The Deciphered Indus Script

Author

Jha, N.

Description

The Indus Valley Civilization, also known as the Harappan, is one of the world’s earliest civilizations. Since its discovery by Indian and British archaeologists in 1921, this civilization has been studied extensively by archaeologists, historians, anthropologists, and of course Indologists.

Several thousand seals with both writing and pictures on them have been discovered at these locations, which have long attracted the attention of researchers. Despite this, the script has remained undeciphered, and no one has read the text. This is a significant gap in our understanding of history; nevertheless, there are numerous theories attempting to explain the society.

The idea of an Aryan invasion of India in the early second millenium BC is to blame for the deadlock: Proto Dravidians, a nonexistent people who spoke a non-existent language, have been credited with the accomplishments of the Harappan Civilization.

The works that they wrote have been sought to be deciphered by imposing this fictitious language on these actual people living in this real culture. As a result, the bulk of ancient Indian writings is sought to be separated from them. The present work is concerned with the study of the Indus script and its solution. It presents a method for reading the Indus script based on paleography and Vedic grammar, as well as an analysis of existing texts describing it.

These illustrate the approach and also shed new light on the Harappans and their ties to the Vedic Culture.

The seals’ language is Vedic Sanskrit, and many of them contain terms and phrases that are derived from the ancient Vedic glossary Nighantu, which was compiled from still earlier sources by Yaska. The language is less antiquated than that of the Rigveda, and it resembles more closely to the later Vedic texts such as the Sutras and Upanishads. The work’s scope is somewhat broader than what its title suggests, including not only placing the Harappans in their appropriate historical context but also discussing evidence for linguistic continuity between ancient South Asia and contemporary India.

The Vedic people, who had been a silent enigma until now, speak to us again and in a way that we can all understand–the Sanskrit. The converse is also true: we now have an archaeological and geographic backdrop for the Vedic Aryans. The Harappan civilization predated the Vedic Age. These discoveries have implications beyond India—potentially leading to a shift in our perspective on the origin of civilization.

The Vedic civilization of the Sarasvati heartland, according to Bisht, has been demonstrated to have planned towns dating back to the fourth millennium. The Vedic Civilization of the Sarasvati heartland must date back at least to the fifth century. As a result, the notion that civilization began in Mesopotamia’s river valleys is no longer tenable. The Sarasvati Valley may now claim as its birthplace of civilization.