Brahmi script

--- In cybalist@..., "Piotr Gasiorowski" <gpiotr@...> wrote:
But external inspiration apart, Brahmi is a local Indian invention,
documented from the 3rd century BC and surely not *very much*
older. "Early Sanskrit letters" ca. 1200 BC in the Pontic steppe just
cannot be real.
>
> Piotr

--- In cybalist@..., VAgarwalV@... wrote:
<<<
VA: This is a wrong impression due to the text on old Indian writing
by Harry Falk. Subsequent to the publication of the work, some
pottery sherds at dug out from Anuradhapura have been dated
conclusively to 400 BC or even earlier and these older dates are
accepted (are reported likewise in published literature) even by
conservative scholars like the Allchins.
Thus, we see that just a few pottery sherds knock off the scholary
speculations of Dr. Falk.

Please refer to the following work:

Title - Anuradhapura :the British-Sri Lankan excavations at
Anuradhapura Salagha Watta 2.
Author(s): Coningham, Robin. ; Allchin, F. Raymond; 1923- ; (Frank
Raymond),
Publication: Oxford, England : Archaeopress,
Year: 1999
Description: xxx, 209 p. : p., ill. (some col.), maps ;, 30 cm.
Language: English
Series: BAR international series ;; 824; Society for South Asian
Studies monograph ;; no.3;
TOC: v. 1. The site -- v. 2. The artefacts.
Standard No: ISBN: 1841710369; LCCN: 00-303742
**********
Also relevant is the following quote from Kenoyer 1998:78

"The recent discovery of Brahmi script on potsherds from Sri Lanka
dates to around 500 BC..." (pg. 78)
[Kenoyer here references the text 'Frank Raymond Allchin, ed., The
Archaeology of Early Historic South Asia (Camridge University Press,
1995), 176-179]

Reference:
Jonathan Mark. 1998. Ancient Cities of the Indus Valley
Civilization, Karachi

**********

It goes without saying that if the Brahmi was an import into Sri
Lanka from N India, the script might be even older than the sherds by
at least a few decades, if not centuries.
>>>

It will be good if a lister can give the exact words
from the 1999 Coningham-Allchin arch. report on
brahmi script in Anuradhapura - N. Ganesan

A note regarding Kenoyer's foll. comment
>Also relevant is the following quote from Kenoyer 1998:78
>"The recent discovery of Brahmi script on potsherds from Sri Lanka
>dates to around 500 BC..." (pg. 78)
>[Kenoyer here references the text 'Frank Raymond Allchin, ed., The
>Archaeology of Early Historic South Asia (Camridge University Press,
>1995), 176-179]
>Reference:
>Jonathan Mark. 1998. Ancient Cities of the Indus Valley
>Civilization, Karachi.


See the words by Allchin from his book:
R. & B. Allchin, Origins of a Civilization,
The prehistory and early archaeology of South Asia.
Viking (Penguin Books) 1997, p. 257 [Anuradhapura potshards]
"However, in its final stage, a remarkable discovery
has been made, a number of potshards with crude Brahmi
inscriptions scratched on them (Plate. 71, nos. 1 ans 2).
Datable to c. 360-340 BC these are almost certainly
the earliest dated Brahmi inscriptions from any part
of South Asia."


Also,
On The Origin Of The Early Indian Scripts: A Review Article
Richard Salomon, University of Washington, Journal of the American
Oriental Society 115.2 (1995), 271-279.
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/~ucgadkw/position/salomon.html

While it's possible that Brahmi was invented in 4th century BCE,
no evidence for it from India has come up so far, only 3rd century BC.

Brahmi in 600 BCE or 900 BCE simply isn't correct.

Regards,
N. Ganesan