Inscribed Potsherds of Tamil Nadu Graffiti and Tamili (Set of 2 Volumes)

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One of the earliest civilisations of the world is the Indus Valley Civilization followed in a wider geographical area when compared with other contemporary civilizations. The seals, sealings, advanced metallurgy in copper and bronze, gemstone technology, ceramic technology. well-structured town planning, monumental architecture, dockyard, standardized weights, trans-oceanic international trade, underground drainage system, subterranean canals displaying excellent water harvesting system, diversified agricultural activities, domestication of cattle, usage of script, boat building technology, resource mobilization, well-structured administrative system and firm state regulations are some of the hallmarks of Indus Valley Civilization. Multifaceted accomplishments attained by the Harappan people were reconstructed based on material evidences. The non-decipherment of the Indus script prevents us from understanding their language and script, thwarting our effort to understand the social, cultural, political and economic life of the Indus people. Understanding the evolution and transformation of the Indus writing system still eludes scholars and serious attempts to decipher the script are still going on at various levels. Besides the linguistic attempts, the comparative study of the Indus script with graffiti marks is one of the major works that provides some clues on the nature of the script. The long survival of graffiti marks on different media, both in time and space and their survival as parallel systems started receiving the attention of scholars. The visible morphological evidence shows the relationship between the Indus script and Graffiti marks. In the book, an attempt is made to compare the graffiti marks encountered in archaeological excavations of Tamil Nadu with the Indus script. The occurrence of more than 15000 graffiti inscribed potsherds collected from the entire Tamil Nadu is proof of the survival of the Indus script in one form or another.

The preliminary morphological analysis of these marks clearly indicates that these are not merely unintentional marks rather there must be a specific meaning to them. The comparative study made with the Indus script indicates a close resemblance.

The authors also made an earnest attempt to document the entire corpus of Tamili inscribed potsherds. The documentation of more than 1500 inscribed potsherds from 42 archaeological sites is a herculean task. The findings are placed before the scholars for academic scrutiny. Now, scholars have the opportunity to discuss and critically examine the findings and to arrive at their own scholarly conclusions without any prejudice.

I congratulate all the scholars and researchers involved in the project and, importantly, the authors Prof. K. Rajan and Dr. R. Sivanantham, who compiled entire pieces of evidence scattered throughout Tamil Nadu and meticulously placing before the scholarly world that may open a new path in the study of Indus and Tamili writing systems.

India witnessed three major early writing systems namely the Indus writing system, the graffiti writing system and the Brahmi writing system covering a broader chronological space of about three thousand years between the third millennium BCE and the first century BCE. Among the three, the last-mentioned Tamili (Tamil-Brahmī/Damili) and Prakrit-Brähmi writing system was satisfactorily deciphered whereas the previous two writing systems are yet to be deciphered. The Indus writing system is the one followed in a wider geographical area. Understanding the appearance and disappearance of this well-established Indus writing system still eludes scholars due to the non-decipherment of the Indus script. The second writing system popularly called graffiti marks is encountered in the Chalcolithic and Iron Age cultural contexts occupying a wider geographical space in central and Peninsular India. The long survival of graffiti marks, contemporary to the Indus Valley Civilization, started receiving the attention of scholars. Its presence in the Indus Valley and its subsequent survival till Early Historic times raised an important question, whether the graffiti system survived as a parallel system along with a well-developed dominant Indus writing system is yet to be understood in a given cultural context. Limited evidence, non-availability of archaeological context and improper documentation still elude scholars in understanding the nature of graffiti marks. However, there is visible evidence to show the relationship between the Indus script and Graffiti marks. In the present work, an attempt is made to document all the graffiti marks encountered in Tamil Nadu and analysed to understand the origin and transformation in the backdrop of stratigraphical, morphological, syntax and cultural contexts.

The recent AMS C dates obtained at Sivagalai, Adichanallur, Mangadu and Mayiladumparai placed the beginning of the Iron Age to mid-third millennium BCE as contemporary to Harappan culture. These dates were further used to investigate the nature of graffiti marks. The modest documentation alone yielded more than fifteen thousand sherds from a hundred forty sites spread throughout Tamil Nadu. The morphological analysis of these marks clearly indicates that these are not merely unintentional marks rather there must be a specific meaning to them. The comparative study made with the Indus script indicates the close resemblance constituting nearly sixty percent of them. The total number of occurrences of graffiti, their distribution, ceramic preference, the position of their writing and their position in the Tamili inscribed potsherds and the statistical data enumerated in relation to Tamili inscribed potsherds clearly point to the significance of these graffiti marks. Though the exact meaning of these symbols, individually or in compound form, cannot be easily guessed, but, close observation of these symbols, their places of occurrence, frequency and position demonstrates that they were used to communicate certain messages and it is a kind of writing system. The documentation of graffiti-bearing sherds, preparation of the sign table and concordance of the entire sherds may provide a clue for future decipherment. The decipherment of these marks may also help us to decipher the Indus script or vice versa. Faithful documentation in future is the only answer to these vexing issues.

Another ancient script that received much attention from scholars is the Tamili script. popularly called Tamil-Brahmi. The decipherment of the script in association with contemporary Sangam literature through much light on the nature of the society that survived Early Historic times. The series of radiometric dates obtained particularly at Kodumanal, Porunthal, Keeladi and Sivagalai pushed the date of the Tamili script to the 7-6 century BCE. The evolved nature of the script suggests that this script might have developed well before this date. The origin, evolution and transformation of the script still elude the scholars due to limited data. A segment of scholars believes that this script might have evolved from the previously existing graffiti marks. There is a crucial link at both cultural and linguistic levels. However, the data on Tamili is stored and preserved in various institutions is not readily available for their close study. In the present work, an earnest attempt is made to document more than a thousand five hundred Tamili inscribed potsherds scattered all over Tamil Nadu. The consolidated data with proper documentation and interpretation is presented to the scholarly world for the furtherance of their research. These two types of inscribed potsherds, namely graffiti and Tamili, presented here may help to advance the research in the field of the cultural, epigraphical, linguistic and historical arena to reconstruct the past in a most meaningful and respectful way.