Galle Trilingual Slab Inscription | Cultural Relic of Ancient Silk Route

Galle Trilingual Slab Inscription | Cultural Relic of Ancient Silk Route
The Galle Trilingual Slab Inscription (Sinhala: ගාල්ල ත්‍රයිභාෂා පුවරු ලිපිය; Tamil: காலி மும்மொழிக் கல்வெட்டு) is a stone slab containing inscriptions engraved in three languages; Chinese, Persian and Tamil. It is presently exhibited in the Transitional Period Gallery of the National Museum of Colombo , Sri Lanka. This artefact is considered an important cultural relic of the ancient Silk Route of the sea.  Discovery The slab was discovered in 1911 by H. F. Tomalin (the then Provincial Engineer at Galle of Southern Province) at a culvert near the turn of Cripps Road within the Galle municipal area (Pathmanathan, 2005; Perera, 1913). When it was discovered, the stone is said to be used as a cover stone for the culvert with the engraved side downward (Perera, 1913). The stone was later moved to Colombo National Museum (Pathmanathan, 2005). History The inscription bears the date 15 February 1409, indicating its inscribed date in China. It was carved in Nanjing, the then capital city of C…