New Evidences on Scientific Dates for Brahmi Script as Revealed From Kodumanal Excavations

New evidences on scientific dates for Br¢hm¤ Script asNew evidences on scientific dates for Br¢hm¤ Script asNew evidences on scientific dates for Br¢hm¤ Script asNew evidences on scientific dates for Br¢hm¤ Script asNew evidences on scientific dates for Br¢hm¤ Script asrevealed from Porunthal and Kodumanal Excavationsrevealed from Porunthal and Kodumanal Excavationsrevealed from Porunthal and Kodumanal Excavationsrevealed from Porunthal and Kodumanal Excavationsrevealed from Porunthal and Kodumanal Excavations

K. Rajan and V.P.YatheeskumarK. Rajan and V.P.YatheeskumarK. Rajan and V.P.YatheeskumarK. Rajan and V.P.YatheeskumarK. Rajan and V.P.Yatheeskumar

Irrespective of the claims on the decipherment of

Indus script and graffiti marks, the earliest

satisfactorily deciphered script in India is the Br¢hm¤

script. Though it was first recognised in coins, the

decipherment of Aºokan edicts made it popular and

on account of this it came to be known as Aºokan-

Br¢hm¤ or after his dynastic name Mauryan-Br¢hm¤.

Later, a variant of this script was discovered in the

south, in places like at Bha°°iprù¶u in Andhra Pradesh.1

To differentiate this, they called the one found in the

north as northern-Br¢hm¤ and the one found in the

south as southern-Br¢hm¤. Again a new variant of

Br¢hm¤ script was came to know after the discoveryof rock shelter inscriptions at M¢¬gu¶am near Mël¦rin Madurai district of Tamil Nadu by Robert Sewellin 1882. The successful decipherment of theseinscriptions in1924 by K.V.Subrahmanya Aiyer2

provided a new insight on the variant of Br¢hm¤

script. The Br¢hm¤ inscriptions of Tamil Nadu, inaddition to some distinctive letters, were written inTami~ language whereas the inscriptions outsideancient Tami~ country (ancient Tami~akam) werewritten in Prakrit language. So as to differentiate

them from Prakrit-Br¢hm¤, they designated the new

variant as Tami~-Br¢hm¤. These Tami~-Br¢hm¤inscriptions have certain unique letters to denote ~a,~a, ãa and éa occur in Tami~ language. Further, theletters " ma ' and "ra ' also have some morphologicalfeatures that differ from usual Aºokan-Br¢hm¤.Keeping in view of these developments, scholarsopined that the Br¢hm¤ scripts that found outsideTamil Nadu and Kerala (ancient Tami~akam) shouldbe re-designated as Prakrit-Br¢hm¤ rather than callingthem as Aºokaé-Br¢hm¤ or Mauryan-Br¢hm¤. Thisview seems to be reasonable. It would be appropriateto designate the inscription on the basis of languageand script rather name of the ruler or dynasty. Theancient Jaina and Buddhist texts like Pannava´¢-sutta and Lalitavistara listed sixty four and eighteenscripts respectively that were in practice at the timeof the composition of these literary works. Thoughwe have not come across all the scripts listed in theliterature, the scholars identified three importantscripts namely Br¢hm¤, Kharo¾°h¤ and Dami~i. Sinceboth the scripts (Br¢hm¤ and Dami~i ) find their placein the same literature, scholars like R.Nagasamy,M.D.Sampath and Natana. Kasinathan insist that

Received : 18th February, 2013 : Corrected : 26th February, 2013

280

izkX/kkjk] vad&21&22

Tami~-Br¢hm¤ should be called as Dami~i. Keeping inview of the growing knowledge in this field, the termDami~i (Tami~-Br¢hm¤) is used in this article todifferentiate from Aºokan-Br¢hm¤ and also for betterunderstanding and wider acceptability. The closeobservations of the Dami~i (Tami~-Br¢hm¤) and SriLankan Br¢hm¤ scripts suggest that they had closerrelations with each other than the Aºokan-Br¢hm¤.Irrespective of their successful decipherment, theorigin and date of Br¢hm¤ script still elude the scholarsas they were mostly recovered from non-perishablematerial like on rock-surface, metal objects andpotsherds. The non-availability of the script writtenon organic material prevented us in fixing the datescientifically. Thus, the study of palaeography,orthography and archaeological stratigraphypredominate the scene in assigning the date to Br¢hm¤script which initiated much debate among theepigraphists and archaeologists due to its ambiguity.However, the recent evidences observed atKo²umaál, Porunthal, Pulim¢ékùmbai andTh¢thappa°°i in Tamil Nadu and at Anur¢dhapura inSri Lanka shed some light on the chronology of thescript.

The three earliest Tami~-Br¢hm¤ inscribed memorial

stones of India speaking on cattle raids recovered at

Pulim¢ékùmbai generated much debate on the date

of Br¢hm¤ script in Tamil Nadu as one of these

memorial stones is considered earlier than the

celebrated M¢¬gu¶am inscription3 (Figs. 1-6). This

debate is further accelerated with discovery of

memorial stone (a menhir) associated with urn burial

containing Tami~-Br¢hm¤ inscription at Th¢thappa°°i4

(Figs. 7-8). All the memorial stones were discovered

a few kilometres west of Madurai on the banks of

river Vaigai close to the trade route connecting

P¢´²iya capital with Chëra country on the western

side of the western ghat. Before the debates settled

down, the three radiometric dates of Porunthal and

Ko²umaál have further accelerated the debate on

the origin and spread of this script. An attempt is

made here to place the recently obtained radiometric

dates from the above said two excavated sites for

the scholars close scrutiny and to discuss some of

the issues relating to the chronology of Dami~i (Tami~-

Br¢hm¤ script). A brief description of these two sites

is given to understand the potentiality of the site.

Excavations at PorunthalExcavations at PorunthalExcavations at PorunthalExcavations at PorunthalExcavations at Porunthal

Porunthal (770 28' 38"" E; 100 22' 58'' N), a tiny

village, is situated on the left bank of the river

Porunthil-¢ãu at the foothill of the Western Ghat

about 12 km southwest Pa~aéi, the taluk head

Fig. 1: Pulimankombai : Memorial Stone (no.1) WithTamil-Brahmi Inscription

Fig. 2: Pulimankombai : Readings of the MemorialStone (no.1)

281

Pr¢gdh¢r¢, No. 21-22

quarters. The river Porunthil-¢ãu joins with Amar¢vathi

(ancient ¡é-poãuéai) near Dh¢r¢puram town in Kar¦r

district. This village lies close to the major trade

routes connecting Madurai, the P¢´²iya capital on

the south and Va®ji on the west coast. The inscription

engraved on the Chù~ësvara temple at Ko~umam issued

during the 21st regnal year of V¤ra-chù~adeva (1189

CE) refer this highway as Cëraéaimëéko´²a-chù~aé-

peruva~i.55555 Va®ji was the celebrated Chëra capital on

the bank of river Periy¢r in Thriss¦r district of Kerala.

Several Jain beds with Dami~i (Tami~-Br¢hm¤)

inscriptions and medieval trade guild inscriptions

issued by the celebrated trade guilds like Ain¦ããuvar/

Ticai-¢yirattu-ain¦ããuvar were reported on this route6

(Fig. 9). The famous Roman coin hoard site

Kalayamutt¦r discovered in 1856 lies on the

Porunthil-¢ãu river bank 6 km north of Porunthal

village7. It yielded 63 gold coins issued between 8

BCE and 193 CE. The recent explorations carried

out in Amar¢vathi river valley met with about 175

Iron Age and Early Historic sites8 (Fig. 10). The

present site Porunthal was discovered in March

2006.

Historically, the village Porunthal is part of a territorial

division known as Vaik¢v¦r-n¢²u. The main village

Vaikav¦r or ¡viy¦r is named after one of the important

clan groups' ¡viyar-k¦°i. One of the famous Vë~





282


chieftains Vë¶-¡vi-k-kù-p-perum-Pëkaé (Puãan¢é¦ãu

143, 144, 145, 146 and147) hails from this clan

group. The Sangam poems (Akan¢é¦ãu 1 and 61;

Puãan¢é¦ãu 142) mention this place as belongs to

the Vë¶ chieftain Ne°u-Vë¶-¡vi. As per Sangam poem

Pa°iããuppattu, another important chieftain Vë¶-¡vi-k-

kù-Patumaé had matrimonial relations with Chëras

who ruled this region with capital at Kar¦r (ancient

Kar¦r-Va®ji) located on the confluence of the river

Amar¢vathi with K¢vëri. The Sangam poet Poruntil-

Ila¬k¤raé¢r hails from this village. He has sung three

songs two in Akan¢n¦ãu (19, 351) and one in

Puãan¢é¦ãu (53). In Puãan¢é¦ãu, he composed a

poem in praise of Chëra king M¢ntaral-Cëral-

Irumpoãai, who ruled from the Chëra country with

capital at Kar¦r and believed to be issued Tami~-

Br¢hm¤ inscribed coins with a title Kollippoãai. The

famous Jain centre Ayiraimalai lies about 15 km

northwest of this site. Several Jain sculptures in

bas-relief found on the entrance of the cavern and

the inscriptions in va°°e~uttu character clearly points

to the fact that this centre was survived as great

Jain centre. The Sangam poem Pa°iããuppattu (21,

70, 79) mentioned this place as Ayirai which had

the Chëra's family deity Ayirai-ka°avu¶. Thus, the

availability of early historical vestiges, coin hoards,

trade guild inscriptions, graffiti marks, brick structures,

etc., in the archaeological sites located in and around

Porunthal clearly points the potentiality of the site.

To understand the archaeological wealth of the site,

two seasons of excavations were conducted

respectively in the years 2009 and 2010. In the

year 2009, three trenches (Trenches A1, B1 and

XN7) and one grave (Meg. I) and in 2010, three

graves (Meg. II, III, IV) were excavated.

The habitation mound locally called p¢ci-më°u

meaning bead mound (p¢ci > bead; më°u > mound)

covering an area of 5.5 ha lies on the left bank of

the river Porunthil¢ãu. It is also known as c¢mbal-

më²u meaning ash mound. The habitation yielded

250 cm cultural deposit but the digging area is

restricted to a depth of 90 cm due to availability of

strong evidences in the form of floors, glass working

furnace and several associated important cultural

material that required close attention. On the surface

of the floor, several antiquities were recovered. It

yielded a glass working furnace almost at the centre

of the floor. Sixty glass beads recovered from the

oval shaped furnace made below the floor surface

and the occurrence of more than 2000 beads in

the cultural deposit also supports this view. Out of

2441 antiquities recovered from the limited area of

digging, nearly 2275 were of glass beads. Other

important antiquities recovered from these trenches

were human terracotta figurine, terracotta humped

Fig. 7 : Thathappatti : Memorial Stone (a menhir) withTamil-Brahmi Inscription

Fig. 8 : Thathappatti : Readings of the Memorial Stone(a menhir)

283


Fig. 9: Tamil-Brahmi sites in Tamil Nadu

284


bull, a terracotta female head, ivory dice, gold pendant,

copper coin and beads made of glass, paste, quartz,

shell, garnet and terracotta. Bangle pieces came

both from glass and shell. The terracotta objects like

ear lobes, ear rings, games men, hook, hopscotch,

spindle whorl, ball and cart-wheel are some of the

interesting objects recovered from these cuttings. In

case of metal objects iron arrow heads, knives and

nails were collected sparingly. Likewise, a copper

ring and a bell were also collected. Two pendants

one made of gold and another of glass were

unearthed. Among the weights (presumably), the one

made of quartz and ivory, are of note worthy.

The graves, consists of more than 60 circles, were

noticed 2.5 km west of habitation mound at the foot

hill of Ta´´¢ciyappaémalai. In total, four graves (one

in 2009 and remaining three in 2010) were

opened. Among the four, two are transepted cists

placed at the centre of the stone circle (Fig. 11).

The remaining two are double cists. Both the varieties

had a passage on the east (Fig. 12). The rectangular

transepted cist (Meg. I and Meg. II) has two chambers

on its northern and southern side. The southern

chamber is further divided into two or three

compartments. These compartments covering half

the height or less of the southern chamber were

Fig. 10: Archaeological sites in Amaravathi river valley

285


closed with another horizontal slab serving like a

bench. Both the chambers were connected by a

trapeze or round shaped portholes. Another main

trapeze shaped porthole is noticed on the eastern

slab against the northern chamber connecting

passage and the cist. A passage was constructed

against the northern chamber on its eastern side.

The grave goods were placed inside the northern

and southern chambers and in the passage. They

were placed at two levels. The first level of grave

goods noticed on the floor slab and the second level

of grave goods noticed at the porthole level. In case

of northern chamber, almost all the grave goods

except a pot were placed at the floor level. In case

of southern chamber, the grave goods were placed

at the floor level but in limited quantity. However,

several grave goods were placed on the bench slab

at the second level. The ritual performed in these

graves was of high standard. In northern chamber,

several pots, four legged jars, plates, ring stands,

bowls, miniature bowls, stirrups, beads, arrowheads,

skeletal remains, swords, pots and knife were placed

on the floor slab (Fig. 13). It seems the grave goods

were placed from the western most part of the

chamber with mouths of all the pots facing west.

Some of the pots had identical graffiti marks. The

bones collected from elsewhere were placed in

disarticulated form at the central part of the chamber.

The presence paddy is observed in all the four

graves placed in a four-legged jar comparatively in

better state of preservation.

Another interesting piece of evidence is the red

polished ware ring-stand engraved with Tami~-Br¢hm¤

script reading va-y-ra (Figs. 14-15). This script is

found in association with a graffito mark. Around

this ring stand, 22 etched carnelian beads were

Fig. 11: Porunthal : A transepted cist (Meg.I) placed at the centre of the circle

286


found. Further, four more etched carnelian beads, a

small sword and an arrow head were placed inside

the ring stand. The Tami~-Br¢hm¤ script, graffito mark,

carnelian beads, an iron sword and an arrow head

found along with the ring stand clearly points to the

importance given to the departed soul. The contextual

position of the ring stand clearly points to its

significance. Two long iron swords with a bunch of

arrow heads close to their tip portion are observed.

Besides three set of iron stirrups, carnelian beads,

steatite micro beads, quartz beads, iron swords,

arrowheads, skeletal remains and innumerable pots,

basins, ring stands, vases and plates were recovered

from this grave. Interestingly, in one of the four-

legged jars placed at the central part of the

northern chamber of Meg. II, had paintings

executed both in white and black pigments on the

shoulder and body portion of the four legged jars.

The V-shaped design in black pigment with whitedots was executed at the shoulder just below thegrooving. There are seven dots in each V-designportion. Below this, identical another V-design wasexecuted in white pigment with black dots. Belowthis m¢l¢ (garland) like design, a row of horse (?)in black pigment was executed. Below the horse,another row of peacocks was executed using bothblack and white pigments (Fig.16). Below thisrow, a leaf design was shown. The edges and themid-rib of the leaves are painted with black pigmentwhereas the other ribs are executed with white

pigments.

The remaining two graves are double cists (Meg.III

and Meg. IV) with independent passage on the east

connected through porthole. Each chamber had two

urns placed along with usual grave goods like a

stirrup, arrow heads, swords, dagger, four legged

Fig. 12: Porunthal : Double cists (Meg.IV) grave with passage on the east

287


jars, bowls, conical vases, pots, ring stands, plates

and basins (Fig. 17). Several pots had graffiti marks

on the exterior surface. In total, four urns are noticed

in each grave. Generally, the western most urn

placed in both the cists had important antiquities

along with skeletal remains. Several beads of

carnelian, steatite, glass, quartz and agate were

collected. Another important discovery is the presence

of paddy kept in a four-legged jar noticed in all the

four graves. The grave (MEG-I) excavated in the

year 2009 yielded 2 kg of paddy grains placed in

a four-legged jar and kept as grave goods in the

northern chamber of the grave. The paddy was in

better state of preservation at the time of exposure.

The palaeobotanist Dr.Premathilake, Post Graduate

Institute of Archaeology, Sri Lanka and Dr.Anupama,

Head, Department of Ecology, French Institute of

Pondicherry, who examined the sample identified it

as cultivated paddy namely Oryza sativa indica

(Fig. 18).

Based on general observations made during the

course of excavations and subsequent preliminary

analysis of the objects recovered from the site, one

could observe that the site was an industrial site

involved with the manufacture of glass beads. The

presence of cultivated paddy in large quantity

suggests that inhabitants were also involved in

agricultural production. The occurrence of terracotta

human figurines from habitation cuttings and beads

of carnelian, steatite and agate from graves suggest

their external contact. The archaeological material

combined with literary and epigraphical sources

suggest that the clan based society was already

emerged and they were controlled by Vë¶ chieftains.

Excavations at Ko²umaálExcavations at Ko²umaálExcavations at Ko²umaálExcavations at Ko²umaálExcavations at Ko²umaál

Ko²umaál (1106' 42"" N; 77030' 51'' E), a tiny

unassuming village in Perunduãai taluk of Erode

district in Tamil Nadu, is located on the north bank

of the east-flowing Noyyal, a tributary to the K¢vëri.

It lies on the ancient trade route that connects

Chëra capital Kar¦r (Va®ji) on the east and the

famous seaport Muciri (the site Pa°°aám) on the

west. Roman coin hoards were reported at a number

of sites like at Katt¢¬ka´í (located about 5 km

west of this site), S¦l¦r, Ve¶¶al¦r, Vë~anth¢va¶am and

Eyyal. The provenances of these coins suggest that

an ancient trade route was passing along the banks

of the Noyyal through Palghat gap from the west

coast ports to Kar¦r and further east. The ko¬ga-p-

peruva~i is one of the east-west major highways that

connects K¢vëri deltaic region with Ko¬gu country.9

Fig..13: Porunthal : The northern chamber (Meg. I)having grave goods

288


It might have passed through Uãaiy¦r, Ku¶ithalai, Kar¦r

along the banks of river K¢vëri and passed further

west along the river Noyyal up to Per¦r near

Coimbatore. The va°°e~uttu inscription found at

Pachchai-p¢~i near Su´²akamutt¦r on the rocky

surface on the side of the highway R¢jakëºari-p-

peruva~i (named after Chù~a king ¡ditya I) is the one

that connects Ko¬gu-n¢²u with Malaima´²alam

(Kerala).10 One could see still the old highway existed

in front of the R¢jakësariperuva~i inscription. Thus,

the site Ko²umaál lies on the ancient trade route.

The ancient place name Ko²umaám mentioned in

one of the Sangam anthologies Patiããuppattu (67)

had a close resemblance to the site Ko²umaál and

it is highly praised for its ubiquitous jewel-stones,

particularly rock-crystal (pali¬ku). The collection of

semi-precious stones from the surface of the

mound and the widespread occurrence of quartz

in the surrounding area would suggest the plausible

identity of Ko²umaál with ancient Ko²umaám.

This fifty hectares of habitation-cum-burial site was

excavated in five seasons during the years 1985,

1986, 1989 and 1990 by the Department of

Epigraphy and Archaeology, Tamil University. In

1997 and 1998, the Tamil University and Tamil

Nadu State Archaeology Department jointly excavated

the site.11 Again, the site was excavated in the

months of May-June 2012 (Fig.19). Fifty two

trenches were laid in the habitation area and sixteen

megalithic burials were opened in the cemetery area.

Thus, this is one of the sites extensively excavated in

Tamil Nadu.

Fig. 14: Porunthal : The Tamil-Brahmi inscribed ring stand reading va-y-ra

289


The oldest part of the habitation (i.e., on the northern

half) has a deposit of two meters. On the basis of

cultural material, ceramics and palaeography of the

Dami~i (Tami~-Br¢hm¤) letters the deposit is divided

into two cultural periods. The people of the first

period were mostly artisans working on semi-precious

stones particularly rock crystal and carnelian and

the people of the second period were generally

cultivators. The statistical analysis of the pottery

collected from the different strata of the ten groups

of trenches suggest that at lower levels the russet-

coated-painted-black-and-red ware (RCBRW) on the

one hand and plain black and red ware on the other

are to be found in almost equal proportions and all

the pottery looks bright and polished. In the middle

levels the russet-coated-painted-black-and-red ware

decreases while plain black-and-red ware increases.

Moreover we get comparatively thicker storage vessels

in black and red ware.

The quite interesting and remarkable achievement of

these people was the production of iron and steel.

The evidence for this industry was found exposed in

two groups of trenches 300 m apart from each

other and situated respectively on the southern and

northern part of the habitation mound. The trench

laid in the southern part of the habitation yielded an

iron smelting furnace and the one laid in the northern

part yielded a crucible furnace used for making steel.

Besides the manufacture of iron and steel, another

important economic mainstay of these people was

the gemstone industry. Beads of sapphire, beryl,

agate, carnelian, amethyst, lapis-lazuli, jasper, garnet,

soapstone and quartz were unearthed from the

habitation whereas beads of carnelian particularly

the etched variety and agate were restricted to burials.

The occurrence of beads in different manufacturing

stages, finished and semi-finished, drilled and

undrilled, polished and unpolished exposed in

association with the raw material clearly demonstrates

that these were manufactured locally at Kodumanal.

The occurrence of quite a number of terracotta

spindle whorls pierced at the centre by means of an

iron rod is clearly suggestive of cotton processing.

To strengthen this fact, a remarkably well preserved

piece of woven cotton was recovered from the site.

The rich cultural material unearthed in six seasons

of excavations clearly suggest that Kodumanal might

Fig. 15 : Porunthal : The Tamil-Br¢hm¤ inscribed ringstand reading va-y-ra

Fig.16 : Porunthal : Fragmentary of four-legged jarwith paintings of peacocks

290


have served as one of the trade centres of Chëra

country during Early Historic times. The intensive

mercantile activities attracted the traders from different

parts of India. The occurrence of large number of

inscribed potsherds with Prakrit affinity demonstrates

its external contact. The inscribed potsherds had two

types of writing systems namely Graffiti and Dami~i

(Tami~-Br¢hm¤).

Writing SystemWriting SystemWriting SystemWriting SystemWriting System

Graffiti bearing potsherds were mostly recovered from

the earlier and middle levels. The more common

graffiti marks are sun, swastika, star, ladder,

nandip¢da, fish, bow and arrow, wheel, cart, etc.

Few graffiti marks were found engraved at the end

portion of the Dami~i (Tami~-Br¢hm¤) inscription.

Though the exact meaning of these symbols,

individually or in compound form, cannot be easily

guessed but the close observation of these symbols,

their places of occurrence, frequency and position

clearly demonstrate that they were used to

communicate certain messages and the future

decipherment alone would clear its significance.

The second writing system is the famous Tami~-

Br¢hm¤ script. Nearly 204 Tami~-Br¢hm¤ inscribed

potsherds (172 by the Tamil University and

remaining 32 by the State archaeology) in six

seasons of excavations have been recovered.12 The

recent excavations conducted in May 2012 yielded

about 130 inscribed potsherds. These were all

recovered from less than 1% of excavated area. The

inscribed potsherds were recovered throughout the

1.85m cultural deposit. In 50 acres of habitation

(about 20 hactares/200,000 sq.m), 1325 sq.m

area has been excavated which constitutes merely

0.6 % of the total area. In less than 1% area, we

could collect more than 300 inscribed potsherds. If

the remaining area is exposed, one may get more

than 20,000 inscribed potsherds. This quantified

assessment is provided just to understand the

enormity of the situation as well as the level of

literacy. This is not unique to Ko²umaál alone, this

state of affairs also repeated in other sites like Kar¦r,

the capital of Chëras. In Tamil Nadu, the availability

of the inscription is wide spread and it is found on

different media like on stone, coins, seals and

potsherds. It is found throughout Tamil Nadu. The

content of the inscription is both secular and non-

secular in character. This script has been dated

based on palaeography and archaeological

stratigraphy. The scholars like Iravatham Mahadevan13

and Subbarayalu14 considered this as post-Aºoka´

Fig. 17 : Porunthal : the chamber containing grave goods

291


and K.V.Ramesh,15 Natana.Kasinathan,16 K.Rajan17

and S.Rajavelu18 considered them as pre-Aºokaé. All

the scholars could not arrive to a conclusion due to

non-availability of scientific dates. Therefore, an

attempt is made to obtain radiometric dates for the

script.

Radiometric datesRadiometric datesRadiometric datesRadiometric datesRadiometric dates

The paddy grains collected from a four-legged jar

placed as grave goods in a Early Historic megalithic

grave (Meg-I) at Porunthal site were sent for

radiometric dates (Beta-302854). The acid washes

were the pre-treatment provided to the sample. The

sample provided plenty of carbon for an accurate

measurement and the analysis proceeded normally.

The measured radio carbon age is 2430�30 BPand the uncalibrated conventional age is 2440�30

BP with 13C/12C ratio factor of -24.3 o/oo. Thus,Thus,Thus,Thus,Thus,

the sample has been dated to 2440the sample has been dated to 2440the sample has been dated to 2440the sample has been dated to 2440the sample has been dated to 2440��30 BP30 BP30 BP30 BP30 BP

i.e 490 BCE (Cal. 520 BCE)i.e 490 BCE (Cal. 520 BCE)i.e 490 BCE (Cal. 520 BCE)i.e 490 BCE (Cal. 520 BCE)i.e 490 BCE (Cal. 520 BCE). This date takes the

antiquity of an Early Historic grave to 490 BCE (cal.

520 BCE) and it has great significance in the history

of India. For the first time, an AMS date (Accelerator

Mass Spectrometry) is obtained for a grave that is

associated with Br¢hm¤ script (Fig. 20). So far, the

Br¢hm¤ script is dated on the basis of palaeographical,

linguistic and stratigraphical parameters. Due to the

non-availability of scientific dates, fixing the date of

Br¢hm¤ script had been eluding the scholars. Now,

the date of Br¢hm¤ script can be pushed back two

hundred years earlier to Aºoka. The scholars are

mostly holding the view that the early historic period

of Tamil Nadu begins with 3rd century BCE, but the

present date demands a relook. Now one may be

Fig. 18 : Porunthal : The four-legged jar containing paddy

292


justified in presuming that the early history of Tamil

Nadu begins before 5th century BCE and there is a

possibility of pushing this data further back to the

times of mah¢janapadas.

Thus, the AMS date obtained for the paddy grains

from the Porunthal site has the following

implications:

· The Br¢hm¤ writing system in India can be

pushed back to 5th century BCE

· The intensive paddy cultivation goes back to 5th

century BC

· The erection of megalithic monuments introduced

in Iron Age continued into the Early Historic

times

Subsequently, paddy grains obtained from another

grave MEG-IV (a double cist) opened in the year

2010 were submitted for AMS dates for the purpose

of cross validation and to get further conformity of

the earlier date. The second sample (Beta-305904)

is also dated to 2400�30 BP (450 BCE). The acidwashes were the pre-treatment provided to the

sample. The sample provided plenty of carbon for an

accurate measurement and the analysis proceeded

normally. The measured radio carbon age is

2390�30 BP and the uncalibrated conventionalage is 2400�30 BP with 13C/12C ratio factor of-24.6 o/oo. Thus, the sample has been datedThus, the sample has been datedThus, the sample has been datedThus, the sample has been datedThus, the sample has been dated

to 2400to 2400to 2400to 2400to 2400��30 BP i.e 450 BCE (Cal. 410 BCE)30 BP i.e 450 BCE (Cal. 410 BCE)30 BP i.e 450 BCE (Cal. 410 BCE)30 BP i.e 450 BCE (Cal. 410 BCE)30 BP i.e 450 BCE (Cal. 410 BCE).

These two dates 490 BCE (Cal.520 BCE) and 450

BCE (Cal. 410 BCE) clearly urge us to have a

relook on the introduction of Br¢hm¤ script in India

Fig. 19 : Kodumanal : Excavated trenches

293


Fig. 20 : Pot containing Tamil-Brahmi inscription reading Campaé-Sumanaé

and also the introduction of Dami~i (Tami~-Br¢hm¤)

writing system in Tamil Nadu.

In archaeological parlance, several dates from similar

cultural context are required to confirm the dates

appeared in a particular site, in this case Porunthal

site. Keeping in view of the scientific temper, another

well-known site Kodumanal was excavated in the

months of May-June 2012 to obtain a sample from

a well-stratified layer containing considerable number

of inscribed potsherds. As stated above more than

300 potsherds bearing Dami~i (Tami~-Br¢hm¤) letters

were recovered at this site. Of which, one grave

(Meg.III) yielded a solitary sherd reading Vis¢ki.

Besides the proper names like Ka´áé-¢taé, Pa´áé,

Antavaé-¢taé, ¡taé, Campaé, M¢ttaé, ¥raáé, etc.,

the north Indian names like Varuí, Kuviraé, Vis¢ki,

nikama, etc., clearly established close links with other

parts of India.

These inscribed potsherds were recovered from a

well-established stratigraphy and the Ko²umaál

cultural deposits were dated based on these

stratigraphy. Y.Subbarayalu dated middle of third

century BCE to middle of 3rd century CE and K.Rajan

again revised the date and pushed them back to 4th

century BCE.19 At technical level, the discrepancy in

dates is due to non-availability of scientific dates. At

conceptual level, the scholars believed that Dami~i

(Tami~-Br¢hm¤) script was introduced after the advent

of Mauryan dynasty. These dates were assigned to

the Kodumanal inscribed potsherds before the findings

of Porunthal excavations. The Porunthal dates

demanded to have a relook on the dates of

294


Kodumanal. To mitigate this vexing problem, the

charcoal sample collected from the trench KDL-

ZD10 at the depth of 85-90 cm was sent for

radiometric dates (Beta-330303). The acid washes

were the pre-treatment provided to the sample. The

sample provided plenty of carbon for an accurate

measurement and the analysis proceeded normally.

The measured radio carbon age is 2270�30 BPand the uncalibrated conventional age is 2280�30BP with 13C/12C ratio factor of-24.2 o/oo. Thus,Thus,Thus,Thus,Thus,

the sample has been dated to 2280the sample has been dated to 2280the sample has been dated to 2280the sample has been dated to 2280the sample has been dated to 2280��30 BP30 BP30 BP30 BP30 BP

i.e 330 BCE (Cal. 380 BCE).i.e 330 BCE (Cal. 380 BCE).i.e 330 BCE (Cal. 380 BCE).i.e 330 BCE (Cal. 380 BCE).i.e 330 BCE (Cal. 380 BCE).

The maximum cultural deposit containing Dami~i(Tami~-Br¢hm¤) inscribed potsherds in association with

Prakrit-Br¢hm¤ obtained at Ko²umaál is 1.85 cm

and these deposits were generally found in the

northern part of the mound. The present four trenches

were laid towards the centre part of the mound and

yielded 1.20 cm cultural deposit. The date of 330

BCE has been assigned to a charcoal material

obtained at the depth of 85-90 cm and it is

considered as the middle part of the total cultural

deposit. There is another 30 cm cultural deposit in

this trench (KDL-ZD10) and about a 100 cm

cultural deposit in other trenches. One may assign

one or two centuries for the one metre cultural

deposit lying below this dated layer. Even the

conservative estimate takes the earliest deposit to 5th

century BCE. This confirms the Porunthal dates

mentioned above.

These three dates of 490 BCE (Cal.520 BCE), 450

BCE (Cal. 410 BCE) and 330 BCE (Cal. 380 BCE)

assigned to Dami~i (Tami~-Br¢hm¤) script clearly urgeus to have a relook on the introduction of Dami~i(Tami~-Br¢hm¤) script in Tamil Nadu and finally the

origin of Br¢hm¤ writing system in India.

Post ScriptPost ScriptPost ScriptPost ScriptPost Script

After submission of the manuscript, two more AMS

dates were obtained from Arizona AMS Laboratory.

The charcoal sample (AA99856) collected from the

trench KDL-ZE10 at the depth of 60 cm yielded a

date of 2225�41BP (275 BCE) and another sample(AA99855) collected from the trench KDL-ZE9 at

the depth of 120 cm yielded a date of 2358�40BP (408 BCE). This confirms our earlier assumption.

Further, the first date is obtained from Beta Analytic

Lab and the rest two from Arizona AMS Laboratory.

There is a consistency in all the three dates obtained

from two different laboratories. Thus, the three

samples collected at the depth of 60 cm, 85 cm

and 120 cm yielded uncalibrated dates of 275

BCE, 330 BCE and 408 BCE. As stated above, the

total cultural deposit at the site is 185 cm and there

is still 65 cm thick cultural deposit containing Br¢hm¤

inscribed potsherds below this level, thereby every

possiibility of pushing the date further back to 5-6th

century BCE. The future results alone would

strengthen our point.

Re fe rencesRe fe rencesRe fe rencesRe fe rencesRe fe rences

1. Subramanian, T.N. 1957. South Indian TempleInscriptions, vol. 3, part.2, pp. 1508-1512.Government Oriental Manuscripts Library,

Madras.

2. Subrahmanya Aiyer, K.V. 1924. "The Earliest

Monuments of the P¢´²iya Country and Their

Inscriptions", in Proceedings and Transactionsof the Third All-India Oriental Conference,

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Madras, pp.275-300.

3. Rajan, K., V.P.Yatheeskumar and S.Selvakumar

2007. "The Earliest Herostones of India",

History Today, vol.7, pp.118-121.

4. Rajan, K. and V.P.Yatheeskumar 2007a.

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stone', Man and Environment, vol.33, no.1,pp.39-45.

5. Annual Report on Epigraphy (hereafter ARE) 1909,number 139.

6. Seetharam Gurumoorthy 2007. Di´²ukal M¢va°°aTolliyal Kaiyë²u (Archaeological Guide Bookof Dindigul District), pp. 149-50, 204.

Chennai: Tamil Nadu State Department of

Archaeology.

7. Sewell, R. 1882. List of Antiquarian Remains inthe Presidency of Madras, p. 286.Archaeological Survey of India, New Delhi.

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Amaravathi River Valley, Tamil Nadu, Ph.D

thesis submitted to Pondicherry University,

Pondicherry.

9. ARE 1911, number 281.

10. Vaidhyanathan, K.S. 1983. The Ancient Geographyof the Kongu Country, Kalaimagal KalviNilayam, Erode.

11. Rajan, K. 1990. "New Light on Megalithic Culture',

Man and Environment, vol. 15, no.1, pp.95-102:

1991. "Iron and Gemstone Industries as

revealed from Kodumanal Excavations',

Puratattva, vol.20, pp.111-112:

1996. "Kodumanal Excavations - A Report',

K.V.Ramesh (ed.), Gauravam B.K.Gururajarao

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Central Institute of Indian Languages, Centre

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Harvard University, Harvard, USA.

14. Subbarayalu 2008: op. cit.

15. Raman, K.V. 1976. "Br¢hm¤ inscriptions of Tamil

Nadu: an historical assessment', The SriLanka Journal of South Asian Studies, vol.1, no.1, pp.64-75;

2006. Indian Inscriptions - A Study inComparison and Contrast, Indian Council ofHistorical Research, Bangalore.

16. Kasinathan, Natana 1995. "Date of Sangam

Literature", paper presented in the VIIIth

International Conference - Seminar on Tami~

Studies, January 1-4.

17. Rajan, K. 2009. Damili Graffiti and Cave Records,

Early Historic Tamil Nadu c.300 BCE-300CE (Essays commemorating Prof.

K.Kailasapathy on the twenty-fifth anniversary

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Publishing House, Chennai, pp.57-94.

18. Rajavelu, S. 2009. ""Tami~ E~uttukka¶ié TùããamumVa¶arcciyum (Origin and Development of

Tamil Script)"", Varal¢ãu, vol.19, pp.162-183.

19. Rajan 2009. op.cit : 57-94.

Dr.Dr.Dr.Dr.Dr. K.K.K.K.K. RajanRajanRajanRajanRajanProfessorDepartment of HistoryPondicherry UniversityPondicherry (Tamilnadu) INDIA

Dr .Dr .Dr .Dr .Dr . V .P.V.P.V.P.V.P.V.P. YatheeskumarYatheeskumarYatheeskumarYatheeskumarYatheeskumarPost - Doctoral Project FellowDepartment of HistoryPondicherry UniversityPondicherry (Tamilnadu) INDIA

Documents

New Evidences on Scientific Dates for Brahmi Script as Revealed From Kodumanal Excavations