359 



written m the year of the Hegira 1021, or A, 0. 

 1612, oearly four centuries ai'terwards, and the 

 oriijinal circumstance thusbecatyie obiicured by 

 legeudary traditions ; but I think thcit we are 

 fairly, warranted in concluding that there was a 

 reniavkable wrestler ol the name of Badaiig ex- 

 isting at that period, and that this inscription 

 cmitained a recital of his teats, &c. 



This suppo¥=ition naturally leads me to enquire 

 what is the Un^uajje in which these actions, re- 

 corded about A. D. 1228. could have been writ^ 

 ten. At the period of tlje transaction, the Mahiys 

 were destitute of a written language, as it as 

 not until between forty and hfty year., afferwd. da, 

 when the Mahouimedan religion became tlie pe* 

 pular one, that the Arabic character wa^> iiitrod»c- 

 ed. U appears to be probable that the Kiing 

 Rajah, aware of this de^stituiion ofa wrilttu cha- 

 racter' einpKjyed a sculptor oChis own nation 

 to cut the injicription on the rock, and that, from 

 the epitaph being in an unknown language, the 

 original story as therein related, being necessari- 

 ly handed down by oral tradition, became cor- 

 rupted in evtiry thmg but its leading features. 

 This supposition is borne out by the lorm of the 

 characters, which more resembles that of the 

 Malabar language than any other oriental tongue 

 that 1 am acquainted with. 1 do not mean to 

 say that the words aie essentially Tandl, but 

 merely to express an opinion that the inscription 

 is couched in an obsolete dialect of that language. 



Language, asanation progresses to civilizalion, 

 sustains serious alierations, which barely noticed 

 at the time, or viewed as merely slight and ne- 



