Koluvail Vyasaraya Ramesh (8 June 1935 – 10 July 2013) was an Indian epigraphist and

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

scholar who served as Chief Epigraphist and Joint Director General of the

Archaeological Survey of India The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is an Indian government agency that is responsible for archaeological research and the conservation and preservation of cultural historical monuments in the country. It was founded in 1861 by Alexande ...

(ASI).

Early life and education

Born in Palakkad, Kerala on 8 June 1935 into a Tulu-speaking Mangalorean family, Ramesh obtained a master's degrees in Sanskrit and literature from the University of Madras and a doctorate from the

Karnatak University Karnatak University is a public state university in Dharwad district of Karnataka state, India. The university is recognized by University Grants Commission (India), University Grants Commission and accredited by National Assessment and Accre ...

Dharwad Dharwad (), also known as Dharwar, is a city located in the north western part of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is the headquarters of the Dharwad district of Karnataka and forms a contiguous urban area with the city of Hubballi. It was merge ...

In the ASI

In 1956, Ramesh joined the Archaeological Survey of India as epigraphical assistant and was posted to Ootacamund. He became Deputy Superintending Epigraphist of the Chennai circle in 1966, Superintending Epigraphist in 1976 and Chief Epigraphist in 1984. As Superintending epigraphist, Ramesh succeeded

G. S. Gai G. S. Gai (Govind Swamirao Gai) (3 March 1917 – 5 February 1995) was an Indian epigraphist, historical linguist, and historian, known for his expertise in early-medieval Kannada language inscriptions. From 1962 until 1976, Gai was the Chief Ep ...

as the editor of ASI's bulletin ''

Epigraphia Indica ''Epigraphia Indica'' was the official publication of Archaeological Survey of India from 1882 to 1977. The first volume was edited by James Burgess in the year 1882. Between 1892 and 1920 it was published as a quarterly supplement to ''The Indi ...

'' and edited the last two volumes in 1975-76 and 1977-78. Ramesh became a Joint Director General of the ASI in May 1992 and served until his retirement in June 1993. Post-retirement, Ramesh served as Honorary Director of the Oriental Research Institute, Mysore from 1998 to 2006.

Views on Tamil-Brahmi

Ramesh believed that the

Tamil-Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi, also known as Tamizhi or Damili, was a variant of the Brahmi script in southern India. It was used to write inscriptions in the early form of Old Tamil.Richard Salomon (1998) ''Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscription ...

script was pre-Asokan and that it originated as a South Indian script which was later adapted to write an

Indo-Iranian language The Indo-Iranian languages (also Indo-Iranic languages or Aryan languages) constitute the largest and southeasternmost extant branch of the Indo-European language family (with over 400 languages), predominantly spoken in the geographical subre ...

. When pottery bearing Tamil-Brahmi script found at Porunthal was radiocarbon dated to 490 BC, Ramesh cited the discovery in support of his claim.

Personal life

Dr. K.V. Ramesh married his wife Prema in 1963 and had three daughters. He retired as a Joint Director General of ASI in New Delhi. Throughout Dr. Ramesh's career, he traveled extensively throughout India and around the world to countries in Europe, Asia and the U.S, consulting as an expert epigraphist.

Death

Dr. K.V. Ramesh died at his home in

Mysore Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude of ...

on 10 July 2013.

Honours

Dr. K.V. Ramesh was fluent in Kannada, Sanskrit, English, Hindi, Tulu, Malayalam, Telugu and Tamil. He was awarded the "Karnataka Purathathva Ratna" award in 2010. He published four books in Kannada and nine books in English.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramesh, K. V. 1936 births 2013 deaths Kannada-language writers 20th-century Indian archaeologists Presidency College, Chennai alumni Karnatak University alumni Indian epigraphers Scientists from Chennai Indian Sanskrit scholars 20th-century Indian linguists