https://tinyurl.com/ybdytm9a
Sarasvati was a navigable waterway of seafaring merchants upto 2nd millennium BCE; evidence of यज्ञो वै मेधः, मेधा = धन Naigh.ii,10 Yajña is dhanam, wealth.
I suggest that more core samples like the Rann of Kutch dhordo core samples taken by MS University geologists should be taken from other selected sites of Rann of Kutch, Binjor, Kalibangan, Rakhigarhi to further refine the dates of the navigable Vedic River Sarasvati from 10k to 3K years. Full text of the brilliant report by MS Univ. geologists is embedded for ready reference.
The river with over 2000 archaeological sites on the river basin had nurtured a civilization.
River Sarasvati with a basin of over 2000 archaeological sites of the Bronze Age civilization, was a navigable waterway upto 2nd millennium BCE (ca. 1900 BCE) as evidenced by wealth-producing metalwork trade transactions recorded on seals with Indus Script dated from ca. 3300 BCE. Some cultural markers are presented in this note.
Sarasvati was a navigable waterway of seafaring merchants upto 2nd millennium BCE; evidence of यज्ञो वै मेधः, मेधा = धन Naigh.ii,10 Yajña is dhanam, wealth.
I suggest that more core samples like the Rann of Kutch dhordo core samples taken by MS University geologists should be taken from other selected sites of Rann of Kutch, Binjor, Kalibangan, Rakhigarhi to further refine the dates of the navigable Vedic River Sarasvati from 10k to 3K years. Full text of the brilliant report by MS Univ. geologists is embedded for ready reference.
The river with over 2000 archaeological sites on the river basin had nurtured a civilization.
River Sarasvati with a basin of over 2000 archaeological sites of the Bronze Age civilization, was a navigable waterway upto 2nd millennium BCE (ca. 1900 BCE) as evidenced by wealth-producing metalwork trade transactions recorded on seals with Indus Script dated from ca. 3300 BCE. Some cultural markers are presented in this note.
- Domestic Cattle Zebu Bos indicus adult resting Black Drongo Dicrurus macrocercus adult perched on back. Bos indicus (zebu) and drongo dicrurus ater (black drongo) are Indus Script hieroglyphs
Nausharo. Pot painted with bos indicus and black drongo hieroglyphs.- పోలడు (p. 820) pōlaḍu , పోలిగాడు or దూడలపోలడు
pōlaḍu. [Tel.] n. An eagle. పసులపోలిగాడు the bird called the Black Drongo. Dicrurus ater. (F.B.I.) rebus: pōlaḍu 'steel' (Russian. Persian) PLUS
wings/plumage. 
- Carved chlorite plaque of the Halil Rud. పోలడు pōlaḍu, 'black drongo' percfhed on the back of पोळ pōḷa, 'Zebu, bos indicus' rebus: magnetite ore, steel.
- https://www.harappa.com/blog/indus-civilization-through-halil-rud-civilization-object
पोळ pōḷa, 'Zebu, bos indicus' of Sarasvati Script corpora is rebus:pōlāda 'steel', pwlad (Russian), fuladh(Persian) folādī (Pashto)
of Sarasvati Script corpora is rebus:pōlāda 'steel', pwlad (Russian), fuladh(Persian) folpōḷa 'zebu' rebus: pōḷa 'magnetite, ferrite ore) pōladu 'black drongo bird' rebus: pōḷad 'steel' The semantics of bull (zebu) PLUS black drongo bird are the reason why the terracotta bird is shown with a bull's head as a phonetic determinative to signify 'steel/magnetite ferrite ore'.ādī (Pashto)
pōḷa 'zebu' rebus: pōḷa 'magnetite, ferrite ore) pōladu 'black drongo bird' rebus: pōḷad 'steel' The semantics of bull (zebu) PLUS black drongo bird are the reason why the terracotta pōladu bird is shown with pōḷa bull's head as a phonetic determinative to signify 'steel/magnetite ferrite ore'.- Terracotta model of a bird with the head of a bull, Indus Valley, Harappa, c2200 BCE
- Bos indicus, black drongo.
Hieroglyph of black drongo on Binjor seal, alternative reading: pōlaḍu 'black drongo' rebus: polad 'steel.
RIVER SARASWATI DID EXIST: GEOLOGISTS
Sunday, 23 July 2017 | Kumar Chellappan | CHENNAI
A team of scientists from Department of Geology, Maharaja Sayajirao University (MSU), Baroda, has confirmed through radio isotope studies about a river which had originated from the Himalayas and traversed through northwest India 10,000 years ago before getting discharged into the Great Rann of Kutch (GRK) in Gujarat.
The findings of the six-year long research led by Prof Lakshman Singh Chamyal, head of the geology department, MSU, is yet another proof of the Vedic-era river Saraswati, believed to have originated from the Himalayas and ended up in the Rann of Kutch area.
The internationally respected scientific journal Nature has published the research paper by Prof Chamyal and his team in its online issue dated July 14, 2017, a recognition and acceptance of the findings. “We can conclusively tell the world that there was a river flowing from the Himalayas and getting discharged into the GRK, some 10,000 years ago. We confirmed the course of the river through isotopic studies, the findings of which are the last word in this project,” Prof Chamyal told The Pioneer over phone from Baroda.
The findings were the results of six-year long perseverance and hard work by the MS University team in the Kutch region, said Prof DM Maurya, a member of the research team. They drilled 60 feet into the GRK to collect the sample sediments for analysis. “We used Neodymium and Strontium, two isotopes employed to detect the age and origin of any geological entities; the sediments which we collected from the Himalayas and the GRK region were same,” said Prof Maurya.
He said the sediments were of the same age and characteristics.
Scientists of the Department of Atomic Energy had found out that the ground water found in Jaisalimer desert in Rajasthan was the same as that of the 10,000 old river which had meandered from the Himalayas before getting discharged at GRK. “We found through isotopic studies that a river had flowed from Himalayas through the Jaisalmer desert in Rajasthan. The findings were presented as a scientific paper during an international seminar on radio analytical chemistry in South Africa in 2009 and was selected as the best research paper,” said Prof SM Rao, formerly of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Trombay, who was the lead scientist in the project
The Indian Space Research Organisation with the help of its remote sensing satellites too had tracked the course of the river believed to have flowed more than 10,000 years ago through the same region. “Taking into account the period in which the river traversed the distance, it certainly was the Saraswathi River which disappeared from the face of the earth due to geological reasons,” said S Kalyanaraman, director, Saraswathi Research Centre, Chennai.
Though the MS University scientists declined to accept it, Dr Kalyanaraman is of the firm view that the Saraswathi River was used by traders of that era for navigable waterway for maritime trade across the GRK and the Persian Gulf. Sites like Rakhigarhi near New Delhi, Kalibangan and Binjor (Anupgargh) throw more light into this,” he said.
Irfan Habib, the pro-CPI(M) historian had rejected the findings of DAE and ISRO scientists about River Saraswathi as “nonsense” because of its mention in Hindu mythology.
Navaratna Rajaram
3170 Points
3 hours ago
Serious ramifications for history
Since the Rigveda praises the Sarasvati as the greatest river and worships it, it
demolishes the claims of people (including Professor Habib) that the Vedas were
brought into India only after 1500 BCE by the invading Aryans.
Since the Rigveda praises the Sarasvati as the greatest river and worships it, it
demolishes the claims of people (including Professor Habib) that the Vedas were
brought into India only after 1500 BCE by the invading Aryans.
00
REPLY
B
Bharati
1715 Points
5 hours ago
This is disgraceful! Where are our eminent historians and eminent archaeologists who
assert the river is mythological?
assert the river is mythological?
Comment (S Kalyanaraman):
My decipherment of 8000 epigraphs on Sarasvati civilization seals has shown that they are all catalogues, data records of accounting ledgers of metalwork wealth created by ancient artisans of the Bronze Age. (3 volume work Epigraphia Indus Script -- Hypertexts and Meanings, just published). With their contribution, India became the wealthiest nation on the globe by 1 CE accounting for over 32% of World GDP according to a study done for OECE by Prof. Angus Maddison, Cambridge Economic Historian.
Rakhigarhi (near New Delhi) cylinder seal
Kalibangan cylinder seal.
These two cylinder seals indicate links with Mesopotamia across Persian Gulf. Hence, there should have been a navigable waterway linking traders from Rakhigarhi, Kalibangan with Mesopotamia across Persian Gulf travelling through Sarasvati waterway as a navigable channel.
The date is likely to go back to Vedic tradition as a Yajnakunda was found in Binjor (near Anupgarh), Rajasthan, 7 kms from the border with Pakistan. Binjor is on the banks of River Sarasvati.
This yajna kunda revealed an octagonal pillar like the Rudrabhaga of a S'ivalinga, a proclamation of the performance of a Soma Yaga according to Rigveda.
Binjor Yajnakunda and octagonal pillar, dated to earlier than ca. 2500 BCE. This is accompanied by inscribed seals (खरडा kharaḍā, metalwork wealth accounting ledgers), comparable to the 19 yupa inscriptions found during historical periods (including five from East Borneo, Indonesia) proclaiming performance of a Soma Yajna performance.
Bhirrana has produced evidence of a continuous settlement from ca. 7th millennium BCE.
Thus, there are cultural markers pointing to River Sarasvati system as a navigable waterway.
The report is based principally on Dhordo core samples. Similar cores should be taken from additional selected spots of the Rann of Kutch to analyse the sediments from ca. 10k to ca. 3k since the 2000+ sites (80% of over 2600 sites of the civilization) on Palaeo-Sarasvati Basin indicate the use of the river as a navigable waterway for maritime trade across the Rann of Kutch and Persian Gulf. The key sites are Rakhigarhi, Kalibangan, Bhirrana, Binjor (Anupgarh) where the Saravati River palaeo-channel shows a forking into two channels, one flowing southwards and another flowing westwards into Bahawalpur Province.
https://www.nature.com/
Tracing the Vedic Saraswati River in the Great Rann of Kachchh
- Scientific Reports 7, Article number: 5476 (2017)
- doi :10.1038/s41598-017-05745-8
- Download Citation
- Received:
- 11 January 2017
- Accepted:
- 02 June 2017
- Published online:
- 14 July 2017
Abstract
The lost Saraswati River mentioned in the ancient Indian tradition is postulated to have flown independently of the Indus River into the Arabian Sea, perhaps along courses of now defunct rivers such as Ghaggar, Hakra and Nara. The persistence of such a river during the Harappan Bronze Age and the Iron Age Vedic period is strongly debated. We drilled in the Great Rann of Kachchh (Kutch), an infilled gulf of the Arabian Sea, which must have received input from the Saraswati, if active. Nd and Sr isotopic measurements suggest that a distinct source may have been present before 10 ka. Later in Holocene, under a drying climate, sediments from the Thar Desert probably choked the signature of an independent Saraswati-like river. Alternatively, without excluding a Saraswati-like secondary source, the Indus and the Thar were the dominant sources throughout the post-glacial history of the GRK. Indus-derived sediment accelerated the infilling of GRK after ~6 ka when the Indus delta started to grow. Until its complete infilling few centuries ago, freshwater input from the Indus, and perhaps from the Ghaggar-Hakra-Nara, probably sustained a productive marine environment as well as navigability toward old coastal Harappan and historic towns in the region.
Introduction
The Great Rann of Kachchh (GRK) is a landlocked and largely infilled shallow marine basin connected to the Arabian Sea, neighboring the Indus delta to the east. Thar Desert and Aravalli Hills border GRK to the north and northeast respectively (Fig. 1a and b). At present GRK is a monotonous, salt-encrusted, vast mudflat, largely dried up during early summer (i.e., March–July) and inundated during the summer monsoon and winter season (i.e., July to February). Strong summer monsoon winds push seawater from the Arabian Sea into the GRK; usually the water does not evacuate or evaporate until the next summer1, 2. Owing to the harsh conditions, lack of accessibility and limited sediment exposure, only a few geomorphological and geoarchaeological studies are available for the region1,2,3,4,5,6.
Figure 1
(a) Regional drainage pattern for the western continental margin of the Indian plate. Dotted lines are the paleochannels of the Vedic Saraswati River after Ghose et al.11 and Kar and Ghose48. The box represents the area shown in b. Location of the Dhordo core site and river sediment samples analyzed are also shown. (b) Geomorphic setting of the Great Rann of Kachchh (GRK) basin with surrounding hinterland and core locations. NPF- Nagar Parkar Fault, IBF- Island Belt Fault, KMF- Kachchh mainland Fault, KHF- Katrol hill Fault, NKF- North Kathiawar Fault, SWF- South Wagad Fault, P- Pachham Island, K-Khadir Island, B- Bela Island and C- Chorar Island. Core location: DH- Dhordo core raised from central GRK basin. Maps were prepared using a licensed copy of Ocean Data49 View (https://odv.awi.de/).
Several sites of the Bronze Age Harappan civilization flourished in and around GRK, including the large town of Dholavira on Khadir Island (Fig. 1b). As the Harappan coastal economy was probably dependent on maritime trade, the history of these towns was controlled by access to the Arabian Sea, which in turn was dependent on local sea level and fluvial infilling of the GRK7,8. Previous studies postulated that a now extinct Vedic Saraswati River sourced in the Himalaya9or Sub-Himalaya8, 10 reached down into the Arabian Sea as an independent river, parallel to the Indus11, 12. Such a river must have discharged into the paleo-gulf of GRK to reach the Arabian Sea. However, in spite of its geological and archaeological significance, GRK remains one of the least investigated regions of the Harappan domain13.
One of the keys to understand the geological and geomorphological evolution of the GRK is to fingerprint and resolve its potential sediment sources. Such sources may include the Indus River, the postulated Saraswati, the Arabian Sea shelf, the mainland Kachchh, Thar Desert and the Aravalli Ranges. In the present study we reconstruct sediment sources for the past ~17 ka6using radiogenic tracers (i.e., Nd and Sr isotopes) in sediment core recovered from the GRK. The main goal of our study is to assess whether a Himalayan/Sub-Himalayan river reached the GRK independently of the Indus and for how long such a river was active, if at all.
Neodymium and strontium isotopes are some of the most robust provenance proxies. Nd is undergoing negligible alteration during erosion, sediment transport and deposition14,15,16,17whereas Sr has been shown to be a good indicator of provenance in our study area18, 19. In our regional context, such studies have proven useful to explore erosion patterns, transport pathways, and provenance shifts for the Ganga–Brahmaputra17, 20, 21 as well as the Indus19, 22fluvial systems. In addition, terrains neighboring the GRK such as the Thar Desert23,24,25, outcropping volcanics26 and Mesozoic rocks on Kachchh mainland27 have also been investigated for their Nd-Sr isotopic compositions.
Results
The sediment core was recovered from the GRK (Fig. 1) near Dhordo village (23°49′37.9“N; 69°39′09“E) from the central Kachchh basin. Based on our previously published radiocarbon dates28, the Dhordo core recovered sediments as old as 17.7 ka down to ~60 m from the present day Rann surface. The subsurface GRK sediments studied in our core are consistently fine-grained in nature (i.e., silty-clay to clayey silts with negligible sand content; SI Fig. 1). Fine-grained sediments are typical for the GRK mudflats and remarkably consistent spatially and temporally in the entire basin1, 3, 6, 29. Our core at Dhordo is located far off from the elevated regions of mainland Kachchh, outside significant local sediment input, thus representing GRK basin wide changes. We assume that sedimentation is still active or non-erosional at Dhordo as the site is inundated during the summer monsoon.
The Dhordo core shows 87Sr/86Sr ratios range from 0.725 to 0.732 whereas εNd varies from −14.34 to −12.63. (SI Table 1). To characterize potential end members, we also analyzed modern sediments from three local rivers, namely the Luni, Rupen as well as a local stream called Saraswati (no connection with the Vedic counterpart). The sample from the Luni River, which flows through the Thar yields 87Sr/86Sr and εNd values of as 0.73 and −13.97. The local Saraswati stream and the Rupen River draining the Aravalli Hills yielded 87Sr/86Sr and εNd values of 0.735, 0.731 and −15.22, −14.86 respectively (SI Table 1). For other sediment sources such as the fluvial or eolian sediments along the proposed Vedic Saraswati, the Indus courses and shelf as well as the Thar Desert we discuss published data below.
Discussion
Presence of foraminifera throughout the core section indicates marine sedimentation throughout6, 30. To allow for fine-grained marine sedimentation at ~18 ka30, when the eustatic sea level in the Arabian Sea was below 100 m relative to present level31, 32, the Dhordo site must have been uplifted significantly since then. GRK is largely compressional and uplift of ca. 5 m is recorded for a marine sedimentary sequence on Khadir Island in the last 500 years5, so uplift at Dhordo is not surprising.
Sediment Provenance
Marine sediments accumulating at the core location show a very tight range of variability within the Nd-Sr space (Fig. 2) The Aravalli sedimentary source is similar in isotopic composition to our sediments (present study; Fig. 2) but it cannot account for a significant contribution to the infilling of a large volume GRK basin. The mica-rich mineralogy of sediments (i.e., illite and chlorite) is indicative instead of their Himalayan and/or Karakoram origin18, 28. Similarly the Kachchh mainland hills were probably not a significant source of sediments given their small areal extent and geomorphology (i.e., the hydrographic network of short rivers is preferentially oriented southward). Therefore the remaining potential sediment sources for GRK sediments are Himalayan and/or Sub-Himalayan rivers including the Indus and the postulated Vedic Saraswati. In fact our sediments plot as a mixture of Indus sediments18, 22 with high εNd and low radiogenic Sr typical for the Karakoram and low εNd and high radiogenic Sr in Ghaggar-Hakra sediments18, 22, 23 indicative of High and Lesser Himalayan sources (Figs 2 and 3). Sediments coming from the Thar Desert25, 33 could also account for a significant contribution to GRK (Fig. 2), but this is not surprising as the Thar has been interpreted as a mixture of Himalayan and Sub-Himalayan sediments from the Indus and Ghaggar-Hakra systems23. However, Thar Desert is a vast sediment reservoir that is still poorly characterized geochemically.
Figure 2
Scatter plot of 87Sr/86Sr and εNd isotope compositions of our GRK sediments, Indus delta/floodplain (Clift et al.18, 22), Aravalli rivers (present study), Thar Desert (Tripathi et al.25), Ghaggar-Hakra fluvial system (East et al.23; Singh et al.33; Alizai et al.50 and the Indus shelf northwest of the Indus Canyon (Limmer et al.19) along with various potential end-members such as High Himalayan Crystalline, Lesser Himalaya and Siwaliks (Singh et al.17; Tripathi et al.24, 25 and references therein). Graph was prepared using a licensed copy of Sigma Plot v.10.
Figure 3
Deglacial and Holocene downcore variations in εNd and 87Sr/86Sr ratio values for GRK sediments plotted along with Indus River, Indus Shelf and Ghaggar-Hakra system. Ranges of variability for potential sources are shown at the top of each graph. Graphs were prepared using a licensed copy of Sigma Plot v.10.
Sedimentation History
The temporal variability in Nd and Sr composition for the marine sediments at our GRK site is remarkably subdued (see Fig. 3) when compared to similar compositional histories of potential sources (i.e., Indus, Ghaggar-Hakra and Thar). However it is clear that GRK sediments before 10 ka plot between the two sources of sediments (Fig. 3) possibly indicating input from the Himalayas (Higher and/or Lesser) in addition to Indus sediments that include Karakoram and Tethyan Himalayan signals. A Thar Desert origin for the sediments is also possible but this vast region may exhibit a large variability in Nd and Sr isotopic composition that needs to be better assessed (Fig. 2). After that period the sediments in the GRK are practically indistinguishable from the Indus when using Nd and Sr fingerprinting. In contrast sediments from the Indus continental shelf, at least those located west of the Indus canyon that have been measured so far, appear more radiogenic in Nd and have lower 87Sr/86Sr values due to alongshore contributions from the Bela ophiolite19, 22. Thus another alternative interpretation explaining the divergence between GRK and Indus isotopic signatures before 10 ka could be that the Indus sediments themselves contain a significant contribution from the Bela Ophiolite before 10 ka (Fig. 3). Such an input could have come alongshore from the west into the GRK and Indus paleo-estuary when its delta was only incipiently developing more inland.
The rather invariant history of the GRK sediment composition since deglaciation contrasts with the Indus record (Fig. 3), which shows an increasing Lesser Himalayan input22. On the other hand Ghaggar-Hakra sediments show an increasingly Thar-like signature in the later Holocene (Fig. 3), a trend that cannot be recognized in the GRK sediments. In that case the GRK sediments could have been a mixture of Indus and Ghaggar-Hakra sediments since the beginning of our core records. The GRK record could also be interpreted to be strongly dominated by Thar sediments if we assume that a desert is somewhat homogenous (Fig. 3). As such, the signature for an independent Saraswati extending the course of the Ghaggar-Hakra towards the Arabian Sea cannot be discerned in the GRK using the Nd-Sr isotopic system. The most likely reason for that is not the mixing between Indus and Ghaggar-Hakra sediments per se but the input from the mixed Thar reservoir.
Landscape Dynamics
Many courses for the Vedic Saraswati have been proposed over the years4, 11, 34,35,36 but they generally lack continuity in subsurface data and/or chronological information. Our new isotopic data suggests that a river, flowing parallel to and independent of the Indus, may have existed and reached the GRK before 10 ka (Fig. 3). At the time the Ghaggar-Hakra system may have been a much larger river tapping the Sutlej and/or the Yamuna8, 10, 33, 37, 38. However, this interpretation is dependent on the isotopic homogeneity of the vast sediment reservoir of the Thar Desert, which is still to be assessed. Whether such a river reached the Arabian Sea via the GRK during the Holocene and especially, during Vedic times remains to be demonstrated.
Recent studies of the upper courses of the proposed Saraswati in Haryana and Cholistan suggested that river desiccation started ~6.5 ka B.P.8, 10, 24, 34, 38. However, Giosan et al.8 showed that fluvial sedimentation was still active in the western part of the Thar Desert as late as ~3 ka, with river courses joining the Nara valley. Currently we do not know if the Nara was independent or received input from the Indus near Sukkur or further down after emerging from below the Rohri Hills (Fig. 1). However, the isotopic composition of the GRK sediments are not in contradiction with the idea of a dwindling Ghaggar-Hakra-Nara under the aridification of South Asia as the monsoon declined in the late Holocene39,40,41.
The Holocene sedimentation pattern in the GRK basin shows a regressive pattern with the basin becoming shallower as the sea level rose and rivers provided infill. During the deglaciation when sea level was considerably lower, a Saraswati-like river had a better chance to deliver a pure signal to GRK if it possessed its own Pleistocene incised valley, independent of the Indus incised valley10, 22, 41. However, by ~5 to 6 ka the Indus delta extended into the western GRK and probably provided sediments directly into the GRK41. Historical maps and documents42,43,44,45suggest that GRK may have still been a gulf ca. 500 years ago5, 46. A deeper GRK with fresh water input from the Indus and potentially Ghaggar-Hakra-Nara would have provided a more productive marine environment and navigable ways for the old coastal Harappan towns in the region (e.g, Dholavira) as well as for later historical settlements.
Conclusions
The Nd and Sr isotopic composition of sediments from our Dhordo core site in the Great Rann of Kachchh suggests that a large Himalayan or Sub-Himalayan Saraswati-like river may have discharged into the Arabian Sea until 10 ka. However, our study also shows that radiogenic isotope fingerprinting of the GRK sediments is unlikely to detect a gradually drying Saraswati-like river after that time, due to contamination with sediments from the Thar Desert and/or the Indus. Alternatively the Thar may have been the dominant sediment source along with the Indus for the entire post-glacial history of the GRK. Future studies should concentrate instead on geophysical imaging, dating and geochemical fingerprinting of subsurface deposits from infilled channels along potential river courses in the Thar Desert. However, the Holocene sedimentary evolution of the Great Rann should be better explored to understand its role in Harappan and historical coastal habitation.
Sampling and methodology
The continuous sediment core was raised from the GRK basin (Fig. 1; SI Fig. 1). A ~60 m long core was drilled from the central part of the basin at Dhordo (23°49′37.9” N and 69°36′09.9” E). The entire core section was then X-radiographed before it was opened. The core pipes were then split longitudinally into two halves: one half of the core was sampled at 2 cm intervals while the other half was preserved as an archive. The GRK sediments are typically fine-grained, dominated by silts and clays with occasional sands6 (SI Fig. 1). The samples obtained from our cores at various depth intervals were analyzed for Nd-Sr radiogenic isotopes (SI Table 1) and radiocarbon chronologies (reported in Khonde et al.28). We also collected samples for Sr-Nd measurements from the Luni and Rupen rivers and the local stream Saraswati that discharge into the Great and Little Rann basins from the east. These rivers come from the Aravalli Hills, which lie further to the east and northeast.
Nd and Sr isotopic systematics
Measurements were carried out on carbonate- and organic matter-free silicate fraction. A known amount (~100 mg) of this fraction taken in Teflon vials (Savillex) was spiked with 84Sr and 150Nd and subjected to acid digestion with concentrated HF-HNO3-HCl at 90 °C to complete dissolution. Pure Nd and Sr fractions were separated from the solution following standard ion exchange procedures17, 47. The fractions were then dried and redissolved in 4 ml of 0.4 N HNO3. Both Nd and Sr measurements were done on MC-ICP-MS in static multi-collection mode at PRL15, 17. The measured 87Sr/86Sr and 143Nd/144Nd ratios were corrected for instrumental mass fractionation by normalizing them with 86Sr/88Sr, 0.1194 and 146Nd/144Nd, 0.7219. The Nd and Sr concentrations for these samples were obtained by isotope dilution method. A standard solution of 200 ppb of SRM 987 Sr-standard was measured several times on MC-ICP-MS that yielded an average value of 0.710307 ± 0.000010 (1σ, n = 10) for 87Sr/86Sr whereas 143Nd/144Nd in 100 ppb solution of JMC standard yielded 0.511732 ± 0.000016 (1σ, n = 10) respectively. Replicate samples were also measured for Nd and Sr concentrations and isotopic compositions on selected samples to check the overall reproducibility of the Nd-Sr measurements (SI Tables 2 and 3). Based on replicate measurements, the average variation was found to be 0.0002 and 0.2 for 87Sr/86Sr and εNd respectively. However the standard errors for 87Sr/86Sr and143Nd/144Nd are 0.0014%, 0.0010% respectively.
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Acknowledgements
The drilling effort and subsequent study of the cores was funded by Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India sponsored research project to DMM (Project No. SR/S4/ES-21/Kachchh Window/P1) under the science of Shallow Subsurface Programme (SSS). N. Khonde gratefully acknowledges Indo-US Post-doctoral Fellowship sponsored by SERB-IUSSTF for research work at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, USA during the revision of the paper. We thank Amal Kar and Peter Clift for their valuable suggestions during revision.
Author information
Author notes
- Nitesh Khonde
Present address: Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences, Lucknow, 266007, India
Affiliations
Department of Geology, The M. S. University of Baroda, Vadodara, 390002, India
- Nitesh Khonde
- , D. M. Maurya
- & L. S. Chamyal
Physical Research Laboratory, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad, 380009, India
- Sunil Kumar Singh
- & Vinai K. Rai
Geology and Geophysics, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, USA
- Liviu Giosan
Contributions
D.M.M., N.K., L.S.C., S.K.S. designed research, N.K., S.K.S. performed research; V.K., S.K.S. analyzed data, N.K., D.M.M., S.K.S. and L.G. interpreted the data and wrote the paper.
Competing Interests
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Corresponding author
Correspondence to D. M. Maurya.
Supplementary information
- 1.
Supplementary Datasheet 1
Supplementary information forTracing the Vedic Saraswati Riverin the Great Rann of KachchhNitesh Khonde1, #, Sunil Kumar Singh2, D. M. Maurya1*,Vinai K. Rai2, L. S. Chamyal1 and Liviu Giosan31Department of Geology, The M. S. University of Baroda, Vadodara 390002, India.2Physical Research Laboratory, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad 380009, India.3Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA#Present Address: Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences, Lucknow 266007, IndiaCorresponding Author: dmmaurya@yahoo.comSupplementary Figures:SI Figure 1. a. Lithology and grain size measurements for the Dhordo core (after Maurya et al. 2013). AMS 14C-dated horizons are indicated by arrows (after Khonde et al. 2016). Graphs were prepared using licensed copy of Coral Draw v.15.
Table 1. Downcore variations in the 87Sr/86Sr, Sr (ppm), 143Nd/144Nd, εNd and Nd (ppm) isotopic concentration in the Dhordo (DH) Core in the Great Rann basin of Kachchh, and rivers draining from the Aravallis.Sr NoSample IDDepth (m)87Sr/86Sr (Corr.)Sr (ppm)144Nd/143NdNd (ppm)εNd(CHUR0)01DH-10.480.728006140.350.51192617.33-13.8802DH-21.720.727946121.220.51193416.95-13.7403DH-32.940.72544999.330.51199014.87-12.6404DH-43.930.72585497.410.51197414.73-12.9605DH-54.290.726797105.470.51196915.45-13.0406DH-65.020.726484100.230.51199115.02-12.6307DH-75.540.726849100.260.51198714.75-12.7008DH-87.10.727716120.270.51192416.39-13.9309DH-911.180.727097117.720.51194117.16-13.6010DH-1014.480.726502111.470.51196514.95-13.1411DH-1116.960.726320112.250.51198715.35-12.7012DH-1218.610.726340101.910.51196715.14-13.0813DH-1320.520.728226117.250.51195816.39-13.2614DH-1421.20.730531148.400.51187717.20-14.8415DH-1523.340.728269101.740.51192715.53-13.8716DH-1625.380.72823698.400.51192615.07-13.8917DH-1726.640.730023107.460.51192016.57-14.0018DH-1828.440.729822106.990.51194316.18-13.5719DH-1929.930.730340108.240.51193515.25-13.7120DH-2031.130.730340108.240.51193517.23-13.7221DH-2136.670.731281112.060.51191118.99-14.1822DH-2239.770.732244106.060.51192216.86-13.9723DH-2342.910.732095125.830.51191115.43-14.1924DH-2444.010.732493109.120.51190316.00-14.3425DH-2546.150.730941109.830.51191517.22-14.1026DH-2648.220.731680109.280.51191916.63-14.0327DH-2751.570.731885107.090.51190817.33-14.2328DH-2854.50.730690114.450.51193317.21-13.7529DH-2958.450.730690114.450.51191817.41-14.0530LUNIAravalli river0.730103131.190.5119224.48-13.9731RUPENAravalli river0.73114183.970.51187617.71-14.8632SARASW-ATIAravalli river0.73456457.800.5118585.60-15.22Table 2. Reproducibility of elemental and isotopic composition of Sr in the sediments analysed.Sample ID87Sr/86Sr87Sr/86SrStd Error %Sr (ìg/g)Sr (ìg/g)Std Error %DH-5-480.726800.0016121.20.00500.726710.0011120.90.0061DH-7-620.726900.0021117.50.00840.727100.0009117.70.0042DH-11-490.730530.0011148.40.00600.730820.0012147.90.0033DH-14-290.729590.0033107.20.01420.729740.0025107.30.0090LUNI0.729920.0009131.50.00290.730100.0022131.20.0066Table 3. Reproducibility of elemental and isotopic composition of Nd in sediments analysed.Sample ID143Nd/144Nd143Nd/144Nd Std Error %ºNdºNdStd Error %Nd (ìg/g)Nd (ìg/g)Std Error %DH-5-480.511990.0019-12.71.514.70.00440.511980.0008-12.90.614.80.0028DH-11-490.511880.0007-14.80.517.20.00180.511900.0008-14.50.514.60.0020DH-14-290.511960.0012-13.30.916.40.00270.511930.0011-13.70.816.40.0036RUPEN0.511880.0005-14.80.317.70.00150.511880.0005-14.90.317.70.0015- Binjor Yupa of Sarasvati Vaidika civilization is yajñasya ketu (RV 3.8.8), a proclamation emblem of performance of a Soma Samsthā yajña. Such a yajña yields bahusuvarṇakam; 'many gold pieces' and thus, a wealth-producing metallurgical enterprise performed with śraddhā, 'dedication, devotion' and prayers.The evidence of yajñakuṇḍa PLUS epigraphs conclusively establish the link of Sarasvati Civilization with Veda traditions and brilliant metallurgical contributions of the Bronze Age made by artisans of the Civilization. Consistent with the purport of Indus Script Corpora, the epigraphs constitute data archives of wealth-production by metallurgists.The Binjor Yupa is अष्टा* श्रि [p= 117,1] mfn
. having eight corners S'Br. The octagonal shape provides for श्री [p= 1098,2] (= √1. श्रि) , to burn , flame , diffuse light RV. i , 68 , 1; f. (prob. to be connected with √1. श्रि and also with √1. श्री in the sense of " diffusing light or radiance " ; nom. श्र्/ईस् accord. to some also श्री) light , lustre , radiance , splendour , glory , beauty , grace , loveliness (श्रिय्/ए and श्रिय्/ऐ , " for splendour or beauty " , " beauteously " , " gloriously " cf. श्रिय्/असे ; du. श्रियौ, " beauty and prosperity " ; श्रिय आत्मजाः , " sons of beauty "i.e. horses [cf. श्री-पुत्र] ; श्रियः पुत्राः , " goats with auspicious marks ") RV. &c; prosperity , welfare , good fortune , success , auspiciousness , wealth , treasure , riches (श्रिया , " according to fortune or wealth ") , high rank , power , might , majesty , royal dignity (or " Royal dignity " personified ; श्रियो भाजः , " possessors of dignity " , " people of high rank ") AV. &c; N. of लक्ष्मी (as goddess of prosperity or beauty and wife of विष्णु , produced at the churning of the ocean , also as daughter of भृगु and as mother of दर्प) S3Br. &c; mfn. diffusing light or radiance , splendid , radiant , beautifying , adorning (ifc. ; » अग्नि- , अध्वर- , क् षत्र- , गण- , जन-श्री &c ) RV. iv , 41 , 8. [The word श्री is frequently used as an honorific prefix (= " sacred " , " holy ") to the names of deities (e.g. श्री-दुर्गा , श्री-राम) , and may be repeated two , three , or even four times to express excessive veneration. (e.g. श्री-श्री-दुर्गा &c ) ; it is also used as a respectful title (like " Reverend ") to the names of eminent persons as well as of celebrated works and sacred objects (e.g. श्री-जयदेव , श्रीभागवत) , and is often placed at the beginning or back of letters , manuscripts , important documents &c ; also before the words चरण and पाद " feet " , and even the end of personal names.] The Seven Mother Goddesses (Matrikas) Flanked by Shiva-Virabhadra and Ganesha, Lord of Obstacles. India, Madhya Pradesh, 9th century
- Sculpture Red sandstone Gift of Paul F. Walter (LACMA M.80.157) South and Southeast Asian Art 9th century.10 1/2 x 35 1/4 x 5 in. (26.67 x 89.53 x 12.7 cm)
Shiva (leftmost) with the Matrikas: (from left) Brahmani, Maheshvari, Kaumari, Vaishnavi, Varahi, Indr ani, Chamunda Saptamatrika with Ganesha, at Panchalingeshvara temple in Karnataka.aṣṭāśri Octagonal shape of the Śivalinga Rudra bhāga signifies aṣṭadhātu. Deified as metaphors of divine aṣṭamātṛkā, signifiers of 'eight forms of wealth' (together associated with Gaṇeśa, signifier of tri-dhātu, 'three ferrite ores: magnetite, haematite, laterite -- and also Śiva-vīrabhadra associated with Yupa and caṣāla (godhuma, wheat chaff smoke, infusing carbon into metals in furnaces.)अष्ट [p= 116,2] mfn . ( √ अक्ष् ; cf. निर्- √अक्ष्) " marked , branded " , only in comp. with -कर्ण; aṣṭan अष्टन् num. a. [अश-व्याप्तौ कनिन् तुट् च Uṇ.1.154.] (nom., acc. अष्ट-ष्टौ) Eight. It often occurs in comp. as अष्टा with numerals and some other nouns; as अष्टादशन्, अष्टाविंशतिः, अष्टापद &c. [cf. L. octo; Gr. okto; Zend astani Pers. hasht.].-धातुः the eight metals taken collectively; स्वर्णं रूप्यं च ताम्रं च रङ्गं यशदमेव च । शीसं लौहं रसश्चेति धातवो$ष्टौ प्रकीर्किताः ॥ -लोहकम् a class of 8 metals; सुवर्णं रजतं ताम्रं सीसकं कान्तिकं तथा । वङ्गं लौहं तीक्ष्णलौहं लौहान्यष्टाविमानि तु ॥ -मातृकाः ब्राह्मी, माहेश्वरी, कौमारी, वैष्णवी, वाराही, इन्द्राणी, कौबेरी, and चामुण्डा. -मुद्राः सुरभी, चक्र, ध्यान, योनि, कूर्म, पङ्कज, लिङ्ग and निर्याण. Indus Script epigraphs/inscriptions of Binjorpoḷa 'bos indicus, zebu' rebus: poḷa 'magnetite, ferrite ore'
kõda 'young bull, bull-calf' rebus: kõdā 'to turn in a lathe'; kōnda
'engraver, lapidary'; kundār 'turner'. kundana 'fine gold'. Ta. kuntaṉam interspace for setting gems in a jewel; fine gold (< Te.). Ka. kundaṇa setting a precious stone in fine gold; fine gold; kundana fine gold. Tu.kundaṇa pure gold. Te. kundanamu fine gold used in very thin foils in setting precious stones; setting precious stones with fine gold. (DEDR 1725) Hieroglyph: sãghāṛɔ ' lathe'.(Gujarati) Rebus: sangara 'proclamation' sangara 'trade'. bhaṭa 'warrior' rebus: bhaṭa 'furnace'. Togeth er, the message of the Binjor Seal with inscribed text is a proclamation, a metalwork catalogue (of) gold, 'furnace workshop'. meḍ 'body' rebus: meḍ 'iron'; PLUS kanka, karṇika 'rim of jar' rebus: karṇika 'scribe, account' karṇi 'supercargo' PLUS bhaṭa 'warrior' rebus: bhaṭa 'furnace'.
A terracotta seal with three Harappan signs showing two human figures on both sides of a jar with a double handle. It belongs to the Mature Harappan period. dula 'pair' rebus: dul 'metal casting' PLUS meD 'body' rebus: meD 'iron' med 'copper' (Slavic) koDi 'flag' rebus: koD 'workshop'. Thus metal casting workshop. kanka 'rim of jar' rebus: karNI 'supercargo' karNaka 'scribe, account'.dhāu 'strand' (cross-section view) rebus: dhāū 'red stone minerals' PLUSkolom 'three' rebus: kolimi 'smithy, forge'. Hieroglyph: dice, rebus: silver ingot: pāśa
1 m. ʻ die, dice ʼ MBh., °aka -- m. Mr̥cch. [Poss. with Lüders PhilInd 120 hyper -- sanskritism from MIA. pāsa(ka) -- < prāsaka -- m. ʻ die ʼ lex. (cf. prāsyati ʻ lays a wager ʼ TāṇḍBr. andprāsa -- ). It does not appear in any language differentiating pr -- from p -- or -- s -- from -- ś -- . Moreover the meaning ʻ lump of metal ʼ in N. H. M. may indicate a different origin] Pa. pāsaka -- m. ʻ die ʼ, Pk. pāsaga -- m., Ku. pã̄so, N. B. pāsā; Or. pasā, (Bastar) pāsā ʻ game of dice ʼ, OAw. sāri -- pāṁsā; H. pāsā m. ʻ die ʼ (→ P. pāsā m.), G. pāsɔ m., M. phāsā m. (infl. by forms ofpāśa -- -- with p -- ~ ph -- ?), Si. pasa -- äṭa. -- N. pāso ʻ head of an iron instrument (such as axe or spade) ʼ rather than <2 ~ *spāśaparśvadha -- ; Or. pasā ʻ iron ring through which plough iron is thrust ʼ; H. pāsā m. ʻ lump, cube, lump of metal ʼ; M. pās f. ʻ silver ingot, iron share of harrow ʼ.(CDIAL 8132)
Binjor seal.
Decipherment:
Fish + scales, aya ã̄s (amśu) cognateancu 'iron' (Tocharian) ‘metallic stalks of stone ore’. ayo 'fish' rebus: aya 'iron' (Gujarati) ayas 'metal alloy (Rgveda) Vikalpa 1: khambhaṛā 'fish fin' rebus: Ta. kampaṭṭam coinage, coin. Ma. kammaṭṭam, kammiṭṭam coinage, mint. Ka. k ammaṭa id.; kammaṭi a coiner. (DEDR 1236) Vikalpa 2: badhoṛ ‘a species of fish with many bones’ (Santali) Rebus: baḍhoe ‘a carpenter, worker in wood’; badhoria ‘expert in working in wood’(Santali)
gaṇḍa 'four' Rebus: khaṇḍa 'metal implements' Together with cognate ancu 'iron' the message is: native metal implements.Thus, the hieroglyph multiplex reads: aya ancu khaṇḍa 'metallic iron alloy implements'.koḍi ‘flag’ (Ta.)(DEDR 2049). Rebus 1: koḍ ‘workshop’ (Kuwi) Rebus 2: khŏḍ m. ‘pit’, khö̆ḍü f. ‘small pit’ (Kashmiri. CDIAL 3947)pōlaḍu 'black drongo' rebus: polad 'steel. See painted Nausharo pot with zebu + black drongo:A seal-cum-pendant, made out of steatite. The hieroglyphs are: Squirrel, wild ass, goat.*śrēṣṭrī1 ʻ clinger ʼ. [√śriṣ1]Phal. šē̃ṣṭrĭ̄ ʻ flying squirrel ʼ?(CDIAL 12723) Rebus: guild master khāra, 'squirrel', rebus: khār खार् 'blacksmith' (Kashmiri). *śrēṣṭrī1 ʻ clinger ʼ. [√śriṣ1] Phal. šē̃ṣṭrĭ̄ ʻ flying squirrel ʼ? (CDIAL 12723) Rebus: śrēṣṭhin m. ʻ distinguished man ʼ AitBr., ʻ foreman of a guild ʼ, °nī -- f. ʻ his wife ʼ Hariv. [śrḗṣṭha -- ] Pa. seṭṭhin -- m. ʻ guild -- master ʼ, Dhp. śeṭhi, Pk. seṭṭhi -- , siṭṭhi -- m., °iṇī -- f.; S. seṭhi m. ʻ wholesale merchant ʼ; P. seṭh m. ʻ head of a guild, banker ʼ,seṭhaṇ, °ṇī f.; Ku.gng. śēṭh ʻ rich man ʼ; N. seṭh ʻ banker ʼ; B. seṭh ʻ head of a guild, merchant ʼ; Or. seṭhi ʻ caste of washermen ʼ; Bhoj. Aw.lakh. sēṭhi ʻ merchant, banker ʼ, H. seṭh m., °ṭhan f.; G. śeṭh, śeṭhiyɔ m. ʻ wholesale merchant, employer, master ʼ.khara Equus hemionus, 'Indian wild ass' Rebus: khār ‘blacksmith’ (Kashmiri)mlekh 'goat' rebus: milakkhu 'copper'mlecha ‘copper’ A seal-cum-pendant, made out of steatite.A seal-cum-pendant, made out of steatite, found in the "key trench" at 4MSR. One one side are engravings of figures of a dog, a mongoose and, perhaps, a goat. On the other are the figures of a frog and a deer. The pendant belongs to the Early Harappan period (3000-2600 BCE). The pendant, with a knob-like projection at the top, had a hole too for a cord to pass through so that it could be worn around the neck [Credit: V. Vedachalam]Hieroglyph: Kur. mūxā frog. Malt. múqe id. / Cf. Skt. mūkaka- id. (DEDR 5023) Rebus: mū̃h 'ingot'. muhã 'quantity of metal produced at one time in a native smelting furnace.'. miṇḍā́l 'markhor' (CDIAL 10310) Rebus: meḍ (Ho.); mẽṛhet 'iron' (Munda.Ho.). med ‘copper’ (Slavic) 
Santali glosses.Binjor. Potsherd with painted saffloweer. karaḍā 'safflower'
.करडी [ karaḍī ] id. rebus: kaaraḍā 'hard alloy' (Marathi) Allograph: The bird hieroglyph: karaḍa करण्ड m. a sort of duck L. కారండవము (p. 0274) [ kāraṇḍavamu ] kāraṇḍavamu. [Skt.] n. A sort of duck. (Telugu) karaṭa1 m. ʻ crow ʼ BhP., °aka -- m. lex. [Cf. karaṭu -- , karkaṭu -- m. ʻ Numidian crane ʼ, karēṭu -- , °ēṭavya -- , °ēḍuka -- m. lex., karaṇḍa2 -- m. ʻ duck ʼ lex: see kāraṇḍava -- ]Pk. karaḍa -- m. ʻ crow ʼ, °ḍā -- f. ʻ a partic. kind of bird ʼ; S. karaṛa -- ḍhī˜gu m. ʻ a very large aquatic bird ʼ; L. karṛā m., °ṛī f. ʻ the common teal ʼ.(CDIAL 2787) Rebus: karaḍā 'hard alloy' dāṭu 'cross' rebus: dhatu = mineral (Santali) Hindi. dhāṭnā 'to send out, pour out, cast (metal)' PLUS koḍa 'one' Rebus: koḍ 'workshop'. Thus, mineral (metal) casting workshop.
Parallels from other examples of Indus Script Corpora
A zebu bullA zebu bull tied to a post; a bird above. Large painted storage jar discovered in burned rooms at Nausharo, ca. 2600 to 2500 BCE. See Susa pot with zebu + fish + black drongo:Below the rim of the storage pot, the contents are described in Sarasvati Script hieroglyphs/hypertexts: 1. Flowing water; 2. fish with fin; 3. aquatic bird tied to a rope Rebus readings of these hieroglyphs/hypertexts signify metal implements from the Meluhha mint.
Clay storage pot discovered in Susa (Acropole mound), ca. 2500-2400 BCE (h. 20 ¼ in. or 51 cm). Musee du Louvre. Sb 2723 bis (vers 2450 avant J.C.)The hieroglyphs and Meluhha rebus readings on this pot from Meluhha are: 1. kāṇḍa 'water' rebus: khāṇḍā 'metal equipment'; 2. aya, ayo 'fish' rebus: aya 'iron' ayas 'metal alloy'; khambhaṛā 'fish fin' rebus: kammaṭ a 'mint, coiner, coinage' 3. pōlaḍu 'black drongo' rebus: polad 'steel. Vikalpa: करड m. a sort of duck -- f. a partic. kind of bird ; S. karaṛa -ḍhī˜gu m. a very large aquatic bird (CDIAL 2787) karaṇḍa‘duck’ (Samskrtam) rebus: karaḍā 'hard alloy'; PLUS 4. meṛh 'rope tying to post, pillar’ rebus meḍ‘iron’ med ‘copper’ (Slavic)Thus, the text of Indus Script inscription on the Binjor Seal reads: 'metallic iron alloy implements, hard alloy workshop' PLUS the hieroglyphs of one-horned young bull PLUS standard device in front read rebus:kõda 'young bull, bull-calf' rebus: kõdā 'to turn in a lathe'; kōnda 'engraver, lapidary'; kundār 'turner'.kundana 'fine gold'. Ta. kuntaṉam interspace for setting gems in a jewel; fine gold (< Te.). Ka. kundaṇa setting a precious stone in fine gold; fine gold; kundana fine gold. Tu.kundaṇa pure gold. Te. kundanamu fine gold used in very thin foils in setting precious stones; setting precious stones with fine gold. (DEDR 1725)Hieroglyph: sãghāṛɔ 'lathe'.(Gujarati) Rebus: sangara 'proclamation' sangara 'trade'. Together, the message of the Binjor Seal with inscribed text is a proclamation, a metalwork catalogue (of) 'metallic iron alloy implements, hard alloy workshop'.Three characteristic hieroglyphs -- bos indicus (zebu), black drongo, and fish PLUS fish-fins' constitute a Hypertext expression to signify a mint working with cast iron and alloy metal. Three hieroglyph components of the expression are:1. पोळ pōḷa, 'Zebu, bos indicus' pōlaḍu, 'black drongo' rebus: pōlaḍ 'steel'
2 मेढा mēḍhā A twist or tangle arising in thread or cord, a curl or snarl rebus: med 'iron' med 'copper' (Slavic) medhā 'dhana, yajna'. This is a semantic determinant of the hieroglyph पोळ pōḷa, 'Zebu, bos indicus' rebus: पोळ pōḷa, 'magnetite, ferrite ore' 3. ayo 'fish' rebus: ayas 'alloy metal' PLUS khambhaṛā ʻfish-finʼ rebus: kammaṭi a coiner (Ka.); kampaṭṭam coinage, coin, mint (Ta.) kammaṭa = mint, gold furnace (Te.)
The hypertext expression is demonstrated in a number of examples from Sindhu-Sarasvati (Indus) Script Corpora in this monograph.पोळ pōḷa, 'Zebu, bos indicus' of Sarasvati Script corpora is rebus:pōlāda 'steel', pwlad (Russian), fuladh(Persian) folādī (Pashto) pōḷa 'zebu' rebus: pōḷa 'magnetite, ferrite ore) pōladu 'black drongo bird' rebus: pōḷad 'steel' The semantics of bull (zebu) PLUS black drongo bird are the reason why the terracotta bird is shown with a bull's head as a phonetic determinative to signify 'steel/magnetite ferrite ore'.
పోలడు (p. 820) pōlaḍu , పోలిగాడు or దూడలపోలడుpōlaḍu. [Tel.] n. An eagle. పసులపోలిగాడు the bird called the Black Drongo. Dicrurus ater. (F.B.I.) rebus: pōlaḍu 'steel' (Russian. Persian) PLUS wings/plumage
Black drongo birdపసి (p. 730) pasi pasi. [from Skt. పశువు.] n. Cattle. పశుసమూహము, గోగణము. The smell of cattle, పశ్వాదులమీదిగాలి, వాసన. పసిపట్టు pasi-paṭṭu. To scent or follow by the nose, as a dog does a fox. పసిగొను to trace out or smell out. వాసనపట్టు. మొసలి కుక్కను పసిపట్టి when the crocodile scented the dog. పసులు pasulu. n. plu. Cattle, గోవులు. పసిగాపు pasi-gāpu. n. A herdsman, గోపకుడు పసితిండి pasi-tinḍi. n. A tiger, పెద్దపులి. పసులపోలిగాడు pasula-pōli-gāḍu. n. The Black Drongo or King crow, Dicrurusater. (F.B.I.) ఏట్రింత. Also, the Adjutant. తోకపసులపోలిగాడు the Raquet-tailed Drongo shrike. Jerdon. No. 55. 56. 59. కొండ పనులపోలిగాడు the White bellied Drongo, Dicrurus coerulescens. వెంటికపనుల పోలిగాడు the Hair-crested Drongo, Chibia hottentotta. టెంకిపనుల పోలిగాడు the larger Racket-tailed Drongo, Dissemurus paradiseus (F.B.I.) పసులవాడు pasula-vāḍu. n. A herdsman, గొల్లవాడు."With short legs, they sit upright on thorny bushes, bare perches or electricity wires. They may also perch on grazing animals."(Whistler, Hugh (1949). Popular handbook of Indian birds (4th ed.). Gurney and Jackson, London. pp. 155–157.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_ drongo Hieroglyph: eagle పోలడు [ pōlaḍu ] , పోలిగాడు or దూడలపోలడు pōlaḍu. [Tel.] n. An eagle. పసులపోలిగాడు the bird called the Black Drongo. Dicrurus ater. (F.B.I.)(Telugu) पोळ pōḷa ' zebu' & pōlaḍu 'black drongo' signify polad 'steel. పోలడు (p. 820) pōlaḍu , పోలిగాడు or దూడలపోలడుpōlaḍu. [Tel.] n. An eagle. పసులపోలిగాడు the bird called the Black Drongo. Dicrurus ater. (F.B.I.) rebus: pōlaḍu 'steel' (Russian. Persian) PLUS wings/plumagePLUS*skambha2 ʻ shoulder -- blade, wing, plumage ʼ. [Cf. *skapa -- s.v. *khavaka -- ]S. khambhu, °bho m. ʻ plumage ʼ, khambhuṛi f. ʻ wing ʼ; L. khabbh m., mult. khambh m. ʻ shoulder -- blade, wing, feather ʼ, khet. khamb ʻ wing ʼ, mult. khambhaṛā m. ʻ fin ʼ; P. khambh m. ʻ wing, feather ʼ; G. khā̆m f., khabhɔ m. ʻ shoulder ʼ.(CDIAL 13640) rebus: Central Asia seal. Bird (eagle) PLUS wings. ಕಮ್ಮಟ kammaṭa 'mint' kambāṟa 'blacksmith'.A text from Mulavarman Yupa inscription of the historical periods evokes the same expression bahusuvarṇakam used by Vālmīki. The key expressions on the Mulavarman Yupa inscription (D.175) are in Samskritam and one fragment reads: yaṣṭvā bahusuvarṇakam; tasya yajñasya yūpo ‘yam. This means "from yaṣṭi to possess many gold pieces; this Yupa is a commemoration of that yajna."The first yupa studied by Vogel (1918) mentions a Soma Yaga called बहुसुवर्णक bahusuvarṇaka adj. Possessing many gold pieces This expression is used twice in the Ramayana (as noted by Chhabra, 1947, pp. 77-82).The translation of the quote from Ramayana : "Thereupon that foremost of twice born ones Usanas of austere penances, wishing the prosperity of the sacrifice, said to Ravana the Rakshasa chief "Hear,I shal relate to thee everything, O king ;thy son hath met with the fruits of many a sacrifice Agnistoma,Asvamedha, Bahusuvarnaka." (Valmiki Ramayana 7.30)बहु--हिरण्य [p= 726,1] mf(आ)n.rich in gold A1pS3r.m. N. of an एकाह commonly called दूणाश Ka1tyS3r.दूणाश a. Difficult to destroy. Mulavarman's yupa inscription described the soma yaga as बहुसुवर्णक, bahusuvarṇaka, the same metaphorical expression used in the epic Valmiki Ramayana, sto ignify creation and distribution of wealth. Every one of the 19 yupa inscriptions are on octagonal-shaped pillars and relate to the performance of soma yajña categories of अहीन सत्त्र (performed for 2-12 days, for more than 12 days).'यज्ञो वै मेधः'इति श्रुतेः । एकविंशति- मेधान्ते Mb.14.29.18. (com. मेधो युद्धयज्ञः । 'यज्ञो वै मेधः'इति श्रुतेः ।)All the 19 yupa inscriptions recorded in Epigraphia Indica are अहीन or सत्त्र soma yajña lasting for over 2 days.यष्ट्वा बहुसुवर्णकम् (Expression used in Mulavarman's yupa inscription)
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