Antiquity, languages and politics of Sri Lanka
March 12th, 2008
by Dr. Rajasingham Narendran
“For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? (Mathew 16:26)
Sri Lanka, as we call her today, is an ancient land with an unfathomable history stretching into the mists of time. The attempt to understand her history, beyond the past few centuries, would be akin to the efforts of the proverbial five blind men to figure out an elephant. Sri Lanka, a tropical isle with plenty of rainfall, a hot and humid climate, and teaming with all sorts of creeping and crawling life, makes preserving ten-year-old books difficult even in modern homes! One need not stretch imagination far to accept that much of what were written on Ola-manuscipts in ancient and medieval times has been irretrievably lost. Only rock inscriptions and these too in sheltered locations would have survived the ravages of climate. Buildings made of clay, wood and leaves are prone to destruction within a short time by the combined effects of climate, termites and ants. Pottery or parts thereof, on which ancient alphabets and insignia have been found, also contribute to our attempt to decipher history. Further, with the practice of cremating the dead probably stretching back into our very early history, it is unlikely sufficient evidence will be found to prove any hypothesis as to the origin or antiquity of our people. A few burial sites where urns with human ashes and some artefacts were found in Sri Lanka and South India, point to possible common cultural roots.
Alex Haley in the introduction to his monumental book ‘Roots’ states, “Finally, I acknowledge immense debt to the griots (traditional storytellers) of Africa-where today it is rightly said that when a griot dies, it is as if a library has burned to the ground. The griots symbolize how all human ancestry goes back to some place, and some time, where there was no writing. Then, the memories and the mouths of ancient elders was the only way that early histories of mankind got passed along…. for all of us today to know who we are.” The oral tradition of transmitting the story of our history persisted over thousands of years, until attempts were made to consolidate them into writing. The oral tradition of transmitting history is of course prone to inaccuracies, exaggerations, distortions and manipulations.
In Sri Lanka, rock inscriptions and Ola-manuscripts recording the efforts of kings, priests and poets of old, are the peepholes available for us to get a glimpse into a very hazy past. In areas with no rock formations geographically, rock inscriptions were not possible, and this create a void while trying to gain an insight into ancient history. The written material available from the distant past and the stories conveyed downstream through the millennia are also likely to be unreliable, except as general pointers to how we progressed with time. Those who wrote on Ola-leaves or inscribed on rocks, may have been influenced by their own social and political compulsions. The need to glorify what they sympathized with and damn what they disliked, would have been as compelling in the past, as it is now. Our attempts to glimpse into our distant history can be only guesswork at worst and as good as the scientific tools available at best. Despite the availability of the best scientific tools, interpretations are more often than not, yet dictated by social and political compulsions.
It is a tragedy that we the component peoples of Sri Lanka, particularly the Sinhalese and Tamils, are yet involved in the debate as to who amongst us are the original inhabitants and the legitimate owners of the island. Into this meaningless, but all consuming political debate, over which a civil war is being waged, the debate on which language-Sinhalese or Tamil, is older has also been joined. Very few have paused to question how relevant such disputes and debates are to our national life and future as peoples.
Minister Champika Ranawake of the JVP has recently claimed that the, “Sinhala language is older than Indian languages with a history of more than 3000 years.” This takes the debate to encompass the Indian subcontinent and beyond the shores of Sri Lanka. If this was true, I will be proud to know one of the oldest languages in the world and share the island with a people speaking that language. Unfortunately, coming from the mouth of a man, who considers all Tamils in Sri Lanka as aliens and intruders, and would prefer them dumped en-masse into the deep sea, I set out to investigate the veracity of his claim and hence the origins of the written scripts of Sinhala and Tamil and their relationship to other languages in the region. I approached this project as an inquisitive layman. I stand to be corrected by trained linguists, etymologists and archeologists, if I am wrong in what I have understood from my efforts.
Brahmi is considered the parent script for most languages used in India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Burma, Bali, Java, Thailand and even Laos. The origins of Brahmi are yet subject to much debate. Whether it originated from a script used in the Indus Valley civilization of old, an Aramaic script introduced from the Middle East or evolved independently from within India, is yet a subject of much debate. Brahmi itself is of two types-the Southern Brahmi and a Northern Brahmi. The Southern Brahmi is considered the parent alphabet of languages such as Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada, Sinhala, Burminese, Thai, Lao, Balinese, Javanese and others of a similar nature. The Northern Brahmi is the parent for the Nagari type of script as in Sanskrit, Hindi, Gujarati, Bengali, Assamese, Oriya, Nepali and Tibetan. The Northern Brahmi is also called the Asokan Brahmi.
Further, whether the Southern and Northern types of Brahmi, independently evolved, or whether one of these was the parent of the other is the subject of much debate. The Brahmi that gave birth to the Tamil script has been called Tamil Brahmi or Tamili/Demali and that which gave rise to the Sinhala script is called the Sinhala Brahmi. The Brahmi alphabet and the differences between Asokan and Southern (Tamil) Brahmi are pictorially presented below. How closely Asokan and Tamil Brahmi (Southern Brahmi) resemble each other is noteworthy. In a history of a people spanning several millennia, would a few centuries or even a thousand years difference in the perceived origin of their languages make any meaningful difference?
The depictions (Pic-3, Pic-4) present how the Tamil Vatteluthu (Rounded alphabets)-a progenitor of modern Tamil alphabet-and the Sinhala alphabet in its various evolutionary forms compare with each other:
Brahmi script has been identified as having appeared by the 5th century BC. Brahmi was the most common script used by King Asoka who ruled between 269-232 BC. Brahmi inscriptions belonging to Asoka’s period have been found in rock shelters in Sri Lanka. The language used in the Brahmi inscriptions of Sri Lanka and those of Asoka is Prakrit-a colloquial form of Sanskrit. The inscriptions using Brahmi characters have also been discovered in Tamil Nadu rock shelters and pottery fragments. The earliest language used is Tamil with a mixture of Prakrit words. Scripts earlier than Tamil-Brahmi have not been so far discovered in Tamil Nadu. The Sinhala alphabet has been identified as appearing in rock inscriptions during the 3rd and 2nd century B.C. Both the alphabet and language have changed considerably since then and the earliest surviving Sinhala literature dates from the 9th century AD. A broken jar with Tamil Brahmi inscriptions found in Quseir-al-Qadim, an ancient Red Sea port in Egypt, has been dated to the first century BC. The earliest Tamil epigraphic records have been estimated to be around 300 BC.
An intermediary alphabet that evolved from the ancient Brahmi is Grantham, which has influenced most South Indian and Sri Lankan languages including Sinhala and Tamil.
The comparison between the Grantham alphabet, Malayalam, Sinhalese and Tamil is given in (Pic-6, Pic-7):
It should be also noted ‘Elu’ is an ancient form of the Sinhala language, from which the modern vernacular has been derived. Elu is thought to be an older form of Sinhala by many, and a type of Prakrit by others. Organizations such as ‘Hela Havula’ consider Elu entirely native to Sri Lanka. There are also Tamil scholars who consider Elu to be an ancient form of Tamil. The modern alphabets of various languages currently in use in India and Sri Lanka are presented below to once again show resemblances that point to common origins:
Tamil and Sinhala, as languages have also been identified as sharing more than 4000 words and have an almost similar grammatical structure. I was surprised to hear the word ‘Thooral’ referring to a drizzle in Tamil being used in the Wattala area by Sinhalese with reference to rain. Similarly in the Negombo area, ants are referred to as ‘Sithraam Pootchi’ (Poochi-insect in Tamil), by many Sinhalese. While the Sinhalese can justifiably claim a large number of Sinhala words are used in Tamil, Tamils could also in turn justifiably claim that a large number of Tamil words are used in Sinhala. What appears reasonable in a historic context is that both Tamils and Sinhalese have much in common because of their common origins as peoples and the common origins of their languages.
Evolution whether biological, cultural or linguistic is an ever diverging process. The diversity when traced back, only points to a less divergent past and if can be traced far enough, to common origins. Every person, tribe, nation or race can claim to a pre-eminent place in matters pertaining to language, culture, religion and even biological make-up, and rightly so, because we have a common origin. Evolution guarantees that we try to unconsciously preserve what we are familiar with, through a sense of pride, which ensures diversity within our essential unity. However, evolution ensures that we keep on changing slowly and steadily with time biologically and in all other aspects relating to life, to ensure that we are fit to survive. We are all essentially the same in all aspects relating to our lives, while appearing and even trying to be different. This is the unity in our diversity. Language is only a tool for communication, and with time evolved into a medium to express our thoughts, deeds and culture. Languages have been grouped into families based on their similarities and I am sure evolved, as I had referred to in my last column and if the theory of evolution and anthropologic findings prove correct, from a primordial form of language spoken somewhere in Africa-probably a primordial form of Bantu.
The Sinhalese and Tamils have to take the giant step towards the future and cease to dwell morbidly in the past, however much we believe it was glorious. Life in the past-ancient and the middle-ages-was a mixture of what it is today-good, bad and the ugly. It could not have been otherwise. It is the propensity for us as humans to remember the good and forget the bad. If not, we could not have survived as a species this long. If not, we would have drowned in our grief a long time back in our evolutionary history. It is our politicians, for their pecuniary needs and desire for power, who keep glorifying the past to make us forget the present-a rather undesirable reality of their making.
In biology, with reference to our embryological development it is said ‘Ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny’-our embryological development is a repeat of our evolutionary development as a species. Life is supposed to have originated in the seas and we as embryos develop in the womb as an entity floating in fluids. This is one aspect of the above concept. Similarly in life, ‘Where we go in the future is determined by where we have been in the past.’ While we have to carry our collective experiences as a people and as individuals, from the past into the future; we should not try to go back into the past.
Sri Lanka, is yet unfortunately a captive of its past and is unable to develop the dynamics to break out of this imprisonment, because of the efforts of our unsavoury politicians and noisy societal leadership. The antiquity of the languages we owe allegiance, the religions we profess and the history we claim as a people, are over-burdening our politics in a manner that is preventing us from becoming what we are capable of. The search Champika Ranawake set me has of course shown me he may be right in claiming Sinhala is 3000 years old, but he was wrong in asserting it is older than any language in India. Tamil is as old, if not older than Sinhala. This interesting experience made me gain greater insight into human evolution and see the merit in the pride different people feel about their respective identities! It is unfortunate, the facts that could be garnered to stress our essential unity, are being mustered by our politicians with great vigour to foster dissention, violence and bloodshed in Sri Lanka.
Entry Filed under: Federalidea
35 Comments Add your own
1. selva | March 12th, 2008 at 11:40 pm
Starting from Palliyawatte (nothern bank of Kelani) to chilo the costal area people are a Tamil mixed society that is why they use Tamil words too. You knew that the potugeese demolized five Eeswarams and with the stones built fords. You wouldn’t have never heard they broke a Bairaver kovil and built the Anthony’s Church (Kochikada) in the same place. This story had been passed from generation to generation among the colombo Tamils.
2. KTR | March 13th, 2008 at 12:08 am
Great Work Doctor.
3. Ratna | March 13th, 2008 at 9:01 am
Good research.
If someone can plot a timeline, for every 1,000 years, starting from 5,000 BC to 2,000 AD, in south asia with languages used, nations exist, geography etc., it will be more easy to understand. Maybe we can predict for year 3,000 too.
4. ilaya seran senguttuvan | March 13th, 2008 at 9:17 am
Dr Narendran,
A very interesting and informative piece. But, Sir, few take Champaka Ranawake seriously - that includes a large number of
educated Sinhalese as well. In fairness to him, one must say
he has to be jingoistic to keep his job. Remember, the American truism “there is no such thing as a free lunch” Ranawake has to keep the chauvinistic Sinhala fringe happy and delusionary to keep his place in the Cabinet. I respect the Sinhala language myself - that I can fluently speak, reasonably read and write from the time I was 8 - but I don’t think initiated Sinhalese are ready to fool themselves theirs is an older language than those from ancient India. I wonder why
Ranawake spared Hebrew? Your final sentence in the last para reflects the cause of our unending problem - for which Ranawake and his extremist fringe have contributed enormously. In the recent visit where you and ten friends of yours were here in your own quest for peace, did you meet
this arrogant Minister and his shamelessly anti-Tamil party?
In my view this dangerous guy should not be given nominations even to be a member of a Provincial Council.
5. Rifat Halim | March 14th, 2008 at 4:46 am
Dear Dr. Narendran,
I remember your letter to the Indian Express in 1987 after the IPKF killed your mother and brother. The Indian Express sought to give your family’s tragic plight full publicity, partly because the then editor Arun Shourie was an opponent of Rajiv Gandhi. Shourie later became a BJP minister.
Regarding your article, I suggest that you restrict your self to your chosen field of veternary science. You don’t seem to distinguish between the age of a script and the age of a language. You should read Iravatham Mahadevan who has written that the Southern Brahmi and Northern Brahmi have a common origins. Also, Dr. Jeyarajan Paul who has pointed out the similarity between Sinhala script and the Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Oriya scripts.
Please do more research, rathan political posturing.
6. ilaya seran senguttuvan | March 14th, 2008 at 11:16 pm
Rifat Halim,
It will be good if you can confirm or deny the claim of
Minister Champaka Ranawake that the Sinhala language
records a longer antiquity from that of other Indian languages.
One cannot resist the conclusion there is something of a personal nature between you and Dr Narendran. As far as I see as a layman, Dr Narendran has come out with a good case in
contradicting Ranawake
7. R Chinniah | March 15th, 2008 at 12:47 pm
Dr Narendran has approached (in his own words) ‘ this project as an inquisitive layman. I stand to be corrected by trained linguists, etymologists and archeologists, if I am wrong in what I have understood from my efforts.’
Let us engage in mature debate without making personal and prejudicial statements. What is the connection between this artcle and Dr Narendran’s mother being killed by the IPKF.
I did not see Dr Narendran’s name in the list of names of persons visiting Sri Lanka as suggested by one of the commentators. Why this is dragged in here.
With reference to the article, I recall a book published by Mr Samual Livingstone in the mid 1970’s in which he had given valuable insight into name distortions of places and some insight into the origins of Tamil people in Sri Lanka. This book must be in the hands of someone and needs reproducing.
8. ilaya seran senguttuvan | March 16th, 2008 at 7:45 am
Posting 7 - Tku for correcting me. I was having Jayadevan in mind
9. Athos | March 16th, 2008 at 8:17 am
/* Tamil is as old, if not older than Sinhala. */
Visually the Sinhala script looks mature than others with natural, rounder and more aesthetically pleasing due to the symmetry of the script. The others seems to lag behind with sharp some times rough edges. This leads me to believe although Sinhala may have been influenced by Brahmi initially it has in fact evolved for a longer period.
Sinhala having evolved in the southern most tip on the subcontinent land locked from all directions would possibly make it the most matured script in the region. In addition to the fact Sinhala is the only script used in many literary works such as Mahavamsa and Culavamsa and many others would leave one to believe it is the oldest.
10. Mohan | March 16th, 2008 at 8:39 am
Honestly, you need not have gone to this length to prove Ranawake is wrong.
Any one with a basic knowledge of languages knows Tamil is far more older, not to mention richer in litreture, than Sinhala
The article is totally unnecessary
11. Athos | March 16th, 2008 at 7:23 pm
Dear Mohan,
One should be appreciate of others cultures and their languages. Its only through the acceptance you gain their respect. Instead of comparing, let discuss how our great languages complement each other. Although before that I think I need to show the Sinhala literally works apart from the great Mahavamsa which I am sure you have heard of. Since we are in a process of sharing, please show great Tamil works in Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu.
Deepavamsa
Culavamsa
Mahabodhivansa
Thupavansaya
Elu-Attanagalu
Dambadeni asna
Amavatura
Dharmap-radipikava
Buth-sarana
Saddharma-Ratnavaliya
Mayura Sandeshaya
Thisara Sandeshaya
Gira Sandeshaya
Hansa Sandeshaya
Parevi Sandeshaya
Kokila Sandeshaya
Selalihini Sandeshaya
Sevul Sandeshaya
Hema Kurulu Sandeshaya
Ketakirili Sandeshaya
Nilakobo Sandeshaya
Diyasevul Sandeshaya
Nari-Sath-Sandeshaya
- War Poetry -
Kustantinu hatana
Ingrisi hatana
12. Athos | March 16th, 2008 at 10:02 pm
Dear Mohan,
Refer to PIC-4, the ‘Pa’ in modern Tamil for example. Write it thousand times repeatedly in a piece of paper. Eventually you will find losing the squareness of the letter and the edges smooth out. After the transformation what would it look like? Have a look at the Sinhala ‘Pa’ to see if it looks similar.
That is where Sinhala script is at the moment. At least 1000 times ahead of the pack.
13. Deva | March 17th, 2008 at 3:26 am
All scripts (not languages) in South Asia including Tamil and Sinhala have originated from Brahmi letters which are angular in shape (made of straight lines rather than rounded).
All the South Indian languages which are originally Dravidian have developed their scripts from Brahmi. However their development is influenced by the development of Tamil scripts which were originally round in shape.
On the other hand, all North Indian languages (Indo-Aryan) such as Hindi, Bengali, etc have script which are angular in shape due to the influence of Prakrit/Sanskrit (includes Pali).
Even after the Prakrit influences on South Indian (Dravidian) languages such Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada, Thulu etc they still retained their round shaped script.
Interestingly, Sinhala which developed its own script somewhere from the 5th/6th century AD has the rounded form very similar to the South Indian (Dravidian) languages rather than the angular form such as the North Indian (Indo-Aryan) languages. The Telegu and Malayalam scripts look very much similar to the Sinhala Script.
This confirms the fact that the Sinhala script is Dravidian and not Indo-Aryan as widely believed. This may be due to the pre-dominant Tamil (Dravidian) influence in the Island or the original language/script used by the Sinhalese was Tamil.
14. Deva | March 17th, 2008 at 7:58 am
Athos,
Your post #11 reminds me my daughter when she was 6 years old (Montessori), she used to compare all her work by showing them to her friends and demanding them to show theirs.
But then I realized that even among the grown ups there are people who behave like kids.
My dear, I am sure nobody is going to reply you to such an ignorant post. The Tamil literary work was very rich even during the Sangam period dating back to between 200 BCE and 200 CE. Do you think that vast amount of work can be listed right here?
If you had asked for Tamil Buddhist literary work, then of course it could have been listed such as Kundalakesi, Manimekalai, Silappatikaram, etc but the entire Tamil literary work. You are trying to compare an ant with an elephant.
By the way, for your information, Deepavamsa, Mahavamsa, Culavamsa, etc are NOT Sinhala literary work, they are all Pali work and none of the Sinhala literary work what you have mentioned above are ancient, they are not more than 500 years old.
You need to do a lot of home work before writing in a public forum unless of course you do not mind making yourself look a fool.
15. 2ndClassTamil | March 17th, 2008 at 10:59 am
Dear Athos,
Try the Project Madurai site. … and tell us what you think.
16. Reggie | March 18th, 2008 at 12:27 am
Dear Athos,
Dont waste your breath all these people are concerned with proving that they are the oldest, greatest, best etc etc, the kind of childish gloating and hero worship that you see in many third world countries, one only needs to see how transfixed the Inidian media is on the release of the Forbes billionaires list each year.
17. Devendra | March 18th, 2008 at 4:03 am
Sinhalese is an Indo-Aryan language and Tamil is a Dravidian language.
Mohan claims Tamil is “richer” than Sinhalese. If so, why can’t Tamil make out the difference between “g” and “k” or between “p” and “b”?
Tamil can’t make the difference between “put” and “but” or “bat” and “pat”
It can’t make the difference between “cat” and “cut” or “putt” and “butt”
It can’t make the difference between “gas” and “cars”
Sinhalese can.
18. Athos | March 18th, 2008 at 7:00 am
Helllo Deva
/*
Due to the evidences of the Sangam period being more
mythological than factual, some scholars are of the opinion that the whole Sangam story is a hoax and a fabrication.
There is absolutely no contemporary archaeological or scientific evidence found to substantiate these “academies” existed at all. Accurate chronological assessment of literary works had been rendered difficult due to lack of concrete scientific evidence to support conflicting claims. Undue reliance on the Sangam legends have thus culminated in controversial opinions or interpretations among scholars, confusion in the dates, names and personal accounts of authors and doubts of even their existence in some cases.
The historian and scientific community at large have dismissed claims of the description of sunken landmass Kumari kandam (Lemuria). The first Sangam is said to be participated by Lord Shiva? How can this be?
Reference - P.N. Chopra, T.K. Ravindran, N. Subrahmanian, History of South India (2003)
*/
So there is a ‘Elephant size’ amount of work but all a hoax since there there is nothing to substantiate the dates, origin or the authors other than mythology and fairy tales. Even if it was authentic, the origin of this literature is TN. Where is Tamil literature from the Tamil Homeland hoax in Sri Lanka allegedly existed for ‘thousands of years’?
Unlike the Tamil Sangam Hoax, there is there is literary evidence to show that the Deepavamsa, Mahavamsa, and Culavamsa had drawn from commentaries in the Sinhala languages known as the Sihalatthakatha. They were composed in Pali because it was considered the language of knowledge used by monastic Buddhist monks for works under the authority of Kings. This does not mean Sinhala as a language did not exist at the same time. Amavatura and Gurulugomi written by Elu, pure Sinhala around 13th century. The origin of the Sinhala is Elu. Elu is the language of Hela or Sinhela. There may have been influences from other scripts throughout history. Apart from literary works that has survived through constant invasions and plundering of Sinhala culture, some still remain etched in stone is all four corners of the island.
19. Deva | March 18th, 2008 at 10:05 am
In my post # 13 above, I have clearly described the difference in shape between the North Indian (Indo-Aryan) script and the South Indian (Dravidian) script and I have also shown (very obvious) where the Sinhala script stands.
It should be noted that even though the origin of all the South Indian (Dravidian) languages (Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada, Thulu, etc) was Tamil, they all had a very strong Prakrit/Sanskrit influence due to their neighboring regions.
According to the linguists (Language scholars), the Sinhala Language has more than 4000 Tamil words in its vocabulary and the Sinhala script is also Tamil (Dravidian) in nature as I have shown above.
Very similar to those South Indian Languages, Sinhala also had the same Prakrit/Sanskrit influence due to Emperor Asoka who introduced Buddhism and the Pali language to the country.
Therefore, it can be said that the original core language (mother) of the entire South India Sri Lanka region (Sinhala, Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada, Thulu, etc) was TAMIL (Dravidian) but they all underwent a transformation later due to the influence of Prakrit/Sanskrit/Pali.
Even though the Tamil litreture is very rich and the Tamil Language is one of the very ancient languages in the world, since it DID NOT undergo a major transformation like the other Dravidian languages including Sinhala, it lacks certain sounds/letters such as Ga, Ha, Ba, etc where as all the other South Indian Sri Lankan languages (Sinhala, Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada, etc) do not have such short comings.
20. Deva | March 19th, 2008 at 1:35 am
Athos Dear,
*****So there is a ‘Elephant size’ amount of work but all a hoax since there there is nothing to substantiate the dates, origin or the authors other than mythology and fairy tales. Even if it was authentic, the origin of this literature is TN. Where is Tamil literature from the Tamil Homeland hoax in Sri Lanka allegedly existed for ‘thousands of years’?*****
There is a Sinhala saying that when a person was asked where are you going, his reply was, there are coconuts in my bag.
In your post # 11,
*****Since we are in a process of sharing, please show great Tamil works in Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu.*****
I thought you were asking about the great Tamil literary work and NOT the dates/authors. Unfortunately, it is true that the Tamils did not keep enough archaeological records in the form of inscriptions which culminated in controversial opinions or interpretations among a few scholars regarding the dates and names of authors but that does affect in what ever way the vast amount (Elephant size) of rich literary work done in one of the CLASSICAL languages in the world (Tamil is officially declared as a classical language). “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet” so for the moment, lets leave those few scholars controversial opinions about the exact dates and authors for them to sort it out.
On the other hand, according to the archaeological evidence, the Sinhala language (verses) was first found on the Sigiri mirror wall only during the 8 Century AD. According to scholars, the olden Prakrit-Sinhala is an ancient Prakrit spoken by many in South Asia in ancient times.
Bikku Mahinda and the missinory monks who introduced Buddhism and the Pali/Prakith language to the Island called the language that existed when they arrived (before 3rd Century BC) as Dipa Basa and still no body knows what this dipa basa was, it can even be ancient Tamil.
Now, coming to mythology and fairy tales, without confusing history with literature, could you give examples from the Tamil literature where you found mythology and fairy tales or could you quote any language scholars who have said that the Tamil literary work is nothing other than mythology and fairy tales?
On the other hand, lets consider the Sihalatthakatha, don’t you think that the first few chapters of the Dipavamsa/Mahavamsa which is believed to have been drawn from commentaries in the Sinhala languages known as the Sihalatthakatha is one of the biggest mythology and fairy tales.
Don’t you believe that Mahanama thero has cooked up this Vijay/Sinhabahu story only in 6 century AD (1000 years after the so called Vijay arrival) or if he had drawn commentaries from the so called *Sihalatthakatha*, then what is the origin/date/author of this *Sihalatthakatha*. Don’t you think it is a hoax.
Don’t you think the Lord Buddha’s three magical trips to Sri Lanka (no evidence what so ever to support it) were only a myth created by the Mahavamsa author Ven. Mahanama thero?
Do you know that there is a clear record of all the main events of Buddha, the places he visited, with whom he was, where and what he preached and to whom he preached, in the Buddhist scriptures Tripitika (Viniya, Sutta, Abhidhamma) which is followed by the Theravada Buddhists around the world where as in Sri Lanka the Mahavamsa which was written by a Buddhist monk more than 1000 years after the passing away of Lord Buddha is also considered as a part of the Buddhist scriptures although it deals mostly with mythical or supernatural Buddhist history.
The Mahavamsa says,
Just before passing away, Buddha has called the Sakkara (King of Gods) and told him, my doctrine, O Sakka, will eventually be established in the Island of Lanka, and on this day, Vijay the eldest son of Singha Bahu king of Sinhapura in the Lata country lands there with 700 followers and will assume sovereignty there. Do thou, therefore guard well the prince and his train and the Island of Lanka.
The same Mahavamsa also says that Vijaya was a product of bestiality (half animal) and they (he and his 700 men) were bandits (criminals & thugs) who were exiled from their land.
Can anybody believe that Buddha the enlightened one will ever choose a group of criminals/thugs and their leader who comes from a half beast to protect his doctrine?
21. Deva | March 19th, 2008 at 4:52 am
Even though there are enough Language scholars (linguists), etymologists epigraphists, and archeologists in the South Asian region, the research done until now on languages and scripts in this region is still at its early stages. There is a lot more to do to the researches to come to conclusions.
What our good doctor RN has done is highly commendable. He has put a lot of time and effort in doing extensive research on this subject and his article is not only highly informative but it is also very necessary in todays context irrespective of the racist JHU politician Champika Ranawakes comments.
While thanking the good doctor for educating us by spending his precious time on such valuable topics, I would also request him to continue further on this subject by doing more research.
Hats off to Dr. R N, please continue to keep up the good work.
22. 2ndClassTamil | March 19th, 2008 at 11:03 am
Tamil is the only living classical languge in India. Sankrit the only other other one is a dead language.
But guys and gals, why don’t we leave these kinds of research topics to academics, (as no one takes lay comments seriously).
23. Deva | March 20th, 2008 at 12:44 am
Let’s see what the academics/scholars are saying about the Sinhala Language.
According to Dr. C.E. Godakmubara, the Sinhala Grammar Sidathsangarawa was based on the Tamil Grammar Virasolium in the 11th A.D. The term ‘Sihala (Lion in Pali) is seen for the first time in Sri Lankan sources in the Dipa Vamsa (4-5 A.D.) and in that chronicle, that term occurs only once, and in that cryptic verse it is stated that the Island was known as ‘Sinhala’ on account of the Lion - “Lanka Dipo Ayam ahu sihena sihalaitu”. In the Maha Vamsa the term ‘Sihala’ - occurs only twice. In the epic Ramayana 420 B.C., this island was known as Lanka much earlier.
Many Sinhalas are either not willing or not capable of distinguishing myths from facts in a critical study.
A study of how Vijaya and his followers established the first Sinhala kingdom reveals much about the character of the Sinhalas.
Sinhala evolved through the intermingling of the Tamil, Prakrit/Sanskrit and Pali languages.
There are Tamil Brahmi and Asokan Brahmi inscriptions on stones belonging to the 3rd century B.C. The earliest inscriptions in Sinhala are only of the 8th Century A.D (verses on the Sigiri mirror wall).
Sinhala scholar Mudliyar W. F. Gunawardena at a lecture delivered at Ananda College on 28.09.1918 had stated,
“….the science of exmination of the structure of a sentence is called its grammar. The grammar of the Sinhala language is Dravidian…”
He further said, the Sinhala language is primarily a Dravidian language. The structural foundation of Sinhala is Dravidian while the super-structure is Indo-Aryan.
Prof. J. B. Dissanayake in his book “Understanding the Sinhalese” states “….Sinhala occupies a unique position among the languages of South Asia because of its close affinity, with two of the major linguistic families of the Indian sub continent Indo-Aryan and Dravidian..
H. A. J. Hulugalle, in his booklet ?Information for Tourists, 1947? says in the first paragraph on page one:
‘The Sinhalese are a mixed race, their language has been vastly enriched with words from the Tamil vocabulary.’
Most of the controversial issues in relation to the Tamil and Sinhala race and language can be solved if we understand and accept that Sinhalese are as much Dravidians as the Tamils themselves.
24. Athos | March 20th, 2008 at 10:37 am
Hola Deva,
/* Unfortunately, it is true that the Tamils did not keep enough archaeological records in the form of inscriptions which culminated in controversial opinions or interpretations among a few scholars regarding the dates and names of authors but that does affect in what ever way the vast amount (Elephant size) of rich literary work done in one of the CLASSICAL languages in the world (Tamil is officially declared as a classical language). “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet”…. */
Robert Cladwell who pioneered the study of the Draviadian dated the earliest known Tamil literary work Tolkappiyam between 8-9th and 12-13th CE. There seems to be a lot of confusion as to the exact date. The earliest known Sinhala literary work are the 650 poems on the wall of Sigtiriya 8th-9th CE. This work is corroborated with historical chronicles and there is no confusion as to when the work was done.
Devaneya Pavanar who made the case for Tamil as a “Classical” claims the language originated in “Lemuria”. Lumeria which is said to be a large sunken landmass in the Indian Ocean have been dismissed by historians and scientific community at large.
In summary, Tamil, the language which the bulk of the work which some historians claim is a hoax, with the earliest known literary work as late as 13 CE in hive of confusion said to originate from a mythical place called Lumeria. How the hell did this thing become a “Classical Language”? It does smell of something, I don’t have a pretty flower in my mind however.
/* Bikku Mahinda and the missinory monks who introduced Buddhism and the Pali/Prakith language to the Island called the language that existed when they arrived (before 3rd Century BC) as Dipa Basa and still no body knows what this dipa basa was, it can even be ancient Tamil. */
‘Dipa’ is essentially means ‘Diva’ or ‘Hela Diva’ as the Island was known. Hela or Elu is pure Sinhala. There is no connection to Tamil here.
/* Don’t you believe that Mahanama thero has cooked up this Vijay/Sinhabahu story only in 6 century AD (1000 years after the so called Vijay arrival) */
All the great civilisations have a mythical beginning just to give that awe inspiring feeling in the minds of hunter gatherer savages who have not much to show for. Romans had their beginning from a wolf. Japanese think their emperor is direct descendant from the sun. Greeks think they have inter marriages with gods. The Bible is full of myths. Mahavamsa is the only known chronicle in the Indian subcontinent and probably the only one on the entire Earth that give minute details of the history corroborated with physical evidence of a culture and its people spanning over 2500 years. Those myths hardly makes a dent in the essence of what it has to convey.
25. Gerald | March 20th, 2008 at 1:06 pm
“Valuable and irreplacable collection Ola manuscripts and books pertaining to the history and literature of Sri Lankan Tamils were donated to the Jaffna library- by many benefactors from their private collections. These were burnt to cinder by uniformed ‘Criminals’ led by Ministers Gamini Dissanayake and Cyril Mathew, along with the beautiful buiding- the pride of Jaffna.
To demand of the Tamils of Sri Lanka to produce proof of their literature or historicity, is to rub chillie powder on an unhealable wound! The crimes these men commited were not even commited by the likes of Hitler and his goons. The burning of the Jaffna library should be considered the worst act of ‘Cultural Genocide’ recorded in modern times.”
26. Athos | March 21st, 2008 at 3:04 am
Hello Deva,
I do not wish to get into narrow minded arguments with you. I have made a few observations after studying material provided here in this article. See if you can comment on it without getting into petty quarrels.
PIC – 3 Comparing Tamil Vatteluttu with the evolution of Sinhala script. Its a pity both Northern and Southern Brahmin script was not added in a separate column for a better comparison. At the first step of its evolution, the letters A and O in Sinhala does not bear any resemblance to Tamil Vatteluttu. This clearly suggests the Sinhala script evolved from Brahmi around the same time as Tamil Vatteluttu. Sinhala and other Brahmi derivatives retain and expand on Brahmi base however Tamil does not make any progress.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brahmic_family
If you look at the table above, there are many deficiencies in the Tamil alphabet in comparison to other Brahmi based scripts. Not only is the character set limited to few letters, the form of certain characters take a backward step taking square forms. I would like to float a theory on this.
- Atho’s popular versus elitist literacy theory -
Early Tamil literacy took a popular or democratic form as a language of the people whereas other scripts were developed under society elites including Brahmins in India and Sinhala scholar monks in Sri Lanka. The primary evidence for this situation comes from inscribed pottery, relatively more numerous in Tamil Nadu than elsewhere in the country. The pottery inscriptions are secular in character and the names occurring in them indicate the script was popular among the common people from all parts of the Tamil society. The popularity was at the cost of its richness where it had to be simpler to appeal to wider sections of the community. On the other hand, inscriptions from upper South Indian sites seem to to mostly associated with religious centers like Amaravati and Salihundam.
This is why modern Tamil looks more primitive in comparison to other Brahmi based scripts. There must have been some form of a social revolution during the Tamil Vatteluttu to modern Tamil evolution around 6AD where the common man was increasingly exposed to Tamil literature.
27. Deva | March 21st, 2008 at 6:38 am
Dear Athos,
Let me begin from the end (last part) of your reply.
*****All the great civilisations have a mythical beginning just to give that awe inspiring feeling in the minds of hunter gatherer savages who have not much to show for.*****
It is only the beginning chapters of the Mahavamsa (myths and fairy tales) that the Mahanama thero says he drew from the so called *Sihalatthakatha*. In other words the *Sihalatthakatha* is nothing but a myth most probably created by none other than the Mahanama thero.
Since you are accepting the fact that all the great civilisations have a mythical beginning, let us apply the same to the Sangam Period.
Dont you think that the sunken landmass Kumari kandam (Lemuria) and the the first Sangam said to be participated by Lord Shiva are mythical beginning just to give that awe inspiring feeling even though these myths hardly makes a dent in the essence of what the Rich Sangam Literature has to convey?
*****Tamil, the language which the bulk of the work which some historians claim is a hoax, with the earliest known literary work as late as 13 CE in hive of confusion said to originate from a mythical place called Lumeria.*****
The above statement is not only highly misleading but it is totally false.
Could you name AT LEAST ONE renowned historian who claims that the bulk of the Tamil literary work as HOAX including the link to that site?
*****How the hell did this thing become a Classical Language?*****
India is a country with hundreds of languages where the Official/National language is Hindi and most of its leaders are North Indians. In a country with that many ethnic groups and languages and controlled by the Hindi speaking North Indians, it is not at all possible to declare a South Indian language as classical unless of course there is enough strong evidence to prove the case. The people of India including its leaders and the scholars/interlects will never buy Devaneya Pavanars such claims. Yet Tamil is the only living language in India that is declared as Classical.
*****Robert Cladwell who pioneered the study of the Draviadian dated the earliest known Tamil literary work Tolkappiyam between 8-9th and 12-13th CE.*****
Now, do not confuse Tolkappiyam with Sangam literary work. Sangam literature is huge (Elephant size). Even though a few scholars have controversial opinions regarding the dates and names of authors of SOME of the Sangam literary work (similar to the beginning chapters of the Mahavamsa), based on the archaeological and other evidences, the modern language scholars believe that the earliest of the Tamil Sangam poems were composed about the 2nd century BC. The earliest Tamil Brahmi inscriptions found in South India date to 3rd century BC. The present day scholars believe that the Tamil language could have developed only after 5th Century BC and could have been written down after 3rd century BC.
Now, coming to Tolkappiyam,
All the pre-historic and early historic inscriptions in Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka are in old Tamil where the Tamil names did not end with an ‘n’ or an ‘m’ or an ‘i’, but were very similar to those Prakrit or Pali names ending with ‘a’.
It was only after the 7th century AD, that the Tamil language adopted some changes to its Grammar, script, etc. and evolved into the present form. This might have happened after the Tamils developing what it is commonly called as the ‘pulli (dot) system’ which is peculiar to Tamils in particular among the Indian lanaguages and due to this dot system the words/names ending with ‘a’ ends up with ‘n’ and ‘m’.
That is why, if the pali chronicles such as the Mahavamsa did not mention about the Tamil Kings of Anuradhapura (Sena, Guttika, Elara, Pulahatha, Bahiya, Panayamara, Parinda, Dathiya, etc) and if our historians were to depend only on the inscriptions, we would not have known that these Kings were Tamils. Here, we have to give some credit to Ven. Mahanama, but at the same time, there would have been many native Tamil Buddhist Kings out of the many rulers whose ethnic identities the chronicles may not have mentioned at all and therefore we will never know.
Unlike the Sangam literature which is the literary work of the ancient Tamils where the pulli is never used, in Tolkappiyam the pulli is mentioned and therefore the modern scholars believe that Tolkappiyam is later then 7th century AD.
*****Dipa is essentially means Diva or Hela Diva as the Island was known. Hela or Elu is pure Sinhala. There is no connection to Tamil here.*****
For your information, Dipa Basa means *the language of the Island* in Mahinda theros language (PALI) and the word Dipa has nothing to do with Elu. We have no evidence about the language spoken before his arrival, what he called in his language as Dipa Basa.
28. Thirumal | March 21st, 2008 at 12:37 pm
” Tamil language as spoken, has no harsh sounds like- Ga, Ba etc., that have to come from the throat. Therefore, the need to devise alphabets to designate these sounds never arose. The Tamil spoken at present in India has incorporated such sounds under the belief that it is fashionable to do. The Tamil spoken in the North and East of Sri Lanka do not use such harsh sounds and is hence more melodious than the Tamil spoken in India. Poets have described Tamil as ‘Amuthu’ (nectar), because of its mellifluous beauty and soft intonations. The Tamil spoken by indigenous Sri lankan Tamils also incorporates many words lost to the Tamil dialects spoken in India. Sri Lankan Tamils are reputed for speaking the purest and the most original form of Tamil. Sinhala hooligans used this inability of most Tamils to vocalize these harsh sounds, to differentiate them from the Sinhalese during the various communal riots.”
29. Deva | March 21st, 2008 at 1:28 pm
Athos,
In case if you did not understand the pulli (dot) system, the ancient Tamil names found in the stone inscriptions and Pali chronicles did not end with an N or M. Similarly those found in South India.
Example: Sena, Elara, etc
After the 7th Century AD, the modern Tamil adopted the pulli system. The present day Tamil names end as Senan, Ellalan, etc.
Do not mix up Tolkappiyam with the huge and ancient Sangam Literary work. Just because the Sangam lirerary work has a mythical beginning like all other great civilisations that does not mean that a very rich and uncomparable sangam literature written in one of the living classical languages in the world (Tamil) becomes a Hoax.
Only an insane, psedo-historian or a chalatan can come up with such a comment.
30. Venakai | March 21st, 2008 at 10:50 pm
There is a saying in tamil “Panri ariyumo katpoora vasanai”/
which means “Pig does not know the smell of camphor”
Some of these people are just jealous of the glory of the
Tamil Language. May be that is why they burnt the Jaffna Public Library!!
31. Deva | March 22nd, 2008 at 5:10 pm
Reply to post # 26
Athos,
*****Comparing Tamil Vatteluttu with the evolution of Sinhala script. Its a pity both Northern and Southern Brahmin script was not added in a separate column for a better comparison.*****
I agree with you, the good doctor who wrote the above article should have added the Northen (Asokan) Brahmi script (Indo-Aryan) and the Southern (Harappan) Brahmi script (Dravidian) for a better comparison.
Also, he should have added the present day south Indian (including Sri Lankan) script and the present day North Indian script for a better comparison.
*****At the first step of its evolution, the letters A and O in Sinhala does not bear any resemblance to Tamil Vatteluttu. This clearly suggests the Sinhala script evolved from Brahmi around the same time as Tamil Vatteluttu.*****
Except for one or two, the Sinhala script resembles the old Tamil Vatteluttu. Lets not forget that Sinhala also had the Asokan influence during the 3rd Century BC.
*****Sinhala and other Brahmi derivatives retain and expand on Brahmi base however Tamil does not make any progress.*****
On what basis or evidence did you came up with the above ignorant statement?
*****If you look at the table above, there are many deficiencies in the Tamil alphabet in comparison to other Brahmi based scripts.*****
In my post #19, I have explained the reason for that.
*****The form of certain characters take a backward step taking square forms. I would like to float a theory on this. Athos popular versus elitist literacy theory.
This is why modern Tamil looks more primitive in comparison to other Brahmi based scripts.*****
As I mentioned right from the beginning in my first reply to you, until now you have not shown any maturity in your arguments. For some people they say ignorance is bliss. Your Athos theory also looks very silly and childish.
The ancient Tamil script is round shaped (Vatteluttu) where as the modern Tamil has both round shaped and angular (square) shaped scripts. According to you, since it has adopted some square shaped scripts it has become primitive.
My dear, almost all the North Indian scripts are angular (square) shaped. Are you saying that they are all primitive?
32. Athos | March 23rd, 2008 at 3:29 am
/* Your Athos theory also looks very silly and childish. */
Hello Deva,
Tamilnand clearly had a high literacy rate compared to upper southern regions. I made this observation because reasons I give below.
1- A large number of secular inscriptions found on pottery, burial grounds and other places scattered throughout Tamil Nadu region. A large body of secular poems from numerous unknown authors in the Sangam which I date to not much older than 10-11 CE is another indication. The inscriptions found on upper southern regions on the contrary were mainly close to centers of religion. This indicates modern Tamil was not restricted to just the Brahmins and the elites.
2 - Unlike the other Dravidian scripts, Tamil had an intermediary step in the form of Tamil Vatteluttu. The evolution of Vatteluttu was interrupted by a sudden social upheaval. As you know the Chera’s, Pandiyans and the Chola’s were constantly fighting for territory and plundering neighboring nations. A high level of militarisation would have leveled the power of the elites with lower strata of the society. The LTTE is in fact a microcosm of this phenomenon. The commoners aspired for knowledge and literacy when they begin to acquire wealth and power.
3 - Vatteluttu to modern Tamil transition was made during the social upheaval I mention in point 2. Had the transition to modern Tamil occurred in the hands of the elite and the educated few, it would have evolved to include the constants kh, g, gh, and ch etc and a number of other vowels.
You may disagree with me, but I personally think I have solved the riddle of Dravidian scripts.
33. Deva | March 23rd, 2008 at 6:12 pm
Hi Athos,
*****A large body of secular poems from numerous unknown authors in the Sangam which I date to not much older than 10-11 CE is another indication.*****
Just because some poems in the Sangam Literature has unknown authors, you have the freedom to date them as per your whims and fancies. My foot!
*****This indicates modern Tamil was not restricted to just the Brahmins and the elites.*****
The modern Tamil originated after the 7th Century AD, of course unlike the old Tamil which was rich and poetic (most probably restricted to the Brahmins and the elites) the modern Tamil would have been for all.
*****Unlike the other Dravidian scripts, Tamil had an intermediary step in the form of Tamil Vatteluttu. The evolution of Vatteluttu was interrupted by a sudden social upheaval.*****
The original South Indian Dravidian (Tamil) script was round shaped (Tamil Vatteluttu) from which all the other Dravidian scripts including the Sinhala script originated. Where as the original North Indian (Indo-Aryan) script was angular (square) in shape from which all the North Indian scripts originated.
After the 7th Century AD, Tamil underwent a transition adopting a few angular (square) shaped script similar to the North Indian, the pulli (dot) system only unique to Tamil and some changes in grammer and pronounciation deviating from its literary format to a common laymen fromat.
*****Had the transition to modern Tamil occurred in the hands of the elite and the educated few, it would have evolved to include the constants kh, g, gh, and ch etc and a number of other vowels.*****
There is a valid point here in your observation, all the other Dravidian languages in South India and Sinhala language adopted all the above constants except Tamil, but on the other hand even the old Tamil did not have the above constants.
As Thirumal has pointed out, the old Tamil was famous among the Indians because it was melodious. Poets have described the old Tamil as Amuthu (nectar), because of its mellifluous beauty and soft intonations even though it did not contain the above constants.
*****Regarding the LEMURIA Myth*****
For your information, even I believe that the large sunken landmass in the Indian Ocean known as LEMURIA mentioned in the beginning of Sangam is a myth very similar to the beginning chapters of Mahavamnsa to give that inspiring feeling or for the serene joy and emotion of the pious.
Anyhow, unlike the Mahavamnsa where bestiality cannot be scientifically proved, it is still too early to rule out the existance of a sunken land mass. Only recently the NASA discovered an ancient bridge between India and Sri Lanka. The research what the scientists have done so far in this regard is insufficient to come to conclusions.
In his eminently readable book The Sinhalese of Ceylon and the Aryan Theory its author Samuel Livingstone describes the birthplace of Dravidian civilization as LEMURIA, the land mass that broke away from Africa (Madagascar). Even though a large part of this landmass (known to Tamils as Kumari kandam) sank due to the rise in sea levels, the part that was left (without sinking) was called ILAMURIDESAM which is known today as Sri Lanka. A few extracts from his book adopted by Charles Somasundram: http://www.tamilwritersguild.com/edited_Ilamurid.pdf
However, our most popular archeologist Dr. Siran Upendra Deraniyagala says,
It needs to be borne in mind that there would have been unimpeded gene-flow between southernmost India and Sri Lanka (in both directions) from the Palaeolithic period onwards, and that future research will probably reveal a whole range of genetic clusters in the prehistoric populations of this region, which would invalidate the concept of Balangoda Man as a homogeneous ‘race’ (cf. id. 1990: 17,20).
34. Deva | March 23rd, 2008 at 11:35 pm
Athos,
Sorry I missed the below mentioned point.
*****The evolution of Vatteluttu was interrupted by a sudden social upheaval. As you know the Chera’s, Pandiyans and the Chola’s were constantly fighting for territory and plundering neighboring nations. A high level of militarisation would have leveled the power of the elites with lower strata of the society. The LTTE is in fact a microcosm of this phenomenon. The commoners aspired for knowledge and literacy when they begin to acquire wealth and power.*****
This is only a speculation/hypothesis which may or may not be true. You have the freedom to imagine, but the others may have different point of views.
Not only Tamil but almost all the languages underwent a transition to arrive to the present status which is suitable not only for the religious leaders and the elites but also for the commoners.
For example, lets consider the Sinhala language. The most popular Sinhala Scholars (I have mentioned a few names in my post above) believe that the CORE (mother and father) of Sinhala is Pali/Prakrit and Tamil along with a few words from the aboriginal tribes. Today it has adopted many other languages including Malayalam (Kotchi), Portuguese, Dutch, English, etc and transformed into the present state.
35. dingiri | March 27th, 2008 at 11:52 am
An entertaining debate between Deva and Athos. One needs to be wary of supremacist “historians” obsessed with finding reasons for why their own language or culture is older or superior to others.
The only purpose of a language in my opinion is to communicate one’s thoughts to another. Why is the lack of differentiation between ka, ga, ha and pa and ba seen as a sign of inferiority? Also, what do you mean by ba and ga being “harsh” sounds? It does not sound any harsher than “ka” and “pa” to me. Sinhalese (and Tamils) cannot differentiate between Va and Wa and also Pa and Fa. On the other hand English does not posses the gna sound. Does this mean one is inferior to the other? We have no chance of distinguishing between the array of “clicking” sounds in southern african nations.
A language can be deemed superior to another (At least in the field of Information Theory) only if it has less redundancy. i.e. If one can express the same idea in fewer words then that is a superior language. If the same word can be represented with fewer characters that too is a sign of superiority as it has less redundancy.
Just to put things in perspective, none of the Sinhalese or Tamil litterary works mentioned above can hold a candle to the ancient Greek cannon which is much older, much more complete in range of topics and almost modern in its intellectual maturity.
In contrast, ancient Eastern litterature is highly repitive and overly descriptive to the point of hyperbole.
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