The PPP is prepared for the students of VC-04.

1. Sachin Kr. Tiwary
KAHAUM PILLAR INSCRIPTION OF
SKANDAGUPTA

2. Kauhom
Inscription of
Skandagupta
Location
Deoria, UP
Date
459-460 CE
Material
Coarse Gray
Sand Stone
Condition
Religion
Jaina
Measurement
24’ 3”
Script
Brahmi
Language
Sanskrit
Kauhom Inscription of
Skandagupta
Sculptures
Jaina
Nomenclature
Purpose
Art &
Architecture

3. Location
• Kahom (कहोम) is a historical village in Deoria district in Uttar Pradesh.
• Kahāuṃ or Kahaon is the site of Pillar Inscription of Skandagupta.
• कक
ु भग्राम/ कक
ु मग्राम उत्तर प्रदेश राज्य क
े देवररया ज़िला में जथित िा।
• कक
ु भग्राम में गुप्तवंशीय महाराजाधिराज थकन्दगुप्त क
े समय
(गुप्तसंवत् 141-460 ई.) का एक थतंभ-लेख प्राप्त हुआ िा।

4. Stamp
of
the
inscription

5. Text of the Inscription
margin
margin. 1 siddha(ṃ)
body
1 yasyopasthānabhūmir nṛpatiśataśiraḥpātavātāvadhūtā
2 guptānāṃ vanśajasya pravisṛtayaśasas tasya sarvvottamarddheḥ
3 rājye śakropamasya kṣitipaśatapateḥ skandaguptasya śānte
4 varṣe ttrinśaddaśaikottarakaśatatame jyeṣṭhamāsi prapanne|
5 khyāte smin grāmaratne kakubha iti janais sādhusaṃsargapūte|
6 puttro yas somilasya pracuraguṇanidher bhaṭṭisomo mahāt(m)ā
7 tatsūnū rudrasoma pṛthulamatiyaśā vyāghra ity anyasaṃjño|
8 madras tasyātmajo bhūd dvijaguruyatiṣu prāyaśaḥ prītimān yaḥ|
9 puṇyaskandhaṃ sa cakkre jagad idam akhilaṃ saṃsarad vīkṣya bhīto
10 śreyortthaṃ bhūtabhūtyai pathi niyamavatām arhatām ādikarttṛN
11 pañcendrāṃ sthāpayitvā dharaṇidharamayān sannikhātas tato yaM
12 śailastambhaḥ sucārur girivaraśikharāgropamaḥ kīrttikarttā
An area covered
67 cm width x 51 cm height

6. Translation of the Inscription
•Perfection has been attained! In the tranquil reign of Skandagupta, whose hall of audience is
shaken by the wind caused by the falling down (in the act of performing obeisance) of the heads
of a hundred kings; who is born in the lineage of the Guptas; whose fame is spread far and
wide; who excels all others in prosperity; who resembles (the god) Shakra; (and) who is the lord
of a hundred kings;-in the one hundredth year, increased by thirty and ten and one; the month
Jyêshtha having arrived;-
•In this jewel of a village, which is known by people under the name of Kakubha, (and) which is
pure from association with holy men, (there was) the high-minded Bhattisôma, who (was) the
son of Sômila, that receptacle of many good qualities. His son (was) Rudrasôma, of great
intellect and fame, who had the other appellation of Vyâghra. His son was Madra, who (was)
especially full of affection for Brâhmans and religious preceptors and ascetics.
•He, being alarmed when he observed the whole of this world (to be ever) passing through a
succession of changes, acquired for himself a large mass of religious merit. (And by him),-having
set up, for the sake of final beatitude (and) for the welfare of (all) existing beings, five excellent
(images), made of stone, (of) those who led the way in the path of the Arhats who practice
religious observances, there was then planted in the ground this most beautiful pillar of stone,
which resembles the tip of the summit of the best of mountains, (and) which confers fame
(upon him).
Fleet, John F. Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum: Inscriptions of the Early Guptas. Vol. III. Calcutta: Government of India,
Central Publications Branch, 1888, 67-68.

7. • यह जैन अभभलेख है जजसे भद्र नामक व्यजतत ने जैन तीिंकरों की
मूर्तियों की प्रर्तष्ठापना क
े भलए क
ु क
ु भग्राम-वतिमान कहौम में अंककत
करवाया िा। ये आददकतति अिवा तीििकरों की प्रर्तमाएँ अभभलेख वाले
थतंभ पर उक
े री हुई हैं।
• थतंभ क
े र्नकट एक ताल है जहाँ सात फ
ु ट ऊ
ँ ची बुद्ि की मूर्ति जथित
िी।
Nomenclature
Other
Remains
• Discovery- Montgomery Martin in his book Eastern India Vol. II
published in 1838 the inscription is noticed for the first time, pp. 366-
367,
• Decipherment by J Prinsep who, provided by D Liston with a
description of the pillar and afterwards an impression of the inscription
(Journal of Asiatic Society of Bengal, Vol. 07, pp. 36ff., accompanied by a
lithograph (Plate I).
• In 1854, A Cunningham commented on the date of the Kahaum
Epigraph in his The Bhilsa Topes, p.144.
• E Thomas gave the correct reading of the year in a footnote of his
article On the Epoch of the Gupta Dynasty in Journal of Asiatic Society of
Bengal, Vol. 24, p. 385,
• The reading being communicated to him by F.E. Hall. He reprinted the
translation of Prinsep with the correction of the year in his edition of
Prinsep’s Essays, Vol. I, p. 250. F E Hall, correcting the error in Prinsep’s
reading of the hemistich containing the date, gave his reading of the
first verse with a translation in 1860, in the Journal of the American
Oriental Society, Vol. VI, p. 530.
Researches
An inscription of
12 lines,
In the eastern
variety of the
Gupta alphabet
and
In Sanskrit with
versification in
Sragdharā
measure,

8. • In 1862, he subsequently published what
he felt was a more tenable version in the
Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal,
Vol XXX, p. 3, note.
• The correct connotation of the word
‘śānte’ along with the date appears to
have been first pointed out by Bhau Daji
in Journal of the Bombay Branch of the
Royal Asiatic Society, Vol. VIII, p. 246.
• In 1871, A Cunningham published a full
description of the pillar and another
lithograph reduced from his own ink
impression in the Archaeological Survey
of India Reports, Vol. 1, p.93f, and Plate
XXX.
• In 1874, Rajendralala Mitra in Journal of
Asiatic Society of Bengal, Vol XLIII, p. 371,
altered Hall’s reading of the first verse.
• It was in 1881 that a fairly reliable
transcript and a translation of it,
accompanied by a lithograph reduced
from an impression which he took in
1873, was published by Bhagwanlal
Indraji in Indian Antiquary, Vol X, pp.
125ff.
Researches

9. • A definitive stage in the decipherment of this
inscription was achieved when it was
meticulously edited in Corpus Inscriptionum
Indicarum, Vol III, 1888, pp. 65ff, and Plate IX A,
among a volume of epigraphs of the Gupta
period, by J F Fleet.
• In 1942, D C Sircar published his readings and
annotations from the facsimile given in the
Fleet’s Corpus in his Select Inscriptions, Vol I, pp.
308-310.
• R B Pandey proposed alterations in Fleet’s
connotation of the third verse in 1952 in Indian
Historical Quarterly, Volume Kahaum Inscription
of Skandagupta: An Epilogue to his Bhitari
Epigraph 157 XXVIII, Issue 3, pp. 298-300.
• Finally, it appeared in the Inscriptions of the
Early Gupta Kings Revised by DR Bhandarkar and
Edited by B C Chhabra and G S Gai, 1981, pp.
305ff, and plate XXIX.
• Application of the information gleaned from this
inscription by numerous scholars in their
expositions on the Gupta epoch is axiomatic.
Researches
Skandagupta (c.455-467) who issued
this inscription was the king of Gupta
dynasty (c.300-543 CE)

10. Purpose
For the purpose of welfare of all existing beings certain Madra son of Rudrasoma,
has erected this pillar with niche containing four images of Tirthankara or Adikartas
namely Adinath, Santinath, Neminath, Mahavira at the top and an image of
Parsvanath in the niche of the rectangular basal part.
Parsvanath
On the western side of the
square base of this pillar
there is a niche holding a
naked standing figure with
very long arms reaching to
his knees, the snake being
folded in horizontal coils,
one above the other, and
with its seven heads
forming a canopy over the
idol while two small
figures are kneeling at the
feet and looking up to the
idol with offerings in their
hands.

11. Thank you
Any Question ?
Source-
• Kahaum Inscription of Skandagupta An Epilogue to his Bhitari Epigraph
by Jappen Oberoi, International Journal of Humanities and Social
Sciences. ISSN 2250-3226 Volume 6, Number 2 (2016), pp. 155-167,
https://www.ripublication.com/ijhss16/ijhssv6n2_06.pdf
• http://siddham.uk/index.php/inscription/in00034
• https://www.jatland.com/home/Kahaum