SANGAM LITERATURE COMES ALIVE AT KEELADI

Maduraikanchi, which is part of Pattupattu or Ten Idylls of Sangam literature, describes the people of that era wearing embroidered clothes dyed in hues of red and dark blue. The poem Pattinappalai speaks of horses brought on ships. Sangam literature also talks of ports and cities with palatial buildings. Keeladi proves these aren’t cock and bull stories, says Indologist R Balakrishnan. Extensive excavations at Keeladi by the ASI and in adjoining Kondagai, Manalur and Agaram by the state department of archaeology have unearthed remains of dyeing units and spindle whorls and copper needles. When they were not working, the people played hopcoth and board games.

All the evidence points to a well developed urban settlement. There are multiple complex brick structures, drainage features that include tanks, terracotta pipes and terracotta ring wells. The multitude of beads, ivory combs and pendants, and gold ornaments indicate a luxurious lifestyle at least among some sections of the populace. Archaeologists also say literacy levels would have been high. They base this assumption on the discovery of black and red potsherds with names inscribed after the vessels were made. Among the finds are 108 potsherds with typical Sangam-era names — Atan, Centanavati, Ventan (ka), Eravatan, Kuviran Kuravan, Mataicime, Campan, Muyan — inscribed in TamilBrahmi script. Were these people farmers, weavers, blacksmiths, herdsmen, traders who lived on the banks of river Vaigai? We do not know. “The writing on the potsherds points to the high literacy level of the society. The common man would have been part of a very matured civilization,” says Madurai-based archaeologist C Shanthalingam. The agate and carnelian from which beads found at Keeladi were made could have come from presentday Maharashtra and Gujarat. “They had trade links with Gujarat and other places and brought raw materials and produced goods to sell in other countries. They would have learned maths to do business,” says Shanthalingam. The people of Keeladi also had trade links with south-east Asian countries, Sri Lanka, Egypt, Rome, Greece and China, say archaeologists. Pearls, iron, textiles and perfumes were Bones of buffaloes, goats, cows, sheep, dogs, pigs, antelopes and deer abound. But the big find was the tooth of a horse. “For the first time, we found evidence for a domesticated horse at the habitation site. It confirms the scene described in the ‘Pattinappalai’ that the horses came in ships during the Sangam era. It also establishes trade links with the Middle-East,” says K Amarnath Ramakrishna, ASI superintending archaeologist, who led the first two excavations at Keeladi. The large number of animal bones at Keeladi indicate an economy focused on cattle and sheep/goats. There is also evidence of hunting of large wild cattle. Indologist Balakrishnan says the findings at Keeladi, Adichanallur and Kodumanal together point to the importance of Sangam literature in deciphering the past. “There may be exaggeration (in Sangam literature) of a few things. But, it’s a reasonably accurate portrayal of life of that day. But, nobody has explored Sangam literature to understand Indian history. We should now,” says Balakrishnan.

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