The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Telugu traced to Indus script

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Saturday, Apr 26, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Telugu traced to Indus script

N. Rahul

Epigraphist finds Telugu inscriptions dated to one of the first Pallava kings in Tamil Nadu

-Photo: P.V. Sivakumar

Place of pride: Dr. Iravatam Mahadevan being honoured by Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy at the ’Bhashotsavam’ awards on Friday. Also seen are V.S. Rama Devi , former Governor of Karnataka and G. Chinna Reddy, Minister for Rural Development.

HYDERABAD: Noted epigraphist Iravatam Mahadevan has said that the oldest Telugu inscriptions were found in Tiruchirapalli and Pallavaram in Tamil Nadu where 50 to 60 Telugu titles of early historical period were written by the Pallavas in caves.

The inscriptions dated to the period of Mahendra Verma, one of the first Pallava kings which went to show how ancient Telugu language was. A total of nine words occurring as names or titles in early Andhra history were also identified as being derived from the language of Indus script, he said while delivering a lecture organised by the Dravidian University with title ‘interpreting the Indus script’.

Mr. Mahadevan, a retired IAS officer turned Indus script expert, said Telugu and Tamil cultures progressed parallel and merged with Indus Valley civilisation. However, Tamil was far removed from Indus Valley civilisation while Andhra culture was nearer to it.

He added that Telugu was closest to urban civilisation in time and space. Telugu was genetically closer to northern neighbours but was influenced by the literary languages of southern group. Thus, it acted as a bridge between the north and the south.

Andhra attained a high degree of civilisation under Satavahanas. In fact, the word Andhra was derived from Harappa. The Indo-Aryan and Dravidian languages succeeded Harappan cultures linguistically and culturally. The AP Official Language Commission Chairman A.B.K. Prasad said evidences of Andhra were found in Harappan culture.

Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy honoured Mahadevan and six other scholars for their research on Dravidian languages. The others were : Bhadriraju Krishnamurti, former Vice-Chancellor of Hyderabad Central University (in English), M.V.R. Sastry, Editor, Andhra Bhoomi daily (Telugu), D.N. Shankara Bhjat (Kannada), K.M. Prabhakara Varier (Malayalam) and Venkataraja Puninchataya (Tulu).

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