Taṇṭarāmpaṭṭu, time of Narasiṁhavarman, year 7

Editor: Emmanuel Francis.

Identifier: DHARMA_INSPallava00293.

Summary: Hero-stone inscription commemorating the death of a hero.

Hand description:

Language: Tamil.

Repository: Pallava (tfa-pallava-epigraphy).

Version: (350e545), last modified (333a4a5).

Edition

⟨1⟩ kō-vicaiya-narai⟨2⟩ciṅka-parumaṟku yā⟨3⟩ṇṭ’ Eḻ-āvatu

vāṇa-kō-mut⟨4⟩taraicaru nāṭu pāviya mēṟ-kō⟨5⟩valūr mēl vantu tañ ciṟṟa-p⟨6⟩-paṭikaḷai Eṟinta ñāṉ⟨7⟩ṟu paṭṭāṉ cēvarpari Aṭṭuṅ koḷ⟨8⟩ḷi turumā⟨9⟩vaṉār maka⟨10⟩ṉ mārkaṭa⟨11⟩laṉ

Translation by Emmanuel Francis

(1–3) Seventh year of the victorious king Naraiciṅkaparumaṉ.1

(3–11) [This is] the stone [of] Mārkaṭalaṉ, the son [of] Turumāvaṉār (cēvarpari Aṭṭuṅ koḷḷi), he who fell at the time the royal Bāṇa Muttaraiyar attacked (eṟinta2) his (tañ3) uncle (ciṟṟappaṭikaḷ4), when marching (vantu5) upon Mēṟ-Kōvalūr (nāṭu pāviya).

Commentary

See DHARMA_INSPallava00294, from the same place and of similar content.

Mahalingam 1988, p. 685, n. 1 notes: “The figure of a soldier facing left is engraved on the stone. It bears a bow in the left hand and a short stagger in the right hand. There is a festoon over the right hand. To the right of the figure is seen a casket, mirror while on the side of the left leg is seen a spout.”

The inscription is described as follows in IAR 1971-72: “An inscription from Tandrampattu, in characters of about the eighth century A.D. and dated in the seventh year of the reign of Narasimhavarman, records the death of Marudakalan, son of Eruma[nda]nar while Merkovalur was auacked by Vanako-Puttaraisar.”

(1–2) Naraiciṅkaparumaṉ (Sanskrit Narasiṁhavarman) has been identified as the Pallava king Narasiṁhavarman I by Nākacāmi 1972.

Bibliography

Edited in Nākacāmi 1972 (CN 1971/69). Text and summary in Mahalingam 1988 (IP 293).

This digital edition by Emmanuel Francis, based on previous edition(s)

Primary

[CN] Nākacāmi, Irā. 1972. Ceṅkam naṭukaṟkaḷ. TNSDA publication 21. Ceṉṉai: Tamiḻnāṭu Aracu tolporuḷ Āyvuttuṟai. Item 1971/69.

[IP] Mahalingam, T. V. 1988. Inscriptions of the Pallavas. New Delhi; Delhi: Indian Council of Historical Research; Agam Prakashan. Pages 685–686, item 293.

Secondary

[IAR] IAR 1971-72. Indian Archaeology 1971-72: A Review. Edited by M. N. Deshpande. New Delhi: Archaeological Survey of India, 1975. Page 59, item 40.

Notes

  1. 1. Sanskrit Narasiṁhavarman.
  2. 2. Literally "destroyed".
  3. 3. That is, taṉ in sandhi.
  4. 4. That is, ciṟṟappaṉ + aṭikaḷ.
  5. 5. Literally "coming".