4 comments on “Indus Script, the earliest writing system of South Asia, may even earliest in the World”

1. Bhupinder Singh

   September 3, 2010

   

   ‘The Significance of Indus Script Cipher’

   Dr. Vijaya Rajiva (Haindava Keralam 03/09/2010)

   The book ‘Indus Script Cipher’ (Sarasvati Center, June 2010) by Dr.S.Kalyanraman, Director of the Sarasvati Center, is a prodigious effort in deciphering the Indus Valley Script which is found in hundreds of seals discovered in Harappa, Mohenjo Daro and other sites on the Sindhu-Sarasvati rivers. The majority of the finds are from the Sarasvati site. As the reader knows, the Sarasvati river is that mightly river mentioned some 75 times in the Rig Veda. It disappeared sometime in 1,800 BCE owing primarily to techtonic shifts and this fact has been confirmed by recent satellite photography.

   The Indus script, like the Egyptian one, is a hieroglyphic : sacred carving. The word is from Greek, hiero (sacred) and glyph (carving). However, Dr. Kalyanraman while retaining the use of the word ‘hieroglyphic’ is at pains to point out that the Indus seals are not all sacred. In fact, most have a secular meaning and practical use.

   For the last one hundred years or so, there have been attempts to decipher this script, which Dr.Kalyanraman advisedly calls a Cipher, meaning that it is a secret code. His view is that these secret codes were carved on various seals by the Artisans of the Indus Valley Civilisation as it is now called) to communicate messages to their fellow artisans and merchants in foreign countries, chiefly Mesopotamia and regions in the Middle East.

   A good example is the swastika which stands for the zinc ore which makes objects bright and shining. A merchant or trader would immediately understand the contents of the boxes being shipped to him. The secrecy was most likely to protect the cargo from pirates and other marauders. Often the picture would also send a signal to the trader as to how the item was manufactured. And so on and so forth.

   Many scholars in the field have been unable to decipher the Indus script and some have abandoned the search for decipherment. . . . .

   Dr. Kalyanraman’s work extending over a period of 20 years plus, brings a new dimension to the problem, and builds a persuasive case for decipherment. He elaborates on the method he uses for this decipherment and the book touches if not directly, indirectly, on some interesting questions:

   1. The nature of language and human communication
   2. The identity of the peoples of the Indus Valley (circa 3,500 BCE)
   3. The continuity of the Indus Valley Civilisation
   4. The language community of the diverse languages of Bharat
   5. Possibilites of decipherment.

   The book is currently available at Amazon.co and most likely has hit bookstores in Bharat. The editors of HK have tastefully reproduced the coverdesign of the book.

   http://haindavakeralam.com/HKPage.aspx?PageID=12028

   N.B.

   A copy of the introduction to the 2500 page Indian Lexicon may be seen for a reference to the historical context for the formation and evolution of Indian languages. Pages 267 to 292 of Indian Lexicon: Introduction. May be downloaded/read at http://www.docstoc.com/docs/52936775/introlexicon

   a. The multi-lingual Indian Lexicon is available for search by any word in any language, downloadable/can be read at http://www.scribd.com/doc/2232617/lexicon

   b. A book review by V. Sundaram of the Indian Lexicon (6 pages) is at http://www.docstoc.com/docs/50190786/Indian-Lexicon

   I hope the work will promote further studies in the evolution of Indian languages,

   I repudiate and disagree with Asko Parpola’s claim. I have also given reasons why I disagree with his and Iravatham Mahadevan’s ‘readings’. I do not know if there is any reference to the pictorial motifs or field symbols — svastika, standard device, fish etc. — in their works nor to the continued use of hieroglyphs in the Indian tradition (e.g. Sohgaura copper plate, Rampurva copper bolt, tens of thousands of punch-marked coins, sculptures of Bharhut, Sanchi, glyphs on Jaina aayaagapaTTas and in Khandagiri caves).

   There is no invocation of Brahui. On the contrary, a number of semantic clusters are cited from ALL Indian languages to establish the sprachbund (language union or Indian linguistic area of all language families).

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2. Peggy Dobbins

   September 4, 2010

   

   This view of the signs on the seals as used to label or tag trade goods reminds me of the work of Dryer at Abydos. Both seem evidence to me of stages in the evolution of writing. Very exciting and highly welcome approach.

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4. S. M. Sullivan

   August 6, 2012

   

   Persons interested in Indus script are invited to take part in discussions on Facebook at the ‘Indus Script Dictionary’ page, where there are many photos of seals and inscriptions, and a new sign list for use in deciphering attempts.

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