Communicative Practices and Societal Structures: Insights from Early Brahmi Inscriptions in Sri Lanka (3rd Century BCE–1st Century CE)

This study focuses on the communications found in early Brahmi inscriptions in Sri Lanka, shedding light on the social, cultural, economic, and religious practices of the period from the 3rd century BCE to the 1st century CE. The main data set for this study consists of 244 Early Brahmi inscriptions from the 3rd century BCE to the 1st century CE. Using the compilation of Nandasena Mudiyanse, the texts from the Mihintale inscriptions to the Madabavita inscriptions were analyzed to reveal the communicative practices of the period. The methodology used in this study is epigraphical analysis with some critical components. The inscriptions taken into the study had been discovered from a range of areas of the island, and reveal kinship, family structures, and particularities of community organization of contemporary society. As communicative practices are strong evidence for a societal ontology and function, these inscriptions, as strong evidence that is still extant, can be used to unearth the bureaucratic functions, administrative systems, belief systems, etc., in ancient Sri Lanka. The major finding of the study is that the communications preserved in Sri Lanka's early Brahmi inscriptions (3rd century BCE to 1st century CE) suggest the society of the period had a complex web of religious practices, nascent bureaucratic institutions, and relatively egalitarian gender relations. By analyzing these inscriptions, this study aims to understand the communicative intentions of ancient Sri Lankans and their implications.