Mr. Fergusson considers
the architectural character to be of the 9th. The interpretations of the
Inscription as yet given are tentative and somewhat discrepant. Thus Mr.
Burnell reads: "In punishment (?) by the cross (was) the suffering to this
(one): (He) who is the true Christ and God above, and Guide for ever
pure." Professor Haug: "Whoever believes in the Messiah, and in God above,
and also in the Holy Ghost, is in the grace of Him who bore the pain of
the Cross." Mr. Thomas reads the central part, between two small crosses,
"+ In the Name of Messiah +." See Kircher, China Illustrata, p. 55
seqq.; De Couto, u.s. (both of these have inaccurate representations
of the cross); Academy, vol. v. (1874), p. 145, etc.; and Mr. Burnell's
pamphlet "On some Pahlavi Inscriptions in South India." To his kindness
I am indebted for the illustration (p. 351).
["E na quelle parte da tranqueira alem, do ryo de Malaca, em hum citio de
Raya Mudiliar, que depois possuyo Dona Helena Vessiva, entre os
Mangueiraes cavando ao fundo quasi 2 bracas, descobrirao hua + floreada de
cobre pouco carcomydo, da forma como de cavaleyro de Calatrava de 3 palmos
de largo, e comprido sobre hua pedra de marmor, quadrada de largura e
comprimento da ditta +, entra huas ruynas de hua caza sobterranea de
tijolos como Ermida, e parece ser a + de algum christao de Meliapor, que
veo em companhia de mercadores de Choromandel a Malaca." (Godinho de
Eredia, fol. 15.) - MS. Note. - H.Y.]
The etymology of the name Mayilappur, popular among the native
Christians, is "Peacock-Town," and the peafowl are prominent in the old
legend of St. Thomas. Polo gives it no name; Marignolli (circa 1350)
calls it Mirapolis, the Catalan Map (1375) Mirapor; Conti (circa
1440) Malepor; Joseph of Cranganore (1500) Milapar (or Milapor); De
Barros and Couto, Meliapor. Mr. Burnell thinks it was probably
Malai-ppuram, "Mount-Town"; and the same as the Malifatan of the
Mahomedan writers; the last point needs further enquiry.
NOTE 5. - Dr. Caldwell, speaking of the devil-worship of the Shanars of
Tinnevelly (an important part of Ma'bar), says: "Where they erect an image
in imitation of their Brahman neighbours, the devil is generally of
Brahmanical lineage. Such images generally accord with those monstrous
figures with which all over India orthodox Hindus depict the enemies of
their gods, or the terrific forms of Siva or Durga. They are generally
made of earthenware, and painted white to look horrible in Hindu eyes."
(The Tinnevelly Shanars, Madras, 1849, p. 18.)
NOTE 6. - The use of the Yak's tail as a military ornament had nothing to
do with the sanctity of the Brahmani ox, but is one of the Pan-Asiatic
usages, of which there are so many.
