Context

• A carbon dating analysis of rice with soil, found in a burial urn at Sivakalai in Thoothukudi district of Tamil Nadu, by the Miami-based Beta Analytic Testing Laboratory has yielded the date of 1155 BC, indicating that the Thamirabarani civilisation dates back to 3,200 years.

About the Study /Findings on Thamirabarani civilisation

• The finding has established that the Porunai river  /Thamirabarani civilisation dates back to 3,200 years.
• It is the government’s task to scientifically prove that the history of the Indian subcontinent should begin from the Tamil landscape.
• The Thamirabarani civilisation or Tamraparni or Porunai is a perennial river that originates from the Agastyarkoodam peak of the Pothigai hills of the Western Ghats.
• It flows through the Tirunelveli and Thoothukudi districts of the Tamil Nadu state of southern India into the Gulf of Mannar.
• It was called the Tamraparni River in the pre-classical period, a name it lent to the island of Sri Lanka.
• The old Tamil name of the river is Porunai.
• As per the carbon dating of artefacts, the Keeladi civilisation dates back to 6th century BC proving that Tamilians were learned even then.
• Rice and soil existed dates back to 1155 BCE.
• Thamirabarani civilisation is the oldest civilization perhaps, older than the Vaigai civilization which is believed to be 2,600 years old.
• A silver coin that was found at the Keezhadi excavation with sun, moon engravings belong to 4th century BC, that is prior to the Mauryan Emperor Ashoka’s period.
• Archaeological excavations are being done at Kodumanal, Keeladi, Korkai, Mayiladumparai, Sivakalai, Adichchanallur and Gangaikonda Cholapuram in Tamil Nadu.
• That Korkai was a port city in ancient times was an established fact through earlier excavations. Now broken black pot pieces of Gangetic plains have been found at Korkai.
  • Korkai might have served as one of the important ports even before the 8th century BC.
• Mayiladumparai excavation and its associated findings observed at Varatanapalli and Kappalavadi prove that the Neolithic people carried out agricultural activities 4000 years ago.
• Tamil Nadu Archaeology Department would conduct research at Quseir al-Qadim and Pernica Anekke in Egypt, which were once part of the Roman empire, as well as in Khor Rori in Oman, to establish the Tamils’ trade relations with these countries.
• Similar studies would be conducted at Vengi in Andhra Pradesh, Thalaikadu in Karnataka and Palur in Odisha.
• Archaeological excavations would be carried out in other States and countries in search of Tamil roots. In the first phase, studies would be undertaken at the ancient port of Muziris, now known as Pattanam, in Kerala.

Looking beyond the sub-continent 

• With Tamil Nadu trade links extending till Egypt and Oman in ancient times as per artefacts found in those countries and Chola Emperor Rajendra Chola conquering South East Asian countries like Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam archaeological studies will be conducted in those countries with necessary permissions.
• Similarly archaeological studies will also be undertaken in other Indian states like Andhra Pradesh (Vengi area), Karnataka (Thalaikkadu), Kerala (Pattanam) and Palur in Odisha to understand the antiquity of Tamil civilisation.
• Studies will also be conducted in the port of Musiri, now known as Pattanam in Kerala to look into any possible links to the ancient Chera kingdom.

Source: India Times

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