INDUS VALLEY SCRIPT

 

For: Mains

Topics covered: Indus valley inscription/ script, Major findings, Epigraphic analysis

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News Flash

A recent research paper has claimed that the majority of Indus Valley inscriptions were written logographically (by using word signs) and not by using phonograms (speech sounds units).

Research paper titled ‘Interrogating Indus inscription to unravel their mechanism of meaning conveyance’ points out that the inscriptions can be compared to the structured messages found on stamps, coupons, tokens and currency coins of modern times.

 

Objective

• This research mainly focuses on understanding how Indus inscriptions conveyed meanings, rather than on deciphering what they conveyed.
• So far, inscriptions from the ancient civilization have remained an enigma.

 

Epigraphic analysis

Discovered from almost 4,000 ancient inscribed objects, including ivory rods, seals, pottery shards, tablets, etc., the Indus inscriptions are one of the most enigmatic legacies of the Indus Valley civilization which have not been deciphered because of the absence of bilingual writings/texts, extreme brevity of the inscriptions, and obliviousness about the language(s) encoded by Indus script.

 

Key Findings

• The inscribed tablets and seals were used in some administrative operation that controlled the commercial transactions in trade settlements.
• These inscriptions can be compared to the messages found on tokens, coupons, stamps and currency coins of modern times.
• It is revealed by researchers that the popular hypothesis that the seals were inscribed with Proto-Dravidian or Proto-Indo-European names of the seal-owners does not hold ground.

 

Way forward

This study could serve as a basis in the future for the deciphering of the script.

 

Source: The Hindu

 

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