Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. c25.s15.t3: 5.15.3 Palaeography of the coin-legends on the reverse
Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. c25.s15.t3
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5.15.3 Palaeography of the coin-legends on the reverse
c25.s15.t3.1
The critical palaeographic features of the coin-legends on the reverse, which prove conclusively that the script employed in them is Tamil-Brāhmī are: the letter *c* with the open loop; the tubular form of *m* with the crossbar in the middle; the presence of the characteristic Tamil-Brāhmī letters *ḻ* and *ṟ*; the case-ending *-ku*; and the *puḷḷi* to indicate the basic consonant *ṭ*. These features which are illustrated in the photographs of the coins (in Fig. 5.9) are discussed below.
c25.s15.t3.2
***c:*** This is the later Tamil-Brāhmī form in which the closed loop at the left seen in the earlier forms opens out (see clear examples in coins 2 & 4 in Fig. 5.9). This form is attested in the recently discovered Tamil-Brāhmī cave inscription at Mannarkoil (No. *89*, ca. 2nd century A.D.). The earlier reading of this letter in the coin-legends as a rare form of *h* turned to the left produced strange expressions like *arahaṇa*, *vāhiṭṭi* and *hātakaṇi* not attested elsewhere. Treating the letter as *c* yields meaningful readings like *aracaṉ*, *vāciṭṭi* and *cātakaṇi*, which are the appropriate Tamil renderings of the corresponding Prakrit expressions *rāñō*, *vāsiṭhi* and *sātakaṇi* in the Prakrit legends on the obverse.
c25.s15.t3.3
***m:*** It is noteworthy that the bilingual legends employ the Southern Brāhmī form of *m* in the Prakrit legends on the obverse and the Tamil-Brāhmī form of the same letter in the Tamil legends on the reverse. The letter actually seen on the coins is the later Tamil-Brāhmī form of *m* in which the horizontal 'crossbar' first moves away from the left side of the 'tube' and later projects a little outside to the right (see coins 3 & 4 in Fig. 5.9 for clear examples).¹ This form is attested in the later cave inscriptions from ca. 4th century A.D. (e.g., Nos. *85*, *101*, *108*, *112*, *115*). The evidence of the cave inscriptions indicates that the correct reading of the form seen in the coin-legends is *ma* and not *mā* as read earlier.
c25.s15.t3.4
¹ See especially R. Nagaswamy 1985: Fig. at p. 109.
c25.s15.t3.5
***ḻ:*** The later form of the Tamil-Brāhmī letter *ḻ* with the loop as in the Tirupparankunram cave inscription (No. *55*, ca. 1st century A.D.) occurs in the name *puḻumāvi* in the coin-legend on the reverse (corresponding to the form *puḷumāvi* in the Prakrit legend on the obverse). The earlier readings of this letter as *ḷu* or *ḍu* were merely from the context without taking into account the actual forms seen in the coin-legend on the reverse. In the three issues I have seen (from clear photographs of exceptionally well-preserved forms), the letter is written as *ḻu* in two cases (coins 1 & 2 in Fig. 5.9) and as *ḻa* in one case.² A somewhat similar-looking Brāhmī letter *j* occurs in the Asokan inscriptions at Khalsi,¹ which does not suit the context. On the other hand, treating the letter as the Tamil-Brāhmī form of *ḻ* (as in the Tirupparankunram cave inscription) yields a meaningful reading suited to the context. The occurrence of *ḻ* in this coin-legend is of exceptional importance; it provides us for the first time with the indigenous form of the name of this famous and powerful Andhra monarch confirming his Dravidian lineage; it proves that the script of the coin-legends on the reverse of these coins is Tamil-Brāhmī; it also confirms the date of ca. 1st century a.d. for the Tirupparankunram cave inscription.
c25.s15.t3.6
² In a coin in the National Museum, New Delhi. The letter *ḻa* is also seen clearly in the Nagarjunakonda mould of the coin of Puḷumāvi (I.K. Sarma 1980: Fig. P-7, Pl. XVII).
c25.s15.t3.7
¹ C. S. Upasak 1960: Appendix No. 13, Figs. (9) & (10).
c25.s15.t3.8
***ṉ*: A closer examination of the legends on the reverse of these coins has revealed that the Tamil words *aracaṉ* 'king', and *makaṉ* 'son' are sometimes written with the alveolar *ṉ* of the Tamil-Brāhmī script earlier misread as *ṇ*. In the best-preserved specimens (see coins 2 to 4 in Fig. 5.9), the top horizontal line of the letter, unlike the bottom horizontal line, does not extend to the left of the vertical as in *ṇ*. The form is also unlikely to be Brāhmī *nā* which does not suit the context. The form is most probably a variant of the Tamil-Brāhmī alveolar *ṉ*, the difference being the absence of the downward stroke at the top right.² The occurrence of the alveolar nasal *ṉ* in the coin-legends is conclusive evidence of the language being Tamil and the script Tamil-Brāhmī, as this character and its sound do not occur in any other script. The word-final consonant *ṉ* in *aracaṉ* and *makaṉ* has to be read as basic in accordance with the orthographic convention in the Tamil-Brāhmī script and not as *ṉa*.
c25.s15.t3.9
² This form appears to be a further development of the tendency towards flattening of the curve at the top of the vertical in *ṉ*. Cf. Nos. *21* and *85* in the Corpus.
c25.s15.t3.10
***-ku*: The case-ending *-ku* is added to the nouns as in *aracaṉ-ku*, *makaṉ-ku*, etc. The earlier reading of this letter as *-sha* produced strange forms like *arahaṇa-sha*, *mākaṇa-sha*, etc., not attested elsewhere. The letter looks like *-ku* and adopting this value yields meaningful expressions appropriate to the context and corresponding to the genitive forms in the Prakrit original with the case-ending *-sa* on the obverse.
c25.s15.t3.11
***The puḷḷi*: It is well-known that the *puḷḷi* occurs with the basic consonant *ṭ* in the expression *vāciṭṭi* (< Pkt. *vāsiṭṭhī*) in the legends on the reverse of the coins of Vāsiṣṭhīputra Puḷumāvī, and those of his successors with the same *gōtra* name except Vijaya Sātakarṇi (see clear examples in coins 2, 3 & 4 in Fig. 5.9). The employment of the *puḷḷi* to mark the basic consonant is known only to the Tamil grammatical tradition.³ The earliest occurrence of the *puḷḷi* in the Tamil-Brāhmī cave inscriptions is at Anaimalai (No. 60, ca. 2nd century a.d.). The occurrence of the *puḷḷi* confirms that the legends on the reverse of the Andhra coins are written in the Tamil-Brāhmī script as no other variant of Brāhmī employed this device.
c25.s15.t3.12
³ *Tol. Eḻu.* 15-17. See also the discussion on the *puḷḷi* in section 5.14.