Tissamaharama Tamil Brahmi inscriptions
Encyclopedia
Tissamaharama Tamil Brahmi inscription refers to a fragment of black and red ware flat dish inscribed in Tamil
in the Tamil Brahmi script excavated at the earliest layer in southern town of Tissamaharama
in Sri Lanka
. It is dated to approximately 200 BC by German scholars who undertook the excavation. The inscription is mix of Brahmi letters and Graffiti symbols. The words are read from right to left and from left to right to mean thiraLi muRi. There are conflicting interpretations of what is read as inscribed. The Tamilnet
new site reported that the inscribed pottery was potentially misplaced or lost.The Daily Mirror newspaper in an Op-ed
page reported that the local archeologists have not seen the artifact for review.
and Megalithic graffiti symbols that are usually found in megalithic and early historic pottery in South India
and Sri Lanka. From left to right, the first three are Brahmi letters, the next two are symbols and it is followed by two letters in Brahmi. There is a vertical line, away from the legend that may mark the end of the legend. Archeologist and etymologist , P. Ragupthy and epigraphist Iravatham Mahadevan
both read the inscription as thiraLi muRi.
From left to right, the first letter of the legend is Tamil Brahmi Li which is a palatal L. As no word begins with this letter in Tamil, Sinhala, Prakrit
or Sanskrit
, the word is read by Mahadevan by reading the three letters placed left to the symbols from right to left as tiraLi.
The last letter of the legend as read from left to right is a Tamil Brahmi Ri which is a retroflex R. Retroflex R which is a unique phoneme found in Tamil and other related Dravidian languages
but is also found in Indo-Aryan
Prakrit inscriptions in Sri Lanka. Mahadevan reads the last two letters placed right to the symbols from left to right as ‘muRi’.It is the oldest acceptably dated Tamil Brahmi inscription in the world.
is usually written from left to right but in few occasions Tamil Brahmi was found to be written from right to left in Tamil Nadu
. In Sri Lanka, some examples have been found in which Brahmi was written from right to left as well. But what is unique is this inscription is partly read from right to left and partly read from left to right, keeping symbols in the middle.
portions. He postulates that it indicates the presence of common people not a trade guild.
Tamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
in the Tamil Brahmi script excavated at the earliest layer in southern town of Tissamaharama
Tissamaharama
Tissamaharama is a town in south-eastern Sri Lanka. It used to be the capital of the Sinhalese Kingdom of Ruhuna as early as the 3rd century B.C. Only few buildings from that period can still be seen today. The large artificial Tissa Wewa lake, which was a part of a sophisticated irrigation...
in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
. It is dated to approximately 200 BC by German scholars who undertook the excavation. The inscription is mix of Brahmi letters and Graffiti symbols. The words are read from right to left and from left to right to mean thiraLi muRi. There are conflicting interpretations of what is read as inscribed. The Tamilnet
Tamilnet
TamilNet is a news website that provides news and feature articles on current affairs in Sri Lanka, specifically related to the erstwhile Sri Lankan Civil War...
new site reported that the inscribed pottery was potentially misplaced or lost.The Daily Mirror newspaper in an Op-ed
Op-ed
An op-ed, abbreviated from opposite the editorial page , is a newspaper article that expresses the opinions of a named writer who is usually unaffiliated with the newspaper's editorial board...
page reported that the local archeologists have not seen the artifact for review.
The inscription
The inscription is a combination of readable BrahmiBrahmi
Brāhmī is the modern name given to the oldest members of the Brahmic family of scripts. The best-known Brāhmī inscriptions are the rock-cut edicts of Ashoka in north-central India, dated to the 3rd century BCE. These are traditionally considered to be early known examples of Brāhmī writing...
and Megalithic graffiti symbols that are usually found in megalithic and early historic pottery in South India
South India
South India is the area encompassing India's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry, occupying 19.31% of India's area...
and Sri Lanka. From left to right, the first three are Brahmi letters, the next two are symbols and it is followed by two letters in Brahmi. There is a vertical line, away from the legend that may mark the end of the legend. Archeologist and etymologist , P. Ragupthy and epigraphist Iravatham Mahadevan
Iravatham Mahadevan
Iravatham Mahadevan is an Indian epigraphist, specializing on the Indus script and Early Tamil epigraphy.-Biography:Iravatham Mahadevan was born in 1930 in a Smartha Tamil Brahmin family of Thanjavur district. He was born in British Burma where his father Iravatham was practising as a...
both read the inscription as thiraLi muRi.
From left to right, the first letter of the legend is Tamil Brahmi Li which is a palatal L. As no word begins with this letter in Tamil, Sinhala, Prakrit
Prakrit
Prakrit is the name for a group of Middle Indic, Indo-Aryan languages, derived from Old Indic dialects. The word itself has a flexible definition, being defined sometimes as, "original, natural, artless, normal, ordinary, usual", or "vernacular", in contrast to the literary and religious...
or Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
, the word is read by Mahadevan by reading the three letters placed left to the symbols from right to left as tiraLi.
The last letter of the legend as read from left to right is a Tamil Brahmi Ri which is a retroflex R. Retroflex R which is a unique phoneme found in Tamil and other related Dravidian languages
Dravidian languages
The Dravidian language family includes approximately 85 genetically related languages, spoken by about 217 million people. They are mainly spoken in southern India and parts of eastern and central India as well as in northeastern Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Iran, and...
but is also found in Indo-Aryan
Indo-Aryan languages
The Indo-Aryan languages constitutes a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages, itself a branch of the Indo-European language family...
Prakrit inscriptions in Sri Lanka. Mahadevan reads the last two letters placed right to the symbols from left to right as ‘muRi’.It is the oldest acceptably dated Tamil Brahmi inscription in the world.
Direction of reading
According to P. Ragupathy BrahmiBrahmi
Brāhmī is the modern name given to the oldest members of the Brahmic family of scripts. The best-known Brāhmī inscriptions are the rock-cut edicts of Ashoka in north-central India, dated to the 3rd century BCE. These are traditionally considered to be early known examples of Brāhmī writing...
is usually written from left to right but in few occasions Tamil Brahmi was found to be written from right to left in Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
. In Sri Lanka, some examples have been found in which Brahmi was written from right to left as well. But what is unique is this inscription is partly read from right to left and partly read from left to right, keeping symbols in the middle.
Trade guild versus vessel for rice
Mahadevan reads the meaning of Tirali Muri as written agreement of the assembly. He further postulates that it indicates the presence of a Tamil trade guild in Southern Sri Lanka in the 2nd century BCE. But P. Ragupathy reads it as indicating a vessel specified for the purpose of serving riceRice
Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and the West Indies...
portions. He postulates that it indicates the presence of common people not a trade guild.