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Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. c28.s8.t5: XXXV. Indalur

Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. c28.s8.t5

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XXXV. Indalur

c28.s8.t5.1

**113.1 *kīḻccēri*** (P.) The eastern quarter of the village, even though the name of the main village is not mentioned. Cf. ***mēṟcēri* (112.2)**.

c28.s8.t5.2

**a. *kīḻ-*** Read *kīḻ-* (adj.) 'eastern'. Cf. *kīḻ*, *kiḻakku* 'east' (D. 1619).

c28.s8.t5.3

Cf. LT *kīḻ-t-ticai* 'east' (*Tivā.* 848; *Piṅkala.* 13). *kīḻ*: id. (*Cūṭā.* 1:90).

c28.s8.t5.4

**b. *cēri*** (n.) 'hamlet'. See **112.2.b**.

c28.s8.t5.5

**113.2 *kōḻi*** (n.) 'cock'. See **112.5**. The present inscription is also engraved on a stele which features the bas-relief sculpture of a fighting cock. The stele is a memorial stone for 'the fighting cock of the eastern quarter', even as No. ***112*** commemorates 'the fighting cock of the western quarter'.

c28.s8.t5.6

Note the occurrences of *oṟṟu* in the phrase ***kīḻ-c-cēri-k-kōḻi***.

c28.s8.t5.7

**113.3 *p[o]ṟkoṟṟi*** (N.) Pet name given by the villagers to their favourite fighting cock.

c28.s8.t5.8

Cf. (inscr.) *kōvivaṉ*, the pet name of a dog which stood guard over its master in a skirmish (*Ceṅkam Naṭukaṟkaḷ*: No. 59/1971, herostone inscription, ca. 7th cent. A.D.).

c28.s8.t5.9

**a. *po(ṉ)*** (n.) 'gold', an attribute in the figurative sense 'beautiful' when prefixed to a name.

c28.s8.t5.10

Cf. LT *poṟkōṭṭu imayam* 'the Himalayas with a golden (i.e., shining) peak' (*Puṟa.* 2:24).

c28.s8.t5.11

Sandhi: -*ṉ* > -*ṟ*- before -*k* (see also the citation above).

c28.s8.t5.12

**b. *koṟṟi*** A personal name after the goddess Durgā (D. 2169). See also **66.4.b.**

c28.s8.t5.13

The ancient sport of cockfight in the Tamil countryside

c28.s8.t5.14

Cockfight was a popular sport in ancient Tamil country. See section 4.23.

c28.s8.t5.15

Cf. LT *uyttaṉar viṭāar pirittu iṭai kaḷaiyār kuppai-k-kōḻi-t-taṇi-p-pōr pōla* 'when fowl (foraging) on the rubbish heap fight among themselves, there is none to encourage them (to fight) or separate them (when they are tired)' (*Kuṟun.* 305: 5-6); the allusion by contrast is to what happens when an organised cockfight by specially trained fighting cocks takes place.

c28.s8.t5.16

*kūr vāy aḻal akaintanna kāmar tutai mayir*
*maṉai uṟai kōḻi maṟaṉuṭai-c-cēval*
*pōr puri eruttam pōla-k- kañaliya*

c28.s8.t5.17

'As the neck of the domestic fighting cock with the sharp beak and flaming red feathers bristles when it fights' (*Aka.* 277:13-16).

c28.s8.t5.18

The following is a dramatic description of a cockfight:

c28.s8.t5.19

*pāyntum eṟintum paṭintum palakālum*
*kāyntum vāykkoṇṭum kaṭuñ cēval*

c28.s8.t5.20

'The ferocious cock now leaps up and jumps forward,now backs down, and then again attacks angrily with the blade (tied to its leg)' (*Puṟapporuḷ* 348).

c28.s8.t5.21

We learn from the old commentary that there was a *kōḻi-nūl* (treatise on fighting cocks) with the help of which, experts rated cocks according to their fighting abilities. It appears that villages with two hamlets, Mēṟ-cēri (the western quarter) and Kīḻ-c-cēri (the eastern quarter) had fighting cocks for each quarter:

c28.s8.t5.22

*mēṟcēri-k-kōḻi -y- alaittatu eṉa-k- kīḻ-c-cēri-k-kōḻi alaippuṇṭatu* (*Tol. Col.* 60, comm., Cēṉā.); *mēlai-c-cēri-c-cēval alaittatu eṉṟa tuṇaiyāṅē kīḻai-c-cēri-c-cēval alaippuṇṭatu* (*Naṉṉ.* 402, comm., Caṅkara.). 'Driven hither and thither by the harassing of the (fighting) cock of Mēṟcēri (Mēlai-c-cēri), the (fighting) cock of Kīḻ-cc-cēri (Kīḻai-c-cēri) got harassed (i.e., the first statement implies the second)'.

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