The Indian subcontinent, like the Roman and Greek civilizations, is a civilization of epigraphy. The mass of Tamil inscriptions of more than two millennia dating from the third century BCE testifies to the Tamil epigraphic culture. These inscriptions constitute one of the most important sources for a better understanding of the historical, cultural and social evolution of the past.

Asa body of data, the corpus of Tamil inscriptions Is heterogeneous, and the range of historical and social issues they illuminate is extensive. This volume contains fourteen papers interpreting the Tamil epigraphs through several related fields: archaeology, history bistory of art, linguistics, philology and social anthropolowy. Such a multidisciplinary approach is attempted for the first time with contributions from both renowned scholars and young scholars: