Numerous Brahmi inscriptions are scattered throughout Sri Lanka and the language used in all these is known as Old Sinhala or Sinhala Prakrit.
Brahmi Inscriptions in Sri Lanka
Numerous Brahmi inscriptions are scattered across Sri Lanka, particularly in the dry zone encompassing the North, North Central, North Western, Southern, and Uva Provinces and they give an indication of the early settlements of the Sinhalese (Dias, 2001; Paranavitana, 1970). The language used in all these Brahmi inscriptions is an Indo-Aryan language (known as Old Sinhala/ Sinhala Prakrit) and it was the precursor of the modern Sinhala, the main language of Sri Lanka (Dias, 2020; Paranavitana, 1970). The Old Sinhala is identified as a Prakrit, which means in Sanskrit the original form of a language unadorned with grammar (Dias, 2020). Further, it is an accepted fact that the Brahmi script in Sri Lanka evolved into the present-day Sinhala script (Dias & Miriyagalla, 2007). The largest inscription recorded in Sri Lanka, found in the forest of Dimbulagala Monastery , is an early Brahmi rock inscription (45 feet long and 18 feet high) belonging to the beginning of the 2nd century B.C. o…
