Indus Script

The term Indus script (also Harappan script) refers to short strings of symbols associated with the Indus Valley Civilization, in use during the Mature Harappan period, between the 26th and 20th centuries BC. It is not generally accepted that these symbols form a script used to record a language, and the subject remains controversial. In spite of many attempts at decipherments and claims, it is as yet undeciphered, and no underlying language has been identified. There is no known bilingual inscription.

The first publication of a Harappan seal dates to 1873, in a drawing by Alexander Cunningham. Since then, over 4,000 symbol-bearing objects have been discovered, some as far afield as Mesopotamia. In the early 1970s, Iravatham Mahadevan published a corpus and concordance of Indus writing listing about 3,700 seals and about 417 distinct signs in specific patterns. The average inscription contains five signs, and the longest inscription is only 17 signs long. He also established the direction of writing as right to left.

Some early scholars, starting with Cunningham in 1877, thought that the script was the archetype of the Brāhmī script. Cunningham's ideas were supported by G.R. Hunter, F. Raymond Allchin and a minority of scholars, who continue to argue for the Indus script as the predecessor of the Brahmic family. However, other scholars (including Asko Parpola and Iravatham Mahadevan) disagree, claiming instead that the Brahmi script derived from the Aramaic script.