| Quilon Syrian copper plates | |
|---|---|
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| Material | Copper |
| Writing | Old Malayalam, Middle Tamil |
| Created | 849–850 CE; Kerala, India |
| Present location | Devalokam Aramana; Poolatheen Aramana |
The Kollam (Quilon) Syrian copper plates, also known as the Kollam Tarisappalli copper plates, are Indian copper plate inscriptions which document a royal grant of Ayyan Adikal, the chieftain of Kollam, to a Syrian Christian merchant named Mar Sapir Iso in Kerala, issued in approximately 850 CE. The inscription is engraved on six copper plates in Old Malayalam or early Middle Tamil, using Vattezhuthu script with some Grantha characters. It is considered the oldest known inscription from the Chera Perumal dynasty.[1][2][1]
The charter is dated to the fifth regnal year of Chera Perumal ruler Sthanu Ravi Kulasekhara, around 849–850 CE. The sixth plate contains signatures of witnesses to the grant in Arabic (Kufic script), Middle Persian (cursive Pahlavi script), and Judeo-Persian (standard square Hebrew script). Until 2013, it was thought that the plates represented two separate grants issued by Kerala rulers to Syrian Christian merchants.[3][4][5]
One part of the copper plates (four plates) is preserved at the Devalokam Aramana of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, while the other two smaller plates are kept at the Poolatheen Aramana in Thiruvalla, belonging to the Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church. The copper plates also reference the presence of Jewish and Muslim communities in Kerala, as seen in the sections written in Arabic, Middle Persian, and Judeo-Persian scripts.[4]
- ^ a b Narayanan 2002, pp. 66–76.
- ^ Tintu, K. J. (16 April 2024). "The Syrian Christian Copper Plate of Tarisāppaḷḷy, and the Jewish and Muslim Merchants of Early Malabar". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 80: 184–191. JSTOR 27192872.
- ^ Narayanan 2013, pp. 277, 278 and 295.
- ^ a b Cereti 2009, pp. 31–50.
- ^ Varier & Veluthat (2013), p. [page needed].