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The Halmidi inscription is the oldest known Kannada language
Kannada language

Kannada is one of the major Dravidian languages of India, spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka. Kannada, whose native speakers are called Kannadigas , number roughly 35 million, making it the 27th most spoken language in the world....
 inscription in the Kannada script
Kannada script

The Kannada script is a syllabary of the Brahmic family, primarily to write the Kannada language, one of the Dravidian languages languages in India....
. Experts agree on the relative date (it is the oldest), but differ on absolute date. Estimates vary by about 100 years either side of about 500 AD (see details below). The inscription was discovered in 1936 by Dr. M. H. Krishna, the Director of Archaeology in the (princely) State of Mysore (present-day Karnataka
Karnataka

Karnataka is a States and territories of India in the southern part of India. It was Unification of Karnataka on November 1, 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act....
 region of India), in Halmidi
Halmidi

Halmidi is a small village in the Hassan district of Karnataka state, India, near the temple town of Belur. Halmidi is best known as the place where the oldest known Indian inscriptions exclusively in Kannada language, the so called Halmidi inscription, was discovered....
, a village in the Hassan taluk.

The original inscription is kept in the Office of the Director of Archaeology and Museums, Govt.






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The Halmidi inscription is the oldest known Kannada language
Kannada language

Kannada is one of the major Dravidian languages of India, spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka. Kannada, whose native speakers are called Kannadigas , number roughly 35 million, making it the 27th most spoken language in the world....
 inscription in the Kannada script
Kannada script

The Kannada script is a syllabary of the Brahmic family, primarily to write the Kannada language, one of the Dravidian languages languages in India....
. Experts agree on the relative date (it is the oldest), but differ on absolute date. Estimates vary by about 100 years either side of about 500 AD (see details below). The inscription was discovered in 1936 by Dr. M. H. Krishna, the Director of Archaeology in the (princely) State of Mysore (present-day Karnataka
Karnataka

Karnataka is a States and territories of India in the southern part of India. It was Unification of Karnataka on November 1, 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act....
 region of India), in Halmidi
Halmidi

Halmidi is a small village in the Hassan district of Karnataka state, India, near the temple town of Belur. Halmidi is best known as the place where the oldest known Indian inscriptions exclusively in Kannada language, the so called Halmidi inscription, was discovered....
, a village in the Hassan taluk.

The original inscription is kept in the Office of the Director of Archaeology and Museums, Govt. of Karnataka, Mysore, and a fibreglass replica has been installed in Halmidi.

Discovery and dating


In a report published in a Mysore Archaeological Department Report (MAR) in 1936, Krishna dated the inscription to 450 A.D., on paleographical grounds. Later scholars have variously dated the inscription to 450 A.D., 470 A.D., 500 A.D., "about 500", and "end of the fifth century A. D. or the beginning of the 6th century A.D." Epigraphist, D. C. Sircar has dated the inscriptions to "about the end of the 6th century," and epigraphist Richard Salomon to the "late sixth or early seventh century."

Epigraphist, K. V. Ramesh has written about the differing estimates: He also hypothesized that, compared to possibly contemporaneous Sanksrit 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."

Epigraphist G. S. Gai
G. S. Gai

G. S. Gai is an Indian epigraphist, historical linguist, and historian, known for his expertise in early-medieval Kannada language inscriptions....
 however disagrees with the view that Halmidi is a record of the Kadamba dynasty identified with King Kadamba Kakusthavarman. According to , the inscription, which is dedicated to, "Kadambapan Kakustha-Bha??oran," refers to another ruler, Kakustha of the Bha?ari family, who is explicitly identified in line 13, "ba?ari-kuladon=a?u-kadamban;" in addition, the inscription does not "include any of the epithets like Manavya-gotra, Hariti-putra, and most important Dharma-maharaja" that are a part of all Kadamba inscriptions.

Textual analysis


The inscription is in verse
Verse

Verse may refer to:Poetry*Verse , a line of poetry, a stanza*Blank verse is a type of poetry having regular meter but no rhyme*Free verse is a type of poetry written without the use of strict meter or rhyme, but that is still recognizable as 'poetry'...
 form indicating the authors of the inscription had a good sense of the language structure. The inscription is written in pre-old Kannada (Puruvada-hala Kannada), which later evolved into old Kannada, middle Kannada and eventually modern Kannada. The Halmidi inscription is the earliest evidence of usage of Kannada as an administrative language.

Text

The pillar on which the inscription was written stands around high. The following lines are carved on the front of the pillar:

1. jayati sri-pari?va?ga-sar?ga vyanatir-acyta? danav-ak??or-yugant-agni? si??anan=tu sudarsana?
2. nama? srimat=kada?bapan=tyaga-sa?pannan kalabhorana ari ka-
3. kustha-bha??oran=a?e naridavi?e-na?u? m?gesa-na-
4. gendr-abhi?ar=bhbha?ahar=appor sri m?gesa-nagahvaya-
5. r=irrvar=a ba?ari-kul-amala-vyoma-taradhi-nathann=a?apa-
6. ga?a-pasupatiy=a dak?i?apatha-bahu-sata-havan=a-
7. havudu? pasupradana-sauryyodyama-bhariton=dana pa-
8. supatiyendu poga?eppo??a?a pasupati-
9. namadheyan=asarakk=ella-bha?ariya premalaya-
10. sutange sendraka-ba?=obhayadesad=a vira-puru?a-samak?a-
11. de kekaya-pallavara? kad=e?idu pettajayan=a vija
12. arasange ba?ga?cu palma?iu? mu?iva?u? ko-
13. ??ar ba?ari-kuladon=a?a-kadamban ka?adon mahapatakan
14. irvvaru? sa?ba?gadar vijarasaru? palma?ige ku?u-
15. mbi?i vi??ar adan a?ivornge mahapatakam svasti


The following line is carved on the pillar's left face:

16. bha??arg=i ga?de o??ali a pattondi vi??arakara


See also

  • Indian inscriptions
  • Indian copper plate inscriptions
    Indian copper plate inscriptions

    Indian copper plate inscriptions play an important role in the reconstruction of the history of India. Prior to their discovery, historians were forced to rely on ambiguous archaeological findings such as religious text of uncertain origin and interpretations of bits of surviving traditions, patched together with travel journals of foreign...

External links


  • Editio princeps
    Editio princeps

    In classical scholarship, editio princeps is a term of art. It means, roughly, the first printed edition of a work, that previously had existed only in manuscripts, which were therefore circulated only after being copied by hand....
    : . Bangalore: The Government Press, 1938. Pages 72–74. [photographic facsimile
    Facsimile

    A facsimile is a copy or reproduction of an old book, manuscript, map, old master print or other item of historical value that is as true-to-the-original source as possible using, normally, some form of photographic technique....
    , transliteration
    Transliteration

    Transliteration is the practice of transcribing a word or text written in one writing system into another writing system or system of rules for such practice....
     and translation (into English)]
  • — Archeological Survey of India [The last sentence of second last paragraph mentions the Halmidi inscription.]