Tissamaharama inscription No. 53

Tissamaharama inscription No. 53 refers to a fragment of black and red ware flat dish inscribed in Brahmi script excavated at the earliest layer in southern town of Tissamaharama in Sri Lanka. It is dated to approximately 200 BC by German scholars who undertook the excavation.[1]

There are differences of opinion among scholars about the reading and interpretation of this inscription.[2][3][4][1][5] The reading of this inscription by Iravatham Mahadevan in Tamil was accepted by P. Ragupathy but he rejected the Mahadevan's interpretation.[3] Other scholars such as Harry Falk, Raj Somadeva and P. Pushparatnam rejected both the reading and interpretations by Mahadevan as well as Ragupathy.[4][1][5] As a result of these disagreements between the scholars, the reading and interpretation of this legend as a Tamil-Brahmi inscription has become controversial today.

  1. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference Falk was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Mahathevan was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Ragupathy was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Somadeva was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Pushparatnam was invoked but never defined (see the help page).