Halmidi inscription
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The Halmidi inscription is the oldest known Kannada inscription in the Kannada script, dating to the 5th century A.D. (the Kadamba period).
The original inscription is kept in the Office of the Director of Archaeology and Museums, Govt. of Karnataka, Mysore,[1] and a fibreglass replica has been installed in Halmidi.
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[edit] Discovery and dating
The undated inscription was discovered in 1936 by Dr. M. H. Krishna, the Director of Archaeology in the (princely) State of Mysore, in Halmidi, a village in Karnataka. In a report published in a Mysore Archaeological Department Report (MAR) in 1936, Krishna dated the inscription to 450 A.D., on paleographical grounds.[2][3]
Later scholars have variously dated it to 450 A.D.,[4] 470 A.D.,[5] 500 A.D.,[6] "about 500",[7] and "end of the fifth century A. D. or the beginning of the 6th century A.D."[8] Epigraphist, D. C. Sircar even dated the inscriptions to "about the end of the 6th century."[9] Historian, K. V. Ramesh wrote about the differing estimates:
And I attribute the origin of this doubt in their minds to the fact that scholars, even the reputed ones, have held differing views, mostly to prop up their preconceived notions, on the palaeographical dating of any given undated or insufficiently dated inscriptions. ... The undated Halmidi (Hassan District, Karnataka) inscription, allegedly written during the reign of Kadamba Kakusthavarman, is taken by some scholars to belong, on palaeographical grounds, to the middle of the 5th century AD, while a few other scholars have held, on the same grounds of palaeography, that it is as late as the second half of the 6th century A.D.
– K. V. Ramesh[10]
He also hypothesized that, compared to possibly contemporaneous Sanksrit inscriptions, "Halmidi inscription has letters which are unsettled and uncultivated, no doubt giving an impression, or rather an illusion, even to the trained eye, that it is, in date, later than the period to which it really belongs, namely the fifth century A.D."[11]
[edit] Textual analysis
The inscription is in verse form indicating the authors of the inscription had a good sense of the language structure.[12] The inscription is written in pre-old Kannada (Puruvada-hala Kannada), which later evolved into old Kannada, middle Kannada and eventually modern Kannada.[13] The Halmidi inscription is the earliest evidence of usage of Kannada as an administrative language.[14]
[edit] Text
The pillar on which the inscription was written stands around 4 feet (1.2 m) high. Its top has been carved into an arch, onto which the figure of a wheel has been carved, which is probably intended to represent the Sudarshana Chakra of Vishnu.[15] The following lines are carved on the front of the pillar:
1. jayati śri-pariṣvāṅga-śārṅga vyānatir-acytāḥ dānav-akṣṇōr-yugānt-āgniḥ śiṣṭānān=tu sudarśanaḥ
2. namaḥ śrīmat=kadaṁbapan=tyāga-saṁpannan kalabhōranā ari ka-
3. kustha-bhaṭṭōran=āḷe naridāviḷe-nāḍuḷ mṛgēśa-nā-
4. gēndr-ābhiḷar=bhbhaṭahar=appor śrī mṛgēśa-nāgāhvaya-
5. r=irrvar=ā baṭari-kul-āmala-vyōma-tārādhi-nāthann=aḷapa-
6. gaṇa-paśupatiy=ā dakṣiṇāpatha-bahu-śata-havan=ā-
7. havuduḷ paśupradāna-śauryyōdyama-bharitōn=dāna pa-
8. śupatiyendu pogaḷeppoṭṭaṇa paśupati-
9. nāmadhēyan=āsarakk=ella-bhaṭariyā prēmālaya-
10. sutange sēndraka-bāṇ=ōbhayadēśad=ā vīra-puruṣa-samakṣa-
11. de kēkaya-pallavaraṁ kād=eṟidu pettajayan=ā vija
12. arasange bāḷgaḻcu palmaḍiuṁ mūḷivaḷuṁ ko-
13. ṭṭār baṭāri-kuladōn=āḷa-kadamban kaḷadōn mahāpātakan
14. irvvaruṁ saḻbaṅgadar vijārasaruṁ palmaḍige kuṟu-
15. mbiḍi viṭṭār adān aḻivornge mahāpatakam svasti
The following line is carved on the pillar's left face:
16. bhaṭṭarg=ī gaḻde oḍḍali ā pattondi viṭṭārakara
[edit] Notes
- ^ Gai 1992, p. 297
- ^ Gai 1992, p. 297
- ^ M. A. R. 1936, pp. 72-81
- ^ See
- Nagraj, D.R., "Critical tensions in the history of Kannada literary culture" in Pollock 2003, p. 323;
- Bhatt, K.P., "Language (Kannada)" or Seshagiri Rao, L.S., "Literature (Kannada) in Datta 1989, pp. 2255, 2378
- Olson, David R.; Taylor, Insup (1995). Scripts and literacy: reading and learning to read alphabets, syllabaries, and characters. Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 97. ISBN 0-7923-2912-0. “The earliest documented inscription is from Halmidi inscription dated 450 AD”
- first record of written Kannada is the Halmidi inscription of C. 450 AD - Arun Kumar Biswas (Book: Indic literature, pp 134)
- Mills, Margaret H.; Claus, Peter J.; Diamond, Sarah (2003). South Asian folklore: an encyclopedia: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka. New York: Routledge, 326. ISBN 0-415-93919-4. “(Kannada language) .... has a literary history of about 1,500 years. The oldest writing in Kannada is the Halmidi inscription of 450 AD.”
- The earliest Kannada record is in the form of inscriptions. The first inscription is Halmidi inscription of 450 AD. The language of inscription is known as pre-old Kannada. - R. Śrīhari, B. Ramakrishna Reddy, Dravidian University (Word-structure in Dravidian, pp 23, year 2003)
- Ramchandani, Indu; Encyclopedia Britannica; Hoiberg, Dale (2000). Students' Britannica India. New Delhi: Encyclopaedia Britannica (India), 178. ISBN 0-85229-760-2. “"Kannada inscription at Halmidi dates to AD 450."”
- Sahitya Akademi (1988), pp. 1717, 1474
- ^ Master 1944, pp. 297-307
- ^ Mugali 1975, p. 2
- ^ Polloack 1996, pp. 331-332
- ^ Gai 1992, pp. 300-301
- ^ Sircar 1965, p. 48
- ^ Ramesh 1984b, p. 55
- ^ Ramesh 1984b, p. 58
- ^ Datta 1988, p. 1474
- ^ M. Chidananda Murthy, Inscriptions (Kannada) in Datta 1988, p. 1717
- ^ Ramesh 1984a, p. 10
- ^ Khajane 2006
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Datta, Amaresh (Ed.) (1988), Encyclopaedia of Indian literature - vol 2, Sahitya Akademi, ISBN 8126011947
- Datta, Amaresh (Ed.) (1989), Encyclopaedia of Indian literature - vol 3, Sahitya Akademi, ISBN 8126011947
- Gai, Govind Swamirao (1992), Studies in Indian History, Epigraphy, and Culture, Karnataka, India: Shrihari Prakashana. Pp. 346, <http://books.google.com/books?lr=&ei=UjQDSLmPF5jWyATKo9x3&num=100&id=nOMbAAAAIAAJ&dq=&pgis=1>
- Khajane, Muralidhara (2003-11-03), Halmidi village finally on the road to recognition, <http://www.hindu.com/2003/11/03/stories/2003110304550500.htm>. Retrieved on 15 April 2008
- Khajane, Muralidhara (2006-10-31), An apt time to get classical language tag, The Hindu, <http://www.hindu.com/2006/10/31/stories/2006103108870500.htm>. Retrieved on 18 January 2007
- Master, Alfred (1944), “Indo-Aryan and Dravidian”, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London 11 (2)
- M. A. R. (1937), Mysore Archaeological Department, Annual Report-1936 (MAR 1936), Bangalore: Government Press, pp. pp. 73-80
- Mugali, R.S. (1975), History of Kannada literature, Sahitya Akademi, OCLC 2492406
- Pollock, Sheldon (2003), Literary cultures in history: reconstructions from South Asia, Berkeley: University of California Press, ISBN 0-520-22821-9
- Pollock, Sheldon (2006), The Language of the Gods in the World of Men: Sanskrit, Culture, and Power in Premodern India (Philip E. Lilienthal Books), Berkeley: University of California Press, ISBN 0-520-24500-8
- Ramesh, K. V. (1984a), Chalukyas of Vatapi, Delhi: Agam Kala Prakashan, ISBN 3987-10333
- Ramesh, K. V. (1984b), Indian Epigraphy, Sundeep
- Sircar, D. C., Indian Epigraphy, Motilal Banarsidass Publications, ISBN 0120811666
