Harappan language

Harappan
Indus Valley, Mohenjo-Daro
RegionIndus Valley
Extinctc. 1300 BC, or later
unclassified
Indus script
Language codes
ISO 639-3xiv
xiv
Glottologhara1272
Impression of an Indus stamp seal, showing a string of five "Indus script" glyphs; the Indus script is interpreted by some scholars as the writing system of the Harappan language.
Impression of an Akkadian Empire cylinder seal with inscription: "Shu-ilishu, interpreter of the language of Meluhha";[1] Louvre Museum, reference AO 22310.[2]

The Harappan language is the unknown language or languages of the Bronze Age (c. 2nd millennium BC) Harappan civilization (Indus Valley civilization, or IVC). The Harappan 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 possible loanwords, the substratum in Vedic Sanskrit, and some terms recorded in Sumerian cuneiform (such as Meluhha), in conjunction with analyses of the Harappan script.

There are some possible loanwords from the language of the Indus Valley civilization. Meluḫḫa or Melukhkha (Sumerian: 𒈨𒈛𒄩𒆠 Me-luḫ-ḫaKI) is the Sumerian name of a prominent trading partner of Sumer during the Middle Bronze Age. Its identification remains an open question, but most scholars associate it with the Indus Valley Civilisation.[4] Asko Parpola identifies Proto-Dravidians with the Harappan Culture and the Meluhhan people mentioned in Sumerian records. In his book Deciphering the Indus Script. Parpola states that the Brahui people of Pakistan are remnants of the Harappan culture.[5] According to him, the word "Meluhha" derives from the Dravidian words mel ("elevated") and akam ("place"). Parpola also relates Meluhha with Balochistan, which he calls the "Proto-Dravidian homeland". He also relates Meluhha with the transient word Mleccha, a Vedic word used to mean "barbarian" and used by the incoming Aryan speaking population for the native Harappan population.[6][7][8]

  1. ^ Parpola, Asko (2015). The Roots of Hinduism: The Early Aryans and the Indus Civilization. Oxford University Press. p. 353. ISBN 9780190226930.
  2. ^ "Meluhha interpreter seal. Site officiel du musée du Louvre". cartelfr.louvre.fr.
  3. ^ "India - Agriculture and animal husbandry | Britannica". 2023-03-06. Archived from the original on 2023-03-06. Retrieved 2023-06-02.
  4. ^ McIntosh 2008, p. 46.
  5. ^ Asko Parpola (1994), Deciphering the Indus script, Cambridge University Press
  6. ^ Parpola, Asko; Parpola, Simo (1975), "On the relationship of the Sumerian toponym Meluhha and Sanskrit mleccha", Studia Orientalia, 46: 205–238
  7. ^ Witzel, Michael (1999), "Substrate Languages in Old Indo-Aryan (Ṛgvedic, Middle and Late Vedic)" (PDF), Electronic Journal of Vedic Studies, vol. 5, no. 1, p. 25, archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-02-06, retrieved 2018-12-11
  8. ^ 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, and GIŠšimmar? 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 civilization Archived 2011-07-20 at the Wayback Machine, July 2007.