Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. c21.s16.t1.2

c21.s16.t1.2

A major turning point in the study of Tamil-Brāhmī was reached when for the first time pottery inscriptions in this script were discovered in the excavations at Arikamedu. Wheeler assigned all the pottery inscriptions found at the site to the first two centuries A.D. based more on the evidence of associated imported Roman ware than of strict stratification.¹ Dani relied on the Arikamedu evidence to date the Tamil cave inscriptions to the first century A.D.² However, the coexistence of a Hybrid Sanskrit inscription in the Northern Brāhmī script of ca. 1st century A.D. with Tamil-Brāhmī inscriptions in apparently earlier forms at Arikamedu is the result of the slower pace of evolution of Tamil-Brāhmī when compared to Brāhmī.³ This explanation is sufficient to reconcile the apparent discrepancy between the palaeographic and archaeological evidence at Arikamedu. A proper interpretation of the evidence from the pottery inscriptions at this site would be that the earlier palaeographic forms preserved in them must have been borrowed originally when such forms were still current, that is, not later than about the 2nd century B.C. The earliest Tamil cave inscriptions represent this stage.