Prashasti


Prashasti inscriptions are euologistic inscriptions issued by Indian rulers from 1st millennium CE onwards. Written in form of poetry or ornate prose, the prashastis were generally composed by the court poets.
The prashastis generally contained genealogies of the rulers, their achievements, their comparisons with legendary heroes and other details. The inscriptions issued by the subordinates often recognized the rulers as the descendant of a deity, and bestowed titles and honours upon them.
One of the first known prashastic inscription in Sanskrit is the Junagadh rock inscription of Rudradaman, the first long inscription in fairly standard Sanskrit that has survived into the modern era, which became a prototype for Gupta era poetic prashastis. According to American scholar Richard G. Salomon, the inscription "represents a turning point in the history of epigraphic Sanskrit. This is the first long inscription recorded entirely in more or less standard Sanskrit, as well as the first extensive record in the poetic style. Although further specimens of such poetic prasastis in Sanskrit are not found until the Gupta era, from a stylistic point of view Rudradaman's inscription is clearly their prototype".
The Tamil meykeerthi inscriptions are similar to the prashastis, but feature far more standardized formats.

Examples