Prashasti

The prashastis generally contained ornate titles, links to mythical legends or comparisons to deities, and often fabricated stories about wars, victories, loot and attributes. For example, they would create genealogies of the rulers linked to solar or lunar dynasties, and in their praise allude to legendary heroes from Indian myths and legends such as those found in Epics and the Puranas.

The earliest well known example of an extensive prashasti is the Hathigumpha inscription of Kharavela inscribed in or about the 1st-century BCE in Prakrit language and Brahmi script. The earliest prashastic inscription in classical Sanskrit language is the Junagadh rock inscription of Rudradaman (circa 150 CE), which became a prototype for Gupta era poetic prashastis in Sanskrit. According to Richard G. Salomon – a scholar of South Asian inscriptions, the inscription is the first extensive panegyric record in the poetic style. The style of Rudradaman's inscription is seen in later prashasti inscriptions.

The Tamil meykeerthi inscriptions are similar to the prashastis, but feature far more standardized formats.

Examples

• Nashik prashasti (2nd century CE), Satavahana dynasty
• Prayaga prashasti (4th century CE), Gupta Empire: Lists the rulers against whom the Gupta king Samudragupta fought. It also describes the policy that he followed toward each set of rulers.
• Velvikudi inscription (c. 8th century CE), Pandya dynasty
• Deopara Prashasti (12th century CE), Sena dynasty
• Raj Prashasti (17th century CE), Mewar dynasty
• Gadhwa Stone Inscriptions (Garhwa Fort) (5th century CE).