Epigraphia Indica Vol 10

Author(s): Sten Konow, V Venkayya
Publisher: Archaeological Survey of India

Page 74

No. 14.]
TWO NOLAMBA INSCRIPTIONS FROM DHARMAPURI.
in diameter, in which are lost one, two or more syllables in three consecutive lines on each of the four faces (11. 11 to 13 on the west face; 11. 37 to 39 on the south face; 11. 66 to 68 on the east face and 11. 95 to 97 on the north face). The north-east rim of the pillary at its lower end, is also damaged slightly and consequently, the end of 11. 79 to 83 on the east face and the beginning of 11. 106 to 110 on the north face have disappeared. The latter gap (in the imprecatory verses) has, however, been filled up with the help of similar passages occurring elsewhere. The break in the north-east rim has again, been the cause of one or more blanks in 11., 8 and 9 of inscription B. Except for these defects, the two inscriptions are in a state of excellent preservation and are written in old Kanarese characters of the period to which the inscriptions belong. They present a striking similarity to those of the Mantrawädi, Sirar and Nidagandi records edited by Dr. Fleet.?
As regards paleography, the initial vowels a, a, i, u and e occur in their tisual forms (e.g. in 11. 7, 64, 52, 58 and 82). Long i when attached to consonants is distinguished from the short by & small loop made inside the circular i-mark at its base (compare, e.g. the i of pall:" with the i of Osime in 1.-55). In Tagadüro (. 36 and 40), in Malapaļļi (11. 43 and 55), in Mulasaragha (1. 47) and in Puruva- (1.33), the symbol for long is marked in a slightly different way from the ordinary form of it as used e.g. in the ū of bhū in 11. 4, 97 and 107 (twice). This variant is like the subscript y with its bend to the left not quite pronounced. Short - affixed to the consonants k and ris marked by a hook (bending downwards) attached to the right side of the letter; whereas, in other cases it is a vertical ts-like tube affixed from below to the consonant to which it belongs. When the u-mark is lengthened in the case of k and r a second hook (also turned downwards) is added the first, however, being in this case, reversed for the sake of convenience. Dis marked by a similar hook attached to the left side of the talekaftu, if one exists, or, somewhere on that side of the letter according to the whim of the writer. It may be noted that long é is denoted in a few instances by the e-mark being made to end in a loop as in the case of the long i (Jine, 1. 3; -varē, 1. 15; and geyyuttirē (wrongly for geyyuttire), L. 26); whereas, in others, it is not distinguished from the short e compare e.g. kude, 1. 46 with Sēnā, 1. 47). The ai-symbol occurs only once in l. 72 in the word nairatiya (a mistake for nairsitya). Here, the stroke slanting to the right over the taleka1f14 of the letter may be compared with the corresponding stroke (but slanting to the left) of the secondary ai in old Nagari inscriptions. The componnd vowel-mark 0, which consists of ā and e, is simple in its formation, and consists of two inverted hooks placed one at each end of the top-stroke-the one to the right representing ã and that to the left e. The anusvāra is marked by & small circle or, more frequently, by a dot and is always placed at the right top-corner of the letter to which it belongs. The wpadhmāniya in ll. 106 and 107 is represented by the symbol for r u); while, the jihvamūliya, which may be expected at the end of 1. 99, does not occur there.
With regard to consonants, it may be stated that all the five test letters discussed by Dr. Fleet in his study of ancient Kanarege records, are represented in the subjoined inscriptions - vis, kh, i, j, b and l. Kh in khanda- (1. 42) and in duhkham= (1. 99 f.) is of the later carsive form. Ñ occurs as the first member of the conjanct consonant siga, at the beginning of 1. 61 and is of the closed type. I appears ten times and in only one instance (j of jña in 1. 1) is of the square type exactly similar to that which occurs in the Mantrawăţi inscription of Amoghavarsba 1. In the other nine instances, it is of the same type but closed. The letter b is more frequently used and is always of the closed type, except in Sembalattura (1. 56) where the subscript b is, however, formed as in modern Kanarese. L is also of frequent
1 Above, Vol. VII. pp. 198 ff.
* See, for example, his remarks on palæography in the Nilgund inscription of Amögbavarsha I. (above, Vol. VI. p. 99), in the Hatti-Mattür and Nsregal recorde (ibid. pp. 161 and 162) and in the Mantra wadi, Sirur and Nidagundi inscriptions (ibid. Vol. VII. Pp. 199, 203 and 209).