Syllabus: GS1/ Ancient India, Culture
In News
- The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister announced a $1 million prize for experts and organisations for deciphering the scripts of the Indus Valley Civilisation.
About Indus Valley Scripts
- Brief: It is one of the world’s oldest and most mysterious writing systems, associated with the Indus Valley Civilization.
- Key Features:
- Pictographic Nature: The script consists of pictorial symbols, with over 400 distinct signs identified. Symbols include representations of humans, animals, plants, and geometric shapes.
- Writing media and methods: Found on seals, pottery, tablets, and tools. Most inscriptions are short, typically no more than 5–6 characters.
- Logo-Syllabic System: Scholars believe the script may combine logograms (symbols representing words or concepts) with syllables.
- Right-to-Left Writing: Most inscriptions appear to be written from right to left, although some evidence suggests a boustrophedon style (alternating directions).
- Non-Decipherable Nature: The lack of a Rosetta Stone-like bilingual text or extended inscriptions has hindered decipherment. The language behind the script is unknown, though many scholars hypothesize it may have been Dravidian or a proto-Dravidian language.
Need for Dechiphering the Indus Script
- Deciphering Past: The Indus Valley Script holds immense potential for shedding light on both historical and linguistic aspects of the ancient Indus Valley Civilization (IVC) and its connections with later cultural developments, including Vedic practices.
- Understanding Religious Practices: Understanding the script could clarify early practices, deities, and belief systems, which might align with or influence later religious traditions, including the worship of Shiva (evidenced by the Pashupati seal) and fire rituals.
- The Pashupati seal hints at early forms of Shiva worship, which later became a central part of the Vedic and Hindu traditions.
| About Indus Valley Civilization (IVC) – Also known as the Harappan Civilization, flourished around 3300-1300 BCE in present-day Pakistan and northwest India. Discovery by John Marshall in 1924. – It is one of the world’s earliest urban societies, alongside ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. – The civilization is renowned for its advanced urban planning, with well-laid cities like Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro, featuring grid-like streets, drainage systems, and public baths. – The people of the IVC had a highly organized economy, engaged in trade with Mesopotamia, and were skilled in crafts like bead-making, pottery, and metallurgy. – The civilization’s decline around 1900 BCE is attributed to factors like environmental changes, river shifts, and possibly internal strife. |
For more details, read Indus Valley Civilization (IVC)
Source: TH
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