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Š Sujay Rao Mandavilli
Alphabetic scripts and other forms of literacy in Post-Harappan India: A logical assessment and
inquiry as to theorigin and extent of literacy in Post-Harappan India Published in the International Journal of
Philosophy and Social Sciences (IJPSS),Vol III,No 1, 2013 Sujay Rao MandavilliAbstract This paper brings together all available evidence for literacy in Post-Harappan India, still popularlyknown as Iron age Vedic India, most of which have been
endorsed by mainstream researchers in someway or the other in the recent past, and brings into attention the need to revise all earlier models dealingwith literacy in Post-Harappan India to bring them in line with latest acculturation models and mainstreammodels of the
development of alphabetic scripts. More importantly we refute the thesis that the Archaemenids introduced the alphabetic script into India. This theory has always been controversial andhas been challenged by several mainstream researchers, both
Western and Indian, for several decades.It is hopelessly antiquated now and a complete nonstarter when all recent evidence and data is takeninto account, and no mainstream researcher will even be able to consider such a theory in view of theevidence, reasoning,
logic and views of other scholars presented in the paper. The theory that Brahmiwas a derivative of the earlier Aramaic script has been somewhat more popular, though still controversial,and we refute this theory as well. We also explain why updating theories based
on latest research canhave a bearing on research on alphabetic systems in general. All conclusions reached in this paper arepresented using a figure-it-out-foryourself approach and only the views of mainstream researchers arepresented. Readers are strongly advised to
exercise their own judgment as usual. This paper is meant to be read with the paper ‘Syncretism and Acculturation in Ancient India: A new Nine Phase Acculturation Model explaining the process of transfer of power from the Harappans to the Indo-
Aryans’ by the same author, which was published in two parts in the ICFAI Journal of History and Culture in January 2009 andJanuary 2010. The dates in this paper can be easily understood once the above-mentioned paper hasbeen read.
Š Sujay Rao Mandavilli Introduction In a previous paper, we presented a very detailed solution for the Aryan problem and this waspublished in two parts in the ICFAI Journal of history and Culture the first part in January 2009 and thesecond part in
January 2010 1 . In this paper we use this work as a template to research the origin of alphabetic scripts in India and show why all existing theories pertaining to the introduction of alphabeticscripts in India are obsolete and need
revision. Such obsolete theories only keep on throwing up a seriesof paradoxes, and even conflict with the more recent research on history of the development of writingsystems and alphabets elsewhere. Although few will consider India to be the
originating point of alphabetic systems, we also explain why research on the history of alphabets in India can have a bearingon the history of alphabetic systems in general and explain why a multidisciplinary, multiregion approachcan help us push the boundaries
of knowledge further. As usual, the following methodology is adopted1. We use a figure-it-out-for-yourself approach such that readers can draw their ownconclusions.2. Only views of mainstream scholars are presented.3. All the latest findings in related fields are taken
into account and readers can judge for themselves whether the conclusions reached in the paper make sense or not.4. We also explain why this issue needs to be revisited in the light of recent research in relevantfields.5. Readers are strongly urged to question each and every
finding presented in the paper andevaluate for themselves whether all findings make sense from all angles. This is necessaryfor the process of consensus-building. A brief overview of Brahmi Brahmi, which can be defined as an abugida or alphasyllabary as
opposed to alphabets likeEnglish and abjads, is believed to have been the mother of all alphabetic scripts in India and several partsof South East Asia and most scholars think was used to write the early dialects of Prakrit, Pali as well asother languages of India.
2 3 4 We do not know whether it was used to write Prakrits or Sanskrit first andeven whether Sanskrit was written at all, although a discussion of this particular issue will be made in alater
part of this paper. It was primarily used on inscriptions and to perhaps to write liturgical texts too.Brahmi spread to most parts of India even before the dawn of the Christian era morphing into manyvariants. The earliest known and most famous of the early
Brahmi inscriptions were Asokan inscriptionswhich were deciphered by James Princep in the 1830’s. 5 There is no scholarly consensus on the origin of the Brahmi script yet. The earliest view, and onethat was widespread
until fairly recently, originated from Albrecht Weber and Georg Buhler s ’
“
On the 1 Syncretism and Acculturation in Ancient India Parts One and Two Mandavilli, Sujay Rao, ICFAI Journal of History and Culture January 2009 and January 20102 Salomon, Richard (1998), Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and the Other Indo-Aryan
Languages , Oxford: Oxford UniversityPress, pp 12-133 Daniels & Bright, The World's Writing Systems , Oxford University Press, 1996, ISBN-10: 01950799304 Ram Sharma, Brāhmī Script: Development in North -Western India and Central Asia , 20025 Firminger, Walter Kelly (1906). Thacker's Guide to Calcutta (Original from the University of California, Digitized Nov 26, 2007 ed.). Calcutta: Thacker, Spink & Co..pp. 36..
© Sujay Rao
Mandavilliorigin of the Brahmi alphabet �
6 , and derives Brahmi from the Aramaic script, which by all accounts wasthe ancestor of the contemporary Kharoshthi alphabet that was used in a part of northwest India after
itcame under the control of the Archaemenid Empire. However, the Aramaic hypothesis has never beenconclusive, and continues to be debated very hotly both in India and elsewhere. Some scholars, such asF. Raymond Allchin, John Marshall, Alexander Cunningham and the
Assyriologist Professor S. Langdonhave considered Brahmi as an indigenous development, with the Bronze Age Indus script as itspredecessor. Other Indian scholars such as S.R Rao have also supported this hypothesis.The different theories on the origin of
Brahmi can thus be summarized as follows:Brahmi was derived from Kharoshthi and Alphabetic scripts were introduced to India in the Post-Harappan period during the period of the Archaemenid empireBrahmi was purely indigenous in origin and was
developed independentlyBrahmi was indigenous and derived from the Indus scriptBrahmi was of an earlier Semitic originWe will evaluate these theories in detail, and show why the first hypothesis cannot even be acontender at this very late date where
theories pertaining to the origin of alphabetic scripts andacculturation models have changed radically. Even a superficial and cursory observation of these scriptscan allow this hypothesis to be refuted convincingly and readers must exercise their own judgment asusual. We
will also show that scenario (b) and (c), though certainly possible, are unlikely and anyone supporting these hypotheses must provide very clear evidence in their support, and invoking Occam’s razor, they may not be the most logical choice
at all. Kharoshthi The Kharoshthi script 7 is an ancient alphabetic script used in the NorthWestern part of Indiafrom the middle of the 3rd century BC till the 3rd century AD. There has been no consensus on the originof the Kharoshthi
script till date. It is wellknown and widelyaccepted that this script was related to the Aramaic script, and must have been derived from it. It was however, probably modified to suit thelanguages of the subcontinent and was Indianized as well. The most commonly
accepted view is that the Aramaic script arrived with the Archaemenid conquest of the region of northwest India in 500 BC andevolved over the next 200 years to reach its final form by the 3rd century BC where it appears in some of the Edicts of Asoka found in
northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent. However, Asokan edicts in theGangetic plains are written in Brahmi and not in Kharoshthi. The history of alphabets Let us now discuss the history of the alphabet in brief to understand how this can have a bearingon the model presented in
our paper. Logographic scripts in the Middle East had morphed into Logo-syllabic scripts by 2900 BC and it is very likely that the Indus script was a logosyllabic script as well giventhat it was based on them. The Egyptians and Mesopotamians had learnt how to encode
speech by using Acrophony and the Rebus principle. It is certain that the Indus script had reached the syllabic stage goingby the presence of sign repetition in the Dholavira signboard (which implies this feature was usedcommonly and
which would also imply that longer texts were most certainly available), and those who claim that it didn’t are on very shaky ground indeed. A very detailed discussion of this was provided in the paper ‘The reconfirmation and
reinforcement of the Indus script thesis: A logical assessment and 6 On the origin of the Indian Brahma alphabet, Georg Buhler, Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series office, 19637 Norman, Kenneth R. The Development of Writing in India and its Effect upon the P창li Canon , in Wiener Zeitschrift f체r die Kunde S체dasiens (36), 1993
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Sujay Post-Harappan Literacy and origin of Brahmi This paper discusses all available evidence for literacy in Post-Harappan India and shows using a multiidisciplinary approach that literacy always existed in isolated pockets in post-Harappan india and was brought from west asia during the compilation… (More) This paper discusses all available evidence for literacy in Post-Harappan India and shows using a multiidisciplinary approach that literacy always existed in isolated pockets in post-Harappan india and was brought from west asia during the compilation of the rv. the research model adopted is multi-disciplinary and robust. however, alpabetic scripts spread rapidly throughout India around 600 bc due to a cultural renaissance. the theory that alphabetic scripts were brought by the archaemids is of course absurd, and readers can see how! (Less) Download or Print Add To Collection 1.1K Reads 8 Readcasts 24 Embed Views This is a private document.
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literacy telugu tamil alphabets aramaic asoka brahmi sujay rao mandavilli Tags: (more tags) literacy telugu tamil alphabets aramaic asoka brahmi sujay rao mandavilli protosinaitic kharorshti guntur (fewer) Free download or readfalse online for free. Flag for inappropriate content http://www.scribd.com/doc/127306265/Sujay-Post-Harappan-Literacy-and-origin-of-Brahmi 05/08/2013 pdf
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