Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. c26.s12.t1: 6.12.1 At sites in Tamil Nadu
Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. c26.s12.t1
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6.12.1 At sites in Tamil Nadu
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(i) *Arikamedu:* Only 5 out 66 pottery inscriptions from this site follow the TB-I notation,¹ and the remaining except one are in the TB-II notation. One inscription with distinctly late palaeographic features of about the 3rd century A.D. depicts the *puḷḷi*.²
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¹ I. Mahadevan 1996a: Nos. 5.1, 5.24, 5.25, 5.26 and 5.31.
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² Ibid. No. 5.28. Note especially the late form of *ṟ* with the *puḷḷi* in this inscription.
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(ii) *Uraiyur:* Only 4 out of 20 pottery inscriptions from this site are in the TB-I notation³ and all the remaining are in the TB-II notation. No pottery inscription with the *puḷḷi* has been reported from this site.
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³ K.V. Raman (ed.) 1988: Fig. 24: Nos. 3 & 10 (Pl. 16 & 19.11) and probably Fig. 24: Nos. 4 & 9 (Pl. 19.5 & 19.9).
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(iii) *Kodumanal:* Out of 170 pottery inscriptions from this site, only 7 are in the TB-I notation⁴ and 6 more with mixed TB-I & II notations.⁵ All the remaining legible Tamil inscriptions are in the TB-II notation except in one case where the occurrence of a *puḷḷi* is doubtfully reported.⁶ Both TB-I and II notations occur in Periods I and II (ca. 200 B.C.-150 A.D.) at this site.⁷
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⁴ Y. Subbarayalu 1996: Nos. 3, 23, 24, 78, 127, 166 & 169.
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⁵ Ibid. Nos. 6, 17, 38, 40, 88 & 113.
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⁶ Ibid. No. 39.
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⁷ Personal communication from Y. Subbarayalu.
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(iv) *Other sites in Tamil Nadu:* A pottery inscription recently found from excavation at Teriruveli (Ramanathapuram District) has the legend *koṟṟaṉ* in which both basic consonants are marked by the *puḷḷi*.⁸ The inscription may be assigned to ca. 2nd century A.D. on palaeographic evidence.
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⁸ Unpublished. I have seen the pottery inscription in the collections of TNSA at Chennai.