oral traditions

[thompson at jlc.net]

>thompson at jlc.net (George Thompson) wrote:
>
>> In re-reading Richard Salomon's recent article "On the Origin of the Early
>> Indian Scripts: A Review Article" [in JAOS 1995 and on the Indology web
>> site], I notice that there is a possible reference to writing in Panini
>> ("lipi" in 3.2.21).  Beyond this disputed reference, much of the discussion
>> centers on possible references in the Pali canon [e.g. the verb likh- and
>> its derivatives] and in general the conclusions of von Hinueber and Falk
>> appear to be rather negative about the existence of writing before, say,
>> the 3th century BCE.
>>
>
>Of course, they must mean evidence of writing prior to the 3rd century BCE
>*outside of the Harappan script.*
>
>Regards,
>Paul Kekai Manansala

Yes, of course. The Harappan script is a tantalizing presence. But it does
not speak to us, at least not yet. In any case, perhaps we can agree that
there is a chasm of sorts between IVC and the rest of the history of the
sub-continent?

I at least am convinced that there was little or no contact between early
Vedic Aryans and IVC.

What does the rest of the list think?

best,
George Thompson