26 Inscriptions and graffiti from Muciri.pdf

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,

.,

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF DRAVIDIAN UNGUISTICS

Reg, No. 22651/72

VOWME

XXXrJ

NUMBER 2

JUNE

2006

M.B.

Emeneau

RX Misbra

5J.Stephen

SatarupaD.

O.

Vasanta

V. Selvakumar.

K..P. Shajan

I. Mahadevan

Notes Discussions

V.I. Subramooiam

D. Hima1ayanath

Prema

Raghavan

AX

Baishya

K. Parameswaran

H.S.Sharma

G. Balasubramanian

P.S.

Subrahmanyam

I. Mahadevan

B.

Gopinathan Nair

M. Bhattacharya

T.M. Menon

JeIUlifer Bayer

R.N. Bhat

Some Dravidian Noun Compounds 1

Toda Studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

9

Grommarand Speech in the

Brain . .

39

Five Portuguese-

Tamil

Grammar

Manuscripts .

67

Study

ofBangia

Consonant

Clusters . 89

Processing of Telugu Compounds. . . . . . . . . 107

Inscriptions

and

Graffiti on

Pottery

from 117

Pattanam

Mucirli),

Kera/a

I

A Note on Gundert. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

Translation and Hermeneutics . . . . . . . . 129

Twu:JUng

cf

English

in giawlM..Jium

ScJwo/s.

. 137

BOTTOWing in Rabha: A

Few

Observations . . . . 143

The

Discourse

of

Rodio

News

.

149

Negation

in

Manipuri (Meiteilon)

155

Attitudinal Difference and Second Language. . . 163

Leamingwith Reference to Tamil and MaJayaIom

VeTb

Bases

as N o n ~ p a s t d j e c t i v e s in Old Tamil . . 171

and Old

Telugu

A Note on the Muiuku Sign of

the

Indus Script. .

175

On Dravidian

Prehistory

.

179

LilerpJ TlflJJSlotion andLess

c

Sem.antic Prrp rtie.r. 187

GetUS, Mind Culcure:

The

Co-evo/utionary

. .

195

Process CJ.

Lumsden.t EO. WibDn)

Ben pJi O'''' ,andSOOelytJuvu1fliJs

RVIdIe. s..

a . ?JJ)

Language

Education Communication

ON.

KooI). 213

DRAVIDIAN

LINGUISTICS

ASSOCIATION

KERAlA

pANINJ

aUUDING

,

sr.

XAVIER'S COLLEGe P.

O.

11flRIN

ANANJlIAPURAM •695 586,

KERAl.A



International Journal

of

ravidian Linguistics

Vo

l.

XXXV No 2 June 2006

AND GRAFFITI ON POTTERY FROM

PATTANAM (MUCIR/ I), KI RALA

V.

SELV

AK

UMAR,

Centre for Heritage Studies

H

il

l Palace

Tripunithura - 682.30

1

K.P. SHAJAN

&

I M H bEVAN

School of Marine Sciences

Cochin U

ni

ve

rsity of

Science and Technology

Cochin - 685

001

8-1

Narumukai

ApIS.

Brindavan Nagar

Extn.

Chennai .

600

088

Kerala was a blank spaee on the Early H is toric archaeological map

of South India but for thc few s

it

es o f Roman coin hoa rds tin the discovery

of Pattanam.

De

spite th eir significant role

in

th

e Indian Ocean trade and

the references to the ports

of

Muziris, Bccare, Nelcynda and Tyndis in

literature, archaeological evi dence was lacking on the ground for the Early

Historic settleme

nt

s and trade activities. Thus the discovery of Pattanam

(tcntatively identificd with anci ent Mucir/i or Muzi rs) is truly a landmark in

the archaeology of Kerala. The si te was frrst studied

by

Shajan and the

Roman amphora from the site was identificd by Roberta Tomber and the

Indian ceramics we re identified

by

Selvakumar

S

hajan et al

2004;

2005).

Subsequent to the discovery, trial excavations were conducted at the site

by

thc Centrc for Heritage Studies associating the second author (Selvakumar

et

al

2005a, 2005b). The excavations have brought to light many interesting

discoveries including an early or Sangam Age Chera coin, evidence for

megalithic (Iron

Age·

Early His toric Transition) occupation, inscr iptions

and graffi ti on pottery. This paper presents a discussion and

in

terpretation

of the two inscriptions and two other graffiti found at this sitc.

The Site, Trenches and Cultural Periods

Pattanam

li

es in Paravur Taluk un

der

ChiUatukara Panchayat

in

Vadakkckara village of Ernakulam District. It is about 20 km north of Er

nakulam, and one kilometre to the north of Paravur Thodu, a distributary of

th

e river Periyar.

The

site covers 600

m.

x 400

m.

area and b

rick

architecture

is

cxposed at several dugout areas at the sitc.





ijdl Vo

l

xxx No. 2 119

Discussion on the Inscriptions and Gratliti

(Notes contrib

ut ed

by havalham Mahadevan)

Sclvaku mar, Sha

ja

n Mahadcvan

The earliest epigraphical reference to Mucir/i occurs in the name

MucirJi Ko a found in the Ta

mil

-Brahrrii cave inscription at

Munup

atti,

Ma

durai District, Tamil Nadu (Mahadevan 2

00

3, Early Tamil Epi

gr

apll

Y

No.

56,

ca. 1st Cent. BeE). This reco

rd

is more or less contemporary with

the references to Mucir/i in the Cankam poems (Akam. 57:

15

; 149: 1 1.

Pu .am. 343:10) and in the Western cla

ss

ical literature (Pliny and the

Peri

pl

us) . The continued existence of Mucir/i even in the medieval period is

attested by the reference to Muyiri-k-kotu in the Coch in Plates of Bhaskara

-

.

Ra

viva

rman

in

ca.

10

th

ce

nt. CE

£pigra

ph

ia

Indi

ca

III : 66

-6

9).

Sherd

1 (Fig. 1)

The fragmentary sherd has preserve d five characters read as follows:

... ur pava o ...

The wo

rd

r 'village, town', clearly indicates that the language is

Tamil.

Th

e next word pava may be compar

ed

with Ta , piivai,

Ma

. pava,

'young woman or doll'.

Th

e last extant letter is the vowel a probably part of

the pronominal ending 0/ or Or which can only be conjecturally restored.

Tentative ly, the inscription can be translated as follows: 'Woman/do ll of the

vil

lage .

....

In the absence of other clues, th

is

fragmentary

text

cannot be

in

terpreted furtber, though the language

is

decidedly Old Tamil. The occur

rence of tbe

Pre-Malayalam form pava at litis early period is noteworthy.

PaJa

eographically, the script can be identified as Late Tamil-Brahnii, ca.

2nd cent. CE. The writing on the sherd may be compared 10 that of the

cer

a cave inscriptions of abo ut the same period at Pugalu r in Tamil Nadu

and

Ed

akal in Kerala.

Sherd

2 (Fig. 2)

A single large-sized character is incised on tbe sherd. It appears to

be

ke

of the Nl1gati script of the early mediev

al period

(ca. 7-8th cen

t. c.E.).

As only one letter is seen on the she

rd

, nothing de

fini

te can be said about

the language. This is the only kno

wn

occurrence of the N

gan script in po t

tery inscriptions from tbe Tamil country. Nagaii inscriptions on stone begin

to appear in the Tamil country only from the Pallava Period (from ca. 7th

cent.

c

E

) .



IJdl Vol.

XXX

Ko_:

nil

Scl'OIkumar. ShaJ3n .\1ahade,·an

Shtrds 3 4 (Figures 3 4)

Eaeh exhibits a solit ary large- sized symtxll, one of them (No.3) in

cised before ri ng and the other (No.4) after. A visual comparison shows

that both symbols are iden tical,

one of

the m

(No.3)

being cursive and other

(No.4) rectilinea r in style.

The symbol on the sher

d i

is easily identi ed by its characteristic and

un

mis takahle shape, looking somewhat like the English capital leuer ' I' in

manuscript style. B.

B.

Lal (1960: symbol 47) has identified this symbol on

the megalithic pottery at Sanur (sec Fi

g.

5) and elsewhere in T,mlil Nad

u.

He has compared the

sy

mh

nl

with a sign of the Indus script incised on pot

tery from K

ali

bangatJ (sec F

ig.

6). More r

ece

ntly, the same symbol has bee n

found on megalithic pottery excavated at Mangudi in

Tam il

Nadu (Sh

eny

2003: pp.

45,

47, 48). Iravalham Mahadevan has identified this symbol wilh

Sign Nos. 47 and

48

of the Indus script The

In

dus Script , sign list,

Mahadcvan 1977). He has trace d the evolution of this symbol from Ihe

Harappan seals and pottery graffi ti to the late r art motifs as well

as

to the

meg

al

ithic gra

ffi

ti

of

Tamil

Nadu

(Mahadevan 1999,

20(

1). According to

him, the symbol represents an anthropomorphic deity "seated on hi s

haunches, body bent

and contracted,

wi

th lower limbs fol ded and knees

drawn up". For

a

realist ic representation of this symbol in human form, one

may refer to the figures impressed on tcrracolla tiles from Harwan, Kash

mir, ca . 4th cent. CE (see Fig. 7 .

lravatham Mahadev<ln (1999) has identified this symbol on linguistic

grounds as the earliest representation of the

Dra

vidi<ln deity mum

ku

(Ta .

M

k ~

C f. especially, Ta. IIIUri to bend ', Ka. mum/Ill 'a bend', Pa. mlllg

' to be bent ', Ga. mllrg 'to bend', G o. moorga ' hump-backed', etc. (DEDR

4977).

Ap

plying tbe technique of rebus, the intended mea ning of the symbol

can be recognized from the homophonous words,

Ta

.

murnkku

' to

de

stroy,

kill ', Ma .

muruka

' to cu t

',

Ko ', Nk.

mu

rk 'to break ', Ma lt.

l l

rke ' to cut in to

bits', etc. (DEDR 4975). These terms reveal the original meaning ofmurukll

'killer or destroyer'. As P.

L.

Samy (1990: 9-]6) has pointed out , this is the

meaning of the word lmmlku in the earliest layer of Tamil Cankam poetry.

In Tamil Na

du

, this symbol occurs on pottery of the Iron Agc (Megalithic)

assigned broadly to the second half of the fi rst miUenn iu m BCE. The

reported occurrence of this symbol at PaUanam (Mucir/i) as late as in the

early medieval period is surprising and may be due \0 the site being di

s-

turbed. Purther excavations will hope fu lly shed mor c light on thc chronol

ogy of this

sy

mbol. In any case, the occurrence of Ihis symbol on pottery at



ijd l Vol

XXXV

NO.2

121

Se

lv

akuma r

Sh

ajan Mahadevan

Mucir/i in Kerala

is

a major discovery in the chain linking the signs of the

Indus script with the 'megalithic' graffiti ofSouth India.

Acknowledgements

Th e authors would like to acknowledge the Centre for Heritage

Studies, Tri punithura, for funding the trial excavations, and M r. P.K. Gopi

the registrar, the staff

and

students of the Centre for their support in the re

search .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Achan,

A.P.

1946.

Annual

Report

of

the Archaeological Department Cochin

State for the year

1121

M.E.

(1945-46), E rnakulam, Cochin.

Casson, L. 1989. The Periplus Maris Erythraei. Text with introduction, trans

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Cham

paka

lakshmi,

R.

1996

.

Trade. Ideojogy

and

Urbaniunion: South India

300

B.C.IO A.D. 1300. Delhi .

Gupta, S. 1997. R

om

an Egyp O Peninsular India: Archaeological Pattems

of

Trade 1st Century B.C. to 3rd Century A D.

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Pun

e:

University of Poona.

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Cultural History

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Thiruvananthapuram: Depar tm cnt of Culture, Government of Kerala.

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Lal, B.8. 1960. From Megalithic to the Harappa: tracing baek the graffiti

on

pottery . Ancient India 16: 4-24.

. ,

Mahadevan, Iravatham. 1977. The Indus Script: Teus Concordance and

Tables .

New Delhi: Archaeological Survey

of

India.

--. 1999.

M u T l l k . a

in the Indus script-. Journal otthe Institute of Asian

Studies

Vol. XVI

No.2

.



ijdJ

Vol. XXXV No. 2 122

Se

Jwkumar. Silajan Mahad

ewn

-- --. 2001.

Th

e

In

dus-like symbols

on

m

eg

alithic potte r

y:

new e v i d e n e ~ in

Vidya" avavandanam . Essays in honour of Asko Parpola. Helsinki. Pp. 379-

386.

----.2003. Early Tamil Epigraphy. Harvard Cre-A, Che

nn

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Samy P.L.

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ad

ra

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Sathyamurthy, T.

1992. Catalogue

0 Roman Gold

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Thiruvanan

tba puram: Deparlment of Archa

eo

logy.

Selvakumar, V., P.K. G

op

i KP . Shajan. 2OOSa. 7r ial Excavations at Pat

tanam: A Preliminary R e p o r t The Journal a/the Centre/or Hen tage Srudies

2,57-66.

----, KP. Shajan P.K. Gopi. 200Sb, Pattanalhil Muchiriyin Thadayangal-

Sothanaj Agalva)'VllgaJ : Or Arikkai ,Avanam 15: 113-117

.

Shajan,

KP

R.

To

mber

,

V,

Selvakumar

P

J .

Cherian.

2004

.

Locating the

Ancie

nt

Port

of

Muziris: Fresh Findings (rom Pattanam .JoumaJ

of

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12-320.

---

-,

V. Se lvakumar R. Tomber.

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·Was Pattnam Muziris? Man

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Shetty, AY. 2003. Excavations 1 Mangudi, Chennai, Tamil Nadu: Depart

ment of Archaeology,

f

ig

,

1

Tamil-Brahnii inscription

on pottery from Pattanam

(Mucir/i)

Fig. 2

Nagafi character on pottery

from Pattanarn (Mucir/i)



ijdl Vol.

xxx

1'';0. 2

Fig.

:3

Pre-firing graffito on pottery

from Pattanam ucu /

i)

Fig.

5

Sclvakumar. Shajan Mahadevan

Fig. 4.

Post-firing graffito on

pottery from Pattanam

Mucu/i)

t; fr m Sanur, Tamil Nadu

B.B.

La1 9GO:

PI.

XXXI-

B)

Fig.

6:

Pottery graffito, Kalibangan Photograph Courtesy: Archaeological

Survey of India, New Delhi. Also in B.B.

La11960)



I) ..J I Vol. X XXV .Jo l

124

S e I V i l

u m a

Sh

a il

n

&

M

Bh

adcvan

Fi

g 7

The Emaciated Ascetics. Impressed figures on tcrraco tt a t

ile

s from Hanvan,

Kashmir

Ph

o

to

graph

Co

urt

esy:

Prince of Wales Museum,

Mumb

ai) .

• I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I II I I I I I IU II I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I

1111

11111111

.

.

..

.,

.

.

.

.

.

A LINGUIST VISITS BANGLADESH

Sangnllmltra Sana, 2 1 , PB, Oemy 1/8,

pp Iv

96,

tU.

751- (US 51-)

,

...

.

.

.

.

.

.

: : A most interesting tr avelogue of a linguist whose parents ::

came fro m Bangladesh and seve ral relatives

st

ill live the re. It r

ca

ds · ::

: : like a

dete

ctive nove l ::

.

. .

i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i

i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i

i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i

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26 Inscriptions and graffiti from Muciri.pdf