pre-asokan inscriptions

[Guest guest]

INDOLOGY, "Rajesh Kochhar" <rkk@N...> wrote:

> . There are some pre-Ashoka Mauryan

> inscriptions like the Sohgaura copper plate and the Mahasthan

> inscription.

> Yashwant

>

> Very interesting. Some details, please.

> rajesh kochhar

 

A review article that appeared in the JAOS is useful.

 

On The Origin Of The Early Indian Scripts: A Review Article

Richard Salomon, University of Washington

Originally published in the Journal of the American Oriental Society

115.2 (1995), 271-279.

http://www.ucl.ac.uk/~ucgadkw/position/salomon.html

 

Anuradhapura, it's said, has pre-Ashokan inscriptions.

The archaeologist in charge of Anuradhapura excavations

is S. U. Deraniyagala. He writes,

"the present writer has postulated the existence

of writing as early as 1000-600 BC in India, as per the indirect

evidence from bone "styli" from contexts such as the Painted Grey

Ware levels at Hastinapura and the pre-NBPW ones at Ujjain and other

sites (id. 1972)".

 

R. & B. Allchin, Origins of a Civilization,

The prehistory and early archaeology of South Asia.

Viking (Penguin Books) 1997, p. 257 [Anuradhapura potshards]

"However, in its final stage, a remarkable discovery

has been made, a number of potshards with crude Brahmi

inscriptions scratched on them (Plate. 71, nos. 1 ans 2).

Datable to c. 360-340 BC these are almost certainly

the earliest dated Brahmi inscriptions from any part

of South Asia."

 

However, no verifiable pre-Ashokan writing from India.

In any case, a slight calibration change or contamination

would make Allchins' dates to fall within 3rd century BC.

I. Mahadevan has published Tamil Brahmi inscriptions

in the post-Ashokan period from Sri Lanka. Especially,

Tamil Brahmi legends on coins from the Southwest Ceylon

(J. Inst. of Asian studies (Madras)). Mahadevan does

not date any Tamil Brahmi inscription from either Ceylon and

South India prior to 3rd century BC. Since Ceylon Brahmi

has intimate relations and qualities with Tamil Brahmi,

and Sinhala script evolved in the same lines as South

Indian scripts over time, care need to be taken in assigning

any pre-Mauryan dates to Sri Lankan brahmi letters.

The brahmi script moves from North to South, and

not the other way around.

 

On Sri Lankan nationalist politics, Prof. P. Schalk

wrote:

INDOLOGY/message/1518

 

Sri Lankan archaeology has been ethnonationalistic

for long. See the review of Senerat Paranavitana

by Ludo Rocher, JAOS 95, 1975, p. 141. Also,

Ananda W .P. Guruge, " Senerat

Paranavitana as a Writer of Historical Fiction in Sanskrit",

Vidyodaya. J. Soc. Sc. vol. 7, 1&2, 1996, pp. 157- 179

(Search Indology(Liverpool) archives with the word "Paranavitana").

 

Regards,

N. Ganesan

[Guest guest]

INDOLOGY, "Rajesh Kochhar" <rkk@N...> wrote:

> There are some pre-Ashoka Mauryan

> inscriptions like the Sohgaura copper plate and the Mahasthan

> inscription.

> Yashwant

>

> Very interesting. Some details, please.

> rajesh kochhar

 

 

 

Prof. R. Solomon writes in JAOS:

<<<

Even more important and thought-provoking are Falk's theories on the

origin of Brâhmî. He argues vehemently and not unconvincingly against

the existence of Brâhmî before Ashoka. His comprehensive review (Ch.

8, pp.177--239) of the archaeological, i.e. epigraphic and numismatic

evidence confirms the recent trend of opinion, developed by such

authorities D.C. Sircar and A.H. Dani, according to which none of the

several early documents such as the Piprâwâ reliquary inscription, the

Sohgaurâ bronze plaque, and Mahâsthân stone inscription which had in

the past been presented as pre-Ashokan in date can in fact be proven

to be so.

>>>

 

from

On The Origin Of The Early Indian Scripts: A Review Article

Richard Salomon, University of Washington, Journal of the American

Oriental Society 115.2 (1995), 271-279.

http://www.ucl.ac.uk/~ucgadkw/position/salomon.html

 

Regards,

N. Ganesan