Indus Script: An Enduring Puzzle
The history of scripts and languages is as old as the development of human civilisation. The story of the writings on rocks, clay, earthen and metallic objects dates to thousands of years back and with the inception of archaeological researches, thousands of epigraphs inscribed in a variety of classical scripts and languages have been so far discovered and deciphered. Notwithstanding the wonderful archaeological works undertaken by experts, there are still certain scripts and epigraphs which have become a mystery for the epigraphers and researchers.
In this context mention may be made of Indus Alphabet, which is perhaps the oldest Alphabet of the subcontinent, despite successive efforts made by the archaeologists and paleaographers had not been de-coded yet. While on the other hand, the major epigraphs of other classical scripts and languages found in the subcontinent has mostly been identified and deciphered.
But no body till date has succeeded in decoding the Indus Alphabet. Although there has been various claims from different Indian and Pakistani scholars to have decoded this script. In the recent times two Indian scholars namely —Bahata Mukhopadhyay and Bharath Rao aka Yajnadevam—have also tried to crack this elusive script, but virtually no such breakthrough has been made by anyone in understanding of this Alphabet. Ironically more recently Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin is learnt to have announced a million-dollar prize for anyone who could decode the enigmatic Indus Valley script. In fact it has become one of ancient Indian history’s enduring puzzles, which is beyond one’s understanding.
Much has been already said and written about the Indus civilisation but its word yet stands unexplained. If this script is really decoded it may change the course of this civilisation and uncover the hidden history of this period.
The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is learnt now hosting a three-day-long international conference on cracking the Indus script with its title: Decipherment of Indus Script: Current Status and Way Forward. The agency is in search of James Prinsep ll who will decode this Alphabet. James Prinsep I, the English scholar was the first Epigraphist who deciphered the Brahmi and Kharoshti, the two other ancient Indian scripts. He, for his this outstanding discovery has been titled as the father of Indian epigraphy.
Prinsep’s most significant achievement was deciphering the Brahmi and Kharosthi scripts, which were used in ancient Indian inscriptions and coins. This breakthrough allowed scholars to read and interpret texts from a period previously shrouded in mystery.
Prinsep’s decipherment of the Brahmi script enabled him to unlock the meaning of Ashoka’s inscriptions, which are vital historical documents providing insights into his reign and the spread of Buddhism.
It is in place to mention that another British archaeologist Sir John Marshall is credited with discovering the Indus Valley Civilisation in 1924. The civilisation flourished across large parts of modern-day northwestern India and Pakistan, spanning about one million square kilometres.
The first official report on excavations at Mohenjo-daro was published in 1931, included a section on the Indus script. It catalogued distinct signs—mostly abstract geometric shapes, lines, and human or animal motifs—along with their variants.
Excavations at Indus Valley sites unearthed these script symbols on terracotta tablets, seals and pottery. But there was never any consensus on the exact number of symbols. According to ASI, a rough estimation of the Prinsepal characters puts it about 400 in numbers, but unofficially speaking the number of different symbols, motifs and other characters on these seals may be more higher. But we are not concerned about their number, our concern is with its decipherment and understanding. In fact various symbols encountered on these seals have been identified but what message these symbols carried and what these alphabets read has not been decoded yet.
More than a century has passed when these seals were found, the meaning of these writings on these Harappan objects remains a mystery. Indeed there have been efforts at individual and institutional level but the reality is that no body has succeeded in decoding of this Alphabet.
Let us hope this time, this fresh endeavour by ASI and the huge reward offered by the Tamil Nadu chief minister may attract some genius experts who could deliver some thing positive and make any breakthrough in solving this long pending Epigraphic puzzle of the subcontinent.
Let us also watch who will succeed James Prinsep and becomes Prinsep II.
Iqbal Ahmad, Senior Archaeologist
and Author.
