title: Umachal rock inscription
text: # Umachal rock inscription
  
  The Umachal rock inscription is one of the earliest epigraphic sources discovered in Assam. Dated to the 5th century, the rock description was discovered in the north-eastern slopes of the Nilachal Hills (called Umachal), near Guwahati city. The artifact is dated primarily on the basis of the identification of the named Surendravarman with Mahendravarman (fl. c470-494) of the Varman dynasty. The script is in the Nagari variety of the Gupta script and the language is Sanskrit prose. Though the Nilachal Hills is known for the Kamakhya Temple, a shakta/tantra site, this temple was for Balabhadra, a god of the Vaishnavite pantheon.
  
  Another inscription, the Nagajari-Khanikargaon rock inscription, though undated, is sometimes claimed, on stylistic grounds, as the earliest.
  
  ## Text
  
  mahārājādhirāja-śrī surendravarmmaṇā-kr̥tma bhagavataḥ-valabhadra svmināya-idaṁ-guhaṁ
  
  ### Translation
  
  "This cave (-temple) of the illustrious Lord Balabhadra has been constructed by Maharajadhiraja Sri Surendra Varman."
  
  