Indus valley civilization script

 deciphering indus script parpola

Indus_script

The Indus Valley Script (or Harappan Script) is the undeciphered writing system of the Indus Valley Civilization (c. 2600–1900 BCE), found on short inscriptions on seals, pottery, and tablets, featuring pictographic and abstract symbols, often written right-to-left or boustrophedonically (alternating directions). Despite being the earliest known writing in the Indian subcontinent, its meaning remains a mystery due to the lack of bilingual texts and the brevity of inscriptions, though scholars propose it was a logosyllabic system possibly used for trade or administration.

Key Features & Characteristics

• Nature: Pictographic and possibly logosyllabic (combining logograms and syllables).
• Symbols: Around 250-400 distinct symbols, including human/animal figures and abstract signs.
• Direction: Often right-to-left; some longer texts use boustrophedon (alternating directions).
• Artifacts: Found mainly on small seals, copper tablets, pottery, and terracotta.
• Inscription Length: Very short, averaging around 5 symbols, with the longest being 26 symbols.

Challenges to Decipherment

• No Bilingual Texts: Unlike Egyptian hieroglyphs or Sumerian cuneiform, no Indus text has been found alongside a known script (a "Rosetta Stone").
• Shortness: The brief inscriptions make it hard to determine if they represent a full language or just symbols/notations.

Theories & Potential Links

• Dravidian Hypothesis: Suggests links to Dravidian languages, using the rebus principle (symbols representing sounds).
• Sanskrit Connection: Some recent (though debated) theories propose links to Vedic Sanskrit, identifying names and themes related to Shiva/Rudra and Rigvedic poets.
• Administrative/Trade Use: Likely used for trade, tax records, and identification, potentially as a symbolic marking system rather than a phonetic language.

Current Status

• The script remains largely undeciphered, with ongoing debate and research into its nature and meaning
  
  
  
  

  Abstract

  Indus inscriptions hold the key to unlocking the history of pre-Iron Age India and all Indo-European peoples but remain undeciphered for over a century. All prior attempts have been partial, unsatisfactory and unfalsifiable. We decipher the Indus script by treating it as a large cryptogram as described by Claude Shannon. We decipher every sign sequentially using regular expressions and set-intersection. Indus script is discovered to be proto-abugida segmental with signs for consonants and vowels. Indus inscriptions are in grammatically correct post-Vedic Sanskrit. Variants of 76 allographs constitute most signs. Conjunct signs constitute the rest. Our decipherment can read every inscription and we translate 500+ inscriptions including the 50+ longest, 50+ shortest and 400+ medium-sized inscriptions including 100+ inscriptions with conjunct signs. We comfortably surpass Shannon’s criteria for a credible cryptogram decipherment. Brahmi glyphs are discovered to be standardized Indus signs. We find significant continuation of Indus linguistic features and cultural elements in post-bronze age India.

  Key takeaways

  

  AI

  1. The Indus script is deciphered as a proto-abugida in grammatically correct post-Vedic Sanskrit.
  2. Decipherment includes over 500 inscriptions, revealing 76 allographs and numerous conjunct signs.
  3. Shannon’s criteria for credible cryptographic decipherment are surpassed by this analysis.
  4. Indus script signs show significant continuity in post-bronze age Indian culture and language.
  5. Brahmi glyphs are standardized forms of Indus signs, indicating a direct linguistic evolution.