________________
311
NOVEMBER, 1895.]
ORIGIN OF THE KHAROSHTHI ALPHABET.
more than simple collectors of revenue, after the exact definition of the government dues given in the edict itself. No doubt, he must have been a terrible man in his day, with an appointed function in the evolution of history, not unlike, perhaps, the one played by those who went forth to demand ship money' in the days of Hampden. The good people of Kôdainallur seem to have been also equal to the occasion. Here is proof, if need be, of the independent nature and constitution of the old village assemblies of Travancore. The sabhús being mentioned side by side with the people, it is impossible to take them as mere occasional assemblies of the inhabitants, summoned together, for the time being, by those in charge of the administration. Here they appear as permanent and well-constituted public bodies that acted as a buffer between the people and the government. The village or common lauds, so clearly distinguished front those directly under government, in this record, were in all probability every where under their management. What exactly was the service the good sabha of Kôdainallûr was able to render on this occasion, or what exactly were the circumstances that brought about this memorable council itself, we have as yet no means of knowing; but whatever they were, the whole procedure reflects the greatest credit on all the parties concerned, their conjoint action resulting in so precious a charter to the people, and so unmistakable a monument of the sovereign's unbounded love of his subjects. Though the wording of the document makes the enactment applicable primarily only to the village of Kôdainallûr, I have no doubt it was sooner or later extended to the whole of Vênid. A just principle needs but once to be recognized to be applied on all hands. I hesitate not, therefore, to call this Manalikkarai proclamation one of the great charters of Travancore. Entered as it is on a detached stone, and containing as it does several expressions yet dark and obscure, it would be well to remove the original document itself and to preserve it in the public museum at the capital, where, I have no doubt, it would now receive better treatment than was accorded to a similar tablet from Varkkalai, which, having discharged well and long the duty of a grindstone, is now so far defaced as to reveal nothing more than its ancient age and its iniquitous sufferings 189
But the immediate purpose for which the Manalikkarai charter is here introduced, is to prove the rule of Sri-Vira-Ravi-Keralavarman on the 28th Mêdam 410 M. E., or about April 1235. Having met Sri-Vira-Râma-Kêralavarman only 21 years prior, we may take the two reigns as having been conterminous with one another.
(To be continued.)
THE ORIGIN OF THE KHAROSHTHI ALPHABET. BY GEORGE BUHLER, PH.D., LL.D., C.I.E. (Concluded from p. 292.)
No. 15. The identity of pa with Phe is plain enough (Thomas, Taylor, Halévy). The Semitic letter (Col. I.) has been turned round in order to avoid mistaking it with A. The form with a hook, attached to the right top of the vertical (Col. III. a) occurs still a few times in the Mansehra version of the Edicts. Usually the hook or curve is placed lower, as in Col. III. b, and it may be noted that in the Mansehra pa it is attached nearly always very high up, in the Shahbazgarhi letter not rarely lower.
No. 16. On phonetic grounds it may, of course, be expected that Tsade should have been ased for the Indian cha. But the recognition of the real Kharôshtht representative has been
ss This is a remarkable old specimen of a Vatteluttu inscription. It seems to be dated 79 M. E. I believe it comes from Varkkalai. It opens with a string of Sanskrit words written in old Malayalam characters in praise of the then ruling king. The body of the document is in Vatteluttu. But in spite of all my repeated endeavours, oil abhishekams aud pojas without number, I have not succeeded as yet in coaxing it to reveal even a line in full, the middle of it heing so completely defaced by the use to which it was put by the Marâmut coolies. A hundred times the cost of the mortar ground on it would not have been ill spent, if it had been spent in the preservation of this unique ancient monument. It appears to me to record an important treaty between certain parties, of whom Uyyakkondan was surely one.
