Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. c20.s8.1

c20.s8.1

Unlike in the case of Tamil-Brāhmī inscriptions, the discovery of Early Vaṭṭeḻuttu inscriptions did not cause much excitement. They were immediately recognised as in an 'archaic' form of the Vaṭṭeḻuttu script. However, the decipherment and proper dating of the inscriptions had to await the accumulation of adequate inscriptional material for comparative study in more recent years. The following is a brief description of the Early Vaṭṭeḻuttu inscriptions (ca. 5th and 6th centuries A.D.) included in this volume.⁵ They are considered here not in the chronological order of discovery, but according to the type of monuments on which they are engraved.