Tamil and Sanskrit inscriptions in Malaysia

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A good number of Tamil inscriptions as well as Hindu and Buddhist icons emanating from South India have been found in Southeast Asia (and even in parts of south China). On the Malay Peninsula, inscriptions have been found at Takuapa, not far from the Vishnuite statues of Khao Phra Narai in Southern Thailand. It is a short inscription indicating that an artificial lake named Avani-naranam was dug by nangur-Udaiyan which is the name of an individual who possessed a military fief at Nangur, being famous for his abilities as a warrior, and that the lake was placed under the protection of the members of the Manikkiramam (which according to K.A. Nilakanta Sastri, was a merchant guild) living in the military camp. Since Avani-narayana is a surname of the Pallava king Nadivarman III who reigned from 826 to 849, we can deduce the approximate date of this inscription. In the capital of Tabralinga there is a sanctuary in which there is a bronze image of ganesa bearing a Tamil inscription Majapisedesa in modern characters.[1]

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[edit] Ligor Inscription

An inscription dated 779 A.D. has been found in Ligor, Malaya peninsula. This refers to the trade relationship between the Tamil country and Malaya.[2]

[edit] Kedah Inscription

In ancient Kedah there is an important and unmistakably Hindu settlement which has been known for about a century now from the discoveries reported by Col. Low and has recently been subjected to a fairly exhaustive investigation by Dr. Quaritch Wales. Dr. Wales investigated no fewer than thirty sites round about Kedah. The results attained show that this site was in continuous occupation by people who came under strong South Indian influences, Buddhist and Hindu, for centuries.[3]

An inscribed stone bar, rectangular in shape, bears the ye-dharmma formula in South Indian characters of the fourth century A.D., thus proclaiming the Budhist character of the shrine near the find-spot (site I) of which only the basement survives. It is inscribed on three faces in Pallava script, or Vatteluttu rounded writing of the sixth century A.D., possibly earlier.[3]

In Kedah an inscription in Sanskrit dated 1086 A.D. has been found. This was left by Kulothunka Cholan I (of the Chola empire, Tamil country). This too shows the commercial contacts the Chola Empire had with Malaya.[2]

[edit] Borneo Inscription

In Kutei district of the island of Borneo, 7 inscriptions have been found. They all relate to the Kundungan clan’s rule over Broneo.[4] Kundungan is a Tamil name hence, it is supposed that his princely family migrated from Tamil Nadu and established a kingdom in the island of Borneo. All these inscriptions belong to 400 A.D.[2]

All these inscriptions, both Tamil and Sanskrit ones, relate to the activities of the people and rulers of the Tamil country of South India. The Tamil inscriptions are at least 4 centuries posterior to the Sanskrit inscriptions, from which the early Tamils themselves were patronizers of the Sanskrit language.[2]

From the contents of the inscriptions it shows that the Tamils, who through trade had established a strong political control on the Southeast Asian region, and had taken great efforts to spread their religious beliefs in the same region. The Tamils were responsible for the spread of Hinduism and Buddhism in Malaya and Indonesia.[2]

[edit] Inscriptions of Tanjore

In the ancient city of Tanjore in Tamil Nadu are inscriptions dating from 1030 A.D. which mentions the victory of Rajendra Chola I over the Southeastern countries. The following are the places of Rajendran conquered:[2]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Sastri, K.A. Nilakanta (1949). "Takuapa and its Tamil Inscription Part I.". Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society Vol. 22. 
  2. ^ a b c d e f Arokiaswamy, Celine W.M. (2000). Tamil Influences in Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines, pp. 37, 38, & 41. 
  3. ^ a b Sastri, K.A. Nilakanta (1949). South Indian Influences in the Far East. Bombay: Hind Kitabs Ltd., p. 82 & 84. 
  4. ^ Coedes, Georges (1968). Indianized States of Southeast Asia. Honolulu: East-West Center. 
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