new evidences on scientific dates for brahmi script as revealed from kodumanal excavations
DESCRIPTION
There is a consistency in all the three dates obtainedfrom two different laboratories. Thus, the threesamples collected at the depth of 60 cm, 85 cmand 120 cm yielded uncalibrated dates of 275BCE, 330 BCE and 408 BCE. As stated above, thetotal cultural deposit at the site is 185 cm and thereis still 65 cm thick cultural deposit containing Br¢hm¤inscribed potsherds below this level, thereby everypossiibility of pushing the date further back to 5-6thcentury BCE.TRANSCRIPT
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 atKo²uma´al, 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
Ko²uma´al 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~
Fig. 3: Pulimankombai : Memorial Stone (no.2) WithTamil-Brahmi Inscription
Fig. 4: Pulimankombai : Readings of the MemorialStone (no.2)
Fig. 5: Pulimankombai : Memorial Stone (no.3) WithTamil-Brahmi Inscription
Fig. 6: Pulimankombai : Readings of the MemorialStone (no.3)
282
izkX/kkjk] vad&21&22
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
Pr¢gdh¢r¢, No. 21-22
Fig. 9: Tamil-Brahmi sites in Tamil Nadu
284
izkX/kkjk] vad&21&22
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
Pr¢gdh¢r¢, No. 21-22
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
izkX/kkjk] vad&21&22
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
Pr¢gdh¢r¢, No. 21-22
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 Ko²uma´alExcavations at Ko²uma´alExcavations at Ko²uma´alExcavations at Ko²uma´alExcavations at Ko²uma´al
Ko²uma´al (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°°a´am) on the
west. Roman coin hoards were reported at a number
of sites like at Katt¢¬ka´´i (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
izkX/kkjk] vad&21&22
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 Ko²uma´al lies on the ancient trade route.
The ancient place name Ko²uma´am mentioned in
one of the Sangam anthologies Patiããuppattu (67)
had a close resemblance to the site Ko²uma´al 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 Ko²uma´al with ancient Ko²uma´am.
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
Pr¢gdh¢r¢, No. 21-22
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
izkX/kkjk] vad&21&22
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 Ko²uma´al 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
Pr¢gdh¢r¢, No. 21-22
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
izkX/kkjk] vad&21&22
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
Pr¢gdh¢r¢, No. 21-22
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´´aé-¢taé, Pa´´aé,
Antavaé-¢taé, ¡taé, Campaé, M¢ttaé, ¥ra´aé, etc.,
the north Indian names like Varu´i, 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 Ko²uma´al
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
izkX/kkjk] vad&21&22
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 Ko²uma´al 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
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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