Object type: Pillar

The inscription is engraved on a mutilated pillar-slab, which was discovered near the spill (vān–äla) of the Tōpāväva in Poḷonnaruva. The slab was subsequently moved to the Archaeological Office in Anuradhapura, where it was seen by Senarath Paranavitana sometime before 1933; Paranavitana then published an edition of the text in the third volume of Epigraphia Zeylanica. The upper part of the pillar-slab is missing and the surviving fragment is irregularly shaped. The inscription states that it was issued by ‘the Kālinga Monarch’ – a reference to king Niśśaṁka Malla, who reigned from 1187 to 1196 A.D. However, unlike other inscriptions of this king, it does not contain any mention of Niśśaṁka Malla’s alleged military achievements, nor does it boast of his greatness. Instead, it is addressed to the officials of the treasury. The opening portion of the inscription is missing but it appears that the text was prefaced with three quatrains containing maxims on political morals. The main part of the inscription records that the king had become suspicious about the integrity of the accountants of the treasury; he exhorts them to inform the authorities before taking anything from the treasury and threatens those who fail to do so with royal disfavour, hinting at dire consequences. It is a sign of the corruption plaguing the kingdom at this time that Niśśaṁka Malla found it necessary to issue an edict of this nature. Although he attempted to introduce salutary reforms, the country was plunged into a period of economic uncertainty and political anarchy after his death. Indeed, his own extravagant expenditure on building projects and displays of power may have contributed to weakening the exchequer.

The inscription is engraved on all four sides of a broken pillar discovered in Giritaḷē, a village seven miles to the north-west of Poḷonnaruva, where it was first recorded by H. C. P. Bell in the Archaeological Survey of Ceylon Annual Report for 1905 (p. 39, no. 8). The pillar was subsequently brought to the premises of the Archaeological Commissioner at Anurādhapura, where it was seen by Senarath Paranavitana sometime before 1933. The lower part of the pillar is missing and the portions of the inscription on the second and fourth sides of the pillar are no longer legible. It is, however, apparent from the surviving parts of the inscription that, like the majority of pillar inscriptions of the tenth century, it is concerned with a grant of immunities to a certain land. The inscription is dated in the first year of King Udā Sirisaṅgbō, who is described as the son of Mahinda, the sub-king (or heir apparent) and who can therefore be identified as Udaya II (r. 952–955 A.D.).

The inscription is engraved on a quadrangular stone pillar, which was at the Archaeological Museum at Anurādhapura in around 1930, as recorded by S. Paranavitana in Epigraphia Zeylanica (vol. 3, p. 126). Paranavitana also reported that the pillar was said to have been discovered in the jungle to the west of the Jaffna road, not far from the town of Anurādhapura. The pillar is inscribed on all four sides but only one side remains legible, the writing on the other three having been almost completely obliterated. The legible portion of the inscription consists of thirty-eight lines and represents the introductory part of the text. It includes a date in the second year of king Dāpuḷu Abahay, whom H. C. P. Bell identified as Dappula V (r. 940–952 A.D.). As the bulk of the inscription is no longer legible, the purpose of the text is not entirely clear. However, the damaged text on the third side of the pillar appears to mention the boundaries of a certain land, suggesting that – like the majority of pillar inscription of the period – the inscription was probably concerned with a grant of immunities.

Ruwanwelisaya, Anuradhapura

Ruanweli Dagoba, c. 1891. Image from: Ricalton, James, (1891). ‘The City of the Sacred Bo-Tree (Anuradhapura),’ Scribner’s Magazine 10, pp. 319–336, image opposite p. 328.

The inscription is engraved on two fragments of a broken pillar, which were found lying amidst a heap of debris on the pavement about midway between the western and southern altars of the Ruvanväli-sǟya in Anuradhapura, a few yards from the stone votive dāgäba. In all probability, the pillar belonged to one of the many small shrines which once stood on the spacious platform where the fragments were found. The inscription records the gift of the pillar by an individual (or individuals) from the town of Mahila. It is dated in the reign of king Buddhadāsa (341–370 A.D.).

The inscription is covers all four sides of a quadrangular stone pillar, which stood in the early twentieth century in a corner of a room in the Kacceri (Government Agent’s Office) at Mannar. It is said to have been found in Māntai or Tirukkētīśvaram (or possibly in the bund of the Giant’s Tank) but the precise circumstances of its discovery are not recorded. The inscription details a grant of immunities to three villages on the northern coast, belonging to the house of meditation (piyangala) named Baha-durusen (Bhadra-sena) in the Mahā Vihāra. The text is dated on the tenth day of the dark fortnight of the month of Mädindina (March–April) in the twelfth year of King Siri Saṅgbo. Since the palaeography belongs to the late ninth or early tenth century A.D., it is likely that the king in question was either Sena II or Kassapa IV, both of whom used the biruda Siri Saṅgbo. Paranavitana (Epigraphia Zeylanica 3, pp. 102–103) favours Kassapa IV on the grounds that the executor of this grant – a minister named Paṇḍirad Dāpuḷu – is also mentioned in the same capacity in the Mäḍirigiriya Pillar Inscription (IN03070), which is dated to the third regnal year of Kassapa IV’s immediate successor, Kassapa V. While the same minister could easily have served both Kassapa IV and his successor, it is highly unlikely that he could have held office from the twelfth year of Sena II’s reign until the third year of Kassapa V’s – a period of more than fifty years.

Badulla Pillar Inscription, Badulla