administrative practices of regional dynasties in early medieval India.
Conclusion
The copper‑plate grant of Rattarāja is an invaluable primary source for the social and administrative history of the western Deccan. Besides preserving the names of minor rulers and their genealogies, the inscription reveals details about revenue remission, boundary marking and the ceremonial language of land donations. Through careful transliteration and analysis, the article demonstrates that the Silāra chiefs used epigraphical charters not merely to record gifts but to project sovereign authority and align themselves with brahmanical norms.