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Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and the Other Indo-Aryan Languages c8.s5: 3.5 Other (Non-Indo-Aryan) Languages in Indian Inscriptions

Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and the Other Indo-Aryan Languages c8.s5

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3.5 Other (Non-Indo-Aryan) Languages in Indian Inscriptions

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Although the primary subject matter of this book (see the preface) is restricted to epigraphic material in the Indo-Aryan languages, it may be useful to briefly summarize the other inscriptional material found in India. Needless to say, the following is meant only as a very general introduction and has no pretensions to completeness.

3.5.1 Dravidian languages

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The epigraphy of the Dravidian languages constitutes an enormous field of study in itself, which can be presented here only in the broadest outlines, although ideally Dravidian epigraphy cannot be completely separated from Indo-Aryan epigraphy, there being a great deal of geographical, historical, linguistic, and stylistic overlapping between the two fields. Although for the most part Dravidian inscriptions are less ancient than the Indo-Aryan ones, their numbers overall, and especially in the medieval period and in the Tamil and Kannada languages, are very great, perhaps greater than those of the Indo-Aryan languages.

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Major publication and reference sources for Dravidian inscriptions are mentioned in section 8.1.2 (esp. *South Indian Inscriptions* and *Epigraphia Carnatica*). The complete literature of the field is vast, but there is unfortunately still no single authoritative study of the subject as a whole.⁸⁶

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⁸⁶ Brief surveys of Dravidian inscriptions are given by D. C. Sircar in SIE 46–52 and by D. B. Diskalkar in *JAHRS* 21, 1950–52, 163–8.

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3.5.1.1 Tamil

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Inscriptions in what is now generally agreed to be an early form of Tamil date from approximately the last centuries before and/or the first centuries after the beginning of the Christian era (see 2.2.5.1). There are also a few Tamil inscriptions datable on paleographic grounds to the second through sixth centuries A.D.,⁸⁷ but Tamil's emergence as a full-fledged epigraphic language actually began during the reign of the Pallavas, some of whose copper plate inscriptions from the seventh century onward were bilingual in Tamil and Sanskrit. This practice was continued by succeeding dynasties of the Tamil country such as the Coḻas and Pāṇḍyas, but some of their copper plates (especially in the later centuries) were in Tamil only. The majority by far of Tamil inscriptions are donative and other stone records, especially on temple walls, mostly dating from the Coḻa era and later; these number in the many thousands. As with other Dravidian languages, Tamil generally predominates in stone inscriptions and private records, while Sanskrit tends to be retained for imperial grants on copper plates.

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⁸⁷ See I. Mahadevan, "Tamil-Brāhmī Inscriptions of the Sangam Age" (ref. in 2.2.5.1 n. 103), 84–5.

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3.5.1.2 Kannada

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Next to Tamil, Kannada is the earliest and most important of the Dravidian epigraphic languages. The earliest Kannada epigraphs, such as the Halmiḍi (S. Śrīkaṇṭha Śāstri, *Sources of Karṇāṭaka History* [for reference see Index of Inscriptions Cited], 20) and Bādāmi Vaiṣṇava cave (IA 10, 59–60) inscriptions, date from around the late sixth or early seventh century A.D. From this time onward, inscriptions in Kannada, mainly private donative records on stone but also some royal copper plate charters, are extremely common.⁸⁸ Many of these are bilingual with Sanskrit or occasionally other languages.

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⁸⁸ Diskalkar (JAHRS 21, 167) estimates that there are twenty-six thousand Kannada inscriptions.

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3.5.1.3 Telugu

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Like Kannada, Telugu first appeared in inscriptions at about the end of the sixth century A.D.; the earliest Telugu inscriptions are usually considered to be the Kalamalḷa and Erraguḍipāḍu inscriptions of the early Telugu Coḷa dynasty (EI 27, 220–8). The subsequent development of Telugu as an epigraphic language also follows similar lines to those of Kannada, with private dedicatory stone records predominating. Though numerous, Telugu records are not as abundant as those in Kannada.

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3.5.1.4 Malayalam

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Compared with the other three major Dravidian literary languages, Malayalam is of much less epigraphic significance, coming into use only around the fifteenth century. The number of stone and copper plate inscriptions in Malayalam is thus far smaller than in the other Dravidian languages.

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Among other Dravidian languages, a few late inscriptions in Tulu have also been reported; for references see SIE 52.

3.5.2 Islamic languages (Arabic, Persian, Urdu)

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Z. A. Desai, “Arabic and Persian Inscriptions,” AI 9, 1953, 224–32; SIE, 31–8; V. S. Bendrey, *A Study of Muslim Inscriptions*.

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Inscriptions in the Islamic languages⁸⁹ first appeared in India in the last decade of the twelfth century A.D. (Desai 226) and gradually became more numerous, especially in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and continued into the nineteenth. In the earlier centuries Arabic was the preferred language, but from the fourteenth century on Persian became more prevalent, while Urdu came into use only from the mideighteenth century on. Bilinguals among these languages, especially Arabic and Persian, are common, as are bilinguals with Indic languages (e.g., Persian and Sanskrit or Kannada). In general, Islamic inscriptions are most numerous in northern India, but they are found in virtually all parts of the subcontinent.

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⁸⁹ “Islamic” is used here as a term of historical and cultural convenience, rather than as a linguistic category; cf. n. 80.

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The majority of the inscriptions in Islamic languages are dedicatory in nature, recording the construction of mosques or other religious buildings, or of secular works such as wells, gates, forts, and so on. Other common types are endowments, administrative records, and memorials (tombstones, etc.).

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Unlike Indo-Aryan and Dravidian inscriptions, the Islamic inscriptions do not constitute a major primary source of historical information, not only because they are of no great antiquity but, more importantly, because (unlike earlier times) extensive historical chronicles are available for the period concerned. Nonetheless, Indo-Muslim epigraphy is important as a source of corroborative and supplementary historical and cultural data.⁹⁰

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⁹⁰ For examples see Desai, 229–32.

3.5.3 Other non-Indic languages

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D. B. Diskalkar, "Inscriptions of Foreign Settlers in India," JIH 34, 1956, 39–52.

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3.5.3.1 (Non-Islamic) Semitic, Iranian, and other Near Eastern languages

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Aramaic and a mixed "Aramaeo-Iranian" are represented in six inscriptions of the Mauryan era from Pakistan (Taxila) and Afghanistan (see 4.3.7.3). Several hundred brief inscriptions in Sogdian have been found in the Shatial region on the upper Indus,⁹¹ as well as a few others from Ladakh.⁹² Some inscriptions in Parthian and Bactrian were also found on the upper Indus.⁹³ Inscriptions in Pahlavi have been found in western and southern India; the most important examples are the Pahlavi pilgrims' records in the Kāṇheri caves (IA 9, 265–8 = ICTWI 62–6) dating from the early eleventh century, and the Christian inscriptions in the churches at Madras and Koṭṭayam (IA 3, 308–16; West, EI 4, 1896–97, 174–6), some of which may be as early as the seventh or eighth century. A few Christian inscriptions in Syriac have also been found at Koṭṭayam and other places in South India (e.g., IA 3, 314).

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⁹¹ Helmut Humbach, "The Sogdian Inscriptions of Thor-Shatial," *Journal of Central Asia* 8, 1985, 51–7; Nicholas Sims-Williams, "The Sogdian Inscriptions of the Upper Indus: A Preliminary Report," in K. Jettmar, ed., *Antiquities of Northern Pakistan*, I.131–7; Sims-Williams, *Sogdian and Other Iranian Inscriptions of the Upper Indus*.

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⁹² N. Sims-Williams, "The Sogdian Inscriptions of Ladakh," in K. Jettmar, *Antiquities of Northern Pakistan*, II.151–63.

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⁹³ Humbach, op. cit., 57. Some other inscriptions of the Kuṣāṇa period in Bactrian, notably the Surkh-Kotal (Afghanistan) inscription of Kaniṣka (JA 246, 345–440), are found outside of India proper.

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Some medieval inscriptions in Hebrew have been found in southern India, for example, a tombstone of a.d. 1269 from Chennamangalam (IA 59, 134–5).⁹⁴ A similar Hebrew inscription of a.d. 1251, together with two others in Himyaritic, were found in Bhuj (EI 19, 300–2), but these are thought to have been brought to India from South Arabia (301). There are also a few Hebrew graffiti from near Chilas among the newly discovered inscriptions on the upper Indus (K. Jettmar, *Orientalia Iosephi Tucci Memoriae Dicata* [for reference see Index of Inscriptions Cited], II.667–70). Armenian tombstone inscriptions, mostly of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, are found in fair numbers in various parts of India, especially in Bengal, Madras, and the west coast, for example, the epitaph at the Little Mount, Madras (EI 6, 89).⁹⁵

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⁹⁴ For other examples and references, see Diskalkar, 43–4.

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⁹⁵ For other examples, see Diskalkar, 45–6, and ARIE 1962–63, nos. D.98–9, and 1966–67, no. B.192.

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3.5.3.2 European languages

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Although Greek was extensively used in coin legends in northern India in the “foreign period,” and although from the neighboring region of Afghanistan we have Aśokan and other Greek inscriptions (see 4.3.7.3), in India proper only a very few minor epigraphic specimens of it have been discovered in the form of inscribed potsherds from the Swat region (e.g., Birkoṭ-Ghundai; *Journal of Central Asia* 7, 49–53). There are also a few tombstone inscriptions from the colonial period in modern Greek (ARSIE 1912, 86).

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Several other European languages are represented in inscriptions of the modern period, that is, from the sixteenth century onward. The earliest of these are the numerous Portuguese inscriptions from Goa, Daman and Diu, Bassein, and other Portuguese settlements.⁹⁶ Some of the inscriptions of the Portuguese and other European settlers are composed in Latin. Tombstones and other inscriptions in Dutch dating from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries are found in the Dutch settlements in western and southern India (e.g., Chingleput; EI 24, 123–6).⁹⁷ There are similar though less numerous records in French, mostly from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Finally, inscriptions in English are very common all over India from the seventeenth century on; these include inscriptions on tombs and other memorial records, administrative orders, foundations, and the like.

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⁹⁶ See J. H. da Cunha Rivara, *Inscripções Lapidares da India Portugeuza* (Lisboa: Imprensa Nacional, 1894). For other references see Diskalkar, 48–9.

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⁹⁷ See also ARSIE 1909, 121–4; 1911, 90–1; and 1912, 85–6.

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3.5.3.3 Sino-Tibetan languages and Chinese

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Only a few late inscriptions in Sino-Tibetan languages of the border regions of India have been published. Inscriptions in Manipuri have been compiled by M. Bahadur and P. G. Singh in *Epigraphical Records of Manipur*. A few late copper plate inscriptions in Ahom are noted in SIE 60. Stone and copper plate inscriptions in Newari of the Malla period, usually bilingual with Sanskrit, are regularly found in Nepal from the late fourteenth century A.D. and become very common in the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries (see 4.3.7.2 for references). Also quite common are ritual and historical inscriptions in Tibetan found in many parts of the Himalayan regions of India; see, for example, IA 35, 1906, 237–41, 325–33 (A. H. Francke).

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Inscriptions in Sino-Tibetan languages of East and Southeast Asia are also occasionally found in India, generally in the form of pilgrims’ records or Buddhist donations. At Bodh-Gayā, for example, inscriptions have been found in Burmese (EI 11, 118–20) and Chinese (JRAS, n.s. 13, 552–72). Some Chinese inscriptions have also been discovered in other parts of India, for example, several recently found at Chilas, Hunza-Haldeikish, and other sites in northern Pakistan.⁹⁸

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⁹⁸ Ma Yong in Jettmar, *Antiquities of Northern Pakistan*, I.139–57; Thomas O. Höllman in ibid., II.61–75.

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