Taṇṭarāmpaṭṭu hero-stone, time of Narasiṁhavarman, year 7

Metadata

Current Version:  draft, 2024-04-22Z

Editor:   Emmanuel Francis.

DHARMA Identifier: INSPallava00293

Summary: Records the death of a hero.

Hand Description:


Additional Metadata

Alternative identifier:

Origin:

Classification: hero memorial

Languages:

    Corresponding Artefact:

    Layout:

    Edition

    1kō-vicaiya-narai-
    2ciṅka-parumaṟku yā-
    3ṇṭ’ Eḻ-āvatu

    vāṇa-kō-mut-
    4taraicaru nāṭu pāviya mēṟ-kō-
    5valūr mēl vantu tañ ciṟṟa-p-
    6-paṭikaḷai Eṟinta ñāṉ-
    7ṟu paṭṭāṉ cēvarpari Aṭṭuṅ koḷ-
    8ḷi turumā-
    9vaṉār maka-
    10ṉ mārkaṭa-
    11laṉ

    Translation by Emmanuel Francis

    1-3 Seventh year of the victorious king Narasiṁhavarman↓1.

    3-11 [This is] the stone [of] Mārkaṭalaṉ, the son [of] Turumāvaṉār ... (cēvarpari Aṭṭuṅ koḷḷi), he who fell at the time the royal Bāṇa Muttaraiyar attacked (eṟinta↓2) his (tañ↓3) uncle (ciṟṟappaṭikaḷ↓4), when marching (vantu↓5) upon Mēṟ-Kōvalūr ... (nāṭu pāviya).

    Translation into French by Emmanuel Francis

    Commentary

    See DHARMA_INSPallava00294, from the same place and of similar content.

    Mahalingam 1988: page 685, note 1 notes: "The figure of a soldier facing left is engraved on the stone. It bears a bow in the left hand and a short stagger in the right hand. There is a festoon over the right hand. To the right of the figure is seen a casket, mirror while on the side of the left leg is seen a spout."

    The inscription is described as follows in Deshpande 1975: "An inscription from Tandrampattu, in characters of about the eighth century A.D. and dated in the seventh year of the reign of Narasimhavarman, records the death of Marudakalan, son of Eruma[nda]nar while Merkovalur was auacked by Vanako-Puttaraisar."

    1-2 Naraiciṅkaparumaṉ (Sanskrit Narasiṁhavarman) has been identified as the Pallava king Narasiṁhavarman I by Nākacāmi 1972.

    Bibliography

    Edited in Nākacāmi 1972 (CN 1971/69); text and summary in Mahalingam 1988 (IP no. 293); encoded and first translated here for DHARMA (ERC n° 809994) by Emmanuel Francis (2021), based on previous editions.

    Primary

    Nākacāmi, Irā., ed. 1972. Ceṅkam Naṭukaṟkaḷ. TNSDA Publication 21. Ceṉṉai: Tamiḻnāṭu Aracu tolporuḷ Āyvuttuṟai.
    № 1971/69. [siglum RN]
    Mahalingam, T. V. 1988. Inscriptions of the Pallavas. New Delhi; Delhi: Indian Council of Historical Research; Agam Prakashan.
    Pages 685–686, № 293. [siglum IP]

    Secondary

    Deshpande, M. N., ed. 1975. Indian Archaeology 1971-72, A Review. New Delhi: Archaeological Survey of India.
    Page 59, № 40. [siglum IAR]

    Notes

    ↑1. Naraiciṅkaparumaṉ in the original Tamil.
    ↑2. Literally “destroyed”.
    ↑3. That is, taṉ in sandhi.
    ↑4. That is, ciṟṟappaṉ + aṭikaḷ.
    ↑5. Literally “coming”.