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Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. c20.s16: 1.15 A unique inscribed touchstone from Thailand

Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. c20.s16

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1.15 A unique inscribed touchstone from Thailand

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An Indo-Japanese archaeological team led by Noboru Karashima toured Thailand in 1992-93. They visited a local museum in the ancient port city of Khuan Luk Pat on the Klong Thom river in the west coast of southern Thailand. There they saw a small oblong piece of polished stone inscribed in Tamil-Brāhmī with the legend *perum pataṉ kal* 'the (touch) stone of Perumpattaṉ'.¹ As *pattaṉ* in Tamil means a 'goldsmith', the inscribed stone has been identified as a touchstone (*uraikal*) for testing the fineness of gold. The inscription has been dated to ca. 3rd or 4th century A.D. on palaeographic evidence. This is one of the earliest Tamil inscriptions from South-east Asia attesting to the overseas trade of the Tamils with the Far East in ancient times.

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¹ See No. 5, Table 1.7 and Fig. 1.24 E.

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SITES WITH POTTERY INSCRIPTIONS IN TAMIL NADU

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Map II. Sites with Tamil-Brāhmī pottery inscriptions in Tamil Nadu.

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Sites with Tamil-Brāhmī Pottery Inscriptions in Tamil Nadu

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| S.No. | Site | Taluk | District | Exc. (Excavated) Exp. (Explored) |
| 1. | Alagankulam† | Ramanathapuram | Ramanathapuram | Exc. |
| 2. | Alagarai | Thottiyam | Tiruchirapalli | Exc. |
| 3. | Arikamedu† | Ariyankuppam Commune | Pondicherry (Union Territory) | Exc. |
| 4. | Attur | Karur | Karur | Exp. |
| 5. | Jambai | Tirukkoyilur | Viluppuram | Exp. |
| 6. | T. Kallupatti | Peraiyur | Madurai | Exp. |
| 7. | Kanchipuram | Kancheepuram | Kancheepuram | Exc. |
| 8. | Karur @ | Karur | Karur | Exc. |
| 9. | Kodumanal† | Perundurai | Erode | Exc. |
| 10. | Korkai | Srivaikuntam | Thoothukkudi | Exc. |
| 11. | Kovalanpottal | Madurai South | Madurai | Exc. |
| 12. | Maligaimedu | Panruti | Cuddalore | Exc. |
| 13. | Odaikalpalaiyam | Palladam | Coimbatore | Exp. |
| 14. | S. Pappinayakkanpatti | Peraiyur | Madurai | Exp. |
| 15. | Poluvampatti # | Coimbatore South | Coimbatore | Exc. |
| 16. | Poompuhar | Sirkazhi | Nagapattinam | Exc. |
| 17. | Sivakasi | Sivakasi | Virudhunagar | Exp. |
| 18. | Teriruveli | Mudukulathur | Ramanathapuram | Exc. |
| 19. | Uraiyur† | Tiruchirapalli | Tiruchirapalli | Exc. |
| 20. | Vallam | Thanjavur | Thanjavur | Exc. |

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*Notes:*

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| † | Major excavated sites with larger number of pottery inscriptions in Tamil-Brāhmī (ca. 2nd century B.C.-3rd century A.D.). |
| @ | Most of the inscribed objects (coins, seals and rings) noticed in this study were found in the dry bed of the river Amaravathi at Karur. |
| # | Only site with a surface find of two unique pottery inscriptions in Early Vaṭṭeḻuttu (ca. 5th century A.D.). |

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B

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C

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Figure 1.19. Pottery inscriptions in Tamil-Brāhmī. A & B: Arikamedu. C: Uraiyur. See Table 1.5.

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A

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B

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C

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Figure 1.20. Pottery inscriptions in Tamil-Brāhmī. A: Kodumanal. B: Alagankulam. C: Karur. See Table 1.5.

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A

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B

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C

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Figure 1.21. Pottery inscriptions in Tamil-Brāhmī. A: Jaffna, Sri Lanka. B: Quseir al-Qadim. C: Berenike. See Table 1.5.

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[Figure: A B C D E Figure 1.22. Coins with Tamil-Brāhmī legends (inscribed sides only). A: Peruvaḷuti. B: Kol-i-p-puṟai. C: Kol-irum-puṟai-y. D: Māk kōtai. E: Kuṭṭuvaṉ Kōtai. See Table 1.6.]

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A

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B

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C

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D

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E

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[Figure: Figure 1.23. Inscribed objects with Tamil-Brāhmī legends. Seals – A: Kuravaṉ. B: Parataṉ. Rings – C: Tiyaṉ. D: Tiyaṉ Ōtalaṉ. E: Mitiraṉ. See Tables 1.7 & 1.8.]

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[Figure: Figure 1.24. Inscribed objects with Tamil-Brāhmī legends. Rings – A: Upa-aṉ. B: Veḷ-i Cāmpāṉ. C: Pēr-avatāṉa. D: Tittaṉ. Touchstone – E: Perum-pataṉ. See Tables 1.7 & 1.8. A B C D E]

Catalogue of Select Pottery Inscriptions from Various Sites

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| No. | Date ca. | Provenance & Description | Legend | References & Remarks (Fig. Nos. from this vol. in bold) |
| 1. | 1-2 cent. *A.D.* | Arikamedu. Fragment of a thick-walled vessel. | . . . **ṇ tevvai-tattai kōttūrā-aṉ** 'Tevvaitattai (< Skt. Dēvadatta) of the *gōtra* of . . . ṇ. | Found in French excavations. Govt. Museum, Pondicherry. P.Z.Pattabiramin 1946: Pl. XXI, No. 5. Wheeler *et al.* 1946: Fig. 47.19. I. Mahadevan 1973: No. III. **(Fig. 1.19 A)** |
| 2. | 1-2 cent. *A.D.* | Arikamedu. Fragment of the incurved rim of a dish. | **cāttaṉ-āvi-iṉ kōtiracaṉ ātiraiyạṉ** 'Ātiraiyaṉ, the *gōtraja* (descendant) of Cāttaṉ Āvi'. | Wheeler *et al.* 1946: Pl. XLI, 9. I. Mahadevan 1973: No. II. **(Fig. 1.19 B)** |
| 3. | 1st cent. *B.C.* | Uraiyur. Neck of a rimmed bowl. | **mu la ṇa pē ṟu a na tā ṇa ṟa ū mā ṇa** 'Antaṇaṉ, salt merchant of Mūlaṇpēṟu' (in the TB-I notation). | T.V. Mahalingam 1967: p. 311, Pl. 31. K.V. Raman (ed.) 1988: p. 73, Pl. 16. **(Fig. 1.19 C)** |
| 4. | 1st cent. *B.C.* | Kodumanal. Neck of a rimmed bowl. | **kā ṇa ṇa nā ṟa ā tā ṇa** 'Kaṇṇaṉ Ātaṉ' (in the TB-I notation). | Y. Subbarayalu, Catalogue of Pottery Inscriptions from Kodumanal 1996 (unpublished): No. 113. **(Fig. 1.20 A)** |
| 5. | 1st cent. *A.D.* | Alagankulam. Red slipped ware. | **patumaṉ-kōtai** 'Patumaṉ Kōtai' (in large stylised letters). | Natana Kasinathan 1997: pp. 69-72, Pl. IV, 8 (with a different reading). See section 4.5.5. **(Fig. 1.20 B)** |

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| No. | Date ca. | Provenance & Description | Legend | References & Remarks (Fig. Nos. from this vol. in bold) |
| 6. | 1st cent. A.D. | Karur. Black and red ware bowl. | [a\*]r(i)yti-y aya marai-y ayai pā[ti\*] 'Vessel of Marai Ayyai, (wife / daughter ?) of (A)riyti Ayya(ṉ)'. Note the peculiar form of the letter y repeated many times. | Natana Kasinathan 1997: p. 71, Pl. II,2. **(Fig 1.20 C)** |
| 7. | 2nd cent. B.C.(?) | Jaffna, Sri Lanka. | vēḷāṉ 'Vēḷāṉ' (a clan or caste name). | P. Pushparatnam 1993: p. 40, Fig. 34. I. Mahadevan 1994b: pp. 136-155, Pl. 5. See section 1.13.9 (i). **(Fig. 1.21 A)** |
| 8. | 1st cent. A.D. | Quseir al-Qadim. (Red Sea coast, Egypt). | cātaṉ 'Cāttaṉ' (a personal name). | D. S. Whitcomb and J.H. Johnson 1982:Pl. 61. O (drawing). Photograph published in S.E. Sidebotham 1991: pp. 12-38, Pl. 2.22. I had earlier dated the inscription in ca. 2nd century A.D. from the drawing. The revised dating is based on the photograph which clearly shows the earlier form of **c** with the closed loop. See section 1.13.9 (ii) (a). **(Fig. 1.21 B)** |
| 9. | 1st cent. A.D. | Berenike. (Red Sea coast, Egypt). | koṟa pūmāṉ 'Koṟṟa Pūmāṉ' (name of a chieftain). | I. Mahadevan 1996b: pp. 205-208, Pl. 9.1 and 9.2. See section 1.13.9 (ii) (b). **(Fig. 1.21 C)** |

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Table 1.6

Catalogue of Coins with Tamil-Brāhmī Legends

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| No. | Metal | Dynasty/King | Date ca. | Obverse | Reverse | References & Remarks (Fig. Nos. from this vol. in bold) |
| 1. | Copper | Pāṇḍiya. Peruvaluti | 2nd cent. B.C. | Horse to l. with other symbols. Bi-lingual legends: *pe ru va ḷu ti* *pe ru v[a] ḷu ti sa* | Stylised double fish symbol. | R. Krishnamurthy 1987: No. 1; 1997a: No. 8. Acc. to him, the Tamil legend is repeated twice on the obv., and the ending *-sa* is a symbol (triskle), but see M.D. Sampath 1988. |
| 2. | Copper | Pāṇḍiya. Peruvaluti | 2nd cent. B.C. | Horse to l. *pe ru va ḷu ti* | Stylised double fish symbol. | R. Krishnamurthy 1987: No. 2; 1997a: No. 9. See section 4.2.2 on Nos. 1 & 2. (**Fig. 1.22 A**) from A. Seetharaman's collection. |
| 3. | Lead | Local issue from Tissamaharama, Sri Lanka. | 2nd cent. B.C. | Cock to r. | Svastikā symbol. *ma ha cā ta a ṇa* (*mahā-cāttaṇ*) | O. Bopearachchi et al. 2000: No. 17. I. Mahadevan 2000: No. I. P. Pushparatnam 2001: chapter 3, No. 4. Reading in Pushparatnam followed here. |
| 4. | Lead | Local issue from Tissamaharama, Sri Lanka. | 2nd cent. B.C. | Floral design | Floral design. *ka pa ti ka ta la a ṇa* (*kapati kaṭalaṇ*) | O. Bopearachchi et al. 2000: No. 20. I. Mahadevan 2000: No. II. See section 4.6.9. |
| 5. | Lead | Local issue from Tissamaharama, Sri Lanka. | 2nd cent. B.C. | Floral design | Svastikā symbol. *u ti ra ṇa* (*uttiraṇ*) | O. Bopearachchi et al. 2000: No. 21. I. Mahadevan 2000: No. III. See section 4.19.5(iv). |
| 6. | Lead | Local issue from Tissamaharama, Sri Lanka. | 2nd cent. B.C. | Wheel motif | Floral design. *t[i] sa pi ṭā ṇa* [*tissa piṭṭaṇ*] | O. Bopearachchi et al. 2000: No. 37. I. Mahadevan 2000: No. IV. (See this paper on S.Nos. 3 to 6). |
| 7. | Copper | Cēra. Irumporai line | 1st cent. A.D. | A standing personage under a *tōraṇa* and other symbols. *kol-i-p-puṟai* (kolli puṟai) 'Poṟai of Kolli'. | Bow and arrow and other symbols. | R. Nagaswamy 1995: pp. 9-10, Pl. facing p. 106. R. Krishnamurthy 1997a: No. 173. (**Fig. 1.22 B**) from A. Seetharaman's collection. |

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| No. | Metal | Dynasty/King | Date ca. | Obverse | Reverse | References & Remarks (Fig. Nos. from this vol. in bold) |
| 8. | Copper | Cēra. Irumporai line | 1st cent. A.D. | As above with the legend *kol-irumpuṟai-y* (*kol-i* + *irumpuṟai-y*) 'Irumporai of Kolli'. | Bow and arrow and other symbols. | A. Seetharaman 1994: No. 13. R. Krishnamurthy 1997a: No. 174. See section 4.3.2 on S. Nos. 7 & 8.(**Fig. 1.22C**) from A. Seetharaman's collection. |
| 9. | Silver | Sātavāhana. Vāsiṣṭhīputra Śrī Puḷumāvi | 2nd cent. A.D. | Bust of king to r. with a circular legend in Pkt. in Southern Brāhmī script. *rāñō vāsiṭhi-putasa siri puḷumāvisa* | Various symbols with a circular legend in Tamil in Tamil-Brāhmī script. *aracaṇ-ku vāciṭṭi-makaṇ-ku tiru puḷumāvi-ku* (*puḷḷi* added to *ṭ*). | Legends restored from several specimens. See photographs in **Fig. 5.9**. Courtesy National Museum, New Delhi, and Indian Institute of Research in Numismatic Studies, Nashik. |
| 10. | Silver | Sātavāhana. Vāsiṣṭhīputra Śrī Sātakarṇi | 2nd cent. A.D. | As above with the legend *rāñō vāsiṭhi-putasa siri sātakaṇisa* | As above with the legend *aracaṇ-ku vāciṭṭi-makaṇ-ku tiru cātakaṇi-ku* (*puḷḷi* added to *ṭ*). | As above. See section 5.15 on S.Nos. 9 & 10. |
| 11. | Silver | Cēra. Mākkōtai | 3rd cent. A.D. | Bust of king to r. with legend above. *mā k kō tai* (*mākkōtai*) | Blank | A. Seetharaman 1994: No. 14. R. Krishnamurthy 1997a: Nos. 164-171. (**Fig. 1.22 D** from A. Seetharaman's collection.) |
| 12. | Silver | Cēra. Kuṭṭuvaṉ Kōtai | 3rd cent. A.D. | As above with the legend *ku ṭ ṭu va ṉ kō tai* (*kuṭṭuvaṉ kōtai*) The medial sign in *-ku* is reversed; the *puḷḷi* is added to the 3rd instead of the 2nd letter. | Blank | R. Krishnamurthy 1997a: No. 172. See section 4.3.4 on Nos. 11 & 12. (**Fig. 1.22 E** from the collections of Balaswamy Jewellers, Karur. Photograph, courtesy R. Krishnamurthy.) |
| 13. | Lead | Chieftain of a local dynasty. Cēntaṉ | 3rd cent. A.D. | *atiṇṇaṇ etirāṉ cēntaṇ* 'Cēntaṉ, descendant (?) of Atiṇṇaṇ'. | Hills and river motif. | P. N. Mohandas 1968. K. G. Krishnan 1973-74c. See section 4.5.4. |

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Table 1.7

Catalogue of Seals with Tamil-Brāhmī Legends

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| No. | Metal | Date ca. | Provenance & Description | Legend | References & Remarks *(Fig. Nos. from this vol. in bold)* |
| 1. | Silver(?) | 2nd cent. B.C. | Anaikoddai, Jaffna, Sri Lanka. A square seal with reversed writing in two lines. Three megalithic symbols in the upper line. A Tamil-Brāhmī legend in the lower line. | *kō vē (cē?) ta* 'king/ chief Vēta (or Cēta)'. | K. Indrapala 1981,1987. P. Raghupathy 1987: pp. 199-204. I. Mahadevan 1994b: pp. 136-155, Pl. 1. See section 5.18.4 on the symbols in the upper line. (**Fig. 5.14**) |
| 2. | Silver | 1st cent. B.C. | Karur. A square seal with *śrīvatsa* and other symbols; legend directly incised. | *ku rā vā ṉa* *(kuravaṇ)* 'a member of the Kuravar clan'. | A. Seetharaman 1994: No. 6. See section 4.18.1 (iii). (**Fig. 1.23 A**) |
| 3. | Terracotta | 1st cent. B.C. | Kadathur (Dharmapuri Dt.). A circular seal directly incised in bold characters. | *pā rā ta ṉa* *(parataṇ)* 'a member of the Paratar clan.' | P. B. Venkataraman 1991. TNSA collection. See section 4.18.1 (v). (**Fig. 1.23 B**) |
| 4. | Bronze | 1st cent. A.D. | Karur. A conical seal with a flat circular face. *Indra-dhvaja* in front of a galloping horse in the field. | No legend. | A. Seetharaman 1994: No. 7. I. Mahadevan 1993: pp. 435-445, Fig. 39.7. See section 4.19.3 (v). |
| 5. | Stone | 3-4 cent. A.D. | Khuan Luk Pat (Thailand). A touchstone with legend directly incised. | *perumpataṉ kal* 'the (touch) stone of Perumpattaṉ'. | P. Shanmugam 1993: pp 81-84, Pl. facing p. 106. I. Mahadevan 1994b: pp. 136-155. Pl. 6. (**Fig. 1.24 E**) |

Catalogue of Rings with Tamil-Brāhmī Legends

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| No. | Metal | Date ca. | Provenance & Description | Legend | References & Remarks (Fig. Nos. from this vol. in bold) |
| 1. | Gold | 1st cent. B.C. | Karur. The figure of a young prince (prob. Bharata) battling a rearing lion in the field. Legend at l. along the rim. Directly incised. | *ti ya ṇa* (*tiyaṉ*) A personal name. | Edited from a photograph, courtesy Sankaran Raman. See sections 4.18.1(v) and 4.19.4 (i). I. Mahadevan and S. Raman 2002. (**Fig 1.23 C**) |
| 2. | Gold | 1st cent. B.C. | Karur. Legend directly incised. | *ti yā ṇa ō tā lā ṇa* (*tiyaṉ ōtālāṉ*) A personal name. | TNSA collections. Natana Kasinathan 1994: No. 27. K. Sridharan & K. Arjunan 1992: p. 22 (with a different reading). For discussion on Tiyaṉ, see sections 4.81.1(v)and 4.19.4 (i). (**Fig 1.23 D**) |
| 3. | Gold | 1st cent. B.C. | Karur. Legend directly incised. | *mi ti rā ṇa* (*mittiraṉ*) A personal name. | M. Rajasekhara Thangamani 1999: pp. 90-92 (not illustrated). Edited from a photograph, courtesy M.R. Thangamani. See section 4.19.3 (i). (**Fig 1.23 E**) |
| 4. | Gold | 1st cent. B.C. | Karur. Legend flanked by two symbols and reversed as on a seal. | *ū pā ā ṇa* (*upa[c*?*]aṉ*) A title. | A. Seetharaman 1994: No. 2. The expression means 'a spiritual teacher'. See section 4.9.3 (iii). (**Fig 1.24 A**) |
| 5. | Gold | 1st cent. B.C. | Karur. Legend directly incised. *nandipāda* symbol at r. end. | *a ri a mā ṇa* (*ariyamaṉ*) A personal name. | R. Krishnamurthy 1997b: pp. 41-43 (with a different reading). See section 4.19.3 (iii). |

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| No. | Metal | Date *ca.* | Provenance & Description | Legend | References & Remarks (Fig. Nos. from this vol. in bold) |
| 6. | Silver | 1st cent. B.C. | Karur. Legend directly incised. | *a na ti kā ṇa* (*antikaṇ*) A personal name. | S. Raju 2001: p. 158 (**Fig. at p. 161**). |
| 7. | Silver | 1st cent. B.C. | Karur. Legend directly incised in two lines. | *veḷ-i* *cāmpāṉ* (*veḷḷi cāmpāṉ*) A personal name. | A. Seetharaman 1994: No. 3. Cf. *veḷ-i* (*veḷḷi*) with *kol-i* (*kolli*) in Nos. 7 & 8, Table 1.6. (**Fig 1.24 B**) |
| 8. | Silver | 1st cent. B.C. | Karur. Legend directly incised. | *pēr-avatāṇa* (*pēravatāṇa*[*m\**]) A title. | The expression means 'one skilled in great feats of memory'; cf. Ta. *avatāṉam*, *avatāṇi* (*TL*). TNSA collections. Natana Kasinathan 1994: No. 28. K. Sridharan & K. Arjunan 1992 p. 22. (**Fig 1.24 C**) |
| 9. | Gold | 1st cent. B.C. | Karur. A bi-lingual legend in two lines; reversed as on a seal. Fish symbol at bottom. | *sātaṇ* (in Ta.) *sāti vēgi-sa* (in Pkt.) Personal name(s). | *sātaṇ*: cf. Ta. *cāttaṉ*. *sāti* may be fem. of *sātaṇ*, or the name of a person based on the asterism *svāti*. *vēgisa*: 'of Vēṅgi', a territory. K.V. Raman 1996 (with a different interpretation). |
| 10. | Gold | 1st cent. B.C. | Karur. Legend reversed as on a seal; surrounded by an ornamental border. | *bhā va ta ta sa* (*bhava-tatta-sa*) 'of Bhava-datta'. A personal name. | Pkt. influenced by Tamil orthography. cf. *pavatattaṉ* (*Cīvaka*. 1573). Sankaran Raman 2000: p. 153 (**Fig. at p. 147**). |

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| No. | Metal | Date ca. | Provenance & Description | Legend | References & Remarks (Fig. Nos. from this vol. in bold) |
| 11. | Gold | 1st cent. B.C. | Karur. A headless goat or sheep facing l., apparently an animal which has been sacrificed. | brahma-sahasa (< Skt. *brahma-sahasra*) | Ajay Mitra Shastri 2001: pp. 57-59. He reads the legend as a personal name in Pkt. (*brahma-saha-sa*). The legend as read by me appears to be in Pāli and probably refers to some sacrifice. |
| 12. | Silver | 1st cent. A.D. | Karur. Legend directly incised. *nandīpāda* symbol at l. end. | tittaṇ (*tittaṇ*) A personal name. | A. Seetharaman 1994: No. 4. See section 4.4.1.(**Fig. 1.24 D**) |
| 13. | Gold | 2nd cent. A.D. | Karur. A Tamil name written in Pkt. in Southern Brāhmī characters. Reversed as on a seal. | na lve llai sa (*nal-veḷḷai-sa*) 'of Nal-veḷḷai'. A personal name. | K.V. Raman 1994. cf. Nal-veḷḷai (*Poet*, *Narr*. 250). Conjunct consonants and the Southern Brāhmī *ḻ* are noteworthy. See section 4.19.3 (vi) |
| 14. | Gold | 2nd cent. A.D. | Karur. A standing *mithuna* (amorous) couple engraved in the oval field. | No legend. | A ring of rare beauty. R. Nagaswamy 1991a & b; 1995: (pp. 66-69, Pl. facing p. 66). See section 4.22.1. (**Fig. 4.4**) |

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Figure 1.25. K.V. Subrahmanya Aiyer (1875-1969). His classic paper (1924) led to the decipherment of the Tamil-Brāhmī script.

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