New evidences on scientific dates for Brhm Script as

revealed from Porunthal and Kodumanal Excavations

K. 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 Brhm
script. Though it was first recognised in coins, the
decipherment of Aokan edicts made it popular and
on account of this it came to be known as AokanBrhm or after his dynastic name Mauryan-Brhm.
Later, a variant of this script was discovered in the
south, in places like at Bhaipru in Andhra Pradesh.1
To differentiate this, they called the one found in the
north as northern-Brhm and the one found in the
south as southern-Brhm. Again a new variant of
Brhm script was came to know after the discovery
of rock shelter inscriptions at Mguam near Mlr
in Madurai district of Tamil Nadu by Robert Sewell
in 1882. The successful decipherment of these
inscriptions in1924 by K.V.Subrahmanya Aiyer2
provided a new insight on the variant of Brhm
script. The Brhm inscriptions of Tamil Nadu, in
addition to some distinctive letters, were written in
Tami~ language whereas the inscriptions outside
ancient Tami~ country (ancient Tami~akam) were
written in Prakrit language. So as to differentiate
Received : 18th February, 2013 : Corrected : 26th February, 2013

them from Prakrit-Brhm, they designated the new

variant as Tami~-Brhm. These Tami~-Brhm
inscriptions have certain unique letters to denote ~a,
~a, a and a occur in Tami~ language. Further, the
letters " ma ' and "ra ' also have some morphological
features that differ from usual Aokan-Brhm.
Keeping in view of these developments, scholars
opined that the Brhm scripts that found outside
Tamil Nadu and Kerala (ancient Tami~akam) should
be re-designated as Prakrit-Brhm rather than calling
them as Aoka-Brhm or Mauryan-Brhm. This
view seems to be reasonable. It would be appropriate
to designate the inscription on the basis of language
and script rather name of the ruler or dynasty. The
ancient Jaina and Buddhist texts like Pannavasutta and Lalitavistara listed sixty four and eighteen
scripts respectively that were in practice at the time
of the composition of these literary works. Though
we have not come across all the scripts listed in the
literature, the scholars identified three important
scripts namely Brhm, Kharoh and Dami~i. Since
both the scripts (Brhm and Dami~i ) find their place
in the same literature, scholars like R.Nagasamy,
M.D.Sampath and Natana. Kasinathan insist that

izkX/kkjk] vad&21&22
Tami~-Brhm should be called as Dami~i. Keeping in
view of the growing knowledge in this field, the term
Dami~i (Tami~-Brhm) is used in this article to
differentiate from Aokan-Brhm and also for better
understanding and wider acceptability. The close
observations of the Dami~i (Tami~-Brhm) and Sri
Lankan Brhm scripts suggest that they had closer
relations with each other than the Aokan-Brhm.
Irrespective of their successful decipherment, the
origin and date of Brhm script still elude the scholars
as they were mostly recovered from non-perishable
material like on rock-surface, metal objects and
potsherds. The non-availability of the script written
on organic material prevented us in fixing the date
scientifically. Thus, the study of palaeography,
orthography and archaeological stratigraphy
predominate the scene in assigning the date to Brhm
script which initiated much debate among the
epigraphists and archaeologists due to its ambiguity.
However, the recent evidences observed at
Koumaal, Porunthal, Pulimkmbai and
Ththappai in Tamil Nadu and at Anurdhapura in
Sri Lanka shed some light on the chronology of the
script.

of Brhm script in Tamil Nadu as one of these

memorial stones is considered earlier than the
celebrated Mguam inscription3 (Figs. 1-6). This
debate is further accelerated with discovery of
memorial stone (a menhir) associated with urn burial
containing Tami~-Brhm inscription at Ththappai4
(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
Piya capital with Chra country on the western
side of the western ghat. Before the debates settled
down, the three radiometric dates of Porunthal and
Koumaal 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~Brhm script). A brief description of these two sites
is given to understand the potentiality of the site.

Excavations at Porunthal

The three earliest Tami~-Brhm inscribed memorial

stones of India speaking on cattle raids recovered at
Pulimkmbai generated much debate on the date

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

village, is situated on the left bank of the river
Porunthil-u at the foothill of the Western Ghat
about 12 km southwest Pa~ai, the taluk head

Fig. 1: Pulimankombai : Memorial Stone (no.1) With

Tamil-Brahmi Inscription

Fig. 2: Pulimankombai : Readings of the Memorial

Stone (no.1)

280

Prgdhr, No. 21-22

Fig. 3: Pulimankombai : Memorial Stone (no.2) With

Tamil-Brahmi Inscription

Fig. 4: Pulimankombai : Readings of the Memorial

Stone (no.2)

quarters. The river Porunthil-u joins with Amarvathi

(ancient -pouai) near Dhrpuram town in Karr
district. This village lies close to the major trade
routes connecting Madurai, the Piya capital on
the south and Vaji on the west coast. The inscription
engraved on the Ch~svara temple at Ko~umam issued
during the 21st regnal year of Vra-ch~adeva (1189
CE) refer this highway as Craaimkoa-ch~aperuva~i.5 Vaji was the celebrated Chra capital on
the bank of river Periyr in Thrissr district of Kerala.
Several Jain beds with Dami~ i (Tami~-Brhm)
inscriptions and medieval trade guild inscriptions
issued by the celebrated trade guilds like Ainuvar/
Ticai-yirattu-ainuvar were reported on this route6

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

Kalayamuttr discovered in 1856 lies on the
Porunthil-u 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 Amarvathi river valley met with about 175
Iron Age and Early Historic sites8 (Fig. 10). The
present site Porunthal was discovered in March
2006.

Fig. 5: Pulimankombai : Memorial Stone (no.3) With

Tamil-Brahmi Inscription

Fig. 6: Pulimankombai : Readings of the Memorial

Stone (no.3)

Historically, the village Porunthal is part of a territorial

division known as Vaikvr-nu. The main village
Vaikavr or viyr is named after one of the important
clan groups' viyar-ki. One of the famous V~

281

izkX/kkjk] vad&21&22

Fig. 7 : Thathappatti : Memorial Stone (a menhir) with

Tamil-Brahmi Inscription

Fig. 8 : Thathappatti : Readings of the Memorial Stone

(a menhir)

chieftains V-vi-k-k-p-perum-Pka (Puanu

143, 144, 145, 146 and147) hails from this clan
group. The Sangam poems (Akanu 1 and 61;
Puanu 142) mention this place as belongs to
the V chieftain Neu-V-vi. As per Sangam poem
Paiuppattu, another important chieftain V-vi-kk-Patuma had matrimonial relations with Chras
who ruled this region with capital at Karr (ancient
Karr-Vaji) located on the confluence of the river
Amarvathi with Kvri. The Sangam poet PoruntilIlakrar hails from this village. He has sung three
songs two in Akannu (19, 351) and one in
Puanu (53). In Puanu, he composed a
poem in praise of Chra king Mntaral-CralIrumpoai, who ruled from the Chra country with
capital at Karr and believed to be issued Tami~Brhm inscribed coins with a title Kollippoai. 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 vae~uttu character clearly points
to the fact that this centre was survived as great
Jain centre. The Sangam poem Paiuppattu (21,
70, 79) mentioned this place as Ayirai which had
the Chra's family deity Ayirai-kaavu. 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.

282

The habitation mound locally called pci-mu

meaning bead mound (pci > bead; mu > mound)
covering an area of 5.5 ha lies on the left bank of
the river Porunthilu. It is also known as cmbalmu 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

Prgdhr, No. 21-22

Fig. 9:

Tamil-Brahmi sites in Tamil Nadu

283

izkX/kkjk] vad&21&22

Fig. 10:

Archaeological sites in Amaravathi river valley

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.
284

The graves, consists of more than 60 circles, were

noticed 2.5 km west of habitation mound at the foot
hill of Taciyappamalai. 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

Prgdhr, No. 21-22

Fig. 11:

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

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~-Brhm
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

285

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Fig. 12:

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

found. Further, four more etched carnelian beads, a

small sword and an arrow head were placed inside
the ring stand. The Tami~-Brhm 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 fourlegged 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.

286

The V-shaped design in black pigment with white

dots was executed at the shoulder just below the
grooving. There are seven dots in each V-design
portion. Below this, identical another V-design was
executed in white pigment with black dots. Below
this ml (garland) like design, a row of horse (?)
in black pigment was executed. Below the horse,
another row of peacocks was executed using both
black and white pigments (Fig.16). Below this
row, a leaf design was shown. The edges and the
mid-rib of the leaves are painted with black pigment
whereas 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

Prgdhr, No. 21-22

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 V chieftains.
Excavations at Koumaal
Fig..13: Porunthal : The northern chamber (Meg. I)
having grave goods

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.

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

unassuming village in Perunduai taluk of Erode
district in Tamil Nadu, is located on the north bank
of the east-flowing Noyyal, a tributary to the Kvri.
It lies on the ancient trade route that connects
Chra capital Karr (Vaji) on the east and the
famous seaport Muciri (the site Paaam) on the
west. Roman coin hoards were reported at a number
of sites like at Kattkai (located about 5 km
west of this site), Slr, Vealr, V~anthvaam 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 Karr and further east. The koga-pperuva~i is one of the east-west major highways that
connects Kvri deltaic region with Kogu country.9
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Fig. 14:

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

It might have passed through Uaiyr, Kuithalai, Karr

along the banks of river Kvri and passed further
west along the river Noyyal up to Perr near
Coimbatore. The vae~uttu inscription found at
Pachchai-p~i near Suakamuttr on the rocky
surface on the side of the highway Rjakari-pperuva~i (named after Ch~a king ditya I) is the one
that connects Kogu-nu with Malaimaalam
(Kerala).10 One could see still the old highway existed
in front of the Rjaksariperuva~i inscription. Thus,
the site Koumaal lies on the ancient trade route.
The ancient place name Koumaam mentioned in
one of the Sangam anthologies Patiuppattu (67)
had a close resemblance to the site Koumaal and
it is highly praised for its ubiquitous jewel-stones,
particularly rock-crystal (paliku). The collection of
288

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 Koumaal with ancient Koumaam.
This fifty hectares of habitation-cum-burial site was
excavated in five seasons during the years 1985,
1986, 1989 and 1990 by the Depart-ment 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.

Prgdhr, No. 21-22

Fig. 15 : Porunthal : The Tamil-Brhm inscribed ring

stand reading va-y-ra

Fig.16 : Porunthal : Fragmentary of four-legged jar

with paintings of peacocks

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~-Brhm) 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 russetcoated-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 pro-portions and all
the pottery looks bright and polished. In the middle
levels the russet-coated-paint-ed-black-and-red ware
decreases while plain black-and-red ware increases.
Moreover we get comparatively thicker storage vessels
in black and red ware.

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.

The quite interesting and remarkable achievement of

these people was the production of iron and steel.
The evi-dence for this industry was found exposed in
two groups of trenches 300 m apart from each
other and situated respectively on the southern and

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 un-earthed from the
habitation whereas beads of carnelian particu-larly
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

289

izkX/kkjk] vad&21&22
Few graffiti marks were found engraved at the end
portion of the Dami~i (Tami~-Brhm) 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
clear-ly demonstrate that they were used to
communicate certain messages and the future
decipherment alone would clear its significance.

Fig. 17 : Porunthal : the chamber containing grave goods

have served as one of the trade centres of Chra

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~-Brhm).

Writing System
Graffiti bearing potsherds were mostly recovered from
the earlier and middle levels. The more common
graffiti marks are sun, swastika, star, ladder,
nandipda, fish, bow and arrow, wheel, cart, etc.

290

The second writing system is the famous Tami~Brhm script. Nearly 204 Tami~-Brhm 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 Koumaal alone, this
state of affairs also repeated in other sites like Karr,
the capital of Chras. 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 nonsecular in character. This script has been dated
based on palaeography and archaeological
stratigraphy. The scholars like Iravatham Mahadevan13
and Subbarayalu14 considered this as post-Aoka

Prgdhr, No. 21-22

Fig. 18 :

Porunthal : The four-legged jar containing paddy

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

and S.Rajavelu18 considered them as pre-Aoka. 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 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 BP
and the uncalibrated conventional age is 2440 30

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

the sample has been dated to 2440 30 BP
i.e 490 BCE (Cal. 520 BCE)
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 Brhm script (Fig. 20). So far, the
Brhm script is dated on the basis of palaeographical,
linguistic and stratigraphical parameters. Due to the
non-availability of scientific dates, fixing the date of
Brhm script had been eluding the scholars. Now,
the date of Brhm script can be pushed back two
hundred years earlier to Aoka. 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
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izkX/kkjk] vad&21&22

Fig. 19 :

Kodumanal : Excavated trenches

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 mahjanapadas.
Thus, the AMS date obtained for the paddy grains
from the Porunthal site has the following
implications:
The Brhm 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
292

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 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
2390 30 BP and the uncalibrated conventional
age is 2400 30 BP with 13C/12C ratio factor of
-24.6 o/oo. Thus, the sample has been dated
to 2400 30 BP i.e 450 BCE (Cal. 410 BCE)
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 Brhm script in India

Prgdhr, No. 21-22

Fig. 20 :

Pot containing Tamil-Brahmi inscription reading Campa-Sumana

and also the introduction of Dami~i (Tami~-Brhm)

writing system in Tamil Nadu.

nikama, etc., clearly established close links with other

parts of India.

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~-Brhm) letters
were recovered at this site. Of which, one grave
(Meg.III) yielded a solitary sherd reading Viski.
Besides the proper names like Kaa-ta, Paa,
Antava-ta, ta, Campa, Mtta, raa, etc.,
the north Indian names like Varui, Kuvira, Viski,

These inscribed potsherds were recovered from a

well-established stratigraphy and the Koumaal
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~-Brhm) 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

293

izkX/kkjk] vad&21&22
Kodumanal. To mitigate this vexing problem, the
charcoal sample collected from the trench KDLZD10 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 BP
and the uncalibrated conventional age is 2280 30
BP with 13C/12C ratio factor of-24.2 o/oo. Thus,
the sample has been dated to 2280 30 BP
i.e 330 BCE (Cal. 380 BCE).
The maximum cultural deposit containing Dami~i
(Tami~-Brhm) inscribed potsherds in association with
Prakrit-Brhm obtained at Koumaal 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~-Brhm) script clearly urge
us to have a relook on the introduction of Dami~i
(Tami~-Brhm) script in Tamil Nadu and finally the
origin of Brhm writing system in India.

Post 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 40
BP (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 Brhm
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.

References
1.

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2.

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

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Pondicherry University
Pondicherry (Tamilnadu) INDIA

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Dr. V.P. Yatheeskumar

Post - Doctoral Project Fellow
Department of History
Pondicherry University
Pondicherry (Tamilnadu) INDIA
295