In his paper analyzing the Indus signs, Dr Iravadham Mahadevan arrives at the Tamil words 'akam' and 'puram' for certain signs. In this context he has arrived at the meaning 
"ruined city of the cock" for the Indus seal of 2 cocks and a symbol (for city) and a bull (found in Mohenjadaro)
http://www.thehindu.com/multimedia/archive/00151/Dr_Iravatham_Mahade_151204a.pdf
He connects it to the Cholan Capital Urayur (உறையூர் ) which was called as "Kozhi" ( கோழி ) in olden days, meaning cock. He however concedes that the name of this city is derived from a legend of a cock confronting an elephant.
On reading his paper, I thought that are more issues to be looked into before connecting the name Kozhi of Urayaur to the Indus language (symbol)
There is also a place in the South, right at the heart of the settlements of the migrated Dwarakans having the name Kozhi (cock) connected to it. That place is Kozhi-kode or Kozhikkodu, currently known as Calicut. Mr K.V. Krishna Iyer, the historian, has deduced the meaning of this name as "koyil + kodu" – koyil means the 'palace' and Kodu means 'Fortified' – a fortified palace. Why didn't Mr Mahadevan include this place for analysis as this also corresponds to his version?
Kozhikkodu can also be explained as this: -
Kozhi is cock and kodu in Tamil means "neerk karai" - நீர்க் கரை (by the side of waters) or "pirai mathi" பிறை மதி (crescent moon) among other meanings. These two meanings are suitable for this coastal city. From Dr Mahadevan's analysis, the crescent moon in the Indus seal stands for "puram" or "outside". This place is outside the main land. So Kozhikkode fulfils the meaning of the Indus seal given by Dr Mahadevan. This place is part of the cluster where the migrated Dwarakans settled down. From the account of Nacchinaarkkiniyar, they had moved up to Pothiyil mountains where in later days Aai Andiran became the famous king.
These areas are now in Kerala. The word Kozhi often occurs in the names of other birds of kerala.
There is a 'Kula kozhi' that looks like a partridge and found in Periyar lake.
There is a 'Chera kozhi', a kind of kite found in Kerala.
Another bird with a metallic bronze colored back and wings is known as 'Taamra Kozhi' or 'Bronze cock.
There is yet another species known as 'Kalan kozhi' which is found in Kerala.
I don't want to arrive at a conclusion that all these varieties of Kozhi have their origin in Indus Valley. These species are special to this part of India. The name Kozhi also seems to be derived from a meaning associated with Kozhi The term "kozh" (கோழ் ) means slippery, well- built, fatty etc. (வழ வழப்பான, செழிப்பான , கொழுப்பான ). Perhaps the word Kozhi was derived from Kozh.
The Cholan Capital "Kozhi" ( Urayaur) does not have the Indus connection. It had been a citadel of the Cholas right from their beginnings. Urayaur is mentioned in Ashokan edicts. Kozhi was its previous name. So this name must have been there centuries before the Common Era.
The Cholas had a well documented lineage from its founder King Chola varman who was a descendant of King Sibi of Ikshvaku dynasty. The copper plates found at Thiruvalankaadu inscribed in the 6th year of rulership of Rajendra Chola –I give the list of kings in the lineage of Cholas.
They came in the branch of Ikshvaku dynasty of Rama. When we compare the Ikshvaku dynasty of Rama as found in Valimiki Ramayana and the cholan lineage given in the copper plates, we find that they have had the same ancestry until Mandhatha. After him a diversion had taken place. Valimiki's narration seems to list down the names of the eldest ones to the throne in which Rama appears. King Sibi seems to come in the lineage of the younger sibling.
From the inscriptions, the lineage of the Cholas goes thus:-
After Mandhatha, the Chola lineage goes like this.
Muchukunda
Vallabha
Prithulaksha
Parthivachudamani
Dirghabahu
Chandrajit
Sankriti
Panchapa
Satyavrata
Rudrajit
Sibi
Marutta
Dushyanta
Bharata
Cholavarman (Founder of Chola dynasty)
Rajakesarivarman
Parakesarin
Chitraratha
Chitrasva
Chitradhanvan (who brought Kavery river)
This King Chitradhanvan desired to bring the river Kaveri trapped in the mountains just like how Bhageeratha brought the Ganges. (verse 35). And he did bring it to his kingdom.
Urayaur is situated on the banks of Kaveri. There is every likelihood that the Cholas had guarded the lands on the course of the river Kavery as theirs.
In the starting point at Kodagu, sage Agasthya has had his domination. The verse on a ruler called 'Aruvanthai''(அருவந்தை )' by the poet Kalladanaar (கல்லாடனார் ) in Purananuru (385) praising his philanthropy and the bounties of Kavery on him might well be about a kingdom at and around Brahmagiri hills where Kavery starts. His name also sounds with the "Aruvaalargal" (அருவாளர்கள் ) that Agasthya brought from Dwaraka (as per Nachinaarkiniyar). The sage had probably settled the Aruvaalar near his area to discourage any disturbance to them as they could be from the lower strata of the society. The other two groups, the 18 kings and 18 Velir groups might perhaps be higher ranking people.
Barring the upper stretches of Kavery, the other areas on its course might have been under the control of the Cholas.
What is needed for this article is the information that the Cholan kingdom had existed thousands of years ago when the river Kaveri was not flowing. Brushing aside such information given in the inscriptions, we can not say that the Indus people of just 3500 years ago came to the Cholan land of Urayur, lent the name to that place and came to be called as Tamils.
They had come – Dr Mahadevan accepts Nacchinnarkiniyar version of Dwarakan migration. There are other related versions also. The main version is the lapse of 49 generations before the King Irungovel. That exactly puts the time of migration with the end of Indus civilization at 1500 BC. But Tamilnadu had been brimming with people already at that time who were speaking Tamil.
Coming to the name Kozhi for urayur, the Pripadal thirattu (பரிபாடல் திரட்டு ) verse on Madurai (verse 7) mentions Kozhi. It says that the people of Madurai woke up to the sound of veda mantras unlike the people of Kozhi (Cholan capital) and Vanji (Cheran capital) who were woken up by the crowing of the cock.
The first deduction from this is that Vedic chanting and vedic worship had been there in Madurai at the time when Urayaur was known as Kozhi. I don't know how the people harping on Aryan invasion and Vedic civilization as succeeding Indus civilization would explain the vedic worship at Madurai.
The name-cause for Kozhi is found in Silappadhikaaram.
"முறஞ்செவி வாரணம் முன் சமம் முறுக்கிய
புறஞ்சிறை வாரணம் புக்கனர் "
(chapter 10 –verse 247-8)
Writing the commentary for this, Arumpatha uraiyaasiriyar (அரும்பத உரையாசிரியர் ) says:-
" யானையைக் கோழி முருக்கலால் கோழி என்று பெயராயிற்று . யானையைச் சயித்த கோழி தோன்றினவிடம் வலியுடைத்தென்று கருதி , அவ்விடத்து அதன் பெயராலே சோழன் ஊர் காண்கின்ற பொழுது , சிறையும் கழுத்துமாக ஆக்கியவதனால் புறம்பே சிறையையுடைய கோழி என்றாயிற்று "
(sirai – wings)
Writing on the same verse, commentator says Adiyaarkku nallaar (அடியார்க்கு நல்லார் ) says:-
"வாரணம் – கோழி , ஆவது உறையூர் . முற்காலத்து ஒரு கோழி யானையைப் போர் தொலைத்தலான் அந்நிலத்தில் செய்த நகர்க்குக் கோழி என்பது பெயராயிற்று "
Both have given the same version of a cock winning an elephant in an unknown past in that place. Since a unique feat of a cock winning en elephant happened in that place, the Cholan king, when he decided to have it as his capital - named if after the cock that has wings on its sides, says Arumpatha uraiyaasiriyar.
This version of cock and elephant seems to be the case of a cock fight!
Cock fights were not new to Tamil lands.
In Kurum thogai, (குறும் தொகை ) Sangam text, there comes a version of cock fight between the cocks on garbage. The poet who wrote that poem was known by that cock fight – as Kuppaik kozhiyaar (குப்பைக் கோழியார் ) The poet's original name is not known.
In verse 305, it is said that the thalaivi (heroine) suffered from the pangs of pain of separation from her lover. The pain was not caused by others and can not be cured by others. It was like the fight between the 'Kuppai kozhikal" – the fight between the cocks that were searching food from the wastes. There was none to prompt them to fight and none to separate them in time. Similarly the heroine was suffering from a pain which was not induced by others nor solved by others.
"குப்பைக் கோழி தனிப் போர் போல
விளிவாங்கு விளியி னல்லது
களைவோரிலை யான் உற்ற நோவே "
Here the poet makes a hidden note of sandaik kozhi (cocks in fight)
When the cock fights are organized ones, there are people who make the cocks enter a fight and also separate them whenever they wish to stop it.
The fight between the cocks on the mounds of wastes is not similar to that fight.
From this it is known that cock fights had been popular in olden Tamil lands.
The cocks were groomed for such fights. Such cocks used to be ferocious. The instance of an elephant being threatened by a cock might well be about a fighter cock jumping in ferocity that made an elephant run away from that place. This seems to be a possible explanation for the cock versus elephant fight that led to the popularity of the cock and the place where it was seen. Perhaps Urayur in those days had people who groomed cocks for fighting.
Cock-fight in Patiala
Cock fighting was a pastime in most agrarian societies. It was popular in Thanjavur, the Cholan capital in later years. It came at the time of Harvest festival (Pongal) in those days. Cock fights were popular in Kerala also. It is popular in most parts of Indian subcontinent including Pakistan. Punjab and Kashmir also are known for having this cock fight as a game.
The Indus seal looks more like a seal on cock fight and bull fight. Both cock fights and bull fights are popular with pastoral and agrarian societies. The images of the cocks resemble high- breed varieties, if we go by the Samudrika lakshna of Varahamihira. The shape of the neck of the cocks in this seal and the straight shape of the wings of the tail show that they were well groomed cocks. (chapter 63 on 'Features of the cock', Brihad samhitha).
The bull also looks like a ferocious one, trained for bull fights. The cocks are seen as a pair whereas the bull is single. This seal may perhaps be about the cock fight and bull fight. The bull is alone - may be because the fighter at the other end is not another bull but a man.
Tracing this logic of cock fight to pre- IVC period, there had been cock-fights in Mahabharata and Ramayana times.
Cock-fight is one of the 64 arts.
It is the 43rd art known as "mes-kukkuta-lavaka-yuddha-vidhi: – art of knowing the mode of fighting of lambs, cocks and birds.
The womenfolk were said to be good at this art. The gaNikas (courtesans) of Royal court since the times of Ramayana were trained in these 64 arts including the cock fights, goat- fights and bird-fights. Sage Rishyashringa was brought to the kingdom of Romapada by these courtesans. Because of his arrival, it rained in his kingdom. This sage later conducted the Putra kameshti yajna for the sake of Dasharatha as a result of which Rama and his brothers were born.
Radha, the Gopika also is said to have mastered all these arts.
Thus the cock fight seems to be pre-date IVC times.
Any search into India's past history will not yield correct results if we disregard Mahabharata events. Indus areas give us the proof of existence of a people because those areas were abandoned for long and undisturbed since the abandonment.
The same culture that continues to be prevalent in the rest of India would not give old records such as the IVC because of the ever continuing habitation in all these places.
So it is not right to look at IVC and build theories independent of the previous history and the continuity that is seen everywhere in India.
The immediate previous history of IVC was the story of Mahabharata and Krishna. As we have seen in previous posts in this series, Krishna had traveled to various parts of India. People from the south and other parts have moved to every other region of India.
All the pastimes, habits and culture had got mixed so well or spread to every other place as a result.
The cock fights and bull fights were there everywhere having a pastoral and agricultural background.
It can also be argued that the migrated Dwarakans introduced cock fights to Tamil lands.
The name, Kozhikkodu could have been their gift, but Kozhi (Urayaur) is certainly not connected to such influence. The naming had been done by the Cholan king, but the cock fights might have been popular in that place much before.
If the Dwarakans were responsible for bringing the cock-fight to the Tamil lands, that in no way alters my contention that Tamils were different from the Dwarakans. Dr Mahadevan himself concedes that the migrated people were the Dwarakans. The Tamil loan words to the IVC had been a mystery to all these researchers. But then Tamil has found a place in a very far away country too. The Mongols have many Tamil words in their vocabulary. How that could be explained might perhaps lend a clue to the language issue of the IVC.
We will discuss the Mongol - mystery in the next post in this series.
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