Social History through Inscriptions

Abstract

Imprecation in epigraphy is cursing individuals who destroy the gift or misappropriate the charitable grant. They vary from simple warnings to severe abuses and thus mirror the then existing society and social values. Initially the rulers issued their inscriptions in the elite Sanskrit language. Slowly from the sixth century onwards the regional language, Telugu, began to replace Sanskrit as the chief epigraphical medium in most parts of the present Andhra Pradesh and the process was near completion by the time of Vijayanagara rulers. The colloquial dialects have their own distinct identities in every region of Andhra Pradesh. Of late the historians try to disseminate information regarding the society and ethics of a particular period by using the contents of the inscriptions. Hence an attempt is made in this direction by studying inscriptions of Cuddapah district, from where the first Telugu stone and copper plate inscriptions appeared. This article assumes potential significance when imprecatory passages of a turbulent region are studied for introspection as there is a paradigm shift in the tone and tenor of these expressions, truly reflecting the erstwhile society.