The Devataka inscription was discovered in 1873 by Joseph David Begler. Joseph David Begler was an assistant to the archaeologist Alexander Cunningham. Devtak is about 4 miles from Nagbhid in Maharashtra. There is only snakes in Nagbhid, Tak of Devtak is also a sign of snakes, Takshak and Tak are related. This inscription was discovered by Joseph Begler under a tamarind tree outside the village of Devtak . This inscription stone is 9 feet long and three and a half feet wide at one end. So the children and the shepherds used to sit and rest on it.

Cunningham made copy by looking through the eyes of the Devataka inscription and it was published in The Archaeological Survey of India Report (Part 7). Later VV Mirashi visited Devtak in 1936 and made and edited its prints. Some 64 years after the discovery of the inscription, M. A. Subbarao made it safe in 1937 at Central Museum, Nagpur.  Cunningham and Mirashi told that it was Dhamma Mahamatras who wrote this inscription appointed by Emperor Ashoka in Vidarbha.  The Dhamma Mahamatras were appointed by Emperor Ashoka in the 13th year of his coronation. This inscription dates back to the 14th year of the coronation, it is written at the end. The language and script of the inscription are Prakrit and Dhamma scripts respectively and it consists of four written in lines. The meaning of what is written in the inscription is that whoever kills animals and birds commits violence, he will be punished appropriately. The Vidarbha of Maharashtra was ruled by Great Emperor Samrat Ashoka and this inscription was the oldest inscription of largest Vidarbha region.