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Junagarh Inscription

Rudradaman’s Junagarh inscription is also known as Rudradaman’s Girnar rock inscription. Rudradaman I, the monarch of the Western Satraps, carved Sanskrit text on a rock. It is in Gujarat, India, near Girnar Hill, near Junagarh. The inscription was written in 150 CE. Inscriptions of Ashoka (one of fourteen Major Rock Edicts of Ashoka), Rudradaman I, and Skandagupta can be seen on the Junagarh inscription.

Junagarh Inscription

The inscription may be discovered on a large rock east of Junagarh, Gujarat, India, in the Kathiavad region. It is located at Girnar mountain’s base. The Rudradaman inscription is the second in chronological order of the three major inscriptions found on the rock. The earliest inscription is a rendition of Ashoka’s edicts, whereas Skandagupta’s inscriptions are the last and third. Near the top, above the Ashoka edict, is the Rudradaman inscription. It was made about the year 150 CE.

The Junagarh inscription is composed of twenty lines of varying lengths that span approximately 5.5 feet in height and 11 feet in width.
From the time of Chandragupta Maurya (321-297 BCE) to the time when the inscription was recorded about 150 CE, the first eight lines provide a historical record of water management and irrigation conduits at the Sudarshana Lake. The final twelve lines are dedicated to King Rudradaman I. (literally, “garland of Rudra”).

The inscription is fully in prose and written in Sanskrit. According to Kielhorn, the text is largely in good standard classical Sanskrit but contains a lot of non-standard Sanskrit.

Important Ancient Inscriptions & Edicts

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