Contrary to what everybody believes as established fact that first freedom struggle in India took place in 1857, a Gondi king with the help of Muslims fought against the British in 1730 and even sent a minister to bring army from Afghanistan.

“Britishers hanged about 300 people for revolting, all this we got to know after reading Gunjala Gondi manuscripts,’’ said V Krishna, professor, Centre for Dalit and Adivasi Studies and Translation, University of Hyderabad (UoH) on Friday at the recitation programme of Gunjala Gondi Script organised on the occasion of World Heritage Day at Potti Sriramulu Telugu University.

He said when manuscripts written in Gondi script were found in Gunjala village, Adilabad district, only four people were left who were able to read the script. “With the intention of preserving the script for posterity, we are going to document the script in audio and video format,” said Krishna.

At the programme, Kotnak Jangu, one of the few who can read the script recited a few phrases from the manuscripts. “I have written my biography in the script and teaching it to youngsters of the village,” said Kotnak.

With a very few people left who can read the script, efforts are being made to teach it to the current generation. It will be taught at 15 schools in Adilabad district, said Jayadhir Tirumal Rao, visiting professor at CDAST who has been working on revival of the script for the past couple of years adding that Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA) is providing funds for research on the script and came forward to establish a research centre for the script.

Appreciating the efforts of the centre in preserving the script, Ramakrishna Ramaswamy, vice chancellor, UoH said that though scripts were excavated at Mohenjo-daro, no body was equipped to read and understand them. “Now with this work of the professors, Gondi script can be integrated with its culture and sounds of the language,” said Ramaswamy. “In the future, we will teach the script to Koya, Khond, Andh tribes also. We request the government to introduce the script in all the scheduled areas,” appealed Tirumal Rao.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Hyderabad / by Express News Service – Hyderabad / April 19th, 2014