Date:19/02/2005 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2005/02/19/stories/2005021901911005.htm

Opinion - Letters to the Editor

Brahmi inscriptions

Sir, — The discovery of Tamil Brahmi inscriptions dating to as early as 500 B.C., or more than 200 years before Ashoka's inscriptions, raises fundamental questions about the chronology of ancient Indian dynasties like the Mauryas. Brahmi inscriptions dated to the same early age have been reported in Sri Lanka also ( The Hindu Feb. 17, 2005). Archaeologists have also found that new stratigraphic data may push back the dates of several post-Mauryan dynasties like the Andhras to 800 B.C. or earlier, pushing Ashoka's date even further.

This means Chandragupta Maurya (Ashoka's grandfather) may not have been the prince Sandrocottos mentioned as Alexander's contemporary by Greek chroniclers like Megasthenes. Historians need to re-examine theories about ancient India without any preconceptions.

N.S. Rajaram,
Bangalore