1847.] 



Koncju-dem-rajakal. 



desa-rajdhal narrowly escaped destruction by termites. When 

 recovered I could not, from want of leisure, pay any atten- 

 tion to it, A few hints and suggestions occasionally received 

 from Walter Elliot, Esq. sufficed to keep the document in 

 recollection ; and, very recently, a period of some leisure hav- 

 ing recurred, I took up the rough translation in earnest : 

 after completing an ethnological Essay on Eastern Relations 

 previously forwarded. Various occurrences have unavoidably 

 diverted my attention, notwithstanding, comparative leisure 

 enjoyed. At length I am able to issue the document from 

 my hands ; after bestowing on it as much care and attention 

 as I could command. 



The translation is close and literal ; the original on a paral- 

 lel page is wanting to make the whole complete ; according 

 to the idea of several good* judges, as well as my own idea. 

 That deficiency cannot now be helped : it may be remedied at 

 a future day. I have not intentionally misled the reader ; as 

 I regret to find too many, so called, translations frequently do. 

 It is still very desirable to collate three or more copies, if they 

 can be found, and to fill up chasms ; for much has been made 

 to depend on that defective passage, which is near the close of 

 the Chola dynasty. 



Throughout the document, the word used is Congu-desa. I 

 do not once find Chera-desa. The Kerala and the Concana- 

 desas, as distinct, do occur. In inquiring verbally about the 

 Congu-nad, as more usually phrased in Tamil, I have been 

 told it was the neighbourhood of the Coimhatore province. 

 Dr. Rottler, in that portion of his Dictionary which was revised 

 by himself, terms the Congu-nad " the Malabar country by 

 which, I presume, he meant " the Malabar Coast" or Malaya- 

 lam Country. He could not mean the region of " the Mala- 

 bars," or Tamil language ; because that is contrary to other 

 portions of the Dictionary ; and to fact. But he states Congen 

 to be an epithet of the Chera king ; or, of an inhabitant of 

 that country. The Nigandu extends the title to the raja of 

 CodugUy or Coorg. These remarks are made, because there are 



* Madras Journal of Literature end Science; Vol. 6, page 105. 



