04/10/2025
What is the first script in India? | Origin of Indian Scripts
Language and script are different. Language is spoken, and the script is used to represent the language, preserve it for subsequent use, and send messages to people residing in distant places. Harappa, or Indus script, is the first known script in the Indian subcontinent. It was found on stone seals, pots, clay tablets, and bronze artifacts. The Indus Valley Civilization flourished between 3300 BC\ and 1300 BC. The origin of the script is also not clearly stated. Indus script is pictographic and written from right to left. Many researchers and archaeologists tried to decipher it, but it has not been deciphered yet.
Who is the mother of all Indian scripts?
Over a long period of Indian history, many scripts were used due to the vastness of the Indian subcontinent and the diversity of its people. Brahmi was one of the most important scripts used in ancient times. The Brahmi script, developed in the Iron Age, was India’s first alphabetic writing system and was assumed to be the parent of nearly every South Asian script that followed it. As per its regional variations, it is identified as Tamil Brahmi, Asokan Brahmi, Northern Brahmi, Southern Brahmi, and Sinhala Brahmi.
Origin of Indian Scripts
The origins and chronology of Tamil Brahmi are unclear. Several hypotheses have been proposed, more accepted view is, Brahmi script from North India arrived via the southern inscriptions of Ashoka, and evolved into the Tamil Brahmi. Palaeographic changes were made to suit the Tamil language, with the omission of letters for sounds not present in the Tamil language and additions to represent sounds in Tamil that are not available in Brahmi. Brahmi letters were also modified with a special diacritic mark.the dot. These are reflected in the three stages of Tamil-Brahmi development.
The Czech scholar Kamil Zvelebil proposed the view that the earliest Tamil Brahmi inscriptions, such as the Netunceliyan rock inscriptions at the Mangulam site, were derived from Ashokan Brahmi, which was introduced to the Tamil region around 250 BCE.
Another conflicting theory based on the findings of Anuradhapura in Sri Lanka and the carbon dating of excavated potsherds led to the proposal that the Sri Lankan Brahmi developed before the Ashokan era, at least by the 5th to 4th century BCE, from where it came to the Tamil region, evolving into the Tamil Brahmi, and thereafter spreading across South Asia due to trade networks.
Even though archaeological sites in Adichanallur, Korkai, Porunthal, Azhagankulam, and Kodumanal uncovered ancient iron objects such as arrow heads and swords, coins, trade routes and even burial urns. However, there aren’t enough inscriptions to prove that Tamil script is unique. In the absence of long-term human settlement, archaeological evidence in the state of Tamil Nadu, It is at least concluded by Tamil scholars and researchers that, over the centuries, the Tamil script also evolved from the Brahmi script. Around 200 CE, Tamil Brahmi evolved into a script called Vatta Ezhuthu. Much later, Vtta Ezhuthu evolved into the modern Tamil script. During Pallava times, the Pallava-grantha script for Sanskrit co-existed here with the Vatta Ezhuthu script for Tamil.
But an excavation overturned all these conclusions about Tamil script.
Who is the mother of all Indian scripts?
Keeladi discoveries have pushed the edge of known history in south India back three centuries, from the 3rd century BC to the 6th century BC.
Keeladi is one of the most important archaeological sites in south India, lies on the bank of the river Vaigai and reflects the ancient culture of the Tamil people. It is a hamlet and quaint village located 12 kilometres southeast of Madurai in Tamil Nadu. The area currently being excavated is spread over 80 acres with a 3.5-kilometer radius. After the Adichanallur archaeological site, the Keeladi excavation is a large-scale excavation in Tamil Nadu. The ancient towns of Kondagai and Manalur are also said to be associated with this region, and various archaeological residues were found when ploughing the land around the site.
Archeologists unearthed potsherds with names scratched on it in Tamili script. Kuviran and Aathan Archaeologists believe that these were not just the names of the residents of Keeladi, but some of them were honorifics or titles, suggesting the existence of a hierarchy in the society. And that offered many clues to the archaeologists about Tamil civilization: it told them about the language and literacy levels, the social hierarchy, and the age of the civilization.
Pottery tradition in India
Through the ages, pottery has been considered an essential requirement to identify, understand, and characterize civilizations. The style of pottery, the clay minerals used, the firing temperature, and the firing techniques employed by ancient artisans, if known, can all be helpful in unravelling the cultural sequence of a particular archaeological site, the trade and cultural links it had in the past, the technological advancements made, and the historical periods involved. The study of Keeladi pottery confirms the use of natural clay, quartz, and feldspar as the raw materials for pottery work in the ancient period of 500 BC.
The finds are not just restricted to potsherds. Excavations have yielded terracotta sculptures, terracotta roof tiles, gold jewelry, and finely crafted beads suggesting that the society was well off and could afford these luxuries.
They also found water pipes, suggesting that the people of Keeladi were knowledgeable in water management too. Three kinds of channels have been discovered: one is a shallow, broad channel about half a metre across, a few inches in height, and about 6 metres in length thus far excavated, lined with shards of broken terracotta roof tiles. several crisscrossing a 300-square-meter stretch suggest that this was an intensely water using site.
The excavation of ten spindle whorls, twenty sharply pinched bone tip design creation tools, yarn hanging stones, terracotta spheres, copper needles, and earthen vessels to hold liquid attest to the various stages of the weaving industry, from spinning to yarning, looming to weaving, and later dyeing. Ancient cotton from one of the tanks suggests this factory had something to do with clothing.
About 70 samples of Skelton fragments of faunal remains have been sent for analysis, and species such as cows and oxen, buffalo, sheep, goats, Nilgai, blackbucks, wild boars, and peacocks were identified. Through this, it is evident that the people of Keeladi civilization had indulged in agriculture and cattle breeding. And the cut marks on other animals such as the antelope, goat, and wild boar suggest that they were consumed.
Keeladi also appears to have been an egalitarian society. One indication of this is the widespread presence of graffiti. Graffiti like this is most likely done by ordinary people to mark their territory. property. Those discovered in the upper layers have inscriptions in the Tamili script, an early precursor of modern Tamil. A little deeper, the potsherds of the middle layers had inscriptions in both Tamili and some other scratch marks. Epigraphists call these “graffiti. Potsherds found deeper still bore only these graffiti marks. Some of these pieces of graffiti are remarkably similar to the Indus Valley script, which remains undeciphered to this day. The Indus Valley Harappan Civilization existed around 1300 BCE, and we now know that the Vaigai Valley Civilization was at least as old as 800 BCE.
Did the people of Keeladi have ties with the people at Harappa or Mohenjo Daro? Or did the Harappans migrate south?
