Whispering of Inscriptions

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PrefaceIn October 2017, an international symposium was held in Paris as a tribute to Noboru Karashima who gave a new impetus to the study of South Indian and Tamil epigraphy. The contributions to this volume illustrate the wide range of related topics in the fields of archæology, epigraphy and history of art that were presented at the symposium. These domains, an integral part of classical studies, have generally been considered as distinct areas of research, however nobody can deny their mutual interdependence. The title of this volume 'Whispering of Inscriptions' is borrowed from one of Karashima's publications. Karashima, who himself was convinced of 'the importance of epigraphy in the task of historical reconstruction, ' had 'noticed a defect in past studies in the field of socio-economic history, due to the arbitrary use of epigraphic evidence.'3 Karashima was of the view that historians should avoid arbitrary judgements and concluded his essay by saying: 'In sum, scholars of ancient and medieval South Indian history should be acquainted with inscriptions and listen honestly to their whisperings.' [...] This volume witnesses this very challenge of contextualization of epigraphic and iconographic data. It contains a variety of contributions demonstrating the richness and diversity of contemporary research on South Indian temple inscriptions and copper plate charts as well as on art and archæology. During the last decade, the field of South Indian epigraphy and archæology has come up with important findings which has brought in unprecedented data shedding new light in the area of historical studies, particularly of South India. These essays attempt to highlight some of these discoveries and to update the epigraphical and archæological resource materials. They are intended to stimulate discussion and analysis in a multidisciplinary perspective, through new and divergent theoretical and methodological conceptions, and to broaden our perception of the early and mediæval South Indian societies. Each one is original in its approach to the South Indian inscriptions, monuments and images and relates to a particular domain of South Indian history.