# Quanzhou, installation of Tirukkāṉīccuramuṭaiya Nāyaṉār, Śaka year
1203

Emmanuel Francis

Author of digital edition: Emmanuel Francis

Identifier: DHARMA_INSTamilOutsideTN80001

Repository: Tamil Outside of Tamil Nadu (varia)
(tfa-tamil-outside-TN-epigraphy)

File path: DHARMA_INSTamilOutsideTN80001.xml

Languages: Tamil [Grantha, Tamil], Chinese [Script (unspecified)]

Commit: 2026-11-14 17:47 (bb013b9), last modified 2026-09-29 11:10
(b2f53ec)

## Summary

Installation of Tirukkāṉīccuramuṭaiya Nāyaṉār by Tavaccakkaravattikaḷ
alias Campantapperumāḷ for the welfare of and with the authorisation
Cekacaikāṉ.

## Palaeographic description

No distinction between e and ē, nor between o and ō. There are several
letters akwardly written. The record was possibly engraved by a local
Chinese artisan not used to Tamil script.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

## Edition

### Tamil Portion

⟨1⟩ haraḥ svasti śr¡i!⟨ī⟩

śa¡g!⟨k⟩ā¡pt!⟨bd⟩aM 1000 2 100 3 vatu cittirai⟨2⟩-c cittirai nāḷ

śr¡i!⟨ī⟩-cekac¿e?⟨ai⟩kāṉ ti(ru)-mēṉikk(u) naṉ⟨3⟩ṟāka Uṭaiyār
tiru-k-k(ā)ṉ¿i?⟨ī⟩¿ta?⟨cu⟩ram-uṭ(ai)ya nāyaṉārai ⟨4⟩ Ēṟi-y-aruḷa-p
paṇṇiṉār campa¿(t)?⟨n⟩ta-p-perumāḷ⟨5⟩āṉa tava-c-cakkaravattikaḷ _

cekacaikāṉ paramā¿ḷ?⟨ṉ⟩ ⟨6⟩ paṭi

### Chinese Portion

⟨1⟩ …

## Apparatus

⟨1⟩ tirukk(ā)ṉ¿i?⟨ī⟩¿ta?⟨cu⟩ramuṭ(ai)ya ⬦ tirukkāṉīccuramuṭaiya K&S.

## Translation

### Tamil Portion

⟨1⟩ Hara! Prosperity! Fortune!

⟨1–2⟩ 1203th Śaka year, ⟨month of⟩ Cittirai, day of cittirai.

⟨2–5⟩ For the welfare of the glorious body of the glorious Cekacai Kān,
Tavaccakkaravattikaḷ[1] alias Campantapperumāḷ made, so that he
graciously rises, the Lord (nāyaṉār), lord of the Tirukkāṉīccuram.[2]

⟨6⟩ ⟨Done⟩ according to a farmān of Cekacai Kān.

### Chinese Portion

⟨1⟩ …

## Commentary

The Chinese portion starts at the end of the line 6 of the Tamil
portion. It has been deciphered but its interpretation is not very
clear. It might in fact not be related to the Tamil inscription. See Sen
2003.

## Bibliography

Edited in Subramanian 1978, Karashima 2002, Karashima & Subbarayalu
2009. Translated in Sen 2003, Karashima & Subbarayalu 2009.

This edition by Emmanuel Francis, based on published visual
documentation.

### Primary

[TNS] Subramanian, T. N. 1978. “A Tamil colony in Mediaeval China.” In:
South Indian studies I. Edited by R. Nagaswamy. Madras: Society for
Archaeological, Historical and Epigraphical Research.

[K] Karashima, Noboru. 2002. “Tamil Inscriptions in Southeast Asia and
China.” In: Ancient and medieval commercial activities in the Indian
Ocean: Testimony of inscriptions and ceramic-sherds. Report of the
Taisho University research project, 1997-2002. Edited by Karashima,
Noboru. Tokyo: Taisho University, pp. 10–18. Page 16.

[K&S] Karashima, Noboru & Y. Subbarayalu. 2009. “Ancient and medieval
Tamil and Sanskrit inscriptions relating to Southeast Asia and China.”
In: Nagapattinam to Suvarnadwipa: reflections on Chola naval expeditions
to Southeast Asia. Edited by Hermann Kulke, K. Kesavapany & Vijay
Sakhuja. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, pp. 271–291.
Item 15, pages 287–288.

### Secondary

Sen, Tansen. 2003. Buddhism, diplomacy, and trade: the realignment of
sino-indian relations, 600-1400. Honolulu, Etats-Unis d’Amérique:
Association for Asian Studies : University of Hawai’i Press. Pages
228–229.

[1] Literally: the emperor of asceticism.

[2] That is Tamil tiru-k-kān + Sanskrit īśvara, that is, “the glorious
lord of the Kāṉ.”