IN03075 Mayilagastoṭa Pillar Inscription

The inscription is engraved on three sides of a quadrangular pillar. It was discovered sometime in or before 1876 by J. H. Dawson, an Irrigation Officer, at Mayilagastoṭa, a village about 8 miles from Tissamahārāma in the Hambantoṭa district. The pillar was afterwards brought afterwards to the Colombo Museum. The first and second sides of the pillar each feature 35 lines written in the Sinhalese alphabet of the tenth or early eleventh century A.D. Further lines are inscribed on the third side of the pillar but they are now illegible. The inscription records the dedication of certain lands and a grant of immunities to Uḍa-Tisa-pirivena, situated near Mahagama on the left bank of Kirind-ho. No date is given in the inscription but it is described as having been issued by the ǟpā Mihindu, who subsequently became king Mahinda IV. The use of the title ǟpā indicates that the grant was made in the early part of this king’s career, when he was a mere governor. This record has been useful for identifying Mahinda IV of the Mahāvaṁsa with Siri Saňg-boy Abahay of the Mihintale tablets (IN03030).