Dear colleagues,

Does anyhow know a modern scholarly publication of a Sanskrit inscription older than the one that can be found here in the following?

John Crawfurd, An Inscription from the Kawi or Ancient Javanese Language, Verhandelingen van het Bataviaasch Genootschap der Kunsten en Wetenschappen 8, 1816, Batavia: Government Press.

The volume of the Verhandelingen in question can be found on archive.org. The title is misleading, and the decipherment utterly unreliable, but the transcription clearly reflects the Sanskrit-text of the 'Calcutta Stone' (https://iias.asia/the-newsletter/article/kolkata-calcutta-stone-bicentennial-british-interregnum-java-1811-1816). It occurred to me recently that this publication might mark the beginning of Sanskrit epigraphy as a modern scholarly enterprise. But perhaps there is competition from publications by British officers who were posted in India proper rather than in 'Farther India'. Please enlighten me.

Best wishes,

Arlo Griffiths