Sennarugama Pillar Inscription of King Kassapa IV (Sinhala: සිව්වන කාශ්යප රජුගේ සෙන්නරුගම ටැම් ලිපිය) is a pillar inscription found in Anuradhapura District, Sri Lanka. The inscription is presently on the display at the stone gallery of the Colombo National Museum.
Discovery
This inscription was discovered from somewhere (the exact place is unknown) in Anuradhapura (Ranawella, 2005). However, according to its content, this record had been originally set up at a place called Sennarugama, a village probably situated near Anuradhapura (Ranawella, 2005).
The pillar had been broken into two fragments at the time of its discovery and therefore, they were treated as two different inscriptions by the museum (Ranawella, 2005). However, presently, the two fragments have been joined together and numbered as a single inscription.
Inscription
The inscription has been inscribed on all four sides of a rectangular stone pillar of about 6 ft 8 in. in height (Ranawella, 2005).
Content
The pillar had been used in a later period as a riser in a flight of steps and in which process some of the letters have been chiselled off. The first side of the pillar has 20 lines of writing, the second and third sides have 30 lines of writing and the fourth side contains 25 lines of writing (Ranawella, 2005). The figures of a crow and a dog are also found on the fourth side of the inscription (Ranawella, 2005).
The inscription mentions its inscribe date as the sixth regnal year of a king styled Abha Salamevan (Ranawella, 2005). Depending on the details found in the chronicles and other epigraphs, scholars have identified this king as Kassapa IV [(898-914 A.D.) Ranawella, 2005].
Sennarugama Pillar Inscription of King Kassapa IV
Period: 10th century A.D.
Script: Sinhala of the early 10th century
Language: Sinhala of the early 10th century
Transcript: (1)Svasti (2)Siri Lak(di)- (3)-vhi pihi(ti) (4)yasa isi...>>
Content: This inscription records some immunities granted in respect of a village named Sennarugama, the revenue of which had been enjoyed by a person called Besatpanam, a warden of the royal household. Certain officers were forbidden to enter the village.
Reference: Ranawella, 2005.
References
1) Ranawella, S. (Ed.), 2005. Sinhala inscriptions in the Colombo National Museum: Spolia Zeylanica. Vol 42. (2005). Department of National Museums, Sri Lanka. pp.29-36.
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This page was last updated on 14 January 2023
