OB03053 Äṭavīragollǟva Pillar
IN03073 Äṭavīragollǟva Pillar Inscription
The inscription is engraved on a pillar which was found lying by the side of the pin-pāra, the village-road of Äṭavīragollǟva, about eleven miles from Madawacci in Kaḍawat Kōrale. It was first read by Dr. Goldschmidt and then by Dr. Müller, who published a rough transcript, with a translation of the first side only, in 1883. The Archaeological Commissioner, H. C. P. Bell, re-examined it in 1890. Engraved on four sides of a quadrangular pillar, the inscription is written in the Sinhalese alphabet of the 10th century A.D. The stone is split at the top, resulting in the obliteration of several lines of the inscription on the first and fourth sides of the pillar. The inscription is dated to the tenth year of the reign of king Abhā Salamevan and records a grant of immunities to the village Velangama belonging to the Sirisan̆gbo-rad-pirivena (possibly the Sirisaṅghabōdhi-parivēṇa built by Aggabōdhi I in the 7th century A.D.). From the inscription, we also learn that Abhā Salamevan was the son of the king Abhā Siri Saňg-bo, who ransacked the Pāṇḍya country and obtained a victory in the ninth year of his reign. Here, the biruda Abhā Siri San̆g-bo refers to Sēna II, whose son was Kassapa IV. However, Wickremasinghe identifies the Abhā Salamevan in this inscription with Dappula V, a grandson of Sēna II. Either Wickremasinghe is mistaken in this identification or the inscription should read ‘grandson’ instead of ‘son’.
OB03052 Bilibǟva Pillar
IN03072 Bilibǟva Pillar Inscription
The inscription was discovered in 1896 by the Archaeological Commissioner, H. C. P. Bell, at Bilibǟva in Ihala Kälǟgam Tulāna, about fifteen miles to the south-west of Anurādhapura. Engraved on three sides of a stone pillar, it consists of 80 lines in the Sinhalese alphabet of the latter half of the 10th century A.D. The text is dated to the seventh year of king Abhā Salamevan’s reign and records a grant of immunities to Mahagǟpiyova, a village in the district of Pirivatu in the Southern Quarter, dedicated to the Kasub-Senevirad-pirivena which Sak-Senevi San̆galnāvan had built in the Mahāvihāra. Wickremasinghe suggests that the biruda Abhā Salamevan refers in this instance to Kassapa V.
OB03051 Ayitigeväva Pillar
IN03071 Ayitigeväva Pillar Inscription
The inscription was examined in 1892 by Bell and Wickremasinghe at Ayitigeväva, a small hamlet in Kum̆bukväva Tulāna in the Kuñcuṭṭu Kōrole, about twenty-five miles north-north-east of Anurādhapura. Engraved on all four sides of a stone pillar, it consists of 65 lines in the Sinhalese alphabet of the latter half of the 10th century A.D. The inscription is dated to the fifth year of Abhā Salamevan’s reign and records a grant of immunities to a certain plot of ground, five payalas in extent, belonging to Tisaram nunnery built on the ‘Auspicious High Street’ by the Commander-in-Chief Sēna. Wickremasinghe suggests that the biruda Abhā Salamevan refers in this instance to Kassapa V.
བསམ་ཡས། Bsam yas pillar (རྡོ་རིང་)
OB03050 Mäḍirigiriya Pillar
IN03070 Mäḍirigiriya Pillar Inscription
Granting of immunities regarding land. Concerns a village and a hospital.
The inscription was discovered by the Archaeological Commissioner, H. C. P. Bell, in August 1897 in the course exploring the ruins of Mäḍirigiriya in Tamankaḍuva, about forty-six miles east-south-east of Anurādhapura. It is engraved on four sides of a stone pillar and consists of 95 lines in the Sinhalese alphabet of the 10th and early 11th centuries A.D. The text is dated to the third year of king Abhā Salamevan and records the granting of certain immunities in respect of the land within the four boundaries of Mäḍiligiri-Ätveher-Piyan-gala in Rantisǟ in the district of Bidervatu-kuḷiya. Wickremasinghe suggests that the biruda Abhā Salamevan refers in this instance to Kassapa V.