S.

Kalyanaraman, Sarasvati Research Centre,

August 2019

Role of Ancient India, Sarasvati Civilization

in Tin-Bronze, Metals Revolution of 4th
millennium BCE
Indus Script accounting
classification: saṁgaha, ‘collection’
of wealth, cargo categories
Hypertext formed with hieroglyphs: स ांगड sāṅgaḍa m f (सांघट्ट S) f A
body formed of two or more (fruits, animals, men); linked or joined
together; स ग ां डणें sāṅgaḍaṇēṃ v c (स ांगड) To link, join, or unite together
(boats, fruits, animals).
Rebus: सांग्रह saṅgraha m (S) Collecting, gathering, accumulating: also a
collection, accumulation, assemblage, aggregation, heap; saṁgraha m. ʻ
collection ʼ Mn., ʻ holding together ʼ MBh. *√grah] Pa. saṅgaha -- m. ʻ
collection ʼ, Pk. saṁgaha -- m.; Bi. sã̄gah ʻ building materials ʼ;
Mth. sã̄gah ʻ the plough and all its appurtenances ʼ, Bhoj. har -- sã̄ga;
H. sãgahā ʻ collection of materials (e.g. for building) ʼ; <-> Si. san̆gaha ʻ
compilation ʼ ← Pa. (CDIAL 12852)
Rebus: saṁghāṭa 'catamaran’
Rebus: jangaḍiyo 'military guard who accompanies treasure into the
treasury’
Examples of 1. saṁgaha ‘collection’ of wealth,
cargo categories 2. hypertexts of Indus Script
kunda ‘lathe’ rebus: kunda ‘fine gold’, kunda ‘turner’ PLUS kammata
‘portable furnace’ rebus: kammata ‘mint’
śṛṅgī शङ्
ृ गी ‘spiny horn’ rebus: gold used for ornaments.
khōṇḍa ‘young bull' Rebus: konda 'furnace’ kunda
'fine gold'

Field symbol figure FS 88: Standing person

with upraised arm ligatured with the tail and
hoofs of bovine
mēd 'body' (Kur.)(DEDR 5099); meḍ 'iron' (Ho.) eraka ‘upraised arm’ rebus: eraka
‘moltencast’
Images: Lydia Electrum Coin,
dhangar 'bull' rebus: dhangar 'blacksmith'
Unicorn on Ishtar Gate
Fine gold, kunda kammaṭa 'lathe, portable furnace’
rebus: kunda kammaṭa 'fine gold mint’
ornament gold
PLUS dotted circles: dāya 'one in dice’
rebus: dhatu 'mineral’

dhã̄ 'strand’ PLUS vaṭṭa 'circle'

rebus: vr̥tta 'profession'; together, dhã̄vaḍ 'smelter’

singi ‘horned’; PLUS pōttī ʻ glass bead ʼ

singi ‘ornament rebus: Potr purifier’ potadāra 'assayer of metals’
gold’
muka 'ladle’ rebus: mū̃h'ingot’
khōṇḍa ‘young
baṭa 'rimless pot' rebus: baṭa 'iron' bhaṭa 'furnace’.
bull' Rebus:
käti ʻwarrior’ rebus: khātī ʻwheelwright’
konda 'furnace’
kuṭi 'temple' rebus: kuṭhi 'smelter'
kunda 'fine gold'
9/5/2019 Indus Script documents wealth 4
Source of copper and tin for Tin-Bronze Revolution of 4th millennium BCE from
seafaring merchants of Meluhha
R̥gveda Gotama Rahugana moves to Karatoya (Sadanira)
from Kurukshetra; i.e. he moves from Sarasvati River Basin
to Brahmaputra Basin
Largest tin belt of the globe is in Mekong River Basin

Cylinder seal of Shu-ilishu Meluhha translator Provenance analyses by Begemann, Friedrich &
SCHMITT-STRECKER, S. (2009). Über das frühe
shows Meluhha copper and tin merchantss; Kupfer Mesopotamiens. Iranica Antiqua. Proved that
melh ‘goat’ rebus: meluhha, milakkhu ‘copper’; source of copper used in Mesopotamia during the Tin-
ranku ‘liquidmeasure’ rebus: ranku ‘tin’ Bronze Revolution was from Khetri Mines
Location of Rakhigarhi on the Aravalli range, water-
divide, is a maritime port between Ganga-Yamuna
doab and Sarasvati River navigable waterways
In view of Rakhigarhi's proximity to Farmana, Girawad,
Mitathal clusters of Chautang tributary -- close to the right
bank of Yamuna river -- and access to Khetri mines about
300 kms. west makes the Rakhigarhi cluster of sites
uniquely located between Sarasvati River basin and
Yamuna-Ganga-Brahmaputra River Basins. Rakhigarhi, the
largest settlement of Sarasvati Civilization with an area of
about 500 hectares can thus be viewed as the bridge
between two major expanses of Hindu Civilization during
the Metals Age, handling the resources of copper and tin
ores by seafaring merchants.

The waterways of navigable rivers Mekong, Irrawaddy,

Salween, Brahmaputra, Ganga-Yamuna doab, Sarasvati,
Persian Gulf (Indian Ocean), Tigris-Euphrates constituted
the Ancient Maritime Tin Route linking Ancient Far East and
Ancient Near East.
 ranku dhatu muh 'tin mineral ingot'

ranku 'antelope', ranku 'liquid measure' rebus:

ranku 'tin'
muh 'face' rebus: muh 'ingot'
dATu 'cross' rebus: dhatu 'mineral
• Three tin ingots from a shipwreck in Haifa with Indus
Script inscriptions which read: ranku dhatu muh ‘tin
mineral ingot’. The shipwreck is dated to ca. 15th
cent.BCE. A note on decipherment appears in the
monograph: The Bronze Age Writing System
of Sarasvati Hieroglyphics as Evidenced by Two
“Rosetta Stones”By S. Kalyanaramanin:in: Journal of
Indo-Judaic Studies Volume 1: Number 11 (2010), pp.
47-74.
https://www.academia.edu/32692598/Who_invented_the_oxhide_ingot_shape._Melu
hha_artisans._An_archaemetallurgical_journey_along_the_Maritime_Tin_Route_.pdf
m304 is a Guild-master’s seal which lists
the repertoire of artisans of Śreṇi
'squirrel' hieroglyph 'khāra, šēṣ̃ ṭrĭ̄' Rebus: plaintext: khār 'blacksmith’ śrēṣṭhin 'guild-
master' (Aitareya Brāhmaṇa).

Guild workshops working in: eraka 'nave of wheel' rebus: eraka 'moltencast, copper'
PLUS sal 'splinter' rebus: sal 'workshop'. aya dhakka,Rebus: aya dhakka 'bright iron/alloy
metal'.
aya kammaṭa 'alloy metal mint, coiner, coinage 'aya dhāḷ ‘metal ingot’; khaṇḍa 'arrow'
rebus: khaṇḍa 'implements'

(1) native unsmelted metal, metal mint, large metal ingot (oxhide)

(2) metal products -- iron ingots, metalcastings (of smithy/forge iron metals workshop)
handed over to Supercargo, (a representative of the ship's owner on board a merchant
ship, responsible for overseeing the cargo and its sale)

(3)smithy/forge, mint for three types of ferrite mineral (magnetite, hematite, laterite)
 Ancient Bhārat of 19th
cent. BCE as a Maritime,
ship-building nation
along Indian Ocean Rim,
evidence of sewn boats
using coir ropes from
Red Sea port of Ayn
Sukhna comparable to
Kerala catamarans

"The Indian ships are much bigger than ours. Their bases
are made of three boards .. face formidable storms." See,
R. H. Major, ed. (1857), "The travels of Niccolo Conti"
Role of Sarasvati Civilization in metals age explains
why Bharat was an economic power of the globe
accounting for 33% of Global GDP in 1 Common Era
History of World GDP
-- Chart made by
Angus Maddison
for European Union