Elements of South-Indian Palæography, from the Fourth to the Seventeenth Century A.D. c8.s3.t1.1

c8.s3.t1.1

*a. Plates of copper* were early in use for recording grants etc. The law-books mention this material (‘tāmrapaṭa’) and the vast majority of S. Indian inscriptions are written on such plates. Fa-hian (about 400 A. D.) says: “From the time of Buddha’s Nirvāṇa, the kings and nobles of all those countries began to erect vihāras for the priesthood and to endow them with lands, gardens, houses, and also men and oxen to cultivate them. The records of these endowments, being engraved on sheets of copper, have been handed down from one king to another, so that no one has dared to deprive them of possession, and they continue to this day to enjoy their proper revenues[^5).” The early European travellers also noticed this usage[^6).