Photo: Asiatic Society of Bengal 1865 · Public domain
Inscription · Maurya period, c. 3rd century BCE

Sohgaura copper plate

Found
Sohgaura, Gorakhpur district, Uttar Pradesh; found in 1893
Kept at
Published by the Asiatic Society of Bengal; its present custody is not well recorded

A small bronze-copper plate in early Brahmi, issued by the officials of Shravasti, cast with symbols of storehouses above the text.

What it says

It is an order about koshthagaras, the public granaries, to be kept for times of need. Above the lines are drawings of the storehouses themselves, raised on posts.

What it proves

One of the oldest copper-plate records in Bharat, it shows the famine-relief granaries that the Arthashastra prescribes actually at work under the Mauryas.

Evidence for