User:Fowler&fowler/Halmidi Record



The Halmidi inscription is the oldest known Kannada language inscription in the Kannada script, dating to the 5th or 6th century A.D. The undated inscription was discovered in 1936 by Dr. M. H. Krishna, the Director of Archaeology in the (princely) State of Mysore (present-day Karnataka region of India), in Halmidi, 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 wrote 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 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-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" that are a part of all Kadamba inscriptions. Accordingly, the Halmidi record is not included in the volume Inscription of the early Kadambas in the new series on inscriptions published by the Indian Council of Historical Research; the volume does include earlier Sanskrit records of the Kadambas, like the famous Tāḹagunda inscription of Kadamba Śāntivarman, dated to the 5th century.

Textual analysis
The inscription is in verse 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 4 ft high. Its top has been carved into an arch, onto which the figure of a wheel has been carved, which is probably intended to represent the Sudarshana Chakra of Vishnu. The following lines are carved on the front of the pillar:

1. jayati śri-pariṣvāṅga-śārṅga vyānatir-acytāḥ dānav-akṣṇōr-yugānt-āgniḥ śiṣṭānān=tu sudarśanaḥ 2. namaḥ śrīmat=kadaṁbapan=tyāga-saṁpannan kalabhōranā ari ka-

3. kustha-bhaṭṭōran=āḷe naridāviḷe-nāḍuḷ mṛgēśa-nā-

4. gēndr-ābhiḷar=bhbhaṭahar=appor śrī mṛgēśa-nāgāhvaya-

5. r=irrvar=ā baṭari-kul-āmala-vyōma-tārādhi-nāthann=aḷapa-

6. gaṇa-paśupatiy=ā dakṣiṇāpatha-bahu-śata-havan=ā-

7. havuduḷ paśupradāna-śauryyōdyama-bharitōn=dāna pa-

8. śupatiyendu pogaḷeppoṭṭaṇa paśupati-

9. nāmadhēyan=āsarakk=ella-bhaṭariyā prēmālaya-

10. sutange sēndraka-bāṇ=ōbhayadēśad=ā vīra-puruṣa-samakṣa-

11. de kēkaya-pallavaraṁ kād=eṟidu pettajayan=ā vija

12. arasange bāḷgaḻcu palmaḍiuṁ mūḷivaḷuṁ ko-

13. ṭṭār baṭāri-kuladōn=āḷa-kadamban kaḷadōn mahāpātakan

14. irvvaruṁ saḻbaṅgadar vijārasaruṁ palmaḍige kuṟu-

15. mbiḍi viṭṭār adān aḻivornge mahāpatakam svasti

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

16. bhaṭṭarg=ī gaḻde oḍḍali ā pattondi viṭṭārakara