Editing Indus script (section)

{{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>