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Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. c28.s6.t17: XVII. Muttuppatti

Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. c28.s6.t17

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XVII. Muttuppatti

c28.s6.t17.1

**56.1 *nākapērūr*** (P.) Cf. Nagamalai, the low range of hills running through this region.

c28.s6.t17.2

**a. *nāka-*** Attribute from *nākaṉ* (N.) or *nākam* (n.). See **48.2** for comments.

c28.s6.t17.3

**b. *pēr-*** (adj.) 'large'. See **13.2.a**.

c28.s6.t17.4

**c. *ūr*** (n.) 'village'. See **19.2**.

c28.s6.t17.5

**56.2 *atai-y*** Variant of *antai*, honorific suffix. **-y** is the paragogic suffix. See **30.2** for comments.

c28.s6.t17.6

Sandhi: *nākapērūr* + *atai-y* > *nākapērūratai-y*.

c28.s6.t17.7

**56.3 *muciṟi*** (P.) Probably same as Muciṟi, the famous Cēra seaport on the west coast. See section 4.20.4(iv) for discussion.

c28.s6.t17.8

Cf. LT *muciṟi* (*Aka.* 57:15; *Puṟa.* 343:10).

c28.s6.t17.9

Cf. (inscr.) *muyiṟi-k-kōṭu* (Cochin Plates of Bhaskara Ravivarman, *EI*. III: pp. 66-69).

c28.s6.t17.10

**56.4 *kōṭaṉ*** (N.) He hailed from Muciṟi. His name may be interpreted as one from Muciṟikkōṭu or Kōṭaṉ (qf) Muciṟi. The name is probably derived from *kōṭu* 'mountain' (D. 2049).

c28.s6.t17.11

Cf. LT *nalliya-k-kōtaṉ* 'N. of the chieftain of Māvilaṅkai' (*Puṟa.* 176:6-7; *Ciṟupāṇ.* 126, 269).

c28.s6.t17.12

Cf. (inscr.) akkantai kōṭaṉ 'a personal name' (*Pallava Inscrs.* No. 280, ca. 7th cent. A.D.); *kōṭaṉ* 'a personal name' (*SII.* V:No. 396, Pāṇṭiya, ca. 9th cent. A.D.).

c28.s6.t17.13

**56.5 eḻamakaṉ** (n.) Title of a member of the ancient martial clan of Iḻaiyar or Iḻamakkaḷ. See **49.6** for further comments. The title suggests that the ***eḻamakaṉ*** (LT *iḷamakaṉ*) was probably a 'warrior-attendant' of the *a(n)tai* of Nākavērūr, even though the word order does not make this explicit. We learn from herostone inscriptions (ca. 6-9 cent. A.D.) that the *iḷamakaṉ* rendered military service to the master to whom he was attached and was consequently known as the *cēvakaṉ* '(warrior)-attendant'. It is incorrect to interpret the clan name *iḷamakaṉ* literally as *iḷaiya makaṉ* 'younger son'. (See *Pallava Inscrs.* Nos. 282, 284, 286 & 296, herostones, ca. 7th cent. A.D. See also *Chengam Naṭukaṟkaḷ*). It is interesting that the master and his warrior-attendant joined in making the gift of the stone bed.

c28.s6.t17.14

**a. eḻa-** (adj.) lit., 'young'; occurs here as an attribute in a clan name. See **43.2.a** & **49.6.**

c28.s6.t17.15

**b. makaṉ** (n.) lit., 'son', but occurs here in the sense of 'a member of a class'. Cf. *makaṉ* > *māṉ* as in LT *vēṇmāṉ* (< *vēḷ-makaṉ*) (*Puṟa.* 395: 20). See **59.2.c** for further comments.

c28.s6.t17.16

**57.1 viṉtai-ūr** (P.) written as two separate words.

c28.s6.t17.17

**a. viṉtai** Cf. LT *vintai* 'the Vindhya mountain' (*Kampa.* 3.3.39, variant reading, cited in *TL*) or 'goddess Korṟavai' (*Tivā.* 23) or 'beauty, learning, scholarship' (*TL*). Cf. vid (vind) (Skt.) 'to know, acquire'.

c28.s6.t17.18

**b. ūr** (n.) 'village'. See **19.2.**

c28.s6.t17.19

**57.2 caiy-aḻaṉ** (*caiyaḻaṉ*) N. of the donor. The name may be interpreted in more than one way:

c28.s6.t17.20

(i) From *saiṁhala* 'one belonging to Siṁhala' (Skt.) 'Sri Lanka'. Cf. *saiṁhaḷaka* (Allahabad Pillar Inscription of Samudragupta, *CII.* III:p. 213, Lines 23-24).

c28.s6.t17.21

(ii) From *saiṁha* 'one who is leonine' < *siṁha* (Skt.) 'lion'; **-aḻaṉ** (nominal suffix).

c28.s6.t17.22

(iii) 'He of the Caiya mountain'. Cf. LT *caiyam* 'name of a mountain' (*Pari.* 11: 13-15; *Tivā.* 856; *Piṅkala.* 495; *Cūṭā.* 5:11) from *sahya* (Skt.) 'the Sahyādri mountain' + ***aḻaṉ***, nominal suffix.

c28.s6.t17.23

**57.3 kavi-y** (n.) 'cave'. **-y** is the paragogic suffix.

c28.s6.t17.24

Cf. Ta. *kevi*, Ka.,Te. *gavi* 'cave' (D. 1332). Even though *kavi* is not attested elsewhere in Tamil in this sense, it may probably be derived from *kavi* (v.) 'to cover, overspread' (D. 1221), an apt description for this cave which is in fact only an 'overhanging' boulder.

c28.s6.t17.25

Cf. LT *puvi tāvum kevi tāvum* 'jumping over land (and) dale' (*Irāma. Uyutta.* 80).

c28.s6.t17.26

(*tiṭṭi*) (P.) See **33.1.a.** The place may probably be identified as Tidiyan, a village about 20 km. west of this site. See Table 4.3.

c28.s6.t17.27

(N.) It is not certain whether he is the donor, as the rest of the inscription is virtually lost.

c28.s6.t17.28

The name is derived from *kā* 'protection' (D. 1416). It means literally 'one who protects'. The name is formally a participial noun which may be analysed *kā* (stem) + *tt* (past tense marker without tense significance) + *āṉ* (PNG suffix). Kāttāṉ is also the name of a village deity (*TL*).

c28.s6.t17.29

Cf. LT *niṉ tīmai kāttavaḷ* 'she who protects you from harm' (*Kali.* 44:19); *kāttal* 'to protect' (*Tivā.* 2060; *Piṅkala.* 1823; *Cūṭā.* 9:33).

c28.s6.t17.30

Cf. (inscr.) *kāttāṉ* 'one who protects (this religious charity)' (*Pallava Inscrs.* Nos. 80, 92; 8th cent. A.D.).

c28.s6.t17.31

The word is joined with the preceding one with an *oṟṟu* (*-k-*). This is the earliest occurrence of the *oṟṟu* in the Corpus.

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