Brahmi script existed in India way before Ashoka edicts, new paper says

A recent paper by archaeologist Vinay Gupta reveals that Brahmi script was in use centuries before Emperor Ashoka.

A Superintendent Archaeologist with the Jaipur circle of ASI, Gupta’s latest paper titled “Seals and Sealings from Bahaj Excavations” establishes the presence of script in north India before the Ashokan edicts were inscribed on non-perishable materials.

“The origins of the Brahmi script must go in hoary past and the development of Ashokan Brahmi must have been a gradual one,” the paper written by Gupta says. He excavated the Bahaj site in Rajasthan’s Bharatpur, bordering Uttar Pradesh, to untangle the historical threads of the Braj region - the birthplace of Hindu deity Krishna.

The Ashokan edicts of the 3rd century BCE reveal an evolution of the Brahmi script. However, Gupta's new research has rewritten the history of the script in India and pushed back the origins of the Brahmi script by almost three centuries, at around the 6th century BCE.

Based on the sealings discovered at Bahaj in Bharatpur district of Rajasthan, Gupta's work proposes that writing was known to the people of the PGW culture commonly identified with the Mahabharata period. This would imply that the Brahmi script evolved indigenously in India and did not suddenly appear in the Mauryan age.

The paper says that an early Mauryan seal of jasper stone was unearthed from the deposit of the Kushana period, and it comprises nine symbols or Brahmi letters. Finds of this many seals and sealings from a limited area demonstrate the level of literacy and prosperity during ancient India.

His paper said the origin of the Brahmi script could be traced to the PGW (1200 BCE to approximately 550 BCE) culture, which archaeologist and former ASI director-general BB Lal correlated with the Mahabharata period. But there is no unanimity among archaeologists on this.

"Discovery of this sealing makes it clear that the people of PGW culture were familiar with writing," the paper says.

The sealings have been found from the upper levels of the Painted Grey Ware, which as per stratigraphy are easily datable to circa 600 BCE, the paper says.

Excavation at Bahaj started in 2024 and was carried out for two seasons. "Braj is a very important area from the point of view of Indian culture," said Gupta in 2024.

Religious connection of seals

It was the first season of excavation that yielded the seals. The excavation unearthed 39 seals and sealings which ranged from PGW phase to the Kushana period.

Most of the seals found are with an inscription, and some with only symbols. According to the paper, the most striking finds on the site are the presence of four sealings made of unbaked clay from the upper levels of the PGW period. “Such sealings have never come to notice from anywhere in the subcontinent,” it reads.

Most of the names found on these sealings are related to Rudra, Vatuka, Garga, and Nandivardhana. The same is the case with religious symbols, which are related to Nandipada, Nandi, and Dhvajas.

Of the sealings there are two varieties. Two of these show a similar impression on four sides, and the remaining two a similar impression on four sides.

The research paper also stated that one of the impressions has two separate elephant riding figures and two standing figures, matching, to some extent, the representation of Samkarshana and Vasudeva on some early Mathura coins. The researcher found the impressions to be of a religious nature. The letters on one seal read Janaka, and the other read Nokhara. "The Brahmi characters on these sealings are the earliest known examples of Brahmi script in the subcontinent," the paper says. It further adds that these findings of two sealings confirm that the Brahmi script had its beginning in the PGW culture period and they provide a missing link in writing.