The Hāsalpur inscription of Nāgavarman is an epigraphic record on a memorial stone documenting the exploits of a ruler named Nāgavarman. It is not dated but has been assigned to the mid-sixth century CE.
Location Hāsalpur (sometimes Hansalpur or Hasilpur) is located in Sheopur District near the River Chambal in northern Madhya Pradesh, India. The nearest town is Dhodhar where a small fort is situated. The memorial stone is now in the Archaeological Museum at Gwalior.
Publication The inscription was first noted by M. B. Garde in 1916-17 and again in 1934.GAR (VS 1973/AD 1916-17): number 21; Garde, Archaeology in Gwalior (Gwalior, 1934): 18. It was later listed by H. N. Dvivedī, H. V. Trivedi and Michael Willis.Dvivedī (VS 2004): number 708; Trivedi (1953): 15; Michael D. Willis, Inscriptions of Gopakṣetra (London, 1996). The listing in the Annual Report on Indian Epigraphy for 1952-52 gives the wrong find-spot.ARE (1952-53): B, number 170. An illustration of the hero-stone appeared in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society in 1970.J. C. Harle, "An early Indian hero-stone and a possible Western source," JRAS (1970): 162-64. Online resource: http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=5745860&fulltextType=RA&fileId=S0035869X00128333
Description and contents The inscription is written in Sanskrit over 13 lines. The exact contents have not been reported but Nāgavarman seems to be among the local kings who rose against Mihirakula and the Hūṇas in the early to mid-sixth century.
Text The inscription has been read only in part. The king's name is given in line 4.
1)
2)
3)
4) mahārāja-nāgavarmma-
See also Indian inscriptions
References