Halmidi Script

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.

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 AD, on paleographical grounds. Later scholars have variously dated the inscription to 450 AD, 470 AD, 500 AD, "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 inscription to "about the end of the 6th century."

Epigraphist, K. V. Ramesh has written about the differing estimates:

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."

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 , 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.

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.M. Chidananda Murthy, ''Inscriptions (Kannada)'' in The Halmidi inscription is the earliest evidence of the usage of Kannada as an administrative language.Sahitya Akademi (1988), p. 1717

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 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

Text in Kannada

ಜಯತಿ ಶ್ರೀ ಪರಿಷ್ವಾಙ್ಗ ಶ್ಯಾರ್ಙ್ಗ ��್ಯಾ��ತಿರ್ ಅಚ್ಯುತಃ ದಾನಕ್ಷೆರ್ ಯುಗಾನ್ತಾಗ್ನಿಃ ��ಿಷ್ಟಾನಾನ್ತು ಸುದರ್ಶನಃ ನಮಃ ಶ್ರೀಮತ್ ಕದಂಬಪನ್ ತ್ಯಾಗ ಸಂಪನ್ನನ್ ಕಲಭೋg[ನಾಅರಿ ಕಕುಸ್ಥಭಟ್ಟೋರನ್ ಆಳೆ ನರಿದಾವಿ[ಳೆ] ನಾಡುಳ್ ಮೃಗೇಶನಾಗೇನ್ದ್ರಾಭೀಳರ್ ಭ್ಭಟಹರಪ್ಪೋರ್ ಶ್ರೀ ಮೃಗೇಶ ನಾಗಾಹ್ವಯರ್ ಇರ್ವ್ವರಾ ಬಟರಿ ಕುಲಾಮಲ ವ್ಯೋಮತಾರಾಧಿನಾಥನ್ ಅಳಪ ಗಣ ಪಶುಪತಿಯಾ ದಕ್ಷಿಣಾಪಥ ಬಹುಶತಹವನಾಹವದು ��್ಪಶುಪ್ರದಾನ ಶೌರ್ಯ್ಯೋದ್ಯಮ ಭರಿತೋ ��್ದಾನ��ಶುಪತಿಯೆನ್ದು ಪೊಗೞೆಪ್ಪೊಟ್ಟಣ ಪಶುಪತಿ ನಾಮಧೇಯನ್ ಆಸರಕ್ಕೆಲ್ಲಭಟರಿಯಾ ಪ್ರೇಮಾಲಯಸುತನ್ಗೆ zಸೇನ್ದ್ರಕ ಬಣೋಭಯ ದೇಶದಾ ವೀರಪುರುಷಸಮಕ್ಷದೆ ಕೇಕಯ ಪಲ್ಲವರಂ ಕಾದೆಱದು ಪೆತ್ತಜಯನಾ ವಿಜ ಅರಸಂಗೆ ಬಾಳ್ಗೞ್ಚು ಪಲ್ಮಡಿಉಂ ಮೂೞುವಳ್ಳಿಉಂ ಕೊಟ್ಟಾರ್ ಬಟಾರಿ ಕುಲದೊನಳ ಕದಂಬನ್ ಕೞ್ದೋನ್ ಮಹಾಪಾತಕನ್ ಸ್ವಸ್ತಿ ಭಟ್ಟರ್ಗ್ಗೀಗೞ್ದೆ ಒಡ್ಡಲಿ ಆ ಪತ್ತೊನ್ದಿ ವಿಟ್ಟಾರಕರ

Notes

See also

*Indian inscriptions
*Indian copper plate inscriptions

References

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External links

* Editio princeps:
Annual Report of the Mysore Archaeological Department for the Year 1936
'. Bangalore: The Government Press, 1938. Pages 72–74. hotographic facsimile, transliteration">facsimile.html" ;"title="hotographic facsimile">hotographic facsimile, transliteration and translation (into English)]
Banavasi Old Kannada InscriptionLanguage of the Inscriptions
— Archaeological Survey of India he last sentence of second last paragraph mentions the Halmidi inscription.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Halmidi Inscription
Kannada literature
Literature of Karnataka
Earliest known manuscripts by language
Kadamba inscriptions
5th-century inscriptions
5th-century literature
Kannada inscriptions