The Mampalli copper plate (974 AD), also romanised as Mamballi, records a donation from the chiefly family of Venad, present-day Kerala, to the Chengannur Temple.Narayanan, M. G. S. 2013. 'Index to Chera Inscriptions', in ''Perumāḷs of Kerala,'' M. G. S Narayanan, pp. 218 and 478–79. Thrissur (Kerala): CosmoBooks. The inscription is the earliest epigraphical record to mention the

Kollam Era The Malayalam Calendar is a sidereal solar calendar used in Kerala. The origin of the calendar has been dated to 825 CE, the beginning of the Kollam Era. There are many theories regarding the origin of the era, but according to recent schola ...

(Kollan-Tonri Era, 149). The record is engraved on both sides of a single copper plate in

Vattezhuthu ''Vatteluttu,'' popularly romanised as ''Vattezhuthu'' ( ta, வட்டெழுத்து, ' and ml, വട്ടെഴുത്ത്, ', ), was a syllabic alphabet of south India (Tamil Nadu and Kerala) and Sri Lanka used for writing t ...

with Grantha characters in an early form of

Malayalam language Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...

. The plate was originally owned by Mampalli Madhom, near Trivandrum (now at Padmanabhapuram Museum). A second plate, companion to the first one and ascribed approximately to the same date, is owned by Mampalli Madhom.

The Mampalli record is notable for containing two royal deeds by the chiefly family of Venad.

(a) First deed (as an attipperu)

A meeting of Srivallavan Kotai, the chieftain (the utaiya) of Venad, with the committee of Brahmin village elders of

Chengannur Chengannur (also spelled Chengannoor or Chenganur) is a Municipality in the Alappuzha district of Kerala State, India. It is located in the extreme eastern part of the Alappuzha district, on the banks of Pamba River. Chengannur is north of ...

(Tiruchenkunrur Parutai Perumakkal) at Panainkavil palace,

Kollam Kollam (), also known by its former name Quilon , is an ancient seaport and city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is north of the state capital Thiruvananthapuram. The city i ...

. Srivallavan Kotai donated the sole proprietary rights of the deity (the pattaraka) of the Ayirur Temple, installed by Tirukkalaiyapuram Aditya Umayamma (Tirukkalaiyapurattu Atichan Umaiyammai), and the land assigned to the Ayirur deity (the landed property of the Ayirur Temple) to Tirukkalaiyapuram Aditya Umayamma.

(b) Second deed (as a kizhitu)

Aditya Umayamma in turn donated what she received— the proprietary rights and the landed property of the Ayirur Temple — to Chengannur Temple as a subordinate property (kizhitu) with provision for the routine expenditure and the payment of protection fee (rakshabhoga) to the village assembly secretaries (potuvals). The village assembly secretaries (potuvals) were to protect the Ayirur Temple and its property and receive 200 para (a unit of measure) of paddy per year as protection fee (rakshabhoga). Fine is prescribed — those who violated the agreement by obstructing cultivation or confiscating property in the kizhitu, and their accomplices, were to pay 200 kalanju (a unit of measure) of gold as fine.

Witnesses to the transaction

The following witnesses are recorded: * Murunkaiyur Tevan Pavittiran * Itaiyamanam Cannaran Kandan * Manalmukku Kantan Tomataran * Punalur Iravi Parantavan * Kutakottur Parantavan Kandan Scribe = Chattan Chataiyan, the secretary (potuval) of Chengannur.Rao, T. A. Gopinatha. 1907-08 (1981 reprint). Mamballi Plates of Srivallavangodai', in ''Epigraphica Indica,'' Vol IX. pp. 234–39. Calcutta. Govt of India.

References

Vatteluttu Malayalam inscriptions Kerala history inscriptions

Contents

(a) First deed (as an attipperu)

(b) Second deed (as a kizhitu)

Witnesses to the transaction

References