On the wrong dates in the colophons of Tamil Nadu manuscripts: data, observations, interpretative hypotheses

In: Petit, Jérôme ; Pinault, Georges-Jean (Hrsgg.): Praśasti. Studies in Indology Presented to Nalini Balbir by Colleagues, Students and Friends. Halle an der Saale, Universitätsverlag Halle-Wittenberg 2025, pp. 253-273 (Studia Indologica Universitatis Halensis ; 29) . ISBN 978-3-86977-292-9

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Abstract

The colophons of the manuscripts from Tamil Nadu (early 17th to early 20th century CE) often contain a date, typically that of the day on which the copying of the text ended. Sometimes these dates are convertible to a specific day of the Gregorian calendar, sometimes they recur cyclically, and sometimes they are demonstrably wrong. This article is concerned precisely with these ‘wrong’ dates, and aims to examine the incorrect calendrical values that make them such: how many there are, what they are, why they are there. The analysis of the available data will allow us to make observations and formulate hypotheses concerning the sources for the knowledge of the dates and how they were used in the period under consideration.