Indian Epigraphy c14.s3.4

c14.s3.4

The earliest inscriptions in the language of the Mons (Talaings), who lived in the Irawady basin with Hanthawady (Haṃsāvatī, i.e. Pegu) and Thaton (Sudharmapura) as their chief cities, were found on a stone slab discovered at Lopburi in Siam.¹ They are written in characters of about the 6th or 7th century A.D. and point to the cultural contact between the two countries. A large number of Pyu inscriptions assignable to dates between the 6th and 8th centuries A. D. were found at Hmawsa (Prome) and Halin in the Shwebo District.² The Myazedi (Myinkaba, Pagan) inscription of the 12th century A.D. contains 4 different versions, viz. Pali, Burmese, Mon and Pyu.³ A Pagan inscription of about the 13th century A.D. is written partly in the Sanskrit language and Grantha characters and partly in the Tamil language and alphabet and records the grant of certain gifts by a Vaiṣṇava devotee of Cranganore in Malabar in favour of a Viṣṇu temple at Pagan.⁴