The Oldest Settlements in South India: The Keeladi Excavations

How old are the oldest settlements in south India? What did the recent excavations at Keeladi and other places along the Vaigai and Porunai (Thamirabarani) rivers reveal?

For a long time, it was believed that south India had no ancient urban civilisations like in the north. While the Sangam Period (dated 300 BCE – 300 CE) literature talks of a sophisticated Tamil civilisation, there was no concrete archaeological proof to back it up…until the path-breaking Keeladi excavations that started in 2015.

A series of digs carried out by the Archaeological Survey of India in a little village near Madurai unearthed artefacts dating back at least to the 6th century BCE. This included pottery fragments with graffiti marks very similar to the Indus Valley script.

But Keeladi isn’t the first or only place to offer evidence of ancient settlements in Tamil Nadu. Adichanallur, Korkai, Pallavaram, Attirampakkam and many more sites have thrown up an array of amazing artefacts over the last 100 years or so, including the oldest human tool to be ever discovered in India - a hand-axe that was discovered in Pallavaram, part of present-day Chennai. It’s only in recent years that the pieces of the jigsaw have started coming together. Archaeologists believe that many more exciting discoveries, possibilities and answers are waiting to be found at this site.

#keeladi #keezhadi #Adichanallur #Korkai #sangamliterature #Porunai #thamirabarani #Vaigai #IndusVallley #indusvalleycivilisation #VediCivilisation #anicientcivilisations #madurai #Agaram #Pallavaram #Egmore #southindianhistory #indianhistory #chennai #storytrails #storiesofindia #tamilnadutourism

Produced in partnership with:
The Egmore Museum, Chennai

Editing credits: Studio A, Chennai

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[bobjuniel]

200, 000 years of human habitation is an enormously long period of human existence in Tamil Nadu, India. ✅ From Australia

[almas]

I am from Malaysia and I have always respected the culture and values of the Tamils here in my country. I have always expected the Tamils to have a higher and longer civilization than what we have been told. I have just subscribed. TQ.

[ruturajtalkies]

Being a North Indian i feel more homely in TAMIL NADU .. People are humble and sweet.. specially the language TAMIL ❤️ you can feel the beauty once you started learning 🤩 and please don’t fall into some political agenda which is temporary but the connection with people is PERMANENT ❤️

[dushyanthk]

Am from tamilnadu.... Thank you very much for the work... வாழ்க தமிழ் வளர்க தமிழ்.

[SachinSingh]

I have huge respect for the great Tamil language and culture! And I'm happy to see many in North India also realising the fact that instead of imposing Hindi, we can all celebrate Tamil

[complimentary_voucher]

As a non-Indian who appreciates Subcontinental culture, thank you for this Tamil/southern story, I'm tired of hearing about the North lol (no disrespect to the North). Obviously there is so much more to discover with the important trading connections etc, must be an exciting field right now. Cheers from NZ.

[gani]

The first unbiased coverage for a Tamil Civilization. Thanks for the details.

[sagebay]

As an American, I LOVE this channel. This video was very well put-together. I appreciate that. Thank you.

[nareshnarayanan]

Thank you for this commendable work, Do continue making quality content like this. Thanks from TN❤️

[prashanthreddy]

My love and respects to Tamil Nadu from Hyderabad, Telangana.

[BetsyMagee-fz]

I'm a New Yorker, but always searching for information on South India. This is such a well presented piece with such fascinating info. thank you.

[kalain]

Wow! all the Tamizh names were pronounced exactly as they should be. Kudos for that! Wonderful coverage of civilization from this part of the world.

[expt]

This is so fascinating. Entire account of India's civilization has been so focused on Indus valley that other regions with historical importance were neglected.

[shivshankarjangala]

I am from Hyderabad, I worked at Madurai for more than 3 years. The people of Tamilnadu are very cooperative and kind hearted! Anybody can live in Tamilnadu peacefully. I also believe the Dravidian people and culture are the oldest and original indian.

[bharathkumar]

Proud of Tamil Nadu, Heritage, Culture, History, Greatness and still holding them tight even after many invasions --- A Telugu Neighbor

[sfsen]

Tamil Nadu, the mother ❤❤❤❤ - Love from kerala

[KARAYAMSAN]

Proud of this pride... much ❤️ from Sri Lanka 🇱🇰

[arvind]

I grew up in the banks of palar (kanchi) and a part of my childhood was in madurai (both places very close to the excavation sites). Brings tears to my eyes knowing that the groud beneath me nurtured civilizations 10s of thousands of years into the past. Really humbled and feel eternally grateful for having been born in such a blessed land. Thank you so much for this video. 🙏

[heetendragupta]

Happy to hear about one of our ancient civilizations. I am a Hindi speaking person from North India, but I must say, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam all are my countries languages and none is more or less important than other, they are all equally important and must be respected equally. :)

[shawnh]

I live in the same land where One of the World's first dam was built, #TheKallanai built by Karikala Chozhan during the Sangam era
Just gives me tears to know we the Thamizh people have a legendary past.