Zheng He and the Galle Trilingual Inscription

This book takes a wide-angle look at the Galle Trilingual Inscription, pulling together insights from history, religion, language, and seafaring. It starts by telling the story of how the stone was found and what people first thought it meant. Then it places the inscription in the world of 15th-century Sri Lanka, a time shaped by politics, trade, and spiritual life.

Each of the three texts on the stone is unpacked to explore what they say, how they’re written, and who they were meant for. This book also looks at how using multiple languages wasn’t just practical for trade, it was a smart way to show respect and build bridges between cultures.

It also digs into how colonial and nationalist views have influenced the way this stone has been understood over time. And it asks what the inscription means today: as a symbol of religious diversity, a challenge for museums deciding how to display it, and a reminder of how global connections have deep roots.

In a quiet corner of the National Museum in Colombo sits an old stone slab. At first glance, it doesn’t look like much, just a worn surface with faded writing. But this humble rock, known as the Galle Trilingual Inscription, tells a remarkable story about Sri Lanka’s place in the world over 600 years ago.

Back in 1409, during his third voyage across the Indian Ocean, the famous Chinese admiral Zheng He had this stone carved. It carries messages in three languages, Chinese, Tamil, and Persian, each calling on a different god: Buddha, Vishnu, and Allah. It’s a rare and powerful example of religious respect and international diplomacy, written in the main languages of trade and belief across the region.

This book dives into the story behind the stone, not just as a museum piece, but as a symbol of global connection. It looks at how the inscription was found, how scholars have tried to make sense of it, and what it tells us about the world at that time. Through its words and the trade routes it hints at, the stone shows how religion, politics, and commerce came together in one bold act of outreach from a distant empire.