Published: June 24, 2010
An epigraphic perspective on the antiquity of Tamil
Iravatham Mahadevan
The legend that Sanskrit and Tamil emerged from the two sides of the damaru (drum) of Shiva
says it all — the immemorial antiquity and the equal divine status accorded in our tradition to
the two languages recognised as Classical. And yet, Western scholarship in the colonial period
concentrated almost wholly on Sanskrit studies. It is only from the mid-20th century, when
Burrow and Emeneau published the Dravidian Etymological Dictionary, that interest in the
Dravidian languages, especially Tamil, gained momentum.
According to Thomas Trautman (The Aryan Debate, 2005), the three "fundamental discoveries"
in Indological studies are the discovery of the Indo-European language family (1786); the
discovery of the Dravidian language family (1816), and the discovery of the Indus civilization
(1924). It is significant that two of the three "fundamental discoveries" relate to the Dravidian,
though the latest one is still being "debated" for want of an acceptable decipherment of the
Indus script.
Part of the problem in the delayed recognition accorded to Tamil in Indological studies was the
non-availability of really old literary texts and archaeological evidence for the existence of
Tamil civilisation in ancient times. The critical editions of the earliest Tamil literary works of the
Sangam Age, especially by U.V. Swaminathaiyar from 1887, have led to a radical reassessment
of the antiquity and historicity of Tamil civilisation.
What Swaminathaiyar did for Tamil literature, K.V. Subrahmanya Aiyer accomplished for Tamil
epigraphy. He demonstrated (in 1924) that Tamil (and not Prakrit) was the language of the cave
inscriptions of Tamil Nadu, written in a regional and linguistic variant of the Mauryan Brahmi
script adapted to Tamil phonetics. His discovery has been amply confirmed by the increasing
number of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions on stone, coins, seals, rings and, last but not least, the
humble pottery of common people. The following are a few select examples of the more recent
discoveries.
Stone inscriptions: The most important historical inscriptions include those of Nedunchezhiyan
at Mangulam near Madurai, the Cheral Irumporai dynasty at Pugalur near Karur and Athiyan
Neduman Anji at Jambai near Tirukkoyilur, all assigned to the period from the 2nd century BCE
to 3rd century CE, coinciding with the Sangam Age described in the earliest Tamil anthologies.
Equally important are very recent (2006) discoveries of a
clutch of menhirs (memorial stones) found in megalithic
urn-burial fields in the Upper Vaigai valley. They are in
Tamil and inscribed in Tamil-Brahmi. They date from about
the 2nd century and 1stcentury BCE and are
among the
earliest hero stone inscriptions found in India (See Fig 1).
Coins: Among the most notable discoveries are the copper
coins of Peruvazhudi, a Pandya king of the Sangam Age (2nd
century BCE) and the Cheral Irumporai-s of Karur (1st century CE), and the silver portrait coins
of the Chera dynasty from the 3rd century CE (See Figure 2). Interestingly, the Satavahanas from
Andhra issued a series of silver portrait coins (1 {+s} {+t}
century to 3 {+r} {+d} century CE) with bi-lingual legends,
Prakrit in Southern Brahmi script on the obverse and Tamil in
the Tamil-Brahmi script on the reverse . This indicates that
only Prakrit and Tamil were the official languages of the
regions where the coins circulated. (Kishore – I am enclosing a
snap shot of such a coin below}
Pottery: Excavations undertaken at sites such as Uraiyur,
Azhagankulam and Kodumanal, and surface explorations of
many more sites, have yielded a growing number of pottery
inscriptions in Tamil written in the Tamil-Brahmi script (dated
between 2 {+n} {+d} century BCE and 3 {+r} {+d} century CE). It is significant that inscribed
pottery is much more abundant in Tamil Nadu than elsewhere in India. The pottery inscriptions
are also secular in content. The main reasons for such widespread and early literacy in Tamil
Nadu are political independence and the use Tamil in administration and other spheres of
public life.
Those scholars who were initially reluctant to admit that
there could be early and widespread literacy in ancient
Tamil society now accept the reality in the light of the
sheer numbers and archaeologically established antiquity
of Tamil-Brahmi pottery inscriptions from Tamil Nadu
and elsewhere. The pottery is fragile, but the evidence is
firm.
Tamil Nadu: A Tamil-Brahmi pottery inscription of about
the 3 {+r} {+d} century CE from Andipatti in Vellore
district reads naakan uRal `Nakan's [pot with] toddy-sap'
(See Figure 3). He has apparently inscribed his kalayam so that it is not taken away by other
toddy-tappers. Here is a case of a toddy-tapper living in the countryside who is literate enough
to write down his name and the purpose for which the pot is used. Surely he did not hire the
services of a professional scribe. This illustrates the state of literacy in early Tamil society.
Sri Lanka: Tamils have been living in the northern and eastern parts of the island from time
immemorial. Several small fragments of pottery with a few Tamil-Brahmi letters scratched on
them have been found from the Jaffna region. However, a much more sensational discovery is a
pottery inscription from an excavation conducted at Tissamaharama on the southeastern coast
of Sri Lanka. A fragment of a high-quality black
and red-ware flat dish inscribed in Tamil in the
Tamil-Brahmi script was found in the earliest
layer. It was provisionally dated to around 200
BCE by German scholars who undertook the
excavation. The inscription reads tiraLi muRi,
which
means
"written
agreement
of
the
assembly" (See Figure 4). The inscription bears
testimony to the presence in southern Sri Lanka
of a local Tamil mercantile community organised
in a guild to conduct inland and maritime trade
as early as at the close of the 3 {+r} {+d} century
BCE.
Berenike, Egypt: The excavations of a Ptolemaic-Roman settlement at this ancient port on the
Red Sea coast have yielded an inscribed amphora fragment. The inscription is in Tamil and
written in the Tamil-Brahmi script, precisely dated by stratigraphy to 60-70 CE. The reading is
ko(R)Ra-pumaan, the name of a chieftain . The pottery inscription bears evidence to the
Western trade of the Tamils in the Sangam Age.
Thailand: A Thai-French team of archaeologists discovered a sherd of inscribed pottery during
excavations at Phu Khao Thong in Thailand. The pottery inscription is in Tamil written in the
Tamil-Brahmi script of about the 2 {+n} {+d} century CE. The fragmentary inscription reads tu
Ra o…, part of the Tamil word meaning `monk' . This is the earliest Tamil inscription found so
far from South-East Asia and attests to the maritime contacts of the Tamils.
(The author, an epigraphist and Tamil scholar, is an authority on the Indus and Brahmi scripts.)
http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/article483319.ece
Snap shot of a satavahana coin with Tamil legends
From the book :
Indian Sculpture: Circa 500 B.C.-A.D. 700 By Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Pratapaditya Pal page 102