inscription is badly damaged, but important. The inscription mentions Bhanugupta and is inscribed on the reverse of the Sridharavarman pillar. It also mentions the death of chieftain or noble Goparaja in a battle the 191st year without mentioning calendar system. This is generally accepted as Gupta era 191, or 510 CE. It also mentions the cremation of Goparaja, and his wife also cremated herself on the funeral pyre. This, states Shelat, is one of the earliest recorded instances of Sati. Cunningham did not comment on this Bhanugupta-Goparaja inscription, but did comment on three Sati stones he found and stated that earliest Sati stone monument he found is from Samvat 1361 (1304 CE). The Bhanugupta inscription does not use the word sati or equivalent and the inscription was interpolated by Fleet in the first edition, later revised in the second edition: Eran site has yielded additional sati stones. Alexander Cunningham mentioned three inscribed Sati stones in and around the Eran site including villages across the river in his archaeological survey report for 1874–1875. With inscriptions on them, he dated the first one to the reign of Sultan Mahmud Khilchi of Mandugar-durg and Chanderi, the second to 1664 CE during the reign of Patisahi Sahi Jahan who Cunningham speculated was likely a jagir and noble in court of Shah Jahan, and a third stone he dated to 1774 CE during the rule of Pandit Balwant Rau Govind and Balaji Tuka Deva. See also Pataini temple References Bibliography External links Characterization of ancient Indian iron from Eran Indian Epigraphy By D. C. Sircar Cities and towns in Sagar district Gupta art Tourist attractions in Sagar district Vishnu temples Varaha temples Narasimha temples