A Modular Framework for the Analysis of the Dates Found in Manuscripts Written in the Tamil and Tamilian Grantha Scripts

This article focuses on the analysis of the dates included in the scribal colophons found in manuscripts written in the Tamil and Tamilian Grantha scripts. The analysis which follows is based on the data collected so far by Giovanni Ciotti and I, which will provide the basis for a forthcoming, broader work on scribal colophons and lending/borrowing statements in palm leaf manuscripts hailing from the Tamil-speaking South of India. In this article, the dates will be investigated from the point of view of their constituents and the relationships existing between them. For this purpose, a date will be conceived as a modular entity, which can conveniently be segmented into smaller constituents, which I will call “submodules”.