Early South Indian Palaeography

Language: English
Pages: 366


Foreword

This book on early South Indian Palaeography written by Dr. T. V. Mahalingam, Professor of Ancient History and Archaeology in the University of Madras is a definite contribution to the study of original scripts in South India. The book presents in, an interesting form the evolution of early Indian scripts more Particularly of the Tamil country. Strangely enough we owe the beginnings of the scientific study of Indian scripts to European authors, who by their knowledge of India linguistics and palaeography have contributed largely to the understanding of Indian Epigraphy and given an impetus to a study of this subject, In the few centuries before and after the Christian era the Brahmi script was extensively used in inscriptions on rocks, caves, earthenware and coins. Such inscriptions have been found in different places in India and it is only with their actual decipherment that a comparative study of the epigraphs and their languages has become possible. The script on the seals from Mohenjodaro and Harappahas been interpreted in different ways and the great savant Father Heras has sought to read old Tamil in the seals. We have now advanced very much from the days of pictography to the modern alphabets of different languages. I must congratulate Dr. Mahalingam on an exceedingly useful and scientifically accurate publication on Early South Indian Palaeography that he has brought out. He has placed all students of Palaeography under a debt of gratitude.

 

Preface

The history of the study of Indian Palaeograplry is nearly two centuries old, and its commencement synchronised with the foundation of the Asiatic Society in Calcutta by Sir William Jones in 1784. South Indian Palaeography, however, did not receive any attention till the days of Colonel Colin Mackenzie, the Surveyor-General of the British East India