Cherok Tok Kun inscription

The Cherok Tokun inscription (Malay: Batu Bersurat Cherok Tokun) are ancient relic on a rock in Bukit Mertajam, Penang, Malaysia. It is the only ancient megalith in Penang, Malaysia, as recognised by the Malaysian Department of Museum and Antiquities. It is also regarded as the southernmost relic of the ancient civilization of Bujang Valley.^[1] The granite megalith is located at the foot of Bukit Mertajam, within the compound of the St Anne Church.^[2]

The inscriptions were believed to be in pre-Pallava script and written in Sanskrit. They were attributed to the ancient Kingdom of Kadaaram, which flourished in northern Malaysia in the 5th to 6th centuries. However, according to Laidlay JW, who translated the text in 1848, the inscription was Pali, not Sanskrit.^[3]^[4] It was discovered in 1845 by James Low. In his log, Low recorded his disappointment of not finding a more spectacular ruin, expecting to find an ancient temple ruin. He documented what he made out to be "a group of seven inscriptions".^[5]

References

^ Murphy, Stephen A. (November 2017). "Revisiting the Bujang Valley: A Southeast Asian entrepôt complex on the maritime trade route". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. 28 (2): 355–389. doi:10.1017/S1356186317000505. ISSN 1356-1863.
^ Kumar, B. Nantha (2020-09-18). "Batu bersurat berusia 1,600 tahun terbiar, jadi sasaran vandalisme". Malaysiakini (in Malay). Retrieved 2024-06-21.
^ Laidlay, J.W. (1848). "Note on the Inscriptions from Singapore and Province Wellesley : Forwarded by the Hon. Col. Butterworth, C.B., and Col. J. Low". Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. xvii (ii): 66–72., reprinted in Miscellaneous Papers Relating to Indo-China, above, vol. 1 at 227–232.
^ EurASEAA14 Volume II: Material Culture and Heritage: Papers from the Fourteenth International Conference of the European Association of Southeast Asian Archaeologists. Archaeopress. 2020. doi:10.2307/j.ctv1zcm1tq. JSTOR j.ctv1zcm1tq.
^ Low, James (1848). "An Account of Several Inscriptions Found in Province Wellesley, on the Peninsula of Malacca". Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. xvii (ii): 62–66.. Reprinted in Miscellaneous Papers Relating to Indo-China, above, vol. 1 at 223–226.

[1] Murphy, Stephen A. (November 2017). "Revisiting the Bujang Valley: A Southeast Asian entrepôt complex on the maritime trade route". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. 28 (2): 355–389. doi:10.1017/S1356186317000505. ISSN 1356-1863.

[2] Kumar, B. Nantha (2020-09-18). "Batu bersurat berusia 1,600 tahun terbiar, jadi sasaran vandalisme". Malaysiakini (in Malay). Retrieved 2024-06-21.

[Laidlay-3] Laidlay, J.W. (1848). "Note on the Inscriptions from Singapore and Province Wellesley : Forwarded by the Hon. Col. Butterworth, C.B., and Col. J. Low". Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. xvii (ii): 66–72., reprinted in Miscellaneous Papers Relating to Indo-China, above, vol. 1 at 227–232.

[4] EurASEAA14 Volume II: Material Culture and Heritage: Papers from the Fourteenth International Conference of the European Association of Southeast Asian Archaeologists. Archaeopress. 2020. doi:10.2307/j.ctv1zcm1tq. JSTOR j.ctv1zcm1tq.

[5] Low, James (1848). "An Account of Several Inscriptions Found in Province Wellesley, on the Peninsula of Malacca". Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. xvii (ii): 62–66.. Reprinted in Miscellaneous Papers Relating to Indo-China, above, vol. 1 at 223–226.

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