Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. c21.s3.t3.1

c21.s3.t3.1

Krishna Sastri was the first to recognise the presence of the "Dravidian element" in the cave inscriptions. He could, however, notice only four or five words "apparently in Tamil" (e.g., *ūr*, *nāṭu*) and the "superfluous *y* after words ending in medial *-ai*" as part of the Dravidian element.⁵ On the other hand, the Prakrit element was, according him, " more or less clearly expressed" in the inscriptions.⁶