do you mean to say the chola history people have been learning from to school to post graduation has been gleaned from the kalvettus only.
the bulk i am told is from the copper plates they left behind.chola history studies i have learnt took a leap from the discovery of the plates only.
kalvettus were highly localised and were often inscribed by people who were " authorised to do so" by the king.for example we find kalvettus in places so far away from the capital and its difficult to imagine that the king stood by and verified the text. and the ambiguity still continues. even today we find scholars differing on the interpretation of kalvettus.
We can go to the extent to question kalvettus' accuracy (due to spelling mistakes), not authenticity.
Do you think anyone can subscribe to Diwakar sir's ivew that "kalvettu ellaam kadhaikku aavaadhu sir... adhaithaandi perisaa onnum irukkaadhu...."...
History took a leap from the discovery of copper plates... but is taking a big leap through kalvettus. Is not it?
Scholars may differ, but not totally to the core as Diwakar sir says. We cant dismiss inscriptions just like "tubelight ubayam" stuff. Who knows, after 500 years (if there are tubelights) even our children may do thesis work on Temple Management and People Contribution in Ancient Tamil Nadu.
dear all different civilisations have different ways of leaving their foot prints
when i was deeply involved in learning about the delhi sultanate and the mughals i used to envy their diary keepers. wassaf tells us the exact day and time malik kafur entered madurai.we dont have a record of it here. khusrau talks about day to day happenings in delhi during that period.
and then came the mughals.
from the start babur to later mughals most were diarists themselves. (inspite of many being illiterate). they talked about the india- the country they conquered. you can get so many details about plants and animals from the mughals diaries.akbar nama and babur nama
sps sir was saying that the british wrote indian history with a north indian bias
that they ignored the southern history . i dont think so. the northeners had a ready made text on their history. while we did not.the british did what was easy.
even now almost every temple has one kalvettu regardless of the rest
so and so donated so many goats for lighting the lamp. this is perhaps the most occuring kalvettu in tamil temples.
chola lifestyle and living as well as history is with us mainly due to two sources. one is the copper plates.(karanthai, thiruvalangadu and the leyden) the second is the literary mentions in books like kalingaththu parani (i think) temple kalvettus in the field of history are mainly useful for cross checking.we cant blame the temples either. perhaps if we had palaces remaining the kalvettus on them would be historical.but each dynasty destroyed the palaces of the others. but temples contain more of the local details.grants for maintainence.
Lots of views have been put forth by friends in this thread. What am going to post know is more or less an collection of all those and a little more.
Copper Plates ====== ======
The copper plates that have been recovered till now are a good source of information, there is no doubt about that. Especially, the plates that were found at Thiruvalangadu famously called 'thiruvalnagattu cheppedugal' have helped us understand so much about the subject that is dear to us, chozha history.
Let me name the most prominent/important copper plates that have been discovered to date. Please take note that this list may not be exhaustive.
1. The Anbil plates: These belong to the period of Irandam Paranthakan @ Sundhara Chozhan, inscribed in his fourth year.
2. The Larger Leiden plates: These belong to the period of Rajaraja Chozhan, inscribed in his twenty first year.
3. The Thiruvalangadu plates: These belong to the period of Rajendra Chozhan, inscribed in his sixth year.
4. The Sarala plates: These belong to the period of Veera Rajendra Chozhan, inscribed in his seventh year.
5. The Smaller Leiden plates: These belong to the period of Kuloththunga Chozhan the First, inscribed in his twentieth year.
6. The Karanthai Thamizh Sangam plates: These belong to the period of Rajendra Chozhan, inscribed in his eighth year.
Incidentally, the purpose of most of these copper plates is to record various grants! The Anbil plates talk about the grants made to Anirudhdhar's family. The Larger Leiden plates are about the grants given to the Choodamani Viharam in Nagappattinam. The Thiruvalangadu plates record the grants given to the 'Thiruvalangattudaiya Mahadevar' and 'Ammai Nachchiyar'.
The Smaller Leiden plates are interesting. The king of Kadaram who was on friendly terms with the Chozhas, gave funding to build two viharams in Chozha nadu. One in the name of Rajarajan and another in the name of Rajendran. These plates record the grants given by Kuloththunga Chozhan to these viharams.
I think they are in Chennai Museum under ASI control. Public are not allowed to see it. If we can get permission for the same, it will be a feast to us.
SPS can you please try to get permission for this. Is it possible first?
The most important 'Thiruvalangattu Cheppedugal', start with seventy two sanskrit poems that sings hosannas to the king and his ancestors! 'edath raajanya magudasireni rathneshu sasanam edath ranjendra cholasya parakesari varmana' is the first slokam.
The copper plates talk about two things. First, it talks about the Chozha kings both early and present ones. The birth, life and valour of the king ie, RJC. Next, it talks about the various grants that were made by the king and its specifics.
These plates helped clear lots of doubts that were existing previously. The most important, was the one about the war against the Rashtrakutas. Earlier scholars were not very sure about this war. Many people said the war took place during RJC's reign. Descriptions of the war and RRC's valour proved that the war took place during his reign.
Epigraphs =========
Numerous epigraphs have been found across the length and breadth of our country. These contain invaluable information that help us understand so much about the social fabric of a country.
Where does one find a 'kalvettu'? Majority have been found in temples. The strong, granite walls were used to record the details about the temples. The palaces also should have housed plenty. Unfortunately, the victory celebrations of rival kings have ensured we don't get them in entirety.
What will be found in the inscriptions in a temple? Definitely, details about the temple will be found. Now, please take note that the temple was the central point of a village/town in those days. The usage of a temple were many, apart from worship.
Giving sheep and other such things as donations to the temple and the king giving grants are oft repeated inscritions that you will find in all the temples.
There are so many other details that are available in temple inscriptions. For example, we come to know that temples served as banks in those days.
Grants were given not only in the form of tax-free lands, concessions, jewellery and utilities for the temple. Money was also given in those days! A specific amount was given for some purpose to the temple, say to burn lamps in the Amman shrine.
A corpus would be set up using such monetary donations. This money would be lend to the localites. The annual interest paid by the borrower will be used to burn the lamps. Sometimes, the borrower pays in kind. The fruits that are needed for the daily puja are supplied by the borrower.
The calculation of the interest, and the rate that was applied are also inscribed. Interest rates were not uniform throughout the country, though they should have been more or less similar. Mostly, the rates and norms followed in an important town are followed in all the nearby towns.
What I have stated above is a very small example of the information one can get from temple inscriptions. Gokul's 'kalvettu sonna kathaigal', is an excellent series written using facts available from temple inscriptions.
Varalaru team should be able to pinpoint specific details that are available from temple inscriptions. Lavanya our 'kalvettu kaarigai', please take this thread forward.