Khoh Copper-plate Inscription of the Maharaja Hastin (475-476 CE)

        Reverence to (the god) Mah d va! Hail! In a century of years, increased by the fifty- sixth (year); in the enjoyment of sovereignty by the Gupta kings; in the Mah -Vaish kha samvatsara; on the third lunar day of the bright fortnight of the month K rttika,  on this (lunar day), (specified) as above by the day (&c.),  

        (Line 3.)  By the Mah r ja, the illustrious Hastin,  who is born in the family of a kingly ascetic;  who is the great-grandson of the Mah r ja D v dhya;  who is the grandson of the Mah r ja Prabha jana;  who is the son of the Mah r ja D m dara;   who is the giver of thousands of cows, and elephants, and horses, and gold, and many lands;   who is earnest in paying respect to (his) spiritual preceptor and (his) father and mother;  who is extremely devoted to the gods and Br hmans;  who has been victorious in many hundreds of battles;  (and) who causes the happiness of his own race, 

        (L. 7.)  (By him),  for the purpose of increasing his own religious merit, (and) in order to cause (himself) to ascend by the steps of the ladder that leads to heaven,  the village of Vasuntarashandika is granted to the Br hman G pasv min, of the V jasan ya-M dhyamdina (sh kh ) and the Kautsa g tra, and to Bhavasv min, Sandhy putra, Div karadatta, Bh skaradatta, and S ryadatta.

        (L. 11.)  On all sides (there are) trenches (of demarcation); (and) on the north by the west, the boundaries are those that have been previously enjoyed. (This village is made the property) of Sandhy putra and the others, with the udranga and the uparikara, (and with the privilege that it is) not to be entered by the irregular or regular troops; (but) with the exception of (the right to fines imposed on) thieves.

        (L. I3.)  Therefore, even in future times, no obstacle (to the enjoyment of this grant) is to be caused by those who are born in Our family, or by my feudatories. This injunction having been given, he who behaves otherwise,  him I will consume with a great contempt, even when I have passed into another body.

        (L. 15.)  And it has been said by the venerable supreme sage, the arranger of the V das,  "O Yudhisthira, best of kings, carefully preserve land that has previously been given to the twice-born; (verily) the preservation (of a grant) (is) more meritorious than making a grant! The earth has been enjoyed by many kings, commencing with Sagara; whosoever at any time possesses the earth, to him belongs, at that time, the reward (of this grant that is now made, if he continue it)! The giver of land enjoys happiness in heaven for sixty thousand years; (but) the confiscator (of a grant), and he who assents (to an act of confiscation), shall dwell for the same number of years in hell!"

        (L. 20.)  And (this charter) has been written by S ryadatta, the [great]-grandson of the Am tya Vakra; the grandson of the Bh gika and Am tya Naradatta; (and) the son of the Bh gika Ravidatta. The D taka (is) Bh graha.

From: Fleet, John F. Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum: Inscriptions of the Early Guptas. Vol. III. Calcutta: Government of India, Central Publications Branch, 1888, 96-100.