The Halmidi inscription is the oldest known Kannada language inscription in the Kadamba script. While estimates vary slightly, the inscription is often dated to between 450 CE - 500 CE. The inscription was discovered in 1936 by Dr. M. H. Krishna, the Director of Archaeology of the (princely) State of Mysore (present-day Karnataka region of India), in Halmidi, a village in the Hassan district.
A replica of the original Halmidi inscription at Halmidi village
The original inscription is kept in the Office of the Director of Archaeology and Museums, Govt. of Karnataka, Mysore,[1] and a fibreglass replica has been installed in Halmidi.
In a report published in a Mysore Archaeological Department Report (MAR) in 1936, Krishna dated the inscription to 450 AD, on paleographical grounds.[1][2] Later scholars have variously dated the inscription to 450 AD,[3] 470 AD,[4] 500 AD,[5] "about 500",[6] and "end of the fifth century A. D. or the beginning of the 6th century A.D."[7] Epigraphist, D. C. Sircar has dated the inscription to "about the end of the 6th century."[8]
Epigraphist, K. V. Ramesh has written about the differing estimates:
And I attribute the origin of this doubt in their minds to the fact that scholars, even the reputed ones, have held differing views, mostly to prop up their preconceived notions, on the palaeographical dating of any given undated or insufficiently dated inscriptions. ... The undated Halmidi (Hassan District, Karnataka) inscription, allegedly written during the reign of Kadamba Kakusthavarman, is taken by some scholars to belong, on palaeographical grounds, to the middle of the 5th century AD, while a few other scholars have held, on the same grounds of palaeography, that it is as late as the second half of the 6th century A.D.
He also hypothesized that, compared to possibly contemporaneous Sanskrit inscriptions, "Halmidi inscription has letters which are unsettled and uncultivated, no doubt giving an impression, or rather an illusion, even to the trained eye, that it is, in date, later than the period to which it really belongs, namely the fifth century A.D."[10]
Epigraphist G. S. Gai however disagrees with the view that Halmidi is a record of the Kadamba dynasty identified with King Kadamba Kakusthavarman. According to (Gai 1992), the inscription, which is dedicated to, "Kadambapan Kakustha-Bhaṭṭōran," refers to another ruler, Kakustha of the Bhaṭāri family, who is explicitly identified in line 13, "baṭāri-kuladōn=āḷu-kadamban;" in addition, the inscription does not "include any of the epithets like Mānavya-gōtra, Hāritī-putra, and most important Dharma-maharājā"[11] that are a part of all Kadamba inscriptions.
Textual analysis
The replica of the Halmidi inscription mounted on a pedestal
The inscription is in verse form indicating the authors of the inscription had a good sense of the language structure.[12] The inscription is written in pre-old Kannada (Puruvada-hala Kannada), which later evolved into old Kannada, middle Kannada and eventually modern Kannada.[13] The Halmidi inscription is the earliest evidence of the usage of Kannada as an administrative language.[14]
Text
The Halmidi inscription transliterated into modern Kannada script
The Halmidi inscription translated into modern Kannada language
The pillar on which the inscription was written stands around 4 feet (1.2 m) high. The following lines are carved on the front of the pillar:
Encyclopædia Britannica (2008), Kannada literature, Encyclopædia Britannica Online
Gai, Govind Swamirao (1992), Studies in Indian History, Epigraphy, and Culture, Karnataka, India: Shrihari Prakashana. Pp. 346
Gai, Govind Swamirao (1996), Inscriptions of the early Kadambas, New Delhi: Indian Council of Historical Research and Pratibha Prakashan. Pp. xv, 170, 88 plates, ISBN81-85268-47-9
Habib, Irfan (2000), "India", in Al-Bhakhit, M. A.; Bazin, L. A.; Cissoko, S. M. (eds.), History of Humanity, Volume IV: from the Seventh to the Sixteenth century, Paris: UNESCO and London: Routledge. Pp. xxiii, 682, 44 maps, 138 plates, pp. 398–410, ISBN0-415-09308-2
Master, Alfred (1944), "Indo-Aryan and Dravidian", Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, 11 (2): 297–307, doi:10.1017/s0041977x00072487, S2CID 170552998
M. A. R. (1937), Mysore Archaeological Department, Annual Report-1936 (MAR 1936), Bangalore: Government Press, pp. 73–80
Mugali, R.S. (1975), History of Kannada literature, Sahitya Akademi, OCLC 2492406
Pollock, Sheldon (2003), Literary cultures in history: reconstructions from South Asia, Berkeley: University of California Press, ISBN0-520-22821-9
Pollock, Sheldon (2006), The Language of the Gods in the World of Men: Sanskrit, Culture, and Power in Premodern India (Philip E. Lilienthal Books), Berkeley: University of California Press, ISBN0-520-24500-8
Pollock, Sheldon (2007), "Literary Culture and Manuscript Culture in Precolonial India" (PDF), in Simon Elliot; et al. (eds.), Literary Cultures and the Material Book, London: British Library, pp. 77–94, ISBN978-0-7123-0684-3
Stein, Burton (1980), Peasant State and Society in Medieval South India, Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. Pp. 550, ISBN0-19-561065-2
Various (1988) [1988], Encyclopaedia of Indian literature – vol 2, Sahitya Akademi, ISBN81-260-1194-7
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Halmidi inscription.
Editio princeps: Annual Report of the Mysore Archaeological Department for the Year 1936. Bangalore: The Government Press, 1938. Pages 72–74. [photographic facsimile, transliteration and translation (into English)]
Banavasi Old Kannada Inscription
Language of the Inscriptions — Archaeological Survey of India [The last sentence of second last paragraph mentions the Halmidi inscription.]
January 20, 2023
halmidi, inscription, this, article, contains, indic, text, without, proper, rendering, support, question, marks, boxes, misplaced, vowels, missing, conjuncts, instead, indic, text, oldest, known, kannada, language, inscription, kadamba, script, while, estimat. This article contains Indic text Without proper rendering support you may see question marks or boxes misplaced vowels or missing conjuncts instead of Indic text The Halmidi inscription is the oldest known Kannada language inscription in the Kadamba script While estimates vary slightly the inscription is often dated to between 450 CE 500 CE The inscription was discovered in 1936 by Dr M H Krishna the Director of Archaeology of the princely State of Mysore present day Karnataka region of India in Halmidi a village in the Hassan district A replica of the original Halmidi inscription at Halmidi village The original inscription is kept in the Office of the Director of Archaeology and Museums Govt of Karnataka Mysore 1 and a fibreglass replica has been installed in Halmidi Contents 1 Discovery and dating 2 Textual analysis 3 Text 4 Text in Kannada 5 Notes 6 See also 7 References 8 External linksDiscovery and dating EditIn a report published in a Mysore Archaeological Department Report MAR in 1936 Krishna dated the inscription to 450 AD on paleographical grounds 1 2 Later scholars have variously dated the inscription to 450 AD 3 470 AD 4 500 AD 5 about 500 6 and end of the fifth century A D or the beginning of the 6th century A D 7 Epigraphist D C Sircar has dated the inscription to about the end of the 6th century 8 Epigraphist K V Ramesh has written about the differing estimates And I attribute the origin of this doubt in their minds to the fact that scholars even the reputed ones have held differing views mostly to prop up their preconceived notions on the palaeographical dating of any given undated or insufficiently dated inscriptions The undated Halmidi Hassan District Karnataka inscription allegedly written during the reign of Kadamba Kakusthavarman is taken by some scholars to belong on palaeographical grounds to the middle of the 5th century AD while a few other scholars have held on the same grounds of palaeography that it is as late as the second half of the 6th century A D K V Ramesh 9 He also hypothesized that compared to possibly contemporaneous Sanskrit inscriptions Halmidi inscription has letters which are unsettled and uncultivated no doubt giving an impression or rather an illusion even to the trained eye that it is in date later than the period to which it really belongs namely the fifth century A D 10 Epigraphist G S Gai however disagrees with the view that Halmidi is a record of the Kadamba dynasty identified with King Kadamba Kakusthavarman According to Gai 1992 the inscription which is dedicated to Kadambapan Kakustha Bhaṭṭōran refers to another ruler Kakustha of the Bhaṭari family who is explicitly identified in line 13 baṭari kuladōn aḷu kadamban in addition the inscription does not include any of the epithets like Manavya gōtra Hariti putra and most important Dharma maharaja 11 that are a part of all Kadamba inscriptions Textual analysis Edit The replica of the Halmidi inscription mounted on a pedestal The inscription is in verse form indicating the authors of the inscription had a good sense of the language structure 12 The inscription is written in pre old Kannada Puruvada hala Kannada which later evolved into old Kannada middle Kannada and eventually modern Kannada 13 The Halmidi inscription is the earliest evidence of the usage of Kannada as an administrative language 14 Text Edit The Halmidi inscription transliterated into modern Kannada script The Halmidi inscription translated into modern Kannada language The pillar on which the inscription was written stands around 4 feet 1 2 m high The following lines are carved on the front of the pillar 1 jayati sri pariṣvaṅga sarṅga vyanatir acytaḥ danav akṣṇōr yugant agniḥ siṣṭanan tu sudarsanaḥ 2 namaḥ srimat kadaṁbapan tyaga saṁpannan kalabhōrana ari ka 3 kustha bhaṭṭōran aḷe naridaviḷe naḍuḷ mṛgesa na 4 gendr abhiḷar bhbhaṭahar appor sri mṛgesa nagahvaya 5 r irrvar a baṭari kul amala vyōma taradhi nathann aḷapa 6 gaṇa pasupatiy a dakṣiṇapatha bahu sata havan a 7 havuduḷ pasupradana sauryyōdyama bharitōn dana pa 8 supatiyendu pogaḷeppoṭṭaṇa pasupati 9 namadheyan asarakk ella bhaṭariya premalaya 10 sutange sendraka baṇ ōbhayadesad a vira puruṣa samakṣa 11 de kekaya pallavaraṁ kad eṟidu pettajayan a vija 12 arasange baḷgaḻcu palmaḍiuṁ muḷivaḷuṁ ko 13 ṭṭar baṭari kuladōn aḷa kadamban kaḷadōn mahapatakan 14 irvvaruṁ saḻbaṅgadar vijarasaruṁ palmaḍige kuṟu 15 mbiḍi viṭṭar adan aḻivornge mahapatakam svastiThe following line is carved on the pillar s left face 16 bhaṭṭarg i gaḻde oḍḍali a pattondi viṭṭarakaraText in Kannada Editಜಯತ ಶ ರ ಪರ ಷ ವ ಙ ಗ ಶ ಯ ರ ಙ ಗ ವ ಯ ನತ ರ ಅಚ ಯ ತ ದ ನಕ ಷ ರ ಯ ಗ ನ ತ ಗ ನ ಶ ಷ ಟ ನ ನ ತ ಸ ದರ ಶನ ನಮ ಶ ರ ಮತ ಕದ ಬಪನ ತ ಯ ಗ ಸ ಪನ ನನ ಕಲಭ g ನ ಅರ ಕಕ ಸ ಥಭಟ ಟ ರನ ಆಳ ನರ ದ ವ ಳ ನ ಡ ಳ ಮ ಗ ಶನ ಗ ನ ದ ರ ಭ ಳರ ಭ ಭಟಹರಪ ಪ ರ ಶ ರ ಮ ಗ ಶ ನ ಗ ಹ ವಯರ ಇರ ವ ವರ ಬಟರ ಕ ಲ ಮಲ ವ ಯ ಮತ ರ ಧ ನ ಥನ ಅಳಪ ಗಣ ಪಶ ಪತ ಯ ದಕ ಷ ಣ ಪಥ ಬಹ ಶತಹವನ ಹವದ ಳ ಪಶ ಪ ರದ ನ ಶ ರ ಯ ಯ ದ ಯಮ ಭರ ತ ನ ದ ನ ಪಶ ಪತ ಯ ನ ದ ಪ ಗೞ ಪ ಪ ಟ ಟಣ ಪಶ ಪತ ನ ಮಧ ಯನ ಆಸರಕ ಕ ಲ ಲಭಟರ ಯ ಪ ರ ಮ ಲಯಸ ತನ ಗ zಸ ನ ದ ರಕ ಬಣ ಭಯ ದ ಶದ ವ ರಪ ರ ಷಸಮಕ ಷದ ಕ ಕಯ ಪಲ ಲವರ ಕ ದ ಱದ ಪ ತ ತಜಯನ ವ ಜ ಅರಸ ಗ ಬ ಳ ಗೞ ಚ ಪಲ ಮಡ ಉ ಮ ೞ ವಳ ಳ ಉ ಕ ಟ ಟ ರ ಬಟ ರ ಕ ಲದ ನಳ ಕದ ಬನ ಕೞ ದ ನ ಮಹ ಪ ತಕನ ಸ ವಸ ತ ಭಟ ಟರ ಗ ಗ ಗೞ ದ ಒಡ ಡಲ ಆ ಪತ ತ ನ ದ ವ ಟ ಟ ರಕರNotes Edit a b Gai 1992 p 297 M A R 1936 pp 72 81harvnb error no target CITEREFM A R 1936 help Ramesh 1984b pp 55 58 Master 1944 pp 297 307 Mugali 1975 p 2 Pollock 2006 pp 331 332 Gai 1992 pp 300 301 Sircar 1965 p 48harvnb error no target CITEREFSircar1965 help Ramesh 1984b p 55 Ramesh 1984b p 58 Gai 1996 p 26 Datta 1988 p 1474 M Chidananda Murthy Inscriptions Kannada in Datta 1988 p 1717 Sahitya Akademi 1988 p 1717See also EditIndian inscriptions Indian copper plate inscriptionsReferences EditDatta Amaresh ed 1988 1988 Encyclopaedia of Indian literature vol 2 Sahitya Akademi ISBN 81 260 1194 7 Datta Amaresh ed 1989 1988 Encyclopaedia of Indian literature vol 3 Sahitya Akademi ISBN 81 260 1194 7 Encyclopaedia Britannica 2008 Kannada literature Encyclopaedia Britannica Online Gai Govind Swamirao 1992 Studies in Indian History Epigraphy and Culture Karnataka India Shrihari Prakashana Pp 346 Gai Govind Swamirao 1996 Inscriptions of the early Kadambas New Delhi Indian Council of Historical Research and Pratibha Prakashan Pp xv 170 88 plates ISBN 81 85268 47 9 Habib Irfan 2000 India in Al Bhakhit M A Bazin L A Cissoko S M eds History of Humanity Volume IV from the Seventh to the Sixteenth century Paris UNESCO and London Routledge Pp xxiii 682 44 maps 138 plates pp 398 410 ISBN 0 415 09308 2 Master Alfred 1944 Indo Aryan and Dravidian Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies University of London 11 2 297 307 doi 10 1017 s0041977x00072487 S2CID 170552998 M A R 1937 Mysore Archaeological Department Annual Report 1936 MAR 1936 Bangalore Government Press pp 73 80 Mugali R S 1975 History of Kannada literature Sahitya Akademi OCLC 2492406 Pollock Sheldon 2003 Literary cultures in history reconstructions from South Asia Berkeley University of California Press ISBN 0 520 22821 9 Pollock Sheldon 2006 The Language of the Gods in the World of Men Sanskrit Culture and Power in Premodern India Philip E Lilienthal Books Berkeley University of California Press ISBN 0 520 24500 8 Pollock Sheldon 2007 Literary Culture and Manuscript Culture in Precolonial India PDF in Simon Elliot et al eds Literary Cultures and the Material Book London British Library pp 77 94 ISBN 978 0 7123 0684 3 Ramesh K V 1984b Indian Epigraphy Sundeep Sircar D C 1996 Indian Epigraphy Motilal Banarsidass Publications ISBN 978 8 1208 1166 9 Stein Burton 1980 Peasant State and Society in Medieval South India Oxford and New York Oxford University Press Pp 550 ISBN 0 19 561065 2 Various 1988 1988 Encyclopaedia of Indian literature vol 2 Sahitya Akademi ISBN 81 260 1194 7External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Halmidi inscription Editio princeps Annual Report of the Mysore Archaeological Department for the Year 1936 Bangalore The Government Press 1938 Pages 72 74 photographic facsimile transliteration and translation into English Banavasi Old Kannada Inscription Halmidi Inscription Halmidi village finally on the road to recognition Language of the Inscriptions Archaeological Survey of India The last sentence of second last paragraph mentions the Halmidi inscription Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Halmidi inscription amp oldid 1123073322, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
