Elements of South-Indian Palæography, from the Fourth to the Seventeenth Century A.D. c9.s2: II. Other Documents

Elements of South-Indian Palæography, from the Fourth to the Seventeenth Century A.D. c9.s2

Language: English

II. Other Documents

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**A.** Most of these are what may be termed *'Historical'* *Inscriptions*, as they record events, such are:

1. Memorials of Suttee. The practice of widows burning themselves with their deceased husband's corpse has never been common in S. India. Records of this kind are only to be found in the Telugu-Canarese country in the South; in the North (in Gujarat, *e. g.*) they are more common.

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2. Memorials of religious suicide. This amazing practice has been known to be common in India from the time of Alexander's expedition. It seems to have been practised in historical times chiefly by Buddhists and Jains².

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² For examples see the *Indian Antiquary*, vol. ii., pp. 266 and 323-324.

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Monuments to deceased Hindus (especially Mahrāṭhas and Liṅgaits) are not uncommon in S. India, but the custom of erecting them is modern; and I have never, as yet, met with an inscription on one³.

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³ *Cfr.* Rogerius, "De Open-deure", p. 101 (1651); Colebrooke's "Life" by his Son, p. 152 *n*.

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3. Inscriptions recording the erection and repair of temples. Contrary to what is the case in Northern India, these are all very modern. The earliest, I know of, recording the restoration of a temple, is of the end of the 14th century⁴. The reason for this is that all the temples in S. India, with trivial exceptions, belong to two great temple-building periods: that of the Coḷas in the 11th century, and that of the Vijayanagara kings in the 16th. At favourite shrines, like Madura, Āvaḍiyārkōvil and Rāmanāḍ, there are numerous short inscriptions recording additions and improvements chiefly at the cost of trading castes. None of these go back beyond 1500. The only inscription that I know of, on a fort, is of the 17th century.

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⁴ *Indian Antiquary*, ii., p. 361.

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4. Inscriptions recording the dedication of sacred images, ponds, etc. Inscriptions recording the dedication of Jain images are to be met with in Mysore, S. Canara, and in the S. Tamil country. Some are old, but dates are rare in them. The most common form is: "So and so of such a country caused this sacred image to be made (or dedicated)"⁵. In a few instances one finds brief inscriptions recording the deposit of a broken or defiled idol in a tank or some such safe place, and the consecration of a fresh idol; but these are also modern, and since the Muhammadan invasions. Inscriptions recording the construction and dedication of tanks and dams are rare, except in the country ruled by the later Vijayanagara kings; examples occur near Vijayanagara, at Cumbum and at Nellore. The great irrigation works in the Kāverī delta were chiefly constructed by Cōḷa princes in the 11th and 12th centuries, but I have only heard of one inscription on a work of this kind[^1); it is near Mūsiri (in the Trichinopoly district) and is of about the beginning of the 13th century.

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⁵ For a longer inscription on the great image at Kārkal (S. Canara) see *Indian Antiquary*, ii., pp. 353-4.

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5. **Inscriptions recording the erection of resting-places.** In Malabar, charitable people often erect two stone pillars about five feet high, and place a flat slab on them; this is intended for the convenience of people who carry burdens on their heads, and who can thus rest on their way; if they had to place their loads on the ground, they could not lift them again without help. The name of the persons who have had such stones erected is generally found inscribed on them.

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6. **Inscriptions recording the dedication of statues, temple utensils, vessels, bells, lamps, etc.** These are to be found in all temples; but as there is hardly a single S. Indian temple that has not been pillaged more than once, very few of these inscriptions are of any remote period, and they are nearly always records of gifts by strangers, even from N. India[^2). The dedication of statues was a common practice of the Buddhists; that the Hindus did so has been doubted, but without reason. Hemādri mentions the practice, and instances occur still earlier in the Tanjore inscriptions. Such statues were, commonly, of copper or stone, sometimes of gold[^3), and represented not only forms of the god as worshipped in the temple where they were dedicated, but also of eminent saints and devotees. In Vaishṇava temples, representations of the ‘cakra’ were commonly dedicated. It has also been always a common practice to dedicate silver, or even gold representations of the ‘vāhana’ or animal on which the god is supposed to ride. In S. India many worthless objects are often dedicated in temples; such, *e. g.*, are the earthen pots (which serve to shade lamps from the wind) at Tirukkaḷukuṉṟam; most of these bear the donor’s name. So again, the pottery figures of horses which are seen

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[^1): Mr. Walhouse kindly drew my attention to it. [^2): For an inscription on a bell, see *Indian Antiquary*, ii., p. 360. [^3): ‘Mahāvaṁso’ (p. 243); Abd-al-razzak (in “India in the fifteenth century.” Hakluyt Soc.); Castanheda (translated by N. L. 1583, *f.* 106) mentions a gold idol of 30 pounds weight with emerald eyes; Wyllie (“Essays”, p. 342) mentions an image of Kṛishṇa, with diamond eyes, in Kattywar. There is a gold statuette of Buddha in the Museum at Batavia, and also a gold liṅga. A gold idol of Gaṇeça valued at £50,000 was taken from the Mahrāthas in 1819.

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in such numbers near the temples of Aiyyanār (a popular village-god in S. India), who is supposed to ride on them at night when he goes his rounds to redress wrongs or confer blessings and punishments. Articles of jewelry are commonly dedicated.

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**B.** *Devotional and explanatory inscriptions.* Of these the first are common on the floors and in all parts of S. Indian temples; they simply record the adoration of, perhaps, wealthy and distinguished pilgrims, and are very short. The inscription at Seven Pagodas¹ is the longest I know of.

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¹ See above, p. 38, note 4.

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Inscriptions explanatory of sculptures appear to occur only on the so-called rathas at the same place.

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Inscriptions in two characters occur very rarely; they are, generally, recent and intended for the benefit of pilgrims. The first character is that in use at the place; the second is nearly always some form of Nāgarī; and the texts, repeated in this form, are often much abridged.

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THE above pages will show what epigraphic documents are to be found in S. India; this branch of Sanskrit and S. Indian literature is of evident value, but it is necessary to remark that it will have to be long studied, before appreciable results in restoring the history (in the ordinary sense of the word) of the past can be expected. The inscriptions already known, unfortunately, belong to a few periods and dynasties, and often clear up only a century at the most. Wide gaps follow which at present seems likely to remain so. The historical sense seems hardly to have ever existed in India; and facts, as recorded in these documents, are so much mixed up with mythology and fable, that, without corroboration, they cannot go for much. But it is only from such documents that any real information about the past of S. India can be gathered, and as proof of this, it is sufficient to point out that the inscriptions already studied have completely upset the traditions which used to be accepted as history. That these results can be so far safely accepted, is proved by the corroboration which they find in the Muhammadan historians, and even in the works of early European travellers. It is not too much to expect that a scientific study of these documents will yet lead to larger and more important results.

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The chief want at present felt by students of S. Indian history is of accurate copies of inscriptions. Of those on copper plates, impressions are easily made with printing ink. For those on stone, photography will often answer; but the best and safest method is by 'estampages' or impressions on moist paper. The warning against sketches or copies by hand has been so often given that it is unnecessary to repeat it here, or to say more than that most distinguished scholars have repeatedly been led into error by such copies. In a few cases where the stone is much worn, all mechanical methods of taking copies will fail; in such instances, it is, sometimes, possible to read them when the sun's rays fall slantingly on the surface of the stone, and, thus, the depressions are in shade. It was in this way that Rafn managed to read the Runic inscriptions of the Piraeus; but such readings must go for what they are worth.

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Palæography will, eventually, be of considerable use in restoring Sanskrit and other Indian texts, but this is too large a subject to enter on here.

Elements of South-Indian Palæography, from the Fourth to the Seventeenth Century A.D. c9.s2: II. Other Documents

II. Other Documents

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