Indus Seals (2600-1900 Bce) Beyond Geometry: A New Approach to Break an Old Code

Unicorn Seal (Mohenjo –daro, HR 743) Photo J.Mark Kenoyer/Harappa.comCourtesy Department of Archaeology and Museums, Government of Pakistan

Whatever its origin, however, it seems clear from the large number of amulet seals on which this creature is portrayed that… it was more popular than any other animal among the Indus people.

–Sir John Marshall

ACCLAIMS FOR PARVEEN TALPUR’S

INDUS SEALS (2600-1900 BCE) BEYOND GEOMETRY

A NEW APPROACH TO BREAK AN OLD CODE

I with great interest have gone through Talpur’s manuscript and find it quite interesting. Talpur has presented some different interpretations which will be welcomed by the scholarly world. I am impressed. The amount of data is vast and she has done justice to the subject matter. I congratulate her for selecting such an important topic for discussion.

Vasant Shinde

Archaeologist and vice chancellor Deccan College

Post Graduate and Research Institute

Deemed to be University

Pune, India

Parveen Talpur is a prolific writer, historian and archaeologist. She is acclaimed and appreciated for examining and deciphering ancient cryptic symbols discovered from the Indus Valley Civilization. She has to her credit two books on this subject. Apart from books, Talpur has written short stories, poems, essays and a significant number of feature articles in Pakistani and American newspapers and magazines.

The Indus Seals can give us useful information about the administerative system, trade contacts, religious beliefs and the script of the under referenced period. In this book Talpur has been able to interpret some of the seals through ancient words retained in the present day Sindhi language as well as through the symbols of Buddhism. She has revealed glimpses of ancient culture through unexpected and unconventional angles and has linked it to the present.

Once again, Talpur has successfully introduced the peaceful face of a country which is currently labeled as one of the most dangerous places on earth. I hope, after going through this book, readers and researchers alike would acknowledge that the ancient inhabitants of the Indus region gave to the world not only its earliest cities, its town planning, its architecture but also a philosophy of peace and nonviolence which lives on resolutely in the region.

M.Qasim Bughio

Chairman, Pakistan Academy of Letters

Tamgha-e-Imtiaz

Islamabad, Pakistan

The Indus Valley is home to one of the most ancient civilizations known to humankind, relics of which have been discovered from the archaeological sites of Mohen-Jo-Daro and Harappa. Indigenous people of the Indus basin spoke a number of vernacular languages and dialects some of which evolved while others dissipated over the course of centuries.

Of all these languages, Sindhi has survived as the leading literary language having unique phonetics and a distinctive grammar with the ability to integrate/adopt alien terms and expressions from languages like; Sanskrit, Hindi, Urdu, Arabic, Persian and English, into its own lexicon.

In this book Parveen Talpur has traced the dialectic origins of Sindhi language with its historical and cultural perspective. Being a native of the Indus Valley, she offers authentic evaluation of the socio-cultural aspects and the etymology of Sindhi language.

Mushtaq Ali Shah

Ambassador and Author

Cairo, Egypt

The book provides an excellent and rare summary of the issues related to the Indus seals and it will be of importance to anyone trying to understand the complex issues involved. It makes several points, especially about geometry of the patterns on the Indus objects which will interest researchers in the field. It also provides some interesting ideas about the connection between the Harappan Civilization and later Indian culture. It is a very thought provoking piece of writing.

Nisha Yadav and Mayank Vahia

Tata Institute of Fundamental Research

Mumbai, India

This book reflects Talpur’s rich experience of analyzing the seals over the last twenty-five years. Her ability to simplify a complex subject through explanation, through examples, and through personal anecdotes makes her interpretion of the seal images an engaging subject.

By examining the manifold features of the seals, ranging from signs and symbols to human and animal images, Talpur has been able to give some idea of the literary and ideological world of Indus Civilization. The story of the Indus seals in this book is not only well told but it is boldly told. Those who have read Talpur’s previous book Evidence of Geometry in Indus Valley Civilization will appreciate it even more.

Shoukat Shoro

Author and former director general Institute of Sindhology

University of Sindh, Jamshoro, Pakistan

ALSO BY PARVEEN TALPUR:

Moen jo Daro:

Metropolis of the Indus Civilization (2600-1900 BCE)

Evidence of Geometry in the Indus Valley Civilization

Talpur Rule in Sindh

Footnotes (A book of verse)

Obscure Women Obscure Stories: A Pakistani Trilogy

Indus Seals (2600-1900 BCE) Beyond Geometry

A New Approach to Break an Old Code

Parveen Talpur

SIJ Books

TALPUR, PARVEEN

INDUS SEALS (2600-1900 BCE) BEYOND GEOMETRY

A NEW APPROACH TO BREAK AN OLD CODE

SIJ Books

First Edition

Published in the United States

Copyright 2017 by Parveen Talpur

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior permission of the author. Only a reviewer may quote brief passages in a review.

Photographs of the seals are from different sources listed here: Mohenjo Daro Museum and the National Museum Karachi photographs by Amean J, courtesy Department of Archaeology and Museums, Government of Pakistan. Photographs by Jonathan Mark Kenoyer and the Harappa Archaeological Research Project are from Harapp.com, courtesy Department of Archaeology and Museums, Government of Pakistan. The Farmana seal photograph is by Vasant Shinde. All the other photographs and illusterations are individually labeled with full courtesy.

Cover design by Wilmer Abreu

Author’s photograph by Jehan Suleman

ISBN: 978-1-48358-205-4 (print)

ISBN: 978-1-48358-206-1 (ebook)

Dedicated To The Ancient Scribes Of Indus Civilization

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I am grateful to Dr.G.A.Allana (Professor Emeritus and former vice chancellor University of Sindh, Jamshoro) for writing the foreword. It is an honor as he had also written the foreword for my first book Evidence of Geometry in Indus Valley Civilization. That was two decades ago, and throughout this journey Dr. Allana, also being a professor of linguistics, had been a constant source of encouragement behind this research. I am equally grateful to Dr.Subhash Kak (Regents Professor Oklahoma State University) for fully understanding the spirit of my book and describing it so well in his foreword. Dr. Kak the acclaimed computer scientist is also well-known for his research on the Indus script which he recognizes as the predecessor of the Brahmi script.

Many thanks to the following individuals for reviewing my book: Dr. Vasant Shinde (The renowned archaeologist and vice chancellor of the Deccan College, Pune) who had also written the foreword to my previous book Moen jo Daro: Metropolis of the Indus Civilization (2600-1900 BCE). I highly appreciate Dr. Shinde’s endorsement for my second book; Dr. M.Qasim Bughio (Chairman, Pakistan Academy of Letters), an expert of linguistics and socio-cultural anthropology and a recipient of Pakistan’s Presidential Award, the Tamgha-i-Imtiaz, Medal of Excellence, Dr. Bughio is also familiar with my nonfiction work and I am pleased that among other aspects he also acknowledges my book for portraying the peaceful face of Pakistan; Dr. Michael R.N. Jansen (Director, German Research Center Mohenjo-Daro and recipient of Pakistan’s Presidential Award Sitara i Imtiaz- Star of Excellence) who has been studying, on site, the architectural remains of Moen jo Daro for the last thirty years and who gave many valuable suggestions which has enhanced the content of this book; Mushtaq Ali Shah (Ambassador and author) who reviewed and validated my chapters on the Sindhi language. Shah is a great authority on the Sindhi language and I appreciate his English translation of the epic work of Sindh’s Sufi poet Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai. Folklore is essential for the understanding of history and archaeology and Shah has made this masterpiece accessible to the Western scholars. He is now translating Bhittai’s book of verse in French; Dr. Jonathan Mark Kenoyer(Director of the Center for South Asia, University of Wisconsin, Madison and co-director of the Harappa Archaeological Research Project)who reviewied the very first draft and whose constructive suggestions helped in making this a legible book; Nisha Yadav and Mayank Vahia (Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai) who acknowledged my previous work on the geometric composition of the Indus signs and symbols and who reviewed this book with great interest. TIFR has a wider scope of research, as apart from the seals, it incorporates all the geometrically inscribed material engraved on other Indus objects, this will certainly boost the seal research; Dr. Shoukat Shoro (Writer and the former director general of the Institute of Sindhology, University of Sindh, Jamshoro) who acclaimed my book Moen jo Daro: Metropolis of the Indus Civilization (2600-1900 BCE) and who has been kind enough to review this one.

I am thankful to Dr. Asko Parpola (Professor Emeritus of Indology and South Asian Studies, University of Helsinki, Finland) whose monumental research and texts on the Indus seals far exceeds the works of other scholars and who had been kind enough to mail me a few of his precious books and many articles. I am also indebted to Dr. Paolo Biagi (Department of Asian and North African Studies, Ca’ Foscari University, Venice) who forwarded me helpful articles on the stone tools and the remains of stupas which he spotted during his surveys. Many of these Buddhist structures, as Dr.Biagi warned, are already lost! Dr. Biagi with his Italian team of experts had worked on the stone tool era of Sindh and Balochistan for twenty five years (1985-2010).

For the permission to reprint pictures and textual material, I am indebted to the following: Department of Archaeology and Museums, Government of Pakistan, especially Dr.Fazal Dad Kakar (Director General Department of Archaeology and Museums, Government of Pakistan) and Dr.Qasim Ali Qasim (Director Archaeology and Museums, Sindh); Dr. Muhammad Umar Chand for permission to reprint Dr. N.A.Baloch’s list of ancient Sindhi words; Amean J for his original photographs of the seals at the Moen jo Daro Museum and the National Museum, Karachi; Omar Khan of Harappa.com for pictures by Jonathan Mark Kenoyer and the Harappa Archaeological Research Project; Dr. Vasant Shinde for the Farmana seal image. All the other images are labeled individually and acknowledged appropriately.

I am thankful to Jehan Suleman for the Author’s photograph and to Wilmer Abreu for designing such a wonderful cover that shows companionship with my previous book Moen jo Daro: Metropolis of the Indus Civilization (2600-1900 BCE). As always, I must thank my son Imran Suleman and daughter Jehan Suleman for reviewing the final draft and of course, many thanks to my late husband Suleman for his constant encouragement to research this enigmatic subject.

CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

Foreword 1 by G.A. Allana

Foreword 2 by Subhash Kak

Introductory Note

Abbreviations:

PART 1 - Story of the Indus Seals

Seals through the Millennia

Crossing Paths with Buddhism

History of the Decipherment of Seals

Part 2 - A New Approach to Break an Old Code

Seal Images and Buddhism

Seal Images and the Sindhi Language

Seal Images and Geometry

Appendix: Wordlist of the Old Sindhi Words

Endnotes

Select Bibliography

FOREWORD 1

I have known Parveen Talpur for the last many years. I have been reading her research papers on the history and culture of the Indus region, particularly Sindh, her specific field of study is the Indus Seals. Prior to this book the Institute of Sindhology, University of Sindh, Pakistan, had published her book: Evidence of Geometry in Indus Valley Civilization (2500-1500 B.C.) which was on the geometric configuration of the seal signs and symbols. It was a pioneering work on the non-linguistic aspect of the seals which I strongly recommend to all those who are striving to understand the multifaceted characteristics of the Indus seal images. They should also read it for a thorough understanding of her present book.

This book is a further updated and advanced research work on the Indus seals. It is also an appeal to all the scholars and researchers who are working on this subject to widen their interdisciplinary approach of research and examine the languages and cultures of Indus region, particularly the Sindhi language, for a better understanding of the Indus Civilization. Her emphasis on Sindhi is not because it is her native language but because it is a language that has retained more ancient words and sounds than any other language of the region. She has rightly said that: All the present day languages spoken in and around the Indus region, Sindhi have retained the largest number of ancient words and sounds. Some of these predate Vedic Sanskrit, perhaps, these words of unknown origins can be identified on the Indus seals. She refers to the wordlist published by Dr. N.A. Baloch and quotes one of my passages to explain that this Indigenous stock of words borrowed by the Aryan settlers in Indus Valley has been termed by the Prakrit grammarians as ‘Deshya words’. These words have been retained in the languages of Indus region, and can be identified even in present times. Apart from Sindhi, clues to understand region’s ancient language can be sought from Gujrati, Kutchi, Saraiki, Punjabi, Rajasthani, Thari and Dhatki.

The title of her present work is: Indus Seals (2600-1900 BCE) Beyond Geometry: A New Approach to Break an Old Code. It covers the history of the decipherment of Indus script beginning with the discovery of the first seal in 1873 to the current research being conducted by other experts, as well as her own advanced research work. She has referred to some of the inscribed objects examined by the researchers at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Mumbai and she finds their analysis worth consideration for her continued research. But as the title of her book suggests, she takes the subject beyond geometry to establish the socio-cultural meaning to the inscribed material.

I quite agree with Talpur that in spite of all the hurdles, research in general on the Indus seals has continued and that some of these efforts will contribute to the understanding of the socio- cultural meaning of the signs, symbols, and the script. However, it is about time for the scholars to also consider the languages of Indus region for the interpretation of the Indus Civilization. They should consider the fact that the original inhabitants of Indus Valley might be speaking a language which goes far beyond and was the parent language of proto-Dravidian languages.

So far, the opinion on the language of the Indus script is divided into two major schools of thought- Indo-Aryan and the Dravidian. Those who favor the Indo-Aryan language of Indus seals state that the language of Indus seals is probably Sanskrit or the language in which Rig Veda was written. The second group of scholars argues that Indus Valley had an indigenous population much before the Aryans came to this valley. Sir Henry Rawlison, Sir John Marshal, Sir Mortimer Wheeler, Dr. Ernest J.H. Mackay, John Beames, Stuart E. Piggot, Dr. A. L. Basham, Dr. Rafique Mughal, Dr. Mahar Abdul Haque, Dr. N. A. Baloch, R.C. Hiremath, Parso Gidwani, M. H. Pahnwer, Sirajul Haq Memon and some other scholars have stated that original people of Indus Valley were non– Aryans and they spoke some non – Aryan languages. However, the claim of some of them that the language represented by the script inscribed on the Indus Seals is Dravidian, has not been accepted by many scholars.

Now the question arises that when Indus Valley Civilization is claimed to be the pre – Aryan civilization, and the ancient cities such as Mohen jo Daro, Harappa, Lothal and many other cities were already in existence much before the arrival of the Aryans, then how it could be possible that the seals which have been found from the ancient sites of Indus valley be considered to have any kind of relationship with the Indo – Aryan civilization of Indus valley, on the contrary these seals belong to the civilization which was in existence much before the arrival of the Aryans.

According to my research Indus valley was inhabited by the people who were known as the ‘Sindhui’ (from Sindhu, the name of River Indus), and the language they