Indian Epigraphy c14.s2.7

c14.s2.7

Sanskrit inscriptions are rare in Ceylon, the more popular Indian languages there being Prakrit and Pali. The Ruvanavalisāya pillar inscription in Late Brāhmī of about the 5th century A.D. and the Kuchchaveli rock inscription in a developed form of the same alphabet assignable to a date about the 7th century A.D. are two of the few early Ceylonese records in Sanskrit.¹ The Gārandigala inscription of about the first half of the 8th century A.D. is one of the early epigraphs in Ceylonese while the Sanskrit inscription from the Jetavanārāma is written in the Siddhamātṛkā alphabet of Northern India and may be assigned on palaeographical grounds to a date in the 9th century A.D.² Many Tamil inscriptions, especially of the time of the Coḷa occupation of Ceylon during the 11th century A.D., have been discovered in the island.³