Inscription Stones of Bengaluru
India
Inscription stones of Bengaluru refers to numerous historical stone plaques, tablets, and rock carvings bearing inscriptions (epigraphs) and sometimes sculptures (such as hero stones) found throughout the Bengaluru metropolitan area in Karnataka, India. Within the limits of the modern Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, approximately 175 such stones have been documented in various historical surveys and publications. These artifacts, dating from the Ganga dynasty period (c. 4th century CE) through the Chola, Hoysala, Vijayanagara, Maratha, Mysore Kingdom, and British periods up to the early 20th century, provide invaluable primary source material for understanding the region's history, toponymy, language evolution, socio-religious practices, and administrative structures. They include various types, such as Vīragallu (hero stones), grant inscriptions (recording donations of land or taxes), temple inscriptions, royal decrees, Nisidhi stones (Jain memorials), and records of construction activities. Written predominantly in Kannada and Tamil languages and scripts, with some examples in Telugu, Sanskrit, Grantha, and Persian, these inscriptions are distributed across numerous historical localities within modern Bengaluru, including Begur, Hebbal, Malleshwaram, Kodigehalli, Domlur, and Yelahanka. Notable discoveries include the Begur inscription (c. 890 CE), which contains the earli
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