Chennai: The state govt will organise a four-day international epigraphy conference in the city from Feb 11 to 14.More than 50 epigraphists from across the country and abroad, including Switzerland, France, and Sri Lanka, will take part in the conference. They will present papers on the latest findings on various themes, including inscriptions on hero stones, trade guilds, oil presses, and sluices. “Tamil Nadu has the highest number of inscriptions so far documented in the entire country. These inscriptions reflect the social, cultural, political, economic, and technological aspects of the people from the early historic to the medieval period,” said professor K Rajan, academic and research adviser, Tamil Nadu state department of archaeology.
Tamil Nadu undertook a project to document all sluice inscriptions in the state. A book on the traditional water management system, written based on sluice inscriptions, is likely to be released at the conference.Some scholars will also present papers about political administration and social life during the time of the medieval Cholas and Pandyas.“The inscriptions are the primary source, as they reflect the society of their contemporary period without any interpolation. This also reveals the evolution of the script, language, administrative system, land measurement, maritime trade, and taxation,” said R Sivanandam, joint director of the Tamil Nadu state department of archaeology.Some sessions will also cover topics such as copper plate inscriptions, palm leaf manuscripts, and old coins minted by kings.The state department of archaeology also plans to release new volumes on stone inscriptions to help research scholars.Last month, the state archaeology department conducted an international science symposium on recent scientific studies at archaeological sites in Tamil Nadu. Scholars from across the country and around the world attended the conference.
