The artefacts unearthed exhibit an industrial formidable that existed around fourth century BCE

Kodumanal in Erode district never stops yielding.

Renewed archaeological cave in the encampment in Apr and May this year by the Department of History, Pondicherry University, has yielded a cave again. The artefacts unearthed from 4 trenches in the habitational pile have suggested an industrial formidable that existed around fourth century BCE. The industries in the formidable made iron and steel, textiles, bangles out of conch-shells and thousands of artistic beads from semi-precious stones such as sapphire, beryl, quartz, lapis-lazuli, agate, onyx, carnelian and black-cat eye, and ivory.

Terracotta shaft whorls for spinning string and a skinny bullion handle were found in the complex, which has also thrown adult 130 potsherds with Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions, including 30 with Tamil-Brahmi words.

All of them are personal names. They embody ‘Saba Magadhai Bammadhan,’ ‘Saathan,’ ‘Visaki,’ ‘Siligan,’ ‘Uranan’ and ‘Tissan.’ A cherished artefact is a big pot with a well etched Tamil-Brahmi book in big letters reading, ‘Samban Sumanan.’

Industrial site

K. Rajan, Professor of History, Pondicherry University, who was executive of cave at Kodumanal, said: “Nowhere else do we come across such an industrial complex. The aberration of Kodumanal is that it was wholly an industrial site with a smallest rural activity. Though several Tamil Sangam age sites such as Korkai, Poompuhar, Karur, Uraiyur, Azhagankulam and Porunthal have been excavated so far, nothing has yielded so most of Tamil-Brahmi-inscribed potsherds as Kodumanal.”

He estimated that these inscriptions, generally the ‘Samban Sumanan’ script, belonged to the third century and second century BCE.

While the big pot with ‘Samban Sumanan’ was found at the second turn of one of the 4 trenches, the initial turn yielded a pot with the Tamil-Brahmi word ‘Samban.’ Several potsherds had either the name ‘Samban’ or ‘Sumanan.’ Obviously, ‘Samban’ was the father and ‘Sumanan’ the son. The industrial formidable could have belonged to Samban’s family, Mr. Rajan said.

Dr. Rajan and his group also excavated dual megalithic graves this deteriorate at Kodumanal, which suggested cist-burials. The initial grave has a cairn round (rocks placed in the form of a circle) on the surface, entombing a double cist below. The cists are box-like structures of slab slabs; these chambers have slab slabs as roofs. The initial grave has an outdoor round of mill slabs planted plumb in the earth. Some of these mill slabs were indeed high meinheirs, which have been destroyed. The middle round is a wall-like structure. Below are dual cists with trapezium-shaped port-holes scooped out of their front slabs. The dual cists have a common passage. The cists contained disintegrated tellurian bones. The funerary objects found inside are a four-legged jar, ring stand, dish-on-stand, iron objects and etched or plain carnelian beads. Broken pots and bowls lay outward the cists.

The second grave has a categorical cist, and dual auxiliary cists. Each has a capstone roof. While the categorical cist was of a transepted variety, the others, erected on either side of the categorical cist, were elementary ones. There was a cairn-circle on tip to mark the graves below, but the stones are no longer there. Interestingly, one of the cists, confronting south, has a port-hole in the figure of a key-hole. The other dual cists have round and trapezium-shaped portholes. Inside the cists were symbol and barrel-shaped carnelian beads and hazed quartz beads.

“Wherever there are a categorical cist and auxiliary cists, the south-facing cist will always have a port-hole looking like a key-hole. Inside the cover of the key-holed cist, there will always be a garland of arrow-heads. We do not know why,” Dr. Rajan said. True enough, there were arrow-heads in this cist.

What is conspicuous about the industrial formidable is that it has a water-channel in it. Water was used for wetting quartz, agate, lapis-lazuli, turquoise and beryl before they were cut and made into tiny beads with holes. Sapphire came from Sivanmalai and Perumalmalai, beryl from Padiyur and iron ore from Chennimalai, all located within 15 km from Kodumanal. A quartz cave exits 5 km from Kodumanal. While carnelian and agate came from Maharashtra, lapis-lazuli came from Afghanistan. “Kodumanal lies on the ancient trade track that connects the Chera collateral of Karur [Vanji] in the easterly with the famous Chera pier of Muciri (the benefaction day Pattnam in Kerala where cave is underneath way) in the west. Roman coins in hoards and singles have been found in several sites in this region. Beads made at Kodumanal were exported,” Dr. Rajan said.

Tamil University, Thanjavur, in partnership with Madras University and the Tamil Nadu Department of Archaeology, dug 48 trenches and unprotected 13 megalithic graves at Kodumanal in 1985, 1986, 1989 and 1990, with Y. Subbarayalu as executive of cave and Dr. Rajan actively comparing himself with him. The Department of Archaeology dug 15 trenches and unprotected 3 graves in 1998 and 1999.

Dr. Rajan said: “Kodumanal is one of the vital plane excavations finished so distant in Tamil Nadu. It is one of the sites in India where the top series of stamped potsherds have been found. The top series of graves was non-stop here. The participation of pit-burial with skeletons in opposite postures, vessel burials and cover tombs of opposite forms suggests that multi-ethnic groups lived at Kodumanal. The accessibility of Prakrit difference such as ‘Tissan’ and ‘Visaki’ in Tamil-Brahmi scripts suggests that this industrial-cum-trade centre had informative and trade contacts with northern parts of India.”