Copper-plate grant

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One of the most important sources of history in the Indian subcontinent are the royal records of grants engraved on copper-plates (tamra-shasan or tamra-patra). Because copper does not rust or decay, they can survive virtually indefinitely.

Collections of archaeological texts fropm the copper-plates and rock-inscriptions have been compiled and published by the Archaeological Survey of India during the past century.

The earliest known copper-plate known as the Sohgaura copper-plate is a Maurya record that mentions famine relief efforts. It is one of the very few pre-Ashoka Brahmi inscriptions in India.^{[citation needed]}