CORPUS OF TAMIL-BRĀHMĪ INSCRIPTIONS

Introduction

This online Corpus comprises 96 Tamil-Brāhmī stone inscriptions from 33 sites arranged alphabetically (Tamil). Inscriptions from the same site are grouped together and numbered serially within the site. Site names and serial numbers of the inscriptions (within the site) are printed at the top of each page. The consecutive reference numbers of Inscriptions 1 to 96 in the Corpus are printed in the first cell of the table that interprets the inscription.

Texts

The texts are arranged in a special format designed to explicate the unfamiliar features of the Tamil-Brāhmī inscriptions.

A. Literal transcript (Apparent Reading) :

Each inscription is first presented in a literal transcription (marked A and printed in bold) to record what is actually engraved on the stone. The transcription is given akshara by akshara (with spaces in between) without any correction, emendation or restoration. The aksharas are read according to Brāhmī orthography; the  'inherent' -a medial vowel is made explicit in every case, and the vowel-lengths are transcribed as in Brāhmī inscriptions. However, the length of e and o is considered indeterminate at this stage.

B. Text (Intended Reading) :

At the next stage, the aksharas are combined into words, and the text (marked B and printed in italics) is constituted in accordance with the orthographic norms applicable to the inscriptions. The  'inherent' -a is omitted from basic consonants, and the correct vowel-lengths are adopted. Thus, for example, tā na tai ya is read as tantai-y  'father', mā kā ṉa as makaṉ  'son', ū ṟai as uṟai  'abode', ne la as nel  'paddy', ko ṉa as kōṉ  'chieftain', etc. Again, the word kal  'stone' occurs as kā la or ka la or ka l in the successive (but marginally overlapping) orthographic systems. It is necessary to emphasise that these emendations are not  'corrections' but the intended readings of the original inscriptions. See Chapter 6 (Orthography), ETE 2 for details.

Also at this stage, the lost aksharas are restored and the missing aksharas supplied, wherever possible, from the evidence of parallel texts or from the context. The restored or supplied aksharas are enclosed in square brackets and marked with asterisks [* ].

The employment of a single consonant to represent doubled consonants is regarded as an orthographic variation and is not emended in the text; however,the corresponding linguistic forms with doubled consonants are pointed out in the footnotes (e.g., pā ḷi > paḷi > paḷḷi  'hermitage').

Scribal errors are also left uncorrected in the text, but the corrected forms are given in the footnotes, which commence with the code  'Read' in order to distinguish corrections from emendations (e.g., atiyan neṭumān : Read atiyaṉ neṭumāṉ).

The text constituted in the manner described above forms the basis for all further studies in this work.

Text in Tamil script :

As the language of the inscriptions is Tamil, the text is also reproduced in the Tamil script. The Apparent Reading is marked (அ) and, the Intended Reading is marked (ஆ), corresponding to A and B readings in Roman transliteration. The medial signs for short and long e and o are differentiated and basic consonants are marked with the puḷḷi in the intended reading (ஆ).

Translation

The text is translated into English keeping as close to the original as possible. Personal and place names occurring in translation are written with doubled consonants and without the paragogic suffixes (-i, -y, etc.), in accordance with literary usage.

Data

Essential background information in respect of each inscription is given along with the text as follows.

1. As an interactive image: When the user hovers the mouse over the interactive image, the image is magnified. When the user clicks on the image, the action leads to a toggle between two overlapping images, one of the inscription as is, and the other of the inscription as trace-painted in situ. Please allow time to load, since these are high-resolution images. Please also note that the intended interactivity does not work on tablets and on certain browsers on the desktop.

2. As video: The video shows the inscription and establishes its location within the cave or on a herostone, as the case maybe. There is no audio. This is in order to limit the file size. There is no video for inscriptions that are no longer extant.

For more details, see the Report on CICT Photographic Survey.

3. Locus : The exact location of each inscription in a site is given. See Map. Brief comments are also added on the state of preservation of the inscription.

4. No. of lines : The number of lines in the original of each inscription is specified and presented as is.

5. Length : The actual length (in cms.) of each line as measured in situ is given except for No. 71 (too fragmentary) and Nos. 78, 81 & 82 (which are no longer extant and are edited from earlier estampages).

6. Date : The inscriptions are arranged chronologically in two periods, namely Early Tamil-Brāhmī (ca. 2nd century B.C.E. – 1st century C.E.) and Late Tamil-Brāhmī (ca. 2nd – 4th centuries C.E.). Within each period, an attempt has been made to indicate approximately the date of the inscription to the nearest century.

7. Footnotes : Footnotes appearing on the same page under each inscription deal with significant variant readings, state of preservation of individual aksharas and minimal additional explanation considered necessary for understanding the inscriptions. Literary and inscriptional citations and further detailed studies of the inscriptions will be found in the Commentary, ETE 2. References are also made to Sections in Chapters 1 – 7, ETE 2 for discussion on significant items.

8. Index to Previous Publications : Bibliographic data on previous publications of Tamil-Brāhmī inscriptions in the Corpus are provided in a summary form in the appended Index for ready reference. Previous publications are listed for each site under three heads, namely, those of the ASI (ARE, IAR, SII and IPS), major editions (those with corpus of texts), and other publications on individual inscriptions. The references under each head are arranged chronologically in this Edition, as such an order is deemed appropriate in a breaking field of new discoveries. For more details, see Abbreviations and Bibliography, ETE 2.