Language of the Bronze Age civilization of the Indus Valley
Harappan
Indus language
(undeciphered)
Impression of an Indusstamp seal, showing a string of five "Harappan script" glyphs; the Indus script is interpreted by some scholars as the writing system of the Harappan language.
TheHarappan language, also known as theIndus language, is the unknown language or languages of theBronze Age (c. 3300 to 1300 BC)Harappan civilization (Indus Valley civilization, or IVC). TheHarappan script is yet undeciphered, indeed it has not even been demonstrated to be a writing system, and therefore the language remains unknown.[3] The language being yet unattested in readable contemporary sources, hypotheses regarding its nature are based on possibleloanwords, thesubstratum in Vedic Sanskrit, and some terms recorded inSumerian cuneiform (such asMeluhha), in conjunction with analyses of theHarappan script.
There are some possible loanwords from the language of the Indus Valley civilization.Meluḫḫa orMelukhkha (Sumerian:𒈨𒈛𒄩𒆠Me-luḫ-ḫaKI) is theSumerian name of a prominent trading partner ofSumer during theMiddle Bronze Age. Its identification remains an open question, but most scholars associate it with theIndus Valley Civilisation.[4]Asko Parpola identifiesProto-Dravidians with theHarappan Culture and the Meluhhan people mentioned inSumerian records. In his bookDeciphering the Indus Script, Parpola states that theBrahui people ofPakistan are remnants of theHarappan culture.[5] According to him, the word "Meluhha" derives from the Dravidian wordsmel ("elevated") andakam ("place"). Parpola also relates Meluhha withBalochistan, which he calls the "Proto-Dravidian homeland". He also relates Meluhha with the transient wordMleccha, aVedic word used to mean "barbarian" and used by the incomingAryan speaking population for the native Harappan population.[6][7][8]
There are a number of hypotheses as to the nature of this unknown language:
One hypothesis places it within or near theDravidian languages, perhaps identical withProto-Dravidian itself. Proposed byHenry Heras in the 1950s,[9] the hypothesis has gained some plausibility and is endorsed byKamil Zvelebil,Asko Parpola andIravatham Mahadevan.[10][11] A 2021 research paper published inNature argues that Proto-Dravidian was spoken in the Indus Valley based on the Dravidian word for "tooth" (or "tusk"), as well as genetic migration patterns.[12]
Another recent proposal treats many Indus inscriptions as merchant marks used for trade administration rather than running text, in which case the surviving corpus would offer only limited direct evidence for identifying the underlying language or languages.[13]
The Indus script only indicates that it was used to write one language (if any), but it is quite possible that multiple languages were spoken in the IVC, much asSumerian andAkkadian co-existed inMesopotamia for centuries. Jane R. McIntosh suggests one such possibility: Para-Munda was originally the main language of the civilization, especially in the Punjab region. Later, theproto-Dravidian immigrants introduced their language to the area in the 5th millennium BC. The Dravidian language was spoken by the new settlers in the southern plains, while Para-Munda remained the main language of those in Punjab.[14]
Michael Witzel suggested as an alternative, that an underlying, prefixing language similar toAustroasiatic, notablyKhasi; he called it "para-Munda" (i.e. a language related to the Munda subgroup or other Austroasiatic languages, but not strictly descended from the last common predecessor of the contemporary Munda family). Witzel argued that theRigveda showed signs of thishypothetical Harappan influence in the earliest historic level, and Dravidian only in later levels, suggesting that speakers of Austroasiatic were the original inhabitants ofPunjab and that the Indo-Aryans encountered Dravidian speakers only in later times.[15][16] The theory was since further supported by Franklin Southworth.[citation needed]. As of 2019, Witzel prefers to leave the question of the original Indian language(s) open until better reconstructions for Dravidian and Munda substrate components in Indo-Aryan languages have been done.[17]
Indo-European languages: generally believed to be arriving after 1800 BCE, but recent genetic and linguistic study suggests that the language family emerged from the Fertile Crescent as early as 6000 BCE and likely spread to South Asia.[18]
^An Indus loanword of "para-Munda" nature in Mesopotamian has been identified by Michael Witzel, A first link between the Rgvedic Panjab and Mesopotamia: śimbala/śalmali, andGIŠšimmar? In: Klaus Karttunen and Petteri Koskikallio (eds.) Vidyarnavavandanam. Essays in Honour of Asko Parpola. 2000 (Studia Orientalia, published by the Finnish Or. Soc. 94): 497–508. See also Witzel,The language or languages of the Indus civilizationArchived 2011-07-20 at theWayback Machine, July 2007.
^Heras, Henry (1953).Studies in Proto-Indo-Mediterranean Culture. Bombay, IN: Indian Historical Research Institute.
^Cole, Jennifer."The Sindhi language"(PDF). Archived fromthe original(PDF) on January 6, 2007. Retrieved2008-11-20.... Harappan language, the ancient script is as yet undeciphered, but a prevailing theory suggests a Dravidian origin.
