Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. c20.s11.2

c20.s11.2

The regional distribution of Early Vaṭṭeḻuttu inscriptions is also significantly different from that of the Tamil-Brāhmī inscriptions in the earlier period. As against five sites in the northern region and three in the western region, there are only two in the southern region, while the eastern region continues in the last place with just one site. Considering that the Vaṭṭeḻuttu script evolved from Tamil-Brāhmī, one should expect more Early Vaṭṭeḻuttu records from the southern region. The fact that this is not so again demonstrates the political instability in this region until the restoration of the Pāṇṭiya rule. With the significant exception of the Pulankurichi inscriptions in the south, most of the Early Vaṭṭeḻuttu records in this transitional period are found on the herostones in Dharmapuri District and Chengam Taluk in the western region. After the 7th century *A.D.*, increasing number of Vaṭṭeḻuttu inscriptions occur in the southern region under the restored Pāṇṭiya rule.⁴