Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and the Other Indo-Aryan Languages c8.s5.t1: 3.5.1 Dravidian languages
Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and the Other Indo-Aryan Languages c8.s5.t1
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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.