Bulletin of the Deccan College Research Institute October 1951

This period which has been described as the Early Old Malayalam period ' may be said to begin roughly in the last quarter of the ninth century of the Christian era (which coincides with the third quarter of the first century of the Kérala era known as the Kollam era) and end in the first quarter of the thirteenth century of the Christian era (or in the last quarter of the fourth century of the K [...] By the end of the fourth century of the Kollam era the developed forms are so numerously represented as to justify the marking of a definite stage in the development of Malayalam with the beginning of the fifth century. [...] These inscriptions have been selected in order (a) to bring the study down to the close of the 4th century of the Kollam era and (b) to show clearly the beginning of a new stage in the development of the Malayalam speech with the commencement of the 13th century of the Christian era. [...] The first number within the circular brackets after a speech-form refers to the century to which the inscription belongs the second to the serial number of the inscriptions and the third to the line in the inscription. [...] It is worth noting that many of the letters in the modern Malayalam bears close resemblance to the Grantha of the fourth century of the Kollam era rather than to the Vatteluttu of the same period—a fact that may lead to the iference that such letters are developments of the corresponding Grantha symbols." The Vatteluttu like the Tamil script has no symbols for the voiced variety of the conso