View source for Indus script

{{Short description|Symbols of the Indus Valley Civilisation}}
{{More citations needed|date=February 2025}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2023}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2022}}
{{Infobox writing system
|name      = Indus script (Harappan)
|type      = Undeciphered
|typedesc  = , possibly [[Bronze Age writing]] or [[proto-writing]]
|languages = Unknown ("[[Harappan language]]")
|time      = {{circa|2800–1900 BCE}}{{efn|{{harvp|Kenoyer|2006|pp=10–11}}: "By around 2800 BC, during the Kot Diji Phase at Harappa, the use of script on seals and inscribed pottery indicates the presence of an Early Indus script."}}{{sfnp|Bryant|2001|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Y2jfHlinW4UC&pg=PA178 178]}}<br>(possible proto-script from {{circa|3500 BCE}}){{sfnp|Kenoyer|2006|pp=10–11}}{{efn|{{harvp|Bryant|2001|p=178}}: "what appears to be proto‐Indus writing on shards of pottery from the Ravi phase that are as early as 3500 B.C.E."}}<br>(rarely, later "graffiti" till {{circa|1300 BCE}}){{sfnp|Kenoyer|2006|pp=10–11}}
|iso15924  = Inds
|note      = none <!-- remove this line if IPA phonetics are added to the article -->
|sample    = Indus seal impression.jpg 
|caption   = Seal impression showing a typical inscription of five characters
}}

The '''Indus script''', also known as the '''Harappan script''' and the '''Indus Valley script''', is a [[text corpus|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.<ref name="Locklear">{{cite web |last1=Locklear |first1=Mallory |title=Science: Machine learning could finally crack the 4,000-year-old Indus script |work=[[The Verge]] |location=Manhattan, New York, NY |publisher=[[Vox Media]] |date=25 January 2017 |url=https://www.theverge.com/2017/1/25/14371450/indus-valley-civilization-ancient-seals-symbols-language-algorithms-ai |access-date=25 January 2017 |quote=After a century of failing to crack an ancient script, linguists turn to machines.}}</ref> Despite many attempts,{{sfnp|Possehl|1996}} the "script" has not yet been deciphered. There is no known [[bilingual inscription]] to help decipher the script,{{sfnp|Robinson|2015}} which shows no significant changes over time. However, some of the [[syntax]] (if that is what it may be termed) varies depending upon location.<ref name="Locklear"/>

The first publication of a seal with Harappan symbols dates to 1875,{{sfnp|Wright|2009|p=7}} in a drawing by [[Alexander Cunningham]].{{sfnp|Cunningham|1875|pp=105–108}} By 1992, an estimated 4,000 inscribed objects had been discovered,{{sfnp|Fairservis|1992|p=5}} some as far afield as [[Mesopotamia]] due to existing [[Indus–Mesopotamia relations]], with over 400 distinct signs represented across known inscriptions.{{sfnp|Ghosh|1990}}{{sfnp|Robinson|2015}}

Some scholars, such as G.&nbsp;R. Hunter,{{sfnp|Hunter|1934}} [[Shikaripura Ranganatha Rao|S.&nbsp;R. Rao]], John Newberry,{{sfnp|Newberry|1980|pp=10–20}} and [[Krishna Rao (archaeologist)|Krishna Rao]]{{sfnp|Ghosh|1990|p=361–364}} have argued that the [[Brahmi script]] has some connection with the Indus system. [[Raymond Allchin]]{{sfnp|Allchin|Erdosy|1995|p=336}} has somewhat cautiously supported the possibility of the Brahmi script being influenced by the Indus script.{{sfnp|Goody|1987|pp=301–302|loc=note 4}}{{sfnp|Salomon|1995}} 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.{{sfnp|Mahadevan|2004}}{{sfnp|Ray|2006|pp=121–122}} Linguists such as [[Iravatham Mahadevan]], [[Kamil Zvelebil]], and [[Asko Parpola]] have argued that the script had a relation to a [[Dravidian languages|Dravidian language]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Peoples and languages in pre-Islamic Indus valley |last1=Rahman |first1=Tariq |url=http://asnic.utexas.edu/asnic/subject/peoplesandlanguages.html |url-status=dead |access-date=20 November 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080509053921/http://asnic.utexas.edu/asnic/subject/peoplesandlanguages.html |archive-date=9 May 2008 |quote=most scholars have taken the 'Dravidian hypothesis' seriously}}<!-- also live at https://apnaorg.com/prose-content/english-articles/page-1/article-8/index.html --></ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The Indus Script &#124; Harappa |website=harappa.com |url=https://www.harappa.com/script/maha0.html |access-date=22 May 2020}}</ref>

==Corpus==
[[File:Copper plates with Indus script.jpg|thumb|Indus script on copper plates]]
[[File:Indus script.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Three [[stamp seal]]s and their impressions bearing Indus script characters alongside animals: "unicorn" (left), bull (centre), and elephant (right); [[Guimet Museum]]]]
[[File:Stamp seal and modern impression- unicorn and incense burner (?) MET DP23101 (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|"Unicorn" seal with Indus inscription, and a modern impression; [[Met Museum]]]]
[[File:IndusValleySeals.JPG|thumb|upright=1.2|Collection of seals and their impressions; [[British Museum]]]]

{{See also|Periodisation of the Indus Valley Civilisation}}

By 1977 at least 2,906 inscribed objects with legible inscriptions had been discovered,{{sfnp|Mahadevan|1977|pp=5–7}} and by 1992 a total of {{abbr|approx.|approximately}}{{nbsp}}4,000 inscribed objects had been found.{{sfnp|Fairservis|1992|p=5}} In 2025, it was reported around 5,000 inscriptions have been excavated since 1924.
<ref>{{cite news |last=Pragati |first=K. B. |date=2025-02-01 |title=Want a Million Dollars? Get Busy Deciphering This Ancient Script. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/01/world/asia/india-indus-script-prize.html |url-access=subscription |work=The New York Times |access-date=2025-02-02}}</ref>

Indus script symbols have primarily been found on [[stamp seal]]s, pottery, bronze, and [[Indian copper plate inscriptions|copper plate]]s, tools, and weapons.{{sfnp|Possehl|2002|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=XVgeAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA127 127]}} The majority of the [[textual corpus]] consists of seals, impressions of such seals, and graffiti markings inscribed on pottery.{{sfnp|Fairservis|1983}} Seals and their impressions were typically small in size and portable, with most being just 2–3 centimetres in length on each side.{{sfnp|Mukhopadhyay|2018a|p=5–6}} No extant examples of the Indus script have been found on perishable organic materials like [[papyrus]], paper, textiles, leaves, wood, or bark.{{sfnp|Possehl|2002|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=XVgeAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA127 127]}}

===Early Harappan===
Early examples of the Indus script have been found on pottery inscriptions and clay impressions of inscribed Harappan seals dating to around {{circa|2800–2600 BCE}} during the [[Early Harappan period]],{{sfnp|Kenoyer|2006|pp=10–11}} and emerging alongside administrative objects such as seals and [[Indus Valley civilisation#Metrology|standardised weights]] during the [[Kot Diji]] phase of this period.{{sfnp|Meadow|Kenoyer|2001|p=224}} However, excavations at Harappa have demonstrated the development of some symbols from potter's marks and graffiti belonging to the earlier [[Ravi River|Ravi]] phase from {{circa|3500–2800 BCE|lk=no}}.{{sfnp|Kenoyer|2006|pp=10–11}}{{sfnp|Bryant|2001|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Y2jfHlinW4UC&pg=PA178 178]}}

===Mature Harappan===
In the [[Mature Harappan period]], from about {{circa|2600–1900 BCE|lk=no}}, strings of Indus signs are commonly found on flat, rectangular [[stamp seal]]s as well as written or inscribed on a multitude of other objects including pottery, tools, tablets, and ornaments. Signs were written using a variety of methods including carving, chiselling, embossing, and painting applied to diverse materials such as [[terracotta]], [[sandstone]], [[soapstone]], bone, shell, copper, silver, and gold.{{sfnp|Meadow|Kenoyer|2010|p=xlviii}} {{As of|1977}}, Iravatham Mahadevan noted that about 90% of the Indus script seals and inscribed objects discovered so far were found at sites in [[Pakistan]] along the [[Indus River]] and its tributaries, such as [[Mohenjo-daro]] and [[Harappa]],{{efn|1540 from Mohenjodaro, 985 from Harappa, 66 from [[Chanhudaro]]}} while other sites located elsewhere account for the remaining 10%.{{efn|165 from [[Lothal]], 99 from [[Kalibangan]], 7 from [[Banawali]], 6 from [[Ur]] in Iraq, 5 from [[Surkotada]], 4 from [[Chandigarh]]}}{{sfnp|Mahadevan|1977|pp=6–7}}{{sfnp|Singh|2008|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=H3lUIIYxWkEC&pg=PA169 169]}} Often, animals such as bulls, [[water buffalo]]es, elephants, rhinoceros, and the mythical "[[unicorn]]"{{efn|The commonly depicted "unicorn" is most likely a bull drawn in profile as to obscure one horn behind the other.{{sfnp|Bonta|2010|p=6}}}} accompanied the text on seals, possibly to help the illiterate identify the origin of a particular seal.{{sfnp|Sankaranarayanan|2007|p=15}}

===Late Harappan===
The [[Late Harappan period]], from {{circa|1900–1300 BCE|lk=no}}, followed the more urbanised Mature Harappan period, and was a period of fragmentation and localisation which preceded the early [[Iron Age in India|Iron Age in the Indian subcontinent]]. Inscriptions have been found at sites associated with the localised phases of this period. At Harappa, the use of the script largely ceased as the use of inscribed seals ended around {{circa|1900 BCE}}; however, the use of the Indus script may have endured for a longer duration in other regions such as at [[Rangpur, Gujarat]], particularly in the form of graffiti inscribed on pottery.{{sfnp|Kenoyer|2006|pp=10–11}} Seals from the [[Jhukar Phase|Jhukar phase]] of the Late Harappan period, centred on the present-day province of [[Sindh]] in Pakistan, lack the Indus script, however, some [[potsherd]] inscriptions from this phase have been noted.{{sfnp|Singh|2008|p={{page needed|date=February 2022}}}} Both seals and potsherds bearing Indus script text, dated {{circa|2200–1600 BCE|lk=no}}, have been found at sites associated with the [[Daimabad]] culture of the Late Harappan period, in present-day [[Maharashtra]].{{sfnp|Sali|1986|pp=504–505}}

===Post-Harappan===
{{Main|Megalithic graffiti symbols}}

Numerous artefacts, particularly potsherds and tools, bearing markings inscribed into them have been found in Central India, South India, and Sri Lanka dating to the [[Megalith]]ic Iron Age which followed the Late Harappan period. These markings include inscriptions in the Brahmi and [[Tamil-Brahmi]] scripts, but also include non-Brahmi [[Megalithic graffiti symbols|graffiti symbols]] which co-existed contemporaneously with the Tamil-Brahmi script.{{sfnp|Ray|2006|p=21-22}} As with the Indus script, there is no scholarly consensus on the meaning of these non-Brahmi symbols. Some scholars, such as the anthropologist [[Gregory Possehl]],{{sfnp|Possehl|1996}} have argued that the non-Brahmi graffiti symbols are a survival and development of the Indus script into and during the 1st millennium BCE.{{sfnp|Ray|2006|p=21-22}} In 1960,{{sfnp|Lal|1960}} archaeologist [[B. B. Lal (archaeologist)|B. B. Lal]] found that a majority{{efn|47 out of 61 signs surveyed.}} of the megalithic symbols he had surveyed were identifiably shared with the Indus script, concluding that there was a commonness of culture between the Indus Valley Civilisation and the later Megalithic period.{{sfnp|Ray|2006|pp=21–22}} Similarly, [[early Indian epigraphy|Indian epigraphist]] [[Iravatham Mahadevan]] has argued that sequences of Megalithic graffiti symbols have been found in the same order as those on comparable Harappan inscriptions and that this is evidence that language used by the Iron Age people of south India was related to or identical with that of the late Harappans.{{sfnp|Mahadevan|2001a}}{{sfnp|Mahadevan|2004}}{{sfnp|Mahadevan|2006}}

==Characteristics==
[[File:Indus script sign 4.png|thumb|upright=0.9|Variations of 'sign 4';{{efn|'Sign 4' is a compound of 'sign 1', depicting a person carrying two burdens, and 'sign 311', the "jar" sign. Numbering convention for the Indus script by [[Asko Parpola]].<ref name="Parpola numbering">{{cite web |title=Corpus by Asko Parpola |website=Mohenjodaro |language=en-gb |url=http://www.mohenjodaroonline.net/index.php/indus-script/corpus-by-asko-parpola |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101112146/http://mohenjodaroonline.net/index.php/indus-script/corpus-by-asko-parpola |archive-date=1 November 2020}}</ref> For an alternative numbering scheme, refer to {{harvp|Mahadevan|1977}}.}} such variation makes distinguishing signs from [[allograph]]ical variants difficult, and scholars have proposed different ways to classify elements of the Indus script.{{sfnp|Mahadevan|1977|pp=14–15}}]]

The characters are largely [[pictogram|pictorial]], depicting objects found in the ancient world generally, found locally in Harappan culture, or derived from the natural world.{{sfnp|Fairservis|1992|pp=9–10}} However, many abstract signs have also been identified. Some signs are compounds of simpler pictorial signs, while others are not known to occur in isolation, being known only to occur as components of more complex signs.{{sfnp|Fairservis|1992|pp=9–10}} Some signs resemble [[tally marks]] and are often interpreted as [[prehistoric counting|early numerals]].{{sfnp|Bonta|2010|pp=10–11}}{{sfnp|Mukhopadhyay|2019|p=2}}{{sfnp|Wells|2015|pp=66–76}}

===Number and frequency===
The number of principal signs is over 400, which is considered too large a number for each character to be a [[phonogram (linguistics)|phonogram]], and so the script is generally believed to be [[logogram|logo-syllabic]].{{sfnp|Stiebing|Helft|2018|pp=104–105}}{{sfnp|Possehl|2002|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=XVgeAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA132 132]}}{{sfnp|Robinson|2015}} The precise total number of signs is uncertain, as there is disagreement concerning whether particular signs are distinct or variants of the same sign.{{sfnp|Possehl|2002|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=XVgeAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA132 132]}}{{sfnp|Robinson|2015}} In the 1970s, the [[early Indian epigraphy|Indian epigrapher]] [[Iravatham Mahadevan]] published a [[text corpus|corpus]] and [[concordance (publishing)|concordance]] of Indus inscriptions listing 419 distinct signs in specific patterns.{{sfnp|Mahadevan|1977|pp=14–15, 24–25, 32–35}}{{efn|Mahadevan's 1977 sign list originally included 417 signs but in a late addendum to the list, he added 2 additional signs, identified in then recently discovered inscriptions, which he had not been able to include in the sign list before publishing.}} However, in 2015, the archaeologist and epigrapher Bryan Wells estimated that were around 694 distinct signs.{{sfnp|Wells|2015|p=13}}
[[File:Alfabeto Harappa o Vallindo.jpg|thumb|A complete list of the Indus or Harappa Script]]
Of the signs identified by Mahadevan, 113 occur only once (are [[hapax legomenon|hapax legomena]]), 47 occur only twice, and 59 occur fewer than five times.{{sfnp|Possehl|2002|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=XVgeAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA132 132]}} Just 67 signs account for 80 percent of usage across the corpus of Indus symbols.{{sfnp|Possehl|2002|p=133}} The most frequently used sign is the "jar" sign,{{sfnp|Possehl|2002|p=133}} identified by Parpola as 'sign 311'.<ref name="Parpola numbering"/>

===Writing direction===
Most scholars agree that the Indus script was generally read from [[right to left]],{{sfnp|Mahadevan|1977|pp=10–14}}{{sfnp|Mukhopadhyay|2019|p=2}}{{sfnp|Sen|1999|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Wk4_ICH_g1EC&pg=PA35 35]}} though some exceptions wherein the script is written left to right or in a [[boustrophedon]] mode are also known.{{sfnp|Mahadevan|1977|pp=10–14}}{{sfnp|Possehl|2002|p=134}} Although the script is undeciphered, the writing direction has been deduced from external evidence, such as instances of the symbols being compressed on the left side as if the writer is running out of space at the end of the row.{{sfnp|Mahadevan|1977|pp=10–14}}{{sfnp|Possehl|1996|p=59–62}} In the case of seals, which create a [[mirror image]] impression on the clay or ceramic on which the seal is affixed, the impression of the seal is read from right to left, as is this case with inscriptions in other cases.{{sfnp|Possehl|2002|p=134}}

===Relationship to other scripts===
[[File:Brahmi and Indus seal proposed connection.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|A proposed connection between the [[Brahmi script|Brahmi]] and Indus scripts, made in the 19th century by [[Alexander Cunningham]], an early proponent for the hypothesis of an [[Brahmi script#Indigenous origin hypothesis|indigenous origin of Brahmi]]{{sfnp|Cunningham|1877|loc=[https://archive.org/details/inscriptionsaso00hultgoog/page/n234/ Plate No. {{Roman|28}}]}}]]

Some researchers have sought to establish a relationship between the Indus script and [[Brahmi]], arguing that it is a [[substratum (linguistics)|substratum]] or ancestor to later writing systems used in the region of the Indian subcontinent. Others have compared the Indus script to roughly contemporary pictographic scripts from [[Mesopotamia]] and the [[Iranian plateau]], particularly [[Sumerian language|Sumerian]] [[proto-cuneiform]] and [[Elamite]] scripts.{{sfnp|Possehl|2002|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=pmAuAsi4ePIC&pg=PA131 131], 133|loc=fig. 7.5}} However, researchers now generally agree that the Indus script is not closely related to any other writing systems of the second and third millennia BCE, although some convergence or [[cultural diffusion|diffusion]] with Proto-Elamite conceivably may be found.{{sfnp|Zvelebil|1990|pp=85–86, 96}}{{sfnp|Possehl|2002|p=136}} A new study has also noticed a relationship with scripts across the [[Yi script|Tibetian-Yi]] corridor.<ref>{{cite arXiv | eprint=2503.21074 | author1=Ooha Lakkadi Reddy | title=Rerouting Connection: Hybrid Computer Vision Analysis Reveals Visual Similarity Between Indus and Tibetan-Yi Corridor Writing Systems | date=2025 | class=cs.CV }}</ref> A definite relationship between the Indus script and any other script remains unproven.

====Comparisons with Brahmi====
{{Main|Brahmi#Indigenous origin hypothesis}}

Researchers have compared the Indus Valley script to the [[Brahmi]] and [[Tamil-Brahmi]] scripts, suggesting that there may be similarities between them. These similarities were first suggested by early European scholars, such as the archaeologist [[John Marshall (archaeologist)|John Marshall]]{{sfnp|Marshall|1931|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Ds_hazstxY4C&pg=PA423 423]}} and the [[Assyriology|Assyriologist]] [[Stephen Herbert Langdon|Stephen Langdon]],{{sfnp|Paranavitana|Prematilleka|Van Lohuizen-De Leeuw|1978|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=OIceAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA119 119]}} with some, such as G.&nbsp;R. Hunter,{{sfnp|Hunter|1934}} proposing an [[Brahmi script#Indigenous origin hypothesis|indigenous origin of Brahmi]] with a derivation from the Indus script.

====Comparisons with Proto-Elamite====
[[File:Susa seal with Indus signs.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|Indus characters{{efn|Numbered according to the convention for the Indus script proposed by [[Asko Parpola]].}} from an impression of a [[cylinder seal]] discovered in [[Susa]] (modern [[Iran]]), in a [[stratigraphy|stratum]] dated to 2400–2100 BCE;<ref>{{cite object |title=Sceau cylindre |institution=[[Louvre Museum]] |place=Paris |id=SB 2425 |language=fr |date=2012 |url=https://collections.louvre.fr/en/ark:/53355/cl010176471}}</ref> an example of ancient [[Indus–Mesopotamia relations]].<ref>{{cite web |title=sceau cylindre SB2425; AS41; CCO S. 299 |website=Louvre Museum |url=https://collections.louvre.fr/en/ark:/53355/cl010176471}}<br>Description: {{cite web |title=Cylinder seal carved with an elongated buffalo and a Harappan inscription (Sb2425) |website=Louvre Museum |url=http://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/cylinder-seal-carved-elongated-buffalo-and-harappan-inscription |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131220083931/http://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/cylinder-seal-carved-elongated-buffalo-and-harappan-inscription |archive-date=20 December 2013}}</ref>{{sfnp|Marshall|1931|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Ds_hazstxY4C&pg=PA425 425]}}]]

{{See also|Indus–Mesopotamia relations|Elamo-Dravidian languages}}

Researchers have also compared the Indus Valley script with the [[Proto-Elamite script]] used in [[Elam]], an ancient Pre-Iranian civilisation that was contemporaneous with the Indus Valley civilisation. Their respective scripts were contemporary to each other, and both were largely pictographic.{{sfnp|Possehl|2002|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=pmAuAsi4ePIC&pg=PA131 131]}} About 35 Proto-Elamite signs may possibly be comparable to Indus signs.{{sfnp|Zvelebil|1990|pp=85–86, 96}} Writing in 1932, G.&nbsp;R. Hunter argued, against the view of Stephen Langdon, that the number of resemblances "seem to be too close to be explained by coincidence".{{sfnp|Hunter|1932|p=483}}

==Theories and attempts at decipherment==
[[File:Longest Indus script inscription (colour).jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|An Indus Valley [[Indian copper plate inscriptions|copper plate]] inscribed with 34 characters, the longest known single Indus script inscription{{sfnp|Shinde|Willis|2014}}]]

{{Further|Harappan language}}

===Decipherability===
The following factors are usually regarded as the biggest obstacles to successful decipherment:

* Inscriptions are very short. The average length of the inscriptions is around five signs,{{sfnp|Mahadevan|1977|p=9}} and the longest only 34 characters long, found on a [[Indian copper plate inscriptions|copper plate]] belonging to the mature Harappan period.{{sfnp|Shinde|Willis|2014}} Inscriptions vary between just one and seven lines, with single lines being the most common.{{sfnp|Possehl|2002|p=132}}
* 67 signs account for 80 percent of the writing that has been identified.<ref>{{cite web | last=Biswas | first=Soutik | title=Indus Valley: A million-dollar challenge to crack the script of early Indians | website=BBC Home | date=2025-01-16 | url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c70q44zn18wo | access-date=2025-01-17}}</ref>
* There are doubts whether the Indus script records a written language or is instead a system of non-linguistic signs or [[proto-writing]] similar to [[merchant's mark#Ancient use|merchant's mark]]s and [[house mark]]s, and to the contemporary [[accounting token]]s and [[history of ancient numeral systems#Numerical signs and numerals|numerical]] [[clay tablet]]s of Mesopotamia.{{sfnp|Stiebing|Helft|2018|pp=104–105}} Due to the brevity of inscriptions, some researchers have questioned whether Indus symbols can even express a spoken language.{{sfnp|Robinson|2015}}
* The spoken [[Harappan language]] has not been identified, so, assuming the script is a written language, the language the script is most likely to express is unknown.{{sfnp|Robinson|2015}} However, an estimated 300 loanwords in the [[Rigveda]] may provide evidence of [[substratum (linguistics)|substrate]] language(s) which may have been spoken in the region of the [[Indus civilisation]].{{sfnp|Witzel|1999}}{{efn|{{harvp|Witzel|1999}} underlines the prefixing nature of these words and calls them Para-Munda, a language related to but not belonging to [[Proto-Munda]].}}{{sfnp|Kuiper|1991|p={{page needed|date=July 2022}}}}
* No [[digraphia|digraphic]] or [[bilingual inscription|bilingual texts]], like the [[Rosetta Stone]], have been found.{{sfnp|Robinson|2015}}
* No names, such as those of Indus rulers or personages, are known to be attested in surviving historical records or myths, as was the case with rulers like Rameses and Ptolemy, who were known to [[hieroglyph]]ic decipherers from records attested in Greek.{{sfnp|Robinson|2015}}{{efn|[[(..)ibra]], a partial name of a king of [[Meluhha]], a place associated with the Indus Civilisation, is briefly attested in an Akkadian inscription, but no full names are attested.}}

Over the years, numerous decipherments have been proposed, but there is no established scholarly consensus.{{sfnp|Stiebing|Helft|2018|pp=104–105}}{{sfnp|Possehl|2002|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=pmAuAsi4ePIC&pg=PA136 136]}} The few points on which there exists scholarly consensus are the right-to-left direction of the majority of the inscriptions,{{sfnp|Mukhopadhyay|2019|p=2}}{{sfnp|Robinson|2015}} numerical nature of certain stroke-like signs,{{sfnp|Mukhopadhyay|2019|p=2}}{{sfnp|Robinson|2015}} functional homogeneity of certain terminal signs,{{sfnp|Mukhopadhyay|2019|p=2}} and some generally adopted techniques of segmenting the inscriptions into initial, medial, and terminal clusters.{{sfnp|Mukhopadhyay|2019|p=2}} Over 100 (mutually exclusive) attempts at decipherment have been published since the 1920s,{{sfnp|Farmer|Sproat|Witzel|2004|pp=19–20}}{{sfnp|Robinson|2015}} and the topic is popular among amateur researchers.{{efn|For example, see [[Egbert Richter-Ushanas|Egbert Richter]] and [[N.&nbsp;S. Rajaram]].}}

In 2025, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister [[M. K. Stalin]] announced a $1 million (USD) prize for deciphering the Indus Valley Script, stating that "Archaeologists, Tamil computer software experts and computer experts across the world have been making efforts to decipher the script but it remains a mystery even after 100 years."<ref>{{cite web |title=Tamil Nadu CM Stalin announces $1 million prize for deciphering Indus Valley script |date=5 January 2025 |publisher=TheHindu.com |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/tamil-nadu-cm-stalin-announces-1-million-prize-for-deciphering-indus-valley-script/article69064187.ece/ |access-date=6 January 2025}}</ref>

===Dravidian language===
[[File:Indus script 311, harp pictogram.jpg|thumb|Indus script single sign]]
[[File:Indus sign 60.png|thumb|upright=0.9|The Indus script 'fish sign', associated with the Dravidian reading {{IAST|mīn}}, has been interpreted as its [[homophone]], meaning "star", per the [[rebus principle]] in the context of some Indus inscriptions{{sfnp|Rao|2011|loc=14:06―15:43}}]]

Although no clear consensus has been established, there are those who argue that the Indus script recorded an early form of the [[Dravidian languages]] ([[Proto-Dravidian language|Proto-Dravidian]]).{{sfnp|Stiebing|Helft|2018|pp=104–105}} Early proponents included the archaeologist [[Henry Heras]], who suggested several readings of signs based on a [[proto-Dravidian]] assumption.{{sfnp|Heras|1953}}

Based on computer analysis,{{sfnp|Parpola|1994}} the Russian scholar [[Yuri Knorozov]] suggested that a Dravidian language is the most likely candidate for the underlying language of the script.{{sfnp|Knorozov|1965}} The Finnish scholar [[Asko Parpola]] led a Finnish team in the 1960s–80s that, like Knorozov's [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] team, worked toward investigating the inscriptions using computer analysis. Parpola similarly concluded that the Indus script and Harappan language "most likely belonged to the Dravidian family".{{sfnp|Bryant|2001|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Y2jfHlinW4UC&pg=PA183 183]}} A comprehensive description of Parpola's work up to 1994 is given in his book ''Deciphering the Indus Script''.{{sfnp|Parpola|1994}} Supporting this work, the archaeologist [[Walter Fairservis]] argued that Indus script text on seals could be read as names, titles, or occupations, and suggested that the animals depicted were [[totem]]s indicating [[kinship]] or possibly [[clan]]s.{{sfnp|Stiebing|Helft|2018|pp=104–105}}{{sfnp|Fairservis|1971}}{{sfnp|Fairservis|1992}} The computational linguist [[Rajesh P.&nbsp;N. Rao]], along with a team of colleagues, performed an independent computational analysis and concluded that the Indus script has the structure of a written language, supporting prior evidence for [[syntax|syntactic]] structure in the Indus script, and noting that the Indus script appears to have a similar [[conditional entropy]] to [[Old Tamil]].{{sfnp|Rao|Yadav|Vahia|Joglekar|2009}}{{sfnp|Rao|Yadav|Vahia|Joglekar|2010}}

These scholars have proposed readings of many signs; one such reading was legitimised when the Dravidian [[homophone|homophonous]] words for 'fish' and 'star', {{IAST|mīn}}, were hinted at through drawings of both the things together on Harappan seals.<ref>{{cite web |last=Lo |first=Lawrence |title=Indus Script |website=ancient scripts.com |url=http://www.ancientscripts.com/indus.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191219134556/http://www.ancientscripts.com/indus.html |archive-date=19 December 2019}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=February 2022}} In a 2011 speech, Rajesh P.&nbsp;N. Rao said that [[Iravatham Mahadevan]] and Asko Parpola "have been making some headway on this particular problem", namely deciphering the Indus script, but concluded that their proposed readings, although they make sense, are not yet proof.{{sfnp|Rao|2011}}

[[File:Shiva Pashupati.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|Indus script on a stamp seal depicting a buffalo-horned figure surrounded by animals, dubbed the 'Lord of the Beasts' or [[Pashupati seal|'{{IAST|Paśupati}}' seal]] ({{circa|2350–2000 BCE|lk=no}}).{{efn|Mahadevan has compared this seal to sign 7, which resembles a human figure with horns, arguing the comparison supports, among other evidence, a suggested Dravidian phonetic reading of the sign, {{IAST|kaṇṭh(a)}}.{{sfnp|Mahadevan|2008}} Numbering convention for the Indus script by [[Asko Parpola]].}}]]

In his 2014 publication ''Dravidian Proof of the Indus Script via The Rig Veda: A Case Study'', the epigraphist Iravatham Mahadevan identified a recurring sequence of four signs which he interpreted as an early Dravidian phrase translated as "Merchant of the City".{{sfnp|Mahadevan|2014}} Commenting on his 2014 publication, he stressed that he had not fully deciphered the Indus script, although he felt his effort had "attained the level of proof" with regard to demonstrating that the Indus script was a Dravidian written language.{{sfnp|The Hindu|2014}}

===Non-Dravidian languages===

====Indo-Aryan language====
Perhaps the most influential proponent of the hypothesis that the Indus script records an early [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan language]] is the Indian archaeologist [[Shikaripura Ranganatha Rao]],{{sfnp|Stiebing|Helft|2018|pp=104–105}} who in his books, ''Lothal and the Indus Civilization'' (1973) and ''The Decipherment of the Indus Script'', wrote that he had deciphered the script. While dismissing most such attempts at decipherment, John E. Mitchiner commented that "a more soundly-based but still greatly subjective and unconvincing attempt to discern an [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] basis in the script has been that of Rao".{{sfnp|Mitchiner|1978|p=5}}{{efn|With reference to {{harvp|Rao|1973|loc=chapter 10}}.}} S.&nbsp;R. Rao perceived a number of similarities in shape and form between the late Harappan characters and the Phoenician letters, and argued that the Phoenician script evolved from the Harappan script, and not, as the classical theory suggests from the [[Proto-Sinaitic]] script.{{sfnp|Stiebing|Helft|2018|pp=104–105}}{{sfnp|Robinson|2002|p={{page needed|date=August 2022}}}} He compared it to the [[Phoenician alphabet]], and assigned sound values based on this comparison.{{sfnp|Stiebing|Helft|2018|pp=104–105}} Reading the script from left to right, as is the case with Brahmi, he concluded that Indus inscriptions included numerals{{efn|Given as ''aeka, dwi, tra, chatus, panta, happta/sapta, dasa, dvadasa, shata'' (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 10, 12, 100)}} and were "[[Vedic Sanskrit|Sanskritic]]".{{sfnp|Sreedharan|2007|p=268–269}} Consistent with this proposed [[Vedic Sanskrit|Sanskritic]] connection, Suzanne Redalia Sullivan has provided a near complete solution and interpretation of the Indus Valley Script.<ref>{{cite news|title=Indus Script Based on Sanskrit Language|author=Jeyakumar Ramasami|date=Feb 21, 2014 |work=sci.news|url=https://www.sci.news/othersciences/linguistics/science-indus-script-sanskrit-language-01777.html|access-date=April 6, 2025}}</ref>

S.&nbsp;R. Rao's interpretation helped to bolster [[Hindutva|Hindu nationalist]] and [[Indigenous Aryanism|Aryan indigenist]] views propagated by writers, such as [[David Frawley]], who hold the conviction that [[Indo-Aryan peoples]] are the original Bronze Age inhabitants of the [[Indian subcontinent]] and that the [[Indo-European language family]] originated in India.{{sfnp|Stiebing|Helft|2018|pp=104–105}} However, there are many problems with this hypothesis, particularly the cultural differences evident between the Indus River Civilisation and [[Indo-European culture]]s, such as the role of horses in the latter; as Parpola put it, "there is no escape from the fact that the horse played a central role in the Vedic and Iranian cultures".{{sfnp|Parpola|1986|p=411}} Additionally, the Indus script appears to lack evidence of [[affix]]es or [[inflection]]al endings,{{sfnp|Possehl|2002|p=136}} which Possehl has argued rules out an Indo-European language such as Sanskrit as the language of the Indus script.{{sfnp|Possehl|2002|p=137}}

====Munda language====
A less popular hypothesis suggests that the Indus script belongs to the [[Munda languages|Munda family of languages]]. This language family is spoken largely in central and eastern India, and is related to some Southeast Asian languages. However, much like the Indo-Aryan language, the reconstructed vocabulary of early Munda does not reflect the Harappan culture,{{sfnp|Fairservis|1992|p=14}} therefore, its candidacy for being the language of the Indus Civilisation is dim.<ref>{{cite web |title=Indus Script |website=ancientscripts.com |url=http://www.ancientscripts.com/indus.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161219204914/https://www.ancientscripts.com/indus.html |archive-date=19 December 2016}}</ref>

===Non-linguistic signs===
[[File:Indus script recovered from Khirsara, Indus Valley Civilization.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|Indus script tablet recovered from [[Khirasara]], Indus Valley]]
[[File:The 'Ten Indus Scripts' discovered near the northen gateway of the citadel Dholavira.svg|thumb|upright=1.5|A sequence of Indus characters from the northern gate of [[Dholavira]], dubbed the [[Dholavira Signboard]]]]

An opposing hypothesis is that these symbols are nonlinguistic signs which symbolise families, clans, gods, and religious concepts, and are similar to components of [[coat of arms|coats of arms]] or [[totem pole]]s. In a 2004 article, Steve Farmer, [[Richard Sproat]], and [[Michael Witzel]] presented a number of arguments stating that the Indus script is nonlinguistic.{{sfnp|Farmer|Sproat|Witzel|2004}} The main ones are the extreme brevity of the inscriptions, the existence of too many rare signs (which increase over the 700-year period of the Mature Harappan civilisation), and the lack of the random-looking sign repetition that is typical of language.{{sfnp|Lawler|2004}}

[[Asko Parpola]], reviewing the Farmer ''et al.'' thesis in 2005, stated that their arguments "can be easily controverted".{{sfnp|Parpola|2005|p=37}} He cited the presence of a large number of rare signs in Chinese and emphasised there was "little reason for sign repetition in short seal texts written in an early logo-syllabic script". Revisiting the question in a 2008 lecture,{{sfnp|Parpola|2008}} Parpola took on each of the 10 main arguments of Farmer ''et al.'', presenting counterarguments for each.

A 2009 paper{{sfnp|Rao|Yadav|Vahia|Joglekar|2009}} published by [[Rajesh P.&nbsp;N. Rao]], [[Iravatham Mahadevan]], and others in the journal ''[[Science (journal)|Science]]'' also challenged the argument that the Indus script might have been a nonlinguistic symbol system. The paper concluded the [[conditional entropy]] of Indus inscriptions closely matched those of linguistic systems like the Sumerian logo-syllabic system, Rig Vedic Sanskrit etc., but they are careful to stress that by itself does not imply the script is linguistic. A follow-up study presented further evidence in terms of entropies of longer sequences of symbols beyond pairs.{{sfnp|Rao|2010}} However, Sproat argued there existed a number of misunderstandings in Rao ''et al.'', including a lack of discriminative power in their model, and argued that applying their model to known non-linguistic systems such as Mesopotamian deity symbols produced similar results to the Indus script. Rao ''et al.''{{'s}} argument against Sproat's arguments and Sproat's reply were published in ''[[Computational Linguistics (journal)|Computational Linguistics]]'' in December 2010.<ref>[http://www.mitpressjournals.org/toc/coli/36/4 Computational Linguistics], Volume 36, Issue 4, December 2010.</ref>{{sfnp|Rao|Yadav|Vahia|Joglekar|2010}} The June 2014 issue of [[Language (journal)|''Language'']] carries a paper by Sproat that provides further evidence that the methodology of Rao ''et al.'' is flawed.{{sfnp|Sproat|2014}} Rao ''et al.''{{'s}} rebuttal of Sproat's 2014 article and Sproat's response are published in the December 2015 issue of ''Language''.{{sfnp|Rao|Yadav|Vahia|Jonathan|2015}}{{sfnp|Sproat|2015}}

==Unicode==
{{Infobox typeface
| image                      = NFM Indus Script.png
| image_size                 = 120px
| caption                    = NFM Indus Script Font
| name                       = Indus Script Font
| style                      = 
| classifications            = 
| creationdate               = 2016
| releasedate                = 2017
| creator                    = National Fund for [[Mohenjo-daro]]
| foundry                    = 
| license                    = Proprietary
| metrically_compatible_with = 
}}

The Indus symbols have been assigned the [[ISO 15924]] code "Inds". [[Michael Everson]] submitted a completed proposal for encoding the script in Unicode's [[Supplementary Multilingual Plane]] in 1999,{{sfnp|Everson|1999}} but this proposal has not been approved by the [[Unicode Technical Committee]]. {{As of|February 2022}}, the [[Script Encoding Initiative]] still lists the proposal among the list of scripts that are not yet officially encoded in the Unicode Standard (and [[ISO/IEC 10646]]).<ref>{{cite web |title=SEI List of Scripts Not Yet Encoded |website=linguistics.berkeley.edu/sei/ |url=https://linguistics.berkeley.edu/sei/scripts-not-encoded.html}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Proposed New Scripts |website=unicode.org |url=http://unicode.org/pending/pending.html}}</ref>

The Indus Script Font is a [[Private Use Areas]] (PUA) [[font]] representing the Indus script.<ref>{{cite web |title=A Free Complete Indus Font Package Available |website=harappa.com |url=https://www.harappa.com/blog/free-complete-indus-font-package-available |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170505180620/https://www.harappa.com/blog/free-complete-indus-font-package-available |archive-date=5 May 2017}}</ref> The font was developed based on a corpus compiled by Indologist [[Asko Parpola]] in his book ''Deciphering the Indus Script''.{{sfnp|Parpola|1994}} Amar Fayaz Buriro, a language engineer, and Shabir Kumbhar, a developer of fonts, were tasked by the National Fund for Mohenjo-daro to develop this font, and they presented it at an international conference on Mohenjo-daro and the Indus Valley Civilisation on 8 February 2017.<ref>{{cite web |title=Corpus by Asko Parpola |website=Mohenjodaro |url=http://mohenjodaroonline.net/index.php/indus-script/corpus-by-asko-parpola |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101112146/http://mohenjodaroonline.net/index.php/indus-script/corpus-by-asko-parpola |archive-date=1 November 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Nadeem |first=Faryal |title=All Signs of Indus Script Has Been Converted Into Font |date=27 February 2017 |url=https://themarkhor.pk/2017/02/27/all-signs-of-ndus-script-has-been-converted-into-fonts/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190826110413/https://themarkhor.pk/2017/02/27/all-signs-of-ndus-script-has-been-converted-into-fonts/ |archive-date=26 August 2019}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=August 2022}}

==See also==
* Related topics
** [[Early Indian epigraphy]]
** [[Lipi (script)]]
** [[Meluhha]]
** [[Outline of ancient India]]
** [[Sindhology]]
* History
** [[History of ancient numeral systems]]
** [[History of India]]
** [[History of Pakistan]]
** [[History of writing]]
** [[List of languages by first written account]]
* Other similar topics
** [[Anaikoddai seal]]
** [[Edicts of Ashoka]]
** [[Protohistory]]
** ''[[South Indian Inscriptions]]''
** [[Undeciphered writing systems]]

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist|20em}}

===Works cited===
{{Refbegin|30em|indent=yes}}
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* {{cite journal |last=Mukhopadhyay |first=Bahata Ansumali |title=Interrogating Indus inscriptions to unravel their mechanisms of meaning conveyance |date=2019 |journal=[[Palgrave Communications]] |volume=5 |issue=1 |pages=1–37 |issn=2055-1045 |doi=10.1057/s41599-019-0274-1 |doi-access=free}}
* {{cite book |last=Newberry |first=John |title=Indus script monographs, volumes 1-7 |date=1980}}
<!-- P, Q, R, S, T -->
* {{cite book |last1=Paranavitana |first1=Senarat |series=Studies in South Asian Culture, vol. 4 |title=Senarat Paranavitana Commemoration Volume |last2=Prematilleka |first2=Leelananda |last3=Van Lohuizen-De Leeuw |first3=Johanna Engelberta |date=1978 |publisher=Brill |isbn=90-04-05455-3 |doi=10.1163/9789004646476}}
* {{cite journal |last=Parpola |first=Asko |title=The Indus script: A challenging puzzle |date=1986 |journal=World Archaeology |volume=17 |issue=3 |pages=399–419 |doi=10.1080/00438243.1986.9979979}}
* {{cite book |last=Parpola |first=Asko |title=Deciphering the Indus script |date=1994 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=9780521430791 |location=Cambridge, New York}}
* {{cite conference |last=Parpola |first=Asko |title=Study of the Indus Script |date=2005 |conference=50th ICES Tokyo Session |url=http://www.helsinki.fi/~aparpola/tices_50.pdf}}
* {{cite book |chapter=Is the Indus script indeed not a writing system? |publisher=Varalaaru |location=Chennai |chapter-url=http://www.harappa.com/script/indus-writing.pdf |last=Parpola |first=Asko |title=Airāvati, Felicitation volume in honour of Iravatham Mahadevan |date=2008 |pages=111–131 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090327045644/http://www.harappa.com/script/indus-writing.pdf |archive-date=27 March 2009}}
* {{cite book |last=Possehl |first=Gregory L. |title=Indus Age: The Writing System |date=1996 |publisher=[[University of Pennsylvania Press]] |isbn=978-0-8122-3345-2 |author-link=Gregory Possehl}}
* {{cite book |last=Possehl |first=Gregory L. |title=The Indus Civilization: A Contemporary Perspective |date=2002 |publisher=Rowman Altamira |isbn=978-0-7591-1642-9 |author-link=Gregory Possehl}}
* {{cite encyclopedia |last1=Ray |first1=Himanshu Prabha |chapter=Inscribed pots, emerging identities |title=Between the Empires: Society in India 300 BCE to 400 CE |publisher=Oxford University Press |date=2006 |editor-last=Olivelle |editor-first=Patrick |editor-link=Patrick Olivelle |pages=113–139}}
* {{cite book |last=Rao |first=Shikaripur Ranganath |title=Lothal and the Indus Civilisation |date=1973 |publisher=Asia Publishing House |location=Bombay |author-link=Shikaripura Ranganatha Rao}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Rao |first1=Rajesh P.&nbsp;N. |author-link=Rajesh P.&nbsp;N. Rao |last2=Yadav |first2=Nisha |last3=Vahia |first3=Mayank N. |last4=Joglekar |first4=Hrishikesh |last5=Adhikari |first5=R. |last6=Mahadevan |first6=Iravatham |author-link6=Iravatham Mahadevan |title=Entropic Evidence for Linguistic Structure in the Indus Script |date=2009 |journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]] |volume=324 |issue=5931 |pages=1165 |bibcode=2009Sci...324.1165R |pmid=19389998 |doi=10.1126/science.1170391 |s2cid=15565405 |url=http://www.cs.washington.edu/homes/rao/ScienceIndus.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120302222553/http://www.cs.washington.edu/homes/rao/ScienceIndus.pdf |archive-date=2 March 2012}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Rao |first1=Rajesh P.&nbsp;N. |author-link=Rajesh P.&nbsp;N. Rao |last2=Yadav |first2=Nisha |last3=Vahia |first3=Mayank N. |last4=Joglekar |first4=Hrishikesh |last5=Adhikari |first5=Ronojoy |last6=Mahadevan |first6=Iravatham |author-link6=Iravatham Mahadevan |title=Entropy, the Indus Script, and Language:A Reply to R. Sproat |date=2010 |journal=Computational Linguistics |volume=36 |issue=4 |pages=795–805 |doi=10.1162/coli_c_00030 |doi-access=free |s2cid=423521}}
* {{cite journal |last=Rao |first=Rajesh P.&nbsp;N. |author-link=Rajesh P.&nbsp;N. Rao |title=Probabilistic Analysis of an Ancient Undeciphered Script |date=2010 |journal=[[IEEE Computer]] |volume=43 |issue=4 |pages=76–80 |doi=10.1109/mc.2010.112 |s2cid=15353538 |url=http://www.cs.washington.edu/homes/rao/ieeeIndus.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120201095129/http://www.cs.washington.edu/homes/rao/ieeeIndus.pdf |archive-date=1 February 2012}}
* {{cite speech |last=Rao |first=Rajesh |author-link=Rajesh P.&nbsp;N. Rao |title=A Rosetta Stone for a lost language |date=2011 |conference=[[TED (conference)|TED]] |url=http://www.ted.com/talks/rajesh_rao_computing_a_rosetta_stone_for_the_indus_script}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Rao |first1=Rajesh P.&nbsp;N. |author-link=Rajesh P.&nbsp;N. Rao |last2=Yadav |first2=Nisha |last3=Vahia |first3=Mayank N. |last4=Jonathan |first4=Philip |last5=Ziman |first5=Pauline |title=On statistical measures and ancient writing systems |date=2015 |journal=Language |volume=91 |pages=e198–e205 |number=4 |doi=10.1353/lan.2015.0055 |s2cid=146385983 |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/604093|url-access=subscription }}
* {{cite book |last=Robinson |first=Andrew |title=Lost Languages: The Enigma of the World's Undeciphered Scripts |date=2002 |publisher=McGraw-Hill |isbn=0-07-135743-2 |location=New York |oclc=48032556 |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780071357432}}
* {{cite journal |last=Robinson |first=Andrew |title=Ancient civilization: Cracking the Indus script |date=2015 |journal=Nature News |volume=526 |issue=7574 |pages=499–501 |bibcode=2015Natur.526..499R |pmid=26490603 |doi=10.1038/526499a |doi-access=free}}
* {{cite book |last=Sali |first=S.&nbsp;A. |title=Daimabad: 1976–79 |date=1986 |publisher=Archaeological Survey of India |via=indianculture.gov.in |url=http://www.indianculture.gov.in/daimabad-1976-79-masi83}}
* {{cite journal |last=Salomon |first=Richard |title=Review: On the Origin of the Early Indian Scripts |date=1995 |journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society |volume=115 |issue=2 |pages=271–279 |jstor=604670 |doi=10.2307/604670}}
* {{cite book |title=Themes in History, Part-I |date=2007 |publisher=National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) |isbn=978-81-7450-651-1 |editor-last=Sankaranarayanan |editor-first=Vijayam}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Shinde |first1=Vasant |last2=Willis |first2=Rick J. |title=A New Type of Inscribed Copper Plate from Indus Valley (Harappan) Civilisation |date=2014 |journal=Ancient Asia |volume=5 |doi=10.5334/aa.12317 |doi-access=free}}
* {{cite book |last=Singh |first=Upinder |title=A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India From the Stone Age to the 12th Century |date=2008 |author-link=Upinder Singh |isbn=9788131711200 |publisher=Pearson Education}}
* {{cite book |last=Sen |first=Sailendra Nath |title=Ancient Indian History and Civilization |date=1999 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9788122411980}}
* {{cite journal |last=Sproat |first=Richard |author-link=Richard Sproat |title=A Statistical Comparison of Written Language and Nonlinguistic Symbol Systems |date=June 2014 |journal=[[Language (journal)|Language]] |volume=90 |issue=2 |pages=457–481 |doi=10.1353/lan.2014.0031 |s2cid=146376955 |url=http://www.linguisticsociety.org/files/archived-documents/Sproat_Lg_90_2.pdf}}
* {{cite journal |last=Sproat |first=Richard |author-link=Richard Sproat |title=On misunderstandings and misrepresentations: A reply to Rao et al |date=2015 |journal=Language |volume=91 |pages=e206–e208 |number=4 |doi=10.1353/lan.2015.0058 |s2cid=146513140 |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/604094|url-access=subscription }}
* {{cite book |last=Sreedharan |first=E. |title=A Manual of Historical Research Methodology |date=2007 |publisher=Centre for South Indian Studies |place=Kerala |isbn=9788190592802 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TG6PXBKwXNMC}}
* {{cite book |last1=Stiebing |first1=William H. Jr. |title=Ancient Near Eastern History and Culture |last2=Helft |first2=Susan N. |date=2018 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-88083-6 |edition=3rd |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C4U0DwAAQBAJ}}
<!-- U, V, W, X, Y, Z -->
* {{cite book |last=Wells |first=B.&nbsp;K. |title=The Archaeology and Epigraphy of Indus Writing |date=2015 |publisher=Archaeopress |isbn=9781784910464 |location=Oxford, UK}}
* {{cite journal |last=Witzel |first=M. |author-link=Michael Witzel |title=Substrate Languages in Old Indo-Aryan (Ṛgvedic, Middle, and Late Vedic) |date=1999 |journal=Electronic Journal of Vedic Studies |volume=5 |issue=1 |pages=1–67 |issn=1084-7561 |doi=10.11588/ejvs.1999.1.828 |url=https://hasp.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/journals/ejvs/article/view/828}}
* {{cite book |last=Wright |first=Rita P. |title=The Ancient Indus: Urbanism, Economy, and Society |date=2009 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-0-521-57219-4 |author-link=Rita P. Wright <!-- no access-date for print sources: |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gAgFPQAACAAJ |access-date=29 September 2013 -->}}
* {{cite book |last=Zvelebil |first=Kamil |title=Dravidian Linguistics: An introduction |date=1990 |publisher=Pondicherry Institute of Linguistics and Culture |isbn=81-85452-01-6 |location=Pondicherry |oclc=24332848 |author-link=Kamil Zvelebil |url=https://archive.org/details/zvelebildravidianlinguisticsanintroduction1990/}}
{{Refend}}

==Further reading==
{{Refbegin}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Lal |first1=Braj Basi |author-link=B. B. Lal (archaeologist) |title=On the Most Frequently Used Symbol in the Indus Script |journal=East and West |date=1979 |volume=29 |issue=1/4 |pages=27–35 |jstor=29756504 |issn=0012-8376}}
* {{cite web |last=Mahadevan |first=Iravatham |author-link=Iravatham Mahadevan |title=Murukan In the Indus Script |year=1999 |publisher=Varalaaru |url=http://www.varalaaru.com/Default.asp?articleid=194 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060813134846/http://www.varalaaru.com/Default.asp?articleid=194 |archive-date=13 August 2006}}
* {{cite journal |last=Mahadevan |first=Iravatham |author-link=Iravatham Mahadevan |year=2001b |title=Aryan or Dravidian or Neither? A Study of Recent Attempts to Decipher the Indus Script (1995–2000) |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |volume=62 |pages=1–23 |jstor=44155743 |url=http://www.ejvs.laurasianacademy.com/ejvs0801/ejvs0801.txt |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070723121117/http://www.ejvs.laurasianacademy.com/ejvs0801/ejvs0801.txt |archive-date=23 July 2007}}
* {{cite magazine |last=Mahadevan |first=Iravatham |author-link=Iravatham Mahadevan |title=Towards a Scientific Study of the Indus Script |date=4 February 2007 |magazine=The Hindu |url=http://www.hindu.com/mag/2007/02/04/stories/2007020400260500.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140610043551/http://www.hindu.com/mag/2007/02/04/stories/2007020400260500.htm |archive-date=10 June 2014}} Adapted from an address given at the inaugural function of the Indus Research Centre at the [[Roja Muthiah Research Library]], Chennai, on 25 January 2007.
* {{cite journal |last1=Mukhopadhyay |first1=Bahata Ansumali |title=Ancient Tax Tokens, Trade Licenses and Metrological Records?: Making Sense of Indus Inscribed Objects Through Script-Internal, Contextual, Linguistic, and Ethnohistorical Lenses. |journal=SSRN Electronic Journal |date=2018b |doi=10.2139/ssrn.3189473 |s2cid=235275002 |url=https://osf.io/h8ct7/}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Mukhopadhyay |first1=Bahata Ansumali |title=Metal-smithy, Bead-making, Jeweler's weight, Trade-permit, Tax-stamp: Indus Script's Semasiography Partly Decoded |journal=SSRN Electronic Journal |date=2021 |doi=10.2139/ssrn.3778943 |s2cid=233754033}}
* {{cite book |last1=Parpola |first1=Asko |author1-link=Asko Parpola |last2=Joshi |first2=Jagat Pati |year=1987 |title=Corpus of Indus seals and inscriptions |volume=1, Collections in India |location=Helsinki |publisher=Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia}}
* {{cite book |last1=Parpola |first1=Asko |author1-link=Asko Parpola |last2=Shah |first2=Sayid Ghulam Mustafa |year=1991 |title=Corpus of Indus seals and inscriptions |volume=2, Collections in Pakistan |location=Helsinki |publisher=Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia}}
* {{cite book |last1=Parpola |first1=Asko |author1-link=Asko Parpola |last2=Pande |first2=Brij Mohan |last3=Koskikallio |first3=Petteri |year=2010 |title=Corpus of Indus seals and inscriptions |volume=3, New material, untraced objects, and collections outside India and Pakistan, Part 1: Mohenjo-daro and Harappa |location=Helsinki |publisher=Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Vidale |first1=Massimo |year=2007 |title=The collapse melts down: a reply to Farmer, Sproat and Witzel |journal=[[Philosophy East and West]] |volume=57 |issue=1–4 |pages=333–366 |jstor=29757733}}
* {{cite thesis |last=Wells |first=Bryan |title=An Introduction to Indus Writing |location=Calgary, Alberta |institution=University of Calgary |year=1998 |hdl-access=free |degree=Master |doi=10.11575/PRISM/23641 |doi-access=free |hdl=1880/25900}}
{{Refend}}

==External links==
* {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200425031621/http://mohenjodaroonline.net/index.php/indus-script/table-of-pua-codes |title=Text based Indus Script Signs with the table of codes|date=25 April 2020}}
* "[https://www.straightdope.com/21343350/how-come-we-can-t-decipher-the-indus-script How come we can't decipher the Indus script?]" (2005) ''The Straight Dope''.
* [http://www.safarmer.com/downloads/ Articles by Steve Farmer, including essays about the Indus script]
* [https://www.omniglot.com/writing/indus.htm Indus script] at [[Omniglot|Omniglot.com]]
* [https://indusscriptsdeciphered.com Indus Symbols Dictionary] by Jeyakumar Ramasami - Retd IRS Officer - Govt of India.

{{Indus Valley civilisation}}
{{Sister bar|auto=yes|v=Indus Script}}
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[[Category:Indian inventions]]
[[Category:Indus Valley Civilisation]]
[[Category:Inventions of the Indus Valley Civilisation]]
[[Category:Proto-writing]]
[[Category:Bronze Age writing systems]]