Indus script and Mathilakam

Indus Script and Mathilakam 

- By Rahul Kartha 

According to the renowned epigraphist Iravatham Mahadevan, Fig 1 (which is an Indus place/address sign) is to be read as ‘akam’. Most of the Indus cities had a citadel atop a mount where the ruling/priestly elite lived. Down beneath, the rest of the town was laid out. It is important to note that this design has survived the test of time. Many of the later year capitals cities and temple towns in India had the exact same plan. The citadel or the fortified inner city was the principal quarter and the seat of the authority. The city inside the walls (of the fortress) or ‘akam’ (means inside in Malayalam) is clearly represented in the symbol. The rest of the town that lay outside the walls of citadel was called ‘puram’ (meaning ‘outside’ in Malayalam) and represented by a crescent moon (as in Fig 2) symbol. 

Meluha was the Sumerian name for the Indus Valley (or the seat of its government). Even these days the governments across the world (or its ministries) are being referred to by their headquarters. One might have seen news headlines with the mention of the White House or the Kremlin or the North Block (where our own home ministry is located). Iravatham Mahadevan and Asko Parpola suggested that Meluha was derived from the Dravidian ‘Melakam’ (Melaka->Melaha->Meluha). While this cooked up word could mean ‘a high-adobe’ indicating the seat of the priests/royalty up the mount, Mel-Akam has not been attested by Parpola himself as there are no evidences to suggest that the word was in use in any Dravidian language. 

I would like to propose an alternate word in Malayalam as the root for Meluha. ‘Mathilakam’ literally means ‘inside the walls’ in Malayalam. This word (Mathil-Akam) is definitely a more convincing parallel as it resonates better with the Indus akam symbol than Mel-Akam (which could only mean ‘a high adobe’). There is also a place called Mathilakam (formerly Trikana Mathilakam) near Kodungallur in Kerala which, at one point in time, was the seat of the early Cheras. It is believed that the ‘Muvarasar’ (The three kings-of the Cheras, the Cholas and the Pandyas) were decedents of the ‘Velir’ clans who migrated to the south after the decline of the Indus cities. Infact Iravatham Mahadevan was able to trace the popular Chera titles Imayavar-anpan and Vanavar-anpan (both meaning ‘the beloved of the gods’) to certain Indus fish sign variants (Fig 4). 

Sri Padmanaphaswamy temple is often referred to as ‘Mathilakam’ and the ‘Mathilakam Rekha’ (the temple records) pertains to the history of the temple and the Travancore. It is very interesting to note that the Indus scribe symbol (Fig 3) is read by Mahadevan as ‘Vari’ (meaning ‘a line’ in Malayalam) and a ‘Variyan’ according to him was a Scribe - someone who maintained the temple accounts. This reminds me of the 'Variyar' caste in Kerala who were traditionally engaged in the temple chores and 'Grandhavari' which chronicles the daily activities of the royal palaces and temples of Kerala.

It is also possible that the Malayalam word ‘Malika’ (means an adobe of the rich and affluent) is based on the notion of the Indus acropolis and may have the same root as Meluha. What lies outside of the citadel-the principal quarter- was referred to as ‘Puram’. That tradition, I strongly believe, has influenced the naming of the shrine outside of the main temple complex at Sabarimala as Malika-puram. 

While Puram (as in Malika-puram) literally means outside, the tradition of using the homophone puram (as in Thiruananda-puram, Nada-puram etc-as a toponomical suffix-referencing a town) is clearly based on the notion that the vast Indus cities lay outside the walls of the citadel. 

Balakrishnan has pointed out that the Indus cities typically had the Mount/citadel on the west and the lower town on the east. Mel-ekku (in Malayalam means ‘to the top’) and Kil-ekku (in Malayalam means ‘to the bottom’) were perhaps used by the inhabitants to point in the direction of the citadel and the city respectively. Apparently they began to use these words to indicate the east (Kizhakku means east in Malayalam) and the west (Melkku means west in Malayalam) directions as such. While Mel(e) (on the top in Malayalam) could be the word the settlers had used to denote the citadel, it reminds me of the word Mel-ulakam (literally ‘the upper-world’) in Malayalam referring to heaven. This is probably based on the notion of the Indus fort complex atop the mount where the priestly elite lived. It is also very well possible that the term Meluha was derived from Mel-ulakam. 

To summarize, the language and traditions of the west of the Sahyadris is more ancient than previously thought. Malayalam is a classical Indian language since it has a recorded history of over 1500 years. This is contrary to the popular belief that Tamil predates Malayalam. Infact, some linguists believe that Malayalam has retained most of the features of a proto Tamil perhaps spoken by the immigrants from the Indus valley and therefore more related to the language of the valley than any of its Dravidian cousins. On the other hand the present day Tamil has descended from a chiseled version (of the common ancestral language) adopted to suit the poetic needs of the Sangam age (300 BC to 200 AD).

Fig1: Akam or Mathilakam (Inner city)

Fig2: Puram (Outer City) 

Fig 3: Vari (a line or scribble)

Fig 4: The fish or Meen (as in Malayalam) is a rebus for Min (in Malayalam means ‘to shine’) and therefore it symbolizes the divine beings according to Iravatham Mahadevan. The above Indus fish signs are enclosed in 4 strokes (4 strokes is an epicene suffix which sounds ‘ar’ as in the Malayalam “Avar” meaning them). Hence the first symbol that encloses a fish with a roof in 4 strokes is to be read as Vanavar (meaning divine beings from the skies) and the second one-a fish with rays enclosed in 4 strokes-is to be read as Imayavar (While Imaykkuka in Malayalam means ‘to close and open the eyes’ it also represents the twinkling of stars and “Imayavar” could mean those from the stars or those who twinkle/shine like the stars) 

Bibliography 

Mahadevan, I. (2010). Akam and Puram : 'Address Signs of the Indus Script'. 

Mahadevan, I. (1970). Dravidian Parallels in Proto - Indian Script. Journal of Tamil Studies . 

Mahadevan, I. (2011). The Indus Fish Swam in the Great Bath : A New Solution to an Old Riddle . 

R, B. (2012). The 'High-West: Low-East' Dichotomy of Indus Cities: A Dravidian Paradigm.