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THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY..
[DEO. 6, 1872
into a palatal; as tya, dya, dhya, eto, be- does not account for the consonants ch, j, 9, come resp. chcha, ja, jjha ; e.g., Skr. satya' which are the distinguishing feature of that true=Prak. and Gaur. sachcha'; Skr. adya' group of verbs. In the other word 'praghorņita,' to-day-Präkrit "ajja, Gaur. 'Aja'; Sanskrit the dental t is supposed to be the original of
madhya' middle, - Pråk. and Gaur. majjha. the palatal ch. It is not proved that the word The Panjabi form pujana' has the same rela- occurs in Sanskrit. Still this need not be an tion to the Marathi form puchanen' as the insuperable objection. But it is fatal to this Sindhi genitive postposition jo' to the Marathi theory that the Sanskrit dental t is always châ.'
elided in such words, in their passage through There is another theory of the origin of the the Prakrit to the Gausian, and therefore canverb pahunchana' and its group of modifica- Dot have originated the palatal ch; and 2, that tions. According to this theory, it is derived a dental never changes by itself into a palatal, from the Sanskrit noun "pragharna' guest, or but only if followed by a palatal sound (as in from the Sanskrit past participle passive 'pra- ty, dy, etc.); and 3, that the theory does not ghûrņita,' also meaning guest. The first of account for the verb 'pukârana,' and not easily these two words may be set aside at once, as it for pugana.'
THE MERKARA PLATES. I. NOTICES OF THE CHERA DYNASTY. early state, however, it comprehended the extreme The inscription of which the accompanying plate south of the Malabar coast or Travankor, and presents & facsimile is engraved on three copper consisted of that province, Wyn&d, the Nilgiri plates 8 inches by 3-2, and varying in thickness mountain district, the southern portion of Koimfrom 0-065 to 0-1 inch. They are secured on a batur, and part of Tinnevelli. In this tract ring 0-25 inch in thickness and about 3 inches we have in Ptolemy he people called Carei, and diameter inside, closed by an elephant in relievo not far from it Carura regia Cerobothra with its trunk down, and measuring 0.97 by 0-88 in which, making an allowance for inaccuracies inch. They were first brought to my notice by of sound and expression, we have the Cheras Mr. Graeter who gave me a transcript of them, and
and Karur still a city in this district, and Cheracalled my attention to their age and the names of
pati, the sovereign of Chera. the kings mentioned in them. Through the kind
"It seems probable, therefore, that in the comness of the Rev. G. Richter of Merkara, I have been
mencement of the Christian era, Chera, or as it able to obtain the use of them in order to prepare
is also called Konga, was an independent prithe facsimiles.
cipality. Of its history, either before or since, As illustrative of the history of the Cher & little satisfactory occurs, until periods comparadynasty, the following extracts are given from
tively modern. Lists of princes, one of thirty, Wilson's Mackenzie Collection
and another of twenty, who, it is said, ruled in the "CHERA.-Another political division of the south
Dwapar and beginning of the Kali age, are given of India which inay be traced to periods of some
but they are unaccompanied by details : another antiquity, is that of the Chera kingdom, which
series of twenty-six princes adds the political is always enurucrated along with the Pándyan
events of their reigns, and closing with the conand Chola states, by original authorities. The
quest of the province by Adity & Varm &, & boundaries of this principality seem to have been
Chola prince in A.D. 894, it enables us to place the of little extent, and it was probably most coin
commencement of the dynasty in the fifth century. monly feudatory to its more powerful peighbours The occupation of the country by the Chola Rajas except where it had extended ita northorn limits
was not of very long continuance, and in the course 80 as to interpone & mountainous barrior between
of the tenth century the capital Talk&d was that it and its enemies. The northern limit of Chera
of the first or second sovereign of the Hayasala varied at different periode, being originally placed or Bolala dynasty of the sovereigns of Karnat Pabiai near Dharapura, whilst at & sub- ta. The name of Oher appears to have been sequent period the capital, Dalavanpur or discontinued from this period, and the districts were Talked above the Maiour Gh&ta, indicates & con- annexed to the neighbouring principalities of siderable extension of the boundary in this quarter, Kerndta, Madura, or Tanjor." and the Chera principality probably included The Kongadula Rdjákal, á palm leaf MB. referthe kroater portion of Karnata. Its eastern red to above, be describes 48 "80 account of the limits were the possessions of Chola and Pen princes of the country known as Kongor dys, and the western those of Kerala.. lo its | Chera," corresponding "Rearly with the modern
• Wilson, Mackensie Coll. Intz., pp. zoll-zeiv.
