Editing Indus script (section)

===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}}