Brahmi is the modern name for a writing system of ancient India. The Brahmi writing system, or script, appeared as a fully developed universal one in South Asia at least by the third century BCE, and is a forerunner of all writing systems that have found use in South Asia with the exception of the Indus script of the third millennium BCE, the Kharosthi script, which originated in what today is northwestern Pakistan in the fourth or possibly fifth century BCE, the Perso-Arabic scripts since the medieval period, and the Latin scripts of the modern period. Its descendants, the Brahmic scripts, continue to be in use today not only in South Asia, but also Southeast Asia. Brahmi is an abugida which uses a system of diacritical marks to associate vowels with consonant symbols.
Agathocles Dikaios was a Greco-Bactrian/Indo-Greek king, who reigned between around 190 and 180 BC. He might have been a son of Demetrius and one of his sub-kings in charge of the Paropamisade between Bactria and Indus-Ganges plains. In that case, he was a grandson of Euthydemus whom he qualified on his coins as Βασιλεὺς Θεός, Basileus Theos.
Kutch district is a district of Gujarat state in western India, with its headquarters (capital) at Bhuj. Covering an area of 45,074 km², it is the 2nd largest district of India. The population of Kutch is about 2,092,371. It has 10 Talukas, 939 villages and 6 Municipalities. The Kutch district is home to the Kutchi people who speak the Kutchi language.
Vihara generally refers to a monastery for Buddhist renunciates. The concept is ancient and in early Sanskrit and Pali texts, it meant any arrangement of space or facilities for dwellings. The term evolved into an architectural concept wherein it refers to living quarters for monks with an open shared space or courtyard, particularly in Buddhism. The term is also found in Ajivika, Hindu and Jain monastic literature, usually referring to temporary refuge for wandering monks or nuns during the annual Indian monsoons. In modern Jainism, the monks continue to wander from town to town except during the rainy season (Chaturmas), the term "vihara" refers their wanderings.
The Indus script is a corpus of symbols produced by the Indus Valley Civilization. Most inscriptions containing these symbols are extremely short, making it difficult to judge whether or not these symbols constituted a script used to record a language, or even symbolise a writing system. In spite of many attempts, the 'script' has not yet been deciphered, but efforts are ongoing. There is no known bilingual inscription to help decipher the script, and the script shows no significant changes over time. However, some of the syntax varies depending upon location.
The Western Satraps, Western Kshatrapas, or Kshaharatas were Indo-Scythian (Saka) rulers of the western and central part of India. The Western Satraps were contemporaneous with the Kushans who ruled the northern part of the Indian subcontinent and were possibly their overlords, and the Satavahana (Andhra) who ruled in Central India. The power of the Saka rulers started to decline in the 2nd century CE after the Saka rulers were defeated by the Emperor Gautamiputra Satakarni of the Satavahana dynasty. Later the Saka kingdom was completely destroyed by Chandragupta II of the Gupta Empire in the 4th century CE.
Dholavira is an archaeological site at Khadirbet in Bhachau Taluka of Kutch District, in the state of Gujarat in western India, which has taken its name from a modern-day village 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) south of it. This village is 165 km (103 mi) from Radhanpur. Also known locally as Kotada timba, the site contains ruins of an ancient Indus Valley Civilization/Harappan city. Dholavira’s location is on the Tropic of Cancer. It is one of the five largest Harappan sites and most prominent archaeological sites in India belonging to the Indus Valley Civilization. It is also considered as having been the grandest of cities of its time. It is located on Khadir bet island in the Kutch Desert Wildlife Sanctuary in the Great Rann of Kutch. The 47 ha quadrangular city lay between two seasonal streams, the Mansar in the north and Manhar in the south. The site was thought to be occupied from c.2650 BCE, declining slowly after about 2100 BCE, and to have been briefly abandoned then reoccupied until c.1450 BCE; however, recent research suggests the beginning of occupation around 3500 BCE (pre-Harappan) and continuity until around 1800 BCE.
Kheralu is a city and a municipality in Mehsana district in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is a little north of Mahesana Proper town and it is approximately half the size of Mehsana.
Tamil-Brahmi also known as Tamili or Damili is a variant of the Brahmi script used to write inscriptions in the early form of the Old Tamil language. The Tamil-Brahmi script has been paleographically and stratigraphically dated between 3rd century BCE and 1st century CE, and it constitutes the earliest known writing system evidenced in many parts of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Sri Lanka. Tamil Brahmi inscriptions have been found on cave entrances, stone beds, potsherds, jar burials, coins, seals, and rings.
The earliest undisputed deciphered epigraphy found in India are the Edicts of Ashoka of the 3rd century BCE, written in very early forms of middle-Indo-Aryan languages in the Brahmi script. Samanam inscriptions in South India written in Tamil-Brahmi, Bhattiprolu alphabet and the Kadamba alphabet are also of relatively early date. Some Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions discovered at Keeladi, Palani, Erode, and Adichanallur, have been claimed to be as ancient as 6th century BCE, but so far only the claimed pre-Ashokan inscriptions at Anuradhapura in Sri Lanka have been published in an internationally recognised academic journal.
Bet Dwarka or Shankhodhar is an inhabited island at mouth of the Gulf of Kutch situated 3 km (2 mi) off the coast of Okha, Gujarat, India. The island measured northwest to southeast in 13 km (8 mi) long with an average east-west width of 4 km (2 mi). It is a strip of sand and stone situated 30 km (19 mi) north of the town of Dwarka.
Desalpar Gunthli is a village and site belonging to Indus Valley Civilisation located at Nakhtrana Taluka, Kutch District, Gujarat, India. Desalpar is 25 km away from Bhuj. This site is of modest dimensions,(130 m by 100 m ) situated on the northern banks of once depredatory (erosive) stream, Bamu-Chela, an affluent of the Dhrud river.
Pabumath is an Indus Valley Civilisation archaeological site near Suvai village in Rapar Taluka of Kutch district, Gujarat, India.
Anaikoddai Seal is a steatite seal that was found in Anaikoddai, Sri Lanka during archeological excavations of a megalithic burial site by a team of researchers from the Jaffna University. The seal was originally part of a signet ring and contains some of the oldest inscriptions in Tamil-Brahmi mixed with Megalithic Graffiti Symbols found on the island. It was dated paleographically to the early 3rd century BC.
Sittanavasal is a small hamlet in Pudukkottai district of Tamil Nadu, India. It is known for the Sittanavasal Cave, a 2nd-century Jain cave complex. From the 7th to the 9th century A.D., the village flourished as a Jain centre.
The Gohilwad Timbo is a mound and ancient site of Kshatrapa-Gupta period located near Amreli in Amreli Taluka, Amreli district, Gujarat, India. The site is Monument of National Importance protected by Archeological Survey of India. It is located between Vadi and Thebi rivulets. The site is encroached now.
Devnimori, or Devni Mori, is a Buddhist archaeological site in northern Gujarat, about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) from the city of Shamlaji, in the Aravalli District of northern Gujarat, India. The site is variously dated to the 3rd century or 4th century CE, or circa 400 CE. Its location was associated with trade routes and caravans in the area of Gujarat. Site excavations have yielded Buddhist artifacts dated prior to 8th-century in the lowest layer, mixed Buddhist and Hindu artwork from the Gurjara-Pratihara period in the middle, topped by Muslim glazed ware attributed to the 14th century. The site was excavated between 1960 and 1963. The site became flooded by a water reservoir, a project started in 1959 and completed over 1971-1972 over the nearby Meshwo River.
This is a list of archaeological artefacts and epigraphs which have Tamil inscriptions. Of the approximately 100,000 inscriptions found by the Archaeological Survey of India in India, about 60,000 were in Tamil Nadu
