________________
382
THE ALPHABET
belong to the beginning of the tenth century A.D.; the Pandya historical dynasty can be traced from the twelfth till the middle of the sixteenth century A.D. Tha of the Pandyas was the most southerly kingdom; it extended from coast to coast (comprising the greater part of the Madura and Tinnevelly Districts, and of southern Travancore), to the north there was the Chola kingdom, lying on the east coast, from near the mouth of the Krishna to the south of Tondi.
The most archaic forms of the early Grantha character are found in India on the copper plates and other inscriptions of the Pallava kings
J Z Z UZ HO JJJ V Z
321
Ju
Hudaya
arita 8114 20 602 CLIP
તેમ
5542
Fig. 173-Part of the earliest Kanarese inscription (from Halmidi; it is attributed by A. Master to the fifth century A.D.)
of the fifth and sixth centuries. This script in general agrees with the early Kanarese-Telugu character, and was used till about the middle of the seventh century A.D.
During the earlier period of Pallava rule, however, their documents seem to have been restricted to copper-plate grants. It is only at the beginning of the seventh century that, as far we now know, the first Pallava stone inscriptions make their appearance. The style of the copper
