Object Number: VRM2911

Dimensions: 23.6 x 12 cm

Material: Copper

Find Location: Jagadishpur, Rajshahi District, Bangladesh

Date: 447 CE

As Kushan rule weakened, the Ganga basin fragmented into smaller kingdoms ruled by individuals, self-styled as maharajas and rajas. Pre-eminent amongst these was Chandragupta (r. 319-335 CE), and his son Samudragupta (r. 335-375 CE), who mounted a series of campaigns that led to their dominance. Like the Kushans, they provided patronage to many religions. Their rule is often viewed as a ‘Golden Age’, with the establishment of temples with ornate sculptures and the creation of a Sanskrit corpus of drama, poetry and religious texts.

Sanskrit was not just used for cultural and religious works but also for administration of the Gupta state. Copper plate grants were legal documents that recorded grants of land, sizes and boundaries as well as who had jurisdiction over them. These title deeds were fashioned out of metal for longevity and security and, by studying them, we can trace the transition from earlier models of centralised administration to a feudal system.

The hole enabled the double-sided inscribed plate, and perhaps other documents, to be bound together by a ring surmounted with an official seal, confirming its legality. Gifts of land would have allowed the Guptas to influence distant regions. Religious institutions were often focal points for communities and could transform surrounding areas into more habitable and profitable environments. These newly established areas were brought closer to the royal court through its governors, administrators and landlords who supported the Crown with religious, military and administrative services.

The Jagdishpur copper plate was issued in the Gupta Year 128 (447 CE) and thus belongs to the later reign of Kumaragupta I (r. 415-455 CE). It records that uncultivated land was granted to local religious institutions, including Buddhist monasteries and a temple of the sun god, exempting them from taxation. The grant included provision of a flower garden near the temple for its shrine. It also stated that those who stole this land would be reborn as snakes and without access to water and those that challenged it would inhabit in hell but that those who provided the gift would reside in heaven.