The inscription is covers the upper end of the prepared surface of a stone slab, which was discovered in July 1921 in or near a village called Ānaulundāva to the north of Poḷonnaruva. The text consists three lines written in the Sinhalese alphabet of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The third line is no longer legible and the first and second consist only of a number of high sounding titles of honour in Sanskrit. Wickremasinghe notes that these titles are practically identical with those applied to certain members of a guild of merchants called Vīra-Baṇañju or Vīra-Vaḷañjiyar, who are referred to as prominent donors in several Kanarese inscriptions of the twelfth century, including those from Kolhāpūr, Miraj and Mamdāpūr (see Epigraphia Indica 19 [1927-28], pp. 19-41). The inscription would thus seem to suggest that these merchants were present in Sri Lanka in the twelfth century, leading Wickremasinghe to infer the possibility of their having acquired important trading and other concessions during the time of Kīrti Niśśaṅka-Malla. Following their practice in Mysore and elsewhere in India, the merchants may have set up the present slab to record one of their pious gifts to a Hindu temple.

Metadata
Inscription ID IN03101
Title Poḷonnaruva Ānaulundāva Slab Inscription
Alternative titles
Parent Object OB03081
Related Inscriptions
Responsibility
Author Don Martino de Zilva Wickremasinghe
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Digitally edited by
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Language संस्कृतम्
Reigning monarch
Commissioner members of a guild of merchants called Vīra-Baṇañju or Vīra-Vaḷañjiyar
Topic lists a number of high sounding titles of honour; may have originally commemorated a pious gift to a Hindu temple
Date:
Min 1100
Max 1200
Comment Basis for dating: palaeography.
Hand
Letter size 3.175
Description Letter size 1¼ inches (3.175 cm) on average. Sinhalese alphabet of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.
Layout
Campus:
Width 11.43
Height 105.41
Description 3 lines engraved between ruled lines 1½ inches (3.81 cm) apart on the upper end of the prepared surface of a stone slab.
Decoration The top part of the slab is ornamented with ogee moulding on its sides.
Bibliography
References Edited and translated by Wickremasinghe in Epigraphia Zeylanica 2 (1912-27): 235-237, no. 38.
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Misc notes

The first and second lines of the inscription consist of a number of high sounding titles of honour in Sanskrit. Wickremasinghe notes that these titles are practically identical with those applied to certain members of a guild of merchants called Vīra-Baṇañju or Vīra-Vaḷañjiyar, who are referred to as prominent donors in several Kanarese inscription of the twelfth century, including those from Kolhāpūr, Miraj and Mamdāpūr (see Epigraphia Indica 19 [1927-28], pp. 19-41; available at: http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3369222).