ಪುಟ:Epigraphia carnatica - Volume I.djvu/೧೮

12 through the University of Mysore on 4-4-1970. Though the government was pleased to pass orders approving the scheme on 16-3-71, overcoming all the technical difficuhies it v/as possible to put the scheme into operation only by 16th December 1971. An Advisory Committee, with the Director, Institute of Kancada Studies, as the Chairman, was constituted by the University to guide the Institute in the implementation of the scheme. The committee consists of the Director, Department of Archaeology, Mysore, the Chief Epigraphist to Government of India, and a few scholars from the Universities of Mysore, Bangalore, Karnatak and Madras. This committee met for the first time on 24-12-1971 and discussed in detail the modus operandi of the revision ‍ of Epigraphia Carnatica ; broad guidelines were also set out. Some of the important decisions of the committee were as follows : Roman transliteration of the texts of the Kannada inscriptions need not be given ; texts of the non-Kannada inscriptions should be provided in Kannada script along with their Roman transliteration ; inscriptions published at different sources should be brought together ; every inscription should be preceded by a short introductory note ; necessary, useful indices should be included ; introduction, texts and translations should be revised on the basis of authentic evidences. In accordance with the suggestions of the Advisory Committee, revision of the volumes of Epigraphia Carnatica has been undertaken and the first volume so revised is being now brought outi' This volume contains the inscriptions of the Coorg District. B. L. Rice published this volume in 1886 as the first in the series of the volumes of Epigraphia Carnatica comprising 23 inscriptions of Coorg, with their translation and transliteration. When the Gazetteer of Coorg had to be prepared for the New Imperial Gazetteer of India , Rice felt the need for a fresh survey. The new inscriptions which came to light as a result of this endeavour were incor- porated in the appendices to the volumes of Epigraphia Carnatica relating to Bangalore and Tumkur (9 and 12-First Edition). All these inscriptions were put together in the revised edition of the Coor^ //).?f/-/pr/o/75 which Rice brought out in 1914. The number of inscriptions included in the revised edition was 75. This volume has again been revised according to the scheme of revision and re-print of the volumes of Epigraphia Carnatica. In order to compare the texts of the published inscriptions with those of the originals, two survey tours have been undertaken. Many of the mscriptions have been compared with the originals and corrections have been effected, wherever necessary. Only in cases where the original inscriptions were not available, the texts have been retained as such. Inscription No. 72 of the previous edition, which was in an undecipherable condition has been omitted. One of the special features of the present volume is that it includes 32 new inscriptions which had, as yet, not seen the light of the day. Of course, it is true that, our scheme does not contemplate any search for fresh inscriptions. We have included al! those inscriptions v/hich were secured without much effort on our part. This shows how much more work still remains to be done in this direction. Undoubtedly, there is a need for a new comprehensive survey. This work has to be accomplished before these inscriptions, still in oblivion, finally disappear from the scene. A comparison with the previous edition will bring out a few more special features. A new introduction replaces the old one written by Rice ; an introductory note preceeds every inscrip- tion ; to satisfy the modern requirements, a few indices have been included. All this has been done in accordance with the suggestions of the Advisory Committee. As far as works of this type are concerned, revision cannot, however, be final. Individuals and institutions, both have their ovvn limitations. Whatever be the revision, it is undertaken by a few ; and their work cannot be isolated from the view-point, attitudes, studies and research, all their own. It is quite natural that others may have their own views and attitudes. Hence, in this great endeavour suggestions and proposals of scholars interested in such works are