IN03096 Bōpiṭiya Slab Inscription of Kalyāṇavatī

The inscription is engraved on a stone slab, which was discovered between the years 1906 and 1912 in Bōpiṭiya, a village in Hevāvissa Kōrale in the Central Province of Ceylon. The slab was found in two fragments: the first piece was the top portion of the slab and contained six lines of the inscription; the second piece evidently belonged to the lower part of the slab and featured the words hira sanda (‘sun and moon’), which usually occur at the end of a grant. From what remains of the inscription, it is evident that the record was commissioned by queen Kalyāṇavatī, who was married to king Niśśaṅka-Malla (r. 1187-1196 A.D.) and who ruled in her own right between 1202 and 1208 with backing from the powerful military commander Āyasmanta. The present inscription refers to a Tamil insurrection against Kalyāṇavatī’s stronghold. Wickremasinghe suggests that the record may have been made in 1208 or 1209, after the queen had been deposed; he conjectures that she was at this time living in retirement, possibly somewhere near Bopiṭiya, where the inscription was found.