113992242-Dravidian-Settlements-in-Ceylon-and-the-Beginnings-of-the-Kingdom-of-Jaffna-By-Karthigesu-Indrapala-Complete-Phd-Thesis-University-of-London-1965

97
A few other short epigraphe of little or no value
also come from the city and the vicinity of Polonnaruva. One
such inscription is engraved on a bell found in Siva DvIle No.VI
and has the name of SrT 4piai Perum alias Ton ......, the
donor. Palaeographically, it has been assigned to the Ca
period Another, registering the grant of Adhikaraia Craa,,
a 'Vaikkra of the )u-kai division, comes from Ga]. Oya,
near Polonnaruva The title Adhikaraa may suggest that the
donor was an administrative officer among the Vaikkras.
An analysis of these inscriptions from Polonnaruva
and its surroundings reveals that almost all those in which the
donors' names are preserved are grants by persons who may have
been C,a officials. This perhaps explains the occurrence of
many Tam!]. inscriptions in this region. Since Polonnaruva was
the capital of the island under the Cas, several officilas
from the C]a country were presumably stationed there. The
occurrence of several Tam!]. inscriptions here may not necessarily
indicate the presence of many Tamil settlers. The absence of
grants by traders is rather surprising, for one would normally
expect them to figure prominently among the donors of grants to
temples. There is no evidence in our inscriptions of the existence
1. A.S.C.A.R. for 1908, p. 15.
2. S.I.I,, IV, No. 1398.