Trilingual Inscription (Tribhasha Sellipiya)

The trilingual inscription is a stone tablet inscribed with Chinese, Persian and Tamil languages, discovered in 1911 culvert near Cripps Road within the town of Galle, southwestern coast of Sri Lanka by a British engineer H.F. Tomalin. It was removed safely with the scholarly excitement inscriptions were deciphered with some difficulty and is now preserved in Colombo National Museum and a replica is exhibited in the Museum in Galle. When deciphered by archeologists with great efforts, it is written in Chinese, Tamil, and Persian in praise of Buddha, God Vishnu and Allah. This inscription is dated 15th February 1409 and installed by the Chinese Admiral Zheng He, who commanded seven great voyages through the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean between 1405 and 1433. The stone tablet was originally inscribed in the Treasure Boat Shipyard Park in Nanjingin the seventh reginal year of Emperor Yong le of Ming dynasty and brought on the 3rd voyage of Admiral Zheng He and the text of inscription mentions about offerings made to the sacred mountain shrine. This is the only trilingual inscription having texts in Chinese, Tamil and Persian which represent three different regions and cultures across the world.