Sembiyankandiyur
Encyclopedia
Sembiyankandiyur is an archaeological site in Nagapattinam district in Tamil Nadu
, India
.
The four signs were identified by epigraphists of the Tamil Nadu Department of Archaeology, according to its Special Commissioner, T. S. Sridhar. Iravatham Mahadevan
, one of the world's foremost experts on the Indus script, believed that this discovery was very strong evidence that the Neolithic people of Tamil Nadu and the Indus Valley people "shared the same language, which can only be Dravidian
and not Indo-Aryan
." He added that before this discovery, the southernmost occurrence of the Indus script was at Daimabad, Maharashtra
on the Pravara River in the Godavari Valley. The possibility of the celt coming from North India was also ruled out as the material of this stone was of peninsular origin.
The discovery of this celt caused a stir in archaeological circles. Subsequently, the Archaeological Survey of India
decided to excavate the Sembiyankandiyur site to find out its antiquity and fix the chronology.
Four trenches were laid at the place where the celt with the engravings were found. Important findings from the trenches were bowls, dishes, broken urns, full-size urns and other articles. Eight urns were found to be aligned in a particular manner, three of them with human bones. Some urns had ritual pots inside. Some pots and sherds have thumb-nail impressions on them.
Full-shape pots had the graffiti depicting a fish, a ‘damaru’, sun, star and a swastika. Geometric designs and marks depicting fish, sun and star and graffiti marks are often found on black-and-red ware and black ware, with the symbols sometimes repeated.
Iravatham Mahadevan says that what is striking about the arrow-mark graffiti on the megalithic pottery found at Sembiyankandiyur and Melaperumpallam villages is that they are always incised twice and together, just as they are in the Indus script.
ASI had previously found several pots at Melaperumpallam near Poompuhar during an excavation. Some of these had the same arrow-like symbol occurring twice on them, and always adjacent to each other.
According to Mr. Mahadevan, seals unearthed at Mohenjodaro (now in Pakistan
) in the 1920s have similar arrow-like signs that also occur twice and always together. There are several seals with the Indus script and engravings of a bull or a unicorn where the arrow-like sign always occurs in pairs.
While the megalithic/Iron Age pottery in Tamil Nadu is datable between the third century B.C. and third century A.D., the Indus script belongs to the period 2600 B.C. to 1900 B.C. of the mature Harappan period.
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...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
.
Excavations in 2006
In early 2006, a polished Neolithic celt (tool) that had engravings resembling the Indus script was found by a school teacher V. Shanmuganathan. The celt, a polished hand-held stone axe, has four Indus Valley signs on it. The artefact with the script was dated to 1500 B.C.The four signs were identified by epigraphists of the Tamil Nadu Department of Archaeology, according to its Special Commissioner, T. S. Sridhar. 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...
, one of the world's foremost experts on the Indus script, believed that this discovery was very strong evidence that the Neolithic people of Tamil Nadu and the Indus Valley people "shared the same language, which can only be Dravidian
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...
and not 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...
." He added that before this discovery, the southernmost occurrence of the Indus script was at Daimabad, Maharashtra
Maharashtra
Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...
on the Pravara River in the Godavari Valley. The possibility of the celt coming from North India was also ruled out as the material of this stone was of peninsular origin.
The discovery of this celt caused a stir in archaeological circles. Subsequently, the Archaeological Survey of India
Archaeological Survey of India
The Archaeological Survey of India is a department of the Government of India, attached to the Ministry of Culture . The ASI is responsible for archaeological studies and the preservation of archaeological heritage of the country in accordance with the various acts of the Indian Parliament...
decided to excavate the Sembiyankandiyur site to find out its antiquity and fix the chronology.
Four trenches were laid at the place where the celt with the engravings were found. Important findings from the trenches were bowls, dishes, broken urns, full-size urns and other articles. Eight urns were found to be aligned in a particular manner, three of them with human bones. Some urns had ritual pots inside. Some pots and sherds have thumb-nail impressions on them.
Full-shape pots had the graffiti depicting a fish, a ‘damaru’, sun, star and a swastika. Geometric designs and marks depicting fish, sun and star and graffiti marks are often found on black-and-red ware and black ware, with the symbols sometimes repeated.
Excavations in 2008
During excavations by the ASI in April-May 2008, megalithic pottery with graffiti symbols that have a strong resemblance to a sign in the Indus script were found.Iravatham Mahadevan says that what is striking about the arrow-mark graffiti on the megalithic pottery found at Sembiyankandiyur and Melaperumpallam villages is that they are always incised twice and together, just as they are in the Indus script.
ASI had previously found several pots at Melaperumpallam near Poompuhar during an excavation. Some of these had the same arrow-like symbol occurring twice on them, and always adjacent to each other.
According to Mr. Mahadevan, seals unearthed at Mohenjodaro (now in Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
) in the 1920s have similar arrow-like signs that also occur twice and always together. There are several seals with the Indus script and engravings of a bull or a unicorn where the arrow-like sign always occurs in pairs.
While the megalithic/Iron Age pottery in Tamil Nadu is datable between the third century B.C. and third century A.D., the Indus script belongs to the period 2600 B.C. to 1900 B.C. of the mature Harappan period.
External links
- Significance of Mayiladurai find - The Hindu, May 1, 2006
- Sembiyan Kandiyur yields many a megalithic vestige - The Hindu, May 1, 2006