2.
Indus Script, Rgveda, Susa connections -- Archaeology & Traditions (Dr.S.Kalyanaraman:
2020)
Dr. S.Kalyanaraman’s relentless pursuit of
decipherment of the Indus script is well known to all. The recent two additions
by this Director of Sarasvati Research Centre to the corpus of his publications
promise to be newer milestones in his contribution to understanding the Indus
script. Credited with the discovery of the ancient Tin route from South East
Asia to Kaifa in Israel via India, Dr Kalyanaraman, the recipient of Dr,
Hedgewar Prajna Samman has furthered his arguments in support of Indus cipher
as accountant ledgers of the metal workers of the Sarasvati- Sindhu region by
his comparative study of the Indus script found in Near East, Far East and
along the Persian Gulf. With the availability of over 8000 inscriptions of the
Indus script corpora Dr Kalyanaraman is of the opinion that they can be
validated by any cryptography model.
His method of rebus reading finds resonance with a
couple of references in the 2000 year old Tamil text called Silappadhikaram (5
– 111.113 and 26 -135 & 136). This text tells about the seals called “kaṇṇeɻutthu’’
on the bundles of rare items that arrived from North India. ‘Kaṇṇeɻutthu’
means the script that one can understand by looking at it. If it has to be
understood by anybody from anywhere just by looking, then it must be pictorial
and commonly understood, or in other words, rebus writing. In the words of the olden
commentator Adiyārkku Nallār ‘kaṇṇeɻutthu’ reveals ‘the name of the good, the
size or measurement of the good ’ and ‘the stamp of the trader and the numbers
’ of the goods that have been bundled. The origin of these goods in North India
containing the wealth of that region unmistakably point out to the vast Indus
region where manufacturing activities did continue even after the supposed
decline of Indus culture.
The discovery of many broken seals in the Indus that
were presumably tied around the bundles does match with this description in
Silappadhikāram. McIntosh (2008:152) points out the nature of the sealings as
being “attached to cords or sacking used to package bales of goods”. They bear
the same kind of script, animals motifs as found in other seals and steatites
of the Indus. From the hints of Silappadhikāram, it is deduced that the signs
on the sealings were about the name of the goods, its numbers and its origins –
the name or insignia of the manufacturer.
Silappadhikaram has a specific name for the makers
of kaṇṇeɻutthu (rebus). It identifies them as “Kannul vinanjar” (கண்ணுள்
வினைஞர்) and
goes on to identify different types of these artisans. Some are associated with
potters (who make rebus impressions in clay or steatite), some with metal
workers and some with goldsmiths. This conveys that there were specific groups
of persons skilled in making rebus forms on different media. It is not
necessary that one will be skilled to make rebus on any medium. The famous
copper plate inscription of Tiruvlangadu issued by Rajendra Chola I was
engraved by one who came from Ovi community of the Indus region. All these go
to prove that the Indus script is pictorial representation of goods, the
numbers, the names of the makers etc. Needless to say that Dr. S Kalyanaraman’s
research is going on these lines only.
Dr.Kalyanaraman also brings in literary evidence of
the presence of the guild, known as Sreni in ancient India which was inclusive
of both art & crafts and soldiers as well. His quote on epigraphic evidence
on Sreni of Velaikkara of Chola is reinforced by the reference to ‘Sainya Sārthi’
in Vikramanka Caritam. Sārthi is known
as “Sātthu” (சாத்து) in Tamil, a word that appears in
Sangam age Tamil[Perumpanatrup padai] where it is also mentioned that a tax (toll
tax – ulhu) was collected en route. This further reinforces the presence of
trade routes within India. Groups of merchants known as Vaniga Sātthu, while
crossing different kingdoms en route were asked to pay toll tax. This makes me
hypothesize that the great Mahabharata war was fought by two groups involving
almost all of India to grab control over the trade routes crossing India from
South East Asia to Middle East.
The timing of the Early Harappan phase that saw a
fillip in trade and commerce coinciding with the traditional Mahabharata date
(35 years before the Kali Yuga that started in 3101 BCE) cannot be a mere
coincidence given the fact that most of the Sindhu region was under the control
of the friends of Kauravas who lost the war. As was the practice in those days
the losers had become Kṣatriya vratya-s– by giving up fighting and taking up Vaiśya-hood.
There was no displacement of the losers. The same people had continued to live
where they were but their major occupation happened to become manufacturing and
trade. That is why we see continuity in all the Indus regions, but a sudden
surge in trade activities some 200 to 300 years after the Mahabharata war.
One cannot dismiss the fact that the prominent Indus
motifs were of the losers of the Mahabharata war. The highly recurring symbol
of Varaha was the royal insignia of Jayadratha, the prominent loser who
controlled the entire Sindhu region upto Afghanistan. The second highest symbol
is the bull which was the emblem of Kripa who fought on the side of the
Kauravas. The Harappan Bull seals have appeared outside India too, in
Mesopotamia, Iran and Bactria.
It is noteworthy that a connection between Bactria
and the Harappan is revealed by Dr Kalyanaraman in his book “Indus Script,
Rgveda, Susa connections -- Archaeology & Traditions” while deciphering the hieroglyphs of the
Bactrian vase. Comparing the art we are able to see that the seated male drawn
on the vase is similar to the “Priest King” of Harappa in many respects. This
does not come as a surprise if we know that Bactria and the Sindhu region were
connected with the Mahabharata characters.
Bactria known as Balkh region, a derivation from
Vahlika was named as Madra after the founder Madra, the son of King Sibi.
Pandu’s wife Madri belonged to that region. Close by was Gandhara which was the
paternal home of Gandhari, the mother of the Kauravas. As long as the Kauravas
were in power the trade route passing through Gandhara was under their control.
This was wrested from them by the Pandavas whose chief advisor Krishna had his
own trade interests along with 18 groups of Vrishinis who were keen on
increasing their wealth. It was for this reason they decided to avoid
confrontation with Jarasandha and moved to the newly formed city of Dvaraka.
Later after the exit of Krishna the families of
slain Vrishinis and Andhakas were settled on the banks of River Sarasvati by
Arjuna. It took seven months to complete this re-settlement (Srimad Bhagavatam:
1-14-7) While Dvaraka based people settled down in Saraswati basin, the losers
of Mahabharata war continued to occupy Sindhu region. All of them had their
central command in the royal house of Shakraprasta / Indraprasta. This is the
input we get from Mahabharata.
Trade as the deciding factor in taking up sides in
the war is deduced from the incident involving the Pandyan King who wanted to
kill Krishna owing to a personal enmity with Krishna that he killed his father.
But the Pandyan King was persuaded by Drishtadhyumna to join the side of
Krishna. Commercial interest for the sake of his country is likely to have
influenced the Pandyan king in making the difficult choice of not opposing the
side Krishna favoured. Shells and pearls being the main wealth of the Pandyan
country, he needed a friendly ally to ship his goods from Lothal.
The presence of metal workers reinforced by Dr
Kalyanaraman in his decipherment finds another echo in Tamil Sangam poetry that
states that Dvaraka was surrounded by copper wall! This must be a reference to
copper plated walls. So far only Gola Dhoro (2500 – 2000 BCE) was found to have
produced copper axes, copper spear heads and the like, but archaeologically it
is found to be associated with shell works. Perhaps the site was producing
copper ware earlier. Perhaps future excavations might solve the source of
copper wall in Dvaraka. But what cannot be ignored is that the Harappan sites
had coppersmiths. The discovery that copper was mined in Tuscany as early as
5000 years BP, the date close to the beginning of Early Harappan / Mahabharata
date raises a possibility that coppersmiths had migrated to Tuscany and
surrounding regions. This can be ascertained by genetic studies on
specific populations.
In this backdrop the reference made by the Indian
Finance Minister Ms Nirmala Sitaraman in her Budget speech to the decipherment
of the Indus script as related to trade and commerce words had not come a day
late. Her perception that rebus script is the basis of Indus script has the
backing of old Tamil texts pointed above. A rebus script may have multiple
meanings and one may have differences with the decipherment made by Dr
Kalyanaraman. But what cannot be ignored is that the script is rebus, something
anyone from Makran coast to Pandyan coast was able to understand just by
looking at it. That common pictograph is what we must strive to find out. Dr
Kalyanaraman is already way ahead in that direction.
