{"id":32577,"date":"2023-02-23T12:39:57","date_gmt":"2023-02-23T07:09:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=32577"},"modified":"2025-04-19T14:08:43","modified_gmt":"2025-04-19T08:38:43","slug":"significance-of-findings-in-keeladi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/significance-of-findings-in-keeladi\/","title":{"rendered":"Significance of Findings in Keeladi"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3><strong>What\u2019s in today\u2019s article?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Background<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Sangam Period (300 BC \u2013 200 AD)<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Sangam Literature<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Significance of Keeladi Village w.r.t. Sangam Period<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>What has been Excavated so far?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Keeladi Excavations &amp; Indus Valley Civilization<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Background<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>For the first time, the Supreme Court has started using Artificial Intelligence (AI) and technology powered by Natural Language Processing to transcribe its proceedings.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><strong>Sangam Period (300 BC \u2013 200 AD)<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><strong><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh4.googleusercontent.com\/ucBWr0On_M_57QftLBxTnOPSH1MsMUlRNA2Fink4x8dGp8b2h1019Ztusz7wZPdHDL0xgJIFrSikMd68wYFAG2PRODJhKXfrj6H3fhR5XctNN88TbhtRVv1weJ7bS-mUX_9r7AXadbtn\" alt=\"\" \/><\/strong><\/p>\n<h2>Image Caption: Sangam Period Map<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The Sangam Age constitutes an important chapter in the history of South India.<\/li>\n<li>According to Tamil legends, there existed <strong>three Sangams<\/strong> (Academy of Tamil poets) in ancient Tamil Nadu popularly called <strong>Muchchangam<\/strong>. These Sangams flourished under the royal patronage of the <strong>Pandyas<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>1<sup>st<\/sup> Sangam \u2013<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>The first Sangam, held at then <strong>Madurai<\/strong>, was attended by gods and legendary sages but no literary work of this Sangam was available.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>2<sup>nd<\/sup> Sangam \u2013<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>The second Sangam was held at <strong>Kapadapuram<\/strong> but the all the literary works had perished except <strong>Tolkappiyam<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>3<sup>rd<\/sup> Sangam \u2013<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>o \u00a0 The third Sangam at <strong>Madurai<\/strong> was founded by <strong>Mudathirumaran<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Sangam Literature<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The Sangam literature, historically known as <strong>&#8216;the poetry of the noble ones&#8217;<\/strong>, connotes to the <strong>ancient Tamil literature<\/strong> and is the <strong>earliest known literature of South India.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>The Sangam literature includes Tolkappiyam, Ettutogai, Pattuppattu, Pathinenkilkanakku, and two epics named \u2013 Silappathikaram and Manimekalai.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Tolkappiyam<\/strong> was authored by <strong>Tolkappiyar<\/strong> and is considered the earliest of Tamil literary work.\u00a0\n<ul>\n<li>It provides insights on the political and socio-economic conditions of the time.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Ettutogai<\/strong> (Eight Anthologies) consist of eight works \u2013 Aingurunooru, Narrinai, Aganaooru, Purananooru, Kuruntogai, Kalittogai, Paripadal and Padirruppatu.<\/li>\n<li><strong>The Pattuppattu<\/strong> (Ten Idylls) consists of ten works \u2013 Thirumurugarruppadai, Porunararruppadai, Sirupanarruppadai, Perumpanarruppadai, Mullaippattu, Nedunalvadai, Maduraikkanji, Kurinjippatttu, Pattinappalai and Malaipadukadam.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Pathinenkilkanakku<\/strong> contains eighteen works about ethics and morals. The most important among these works is Tirukkural authored by Thiruvalluvar, the Tamil poet and philosopher.<\/li>\n<li>The two epics <strong>Silappathikaram<\/strong> is written by Elango Adigal and <strong>Manimekalai<\/strong> by Chithalai Chathanar.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>o \u00a0 They provide valuable details about the Sangam society and polity.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Significance of Keeladi Village w.r.t. Sangam Period<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>On recommendation of the State Department of Archaeology, the Central Advisory Board of Archaeology (CABA) had permitted Tamil Nadu State Department of Archaeology\u00a0 (TNSDA)to conduct excavations at Keeladi during 2017-2021.<\/li>\n<li>The analysis of carbon samples collected from the Keeladi Excavations pushed the Sangam date further.<\/li>\n<li>In 2019, a <i><strong>TNSDA report dated the unearthed artefacts from Keeladi to a period between sixth century BCE and first century BCE<\/strong><\/i>.<\/li>\n<li>This findings placed Keeladi artefacts about 300 years earlier than the previously believed third century BCE for Sangam Period.<\/li>\n<li>However, a recent ASI report by K. Amarnath Ramakrishna, the Superintendent Archaeologist who discovered Keeladi in 2015, has <i><strong>pushed the Sangam age to 800 BCE based on these archaeological findings<\/strong><\/i>.<\/li>\n<li>Keeladi could also provide crucial evidence for understanding the missing links of the <strong>Iron Age<\/strong> (12th century BCE to sixth century BCE) to the <strong>Early Historic Period<\/strong> (sixth century BCE to fourth century BCE) and subsequent cultural developments.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>What has been Excavated so far?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>In the eight rounds of excavations, including the first three by the ASI, over 18,000 artefacts have been unearthed from the site.<\/li>\n<li>Unearthing of heaps of pottery suggest the existence of a pottery making industry, mostly made of locally available raw materials.\n<ul>\n<li>Over 120 potsherds containing Tamil Brahmi inscriptions have been found.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Keeladi, along with other Tamil Nadu sites which have over a thousand inscribed potsherds, clearly suggest the long survival of the script.<\/li>\n<li>Spindle whorls, copper needles, terracotta seal, hanging stones of the yarn, terracotta spheres and earthen vessels to hold liquid suggest various stages of a weaving industry.<\/li>\n<li>There also existed a dyeing industry and a glass bead industry.<\/li>\n<li>Gold ornaments, copper articles, semi-precious stones, shell bangles, ivory bangles and ivory combs reflect the artistic, culturally rich and prosperous lifestyle of the Keeladi people.<\/li>\n<li>Agate and carnelian beads suggest import through commercial networks while terracotta and ivory dice, gamesmen and evidence of hopscotch have been unearthed revealing their pastime hobbies.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Keeladi Excavations &amp; Indus Valley Civilization<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The findings have also invited comparisons with the Indus Valley Civilisation while acknowledging the cultural gap of 1,000 years between the two places.<\/li>\n<li><i><strong>Some of the symbols found in pot sherds of Keeladi bear a close resemblance to Indus Valley signs<\/strong><\/i>.\n<ul>\n<li>A lot of digging and study has to be done to establish the links between these two civilisations.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>TNSDA affirms that <i><strong>Keeladi has all the characteristics of an urban civilisation, with brick structures, luxury items and proof of internal and external trade<\/strong><\/i>.<\/li>\n<li>It comes across as an industrious and advanced civilisation and has given evidence of urban life and settlements in Tamil Nadu during the Early Historic Period.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><strong>Q1) Who is the founder of Chola Dynasty?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The founder of the Chola Empire was Vijayalaya, who was first feudatory of the Pallavas of Kanchi. He captured Tanjore in 850 A.D. He established a temple of goddess Nishumbhasudini (Durga) there. <strong>Aditya I<\/strong> succeeded Vijayalaya.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Q2)<\/strong> <strong>Who is the founder of Pallava Dynasty?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The founder of Pallava dynasty is <strong>Simha Vishnu<\/strong> who is said to be a very efficient and strong conqueror and ruler. After the death of Simha Vishnu, Mahendravarman, his son succeeded him and ruled from about 571 till 630 CE.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Source:\u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/news\/national\/tamil-nadu\/explained-the-significance-of-the-findings-in-keeladi\/article66541961.ece#:~:text=The%20unearthed%20Keeladi%20artefacts%20have,years%20between%20the%20two%20places\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>Explained | The significance of the findings in Keeladi<\/u><\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/sci-tech\/science\/artefacts-with-tamil-brahmi-script-unearthed-at-keeladi-to-find-a-special-place-in-museum\/article66529594.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>The Hindu<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Keeladi is a village in the Sivaganga district in south Tamil Nadu.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":32578,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-32577","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32577","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32577"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32577\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32578"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32577"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32577"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32577"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}