Damião de Góis states that the languages used in the Knāyithomman Copper Plates were Arabic, Persian, and Malabar, but he does not specify how many scripts were employed or identify the scripts in which these languages were written. Likewise, he does not explain what language he meant by “Malabar.” Since Portuguese records generally used the term Malabar to refer to Kerala, it is reasonable to interpret this as the language of Kerala, namely Malayalam.
The script used to write this language could have been Vattezhuthu, Kolezhuthu, Tamil-Brahmi, which preceded Vattezhuthu in Kerala, Grantha, or a combination of these scripts, as is found in several early inscriptions from Kerala. It is also possible that another script, no longer extant today, may have been employed.
As Sequeira observed, the scripts of the Arabic, Persian, and Malabar languages may have been interwoven throughout both plates or confined to only one of them. However, it is unlikely that both plates consisted solely of Vattezhuthu, or of any other indigenous Kerala script, whether independently or in combination with other local scripts. Góis explicitly mentions the presence of two Semitic languages alongside the Malabar language. Moreover, by the mid-sixteenth century, one may reasonably assume that scholars capable of reading Kerala scripts such as Vattezhuthu, Kolezhuthu, Tamil-Brahmi, or Grantha would have been available, at least in the royal court of Cochin. In such circumstances, there would have been no need for the King of Cochin to recommend that the document be read by a Jewish scholar.
The decision to entrust the reading of the plates to a Jew strongly suggests the presence of Hebrew, or at least another Semitic script. It is therefore probable that the two plates, or at least one of them, contained Arabic and Persian written in their respective scripts.
A comparison of the Portuguese translations of the Knāyithomman Copper Plates by Francisco Ros and Diogo do Couto with the Vīrarāghava Pattayam indicates that the contents of the Knāyithomman charter, together with the names of the Kerala witnesses, could easily have been accommodated on both sides of a single copper plate. This becomes particularly evident when the explanatory additions introduced by the translators are excluded. For example, a single term in the original charter relating to the grant of vāykkura privileges appears to have been rendered by Diogo do Couto through an explanatory paraphrase exceeding twenty words.
Since the text of the Knāyithomman Copper Plates is relatively brief, it is reasonable to assume that the first plate, containing the royal charter issued by the Chera king together with the names of the Kerala witnesses, was written in the Malabar language (using one or more local scripts). As the charter was intended for Persian merchant settlers, it is equally reasonable that the second plate reproduced the names of the witnesses in their own languages and scripts.
If the first plate was written in a Kerala script, it is understandable that a Jewish scholar was consulted to interpret the second plate, which was written in foreign scripts—particularly if Hebrew script was present. Since the Hebrew script was used for the Old Testament, it is possible that at least some of the Portuguese were able to recognize it. Although the second plate contains inscriptions in Arabic, Pahlavi, and Hebrew scripts, the portion written in Hebrew script appears to represent the Persian language rather than Hebrew itself. If this interpretation is correct, the three languages described by Sequeira—Arabic, Persian, and Malabar—are fully accounted for across the two plates: the Malabar language on the first plate, and Arabic and Persian on the second.
The Date of the Knāyithomman Copper Plates
A substantial body of historical evidence supporting A.D. 345, the traditional date assigned to the Knanaya migration, has been collected by Fr. Jacob Kollaparambil in works such as The Babylonian Origin of the Southists Among the Saint Thomas Christians and The Knanaya Community in Kerala History. The internal evidence of the Knāyithomman Copper Plates, together with scientific examination, may provide an additional means of confirming—or possibly challenging—this traditional chronology.
Since the first plate, which almost certainly contained the chronological statement, has not survived, the principal sources available for chronological analysis are the Portuguese translations prepared by Francisco Ros and Diogo do Couto, the Curzon summary of the Tharisapalli Charter, and the French translation by Du Perron. Should the witness plate ultimately be recognized as part of the Knāyithomman Copper Plates, it too would become an important source for chronological study.
The internal chronological indicators preserved in the surviving sources include:
- Chronological expressions recorded in the Portuguese translation of Francisco Ros.
- Corresponding chronological expressions preserved in the translation of Diogo do Couto.
- The astronomical notation preserved in the Curzon Summary, referring to the position of Jupiter, the Malayalam month of Makaram, the twenty-ninth day, Saturday, the asterism Rohiṇī, and the seventh lunar day (Saptami).
- Additional astronomical references preserved in Du Perron’s French translation.
Unfortunately, these chronological and astronomical references do not entirely agree with one another. There is no clear evidence that they have yet been subjected to a comprehensive and rigorous astronomical analysis. Nevertheless, they deserve careful scholarly investigation. Apart from the palaeographical features that may be derived from the witness plate, no additional chronological indicators are presently available.
Since copper contains no carbon, radiocarbon dating cannot be applied to the copper plates. Consequently, the dating of the Knāyithomman Copper Plates must rely upon historical, linguistic, palaeographical, and astronomical evidence.
