The Copper Plates of Nagardhan: Epigraphic Evidence of Vakataka Administrative Geography in the Nagpur Plain

Popular accounts often trace the urban history of the Nagpur plain to the 18th-century rise of the Bhonsle dynasty (Kingdom of Nagpur) or the earlier medieval Gond rulers (History of Nagpur). Epigraphic evidence and physical excavations tell a different story. Long before the Maratha period, the central Deccan was organized under the Vakataka dynasty, who ruled parts of central and southern India between the 3rd and 6th centuries CE (Archaeology Magazine).

At Nagardhan, a village located about 6 km south of Ramtek in Nagpur district, joint excavations by Deccan College and the Maharashtra State Department of Archaeology have confirmed that the site corresponds to Nandivardhana, the capital of the eastern branch of the Vakatakas (Archaeology Magazine). The spatial overlay of early historic remains, medieval Gond structures, and 18th-century fortifications shows how successive polities reused the same geographical node.

Epigraphic Epistles and Capital Functions

The primary epigraphic record of the Vakatakas consists of tamra-shasana (copper-plate charters), legal documents incised on metal plates tied together with copper rings. In ancient South Asian statecraft, these charters recorded royal grants of land or entire villages to religious scholars or institutions, establishing parihara (revenue exemptions) and administrative boundaries.

During excavations at Nagardhan between 2015 and 2018, archaeologists recovered a clay sealing bearing the name of Queen Prabhavatigupta written in the Brahmi script, accompanied by a conch emblem. Prabhavatigupta, daughter of the Gupta emperor Chandragupta II, married the Vakataka king Rudrasena II and ruled as regent during the early 5th century CE. The discovery of her administrative sealing atop a substantial structural wall at Nagardhan provided direct physical evidence of royal governance operating from the location.

A copper-plate charter issued by Prabhavatigupta explicitly details her royal genealogy, tracing her lineage back to her grandfather Samudragupta. Charters issued under her regency and the subsequent reign of Pravarasena II document how land grants were formalised. The legal text of such Vakataka charters outlined rights over water sources, hidden deposits, and agricultural yield, while forbidding state officials and military personnel from entering the tax-exempt land without authorization.

Landscape Archaeology and Water Management

Epigraphic records are most useful when read against physical geography. At Nagardhan, the ancient habitation covers an area of roughly 1 km by 1.5 km (ResearchGate). Archaeological field surveys around the site revealed evidence of early stream management, including artificial diversions designed to feed permanent water bodies surrounding the settlement (ResearchGate).

This physical evidence aligns with the text of Vakataka copper plates, which frequently specify irrigation boundaries, village water rights, and cultivated plots. The spatial distribution of land grants shows that the Vakataka state systematically expanded agricultural settlement in the fertile soils of the Nagpur plain. Rather than relying solely on central taxation, the state granted land to brahmanas (scholarly practitioners or priests) who served as administrative and agrarian pioneers in newly organized rural territories.

Material Culture of the Vakataka Horizon

The archaeological layers at Nagardhan have yielded a broad array of material remains spanning the 3rd to 6th centuries CE (Archaeology Magazine). Excavations unearthed ceramic assemblages, glass ear studs, terracotta figurines, bangles, votive shrines, and animal bones belonging to domesticated species such as goats, sheep, horses, and cattle (Archaeology Magazine).

The presence of non-local goods and trade artifacts indicates that Nandivardhana functioned as a regional economic centre connected to wider commercial routes (Archaeology Magazine). Clay sealings recovered from the site were likely used to authenticate commercial shipments or official administrative decrees issued from the capital (ResearchGate).

⚖ Scholarly debate: Models of Early State Formation in the Deccan

The interpretation of Vakataka administrative expansion remains a topic of active discussion among historians and archaeologists.

• The Land Grant Model: One school of thought, framed by legal epigraphy, argues that royal land grants were the primary engine of state integration in early medieval South Asia. In this model, issuing tax-exempt tamra-shasana (copper-plate charters) to religious elites allowed central courts to extend agricultural production into peripheral forest tracts, establishing institutional royal control through land-grant charters.

• The Archaeological Continuity Model: Alternative models suggest that early state formation was less dependent on centralized royal charters and more rooted in localized, long-term socio-economic developments. Scholars emphasizing landscape archaeology point out that areas like the Nagpur plain already had established agrarian populations and iron-using megalithic traditions—such as the nearby stone circles of Junapani—long before the Vakataka court formalised administrative boundaries. In this view, royal copper plates recorded existing local land agreements rather than creating new rural institutions from scratch.

By combining the text of copper plates with physical site excavations, researchers continue to refine how early states reorganized land, water, and administrative authority across central India.