Two Tamil Brahmi Inscriptions
199 views
Skip to first unread message
Radhakrishna Warrier
Jun 21, 2020, 6:53:25 PM6/21/20
to bharatiya vidya parishad
I recently came across two Tamil Brahmi inscriptions believed to be from 3rd century CE. My efforts to try to understand these two has led me to learn a little of the Brahmi script. 😊 This could be of interest to at least some members of BVP,
hence posting it here.
Inscription 1
This was read as: “kaẓikōṟa paṭṭaṉ caruma (Pattan Charuma of Kazhikora)”
This was forwarded by Shri Naga Ganesan. The following is the information he provided:
“The Kasargod inscription found by M. Raghava Variyar shows similar letters and may be assigned around the same date:
The first is KazhikORu. kazhi-kODu : modern Calicut is mentioned in this. kazhi = bayou. kODu = waterline or hill.”
A bayou is a marshy outlet of a lake or river
Inscription 2
I came across the second one in a Facebook post of Shri Dev Raj.
It was read as: Parampaṉ kōkūr kiẓār makaṉ viyakkaṉ kōpaṉ kaṇa tēvaṉ koṭ cuṉai (The chunai, i.e., tank, dug by Gopan Gana Devan, son of Parampan, the kizhar of Kokur.)
Shri Vinodh Rajan confirmed the reading is correct. Shri Suresh Kolichala sent me a related article which is an interesting read:
Tamil Brahmi does not have conjunct letters, it appears. The first inscription uses the virāma sign called puḷḷi in Tamil. It is a dot in Tamil Brahmi. So, reading it becomes easier. However, it is used incorrectly in the word paṭṭaṉ. The reason
could be that the scribe was not well acquainted with the use of the virāma sign.
The second inscription completely lacks the virāma sign. That makes reading tougher.
I understand that northern Brahmi such as that used in Ashokan edicts, had conjunct letters. So, non-use, if any, of the virāma sign would not put additional hurdles in reading the inscriptions.
Regards,
Radhakrishna Warrier
Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages