Fwd: Tamil Brahmi inscriptions from Perur

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Best wishes

 

-- Jean-Luc Chevillard (Paris)

 

 

>Asko Parpola [........]

> Tamil Brahmi inscriptions from Perur

>INDOLOGY@liverpool [.....]

>

>Last year I brought to the notice of the INDOLOGY list the home pages of

>the Tamil Heritage Foundation, which carry digital photographs of many

>previously unknown terracotta tablets, pottery etc with Tamil Brahmi

>inscriptions. I noted that these finds are remarkable, if proved to be

>genuine, pointing out to the Tamil Heritage Foundation that their first

>priority should be to establish beyound doubt that these objects are not

>fakes. I also wondered that they had not consulted Iravatham Mahadevan,

>to whom I immediately forwarded the material. I got Mahadevan's reply

>only today, after a reminder. It follows below.

> With best regards, Asko Parpola

>

>

>

>-

>Subject:

> Inscribed Pottery from Perur

> Date:

> Thu, 9 Jan 2003 20:06:11 +0530

>

> "iravatham" [.......]

> To:

> "Asko" [........]

>

>

>

>

>Date 09-01-03

>

>Dear Asko

>

>Sub: Inscribed Pottery from Perur.

>

>I refer to your query on the inscribed pottery from Perur near

>Coimbatore. I have examined some of the originals and most of the

>photographs

>very carefully. I am of the opinion that they are not genuine. There are

>several reasons for my suspicion:

>

>1. Passages from the cave inscriptions at Mangulam and Sittannavasal

>(published in my Corpus in 1966) recur in these pottery insriptions out

>of context.

>

>2. Some of the characters look like the Brahmi script around 1st century

>A.D., but others in the same inscriptions are from a much later period.

>Some of the characters occur nowhere else and seem to be clumsy

>inventions.

>

>3. The site is kept a closely guarded secret by some persons. It is

>curious that even though these Terracotta pieces are floating round for

>the

>last few years, neither the Central nor the State departments of

>Archaeology nor the Universities have shown any interest in digging even

>a trial

>trench upto date.

>

>4. Last year, one of my students, Mr. Sankaran Raman, a numismatist from

>Chennai , went to Coimbatore and Perur to investigate. He caught

>red-handed a person (said to be a gold-smith) faking a copper tablet

>with a Tamil-Brahmi Inscription. When confronted, he said he was doing

>it

>for practice! I brought the incident to the notice of Mr. I. Ramaswamy

>who is the main source for most of the Terracotta pieces and other

>antiquities from Perur. He said that he knew nothing about the matter.

>

>I have voiced my suspicions to archaeologists and epigraphists who have

>consulted me in the matter. I have not included the material from Perur

>in my book for the above reasons. My views in the matter are well-known

>and you can quote me.

>

>With best wishes

>

>Jani