Intaḷūr memorial stone for a cock

Metadata

Current Version:  draft, 2024-04-22Z

Editor:   Emmanuel Francis.

DHARMA Identifier: INSPallava00401

Summary: Memorial stone set up in honour of a victorious cock.

Hand Description:

The puḷḷi is used. Mahadevan 2003 notes that two different forms of medial o are used (line 1, 7th letter and line 2, 2nd letter).

Additional Metadata

Alternative identifier:

Origin:

Classification:

Languages:

    Corresponding Artefact:

    Layout:

    Edition

    1k¡i!⟨ī⟩ḻc·cērik kōḻi p(o)-
    2ṟ koṟṟi

    Apparatus

    1 k¡i!⟨ī⟩ḻc·cērik ◇ kīḻuccērik NK T; kiḻccerik IM1997; k¡i!⟨ī⟩ḻc·cērik IM2003
    2 p(o)/ṟ ◇ po/ṭu NK T; po/ṟ IM1997; p(o)/ṟ IM2003
    3 koṟṟi ◇ kotta NK T; koṟṟi IM1997 IM2003
    1 ◇ NK; T; IM1997; IM2003 — 1 ◇ NK; T; IM1997; IM2003

    Translation by Mahadevan 2003

    1-2 Poṟkoṟṟi, the [fighting] cock of Kīḻccēri.

    Translation by Emmanuel Francis and Valérie Gillet

    1-2 The beautiful (poṉ↓1) winner (koṟṟi) cock [of] Kīḻccēri↓2.

    Commentary

    This inscription is counted in the Pallava corpus, insofar as its date (6th century CE according to Mahadevan 2003) and provenance correspond the period and the area of the Pallava rule in northern Tamil Nadu.

    A similar inscription, commemorating a victorious cock with a strikingly similar image of a cock, has been found at Aracalāpuram (DHARMA_INSPallava00397). The two inscriptions appears to be closely related: the present Intaḷūr inscription commemorates the fighting cock of the eastern quarters, whereas the Aracalāpuram inscription commemorates the fighting cock of the western quarters.

    See the comments by Mahadevan 2003: pages 626–627.

    Bibliography

    Edited in Kasinathan 1978; re-edited by Makātēvaṉ 1997; re-edited and translated Mahadevan 2003; re-edited here for DHARMA (ERC n° 809994) by Emmanuel Francis (2022) based on visual documentation in Mahadevan 2003.

    Primary

    Kasinathan, Natana. 1978. “Toṇṭaimaṇṭalattiṉ aṇmaikkāla kaṇṭupiṭippukaḷ.” Ceṅkai māvaṭṭa varalāṟṟu karuttaraṅku, edited by R. Nagaswamy, 85–97. Chennai: Varalāṟṟu pēravai.
    Pages 86–87. [siglum NK]
    Thamaraikannan. 1979. “Naṭukal kaṇṭa Kīḻccēri kōḻi.” Tamiḻnāṭu varalāṟṟu karuttaraṅku, edited by R. Nagaswamy, 120–29. Chennai: Varalāṟṟu pēravai.
    [siglum T]
    Makātēvaṉ, Airāvatam. 1997. “toṇṭaimaṇṭalattuk kōḻik kaṟkaḷ.” Āvaṇam 8: 9–19.
    Pages 10–14. [siglum IM1997]
    Mahadevan, Iravatham. 2003. Early Tamil Epigraphy, from the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. Harvard Oriental Series 62. Chennai; Cambridge, Mass.: Cre-A; Harvard University Press.
    № 113, pages 466, 468, 530, 626–627, plate 47B. [siglum IM2003]

    Secondary

    Rajan, Karai. 2000. South Indian Memorial Stones. Thanjavur: Manoo Pathippakam.
    Page 65. [siglum KR2000]

    Notes

    ↑1. The original text might be emended from poṟ, that is, poṉ in sandhi, to pōr, “fight”. The translation would thus be: “the victorious in fight cock”.
    ↑2. That is, the eastern quarters.