History of writing and the evolution of the Tamil Brahmi script

Venkateswaran Kasirajan M.S.

The opening verse of the holy Kural puts across a thought to think: “As all scripts have the letter ‘A’ for their first, so do the world has the eternal primordial god for its first.”

A, as its first of letters, every speech maintains;
The "Primal Deity" is first through all the world's domains. ( Kural, 1 )

Why would Thiruvalluvar compare the letter “A” with the primordial god? The answer lies in verse 392 which says,”Letters and numbers are the two eyes of mankind.”

The twain that lore of numbers and of letters give
Are eyes, the wise declare, to all on earth that live.( Kural, 392 )

Probably that emphasizes the importance revered to writing by the ancient Indians of Tamilnadu. It is needless to say that someone that can read and write has better opportunities that an illiterate.

That said, Socrates complained that writing is only a static simulation of life. Socrates expresses this in his story of the Egyptian god Thoth, the inventor of writing. Thoth comes to see the king Amon seeking royal blessing on his enlightening invention. The king tells Thoth, “You, who are the father of letters, have been led by your affection to ascribe to them a power the opposite of that which they really possess… you have invented an elixir not of memory, but of reminding; and you offer your pupils the appearance of wisdom, not true wisdom, for they will read many things without instruction and will therefore seem to know many things, when they are for the most part ignorant.”

But, writing is perhaps the greatest invention of mankind. Without writing there would be no history. How this writing did came into about? How did the ancient people learn to symbolize their speech and thought? What did they use writing for?
Many scholars believe that writing began with accountancy. During the 4th millennium BC, the complexity of trade and administration in Mesopotamia reached a point at which it outstripped the power of memory of the governing elite. To record transactions in a dependable, permanent form became essential. Besides, writing was used for political purposes, funerary inscriptions, predict future, record grants and at times served as a property marker. The following table illustrates the chronicle of writing:

Period Writing
Ice Age ( after 25000 BC) Proto Writing, i.e., Pictographic communication
8000BC Clay tokens in use as counters in Middle East
3300BC Sumerian Clay tablets with writing in Uruk
3100BC Cuneiform inscriptions in Mesopatomia
3100BC to 3000BC Hieroglyphic inscriptions begin in Egypt
2500BC Indus script begins in Indus valley
1800BC Cretan Linear-A script
1792BC – 1750BC Code of Hammurabi
1500BC Decline of the Indus Valley civilization
1450BC Cretan Linear-B script
1400BC Alphabetic cuneiform inscriptions in Syria
1200BC Oracle bones of China
1000BC Phoenician alphabets in Mediterranean area
730BC Greek Alphabets
700BC Etruscan Alphabets
650BC Demotic inscriptions derived from hieroglyphic inscriptions in Egypt
600BC Glyphic inscriptions in Mesoamerica
400BC Ionian alphabet becomes standard Greek Alphabet
300BC to 200BC Kharosthi script of North India is evolved.
Rock edicts of Asoka in Asokan Brahmi script.
Evolution of Tamil Brahmi script.
221BC Qin Dynasty reforms Chinese character spelling
200BC to 100BC Mangulam inscription mentioning Pandiyan Netunceliyan in Tamil Brahmi
1Cent AD Dead Sea Scrolls
1Cent AD Atiyan Netuman Anci inscription at Jambi in Tamil Brahmi
75AD Last inscription of Cuneiform
2Cent AD Runic Inscriptions in Northern Europe
394AD Last inscription in Egyptian Hieroglyphs
9Cent AD Cyrillic alphabet invented in Russia
1418-1450 Hangul Alphabet in Korea
1823 Champollion deciphers Egyptian Heiroglyphs
1924 Decipherment of Tamil Brahmi script by K V Subrahmanya Aiyer
1953 Linear B deciphered by Ventris
1950s Mayan Glyphs deciphered
2003 Iravatham Mahadevan publishes the magnum opus “Early Tamil Epigraphy From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D.”

Fig 1. An Egyptian Scribe, Louvre Museum, Paris

For example, the inscriptions of Hammurabi are none different from modern time dictators. Hammurabi, calls himself as ‘mighty King, King of Babylon, King of the whole country of Amururu, King of Sumer and Akkad, King of the Four Quarters of the World; and he promised that if his laws were obeyed, then all his people would benefit.’

Fig 2. The code of Hammurabi, Louvre Museum, Paris.

The seals of the Indus valley were probably worn on a cord and used as a personal signature to indicate a person’s office or the social or professional group to which he or she belonged. In China, during the Bronze age Shang dynasty, questions about the future were written on turtle shells and ox bones. The bone was heated until it cracked. The meaning of the shape of the crack was divined and the answer to the question was inscribed.

Fig 3. Indus valley seals – were they prayer tablets or property markers?

The Tamil Brahmi Pandiyan Netunceliyan inscription at Mangulam was made in the 2nd Cent BC and it records the grant to kani Nanta. The Theni hero stones of the 3rd Cent BC were scribed in memory of war lords in Tamil Brahmi script[1]. In Andipatti a broken pot with the Tamil Brahmi inscription was found. The inscription probably served as a property marker[2].

Fig 4. A Satavahana Coin with Brahmi Script

Well, the first written symbols are generally thought to have been pictograms or pictoral representations of concrete objects. Some scholars believe that writing was the result of a conscious search by an unknown Sumerian individual in the city of Uruk in about 3300BC. Others believe it was a group work. Still others think that it was not an invention at all, but an accidental discovery. Many regard it as the result of evolution over a long period. One theory holds that writing grew out of a long standing counting system of clay tokens in the Middle East.

Human Prehistory

If we were to ask, a geologist would say that we are living in the Quaternary period of the Cenozoic era. This period started at the trail of the Pliocene epoch. The Pliocene epoch gave way to the Pleistocene epoch. It is the Holocene epoch, we are currently living. Some scientists are suggesting an Anthropocene epoch beginning at the 19th Century AD to mark the period in which the human activity began to make significant impact on the climate and eco-system.

The Pleistocene epoch is characterized by the Paleolithic people that lived from 2.5 million years ago until 10,000 years ago. The Paleolithic people made handmade tools and sharpened stone. They were mainly hunter-gatherer societies that lived in caves or huts by the side of water bodies. The Paleolithic people also buried their ancestors. After the Paleolithic culture, the Mesolithic culture came about in some parts of the world and lasted between 11000BC to 5000BC. This period was characterized by the usage of bows, spears, canoes, fishing etc., and the people lived in more sedentary environments. The Neolithic culture began about 8500 BC in south Asia and ended by about 5500BC. The Neolithic cultures are characterized by their ability to farming, domesticating wild animals, usage of wheels and pottery. These three ages are known as the Stone Age.

The Neolithic culture gave way to Chalcolithic age by about 4500 BC, Bronze Age by 3500 BC and then Iron Age by 1500BC. The Iron Age lasted until 200BC to 200AD in different parts of the civilized world.

Pre Historic Tamilnadu

There is archeological evidence for the inhabitance of Paleolithic people in several areas of Tamilnadu. Several Paleolithic sites such as Attirambakkam, Parikkulam are studied so far. The Parikkulam site ( near Poondi reservoir ) is often known as the “Madras Industry” of the early Paleolithic area[3]. In December 2006, our Temple Cleaners group made a visit to the Gudiyam Paleolithic site near the Poondi reservoir and created wonderful blogs on the net[4].
Contacts with the outside world, migrations and natural evolution caused the Paleolithic civilization to advance to Neolithic stage in various parts of Tamilnadu.
S.R. Rao excavated a C. 2000 BC Neolithic site at Paiyampalli. According to him it was a pure Neolithic culture not influenced by Central Indian Chalcolithic cultures.
Excavations at Korkai, Adichchanallur, Madurai, Uraiyur, Kodumanal, Karur, Tirukkampuliyur, Alagari, Alagankulam, Nallampatti (Coimbatore) reveal a culture that was in transition from the Chalcolithic to the Pre-Iron age. These sites are dated to about 1800BC to the last quarter of the 2nd Millennium BC.

Post this continuity of the earlier Neolithic-Chalcolithic-Bronze Age cultures into the Iron Age is established by lower Kaveri Valley excavations and dated to the 8th Century BC. Dr. S. Gurumurthy [19] suggests that the Iron Age started in Tamilnadu around 1200BC and continued until 3rd Century AD, in line with the North Indian Iron Age. The beginning of Iron Age could be pushed further to 1800BC with further excavations and findings at Adichchannallur. This dating of the Iron Age in Tamilnadu aligns well with that of the Cankam age.

Evolution of writing in Tamilnadu

Probably writing came into being when the Neolithic Indians started to paint on rocks and caves. Scholars record about 100 sites in Tamilnadu with ancient rock art. White Kaolin and Red Ochre were used to paint pictures that conveyed their daily life, environment or religious beliefs[5,6].

These include a war scene, an X-RAY bull and a neat portrait of grazing bisons. A group of dancers probably celebrates a meal after a hunt. The portrait of a Centaur and human sacrifice indicate the presence of an early religion.
Often the rock art is accompanied by graffiti, symbols that resemble Indus signs and some even pre-Brahmi signs[7]. The Keelvalai and Perumukkal rock art are classic examples of this proto writing.

When the civilization advanced, pottery came into being and this became a medium of writing. Early Neolithic pottery contains scratches or incisions or painted marks/motifs used as decorations.

Dr. S. Gurumurthy observes that the graffiti of the Chalcolithic culture of Tamilnadu was probably indigeneous of origin that evolved from the traditional age old painted marks and motifs on the vessels. He suggests that the practice of scratching graffiti gained momentum due to transmission of ideas or symbols from the pre-Harappan to the Chalcolithic people. He maintains that few Indus scripts were used by Chalcolithic potters for inclusion in the tradition, where as the Harappans themselves were not very enthusiastic about the tradition of graffiti.
Furthermore, he examined about 800 ligatured graffiti and of them 50 were from Tamilnadu. They were purely built on Indus signs and therefore may constitute the Indus script. This is further corroborated with the recent findings of the Sembiankandiyur polished stone axe with Indus script[8] , the Sulur dish[15] in London Museum and the pottery with double arrow signs at Sembiankandiyur[9].

These give a fair evidence of the far spread of the Indus script in Tamilnadu. This could have been due to human migration or due to contacts. During the mid Iron Age, it seems the usage of the Indus script became obsolete with the evolution of the Brahmi script. The Graffiti and Indus signs continued to make its way into the punch marked coins until the Brahmi script replaced it during the Asokan era in the 3rd century BC.
Therefore, the evolution of early writing in Tamilnadu can be characterized as follows:

Rock Art--->Graffiti--->[+ Indus Signs]---> Brahmi Script

Evolution of the Brahmi Script

In chapter XV.1.53 of Geographica, Strabo quotes the testimony of Megasthenes[10] on the absence of writing in India, as observed by him during his stay in Pataliputra during the days of Sandrocottus ( Chandragupta Maurya ):

All Indians live a simple life, and especially when they are on expeditions; and neither do they enjoy useless disturbances; and on this account they behave in an orderly manner. But their greatest self-restraint pertains to theft; at any rate, Megasthenes says that when he was in the camp of Sandrocottus, although the number in camp was forty thousand, he on no day saw reports of stolen articles that were worth more than two hundred drachmae; and that too among a people who use unwritten laws only. For, he continues, they have no knowledge of written letters, and regulate every single thing from memory; but still they fare happily, because of their simplicity and their frugality; and indeed they do not drink wine, except at sacrifices, but drink a beverage which they make from rice instead of barley; and also that their food consists for the most part of rice porridge; and their simplicity is also proven in their laws and contracts, which arises from the fact that they are not litigious; for they do not have lawsuits over either pledges or deposits, or have need of witnesses or seals, but trust persons with whom they stake their interests; and further, they generally leave unguarded what they have at their homes. Now these things tend to sobriety; but no man could approve those other habits of theirs — of always eating alone and of not having one common hour for all for dinner and breakfast instead of eating as each one likes; for eating in the other way is more conducive to a social and civic life.

S. R. Goyal [22] and certain other scholars have given lot of credit to this testimony and provide certain internal and external evidences such as Sanskrit literary tradition, absence of pre-Asokan epigraphs etc., and establish that Brahmi script was invented shortly after Megasthenes’ visit to India and before the Asokan edicts were made, perhaps in the age of Asoka himself.

S.R. Goyal [22] thinks that the socio-economic factors of the early 3rd century BC were purely responsible for the development of the Brahmi script. This age gave rise to the second urban revolution and the expansion of the most extensive empire of ancient India. Even in the field of religion and philosophy there was a remarkable tendency towards doubt, dissent and free speculation leading to a mushroom growth of ascetic teachers in the east, all preaching new ways of life. The most significant contribution was from Gautama Buddha who adopted the spoken language of the ordinary people of his region for his sermons but also emphatically denied their preservation in ‘sacred’ languages and gave his consent to learn them in one’s own language. The Prakrit languages thus became the vehicle of sacred truth and got a honoured place in literature. This gradually spread through the sub-continent setting up a background for literacy of the common people and creation of a script.

Emperor Asoka, a revolutionary himself, perhaps saw the culmination of all these tendencies. Besides, the urge for the spread of the Dhamma of Askoka itself might have provided the stimulus to develop a script.
Certain other authors seem to depend heavily on the Sanskrit tradition for the creation of the Brahmi script. A. Banerjee proposed “a new theory” on the origin and evolution of Brahmi alphabet from the Indus script with Sanskrit language as the basis. Absence of the continuum of the Indus script and insufficient evidence of intelligible pre-Brahmi epigraphs has ridiculed such theories.
Dr. S. Gurumurthy observes few Brahmi letter like graffiti on the Chalcolithic pottery which could have influenced the formation of certain Brahmi letters. He suggests that certain Brahmi letters such as Ka,Ta, Ma, Ya could have evolved from Chalcolothic graffiti.

Dr. Gift Siromoney[11] suggests that the Brahmi script was invented by a single individual. He claims that the inventor of the script devised it from two basic geometric patterns. He summarily rejects that the Brahmi script evolved from the Indus script or from other non-Indian scripts

Dr. Iravatham Mahadevan believes that the Indus Script and Brahmi script were not interrelated. The reason in, the Indus script is pictorial and Brahmi script is based on alphabets.
Some scholars suggested evolution of Brahmi script from the Phoenician alphabets. Dr. Clyde Winters doesn’t believe that the Brahmi script was based on Phoenician alphabets. His comparison of the Vowels of both the scripts is totally failing.

Evolution of the Tamil Brahmi script

Iravatham Mahadevan is conclusive about the origin of the Tamil Brahmi script from the Brahmi script ( which is defined as the earliest known stage of the script from which all other native Indian scripts
( excepting Harappan ) are derived. ) as follows:
a. All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding letters of Brahmi and have the same phonetic values.
b. Even the additional letters in Tamil-Brahmi viz. l, ļ, r and n are adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic values in Brahmi.
c. The alphabetical order of letters common to both the scripts is identical.
d. It is revealing that Tolkappiyam places r, n , l and ļ at the end of the series of stops, nasals and liquids ( Tol Elu 19-21 ). This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics. This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken over from Brahmi. The additional letter n is also described as the last in the Tamil alphabet.
He maintains that the Tamil-Brahmi is formed by adapting Brahmi to the requirements of the Tamil phonetic system in the following manner:
a. Omission of letters for sounds not present in Tamil.
b. Addition of letters to represent sounds in Tamil which were not in Brahmi Viz: l, ļ, r and n.
c. Modification of letters by employment of special diactitic mark viz the pulli, to:
a. Depict basic consonants in final position
b. Avoid ligaturing of consonant clusters
c. Distinguish short vowels e and o from the respective long vowels.

Decipherment of the Tamil Brahmi Script

The first Tamil Brahmi inscription was noticed by Robert Sewell in 1882 and since then many has been reported and posed challenges and controversies.
Venkayya was the first to provide a reading of the script. He thought that the script resembled that of the Asoka edicts and hence belonged to the 3rd or 2nd century BC. He thought that the language was “Pali.” It is surprising that he didn’t consider the script to be in the local language, Tamil.

Krishna Sastri was the next to deciper the inscriptions. He thought that the script was neither Pali nor Dravidian. He noticed the southern characteristics of the inscriptions and noticed the occurrence of three other unusual characters in the script, which were later shown as the special characters ( I, r, n) of Tamil by Subrahmanya Aiyer. He could identify few Tamil words and the presence of Dravidian elements in the script but Prakrit elements were more or less clearly expressed in the inscriptions.

Subrahmanya Aiyer’s research was a breakthrough and lead to an understanding of the real nature of the script and language. He observed the presence of special characters of Tamil and also the presence of Prakrit loan words. His findings on the phonological structure and language of the script provided a foundation for further research which concluded that the script was in simple and intelligible Tamil language.

Fifteen years later, Narayana Rao made an unsuccessful effort and based on earlier reading by Krishna Sastri, argued that the inscriptions were in Prakrit. He suggested that the Tamil Brahmi inscriptions were a form of Prakrit language, “Paisaci”, as classified by Prakrit grammarians and concluded that Paisaci was a prevailing language in the Pandya country. To prove his theory, he twisted Krishna Sastri’s readings to yield texts supposedly in Prakrit.
In 1964, Kamil Zvelebil made a formal study of the language of the inscriptions. His readings also suffered problems of the earlier attempts like lack of understanding of the relevant rules of the orthography, wrong identification of special characters and poor quality estampages. Inspite of all these, he was able to conclude that the language of the cave inscriptions is basically Tamil though in a “hybridized form.”

In 1967, Mahalingam published the first book on Tamil cave inscriptions. But he was not aware of the pulli system ( we shall see this later ) and made some important omissions in his book. His interpretations consisted of errors at several places as he thought many words to be in Sanskrit.
R. Nagaswamy, R. Panneerselvam and Mayilai Seeni Venkataswamy[24] were later contributers to the decipherment of the inscriptions.

Mayilai Seeni Venkataswamy [24] believed that there was an earlier script in Tamilnadu in which the classical works of Cankam age were written, before the introduction of Brahmi script by Buddhist or Jain monks in about the 3rd century BC. He also believed that the inscriptions were full of errors as those who wrote or engraved them had insufficient language practice. He compared his readings with what he considered to be the corresponding forms in ‘centamil’ and interpreted them accordingly after making corrections. For example, he considered ‘atan’ and ‘antai’ as erroneous forms of ‘ātan’ and ‘āntai’

Modern day and most widely accepted scientific decipherment comes from the works of Iravatham Mahadevan[18] as a result of his first ( 1962-1966 ) and second ( 1991 – 1996 ) expeditions. His corpus “Early Tamil Epigraphy” was published in 2003 and contains the most recent decipherment of the inscriptions and provides a theory that is more scientific and accurate.

We have earlier seen the adaptation of Brahmi for Tamil. The decipherment of Tamil Brahmi inscriptions has established the presence of two parallel and independent writing systems that used different medial vowel notations. These are called as TB-I and TB-II. Both the systems were highly evolved from the Brahmi script. However in due course, both these systems gave way to further improved systems namely the Bhattiprolu system and the TB-III system. The later is very significant as it is described in Tolkappiyam itself!

Presence of these three writing systems has been acknowledged by scholars such as Iravatham Mahadeven and Gift Siromoney.

Fig 5. Paleographic chart of the Tamil Brahmi Script.

Bilingual Seal?

At Anaikottai, Sri Lanka, a bilingual seal was supposedly unearthed in 1980. This mysterious seal is reported to contain 3 Indus signs at the top row and 3 Tamil Brahmi letters at the bottom row and reported to be the “Rosetta stone” of the Indus Script. Dr. R. Mathivanan [16,17] reads the Brahmi letters as “ti-vu-ko” ( i.e., king of the island ) and goes on deciphering the Indus script based on this reading. But the scribing of the seal ( especially the letter ‘ti’ ) is given differently in Dr. R. Mathivanan’s book and Dr. S. Gurumurthy’s book[19] / Iravatham Mahadevan’s book[18]. Iravatham Mahadevan maintains that the results are inconclusive. This controversial bilingual seal needs further research and physical verification of the original.

Wide spread reach of Tamil Brahmi

What is fascinating is the wide spread reach of Brahmi scribed objects to distant nations as far as Thailand [12,13]and Egypt[14] by early contacts. So also is the abundant evidence of using Brahmi script as property markers in personal objects such as pots and rings. Such pot shreds with Brahmi inscriptions are reported from remote places such as Andipatti, Palani etc., give an expression of the extent of wide spread literacy that prevailed in the Cankam age, which can be corroborated with the development of advanced literature and grammar during the iron age of Tamilnadu.

References:

1. The Theni hero stone was reported in “The Hindu” dated 05-04-2006. http://www.hindu.com/2006/04/05/stories/2006040518340600.htm

2. The tale of the broken pot of Andipatti appreared in “The Hindu” on 13-05-2008. See the link: http://www.hindu.com/2008/05/13/stories/2008051355252000.htm
3. The 13-05-2006 article on “The Hindu” described the artifacts obtained on a six month long excavation at Parikulam. See the Link: http://www.hinduonnet.com/2006/05/13/stories/2006051322590300.htm
4. The Temple Cleaners group blogs can be read at: http://reachhistory.blogspot.com/2006_12_01_archive.html
5. http://www.geocities.com/uma_parasuraman/Gudiyam_Caves/index.html
6. “The Hindu” published a number of articles on rock art and these articles are online at this time of writing. Our readers are advised to refer to them. The panel at Karikkiyur ( the largest panel in South India ) may be of great interest.
7. http://www.hindu.com/2009/03/06/stories/2009030658302000.htm
8. http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/mag/2004/03/07/stories/20040307004608...
9. http://www.hinduonnet.com/2008/01/17/stories/2008011759090900.htm
10. http://www.thehindu.com/2007/05/27/stories/2007052704181200.htm
11. http://www.thehindu.com/2007/10/19/stories/2007101956912400.htm
12. The frontline Volume 24 - Issue 12 :: Jun. 16-29, 2007 also contained a wonderful article on rock art.

13. In Kerala, The Tovarimala caverns have rock art with engravings. Similar caves are reported at Pandavanpara in the Perumkadavila villate. These engravings contain geometric shapes, human figurines and sun symbols. See the below article on the web: http://www.artkerala.com/historymonuments/engravings-rock-shelter-tovari...
14. The discovery of the Neolithic stone celt with Indus script was again first reported in “The Hindu” and it rocked the world of Indologists. This article is still online and can be read on: http://www.hindu.com/2006/05/01/stories/2006050101992000.htm
15. The finding of megalithic pottery was reported in “The Hindu” on 04-27-2008. See the link http://www.hindu.com/2008/04/27/stories/2008042757322000.htm

16. ‘The Geography of Strabo” is now available online, at this time of writing. See this link below: http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Strabo/15A3*.html

17. Several of Dr. Gift Siromoney’s articles are online. For this particular reference, see the link: http://www.cmi.ac.in/gift/Epigraphy/epig_invention.htm

18. A stone with Tamil Brahmi inscription reading “Perum pathan kal” was found in the found in Krabi Province, Thailand. Probably this belonged to a Tamil goldsmith in 3CE. For more details see: http://exhibitions.nlb.gov.sg/kaalachakra/contact-Influence-localisation...
19. Another pottery shred reading “turavon” was found in Tailand and reported in “The Hindu” on 16-07-2006. See the link: http://www.hindu.com/2006/07/16/stories/2006071603952000.htm
20. A pot shred reading “paanai oRi” was found in Egypt in recent times. It is reported in this article of “The Hindu” http://www.hinduonnet.com/2007/11/21/stories/2007112158412400.htm
21. A picture of the Sulur dish can be found in http://www.harappa.com/arrow/sulur-figs.pdf
22. Indus script among Dravidian speakers by Dr. R. Mathivanan, General editor Dr. N. Mahalingam, First Edition, 1995, Published by International Society for the investigation of ancient civilizations, 102, Mount Road, Guindy, Madras 600 032.
23. Indus Script Dravidian Dr. R. Mathivanan, First Edition, 1995, Tamil Chanror Peravai, 26 S.P. Road, Adyar, Madras 600 020.
24. Early Tamil Epigraphy. From the earliest times to the sixth century AD. Iravatham Mahadevan, Harvard Oriental Series 62, © 2003, Cre-A; New No 2, 24th East Street, Thiruvanmiyur, Chennai 600 041.
25. Deciphering the Indus script, First Edition 1999, Dr. S. Gurumurthy, University of Madras, Chennai.
26. A new theory on the origin and evolution of Brahmi alphabet. A Banerjee. First Edition 2003, Black & White, 6191/1, Block-1, Dev Nagar, Karol Bagh, New Delhi 110 005.
27. Palaeolinguistic profile of Brahmi Script. Dilip Rajgor, First Edition 2000, Pratibha Prakashan, 29/5 Shakti Nagar, Delhi 110 007.
28. Brahmi Script An invention of the Early Maurya Period. S. R. Goyal. First Edition 2006. Kusumanjali Book World, 41-A, Sardar Club Scheme, Jodhpur 342 011.
29. Palaeography of the Brahmi script in Andhra. Dr. Ramesh Chandra Babu. First Edition 2006, Bharatiya Kala Prakashan, 3421-A, IInd Floor, Narang Colony, Tri Nagar, New Delhi 110 035.
30. Cankakala Varalarru Aivugal, Mayilai Seeni Venkadasamy. Published by M. Vettriarasi, Plot no 9,Door no 26, Joseph Colony, Adambakkam, Chennai 600 088.