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EPIGRAPHIA INDICA
Two alphabets are employed in the grant, viz. Malayâḷam and Vaṭṭeluttu. The Vaṭṭeluttu
characters of the inscription appear to exhibit a comparatively modern stage in the development
of that alphabet. There seem to have been two local varieties of Vaṭṭeluttu. One of them is
represented by the Tamil portion of the Madras Museum plates of Jaṭilavarman[1] and the small
stone inscription which I have published from a photograph along with those plates.[2] To the
second class belong the Tirunelli plates of Bhâskara Ravivarman[3] and the Cochin plates of
the same king.[4] The Kôṭṭayam plates of Sthâṇu Ravi[5] contain both of these two varieties of
the Vaṭṭeluttu character. The last two sides resemble the Madras Museum plates of
Jaṭilavarman, while the preceding portion exhibits closer resemblance to the Cochin plates.
The last two sides were probably written originally in the same alphabet as the rest ; but
subsequently the original writing was erased and what we now find on them was engraved.
A few letters of the original writing are still visible here and there on these two sides. In the
latter class, i.e. that to which the Cochin plate belong, the characters are more rounded than
in the former, for example a, â, ñ, ṇ, t, n and r. If we could ascertain why the last two sides
of the Kôṭṭayam plates of Sthâṇu Ravi are engraved in a slightly different character from the
rest, we should be able to say if the two varieties of the Vaṭṭeluttu alphabet coexisted or not.
There is, however, very little doubt that the Vaṭṭeluttu portion of the subjoined inscription
exhibits a very late stage of development of the second variety. One Vaṭṭeluttu letter has
not yet been found in any other inscription. This is the ê of Êrânâḍu (l. 20), in which the
length is expressed by adding an additional curve to the left loop of the short letter.
As stated before, the second of the two different alphabets which are employed in the
present inscription, is Malayâḷam. A large number of words, some of which are of Sanskṛit
origin, are written in this alphabet. In Tamil inscriptions as well as in other Vaṭṭeluttu
records, it is generally the words of Sanskṛit origin that are written in Grantha. But in the
subjoined inscription many Tamil words also are engraved in the Malayâḷam alphabet. The
following is a list of all the words written in this character :─
Lines 1 and 2. From Hari of line 1 to yi of âdiy=âyi in line 2.
L. 3. śrî-Vîra-Raghava-śakravatti.
L. 3 f. tiruv-irâchyam chellaº.
L. 5. haṇi of Rôhaṇi,
L. 7. pe of the first peru ; of peru the r is Tamil, and the u added to it is Malayâḷam.
L. 9. pañcha-vâdyamum śaṁkhum pagal-viḷakkum, and aintôḷamum.
L. 11. aiṁ-kammâḷareyum aḍima kuḍuttôm.
L. 12. Iravikorttanukku, and ṇḍa of koṇḍ=aḷannu.
L. 14 śakkarayôº, kasturiyôº, viḷakkeṇṇayôḍu, and iḍayil.
L. 16. viśêshâl.
L. 18. Iravikorttanukku.
L. 18 f. pê of pêr=âga and ºga=kkuḍuttôº.
L. 20 f chandr-âdikshyakº, and nâḷekku kuḍuttôm.
L. 22. Nambi Chaḍeya, kaiy=eº, and ºttu.
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[1] Ind. Ant. Vol. XXII. p. 70.
[2] ibid. p. 67.
[3] ibid. Vol. XX. p. 290.
[4] Above, Vol. III. Plate opposite p. 72.
[5] A transcript and translation of this inscription were published by Dr. Gundert in the Madras Journal. Vol.
XIII. Part I. pp. 123 to 135. It is probable that the name of the king in whose reign this grant was issued, is not
Sthâṇu Ravi Gupta as made out by Dr. Gundert, but only Sthâṇu Ravi. Similar name would be Kôdai Ravi, which
occurs among the signatories of the Cochin plates, and Bhâskara Ravi, the name of the king who issued those
plates. The original reads Kô=Ttâṇu-Irarikkuttan. We have to analyse the compound Iravikkuttan not as Iravi
and Kuttan (i.e. Gupta), but as Iravikku (the dative of Iravi) and tan, the genitive of the personal pronoun. This
explanation of the name receives some support from the fact that in many other inscriptions the date is preceded by
the dative case of the name of the king in whose reign the grant is made. Besides, according to Tamil usage,
the k would not be doubled if Kuttan the tadbhava or the Sanskṛit Gupta, was the word that followed Iravi.
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