Austro-asiatic and Sarasvati civilization

[Guest guest]

Sorry for the mistake. Should read: ...at the confluence of Narmada and

Kaveri rivers.

 

On 11/8/05, Srinivasan Kalyanaraman <kalyan97

wrote:...Bhimbhetka) -- not far from Omkares'var (at the confluence of

Narmada and

Tapati rivers).

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

INDOLOGY, Srinivasan Kalyanaraman

<kalyan97@g...> wrote:

>

> Sorry for the mistake. Should read: ...at the confluence of Narmada

and> Kaveri rivers.

>

> On 11/8/05, Srinivasan Kalyanaraman <kalyan97@g...>

 

The complete message (with corrected name of river) is as follows:

 

A question was raised elsewhere on explaining austro-asiatic in

Bharatam.

 

Our monograph (Kalyanaraman and Kelkar, 2005,

http://protovedic.blogspot.com

http://spaces.msn.com/members/sarasvati97 ) points to the

possibility of the presence of austro-asiatic in the Sarasvati

civilization area, the saptasindhu region. This presence has been

accepted by HH Hock.

 

Kuiper's work on Nahali and munda words in Sanskrit, provides a

promising approach to identify the austro-asiatic cultural substratum

in the vedic, post-vedic continuum. Many lexemes of

Santali/Mundarica/ point to homonyms which may explain, rebus, the

Sarasvati hieroglyphs related to furnaces, minerals, metals and

alloys. In fact, the entire corpus of 4000 epigraphs with over

400 'signs' and over 100 'pictorial motifs' seem to relate only to

this category. SK Chatterjee thought Munda was the substratum for

austro-asiatic. This can form a starting hypothesis for further

studies to unravel the interactions among munda-dravidian-indo-aryan

dialects in a linguistic area starting from 6500 BCE to 500 BCE. A

long time-span indeed. The start date of 6500 BCE relates to the find

of the burial of a woman at Mehergarh wearing wide s'ankha bangle and

s'ankha ornaments. (s'ankha = turbinella pyrum which is native and

indigenous to the coastline of bharatam and an industry which

continues even today in Gulf of Mannar (Tiruchendur, Ki_r..akkarai)

and the s'ankha dvi_pa near Surat, Gujarat. S'ankha is a metaphor

which defines early hindu civilization and the work of riverine,

maritime people in evolving this civilization from Nahali base

(Tapati river valley not far from Bhimbhetka) -- not far from

Omkares'var (at the confluence of Narmada and Tapati rivers). Why Om-

in Omkares'var? Could be related to the s'ankha naada, om. Another

language metaphor of extroardinary profundity in hindu ethos and

traditions.

 

Yes, we have to continue the work started by the late Sudhibhushan

Bhattacharjee whose works have been cited in our monograph. We have

to continue the work of scholars like Dr. Balasubramanian who have

unraveled the mysteries of the non-rusting Delhi iron pillar

attesting to the unparalleled excellence of bharatiya metallurgy. The

word bharatiyo itself means 'caster of metals' in Gujarati. This

cannot be mere coincidence.

 

The question of austro-asiatic has to be related to the early

civilizational advance in Bharatam from 7th millennium to the sea-

faring peoples of the hindumahasagar parivar. This may explain why

there was an eastward bali yaatra and the setting up of Angkor Wat

(Nagara Vatika), the largest vishnu mandiram in the world. Studies of

Nahali > Nagari > Marathi may yield some insights into the nature of

interactions between chalcolithic and neolithic cultures north and

south of the vindhya, respectively.

 

The philological challenge is to provide voice to the paintings on

Bhimbhetka caves. Even Sankalia called a painting on one of the caves

a representation of Krishna, wielding a cakra and riding a chariot.

Of course, there are paintings showing ponies (maybe, equus

sivalensis, may be of the type of Shetland pony with 34 ribs

mentioned in the Rigveda or of Spanish barb). What was the bronze

ratha found at Daimabad called by the makers of that civilizational

site? Why are two birds shown astride the yoke? What does this

metaphor of the chariot denote in terms of the yajna tradition or

metallurgical tradition? Soma? What soma? It could be electrum, like

assem (s'm) in ancient Egyptian or somnakay as in Gypsy or soma

man.al 'sand containing silver ore' in Tamil. What soma? Metal. What

yajna? Early smelting processes.

 

If we start with a framework devoid of ideology and assumed

invasions, we may be able to provide a picture of continuity from the

days of munda presence in saptasindhu region.

 

Dhanyavaadah.

 

Addendum on ak, sak, s'ankha: property, monetary unit, cultural

metaphor:

 

Patrick Ryan: For whatever it may be worth to however few, my own work

suggests the most ancient word I can reconstruct for 'property' was

*HHA-KXHO, 'sea-shell', reflected in, among other languages, PIE

*e:ik-, Sumerian ak,and Egyptian jx.t.

cybalist/message/41940

 

This is a remarkable insight from Patrick Ryan. Thanks, Patrick.

 

In our view, this authenticates protovedic continuity theory since

s'ankha is related to an industry and a cultural metaphor of

extraordinary significance for bharatam janam. Is sangam in Tamil

relatable to s'ankha in Vedic (s'ankha kr.s'a_nah 's'ankha bowman' --

Rigveda, Atharvaveda) and to sak 'conch' (Santali)?

Sanga is a priest in Sumerian; sanghvi_ is a pilgrim-leader in

Gujarati. No wonder s'ankha nidhi is one of the nava-nidhi of Kubera.

In Sumerian -*ak* *numeric suffix* /Götz (ng>k)

http://www.turulmadar.hu/hunok/Szum-a.html

 

Cowries (<kaud.i in Hindi) could be early numeric counters; cowries

later become monetary units. Sumerian form 'ak' is relatable to

sak 'conch, turbinella pyrum' (Santali) The surprising find by

Kenoyer is that turbinella pyrum is indigenous to hindumahasagar, and

is a species which does not occur anywhere else excepting Makran

coast (south of Karachi), Gulf of Kutch, Gulf of Khambat and Gulf of

Mannar (Ki_r..akkarai, Tiruchendur). Hence, names such as s'ankha

dvi_pa (Skt.), s'angu kul.ittal 'pearl diving' (Ta.)

 

The early words for s'ankha in bharatiya languages:

 

1423 *Ma. kakka* shell, cockle. *Te. kaki cippa* a bivalve shell.

*Kol. kake * (Kin.) shellfish, (Pat., p. 35) *shell* of snail. *Nk.

kake* shellfish, snail. / ? Cf. Skt. *kakini-, kakini-* a small coin;

(*lex.*) the shell *Cypraea moneta.*

 

* *

 

*ka_kin.i_ *f. a small coin or a small sum of money equal to twenty

Kapardas or cowries , or to a quarter of a Pan.a Pancat. Das. ; a

seed of the Abrus precatorius used as a weight ; the shell Cypraea

moneta or a cowrie used as a coin.

 

cokak, coklak = shell; gongha = snail's shell (Santali) sak, sa~k

ghonga, sa~k rokoc = a conch (Santali)

 

*s'an:khaka_ra, s'an:khaka_raka* shell-worker (Skt.); *sa~_k(h)a_ri*

maker of conch-shell bracelets (B.); *san:kha_ri* shell-worker (Or.)

(CDIAL 12265). *san:kha,sankha* a wrist ornament made of shell worn

by women (Santali.lex .) *Image: conch*: *s'an:kha* conch-shell

(AV.); *s'an:khaka* (MBh.); *san:kha*conch, mother-of-pearl (Pali);

*sam.kha* conch (Pkt.); *sam.khiya_* small conch (Pkt.); *san:ghi_* a

kind of bracelet (S.); *sa~_kh* conch-shell (B.); *sa~_kha_, sa~_ka_,

se~kha_*conch bracelet (B.); *san:kha_* (Or.); *sa_m.kha* conch-shell

(OAw.); *san:kh* (H.); *sak-a, hak-a* (Si.); *san:khu* conch (S.);

*sa~_kh, sa~_k* (Ku.)(CDIAL 12263). *s'a_n:khini_, s'an:khini_*

mother-of-pearl (Skt.)(CDIAL 12380). *ha_ngi* snail (K.); *

sa~_khi* possessing or made of shells (B.); *ho~gi* pearl oyster

shell, shell of any aquatic mollusc (K.); *ha_ngi* snail (K.)(CDIAL

12380). *can:ku * chank, conch, large convolute shell, *turbinella

pyrum*, of four kinds: * it.am-puri, valam-puri, calacalam, pa_cacan-

n-iyam* (*Tiv. Periyati. 1,8,1*); *s'an:khutiri* cork-screw; *can:ku-

p-par-aiyar* a pariah sub-caste whose men act as conch-blowers at

funerals; *can: ku-val.ai <http://ku-val.ai>*shell-bracelets (

*Net.unal. 36, Urai*); *can:ku_ti* convener of a village committee for

settling disputes (*G.Sm.D. I,i,181*); conch-blower ( Ta.lex.)

*Wristlet*: * sakom* a wristlet; *san:kha* a wristlet of shell

(Santali.lex.) *Image: bracelet*: s*an:katam* bracelet worn on the

upper arm (*Tiruvil.ai< http://Tiruvil.ai>. Ma_n.ik. 12*)(Ta.);

s*an:katam* id. (Ma.); s*an:kata* (Ka.Skt.); s*an:gadamu * (Te.)

(T.E.D.)

 

 

http://www.hindunet.org/saraswati/Indian%

20Lexicon/shell.htm<http://www.hindunet\

..org/saraswati/Indian%20Lexicon/shell.ht>

 

The earliest s'ankha artefacts have been reported from a burial at

Mehergarh, dated stratigraphically to 6500 BCE. And, this s'ankha

bangle-making, conch-making industry continues to the present day in

bharatam. This was a PhD thesis of Prof. Kenoyer and exquisite

photographs have been presented in his Ancient Cities of the Indus

Valley. http://spaces.msn.com/members/sarasvati97 has an album which

includes the photo of a s'ankha bowman operating in Kolkata producing

s'ankha bangles without which no Bengali marriage is complete !