CHENNAI: At a time when excavations at various places including Keezhadi are revealing the hoary past of Tamils, Chief Minister MK Stalin on Thursday informed the state Assembly that carbon dating analysis of the rice with husk found in a burial urn in Sivakalai in Tirunelveli district has proved that the Tamirabarani civilisation dates back to 3,200 years.
“Already Adhichanallur has been dated to the 9th century BCE and Korkai to the 8th century BCE. With the current findings, one can come to the conclusion that a matured civilisation existed along the river Porunai (Tamiraparani being the modern name), with Adhichanallur and Sivakalai as habitations and Korkai being the port,” the Chief Minister said, making a statement under Rule 110.
"It is the foremost duty of this government to establish that the history of the Indian subcontinent begins from the landscape of the Tamils, based on scientific evidence," the Chief Minister said amidst cheers from members of the state Assembly.
The Chief Minister said, "Rice along with husk found in an offering pot within the urn at Sivakalai was sent for an AMS carbon dating test to the Beta Analytical Laboratory in Miami, Florida, and the results obtained are quite a revelation to the archaeological community. The carbon data analysis yielded the date of 1155 BCE which means the people of Sivakalai lived there before 3200 years."
Stalin also announced that a museum would be set up at Tirunelveli at a cost of Rs 15 crore to display the archaeological artefacts found at the excavation sites at Adichanallur, Sivakalai and Korkai. Further, the Tamil Nadu Archaeological Department would carry out excavations in other states and countries in search of Tamil roots.
Stalin said in the first phase, to know the antiquity of Chera Nadu (Kerala) and its culture, excavations would be undertaken at Pattanam which was called Musiri during the Sangam period, in association with archaeological experts from Kerala. Similarly, excavations would also be carried out at Venki and Thalaikkadu in Andhra Pradesh and Palur in Odisha.
"To ascertain the trade relations with Egypt, excavations will be carried out at Quseir al-Qadim and Pernica Anekke, which was part of the Roman empire and at Khor Rori in Oman. Tamil Brahmi potsherds were found in Egypt which was earlier part of the Roman Empire as well as Oman," he said.
The Chief Minister said King Rajendra Chozha was famously known for undertaking expeditions to many Southeast Asian countries. The Tamil Nadu State Archaeology Department would undertake exploration and excavation, if need be, with the assistance of archaeological agencies in other countries after obtaining necessary approvals, he added.