Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and the Other Indo-Aryan Languages c8.s5.t3.12

c8.s5.t3.12

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.