OB03036 Slab of Queen Līlāvatī
IN03056 Slab-Inscription of Queen Līlāvatī
The slab was seen by Wickremasinghe in the Archaeological Commissioner’s Office at Anurādhapura. Its original location is uncertain but, as it was placed together with objects from Puliyaṉ-kuḷam, a small village situated two and a half miles north-east of Anurādhapura, it is assumed to have come from the same locality. The material from Puliyaṉ-kuḷam included several inscribed slabs from the piḷima-gē and the stone revetment of the dāgaba, three of which were marked ‘C/6’, ‘C/7’ and ‘C/8’. The present inscription is marked ‘D/8’. It is written in the Sinhalese alphabet of the 12th and 13th centuries A.D. and records the good deeds of the queen Līlāvatī, wife of King Parakkama Bāhu I. It tells us that she ruled the island with the aid of a Council of Ministers and that she built an almshouse in Anurādhapura. There is no date given in the inscription but her reign can be dated by other sources. Līlāvatī was on the throne first from 1197 to 1200 A.D., secondly in 1209 and lastly in 1211. The present grant was probably made during the first period, when the government was administered by Kitti Sēnāpati.
Banbhore broken stone slab (OBAP00004) with a Kufic inscription (INAP00004) dated AH 294/906-07 CE
Banbhore, Sindh, Pakistan, aerial view of the site.
Remains of the congregational mosque (مَسْجِد جَامِ).
Banbhore inscription of AH 294/906-07 CE.
OB03026 Anuradhapura Slab of Mahinda IV
IN03031 Anuradhapura Slab Inscription of Mahinda IV
The inscription of 49 lines is written in the same style and language than the two tablets of Mihintale (IN3030). It was engraved just a few months later than those ones, during the reign of the king Mahinda IV (975-91 A.D.). It records rules for the administration of certain lands and villages. It also contains an important mention of the temple of the Buddha’s ‘Tooth-relic’ (Daḷ-dā-ge), which enabled the identification of this temple, rebuilt by Mahinda IV in the centre of the town, as the ruined site known as the Daḷadā Māligāva, situated south-east of the Thūparāma dāgäba.
OB03025b Mihintale Tablet B
OB03025a Mihintale Tablet A
OB03025 Mihintale Tablets of Mahinda IV
Mihintale. The Bhójana Sáláwa (or Refrectory), showing the two inscribed stones at the entrance. Photographed by Joseph Lawton (d. 1872) active in Sri Lanka between 1866 and 1872. V&A 82756
IN03030 Mihintale Inscription of Mahinda IV
The inscription is written on two granite slabs, which stand near the old refectory, also called Bhōjana-sālā, on the left of the third set of steps (on four) on the western slope of the hill at Mihintale. The inscription is divided equally between the two slabs, each one bearing 58 lines of Sinhalese prose. They were installed by the king Mahinda IV (975-91 A.D.) and record rules and regulations for the administration of the monastery (the name of the monastery is not mentioned) and payments made to the service staff.