Who were the authors of Tamil-Brāhmī(Tamili)
inscriptions- the earliest script of the Tamils?
S.Rajavelu,*
Professor and Head
The
earliest inscriptions of Tamil Nadu known as Tamil Brāhmī or Tamiḻi inscriptions are found noticed on
the eye brow and on the stone beds of the natural caverns of the hills as well
as on the hero stones in the remote villages of Pulimān kōmpai, Tātappaṭṭi in Teni
District and Poṟpaṉaik kōṭṭai in Pudukkottai District of Tamil nadu.
Besides, some of the coins, rings, seals and large number of Pottery pieces
which are recovered from the excavations which bear the names of individuals
are written in this script. The date of the script is now fixed on the basis of
paleography as well as scientific dates (ASM) arrived from Porunthal and Koḍumaṇal
by Rajan to 6th century BCE, [1] i.e., 300 years prior to Aśōkan Brāhmī of North India.
From the 19th century till today a large number of Tamil-Brāhmī inscriptions have been discovered in the natural caverns located in an inaccessible heights and slopes of the hills in the hilly districts of Madurai, Sivagangai, Pudukkottai, Trichchirappalli, Tiruvannamalai, Erode and Villuppuram[2]. These natural caverns served as the rock shelters. On the floor of the natural caverns invariably one can see the polished fine narrow stone beds carved out in the natural rock surface measuring from 3 feet to 8 feet length. In some of the caves, the top portion of the bed has been cut off little bit high which served as the pillow of the bed. The drip ledge is shown above the overhanging roof boulder to prevent rain water flowing inside the cavern.
These natural caverns mostly located far away from the habitation of the
village. Many of them were surrounded with megalithic tombs. Around 4th
and 5th century CE, these natural caverns were occupied by the Jaina
monks and they carved out the figures of Tīrthaṅkaras and inscribed the details
of the sculptures and the donor names in Vaṭṭeḻuttu characters.
Many scholars studied these
inscriptions from the 19th century CE till today and made their
attempts to decipher these inscriptions and believe the date of these
inscriptions from the 2nd century BCE. Further they put forth various
theories to its authorship and origin.
Three outstanding theories prevail amidst the scholars regarding the
authorship and the association of beds of the caverns which housed with Tamil-Brāhmī
inscriptions that are Buddhists, Jains and Ᾱjivikas.
Venkayya,
a pioneer Epigraphist in the field of South Indian Epigraphy claims that the
Buddhist monks used these caverns to propagate Buddhism in Tamil nadu and they
were the authors of the Tamil-Brāhmī script[3]. His theory is based on
the spread of Buddhism by Aśōka and his
successors around 3rd century CE in his Empire in Indian sub
continent and further south ie., Sri Lanka. While Aśōka sent the Buddhist missionaries to Sri Lanka,
they must have passed through the Tamil country, stayed in the caverns and
propagated their faith in Tamil nadu, he added. His theory of Buddhist
authorship was further supported by the eminent Epigraphist, K.V.Subrahmanya
Aiyer[4].
According to late Shri Iravatham Mahadevan, an outstanding scholar in the field of Tamil-Brāhmī inscriptions who has produced magnum Opus volumes in recent years inclined to claim that the author of these cavern inscriptions were Jains[5]. This theory was strongly believed by other scholars of Archaeology and many Epigraphists in Tamil Nadu and they claim that the Tamils borrowed the script from north India around 2nd century CE from the Jaina monks who settled in the cavern to lead a life of seclusion and meditation[6].
T.V.
Mahalingam, another notable scholar in the field opined that these caverns were
associated with the Ᾱjivikas ascetics[7]. This theory was in recent years strongly
advocated by Prof. Nedunchezhiyan[8]. He claims that the
ancient Tamil people were the followers
of Ᾱjivikas sect and Markali kōsar, the founder of
the Ᾱjivikas sect in Tamil Country. The worship of Aiyyanār is dominantly followed in Tamil nadu by the Ᾱjivikas
in the early centuries of Pre Common Era.
The present author in the light of recent discovery of a hero stone inscription at Tātappaṭṭi with other internal evidences of cavern inscriptions on the beds of natural rock shelters, the recent archaeological excavations carried out by Dr. K. Rajan at Porunthal and Koḍumaṇal categorically analyses the above theories of the scholars regarding the authorship of cavern inscriptions of Tamil nadu and denied the origin of Tamil-Brāhmī from North India. The paper discloses that the Tamil-Brāhmī script was created by the Tamil people to suit for their language from the graffiti writings. Further, this paper analyses that the stone beds in the natural caverns are carved for the purpose of the dead as memorial tombs. The erection of memorials is a common phenomenon of the Tamils in the Sangam period and large numbers of megalithic monuments have been found throughout Tamil nadu. The stone beds are one such category which was scooped on the floors of natural caverns. It is closely associated with the megalithic practice of the Tamils. The sizes of the beds are varying from place to place and mostly surrounded by the megalithic burials in the foot hills of the caverns. Sittaṇṇavāsal is one fine example of this kind. Further, there is no single mention referring to any religious faiths in these inscriptions either in the form of religious symbols or in the form of religious words-invocatory messages (maṅgala sulōga). The auspicious marks or auspicious words are quite common in the inscriptions of north India from the time of Aśōka Maurya of 3rd century B.CE onwards.
The scientific date arrived at by K.
Rajan from Porunthal excavations and Koḍumanal excavations reveal the fact that
the script in Tamil country was known by the native Tamils prior to 6th
Century BCE. This period in North India witnessed the emergence of two
religious orders namely Jainism and Buddhism. They were in the budding stage
during this period. None of the early
Sangam literature records the existence of any religious faith and monarchism
in Tamil country prior to 2nd century CE., In contrast these
literature mostly dealt with love (agam)
and war (puram) which are totally
against the ascetic life or monarchism prescribed by the above three religions.
Hence, this paper elaborately discusses the authors of the Tamil Brāhmī cavern
inscriptions and examines its origin in a detailed manner with the recent
archaeological and literary evidences.
Indus valley and Dravidian
The earliest evidence for written documents in
India is recovered from the excavated sites of Indus valley in the form of
seals. Nearly four hundred and odd seals bearing the symbols with the pictographs
have not been till date successfully deciphered. However, scholars have propounded many theories regarding the
script of Harappan culture and the prime most theory among them is Dravidian
theory of its origin. If it could be
successfully accepted, then the history of India, on the basis of written
records has been started around 6000 years before the present. Till then we
have to depend upon that the Tamil- Brāhmī (Tamili) script which was prevalent
in Tamil nadu and Kerala around 600 BCE is the earliest script in India which
was the mother of Pan Indian scripts including the Aśōkan-Brāhmī of 3rd century BCE and the Brāhmī
script of Srī Laṅka of 4th century BCE.
Origin and Chronology of Tamil Brāhmī-Script
Edward Thomas[9] an eminent scholar declared that the Brāhmī script was the invention of Dravidian people who were the original inhabitants of the whole of India and subsequently adopted by the Aryans in the later stage. He was followed by another eminent Epigraphist T. N. Subrahmanyan and he strongly put forth that the Tamil-Brāhmī was originally invented by the Tamil people for their Tamil language which was later borrowed by North Indians for their language Prākrit. Further he quotes that in all probability the Prākrit language itself in its original form was a South Indian product synthesizing the Dravidian language to make it understandable throughout the country.[10] The origin of Tamil-Brāhmī script was further studied by the following scholars and they inclined to accept that the script was originally invented by the Tamils around 5 or 6th century BCE.
Among them,
Dr. K.V.Ramesh, Natana Kasinathan and the author of this article Rajavelu studied
on the above subject and conclude that the Tamil-Brāhmī script is the earliest
known script which was prevalent in Tamil country prior to Aśōkan Brāhmī around
5th or 6th century BCE[11]. They fixed this date on
the basis of Palaeography, orthography, language, linguistic features and its
simple form of the script as well as the potteries with Tamil-Brāhmī scripts,
recovered from the stratums of the excavated sites in Tamil Nadu. The basic symbols of the Tamil-Brāhmī script
were taken to suit the Prākrit language. For which they created more symbols to
suit the phonetic (varga sounds) for
their Prākrit language around 4th century BCE. The standardized and developed form of this
script has been introduced by the Aśōka Maurya around 3rd century
BCE in North India.
Iravatham Mahadevan’s theory on the Date and
Origin of Tamil Brāhmī
Shri. Iravatham Mahadevan strongly advocated that the Tamil-Brāhmī script was derived from Mauryan-Brāhmī of 2nd century BCE which was brought to Tamil Nadu by the Jaina monks from North India[12]. He traces the migration of the Jains from Śravaṇa-Beḷgola in Karnataka. A late Kannada literature records a traditional story of Chandragupta Maurya of Magadha came to South India along his preceptor Bhadrabāhu and finally settled down in Śravaṇa-Beḷgola when severe famine affected in his country Maghada. They spread Jainism in Karnataka around 4th century BCE. Bhadrabāhu’s disciple Visakha Muni went further to south along with Jaina monks and they only introduced the Tamil-Brāhmī script in Tamil Nadu.
The Date of Śravaṇa-Beḷgola
This traditional story of Bhadrabāhu’s
and Chandragupta Mauryas migration to Śravaṇa-Beḷgola appeared in the late
inscriptions and in Kannada literature of late period[13]. The earliest inscription
in Śravaṇa-Beḷgola belongs to the 6th
century CE. No single inscription of Brāhmī
characters of pre Common Era is found in this hilly village. Even if we accept
that the author of Tamil Brāhmī was the Jaina
monks of Viskha Muni, the disciple of Bhadrabāhu, certainly one should
have come across some early inscriptions written in Brāhmī scripts at Śravaṇa-Beḷgola
itself around 4th or 3rd century BCE., as was found
in the natural caverns of Tamil Nadu. It clearly indicates that Iravatham Mahadevan
theory on the origin of Brāhmī in to Tamil Country through the Jaina monks of Śravaṇa-Beḷgola
is a farfetched one without any contemporary evidences.
Epigraphists of North India pointed out only 6 inscriptions which belonged to the pre- Aśōkan period. They were written on stones, copper plate and on the coin.[14] Aśōka himself in his edicts proclaimed that the people of North India did not have the knowledge of writing for which he appointed officers Dharmamahā māthrās and Dharma yuktās to read out the inscribed stones and explain the message to the people.
Mauryan Brāhmī
Iravatham Mahadevan coined a term Mauryan Brāhmī
of 2nd century BCE in the North India from which the Tamil Brāhmī
scripts have been evolved, he quoted. After the demise of Aśōka practically we
do not come across any inscriptions of this kind in North India except his
grandson Dasaratha issued some three or four inscriptions in the Nāgarjuni hill
region for Ājivika sects. After the demise of Aśōka, the Mauryan Empire, the
north Indian kings have not issued many inscriptions with Brāhmī script. In the
light of the above, It is surprising that how Iravatham Mahadevan arrived a
conclusion that that the Jaina monks were the authors of these caverns as well
as of the Tamil-Brahmi scripts. His theory of Mauryan Brāhmī is nothing but mere
an exaggeration without any authentic evidences. As pointed out earlier no such
inscriptions were found on the hilly region of Śravaṇa-Beḷgola where the
settlements of Jaina monks were established by Chandragupta Maurya and Bhadrabāhu. With the paucity of evidences of the
existence of Mauryan Brahmi in North India during this period, the theory of
Mahadevan on the origin of Tamil- Brāhmī baseless.
Pottery inscriptions in Tamil Nadu and abroad
More over, Tamil Nadu is rich in
pottery inscriptions of Tamil-Brāhmī characters. Nearly 35 excavated sites
yielded Tamil- Brāhmī label inscriptions. These sites are closely associated
with Sangam Period. Around 1200 potteries have been reported in these sites including
the recent excavated site of Kīḻaḍi. All yielded the names of individuals
written on Tamil- Brāhmī characters on the potteries which clearly suggest that
the people of Tamil Nadu used to write their names on the earthen utensils.
Further it proved that the Tamils were most literate people than the North
Indians.
This
kind of potsherds with the Tamil names in characters of Tamil-Brāhmī scripts
have also been reported in the Red sea area, as well as South East Asia and Sri
Lanka. Quesir –al-Quadim, Berenike in Egypt, Khor Rori in Omen, Phu Khao Thong
in Thailand, Tissamaharama and 6 more excavated sites in Sri Lanka yielded Tamil
Brāhmī inscriptions.[15] Large numbers of Ramayana and Mahabharata
sites have been excavated during the last two and half centuries in North India
by the British and Indian Archaeologists. So far, none of the sites yielded Brāhmī
legend on the potteries in the excavations. It shows that the people of North
India did not have any kind of writing system till the 4th century
BCE.
Palaeography of Tamil Brāhmī
Palaeography of Tamil Brāhmī, the simple and rudimentary form of letters both in the Cavern inscriptions and Pottery inscriptions, it is possible to arrive at the date of Tamil-Brāhmī to certainly earlier than the standard form of Aśōkan Brāhmī. The absence of varga systems, (though Tamils used phonetic sounds where ever necessary with the usage of one letter); the absent of inherent a, the formation of letters such as short a and long ā vowels, consonants symbols m,r, etc are comparatively in a standardized and developed forms in Aśōkan Brāhmī where as these are in rudimentary signs in Tamil Brāhmī. In the initial stage of the Tamil-Brāhmī inscription, the Vowel consonants and basic consonants do not have any differences either using conjuncts or pulli marks as we have seen the formation of conjuncts in the Aśōkan Brāhmī. This demarcation is clearly shown in the Aśōkan Brāhmī by using conjuncts. Either they were written jointly from top to bottom or side by side as we have seen in all Indian writing system at present.
The
Tamils recognize this later on around 2nd century B.C and introduced
a new technique by using dot marks (pulli
system) to indicate or differentiate the Consonants and Vowel consonants in
the script. This is the major development of Tamil-Brāhmī script. All these show that the Tamil-Brāhmī script
is an indigenous one created by the Tamils for their language Tamil around 6th
century BCE from the Graffiti which were
abundantly found on the potteries as well as some pre history paintings in
Tamil nadu.
Scientific Date arrived from Porunthal and Koḍumaṇal
excavations
The scientific date arrived at recently by Rajan is the turning point in the history of Chronology of Tamil-Brāhmī scripts which strongly supports the Palaeographical date of the script. Rajan carried out excavations at a place called Porunthal in the year 2009 near Palani, the abode of Lord Murugan in Tamil nadu.[16] The seven radiometric dates received from two different laboratories from USA pushed the date of Brāhmī scientifically to 6th century BCE. The Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS dating) dates of Porunthal from the paddy grains dates to the 520 BCE.[17] The paddy grains recovered from the trench along with the ring stand with writing reads vayara in Tamil-Brāhmī characters. On palaeographical grounds this letters are assignable to the second stage of Tamil-Brāhmī characters.
In the years 2012 and 2013, Rajan has
conducted excavations in two seasons at Koḍumaṇal in Erode District of Tamil nadu[18]. He collected five
samples at various depths of the trenches for dating. The samples were sent to
USA and five different dates have been obtained. The sample obtained at a depth
of 120 cm shows that the date is 480 BCE. The total deposit of the trench
further goes below 185 cm. According to the excavator Rajan, there is still 65
cm thick cultural deposit containing inscribed potsherds both Tamil-Brāhmī
scripts and graffiti below this dated (480 BCE) level. Based on this one can
easily push the date of the earliest deposit in this site to 6th or
7th century BCE. Koḍumaṇal , is the important commercial centre
which yielded nearly 1200 potsherds with Tamil-Brāhmī letters till 2017
excavations. The lower most level of the trench yielded graffiti marks and on the
above level the excavator noticed graffiti and Tamil-Brāhmī potteries within
the thickness of 65 cm. Above that the
Tamil Brāhmī letters have been found along with some Prākrit letter. This is
dated in 480 BCE. Tamil Brāhmī alone can be dated prior to 480 BCE in all
probability it could be fixed to the 6th century BCE.
The
commercial and trade centers like Koḍumaṇal, Arikkamēḍu and Azagaṉkuḷm yielded 6 signs of northern Brāhmī letters viz., sa,śa ha, dha,da,bha on the potteries.
They were all found on the upper layers of the trenches. At Koḍumaṇal it found
along with the Tamil Brāhmī dated to 480 BCE. It gives the clue that the Prākrit
form of writing too evolved in Tamil nadu and took by the traders of Sri Lanka
and North India to suit their languages. They
learnt the Tamil-Brāhmī Scripts from the Tamil people and introduced a few
letters here itself and took to their country innovated many varga and special letters for their
languages[19].
In the 2017 recent excavations at Koḍumaṇal , the excavator found a pottery
slate with Tamil- Brāhmī alphabets starting from a to i. Since it is a broken piece, the remaining
letters are missing. It shows that the non Tamil traders learned the script and
practiced through pottery slates. [20].
Hence, the
writing system in Tamil nadu could have been pushed earlier to the 7th or 8th century BCE.
The rudimentary nature of Māṅguḷam inscriptions and few cave inscriptions in
Madurai region and the two Hero stone inscriptions at Pulimāṉ kōmpai in Teni
region could have been dated to the 7th or 8th century BCE. In this
connection, we should also recognize the c14 date of Koṟkai materials. Here the
excavator assigned the c14 date to 780
BC[21]. Koṟkai was the port city of the Pāṇḍyas where
the excavator recovered some Tamil-Brāhmī potsherds.
Tamil Brāhmī inscriptions on Hero Stones
The discovery
of Pulimāṉ kōmpai hero stone inscriptions, Tātappaṭṭi hero stone inscriptions and
Porpanaikkottai Hero stone inscription in Tamil-Brāhmī characters are a clinching
evidence for the widened usage of Tamil-Brāhmī script amidst the pastoral
community in Tamil nadu. These
inscriptions are an indication of the social life of the Tamils of Sangam
Period. Sangam literature and the
grammatical treatise Tolkappiyam focuses the cattle riding, lifting and Hero
stone worship and its associated funeral-burial practices. The Pulimāṉ kōmpai hero stone inscriptions
were found on the boulder of the megalithic burial complex where as the Tātappaṭṭi
Hero stone inscription is a menhir variety. The fifth one from Porpanikkottai
is dressed in a triangular shape which is on Palaeographical grounds assignable
to 2nd or 3rd century CE. No
sculptural representation of a hero found sculpted in these early hero stones
as generally we come across from the time of the Pallavas of 4th century
CE in Tamil country. If we accept that the Tamil- Brāhmī script was introduced
by the Jaina monks from Karnataka, It is not possible to reach to the pastoral
community with a short span of time to the remote villages like Pulimāṉ kōmpai ,
Tattappatti and Porpanaikkottai. The
people of Tamil nadu were more literate people because of the antiquity of the
Tamil Brāhmī script which is older than any other script in India.
Among the three hero stone inscriptions of Pulimāṉ
kōmpai , one inscription on Palaeographical grounds and its letters formation
belongs to 6th century BCE and the second one is 5th or 4th centuries BCE and the last one
which mentions the word akol is datable
to the 3rd century BCE. The Tātappaṭṭi
inscription is broken on the top and it mentions the word Pakal pali kal. The word pāḻi,
generally, we come across in the cavern inscriptions. According to
Iravatham Mahadevan it was a Jaina Palli
(Jain’s school) in order to assign the
authorship of cavern inscriptions to the Jains who had settled in Tamil Country
around 2nd century BCE from Karnataka. From the Tātappaṭṭi Hero
stone inscription, now it is clear that the word pāḻi indicates the memorial stone (pāḻi kal) installed to
the deceased for his bravery activities in the society. The installation of
memorial stones to the hero’s is the social customs of the Tamils. The practice
was continued till 18th century CE. The paḷḷippaḍai temples (sepulchral temples) of the historical period,
we come across in Tamil country from the time of Pallavas to the medieval
period is the development of the Hero stone worship of ancient Tamils. Hence it
earned the name paḷḷippaḍai [22]. This clearly indicates
that these beds in the natural caverns were a kind of memorial beds for those
who were diseased. The practice of fast unto death by the Jains in the latter
period (sallēkanam) or niśidhikai were the development of the
Jains when they occupied these places in the 3rd -4th
century CE in Tamil Country[23].
The Nature and contents of Tamil-Brāhmī
inscriptions
The Tamil Brāhmī inscriptions are written in
simple form consisting from single line to a maximum of five lines of writing.
They had written without any religious words or auspicious symbols (maṅgala solōga) in the beginning of the
inscriptions as we have come across in Tamil inscriptions from the time of
Pallavas of 6th century CE. These inscriptions mostly record the
donation of the beds in the natural cavern, the names of the donor and donee
with their native place. In Aśōkan Brāhmī,
the edict generally starts with devanam
piya ( beloved to the god). In most
of the inscriptions of North India, the auspicious signs or the auspicious word
have appeared in the beginning of the inscriptions. The famous Hathigumpha
inscription of Kharavela has swastika
and srivatsa symbols in the beginning
of the inscription. Here, in Tamil nadu
the cavern Tamil Brāhmī inscriptions, though scholars like Iravatham Mahadevan
claims the Jaina origin, none of these records proclaimed any religious faith
of that period in these inscriptions or any religious symbols on them. The earliest occurrence of auspicious word, we
do come across around 3rd century CE in the Paṟaiyaṉpaṭṭu
inscription near Gingee in Villpuram District.
It starts with the auspicious word namōtthu
(Salute to the God) . From this time onwards inscriptions of Tamil nadu have
the auspicious words like Śri, Svasti Śri, subhamasthu,
naṇmaṅgalam unḍāgaṭṭum etc., as preamble of the inscriptions. These religious auspicious words
were introduced by the Jains who came and settled in Tamil nadu around 3rd
century CE.
Sangam Literature
The
earliest literature in Tamil Country known as Sangam literature consists of Eṭṭuttogai (the eight anthologies), the Pattuppāṭṭu (the ten Idylls) and the Padinenkīḻkaṇakku (the eighteen works of
shorter verses). These Sangam works are classified in to Aham and Puram works. They
are the earliest works among the other Sangam literature. Aham
treats of love themes. Puram relates
to warfare. The Tamils patronage these two folds of life in their living. These
two folds of life are totally against the philosophy of Jainism and Buddhism.
If we accept that the Jaina monks were the authority of introducing the Tamil
Script in Ancient Tamilagam, at least some of their religious order or their
philosophy must have been referred to in this literature. There is no single evidence in Sangam
literature referring to the Jaina religion or Jaina monks. They record the love
and war fare of the people in an elaborate manner which was totally against the
basic theme of Jainism. The social and political history of the Tamils, customs
and manners of their day to day life, warfare has been narrated in these poems.
The arrival and spread of Jainism or Buddhism are not figured in the early
literature. There is a reference of a word amanan in one or two cave inscriptions
which is a general term to any monks who gave up the worldly life. Aśōkan
inscriptions refer to the word sramana,
the Prākrit form of Tamil amanan indicating
as general term to all the saints or monks who withheld the worldly affairs.
Both Jainism and Buddhism entered In to Tamil nadu only in the post Sangam
period not earlier than that. The post Sangam works Nālaḍiyār, Tirikaḍugam, the
twin epics Silappadikāram and Maṇimēgalai are the later literatures which
referred to the above two religions Buddhism and Jainism in Tamil Country.
The Natural caverns in Tamil Country
The
orientation of the stone beds in the natural caverns is mostly not perfectly curved.
They are varying in size and cut in all
directions. One can see that these beds are not comfortable to the monks to
sleep or for meditations. The sizes of the beds are ranging from 2 feet to 8
feet. All these give some clue that these were the beds curved for the purpose
of the deceased. It is also remembered here that almost all the Tamil-Brāhmī caverns are
surrounded by megalithic burials. All
most all the natural caverns are narrow in size and inaccessible to reach and
stay permanently by the monks. They
selected some natural caverns and made some drip lines on the eye brow of the
caverns in order to prevent the rain water inside the caverns where they cut
smooth beds as memorials. The beds in the cavern were generally referred to in
the inscriptions as pāḻi or adhiṭṭānam. These two words are synonyms to each other
which mean memorial bed. It clearly indicated that these inscriptions are
non-religious characters and scooped and cut by the Tamils for their diseased
people. Almost all the Tamil Brāhmī caverns are surrounded by megalithic
remains in the form of burials. The best example is Sittaṇṇavāsal. The Ēḻaḍipāṭṭam
hill is surrounded by megalithic burials consisting of dolmans, cists, urns and
menhirs[24]. These megalithic burials are locally known as
pāṇḍavar kuzi or paṇḍu kuzi or Pāṇḍavar paḍukkai or Pañchapāṇḍavar paḍukkai.
The hill where the natural caverns with beds are there, they are referred to as
Pañchapāṇḍavar malai or Aivar malai. The
word Pāṇḍavar is the derivation of māṇḍavar (one who died). As discussed earlier, on the hilly tract in
the natural caverns, they cut the beds as memorial tomb. This is another kind
of burial customs of ancient Tamils. It
is also interesting to note here that the rock cut architecture in north India begun
around 3rd century BCE by the ĀAjivikaga saints, Jains, Buddhist and
Vedic people, whereas in Tamil nadu the cave architecture came in to existence
around 4-5th century CE., introduced by the Pāṇḍyas in the South and
Pallavas in the North of Tamil nadu. If
the Jains or other sects of North India migrated in 2nd Century BCE,
they should have also introduced this architecture along with script in the
early stage itself.
Settlement of Jains in Tamil nadu
We donot come across any early settlements of
Jains in the Madurai and its neighboring regions of Tamil nadu where we get
abundance of cavern inscriptions in Tamil-Brāhmī characters. The earliest settlement of Jains in Tamil
nadu is witnessed in the northern part of Tamil nadu consisting of Vellore,
Thiruvannamalai, Kanchipuram and Villupuram districts of the Pallava region. They
either migrated or converted into this religion during 4th or 5th
century CE. This region is studded with many Jaina temples of early historic
period and inscriptions of Jaina religions. The present nainār (Jain) community lived in the Gingee and Cheyyar and
Kanchipuram regions were the early settlers in Tamil nadu. The temple at Jaina
Kanchi received royal patronage of the Pallava kings. It continued during the time of Chōḷas too.
The Pallavas and Chōḷas gave liberal donations to the Jaina temples and
constructed many temples in this region. The reference of many Jaina monks and samghas like nandhi samgha, Yāppiniya
samgha, Drāvida samha etc are found in the
inscriptions of this region. They belong to 3rd or 4th century CE.
The Jaina monks went to southern districts and stayed in the hilly regions and
scooped bas relief sculptures of Jaina Gods and Goddesses with the Vaṭṭeḻuttu
inscriptions in the vicinity of natural caverns. For meditations and for the religious purpose
they modified some of the caverns and scooped sculptures of Jaina pantheons
around 4th -5th century CE not earlier to that. The
Thirunātharkuṇṟu inscription and Paṟaiyaṉ paṭṭu inscriptions are the earliest
inscriptions which are referring to the Jaina teachers and their religious
practice like vaḍakkiruttal, sallēkanam,
janam norral etc (past unto death practice). None of the cave inscriptions
of Tamil-Brāhmī characters referred these terms to support the Jaina religion.
The Pulankurichchi inscription in the Sivaganga District is the earliest
inscription which refers to the existence of a Jaina palli in the southern region for the first time[25]. It belongs to 3rd
century CE.
Conclusion
From the above discussions, it is clear that the
Tamil-Brāhmī script in Tamil Nadu is the earliest known script in India which
was practiced by the Tamil People in the remote villages of Tamil nadu in 6th
-7th centuries BCE. This
script was originated from the graffiti marks which were abundantly found
engraved on the potteries of Tamil nadu.
The script was learnt by the merchants of Sri Lanka and North India and
they introduced the varga system and
some special letters to suit their languages Prākrit. It got its final shape by
the Buddhists of Bhattiprolu monastery in Andhra where it travelled to north
India. Finally, this was widely used by the Aśōka in his edicts. The natural caverns with stone beds in
various shapes and sizes yielded Tamil Brāhmī inscriptions which are scooped by
the native people i.e., the Tamils for their departed souls as memorial beds.
These places were later on occupied by the Jains around 3rd century
CE and they modified these places for their meditation and stay; They sculpted
Jaina Tirthankaras around 5-6th centuries CE with the Vaṭṭeḻuttu inscriptions in these places. The Late reference of Bhatrapagu arrival of
Karnataka and the absence of early Brāhmī inscriptions at Śravaṇa-Beḷgola do not suit with in the chronological frame for Tamil-Brāhmī
script. The Radio carbon date, palaeographical and orthographical features of
Tamil-Brāhmī clearly suggest that the Tamil Brāhmī was in vogue amidst the
people of Tamil nadu around 7th-6th centuries BCE. In
contrast, the spread or migration of Jaina monks took place in the later period
around 3rd or 4th century CE when the Pallavas
established their capital city Kanchipuram in the northern part of Tamil nadu .
The
natural caverns were mostly utilized by the local people for scooping
the memorial beds for their departed soul as these places were surrounded by
other megalithic tombs like stone circles, Menhirs, Dolmens and Urns. The Tātappaṭṭi
hero stone inscription is the clinching source for the word pāḻi-kal which indicates that the
memorial stone was erected for the deceased.
Even if we accept the Jaina authorship for the caverns as well as for
the Tamil-Brāhmī script, naturally the script could not have been spread to the
remote areas like Koḍumaṇal Tātappaṭṭi, Pulimāṉ
kōmpai , porunthal and Porpanaikkottai at an early stage. The pastoral and
agricultural Tamil people practiced the script for writing their names on the
potteries and Hero stones without any orthographic mistakes. It could be
possible only they knew the art of writing for a long time. When there was no script in Tamil nadu before
the advent of Jain, how the local pastoral people in the remote villages learnt
this script within a short period; those who are claiming the Jaina origin they
could not answer for this positively. The theory of Jaina authorship to the
natural caverns and the Tamil Brāhmī associations with Jains are fully based on
conflicting and contradictory nature of evidences. Those who are claiming the
Jaina origin for Tamil Brāhmī have not given any authentic and contemporary
evidences to prove the spread of Jainism in Tamil country around 2nd
century CE,
The
migration of Jains from North India to Śravaṇa-Beḷgola under Bhadrabāhu is totally based on traditions. This tradition
appeared in the late literary sources and inscriptional evidences. There are a variety
of stories regarding this migration in the following literature of later
period. The Sanskrit work Brhat-Kathakōsa
(10th century CE), Kannada work Manivamsa
(1680), Rājavalikathe
of Devachandra (1838) contain different
story on migration of Bhadrabāhu. The migration of Jains into
Karnataka in 3rd century BCE was questioned by several scholars like Hoernle.
V.A. Smith, the well known British historian. He quotes that the traditional
story of migration of Chandragupta along with the Jaina guru is totally an
imaginary one. This may be accepted with all probability, he says. [26] The
other notable scholars to deny the above theory were Fleet, Shama Sastri and
Govinda Pai. They identified Chandragupta with the Chandragupta II of Gupta
dynasty and Bhadra bahu with Bhadra bahu II
of 4th century CE. [27]
On the light of the above, It is certain that the migration of Jains to Tamil nadu must have taken place during the time of Pallavas not earlier than that and they first settled in the Vellore, Kanchipuram, Thiruvannamalai, Villupuram regions. At present, the Tamil Jaina communities are still living in the above regions of Tamil Nadu. Jaina monks went to further south and selected their abode in the caverns which was free from the crowd of people. They scooped sculptures of Jaina Gods with the Vaṭṭeḻuttu inscriptions around 5-6th century CE for meditation. The Jaina works Ᾱyaraṅga quotes the Jaina ascetics put up their abode in the cemetery and mountain caves.[28] Hence, all the evidences and scientific analysis proved that the author of Tamil Brāhmī was the Tamil people. They started their writing system in graffiti in the early stage and later on developed the Tamil-Brahmi scripts from it. The natural caverns with beds are the creation of Tamils as one of the burial customs of ancient period. They engraved the donation of the beds in Tamil Brahmi characters. The simple aksharas (letters) of Tamil Brāhmī was later on borrowed by the merchants of Sri Lanka and North India. They introduced the varga letters and some modification in their writing system with the help of Jaina and Buddhist monks around 4th century BCE in North India as well as in Sri Lanka.
Appendix –I List of Tamil Brahmi inscriptions
with Date in Natural caverns
|
S.No |
Name of the village |
District |
No of inscriptions |
Period ( Earliest
date is figured here) |
|
1. |
Mangulam |
Madurai |
6 |
5th century BCE |
|
2 |
Arittapatti |
Madurai |
2 |
4th century BC |
|
3 |
Tiruvadavur |
Madurai |
2 |
3rd century BCE |
|
4 |
Kilavalavu |
Madurai |
1 |
3rd century BCE |
|
5 |
Kongarpuliyankulam |
Madurai |
3 |
3rd century BCE |
|
6 |
Marukaltalai |
Tirunelveli |
1 |
3rd century BCE |
|
7 |
varichiyur |
Madurai |
3 |
3rd century BCE |
|
8 |
Vikkiramangalam |
Madurai |
6 |
3rd century BCE |
|
9 |
Mettuppatti |
Madurai |
10 |
3rd century BCE |
|
10 |
karungalakkudi |
Madurai |
1 |
3rd century BCE |
|
11 |
Mudalaikkulam |
Madurai |
1 |
3rd century BCE |
|
12 |
Alagarmalai |
Madurai |
13 |
3rd century BCE |
|
13 |
Sittannavasal |
Pudukkottai |
1 |
3rd century BCE |
|
14 |
Aiyarmalai |
Karur |
1 |
3rd century BCE |
|
15 |
Tirumalai |
Sivaganga |
2 |
3rd century BCE |
|
16 |
Samanar malai |
Madurai |
1 |
3rd century BCE |
|
17 |
Tirupparankunram |
Madurai |
4 |
3rd century BCE |
|
18 |
Muttuppatti |
Madurai |
3 |
3rd century BCE |
|
19 |
Jambai* |
Villupuram |
1 |
3rd century BCE |
|
20 |
Anaimalai |
Madurai |
1 |
2nd century BCE |
|
21 |
Pugalur |
Karur |
12 |
2nd century BCE |
|
22 |
Mamandur |
Tiruvannamalai |
1 |
2nd century BCE |
|
23 |
Kunnakkudi |
Sivaganga |
2 |
2nd century BCE |
|
24 |
Tondur |
Villupuram |
1 |
1st century BCE |
|
25 |
Kudumiyanmalai |
Pudukkottai |
1 |
1st century BCE |
|
26 |
Tiruchirappalli |
Trichirappalli |
1 |
1st century BCE |
|
27 |
Edakkal |
Kerala (Wynadu) |
5 |
1st century BCE |
|
28 |
Nekanurpatti |
Villupuram |
1 |
1st century CE |
|
29 |
Ammankovilpatti |
Salem |
1 |
1st century CE |
|
30 |
Arachalur |
Erode |
3 |
1st century CE |
|
31 |
Mannarkovil |
Tirunelveli |
2 |
1st century CE |
|
Total |
93 |
|||
*Jambai inscription is Contemporary to Asoka which mentions Satiyapoto Adhiyan of Asokan inscription.
Appendix-II List of Hero stone
inscriptions with Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions
|
S.No |
Name of the village |
District |
|
Date |
|
1 |
Puliman kompai |
Teni |
3 |
5-6th century BCE |
|
2 |
Tatappatti |
Teni |
1 |
3rd century BCE |
|
3 |
Porpanaikkottai |
Pudukkottai |
1 |
3rd century CE |
|
Total |
5 |
|||
Appendix- III- List of villages
yielded Pottery inscriptions
|
S.No |
Village/site |
District |
Number
of inscribed Sherds |
|
1 |
Alagankulam |
Ramanathapuram |
98 |
|
2 |
Alagarai |
Tiruchirappalli |
3 |
|
3 |
Ambal |
Nagapattinam |
1 |
|
4 |
Andipatti |
Tiruvannamalai |
3 |
|
5 |
Arikamedu |
Puducherry |
66 |
|
6 |
Attur |
Karur |
1 |
|
7 |
Boluvanpatti |
Coimbatore |
1 |
|
8 |
Jambai |
Villupuram |
1 |
|
9 |
Kadattur |
Dharmapuri |
1 |
|
10 |
Kanchipuram |
Kanchipuram |
1 |
|
11 |
Karur |
Karur |
15 |
|
12 |
Kattupudur |
Tiruchirappalli |
1 |
|
13 |
Kaveripumpattinam |
Nagappattinam |
1 |
|
14 |
Kodumanal* |
Erode |
1110 |
|
15 |
Korkai |
Tirunelveli |
8 |
|
15 |
Kovalanpottal |
Madurai |
2 |
|
16 |
Kiladi(near Madurai) |
Sivagangai |
85 |
|
17 |
Maligaimedu |
Cuddalore |
8 |
|
18 |
Mangudi |
Tirunelveli |
9 |
|
19 |
Marungur |
Cuddalore |
3 |
|
20 |
Mathagam |
Pudukkottai |
1 |
|
21 |
Mayiladumparai |
Krishnagiri |
2 |
|
22 |
Otaikalpalayam |
Coimbatore |
1 |
|
23 |
Palayarai |
Thanjavur |
1 |
|
24 |
Pattanam |
Thrissur (Kerala) |
3 |
|
25 |
Pillaiyarpatti |
Thanjavur |
1 |
|
26 |
Poruthal* |
Dindugal |
1 |
|
27 |
S.Pappinayakkanpatti |
Madurai |
1 |
|
28 |
Salaiyur |
Coimbatore |
1 |
|
29 |
Sivakasi |
Virudhu nagar |
1 |
|
30 |
Somavarappatti |
Erode |
1 |
|
31 |
T.Kallupatti |
Madurai |
1 |
|
32 |
Teriruveli |
Ramanathapuram |
1 |
|
33 |
Uraiyur |
Tiruchirappalli |
20 |
|
34 |
Vallam |
Thanjavur |
4 |
|
35 |
Virapandipudur |
Coimbatore |
1 |
*C14 date has been arrived at Korkai 780 BCE. ASM
Date at Porunthal- 540 BC
ASM Date at Kodumanal – 480 BCE. This date is at the depth
of 120 cm. Further 65 Cm below this the excavator noticed the undated cultural
material. Hence the date could be pushed to 6th or 7th
century BCE at Kodumanal.
Appendix –IV- List of Tamil-Brahami
inscribed potsherds discovered outside India
|
S.No |
Excavated
Site |
Country |
Numbers |
|
1 |
Berenike |
Egypt |
2 |
|
2 |
Khor Rori (Sumhuram) |
Oman |
1 |
|
3 |
Quseir al Quadim |
Egypt |
2 |
|
4 |
Anuradhapuram |
Sri Lanka |
1 |
|
5 |
Kalmunai |
Sri Lanka |
1 |
|
6 |
Kantarodai |
Sri Lanka |
1 |
|
7 |
Mannitalai |
Sri Lanka |
1 |
|
8 |
Poonagari |
Sri Lanka |
1 |
|
9 |
Vettukkada |
Sri Lanka |
1 |
|
10 |
Tissamaharama |
Sri Lanka |
1 |
|
11 |
Phu khao Thong |
Thailand |
1 |
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,
Photographs
Earliest
Hero stone in India- Pulimankompail, Teni District, Tamil Nadu, 600 BCE
Mangulam
Tamil-Brahmi inscription eyebrow of the natural cavern- 600BCE
Inscribed potsherd from Kiladi mentions Person
Name cantanan. 3rd century BCE
Natural cavern and un sized memorial beds
for the dead-Tirumalai
Jaina Tirthankaras bas relief sculptures
with Vatteluttu inscription at Samanar malai- occupied by Jaina monks in the
later period.
Jaina loose sculpture of Late period (9th
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ASM Date received from USA 540 BCE.
Rock cut cave at Barabar (Bihar) for
Ajivikas 3rd century BCE
* Department of Maritime History and Marine
Archaeology, Tamil University, Thanjavur
[1]
K.Rajan 2015
[2]
List of villages in Tamil Nadu and Kerala yielded Tamil Brāhmī inscriptions have been
enclosed in the Appendix of this article.
[3]
H.Krishna Sastry 1910 &1919
[4]
K.V.Subrahmanya Aiyyar 1924
[5]
I.Mahadevan, 2003 & 2014
[6] T.S.Sridhar(ed),2006.
[7]
T.V.Mahalingam,1974, 2011(Reprint),pp.188-189
[8]
K. Nedunzheliyan, 2014
[9]
Edward Thomas,1883.
[10] T.N.Subramaniam 1957.
[11]
K.V.Ramesh,1980 2010,Natana Kasinathan, Rajavelu,S. Nedunzheliyan, 2010.
[12]
Iravatham Mahadevan,2003.
[13]
Epigraphia Carnatica, Vol II, Tr.pp1-2
Brhat-kathakosa a Sanskrit Jaina literature of 9th century CE
records the story of Chandragupta and
Bhatrabahu’s arrival to Sravanabelagola. These are all later evidences.
[14] Mahalingam, T.V., 1974. The Eran coin legend,
The Taxila Coin legend , The Mahasthan stone plaque inscription, The Piprahwa
relic casket inscription, The Sohgoura Copper Plate inscription, The
Bhattiprolu Relic casket- Dravidi inscriptions are considered to be the pre
Asokan period inscriptions of North India and Andhra.
[15] Pottery with Tamil-Brahmi is listed in the
Appendix of this article.
[16]
Rajan and V.P Yathees Kumar,2013.pp279-295
[17]
Ibid,
[18] Rajan,K.2015,
[19]
It is interesting to note here to remember the eminent scholar T.N.
Subrahmanyan quotes that the Prakrit itself in its original form was a South
Indian product synthesizing the Dravidian language to make it understood
throughout the country.
[20] . Archaeological survey of India carried out
excavations at Kodumanal in the year 2017 and the author of the article
personally verified the pottery and took photographs of the same.
[21]
Nagaswamy,R.1970 (ed) Damilca,
[22] The earliest paḷḷippaḍai
temple in Tamil nadu is at Cholapuram very near to Vellore belongs to Pallava
period. The Arinjigai Isvaram at Melpadi, Arrur tunjiya devar paḷḷippaḍai at
Khalahasti and Panjavan Mahadevi paḷḷippaḍai
at Palaiyarai and many paḷḷippaḍai
i temples in and around Dharasuram near Kumbakonam are the sepulchral type of
temples housed by Sivalinga in the garbhagriha.
[23]
Tirunatharkunru and paraiyanpattu inscriptions record the nisidigai.SII Vol XVII and EI.40.
[24]
Rajavelu, S. G.Thirumurthy, 1990. pp 67
[25]
Y. Subbarayalu, 2001
[26]
T.V. Mahalingam,1974 pp-165-170
[27] Ibid
[28]
S.B., Deo, 1955.
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