Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. c21.s4.t2.6

c21.s4.t2.6

However, even Subrahmanya Aiyer could not identify the still earlier form of the letter *l* with the 'circular top' found at Mangulam and other early sites, and misread most of the occurrences as *ṭh*.³ It was only in 1946 that the earlier form was correctly identified and illustrated in the palaeographic chart published in the report on the excavation at Arikamedu.⁴