Community: Sri Lanka epigraphy

This inscription is engraved on a small, solitary boulder near the ruined structure to the west of Rock B at the site now called Vessagiri, near Anurādhapura. The record dates from the third or early fourth century A.D. It is unusual because it records a grant of tanks and villages made by one king, presumably to the monastery on the site, but is dated in the reign of another monarch. The king who donated the tanks and villages is named as Tisa (Tissa), the son of Sirinaka and grandson of Tisa. Meanwhile, the king in whose reign the inscription is dated is called Sirinaka (Sirināga), the son of Tisa and grandson of Sirinaka. Although the repetition of family names is somewhat confusing, it appears from the text that Sirinaka, the publisher of the grant, was the son of king Tisa, the donor of the benefactions. Both kings were, it seems, named after their grandfathers and their genealogy may be diagrammatically represented as follows:

Tisa Maharaja

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Sirinaka Maharaja

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Tisa Maharaja (the donor)

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Sirinaka Maharaja (the publisher)

The identification of these kings presents no difficulty as the chronicles mention only two kings named Sirināga, who were indeed related as grandfather and grandson. The publisher of this inscription must therefore have been Sirināga II. Working backwards, his father – the donor of the grant – must have been Vohārika Tissa, who is described in the chronicles as Sirināga I’s son. This king’s personal name was ‘Tissa’ but he was given the additional epithet ‘Vohārika’ to commemorate his knowledge of the law.

This inscription is engraved on the wall of a cave at Habässa, the site of an ancient monastery in the forest on the right bank of the Kum̆bukkan Oya, about six miles south-east of the village called Okkampiṭiya in the Buttala Kōraḷē of the Ūva Province. At this site are two long and narrow hummocks of gneiss rock running north-west to south-east. Both have steep overhanging sides, forming a number of caves with drip-ledges. The cave containing the present inscription is one of three caves situated at the southern extremity of the southern range of rock.

The inscription can be dated on the basis of the script and language to the second century A.D. It records the grant of an irrigation channel and three fields to the ancient monastery of Ulibikala-Naka-maha-vihara by the uparāja Naka (Nāga), grandson of King Vahaba (Vasabha) and son of King Utara (Uttara). No king named Uttara is mentioned in the chronicles of Sri Lanka, hence this inscription is of great historical importance as a record of his existence. As his son, Nāga, is described here as a grandson of King Vasabha (r. 66–110 A.D.), it is clear that Uttara was either a son or a son-in-law of the latter – probably a son, since royal genealogies from this period tend to trace the descent directly on the paternal side. The Mahāvaṁsa and the other chronicles mention only one son of Vasabha, namely Vaṁkanāsika Tissa (Tissa the Crooked-Nosed), who succeeded him as king. ‘Uttara’ may, therefore, have been another name of Tissa but it is equally possible that certain historical facts were omitted from the chronicles and that Vasabha did, in fact, have another son who became king.

The present inscription was probably engraved during the reign of Tissa’s son and successor, Gajabāhu I. However, it is noteworthy that the donor of this inscription – an individual called Nāga, who is described here as holding the subordinate rank and office of uparāja – did not deem it necessary to mention the paramount sovereign of the day. In later medieval periods, the title uparāja was generally used by the heir-apparent and the same may be the case here. This conjecture finds support in the chronicles, which record that Gajabāhu’s successor was Mahallaka Nāga (‘Old’ Nāga), indicating that Tissa did have an heir called Nāga.

This inscription is engraved on a rock by the side of the flight of steps leading to the shrines and monastic buildings at the Galapāta Vihāra, situated about two miles south-west of the Rest House at Bentoṭa in the Valallāviṭi Kōraḷē. Edward Müller published the first scholarly account of the inscription in his Ancient Inscriptions in Ceylon (1883, p. 71, no. 165). The record opens with a Sanskrit śloka in the Śārdulavikrīḍita metre, before switching to Sinhalese prose. It states that a dignitary named Mindal (Mahendra), who held the office of Demaḷa-adhikāra and was administering the Pasyodun District, founded the Galapāta Vihāra with the royal assent and with the cooperation of his mother, his nephews Kodānāvan of Miyaṅguṇubim and Vijayānāvan of Degalaturubim, and his kinsman Kaṭuvitnā Sätumba or Devu. It also gives a long list of the lands and serfs granted to the temple by its founders and ends with the signatures of the donors and of the witnesses to the document.

The date of the inscription is a subject of scholarly debate. The record is dated in the thirtieth year of a king called Parākramabāhu. There are three kings of this name who ruled for more than thirty years: Parākramabāhu I (r. 1153–1186), Parākramabāhu II (r. 1236–1271) and Parākramabāhu VI (r. 1412–1467). Since the inscription can be dated on palaeographic grounds to the twelfth or thirteenth century, the last of these kings can be ruled out immediately. However, scholars disagree over whether the inscription should be attributed to Parākramabāhu I or II. Overall, the evidence is not wholly decisive and the record could belong to either monarch.

This inscription is engraved on a stone slab, which was discovered by Senarath Paranavitana in 1933. Paranavitana found the slab among the ruins of a Śaiva kōvil at a place named Pālamōṭṭai near Kantaḷāy in the Trincomalee District of the Eastern Province. The architectural style of these ruins suggests that they date from the Poḷonnaruva period – a conclusion which is confirmed by the inscription. The inscription is badly weathered and some letters in the first four lines can only be read conjecturally. Due to the damaged condition of the record, it is difficult to decipher the name of the king in whose reign the record is dated. Senarath Paranavitana initially read the king’s name as Jayabāhu and the regnal year as the eighth (Archaeological Survey of Ceylon Annual Report for 1933, p. 14). However, after consulting with K. V. Subrahmanya Aiyer, Paranavitana revised his reading, taking the king’s name to be Vijayabāhu and the number of the regnal year, which is given in figures, to be forty-two (Epigraphia Zeylanica 4, pp. 192–193). If these readings are correct, the inscription can be assigned to the reign of Vijayabāhu I (r. 1056–1111), although this cannot be accepted with certainty.

The purpose of the inscription is to register donations to the god Śiva in the temple named Teṉ-Kailāsam (the Southern Kailāsam) at Kantaḷāy by a female Brahmin named Nāgaiccāṉi in memory of her husband. The inscription also records that the shrine had the name of Vijayarāja Īśvaram and that Kantḷāy was also called Vijayarāja Caturvedimaṅgalam. The appellation of the shrine suggests that it was founded by or under the patronage of Vijayabāhu I. The chronicles and other inscriptions represent this monarch as a great patron of Buddhism but clearly his zeal for Buddhism did not prevent him from extending his patronage to other faiths practiced by his subjects. The term ‘Caturvedimaṅgalam’ frequently features in South Indian inscriptions, where it is appended to the names of villages inhabited by Brahmins. As it was called Vijayarāja Caturvedimaṅgalam, Kantaḷāy must have had a colony of Brahmins who lived there under the protection of Vijayabāhu I. An inscription of king Niśśaṁka Malla found at the site (IN03105) indicates that Kantaḷāy kept its character as a seat of Brahmins for at least a century longer. In the present inscription, the charitable endowment is placed under the protection of the Veḷaikkāra regiment of Śrī Vikkirama Calāmega. As indicated by the Poḷonnaruva Slab Inscription of the Vēḷäikkāṟas (IN03103), the practice of placing a religious institution and its endowments under the protection of a regiment like the Veḷaikkāras was not unknown.

This fragmentary inscription is engraved on all four sides of the upper part of a stone pillar. The text originally continued on the lower part of the pillar, which is missing. Hence there are significant lacunae within the inscription. The surviving fragment of the pillar was first highlighted for scholarship in the Ceylon Journal of Science, Section G, vol. ii, p. 221. It is said to have been found in a land named Malhēna or Polgasyāya. In the 1930s, it was lying in the maṇḍapa of the modern dēvāle at Gonnǟva in the Dēvamädi Kōraḷē of the Kuruṇǟgala District (probably Gonnawa at 7.596588, 80.240385 or possibly Gonnawa at 7.518511, 80.107520), as Senarath Paranavitana recorded in the fourth volume of Epigraphia Zeylanica (p. 186). The inscription is dated in the eighth year of a king referred to by his throne name of Abhā Salamevan and contains a decree of the heir-apparent Udā (Udaya) granting immunities to a pamuṇu lank belong to a person named Agbo Mugayin Varadāṇa. The script used in the record belongs to the tenth century A.D. There are two Sinhalese kings of this period who, according to the order of succession, were entitled to the throne name (viruda) of Abhā Salamevan and who also had princes named Udaya as heirs-apparent. These were Dappula V (r. 940–952) and Sena III (r. 955–964), both of whom enjoyed reigns exceeding eight years in duration. It is not possible to say which of these two monarchs is the king mentioned in the present inscription. Since their reigns were only separated by three years, palaeography cannot be used to help settle the matter.