INDIEN 508 BnF: Copper Plate from Pondicherry

The source of all the pictures of INDIEN 508 is BnF

BnF INDIEN 508 (ex- Tamoul 508) is a single copper plate (305 x 200 x 1 mm) (Fig. 1) which records five land transactions that concern the Pondicherry area and are dated to the late 17th and early 18th century. The plate was given to the BnF by Madame Goschler. It is engraved recto and verso in Tamil language and script in sriptio continua (23 lines on the recto, 26 on the verso).

Fig. 1 — BnF INDIEN 508, recto of plate — Courtesy of BnF

The five land transactions are dated respectively to

    • the year Śaka 1616 (1694/5 CE) and the year Tātu (1696/7 CE) of the Jovian cycle for the first two;
    • to the year Śaka 1618 (1696/7 CE) and the year Vekutāṉiya (1698/9 CE) of the Jovian cycle for the third;
    • to the year Śaka 1621 (1699/1700 CE) and the year Viṣa (i.e. Viṣu, 1701/1702 CE) of the Jovian cycle for the fourth;
    • to the year Cupāṉu (1703/1704 CE) of the Jovian cycle for the fifth and last one.

For the land transactions dated in both computs, the Śaka and Jovian cycle years do not exactly match, showing a discrepancy of two years.

The chronology of the land transactions as well the presence of a piḷḷaiyār cuḻi (found at the beginning of text only on one side of the plate) enable one to determine which face is the recto and which the verso.

All the transactions recorded are connected with the upkeep of a maṇḍapa, i.e. a choultry or, in French, “chaudrie.” It appears that a certain Tiruvampalanīlaṅkarai Nayiṉār founded a maṇḍapa in Muruṅkaippākkam for Tāṇṭavatampiṟāṉ / Tāṇṭavatampirāṉ / Tāṇṭavayyar, son of Nākaliṅkatampirāṉ (p1v2), and made an endowment (p1r12‒13) for him, who, as in charge of the maṇḍapa, was residing there (p1r14‒15).

In the Śaka year 1616, Nallatampi Mutaliyār and Aḻakappa Mutaliyār of Muruṅkaippākkam donated land to Tāṇṭavatampiṟāṉ (land transaction 1). In the same Śaka year 1616, the same Tiruvampalam Nallatampi and Aḻakappaṉ made a further hereditary land donation to Tāṇṭavatampirāṉ (land transaction 2). In the Śaka year 1618, Kūṉpāppureṭṭiyār, Paricareṭṭiyār and Kōṉērikavaṇṭaṉ of Ariyāṅkuppam made a further land donation to Tāṇṭavatampirāṉ (land transaction 3). In the Śaka year 1621, a Reṭṭi of Kiḷiñcikuppam made a further donation (land transaction 4). Finally, in the year Cupāṉu, four people (Tiruvampalam Nallatampi again, Tiruv[e/ē]ttakāmmacikappu Mutali, Ammaiyappaṉ Kuppaippiḷḷai, and Teṉṉavarāyaṉ Ciṉṉatampi) made a regulation of the donation (land transaction 5).

The plate is accompanied by a folio (180 x 120 mm), printed recto-verso, in French. On the recto is an administrative decision dated to January 17th, 1791, which has no relation to our plate, in contradistinction with the verso, where are French translations/paraphrases of two of the land transactions (1 and 3) recorded in the plate.

These translations (“Traduction des actes de donation qui se trouvent écrits sur une plaque de cuivre”) are certified by Maridas, “interprète en chef du roi au conseil supérieur et au tribunal de la Chaudrie” and dated to May 30th, 1789, Pondichéry. There are further countersigned “Pour copie” by Léger.1

This folio, or rather portion of a folio, is taken from a printed document entitled Les habitants indiens de Pondichéry à la chambre de députés (Nantes: Imprimerie Busseuil, 1846), which is in fact a petition, advocating for fiscal relief, addressed in 1845, in the name of the Indian inhabitants of Pondicherry, by Nadour Sidam Barom to the French parliament.

The plate mention several placenames of the Pondicherry region. Pondicherry (Putuccēri, p1v11) itself is associated with Tiruvampalanīlaṅkarai Nayiṉār, the founder of the maṇḍapa (p1v11). The maṇḍapa is situated in Muruṅkaippākkam2 (p1r14‒15), which is also associated with Nallatampi Mutaliyār and Alakappa Mutaliyār (p1r2). Other donors mentioned come from Ariyāṅkuppam3 (p1v3) and Kiḷiñcikuppam (p1v11)4. Lands given are situated in Maṇal Veḷi5 (p1r9; p1v6). Other placenames are mentioned as limits of the land given in land transaction 2: Tirukkampaṭṭaṭai (p1r16), Kuppam Paṭṭaṭai (LT2, p1r17), Maṇal Oḻuṅku (p1r17).

The plate contains notable examples of Tamil symbols/abbreviations. We have two different signs for varuṣam, “year:” one for Śaka years (Fig. 2) and another for Jovian cycle years (Fig. 3).

Fig. 2 — BnF INDIEN 508, abbreviated forms of varuṣam for Śaka years (p1r1, p1r11, p1v1, p1v10) — Courtesy of BnF

Fig. 3 — BnF INDIEN 508, abbreviated forms of varuṣam for Jovian cycle years (p1r1, p1r11, p1v1, p1v10, p1v17) — Courtesy of BnF

Note how the last three abbreviated forms for the Jovian cycle years are almost identical to the abbreviated forms of varuṣam for the Śaka years, except for the ascending curl on the right side.

The word kuḻi, a land measure, is usually found abbreviated (Figs. 4‒7), but the expanded form is also found one (Fig. 8).

Fig. 4 — BnF INDIEN 508: {kuḻi} 150 (p1r4) — Courtesy of BnF

Fig. 5 — BnF INDIEN 508: {kuḻi} 50 (p1r9) — Courtesy of BnF

Fig. 6 — BnF INDIEN 508: {kuḻi} 32 (p1r4) — Courtesy of BnF

Fig. 7 — BnF INDIEN 508: {kuḻi} 50 (p1r4) — Courtesy of BnF

Fig. 8 — BnF INDIEN 508: kuḻi 30 — Courtesy of BnF

BnF INDIEN 508 catalogue entry in Cabaton’s Catalogue sommaire (1912, p. 71).

BnF INDIEN 508 catalogue entry on BAM: HERE.

BnF INDIEN 508 digital images: HERE.

BnF INDIEN XML-TEI catalogue entry: in preparation.



Cite this blog post
Emmanuel Francis (2019, October 12). INDIEN 508 BnF: Copper Plate from Pondicherry. Texts Surrounding Texts. Retrieved April 16, 2024, from https://doi.org/10.58079/uxyg

Emmanuel Francis

Chargé de recherche CNRS (CEIAS-UMR 8564, EHESS-CNRS, Paris)

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  1. Maridas took the Śaka years rather than the Jovian cycle years as references for the date of the transactions in his translations. Note also that, as for land transaction 3, the given land has, according to Maridas, an area of “30 cougis,” i.e. 30 kuḻis, while the plate (p1v6) mentions an area of 50 kuḻis. []
  2. Murungapakkam []
  3. Ariyankuppam []
  4. Kilinjikuppam []
  5. Manavely []

Emmanuel Francis

Chargé de recherche CNRS (CEIAS-UMR 8564, EHESS-CNRS, Paris)

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