Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. c5.1

c5.1

Early Tamil Epigraphy is a study of Tamil inscriptions from the earliest times to the end of the sixth century A.D. The study is based mainly on the cave inscriptions of Tamil Nadu in Tamil-Brāhmī and Early Vaṭṭeḻuttu scripts. The inscriptions were studied by me *in situ* during two extended periods of field work from 1962 to 1966 and again from 1991 to 1996. The more recently discovered and still not fully published pottery inscriptions and objects like coins, seals and rings inscribed in Tamil-Brāhmī have also been utilised to present a more complete picture of Early Tamil epigraphy.