Tamil-Brahmi Inscriptions and Their Chronology
Tamil-Brahmi Inscriptions and Their Chronology
The characters found in Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions are mostly in an early stage of development. Epigraphists estimate their dates on the basis of palaeography, taking into consideration the stages of evolution in the forms of these letters. According to this approach, all of Ashoka’s inscriptions appear to be later than some of the Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions.
The Ashokan Brahmi script was engraved in a systematic and well-developed form. It had reached a more complete structure, and a single letter could be written in several different forms. For example, the scholar Bühler noted that the vowel letter “அ” (a) appears in eight different forms in Ashoka’s inscriptions.
In Tamil-Brahmi, letters such as அ (a), ஆ (ā), ம (ma), ர (ra), த (ta), and many others appear to represent an earlier stage of script development. The writing style of Ashokan Brahmi can be seen in the inscription of Atiyaman at Sembai. The Atiyaman mentioned in this inscription belonged to the Satiyaputra lineage referred to in Ashokan inscriptions.
The greatest development of Ashokan Brahmi was the introduction of conjunct letters. This feature is not found either in the earlier North Indian inscriptions considered pre-Ashokan or in the Brahmi inscriptions discovered in Eelam. Tamil has also never adopted this conjunct-letter system.
The conjunct-letter method first appears during the period of Ashoka. Through this system, consonants and consonant-vowel combinations were distinguished from each other. This innovation simplified the identification of consonants and vowel-consonants in Ashokan Brahmi.
For example, if the name “Sakyamuni” had to be written in the old Tamil-Brahmi style without marking pure consonants, it would have been written as “Sakakiyamuni” without dots. In Ashoka’s conjunct writing system, it was written as “Sākyamuni,” where the combined letters represented a single consonantal sound. Such letter combinations are not found in the ancient inscriptions of Eelam because they do not contain Ashoka’s conjunct-letter system.
Therefore, early Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions must be read by understanding the linguistic structure of the language of that period. The reason is that in the earliest Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions, consonants and consonant-vowel letters were represented by the same symbols. Pure consonants were written without dots. Furthermore, in some early inscriptions such as those at Maṅgulam, which may date to before the 5th century BCE, some words show separate markings for consonant and vowel signs, indicating consonants carrying vowels.
Examples:
- kuva + an = kuvan
- īttate + a = ītta
- peṇe + an = paṇavan
- kaṭela + an = kaṭalan
- koṭṭupite + a = koṭṭupitta
- pāḷi + ya = pāḷiy (Maṅgulam)
Similarly, in some coins discovered in Tamil Nadu and Eelam, consonants and vowels were treated as separate elements in the same manner.
Examples:
- kol + ippurai
- kaṭal + an
From this, it becomes clear that some inscriptions and coins discovered in Tamil Nadu belong to an early stage of writing. Their date may be earlier than the 5th century BCE. They therefore predate Ashokan Brahmi.
If these inscriptions had developed from Ashokan Brahmi, consonants would have been written using conjunct forms, preventing the ambiguity faced by modern readers.
A similar attempt at using conjunct letters was made in Tamil Nadu after the 3rd century BCE, following the influence of Ashokan Brahmi. A gold ring published by K. V. Raman contains the name “Nelvēṭṭai Sañ” written using conjunct letters. Likewise, excavations at Kodumanal have revealed pottery fragments bearing names written with conjunct forms.
Thus, around the 3rd century BCE, attempts were made to use conjunct writing. Eventually, this method was abandoned, and by approximately the 2nd century BCE, Tamils developed the practice of marking pure consonants with a dot (pulli). Numerous Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions from Tamil Nadu containing consonants marked with dots provide evidence for this development.
It may also be noted that the practice of marking consonants with dots appears on Tamil coins issued by the Satavahanas. Therefore, it would not be an exaggeration to suggest that the coin bearing the name “Mahāsātaṉ” belongs to a period earlier than the 5th century BCE.
According to the claim presented here, this Mahāsātaṉ was none other than Makkali Gotama Samana Buddha, identified in the Koṇakalam inscription from the Yala sanctuary region of southern Eelam as the founder of Ājīvika. The person called Sāri Putta in this inscription is identified as Kaṇi Nandāsiriyar.
According to the research of A. L. Basham, Makkali Gotama Samana Buddha — Makkali Gosala — died in 454 BCE. Therefore, he lived during the period from the 6th century BCE onward, and Kaṇi Nandāsiriyar, his associate mentioned here, would belong to the same historical period.
Consequently, the Maṅgulam inscription, the Pandyan king Nedunchezhiyan mentioned in it, and his close companion Kadalan of Eelam would also have lived during the same period.
Translation by Hari
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