Indus script

The Indus script, also known as the Harappan script and the Indus Valley script, is a corpus of symbols produced by the Indus Valley Civilisation. Most inscriptions containing these symbols are extremely short, making it difficult to judge whether or not they constituted a writing system used to record a Harappan language, any of which are yet to be identified.^[3] Despite many attempts,^[4] the "script" has not yet been deciphered. There is no known bilingual inscription to help decipher the script,^[5] which shows no significant changes over time. However, some of the syntax (if that is what it may be termed) varies depending upon location.^[3]

The first publication of a seal with Harappan symbols dates to 1875,^[6] in a drawing by Alexander Cunningham.^[7] By 1992, an estimated 4,000 inscribed objects had been discovered,^[8] some as far afield as Mesopotamia due to existing Indus–Mesopotamia relations, with over 400 distinct signs represented across known inscriptions.^[9][5]

Some scholars, such as G. R. Hunter,^[10] S. R. Rao, John Newberry,^[11] and Krishna Rao^[12] have argued that the Brahmi script has some connection with the Indus system. Raymond Allchin^[13] has somewhat cautiously supported the possibility of the Brahmi script being influenced by the Indus script. But this connection has not been proven.^[14][15] Another possibility for the continuity of the Indus tradition is in the megalithic graffiti symbols of southern and central India and Sri Lanka, which probably do not constitute a linguistic script, but may have some overlap with the Indus symbol inventory.^[16][17] Linguists such as Iravatham Mahadevan, Kamil Zvelebil, and Asko Parpola have argued that the script had a relation to a Dravidian language.^[18][19]

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