Indian Palaeography c16.s1.24

c16.s1.24

D. Pl. XIX. 6 is taken from Perumaiyan-kulam rock and Vallipuram gold plate inscriptions of Vasabha and from the Jetavanarama inscription of Maḷutissa. Of these the gold plate inscription has an individual character of its own. In this particular case the lower curves of the verticals are over-emphasized, and the medial *i* has a sharp curve to the left. The other two inscriptions are remarkable for their graphic writing, well-drawn forms, and symmetrical arrangement of the letters, such as is found only in the Ikshvāku records in the south-east coast of India.¹ In the same fashion the letters are characterized by triangular head-marks. The medial *i* is a tall curve to the left, and the verticals in *a*, *ka* and *ra* and the vertical type of the medial *u* are emphasized. But the local forms are preferred in *cha*, *ṇa*, *ta* and *na*. The Ikshvāku forms are marked in *a*, *i*, *u*, *ka* (optionally), *ga*, *ma*, *ya*, *ra*, *la* and *va*. From the same source is copied the letter *ḷa*, which appears for the first time in Ceylon. The editor of the Perumaiyan-kulam inscription places it towards the close of the first century A.D. and says that it is earlier than the Maha Ratmale inscription discussed above in group B. But this is hardly likely. The evolution from the Sātavāhana to the Ikshvāku writing is quite clear in the south-east coast of India. In these Ceylonese inscriptions we have definite evidence of the school of Amaravati and Nagarajunikonda writing reaching Ceylon, probably in the latter half of the third century A.D.