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
Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...
region of India), in
Halmidi, a village in the
Hassan district
Hassan is one of the districts of Karnataka, 31 districts of Karnataka, India. The district headquarter is Hassan, Karnataka, Hassan. It was part of ''Manjarabad Faujdari'' between 1832-81 (Mysore Commission, Commissioner's Rule of Mysore). In ...
.
The original inscription is kept in the Office of the Director of Archaeology and Museums, Govt. of Karnataka, Mysore,
and a
fibreglass
Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass ( Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass c ...
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, ";" in addition, the inscription does not "include any of the epithets like , , and most important " that are a part of all Kadamba inscriptions.
Text

The inscription is in pre-old Kannada (''puruvada-hala Kannada'', the ancestor of modern Kannada) verse.
M. Chidananda Murthy
M. Chidananda Murthy (10 May 1931 – 11 January 2020) was a Kannada writer, researcher and historian. He was a well-known scholar in Karnataka specializing in the history of Kannada language and ancient Karnataka. He was also known for his cam ...
, ''Inscriptions (Kannada)'' in
See also
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Indian inscriptions
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Indian copper plate inscriptions
Indian copper plate inscriptions are legal records engraved on copper plates. The practice was widespread and long-running in the Indian subcontinent; it may date back to as early as the 3rd millennium BCE, however the vast majority of recovered ...
Notes
References
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External links
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Editio princeps
In Textual scholarship, textual and classical scholarship, the ''editio princeps'' (plural: ''editiones principes'') of a work is the first printed edition of the work, that previously had existed only in manuscripts. These had to be copied by han ...
:
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
The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is an Indian government agency that is responsible for archaeological research and the conservation and preservation of cultural historical monuments in the country. It was founded in 1861 by Alexander ...
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
Kannada inscriptions
5th-century texts
5th-century poems