Elements of South-Indian Palæography, from the Fourth to the Seventeenth Century A.D. c6.s2: § 2. The Tamil Numeral Figures
Elements of South-Indian Palæography, from the Fourth to the Seventeenth Century A.D. c6.s2
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§ 2. The Tamil Numeral Figures
c6.s2.1
The figures used in this system are given in Plate xxiii. from inscriptions of about 1520 and a ms. at Tanjore which belongs probably to the end of the sixteenth or beginning of the seventeenth century; as Tamiḷ mss. (except the very recent ones) are all undated, and these figures rarely occur in inscriptions earlier than the sixteenth century, it is difficult to procure a complete series of an ascertained date. This is, however, of little importance; for the earliest examples known (about 1400 A. D.) are precisely of the same form as those still in use.
c6.s2.2
These figures are remarkable as forming the stage of development between the W. Cave numerals and the modern systems, and are, therefore, relics of a system that became more or less obsolete in the sixth century A. D.¹; we find here separate figures for *ten*, *hundred* and *thousand* nearly identical with the W. Cave forms; but the figures for *twenty* etc. are rejected, and tens, hundreds or thousands are expressed by prefixing the sign for the units to the left side of the figure representing the order. The use of the cipher and value of position are Grantha (or Brahmanical), and till lately have been but little used, though Sanskrit mss. are almost invariably numbered in this way.
c6.s2.3
¹ The Kuṟaḷ (xi., 2) mentions acquaintance *with numbers* (eṇṇa) and *letters as being like eyes to men*. This is of about 850 A. D.
c6.s2.4
The figures used to express fractions are peculiar to the Tamiḷ people, and there are many others in use besides those which I have given, and which I have chiefly taken from the first edition of Beschi's Koḍun-Tamiḷ Grammar (p. 149). They are derived, no doubt, from initials of corresponding words, which abbreviations are also combined in some cases; the invention must be attributed to the Tamiḷ traders of no very remote period².
c6.s2.5
² In the older inscriptions (at Tanjore *e. g.*) all numbers and fractions which occur, are written at full length.
c6.s2.6
The Tamiḷ numeral figures are obviously cursive forms of the Cave numerals modified by the prevailing practice of writing on palm-leaves with a style, a practice which renders necessary curved rather than straight lines, as the last, when with the grain or course of the fibres of the leaf, are nearly invisible.
c6.s2.7
I have not been able to find any traces of distinct Vaṭṭeḻuttu numerals.
c6.s2.8
The Malayāḷam numerals (which I have given in Plate xxiii.) are those in actual use. Their history is quite uncertain, as there are very few, if any, examples of them older than the middle of the last century, mss. being numbered most generally with letters. They are evidently derived from the same source as the rest, and are nearest to the Tamil figures, but include the cipher. The Malayāḷam way of expressing fractions is the same as we find in the Telugu and Canarese countries, and is, therefore, North-Indian.
Linked texts (1)
- Tirukkuṟaḷ — Tiruvaḷḷuvar, Tamil