View source for Naneghat

{{Short description|Mountain pass in the Western Ghats, India}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}
{{Use Indian English|date=January 2020}}
{{Infobox ancient site
| name          = Naneghat Cave and Inscriptions
| native_name   = नाणेघाट
| image         = 2nd century BCE Nanaghat Sanskrit Inscriptions Maharashtra India 2.jpg
| caption       = Naneghat geography and inscriptions
| alternate_name = Nanaghat caves
| map_type       = India #India Maharashtra
| altitude_m     = 750
| altitude_ref   = 
| relief         = yes
| coordinates    = {{coord|19|17|31.0|N|73|40|33.5|E|display=inline,title}}
| gbgridref      = 
| map_dot_label  = Naneghat caves
| location       = [[Maharashtra]], [[India]]
| region         = [[Western Ghats]]
| type           = Caves, trade route passage
| builder        = Queens, Satavahana dynasty -Naganika
| material       = Natural rock
| built          = 2nd-century BCE
| epochs         = <!-- actually displays as "Periods" -->
| cultures       = Hinduism {{sfn|Theo Damsteegt|1978|p=206}}
| management     = Archaeological Survey of India
| public_access  = 
| other_designation =
| website        = <!-- {{URL|example.com}} -->
| architectural_styles =
| architectural_details =
}}
'''Naneghat''', also referred to as '''Nanaghat''' or '''Nana Ghat''' ([[IAST]]: Nānāghaṭ), is a [[mountain pass]] in the [[Western Ghats]] range between the [[Konkan]] coast and the ancient town of [[Junnar]] in the Deccan plateau. The pass is about {{convert|120|km}} north of [[Pune]] and about {{convert|165|km}} east from [[Mumbai]], [[Maharashtra]], [[India]].{{sfn|Georg Bühler|1883|pp=53-54}} It was a part of an ancient trading route, and is famous for a major cave with Sanskrit inscriptions in Brahmi script and Middle Indo-Aryan dialect.{{sfn|Theo Damsteegt|1978|p=206, Quote: "A Hinduist inscription that is written in MIA dialect is found in a Nanaghat cave. In this respect, reference may also be made to a MIA inscription on a Vaishnava image found near the village Malhar in Madhya Pradesh which dates back to about the same age as the Nanaghat inscription."; see also page 321 note 19}} These inscriptions have been dated between the 2nd and the 1st century BCE, and attributed to the Satavahana dynasty era.{{sfn|Richard Salomon|1998|p=144}}{{sfn|Upinder Singh|2008|pp=381-384}}<ref name=britnanaghat/> The inscriptions are notable for linking the [[Veda|Vedic]] and [[Hinduism]] deities, mentioning some Vedic [[srauta]] rituals and of names that provide historical information about the ancient Satavahanas.{{sfn|Upinder Singh|2008|pp=381-384}}{{sfn|Carla Sinopoli|2001|pp=168-169}} The inscriptions present the world's oldest numeration symbols for "2, 4, 6, 7, and 9" that resemble modern era numerals, more closely those found in modern Nagari and Hindu-Arabic script.<ref name=britnanaghat>[https://www.britannica.com/topic/numeral#ref797082 Development Of Modern Numerals And Numeral Systems: The Hindu-Arabic system], Encyclopaedia Britannica, Quote: "The 1, 4, and 6 are found in the Ashoka inscriptions (3rd century bce); the 2, 4, 6, 7, and 9 appear in the Nana Ghat inscriptions about a century later; and the 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 9 in the Nasik caves of the 1st or 2nd century CE — all in forms that have considerable resemblance to today’s, 2 and 3 being well-recognized cursive derivations from the ancient = and ≡."</ref>{{sfn|David E. Smith|1978|pp=65-68}}{{sfn|Norton|2001|pp=175-176}}

== Location ==
Nanaghat pass stretches over the Western Ghats, through an ancient stone laid hiking trail to the Nanaghat plateau. The pass was the fastest key passage that linked the Indian west coast seaports of Sopara, Kalyan and Thana with economic centers and human settlements in Nasik, Paithan, Ter and others, according to Archaeological Survey of India.<ref name=asijunnar>[http://asi.nic.in/asi_monu_tktd_maha_junnarcaves.asp Lenyadri Group of Caves, Junnar] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090410125940/http://asi.nic.in/asi_monu_tktd_maha_junnarcaves.asp |date=10 April 2009 }}, Archaeological Survey of India</ref> Near the top is large, ancient manmade cave. On the cave's back wall are a series of inscriptions, some long and others short. The high point and cave is reachable by road via Highways 60 or 61. The cave archaeological site is about {{convert|120|km}} north of Pune and about {{convert|165|km}} east from Mumbai.{{sfn|Georg Bühler|1883|pp=53-54}} The Naneghat Cave is near other important ancient sites. It is, for example, about {{convert|35|km}} from the Lenyadri Group of Theravada Buddhist Caves and some 200 mounds that have been excavated near [[Junnar]], mostly from the 3rd-century BCE and 3rd-century CE period. The closest station to reach Naneghat is Kalyan station which lies on the Central Line.<ref name=asijunnar/>

==History==
[[File:Naneghat caves.jpg|thumb|left|The Naneghat caves, likely an ancient rest stop for travellers.<ref name="Lefevre2011p85"/>]]
During the reign of the [[Satavahana]] (c. 200 BCE – 190 CE), the Naneghat pass was one of the trade routes that connected the Konkan coast communities with Deccan high plateau through Junnar.{{sfn|Georg Bühler|1883|pp=53-54}} Literally, the name ''nane'' means "coin" and ''ghat'' means "pass". The name is given because this path was used as a tollbooth to collect toll from traders crossing the hills. According to Charles Allen, there is a carved stone that from distance looks like a stupa, but is actually a two-piece carved stone container by the roadside to collect tolls.{{sfn|Charles Allen|2017|pp=169-170}}

The scholarship on the Naneghat Cave inscription began after William Sykes found them while hiking during the summer of 1828.{{sfn|Shobhana Gokhale|2004|pp=239-260}}{{sfn|Charles Allen|2017|p=170}} Neither an archaeologist nor epigraphist, his training was as a statistician and he presumed that it was a Buddhist cave temple. He visited the site several times and made eye-copy (hand drawings) of the script panel he saw on the left and the right side of the wall. He then read a paper to the Bombay Literary Society in 1833 under the title, ''Inscriptions of the Boodh caves near Joonur'',{{sfn|Shobhana Gokhale|2004|pp=239-260}} later co-published with John Malcolm in 1837.<ref>John Malcolm and W. H. Sykes (1837), [https://www.jstor.org/stable/25207501 Inscriptions from the Boodh Caves, near Joonur], The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. 4, No. 2, Cambridge University Press, pages 287-291</ref> Sykes believed that the cave's "Boodh" (Buddhist) inscription showed signs of damage both from the weather elements as well as someone crudely incising to desecrate it.{{sfn|Charles Allen|2017|pp=169-170}} He also thought that the inscription was not created by a skilled artisan, but someone who was in a hurry or not careful.{{sfn|Charles Allen|2017|pp=169-170}} Sykes also noted that he saw stone seats carved along the walls all around the cave, likely because the cave was meant as a rest stop or shelter for those traveling across the Western Ghats through the Naneghat pass.<ref name="Lefevre2011p85"/>{{sfn|Charles Allen|2017|pp=169-170}}{{sfn|Shobhana Gokhale|2004|pp=239-260}}

[[File:1833 published Nana Ghat inscription eye copy by Sykes, Sanskrit, Brahmi script.png|thumb|William Sykes made an imperfect eye-copy of the inscription in 1833, to bring it to scholarly attention.{{sfn|Georg Bühler|1883|p=59}}]]
Sykes proposed that the inscription were ancient Sanskrit because the statistical prevalence rate of some characters in it was close to the prevalence rate of same characters in then known ancient Sanskrit inscriptions.{{sfn|Shobhana Gokhale|2004|pp=239-260}}{{sfn|Charles Allen|2017|pp=169-172}} This suggestion reached the attention of [[James Prinsep]], whose breakthrough in deciphering Brahmi script led ultimately to the inscription's translation. Much that Sykes guessed was right, the Naneghat inscription he had found was indeed one of the oldest Sanskrit inscriptions.{{sfn|Charles Allen|2017|pp=169-170}} He was incorrect in his presumption that it was a Buddhist inscription because its translation suggested it was a Hindu inscription.{{sfn|Theo Damsteegt|1978|p=206}} The Naneghat inscription were a prototype of the refined [[Devanagari]] to emerge later.{{sfn|Charles Allen|2017|pp=169-170}}

[[Georg Bühler]] published the first version of a complete interpolations and translation in 1883.{{sfn|Georg Bühler|1883|pp=59-64}} He was preceded by Bhagvanlal Indraji, who in a paper on [[numismatics]] (coins) partially translated it and remarked that the Naneghat and coin inscriptions provide insights into ancient numerals.{{sfn|Georg Bühler|1883|pp=59-64}}<ref name="Bombay1878p303">{{cite book|author=Bhagavanlal Indraji|title=Journal of the Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=_GgoAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA303 |year=1878 |publisher=Asiatic Society of Bombay|pages=303–314}}</ref>

===Date===
[[File:Naneghat Pass Entrance (Pratik Butte Patil).jpg|thumb|Naneghat Pass Entrance]]
The inscriptions are attributed to a queen of the [[Satavahana]] dynasty. Her name was either Nayanika or Naganika, likely the wife of king [[Satakarni]]. The details suggest that she was likely the queen mother, who sponsored this cave after the death of her husband, as the inscription narrates many details about their life together and her son being the new king.{{sfn|Upinder Singh|2008|pp=381-384}}

The Naneghat cave inscriptions have been dated by scholars to the last centuries of the 1st millennium BCE. Most scholars date it to the early 1st-century BCE, some to 2nd-century BCE, a few to even earlier.{{sfn|Richard Salomon|1998|p=144}}{{sfn|Upinder Singh|2008|pp=381-384}}<ref name=britnanaghat/> Sircar dated it to the second half of the 1st-century BCE.{{sfn|D.C. Sircar|1965|p=184}} Upinder Singh and Charles Higham date 1st century BCE.<ref name="Upinder_2008"/><ref name="CH_2009">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H1c1UIEVH9gC&pg=PA299 |title=Encyclopedia of Ancient Asian Civilizations |author=Charles Higham |publisher=Infobase Publishing |year=2009 |isbn=9781438109961 |page=299 }}</ref>

The Naneghat records have proved very important in establishing the history of the region.{{Citation needed|date=September 2024}} [[Vedic mythology|Vedic Gods]] like [[Dharma]] [[Indra]], [[Chandra]] and [[Surya]] are mentioned here. The mention of [[Samkarsana]] (Balarama) and [[Vasudeva]] (Krishna) indicate the prevalence of [[Bhagavata]] tradition of [[Hinduism]] in the [[Satavahana]] dynasty.{{Citation needed|date=September 2024}}

==Nanaghat inscriptions==
{{cleanup lang|date=December 2022}}
Two long Nanaghat inscriptions are found on the left and right wall, while the back wall has small inscriptions on top above where the eight life-sized missing statues would have been before somebody hacked them off and removed them.{{sfn|Charles Allen|2017|pp=169-170}}

===Left wall===
{{multiple image
| align = right
| image1 = 2nd century BCE Hindu Sanskrit inscription Nanaghat cave, I-1a.jpg
| width1 = 300
| alt1 = 
| caption1 = 
| image2 = 2nd century BCE Hindu Sanskrit inscription Nanaghat cave, I-1b.jpg
| width2 = 215
| alt2 = 
| caption2 = 
| footer = Left wall inscription, Brahmi script
}}

====Inscription====
#sidhaṃ ... no dhaṃmasa namo īdasa namo saṃkaṃsana-vāsudevānaṃ caṃda-sūtānaṃ mahimāvatānaṃ catuṃnaṃ caṃ lokapālānaṃ yama-varuna-kubera-vāsavānaṃ namo kumāravarasa vedisirisa raño 
#......vīrasa sūrasa apratihatacakasa dakhināpaṭhapatino raño simukasātavāhanasa sunhāya ...... 
#mā ..... bālāya mahāraṭhino aṃgiya-kulavadhanasa sagaragirivaravalayāya pathaviya pathamavīrasa vasa ... ya va alaha ......salasu ..ya mahato maha ... 
#.... sātakaṇi sirisa bhāriyā devasa putadasa varadasa kāmadasa dhanadasa vedisiri-mātu satino sirimatasa ca mātuya sīma .... pathamaya .....
#variya ....... ānāgavaradayiniya māsopavāsiniya gahaṭāpasāya caritabrahmacariyāya dikhavratayaṃñasuṃḍāya yañāhutādhūpanasugaṃdhāya niya ....... 
#rāyasa ........ yañehi yiṭhaṃ vano | agādheya-yaṃño dakhinā dinā gāvo bārasa 12 aso ca 1 anārabhaniyo yaṃño dakhinā dhenu .........
#...... dakhināya dinā gāvo 1700 hathī 10 ..... 
#......... as ..... sasataraya vāsalaṭhi 289 kubhiyo rupāmayiyo 17 bhi ......
#.......... riko yaṃño dakhināyo dinā gāvo 11,000 asā 1,000 pasapako ..............
#............. 12 gamavaro 1 dakhinā kāhāpanā 24,400 pasapako kāhāpanā 6,000 | rājasūya-yaṃño ..... sakaṭaṃ
The missing characters do not match the number of dots; Bühler published a more complete version.{{sfn|Georg Bühler|1883|pp=59-64}}

====Left wall translation without interpolation====
[[File:Samkasana and Vasudeva in the Naneghat cave inscription.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|[[Samkarshana|Samkasana]] (<big>'''𑀲𑀁𑀓𑀲𑀦'''</big>) and [[Vāsudeva]] (<big>'''𑀯𑀸𑀲𑀼𑀤𑁂𑀯𑀸'''</big>) in the Naneghat cave inscription]]
#''Sidham''{{refn|group=note|Variously translated to "Success" or "[[Om]] adoration"".{{sfn|Georg Bühler|1883|pp=59-64 with footnotes}}{{sfn|Mirashi|1981|p=231}}}} to [[Dharma]], adoration to [[Indra]], adoration to [[Samkarshana]] and [[Vāsudeva]],{{refn|group=note|Samkarshana and Vasudeva are synonyms for Balarama and Krishna.{{sfn|Mirashi|1981|pp=232}}}} the descendants of the Moon ("[[Chandra]]") endowed with majesty, and to the four guardians of the world ("[[Lokapala]]s"), [[Yama]], [[Varuna]], [[Kubera]] and [[Vāsava]]; praise to Vedisri, the best of royal princes (''kumara'')!{{refn|group=note|Kumaravarasa translated to "royal princes" or "[[Kartikeya]]".{{sfn|Georg Bühler|1883|pp=59-64}}{{sfn|Mirashi|1981|pp=232}}}} Of the king.
#.... of the brave hero, whose rule is unopposed, the lord of [[Dakshinapatha|Dakshinapath]], King [[Simuka]] the [[Satavahana dynasty|Satavahana]]......
#By ..... the daughter of the Maharathi, the increaser of the Amgiya race, the first hero of the earth that is girdled by the ocean and the best of mountains....
#wife of . . . Sri, the lord who gives sons, boons, desires and wealth, mother of Yedisri and the mother of the illustrious [[Shakti|Sakti]].....
#Who gave a . . . most excellent ''nagavaradayiniya'',{{refn|group=note|Buhler states that its translation is uncertain, can be either "who gave a most excellent image of a snake deity" or "who gave a most excellent image of an elephant deity" or "who gave a boon of a snake or elephant deity".{{sfn|Georg Bühler|1883|pp=59-64 with footnotes}}}} who fasted during a whole month, who in her house an ascetic, who remained chaste, who is well acquainted with initiatory ceremonies, vows and offerings, sacrifices, odoriferous with incense, were offered......
#O the king ........ sacrifices were offered. Description - An Agnyadheya sacrifice, a ''[[dakshina]]''{{refn|group=note|variously translated as "sacrificial fee" or "donation".{{sfn|Georg Bühler|1883|pp=59-64}}{{sfn|Charles Allen|2017|pp=169-170}}}} was offered twelve, 12, cows and 1 horse; - an Anvarambhaniya sacrifice, the ''dakshina'', milch-cows.....
#...... ''dakshina'' were given consisting of 1700 cows, 10 elephants,
#.... 289.....17 silver waterpots.....
#..... a rika-sacrifice, ''dakshina'' were given 11,000 cows, 1000 horses
#......12 . . 1 excellent village, a ''dakshina'' 24,400 [[Karshapana]]s, the spectators and menials 6,001 Karshapanas; a Raja ........ the cart<ref name="archive.org">Report On The Elura Cave Temples And The Brahmanical And Jaina Caves In Western India by Burgess [https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.57069/2015.57069.Report-On-The-Elura-Cave-Temples-And-The-Brahmanical-And-Jaina-Caves-In-Western-India]</ref>

====Left wall translation with interpolation====
{{multiple image|perrow=2|total_width=300|caption_align=center
| align    = right
| title =Naneghat deities
| direction =horizontal
| image1   = Coin of the Bactrian King Agathokles.jpg
| footer = {{center|The two deities [[Samkarshana]] and [[Vāsudeva]] on the coinage of [[Agathocles of Bactria]], circa 190-180 BCE.<ref name="US437">{{cite book |last1=Singh |first1=Upinder |title=A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century |date=2008 |publisher=Pearson Education India |isbn=978-81-317-1120-0 |pages=436–438 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H3lUIIYxWkEC&pg=PA437 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Srinivasan |first1=Doris |title=Early Vaiṣṇava Imagery: Caturvyūha and Variant Forms |journal=Archives of Asian Art |date=1979 |volume=32 |page=50 |issn=0066-6637|jstor=20111096 }}</ref>}}
}}
#[Om adoration] to [[Dharma]] [the Lord of created beings], adoration to [[Indra]], adoration to [[Samkarshana]] and [[Vāsudeva]], the descendants of the Moon (who are) endowed with majesty, and to the four guardians of the world, [[Yama]], [[Varuna]], [[Kubera]] and [[Vasava]]; praise to Vedisri, the best of royal princes! Of the king.
#.... of the brave hero, whose rule is unopposed, of the lord of the [[Deccan Plateau|Deccan]], King Simuka the first of the Satavahanas......
#By ..... the daughter of the Maharathi, the increaser of the Amgiya race, the first hero of the earth that is girdled by the ocean and the best of mountains....
#(who is the) wife of . . . Sri, the lord who gives sons, boons, (the fulfillment of) desires and wealth, (who is the) mother of Yedisri and the mother of the illustrious Sakti.....
#Who gave a . . . most excellent (image of) a snake (deity), who fasted during a whole month, who (even) in her house (lived like) an ascetic, who remained chaste, who is well acquainted with initiatory ceremonies, vows and offerings, sacrifices, odoriferous with incense, were offered......
#O the king ........ sacrifices were offered. Description - An Agnyadheya sacrifice (was offered), a ''dakshina'' was offered (consisting of) twelve, 12, cows and 1 horse; - an Anvarambhaniya sacrifice (was offered), the ''dakshina'' (consisted of) , milch-cows.....
#...... ''dakshina'' were given consisting of 1700 cows, 10 elephants,
#.... (289?).....17 silver waterpots.....
#..... a rika-sacrifice, ''dakshina'' were given (consisting of) 11,000 cows, 1000 horses
#......12 . . 1 excellent village, a ''dakshina'' (consisted of) 24,400 [[Karshapana]]s, (the gifts to) the spectators and menials (consisted of) 6,001 Karshapanas; a Raja [suya-sacrifice]........ the cart<ref name="archive.org"/>

===Right wall===
{{multiple image
| align = right
| image1 = 2nd century BCE Hindu Sanskrit inscription Nanaghat cave, I-2a.jpg
| width1 = 260
| alt1 = 
| caption1 = 
| image2 = 2nd century BCE Hindu Sanskrit inscription Nanaghat cave, I-2b.jpg
| width2 = 260
| alt2 = 
| caption2 = 
| footer = Right wall inscription, Brahmi script
}}

====Inscription====
#..dhaṃñagiritaṃsapayutaṃ sapaṭo 1 aso 1 asaratho 1 gāvīnaṃ 100 asamedho bitiyo yiṭho dakhināyo dinā aso rupālaṃkāro 1 suvaṃna ..... ni 12 dakhinā dinā kāhāpanā 14,000 gāmo 1 haṭhi ........ dakhinā dinā
#gāvo ... sakaṭaṃ dhaṃñagiritaṃsapayutaṃ ...... ovāyo yaṃño ..... 17 dhenu .... vāya +satara sa 
#........... 17 aca .... na ..la ya ..... pasapako dino ..... dakhinā dinā su ... pīni 12 tesa rupālaṃkāro 1 dakhinā kāhāpanā 10,000 ... 2 
#......gāvo 20,000 bhagala-dasarato yaṃño yiṭho dakhinā dinā gāvo 10,000 | gargatirato yaño yiṭho dakhinā ..... pasapako paṭā 301 gavāmayanaṃ yaṃño yiṭhodakhinā dinā gāvo 1100 | .............. gāvo 1100 pasapako kāhāpanā +paṭā 100 atuyāmo yaṃño ..... 
#........ gavāmayanaṃ yaño dakhinā dinā gāvo 1100 | aṃgirasāmayanaṃ yaṃño yiṭho dakhinā gāvo 1,100 | ta ............. dakhinā dinā gāvo 1100 | satātirataṃ yaṃño ........ 100 ......... yaño dakhinā gāvo 110 aṃgirasatirato yaṃño yiṭho dakhinā gāvo 
#......... gāvo 1,002 chaṃdomapavamānatirato dakhinā gāvo 100 | aṃgirasatirato yaṃño yiṭho dakhinā ....... rato yiṭho yaño dakhinā dinā ....... to yaṃño yiṭho dakhinā ......... yaṃño yiṭho dakhinā dinā gāvo 1000 | ............ 
#......... na +sayaṃ .......... dakhinā dinā gāvo .......... ta ........ aṃgirasāmayanaṃ chavasa ........ dakhinā dinā gāvo 1,000 ........... dakhinā dinā gāvo 1,001 terasa ... a 
#........ terasarato sa ......... āge dakhinā dinā gāvo ......... dasarato ma .......... dinā gāvo 1,001 u ........... 1,001 da ...........
# ........ yaño dakhinā dinā .........
# .......... dakhinā dinā ..........

The missing characters do not match the number of dots; Bühler published a more complete version.{{sfn|Georg Bühler|1883|pp=59-64}}

====Right wall translation without interpolation====
#...used for conveying a mountain of grain, 1 excellent dress, 1 horse, 1 horse-chariot, 100 kine. A second horse-sacrifice was offered; ''dakshina'' were given 1 horse with silver trappings, 12 golden...... an(other) ''dakshina'' was given 14,000 (?) [[Karshapana]]s, 1 village . . elephant, a ''dakshina'' was given
#....cows, the cart used for conveying a mountain of grain..... an..... Ovaya sacrifice.......... 17 milch cows (?).... 
#........ 17 ....... presents to the spectators were given.... a ''dakshina'' was given 12..... 1 silver ornaments for them, a ''dakshina'' was given consisting of 10,000 Karshapanas............
#..... 20,000(?) cows ; a [[Bhagala]]-[[Dasharatha]] sacrifice was offered, a ''dakshina'' was given 10,001 cows; a Gargatriratra sacrifice was offered ...... the presents to the spectators and menials 301 dresses; a Gavamayana was offered, a ''dakshina'' was given 1,101 cows, a .... sacrifice, the ''dakshina'' 1,100 (?) cows, the presents to the spectators and menials . . Karshapanas, 100 dresses; an Aptoryama sacrifice .....
#..... ;a Gavamayana sacrifice was offered, a ''dakshina'' was given 1,101 cows; an Angirasamayana sacrifice was offered, a ''dakshina'' was given 1,101 cows; was given 1,101 cows; a Satatirata sacrifice ...... 100 ......... ; ......sacrifice was offered, the ''dakshina'' 1,100 cows; an Angirasatriratra sacrifice was offered; the ''dakshina'' .... cows ....
#........ 1,002 cows; a Chhandomapavamanatriratra sacrifice was offered, the ''dakshina'' .... ; a ....... ratra sacrifice was offered, a ''dakshina'' was given; a ...... tra sacrifice was offered, a ''dakshina'' ... ; a ..... sacrifice was offered, a ''dakshina'' was given 1,001 cows
#.......... ; a ''dakshina'' was given ..... cows ........; an Angirasamayana, of six years ....... , a ''dakshina'' was given, [[Gosahasra|1,000 cows]] ..... was given 1,001 cows, thirteen ........
#........... a Trayoclasaratra ......... a ''dakshina'' was given, .... cows ......... a Dasaratra .... a ...... sacrifice, a ''dakshina'' was given 1,001 cows....
#<ref name="Burgess 2015">Report On The Elura Cave Temples And The Brahmanical And Jaina Caves In Western India
by Burgess [https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.57069/2015.57069.Report-On-The-Elura-Cave-Temples-And-The-Brahmanical-And-Jaina-Caves-In-Western-India]</ref>

====Right wall translation with interpolation====
#Used for conveying a mountain of grain, 1 excellent dress, 1 horse, 1 horse-chariot, 100 kine. A second horse-sacrifice was offered; ''dakshina'' were given (consisting of) 1 horse with silver trappings, 12 golden...... an(other) ''dakshina'' was given (consisting of) 14,000 (?) [[Karshapana]]s, 1 village . . elephant, a ''dakshina'' was given
#....cows, the cart used for conveying a mountain of grain..... an..... Ovaya sacrifice.......... 17 milch cows (?).... 
#........ 17 ....... presents to the spectators were given.... a ''dakshina'' was given (consisting of) 12..... 1 (set of) silver ornaments for them, an(other) ''dakshina'' was given consisting of 10,000 Karshapanas............
#..... 20,000(?) cows ; a [[Bhagala]]-[[Dasharatha]] sacrifice was offered, a ''dakshina'' was given (consisting of) 10,001 cows; a Gargatriratra sacrifice was offered ...... the presents to the spectators and menials (consisted of) 301 dresses; a Gavamayana was offered, a ''dakshina'' was given (consisting of) 1,101 cows, a .... sacrifice, the ''dakshina'' (consisted of) 1,100 (?) cows, the presents to the spectators and menials (consisted of) . . Karshapanas, 100 dresses; an Aptoryama sacrifice (was offered).....
#..... ;a Gavamayana sacrifice was offered, a ''dakshina'' was given (consisting of) 1,101 cows; an Angirasamayana sacrifice was offered, a ''dakshina'' was given (of) 1,101 cows; (a ''dakshina'') was given (consisting of) 1,101 cows; a Satatirata sacrifice ...... 100 ......... ; ......sacrifice was offered, the ''dakshina'' (consisted of) 1,100 cows; an Angirasatriratra sacrifice was offered; the ''dakshina'' (consisted of) .... cows ....
#........ 1,002 cows; a Chhandomapavamanatriratra sacrifice was offered, the ''dakshina'' .... ; a ....... ratra sacrifice was offered, a ''dakshina'' was given; a ...... tra sacrifice was offered, a ''dakshina'' ... ; a ..... sacrifice was offered, a ''dakshina'' was given (consisting of) 1,001 cows
#.......... ; a ''dakshina'' was given (consisting of) ..... cows ........; an Angirasamayana, of six years (duration) ....... , a ''dakshina'' was given, (consisting of) 1,000 cows ..... (a sacrificial fee) was given (consisting of) 1,001 cows, thirteen ........
#........... a Trayoclasaratra ......... a ''dakshina'' was given, (consisting of) .... cows ......... a Dasaratra .... a ...... sacrifice, a ''dakshina'' was given (consisting of) 1,001 cows....
#<ref name="Burgess 2015"/>

===Back wall relief and names===
{{multiple image
| align    = right
| direction =horizontal
| header=Regnal inscriptions
| total_width=350
| image1   = Naneghat cave back wall.jpg
| caption1 = 
| image2   = Simuka inscription at Naneghat Caves.jpg
| caption2 = 
| footer={{center|The back wall, with regnal inscriptions (left). At right: "[[Simuka]]" portion of the inscription (photograph and rubbing) in early [[Brahmi script]]:<br><big>'''𑀭𑀸𑀬𑀸 𑀲𑀺𑀫𑀼𑀓 𑀲𑀸𑀢𑀯𑀸𑀳𑀦𑁄 𑀲𑀺𑀭𑀺𑀫𑀢𑁄'''</big><br>''Rāyā Simuka - Sātavāhano sirimato''<br>"King Simuka Satavahana, the illustrious one"<ref>{{cite book |last1=Burgess |first1=Jas |title=Report on the Elura Cave temples and the Brahmanical and Jaina Caves in Western India |date=1883 |url=https://archive.org/stream/in.gov.ignca.1544/1544#page/n5/mode/1up}}</ref>}}
}}
The back wall of the cave has a niche with eight life-size [[relief]] sculptures. These sculptures are gone, but they had Brahmi script inscriptions above them that help identify them.<ref name="Upinder_2008">{{harvnb|Upinder Singh |2008 |pp=382–384 }}</ref>
#''Raya [[Simuka]] - Satavahano sirimato''
#''Devi-Nayanikaya rano cha''
#''Siri-[[Satakarni|Satakanino]]''
#''Kumaro Bhaya ........'' 
#(unclear)
#''[[Marhatta (region)|Maharathi Tranakayiro.]]''
#''Kumaro Hakusiri''
#''Kumaro Satavahano''

==Reception and significance==
The Nanaghat inscription has been a major finding. According to [[Georg Bühler]], it "belongs to the oldest historical documents of Western India, are in some respects more interesting and important than all other cave inscriptions taken together".{{sfn|Georg Bühler|1883|p=59}}{{sfn|Mirashi|1981|p=231}}

The inscription mentions both [[Balarama]] ([[Samkarshana]]) and [[Vāsudeva-Krishna]], along with the Vedic deities of Indra, Surya, Chandra, Yama, Varuna and Kubera.{{sfn|Charles Allen|2017|pp=169-170}} This provided the link between Vedic tradition and the [[Hinduism]] .<ref name=williams129>{{cite book|author=Joanna Gottfried Williams|title=Kalādarśana: American Studies in the Art of India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-qoeAAAAIAAJ |year=1981|publisher=BRILL Academic|isbn=90-04-06498-2|pages=129–130}}</ref>{{sfn|Mirashi|1981|pp=131-134}}<ref>{{cite book|author=Edwin F. Bryant|title=Krishna: A Sourcebook|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HVDqCkW1WpUC |year=2007|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-972431-4|pages=18 note 19}}</ref> Given it is inscribed in stone and dated to 1st-century BCE, it also linked the religious thought in the post-Vedic centuries in late 1st millennium BCE with those found in the unreliable highly variant texts such as the [[Puranas]] dated to later half of the 1st millennium CE. The inscription is a reliable historical record, providing a name and [[floruit]] to the Satavahana dynasty.{{sfn|Charles Allen|2017|pp=169-170}}{{sfn|Mirashi|1981|pp=131-134}}<ref name="Lefevre2011p85">{{cite book|author=Vincent Lefèvre|title=Portraiture in Early India: Between Transience and Eternity|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nnsQwG_T86sC|year=2011|publisher=BRILL Academic|isbn=978-9004207356|pages=33, 85–86}}</ref>

[[File:1911 sketch of numerals script history ancient India, mathematical symbols shapes.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|1911 sketch of numerals history in ancient India, with the Naneghat inscription shapes.]]
The Naneghat inscriptions have been important to the study of history of numerals.{{sfn|Norton|2001|pp=175-176}} Though damaged, the inscriptions mention numerals in at least 30 places.<ref>Bhagvanlal Indraji (1876), On Ancient Nagari Numeration; from an Inscription at Naneghat, Journal of the Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, Vol. 12, pages 404-406</ref> They present the world's oldest known numeration symbols for "2, 4, 6, 7, and 9" that resemble modern era numerals, particularly the modern [[Nāgarī script]]
.<ref name=britnanaghat/><ref name="Rooney2012p17">{{cite book|author=Anne Rooney|title=The History of Mathematics|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=5O67iqeIHZ8C |year=2012|publisher=The Rosen Publishing Group|isbn= 978-1-4488-7369-2|pages= 17–18}}</ref> The numeral values used in the Naneghat cave confirm that the point value had not developed in India by the 1st century BCE.{{sfn|David E. Smith|1978|pp=65-68}}<ref name="Chrisomalis2010p189">{{cite book|author=Stephen Chrisomalis|title=Numerical Notation: A Comparative History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kXZhBAAAQBAJ |year=2010|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-139-48533-3|pages=189–190}}</ref>

The inscription is also evidence and floruit that Vedic ideas were revered in at least the northern parts of the Deccan region before the 1st-century BCE. They confirm that Vedic [[srauta]] sacrifices remained in vogue among the royal families through at least the 1st-century BCE.<ref name=williams129/>{{sfn|Carla Sinopoli|2001|pp=168-169}} The Naneghat cave is also evidence that Hindu dynasties had sponsored sculptures by the 1st-century BCE, and secular life-size ''[[murti]]'' (pratima) tradition was already in vogue by then.<ref name="Lefevre2011p85"/><ref name="Dehejia2008p50">{{cite book|author=Vidya Dehejia|title=The Body Adorned: Sacred and Profane in Indian Art|url=https://archive.org/details/bodyadorneddisso0000dehe |url-access=registration|year=2008|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=978-0-231-51266-4|page=[https://archive.org/details/bodyadorneddisso0000dehe/page/50 50]}}</ref>{{refn|group=note|The eight statues were missing when William Sykes visited the cave in 1833.}}

According to Susan Alcock, the Naneghat inscription is important for chronologically placing the rulers and royal lineage of the [[Satavahana Empire]]. It is considered on palaeographical grounds to be posterior to the [[Nasik Caves]] inscription of [[Kanha (Satavahana dynasty)|Kanha]] dated to 100-70 BCE. Thus, Naneghat inscription helps place Satakarni I after him, and Satavahanas as a Hindu dynasty whose royal lineage performed many Vedic sacrifices.<ref name="Alcock">Empires: Perspectives from Archaeology and History by Susan E. Alcock [https://books.google.com/books?id=MBuPx1rdGYIC&pg=PA168 pp. 168–169], Cambridge University Press</ref>

==See also==
{{commons category}}
*[[Hindu temple]]
*[[Kanheri Caves]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

===Bibliography===
*{{citation|author=Charles Allen|title= Coromandel: A Personal History of South India|publisher=Little Brown|isbn =978-1408705391|year = 2017|chapter= 6}}
*{{citation |author=Georg Bühler|title=Report on the Elura cave temples and the Brahmanical and Jaina caves in western India (Chapter: The Nanaghat Inscriptions)|url= https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.57069/2015.57069.Report-On-The-Elura-Cave-Temples-And-The-Brahmanical-And-Jaina-Caves-In-Western-India#page/n94/mode/1up| year=1883| publisher=Archaeological Survey of India| author-link=Georg Bühler|quote={{PD-notice}}}}
*{{cite book|author=Theo Damsteegt|title=Epigraphical Hybrid Sanskrit|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mf4UAAAAIAAJ |year=1978|publisher=Brill Academic}}
*{{cite journal|title= The Naneghat Inscription - A Masterpiece in Ancient Indian Records |author= Shobhana Gokhale|volume= 68-70| year= 2004|journal= The Adyar Library Bulletin}}
*{{citation|last=Mirashi|first=Vasudev Vishnu|title=History and Inscriptions of the Satavahanas: The Western Kshatrapas|year =1981|publisher=Maharashtra State Board for Literature and Culture| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vwpuAAAAMAAJ}}
*{{cite book|first=James H. K.| last= Norton|title=Global Studies: India and South Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u8XR3EABTGsC|year=2001|publisher=McGraw-Hill |isbn=978-0-07-243298-5}}
*{{cite book|author=Richard Salomon|title=Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and the other Indo-Aryan Languages|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XYrG07qQDxkC|year=1998|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-535666-3}}
*{{cite book|author= Carla Sinopoli| editor= Susan E. Alcock|title=Empires: Perspectives from Archaeology and History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MBuPx1rdGYIC |year=2001|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-77020-0}}
*{{cite book|author=Upinder Singh|title=A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H3lUIIYxWkEC |year=2008|publisher=Pearson Education |isbn=978-81-317-1120-0}}
*{{citation|author=D.C. Sircar|title=Select Inscriptions, Volume 1|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=S1hmAAAAMAAJ | year=1965 | publisher=University of Calcutta}}
*{{cite book|author=David E. Smith|title=History of Mathematics|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uTytJGnTf1kC |year=1978|publisher=Courier|isbn=978-0-486-20430-7}}

===Further reading===
*{{cite journal| author= Alice Collet|title= Reimagining the Sātavāhana Queen Nāgaṇṇikā|journal= Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies|volume= 41| year=2018|pages= 329–358 | doi=10.2143/JIABS.41.0.3285746}}

{{Hindu inscriptions and arts|state=autocollapse}}
{{Hindudharma}}
{{Pune district topics}}
{{Mountain passes of India}}

[[Category:Mountain passes of Maharashtra]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Pune district]]
[[Category:Mountain passes of the Western Ghats]]
[[Category:Sanskrit inscriptions in India]]
[[Category:1st-millennium BC inscriptions]]