Rspalmora at 05:37, 12 April 2026

2026-04-12T05:37:04Z

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[[File:Mampalli_copper_plate_(10th_century_AD).jpg|thumb|446x446px|Mampalli copper plate (10th century AD)]]
The '''Mampalli copper plate''' (974 AD), also romanised as '''Mamballi''', records a donation from the chiefly family of [[Venad]] (in present-day [[Kerala]]) to the [[Chengannur|Chengannur Temple]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Narayanan |first=M. G. S. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0YDCngEACAAJ |title=Perumals of Kerala |publisher=CosmoBooks |year=2013 |isbn= |location=Thrissur (Kerala) |pages=218 and 478–79 |chapter= |orig-year=1972}}</ref> The inscription is the earliest epigraphical record to mention the [[Kollam Era]] (referred to as the "Kollan-Tonri Era", year 149).<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Rao |first=T. A. Gopinatha |title=Mamballi Plates of Srivallavangodai |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.48794/mode/1up |journal=Epigraphia Indica (1907-08) |publisher=Archaeological Survey of India |publication-place=Calcutta |volume=IX |pages=234–39}}</ref>

The record is engraved on both sides of a single copper plate in [[Vatteluttu (script)|Vattezhuthu]], with necessary [[Grantha script|Grantha]] characters, in an early form of [[Malayalam|Malayalam language]]. The plate was originally owned by Mampalli Madhom near [[Thiruvananthapuram|Trivandrum]] and is now preserved at the Padmanabhapuram Palace Museum.<ref name=":0" />

A second plate, considered a companion to the first and dated to approximately the same period, is owned by Mampalli Madhom.<ref name=":0" />

== Contents ==
{{Cleanup|reason=Tone is too legalistic or academic; needs to be rewritten in a more encyclopedic style.|date=April 2026}}

The Mampalli record is notable for containing two royal deeds by the chiefly family of [[Venad]].<ref name=":0" />

=== (a) First deed (as an attipperu) ===
This deed records a meeting between Srivallavan Kotai, the chieftain (the utaiyar) of Venad, and the committee of [[Brahmin]] village elders of [[Chengannur]] (Tiruchenkunrur Parutai Perumakkal) at the Panainkavil palace in [[Kollam]].<ref name=":0" />

Srivallavan Kotai donated the sole proprietary rights of the deity (the pattaraka) of the Ayirur Temple — originally installed by Tirukkalaiyapuram Aditya Umayamma (Tirukkalaiyapurattu Atichan Umaiyammai) — along with the land assigned to the Ayirur deity (the landed property of the Ayirur Temple), to Aditya Umayamma.<ref name=":0" />

=== (b) Second deed (as a kizhitu) ===
Aditya Umayamma, in turn, donated what she received — the proprietary rights and the landed property of the Ayirur Temple — to Chengannur Temple as a subordinate property endowment (kizhitu). This included provisions for routine expenditures and the payment of a protection fee (rakshabhoga) to the village assembly secretaries (potuvals).<ref name=":0" />

The village assembly secretaries (potuvals) were responsible for protecting the Ayirur Temple and its property and were to receive 200 para (a unit of measure) of paddy annually as protection fee (rakshabhoga).<ref name=":0" /> A fine was also prescribed: anyone who violated the agreement — by obstructing cultivation or confiscating property in the kizhitu — along with their accomplices, was required to pay a fine of 200 kalanju (a unit of measure) of gold.<ref name=":0" />

=== Witnesses to the transaction ===
The following individuals are listed as witnesses:
* Murunkaiyur Tevan Pavittiran
* Itaiyamanam Cannaran Kandan
* Manalmukku Kantan Tomataran
* Punalur Iravi Parantavan
* Kutakottur Parantavan Kandan

'''Scribe:''' Chattan Chataiyan, the secretary (potuval) of Chengannur.<ref name=":1" />

== References ==
<references />

[[Category:Vatteluttu]]
[[Category:Malayalam inscriptions]]
[[Category:Kerala history inscriptions]]

Mampalli copper plate - Revision history

Rspalmora at 05:37, 12 April 2026