Anaikoddai Seal (Jaffna, Sri Lanka) Anaikoddai seal (Sinhala: ආනෙයිකෝඩ්ඩේ ලෝහ මුද්රාව; Tamil: ஆனைக்கோட்டை முத்திரை) is a bronze seal discovered during an archaeological excavation done at a megalithic burial site in Anaikoddai in Jaffna District, Sri Lanka (Ragupathy, 1987). The excavation was organized by the University of Jaffna and it was conducted in December 1980, by K. Indrapala, P. Ragupathy, and S.K. Sitrampalam (Ragupathy, 1987). The seal was discovered by K. Krishnaraja of the same university (Dias, 2021). The Burial
The burial where the seal was found is the first megalithic burial complex discovered in the Jaffna Peninsula (Indrapala, 1987). A skeleton of around 5 ft. in height with folded hands in the front was found in the burial (Ragupathy, 1987). The skull of it was damaged due to the effect of a Palmyra root (Ragupathy, 1987). Remains of a variety of burial offerings such as crab shells, edible oyster shells, edible conch shells, turtle shells, various kinds of fish vertebrae, and animal bones had been …
Fisherman in Sanskrit is spelt kēvárta not Keverta. Likewise Sinhala Prakrit is descended from Prakrit not Sanskrit.
The Prakrit form for Fisherman is kēvāṭṭa or kēvāṭa. This is attested in one of the Ashoka edicts as �������� (kēvāṭa):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_Pillar_Edicts#Major_Pillar_Edict_5 (line 14, word 2)
The Sinhala Prakrit form would have had retroflexion as indicated by the medieval form kevuḷā.
kēvāṭa > kevuḷā
Established Sinhala phonology supports this:
"The intervocalic cerebrals (-ṭ-, -ṭh-, -ḍ-, -ḍh-) all become -ḷ - in Sgh"
https://www.jstor.org/stable/608679
(The phonology of the Sinhalese inscriptions - page 271)
Unlikely that Sinhala Prakrit lost the retroflexion from kēvāṭa and all other Prakrit forms, and then miraculously gained it back for the medieval form kevuḷā.
A chieftain signet ring reading kēvēta ���������� therefore can not represent the word kēvāṭa �������� (fisherman), a historically low status occupation.
Indrapala has since updated his reading in his 2005 book and now agrees with 'Koveta' (as does Mahadevan).
H.A.K.L. Manjula
A valuable and updated comment. The original source (Somadeva, 1998) says it is Kevarta not Keverta. The typing error was corrected after your comment.
Anonymous
Sanskrit influence is visible on Ceylonese Prakrit inscriptions. Here, Somadeva has argued that Keveta is the Ceylonese Prakrit form of the Kevarta in Sanskrit language. Identifying Keveta (fisherman) as a low status occupation is a poor argument because this is a legend belongs to the BC period and thought to be a ring related to a trade council. Discrimination on caste or occupation is a common thing in Tamil society but it is doubtful here as this seal represents the pre-christian era.
