ARTICLE

A cryptanalytic decipherment of the Indus script

yajnadevam
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ARTICLE HISTORY
Compiled November 6, 2023

Abstract
Indus inscriptions hold the key to unlocking the history of pre-Iron Age India and
all Indo-European peoples but remain undeciphered for over a century. All prior
attempts have been unsatisfactory and unfalsifiable. We decipher the Indus script
by treating it as a large cryptogram as described by Claude Shannon. We decipher
every sign sequentially using regular expressions and set-intersection. Indus script
is discovered to be proto-abugida segmental with signs for consonants and vowels.
Indus inscriptions are in grammatically correct post-Vedic Sanskrit. Variants of
74 allographs constitute most signs. Conjunct signs constitute the rest. Our deci-
pherment can read every inscription and we translate 500+ inscriptions including
the 50+ longest, 50+ shortest and 400+ medium-sized inscriptions including 100+
inscriptions with conjunct signs. We comfortably surpass Shannon’s criteria for a
credible cryptogram decipherment. Brahmi glyphs are discovered to be standard-
ized Indus signs. We find significant continuation of Indus linguistic features and
cultural elements in post-bronze age India.

KEYWORDS
Indus Valley Civilization; Indus script; Epigraphy; Brahmi; Sanskrit

1 1. Introduction

2 Indus Valley civilization was the largest bronze age civilization, spanning over one mil-
3 lion square kilometers and having an estimated population of five million(Dixit, 2019).
4 This advanced civilization featured planned cities, drainage, international trade and
5 standardized weights among many impressive accomplishments. Indus civilization has
6 left behind strings of symbols on seals, tablets and a large sign (Dholavira signboard)
7 which is termed “the Indus script”. Although the mature Indus civilization is believed
8 to have started around 2600 BCE, we see stage-by-stage evolution from the earliest sites
9 to Bhirrana and Mehrgarh. These older stages are given different names such as pre-
10 Harappan, early-Harappan and so on to distinguish them from the mature Harappan
11 stage.

12 1.1. Geographic and temporal spread

13 The earliest Indus seal is from Kunal, dated to 4000 BCE(ASI, 2004). The earliest
14 graffiti appears on potsherds in 4000 BCE Balakot(Ahmed, 2014; Lashari et al., 2020).
15 Seals with Indus script begin in the archaeological record mid-to-late 4th-millennium
16 BCE(BBC, 1999). Seals post-1900 BCE are rare in the archaeological record. Indus
17 sites in the Thar desert are abandoned but sites in the Himalayan foothills continue
18 till about Jognekhera 800 BCE(Haryana Directorate of Archaeology and Museums,
19 2023). Indus symbols however continue to appear on Varanasi coins from 800 BCE to
20 Maurya era coins and on megalithic sites in South India to 50 CE(Banerjee and Ra-
21 jan, 1960; CoinIndia, 2010; Reddy and Sakunthalamma, 2023). B. B. Lal noted that
22 89 percent of megalithic symbols go back to Indus symbols(Lal, 1960). Findings at
23 Keezhadi show usage of both Brahmi and Indus symbols with primarily Indus graffiti
24 from 600 BCE and transitioning to only Tamil-Brahmi around 100 BCE(Ramakrishna
25 et al., 2018; Sivanantham and Seran, 2019). Sealings continued to appear until the
26 Gupta era using Brahmi script(ASI, 1906). Mixed Brahmi-Indus scripts occur in OCP
27 copper hoards(Munjal and Munjal, 2005), Iran(Lahafian, 2013), Tamil Nadu(Subrah-
28 manian, 2010), Sri Lanka(Raghupathy, 1987) and Vietnam(Lien, 2013), ranging over
29 many hundreds of years.

30 1.2. The corpus

31 There are 4300+ inscriptions from archaeological digs(Wells and Fuls, 2023). More are
32 being unearthed as new sites are excavated. The stratigraphy, location and other details
33 of most later excavations are preserved but many older finds have missing data. The
34 median inscription length is about 5 signs. There are about 50 inscriptions that are 10
35 signs or longer. Some inscriptions are a single sign or two signs. The seals themselves
36 are small and come in all manner of shapes: square, rectangular, circular and triangular.
37 The square seals are sized about 3×3 to 4×4 cm. Due to the scarce space, we see the
38 crowding of letters to the left side in early inscriptions. The script has a large variety of
39 signs that are hand carved and many signs show abstraction, simplification and rotation,
40 evidently to preserve scarce horizontal space. The oldest layer of Harappa shows only
41 about 71 signs, possibly indicating that some later signs are variants.
42 In addition to seals, we have tablets and tags, that were presumably used to attach
43 to goods for trade. These show heavy wear similar to old coins and are found close to
44 market areas, which may be taken as evidence of use as currency. Many seals indeed
45 resemble early Indic coins with an inscription on top, an animal icon in the center and
46 sometimes a staff or standard in front of the animal(Srivatsava, 2021).
47 The Dholavira signboard is meant to be seen from a large distance to convey infor-
48 mation to travelers and is strong evidence that the Indus script is writing. Writing on
49 personal items such as bangles and jewelry may indicate that IVC was a literate society.
50 The broad geographic and temporal distribution along with mixed Indus/Brahmi in-
51 scriptions should be sufficient evidence that Indus script represents writing rather than
52 proto-writing or pictorial identifiers.

53 1.3. Previous decipherments

54 Of the estimated 100+ attempts to decipher the Indus script, most are essentially idea-
55 stage and are incompletely developed. For example, a popular idea-stage decipherment
56 is the observation that the fish signs occur in a particular order has been proposed to
57 mean a binary number system was in use. Inscriptions with repeating identical fish
58 signs such as H-230 ���� falsify this claim since it doesn’t make sense to encode the
59 same bit twice. Moreover, a script that has numerical signs wouldn’t use binary code in
60 a writing system where space is at a premium. It is unnecessary to individually falsify
61 every single idea-stage decipherment since they only apply to a handful of signs.

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 62 Of the decipherments that claim to have decoded a large number of seals, most use a
63 combination of the erroneous methods discussed below. The erroneous methods create
64 degenerate sets used to force a reading. These degenerate sets give a shallow semblance
65 of plausibility. When these erroneous methods are applied to larger sets, they fall apart
66 like the binary-fish narrative.

67 1.3.1. Intuition
68 Most attempted decipherments of Indus script are logographic or logo-syllabic, which
69 avoids the need for syllables or phonemes to interlock into words. Logographic scripts
70 are unlikely to be satisfactorily deciphered without a Rosetta stone or some other falsi-
71 fiability criteria. A majority of signs can be claimed to be single words, most are nouns
72 with occasional generic verbs. This enables short inscriptions to be read as adjective-
73 noun or verb-adjective-noun. The method starts by assuming the value of a sign and
74 then tries to read a meaning into a short inscription. Parpola for example, considers the
75 intersecting circles sign � to represent “bangles” and three strokes sign �to represent
76 “hearth”(Parpola, 1994). The reasoning for such an assumption is unexplained. These
77 two signs may as well represent “nuts” and “three” or “wheels” and “baby teeth” or
78 any thousands of competing concepts. Occasionally, these signs occur in meaningless
79 patterns and need an alternate explanation. For example, when these two signs are
80 combined �� , the reading “hearth-bangles” would be meaningless, so a new overloaded
81 interpretation is added: “pregnancy bangles”. The derivation pathway for this seems to
82 be simply associating random strings of signs with an idea or a myth that the author is
83 familiar with. Such a reading is non-falsifiable and rests on our faith in the decipherer’s
84 intuition. Intuition can be a valid method in a falsifiable system such as mathematics
85 as demonstrated by Ramanujan but not in decipherments.

86 1.3.2. Eclectic
87 The sign values are sometimes borrowed from other scripts. Signs are assumed to
88 have the same value as any similar sign in other scripts. Mahadevan for example,
89 assumes symbols similar to Egyptian hieroglyphs and Sumerian cuneiform represent
90 the same meaning in Indus script and then tries to connect it to some Indian cultural
91 or mythological context, thus “deciphering” a symbol(Mahadevan, 2010). For example,
92 based on his analysis of M-1896 ��� and the similarity of Indus sign � with Egyptian
93 hieroglyph O.49 meaning city, Iravatham Mahadevan speculates that Mohenjodaro’s
94 ancient name could be Kukkutarma, [kukkuta = Indian fowl] or “Cocks-city” based
95 on interpreting the 1st CE Chola kingdom city Uraiyur in South India, as the city of
96 the cock. No evidence of chickens have been found in Mohenjodaro. Recent evidence
97 shows that chickens were domesticated in Thailand about 300 years after Indus Valley
98 stopped making seals(Peters et al, 2022). Mohenjodaro and Uraiyur which are separated
99 by 2500 years and 2000 km are alluded to as perhaps connected for narrative support
100 since “cocks-city” is a meaningless term not backed by any evidence.
101 It’s usually easy to find failures of this method for even short inscriptions. Using the
102 meaning of other signs from his decipherments, H-452 �� would be chicken-jar, M-795
103 �� �� would be ruler-chicken-jar-bearer. These other meaningless readings need their
104 specific narrative support. It becomes evident that eclectic decipherments very quickly
105 become untenable.

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 Table 1. Eclectic decipherment of Latin alphabet from unrelated scripts

Source Symbol Value Source Symbol Value

Cherokee D a Inuktitut P ki
Cherokee W la Inuktitut L ma
Cherokee I qua Inuktitut U te
Cherokee L tle Inuktitut V pe
Cherokee T i Ethiopic O ’
Cherokee H mi Ethiopic M ṭ

106 1.3.3. Eclectic Starter set

107 Eclectic collation of sign values from many different scripts is the central method of
108 some syllabic and phonetic decipherments. Their advantage over logographic claims is
109 that they can use imported sign values as a starter set and discover the values of the
110 remainder using dictionary search and guesswork. S. R. Rao pioneered this technique
111 by claiming that similar-looking Semitic and Indus signs have the same values(Rao,
112 1980). He used the Semitic starter set supported simply by his assumption that Indus
113 signs eventually developed into Semitic signs.
114 The defect in this method is that the choice of a starter set is fairly arbitrary. Any two
115 scripts will have some signs that look similar or similar enough with completely different
116 sound values. Roughly 33% of both Linear-B and Caroline Island appear similar to
117 signs from Indus script but Indus inscriptions are unreadable if we borrow their values.
118 Simple signs with lines, circles, half circles or combinations are fairly common across
119 many scripts and similarities increase with the number of signs available. To illustrate
120 the defect in this method, we create a starter set for Latin based on some scripts that
121 have signs common with the Latin alphabet as in Table 1 and it would be incorrect to
122 use it to discover the values of the remaining Latin signs.

123 1.3.4. Frequency-fit

124 Many phonetic and syllabic decipherment claims essentially assign signs to values based
125 on frequency, i.e., the most frequent Indus sign is assigned to the most frequent syllable
126 of their chosen language. This is the best case for forced reading in a chosen language
127 since the chances of high-frequency syllables and digraphs interlocking to form plausible
128 words are maximized. Even so, sometimes an inconvenient sign will cause the inscription
129 to be unreadable meaningfully since the most frequent Indus sign is at the end (the
130 leftmost sign). This is why frequency-fit decipherments invariably claim a left-to-right
131 direction.

132 1.3.5. Dismembered

133 An option to deal with signs that don’t fit a syllabic reading is to give them the value
134 of a whole word or a word fragment. This may be justified by dismembering an Indus
135 sign into smaller units that plausibly look like known signs from other scripts that don’t
136 yet exist, Brahmi in particular. These words often are not conjugated or declined, so
137 they won’t fit grammatically into any inscription but may improve a plausible reading.

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138 1.3.6. Nominal
139 Phonetic and syllabic decipherments would be expected to have some grammar but
140 nearly all prior decipherment claims typically lack grammar, morphology, syntax,
141 subject-verb agreement, plurals, conjugation, declension, prepositions or any other
142 grammatical elements. One way to justify this is to claim that all Indus inscriptions
143 are names. Short inscriptions can plausibly be argued to be names since names outside
144 sentences are essentially not declined. This also means most long inscriptions often
145 won’t be readable. This is a claim of many decipherments, the prominent being S. R.
146 Rao.

147 1.3.7. Monosyllabic

148 Frequency-fit decipherments often don’t declare any method in detail but rather simply
149 state the value of a sign, often with a bit of narrative. Decipherments that posit the
150 need for a method such as the Semitic-import method won’t have the slight boost of the
151 plausibility of frequency fit but instead, behave more like a random sign to phoneme
152 assignments. A random assignment always results in meaningless sound sequences when
153 the inscriptions are transliterated. One way to force-fit a reading is to claim a mono-
154 syllabic language. S. R. Rao in his decipherment claimed that most words in Harappan
155 language are monosyllabic, with possible affixes for genitive and dative cases. Short
156 inscriptions can be claimed to be read as a monosyllabic language, especially if many
157 signs and common digraphs are just names.

158 1.3.8. Degenerate subsets

159 A correct decipherment should be able to read almost every inscription, especially long
160 inscriptions and most signs should be deciphered. One way to force-fit a reading is to
161 decipher a partial subset of signs and read only a few short inscriptions. This allows for
162 cherry-picking a small set of inscriptions that may be read grammatically and meaning-
163 fully when chosen values are assigned. This is because the entire information content of
164 the deciphered text is held in the decipherment key itself. Degenerate subsets cannot
165 be mathematically larger than the key size, as we discuss in Section 2.
166 When the broader corpus is transliterated with the same values as explained in Sec-
167 tion 1.3.2, it falls apart. The shorter the set of signs used and the corpus decoded, the
168 more freedom there is to force a reading of choice.

169 1.3.9. Inconsistent Reading

170 Most claimed decipherments use multiple means listed above to force a decipherment
171 in the language of their choice. Even decipherments that claim to have read thousands
172 of inscriptions don’t read the inscription as written with any semblance of consistent
173 grammar, or in any attested language.

174 2. Methods

175 2.1. Script Type and Direction

176 The preferred script direction seems to be right-to-left due to external and internal
177 evidence(Mahadevan, 1977). External evidence such as crowding on the left side on in-
178 scribed copper objects, bas-relief tablets, seal impressions (right side on seals), evidence

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179 of starting carving letters from the right side and so on was combined with internal ev-
180 idence such as identical inscriptions appearing as both one and two line versions. This
181 enabled the eventual determination of the direction of most inscriptions. Approximately
182 83% are determined to be right-to-left and 6.5% were left-to-right. The rest are either
183 single-sign, undetermined or damaged. A mathematical model of the gini-coefficient of
184 the Indus corpus also finds that the Indus script is written right-to-left regardless of the
185 type of script(Ashraf and Sinha, 2018).
186 Logographic scripts are characterized by low frequency and a large signary. Ma-
187 hadevan classifies the Indus script into 417 signs, ICIT classifies them into 700+ signs,
188 treating minor variants as separate signs since a sizable number (1000+) of signs is
189 suitable for a logo-syllabic analysis. This is based on the assumption that a script from
190 3500 BCE must be logo-syllabic(Wells and Fuls, 2023).
191 However, a large signary is untenable on thorough analysis. Only a small fraction
192 of signs (27.5%) are attested 10 or more times and only a tiny fraction (6%) have an
193 attestation count of 100+. A significant fraction of the rare signs seem to be stylistic
194 variants, accidentally mirrored signs or word fragments. Some are gradual abstractions
195 of complex signs such as � � � and must be seen as variants of a single sign. The
196 extreme rarity of conjunct signs like � � � indicates that these are artifacts of crowding
197 due to lack of space and must be seen as digraphs of their component signs rather than
198 as completely different unrelated signs.
199 With these considerations, the sign count drops to under a hundred and the script is
200 unlikely to be logographic. This strengthens the case for a syllabic or segmental script.
201 The pattern of repetitions of the same sign multiple times in the same inscription
202 also supports syllabic or segmental (abugida/alphabetic/abjad/phonetic) script. A non-
203 script should be expected to see repetition in the use of symbols similar to the birthday
204 collision effect. This number crosses 50% when the number of symbols in a single
205 inscription is 25 or more. No Indus inscription is this long, so we wouldn’t expect to
206 see any repeated symbols.

 
417!
(417−25)!
1− = 0.52
41725
207 Birthday collision, of course, applies to uniformly random events, while segmental
208 scripts are not uniformly random due to phonotactic rules unique to every language.
209 Therefore more frequently used symbols should see more collisions in smaller-length
210 inscriptions than less frequently used symbols. We see repetitions in the shortest of
211 inscriptions to medium to long inscriptions. About 17% of inscriptions have a repeated
212 sign if we include immediately repeated and bracketed signs. The jar and fish signs are
213 prolific repeaters and the spoked wheel sign occurs 4 times the Dholavira inscription.
214 This is additional support for a non-logographic script. This number is likely to be
215 much higher once allographs are discovered. By comparison in a logosyllabic script,
216 repetitions are extremely rare in short inscriptions. For example, of the 488 subway
217 station names in Beijing, only 3 (0.6%) have a repeated Mandarin sign and none with
218 3 or more occurrences(wikipedia, 2021).

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219 2.2. Cryptanalytic Decipherments
220 Some scripts such as the Copiale cipher have been deciphered using cryptanaly-
221 sis(Knight, Megyesi, and Schaefer, 2011). Ephron was able to re-decipher the Ventris-
222 Chadwick decipherment of Linear-B using cryptanalysis(Ephron, 1961). He only found
223 one sign that had a different value, which was later acknowledged as correct by the orig-
224 inal decipherers, showing the superiority of cryptanalytic decipherments. Cryptanalysis
225 using frequency analysis is possible if we have an idea of the set of allographs, without
226 which complex tools may need to be specially written to analyze them as in the case
227 of the Copiale cipher. Attempts to use frequency analysis on the Indus script did not
228 yield any results other than the possibility of some relation to the Brahmi script(Kak,
229 1988). The dictionary method of solving cryptograms is superior to frequency analysis
230 since it’s immune to frequency changes due to the passage of time and does not require
231 apriori knowledge of allographs(Moreno, 2005).

232 2.3. Cryptograms

233 A syllabic or phonetic script can be modeled as a cryptogram and solved using proven
234 mathematical methods. Successfully solving the corpus as a cryptogram would validate
235 the non-logographic nature of the Indus script.
236 A cryptogram simply stated, is a message in a known language encoded in an un-
237 known script. A specific kind of cryptogram that has been thoroughly studied is a
238 single substitution cipher, where one sign in the script corresponds to a single phoneme,
239 syllable or alphabet. Newspapers and puzzles often carry such cryptograms on their
240 puzzle page. Typically the encoded message is a quote by a famous person and is long
241 enough to be uniquely deciphered.

242 2.4. Shannon on Cryptograms

243 Claude Shannon’s groundbreaking A Mathematical Theory of Cryptography is a foun-
244 dational work of modern cryptography, signaling, data compression and information
245 theory(Shannon, 1945). This work addresses the mathematics and cryptanalysis of
246 cryptograms. According to Shannon, an unknown script such as the Bacon/Voynich
247 Manuscript may be modeled as a cryptogram(Bacon, 1401-1599). Our method to deci-
248 pher the Indus script essentially reuses Shannon’s cryptanalysis methods faithfully with
249 the help of modern programming languages.
250 A cryptogram may have many possible solutions, for example: the encrypted text
251 ABC has as ~556 solutions, i.e., any 3-letter word with no repeating letters is a solution.
252 Others like AAB only have a unique solution: EEL.
253 The question of the uniqueness of solutions to cryptograms in general (as opposed
254 to the hand-crafted examples above) is useful to determine whether a decipherment is
255 valid. Shannon’s criteria for a cryptogram having a unique solution is determined by
256 a quantity termed “equivocation”. Equivocation arises from information redundancy in
257 natural languages. Dependencies and rules on how symbols are put together to form
258 words and sentences mean that natural language has less information in a probabilistic
259 sense than a purely random set of letters. The equivocation Q(N ) represents how close
260 we are to a unique solution for a given cryptogram of N letters:
261 The redundancy is essentially a series of conditions on the letters of the message, which
262 insure that it be statistically reasonable. These consistency conditions produce corre-

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263 sponding consistency conditions in the cryptogram. The key gives a certain amount of
264 freedom to the cryptogram, but as more and more letters are intercepted, the consistency
265 conditions use up the freedom allowed by the key. Eventually there is only one message
266 and key which satisfy all the conditions and we have a unique solution(Shannon, 1945).
267 The redundancy in a language is simple to explain: There are about 3742 five-letter
268 words in English of 265 = 11881376 possible combinations. Most of the symbol space
269 therefore is empty. The reason for this is phonotactics and the way words are made:
270 Certain combinations of sounds and letters are impossible in a given language. The
271 first character of a word and every letter following its previous letter is a matter of
272 probabilities. For example, if the first 2 letters of a five-letter word are TH then there
273 are only 30 possible words out of a possible 17576 symbol combinations. If the first
274 3 letters of a five-letter word are THY, then the next two are definitely ME from the
275 word THYME of a possible 262 = 676 possibilities. At a level above words, morphol-
276 ogy, syntax and idioms dictate how the sequence of phonemes in a language can flow.
277 While the phonotactics and syntax of every language are unique, each has a comparable
278 amount of redundancy. Fixed states with fixed probabilities of transition can be used
279 to construct a Markov process, which serves as a graph model for the language.
280 Shannon derives a quantitative metric to determine if a claimed decipherment is
281 credible or suspect. After a certain number of letters are deciphered, equivocation
282 becomes zero and the cryptogram has a unique solution. This point is called the unicity
283 distance. Shannon’s formula for unicity distance is |K|/D, where |K| is the size of the
284 key space and D is the redundancy of the language which measures excess information
285 content:
286 For the English language, the key space is the number of possible ways to rearrange
287 the alphabet to create the cryptogram alphabet. The number of keys is 26×25×...2×1 =
288 26! The information contained in the key space is log10 (26!). The redundancy of English
289 can be experimentally determined to be 0.7, that is to say, 70% of English letters are
290 redundant or can be guessed based on the remaining 30% of letters.
291 From |K| = log10 26! and D = 0.7, we calculate the unicity distance for a cryptogram
292 in the English language: log10 (26!)/0.7 = 30 letters. Shannon’s criteria is any cryp-
293 togram whose length is well beyond the unicity distance (say, 50 for English) has a
294 unique solution and is correctly deciphered:
295 In general, we may say that if a proposed system and key solves a system for a length of
296 material considerably greater than the unicity distance the solution is trustworthy. If the
297 material is of the same order or shorter than the unicity distance the solution is highly
298 suspicious(Shannon, 1945).

299 2.5. Extending Shannon’s criteria to other languages and scripts

300 Shannon’s unicity formula is calculated for English encoded in the Latin alphabet.
301 Languages can also be encoded as syllables or graphemes. Many languages have multiple
302 graphemes to represent the same phoneme. For example, the phoneme /f/ in English
303 is encoded using the graphemes f, ff, ph, gh, lf, ft.
304 A uniform metric for the Indus script decipherment credibility can be created using
305 Mahadevan’s sign count of 417 for the number of graphemes.
306 |K| = log10 (S 417 ), where S is the number of phonemes for a phonetic script or
307 syllables for a syllabic script in the language.
308 A practical way to measure the redundancy of a language is to compress representa-
309 tive text of sufficient length and use the portion reduced as the redundancy. To avoid

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310 variances introduced by encoding, we can transliterate to Latin before compression.
311 This roughly gives 0.7 for most natural languages. Any minor differences may be seen
312 as insignificant since we are looking at way past the unicity distance for determining
313 correctness.
314 This gives a uniform formula for unicity distance to check the correctness of deci-
315 pherment claims in any language:
316 |K|/D = log10 (S 417 )/0.7, where S is the number of phonemes in the language.
317 For claims of Indus script deciphered as Sanskrit with 35 phonemes:
318 Unicity Distance of Sanskrit for Indus script:
319 |K|/D = log10 (35417 )/0.7 ≈ 920.
320 We can use a multiplier of 1.5 to determine “well-past unicity” giving the decipher-
321 ment size:
322 920×1.5 = 1380.
323 Note that while this allows for the same phoneme to be represented by multiple
324 graphemes, graphemes representing multiple phonemes add to the equivocation and
325 may be adjusted for by multiplying with the equivocation added. Reusing ~30 signs of
326 unaspirated phonemes for aspirated adds about 10%, as does reusing ~20 dental signs
327 for retroflex. Pooling all sibilants into ~20 signs increases the equivocation by 150% for
328 those signs. The net effect would be adding (30+20)×0.1 + 20×1.5 = 35 signs for a
329 total of 452 signs.
330 Unicity with folded aspirates, retroflex and pooled sibilants:
331 log10 (35452 )/0.7 ≈ 997.
332 Similar adjustments for unicity must be made when more deviations are added. For
333 example, if inscriptions are read as a five vowel abjad, then its unicity distance is
334 log10 (35(417∗5) )/0.7 ≈ 4599.

335 2.6. Solving a cryptogram

336 Shannon’s method to solve a cipher:

337 (1) Determine the language.

338 (2) Determine the cipher (cryptogram for Indus script)
339 (3) Determine one or more letters of the key by checking patterns of occurrence (fre-
340 quency, variety of contact, doubles, reversals)
341 (4) Use the deciphered key portion as a consistency check by testing other parts of
342 the cryptogram.
343 (5) Repeat the step above until fully deciphered.

344 2.7. Determining the language

345 The first step to solving a cryptogram is to guess the language itself. If the language
346 is incorrect, the cryptogram will be unsolvable. Language is a Markov process and the
347 probabilities of symbol transitions are very different even for related languages, which
348 means that a large pattern set representing the corpus of one language cannot be read
349 as another even if symbol values are reassigned. A cryptogram whose plaintext is in one
350 language cannot be forcibly decrypted in another language due to the principle derived
351 by Shannon:
352 the amount of uncertainty we can introduce into the solution of the cryptogram cannot
353 be greater than the key size(Shannon, 1945).

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354 All information in a decipherment result needs to pre-exist in the plain text or the
355 decipherment key. This means that it’s mathematically impossible to force a language
356 of our choice onto a cryptogram when the corpus is larger than the key. The closest we
357 can do is the frequency-fit described in Section 1.3.4, which is essentially a 1st order
358 approximation of a Markov process. Higher-order approximations using an incorrect
359 language cannot be constructed as they would conflict with the frequencies of the source
360 language of the corpus.
361 This can be illustrated by trying to force-fit modern English as the language of the
362 Indus Valley and demonstrating how quickly it fails. Let us pick the seal M-1837 ���.
363 The only English word that matches this pattern is EEL with � resolved as E and
364 � as L. When we try to resolve the next symbol � using K-153 ��, we don’t get any
365 matches since there are no two-letter English words that have L as the second letter.
366 We could abandon this thread of investigation and try with other signs, but eventually,
367 they will all reach a dead-end. It becomes clear that English cannot be force-fit as the
368 language of Indus inscriptions. This will be true for force-fitting any language onto any
369 cryptogram, including languages that are close to the source language. This is due to
370 the mathematical property of Markov processes: the graphs representing the Markov
371 process of different languages are utterly unique because the set of states and their
372 transition probabilities are unique.

373 2.8. Meluhhan language

374 Based on Indus script signs embedded in various Tamil Brahmi and Sanskrit Brahmi
375 inscriptions, the most realistic candidates for the Indus language are Sanskrit and Tamil.
376 Heggarty’s Bayesian model indicates that Indo-Iranian and Indo-European started to
377 become audibly different around 4000 BCE and were markedly differentiated by 3500
378 BCE(Heggarty et al., 2023). This gives sufficient time for an old Indo-Aryan dialect to
379 be present in the Indus Valley for the bulk of the inscriptions which are dated post-2600
380 BCE.
381 The attestation of triple symbols such as ��� would not fit many languages but could
382 be lit conjugation (somewhat similar to English perfect tense) of Sanskrit. Some roots
383 with a duplicated consonant become a triple consonant due to reduplication in lit. For
384 example, jajaja “I fought” is first person singular perfect of √jaj “to fight”. Similarly
385 lalala “I enjoyed” from √lal, sasasa “I slept” from √sas etc. In addition, the large number
386 of doubled signs could also be lit conjugation in plural second person such as rara “you
387 all gave” from √rā or babha “you all shined” from √bhā.
388 The strongest evidence, however, comes from Sumerian inscriptions(Parpola, Par-
389 pola, and Brunswig Jr, 1977). The Meluhhans are first mentioned in Mesopotamian
390 texts in an inscription of Sargon 2300 BCE. Sumerians traded timber, ivory, carnelian,
391 water buffalo, gold dust etc. with a land named “Meluhha.” Meluhhans built large sea-
392 worthy ships capable of carrying large animals across the sea. Only the Indus Valley
393 civilization produced all the products sourced from Meluhha and had extensive ocean
394 trade. Meluhha therefore is nearly unanimously believed to be how the Sumerians
395 referred to the Indus Valley civilization or one of its trading posts.
396 Meluhhans seem to have settled and intermarried into Sumer and some Meluhhans
397 adopted Sumerian names. There are some names, however, that are not Sumerian.
398 Most of these seem to be attested as proper names in Sanskrit literature. Meluhha
399 itself needs to be both the name of a person and the name of a country as shown in
400 Table 2. One of the names ending in ibra could represent many Sanskrit names such as

10
 Table 2. Names of Meluhhan persons and goods as recorded in Sumerian cuneiform

Artifact-Id Sumerian Meluhhan Name Meaning

CDLI 516366 sa6-ma-ar समर[MW] Samara confluence

CDLI 516366 na-na-sa3 न�नस� [MW] Nānas distinct
CDLI 525331 szu-i3-li2-su श� ल�श[ŚivaP] Shailesha Himalaya
CDLI 212982 sun2-zi-da स� �सद्ध[Bhag] Samsiddha accomplished
MS 2814a [szu?]-ib-ra श्वभ्र[MW] Śvabhra offerings pit
L 1426b me-luh-ha म� ल�c Melaḥ (person) union

CDLI 388265 mes म� ष� meṣī Dalbergia

CDLI 228643 dim3-dim3 �ड��डम ḍiṇḍima small drum
(Many)a me-luh-ha म� ल�� Melāḥ (country) settlements
a (George, 2003); b (Parpola, Parpola, and Brunswig Jr,
1977); c (Devi, 1933); CDLI DB: (CDLI, 2023);

401 Vibhra, Atibhra etc. but unlikely in other candidates like Dravidian.
402 In addition, 90 identified words in Sumerian may be borrowed from Sanskrit(Vyas,
403 2020). This may be seen as sufficiently strong evidence to attempt decoding the Indus
404 language as Sanskrit. We use Monier-Williams abbreviations throughout the paper to
405 denote the source of attestation(Monier-Williams, 1899a). For example, Soma स�म[RV]
406 means “Soma as attested in Rigveda” and Samara समर[MW] means “Samara, attested
407 as a proper name in Monier-Williams dictionary.”

408 2.9. Determining one or more letters using occurrence patterns

409 The next step is to guess or decipher the first sign using unusual patterns in the text
410 that will enable us to read one or two syllabic words. We can rely on the fact that every
411 seal is one or more complete words and choose the shortest available seals to avoid the
412 issue of detecting word boundaries on longer inscriptions. With sufficient inscriptions
413 that only have a single common undeciphered sign, we can uniquely determine its value.
414 We can then repeat the steps and use the known signs to decipher the next unknown
415 sign.
416 All essential information for the cryptanalysis in a cryptogram is in the pattern of
417 occurrences of the symbols and not the symbols themselves. The following are equivalent
418 cryptograms of the plaintext EEL: BBA, XXC, GGF. Shannon calls such a pattern
419 underlying a set of equivalent cryptograms a residue class:
420 It is obvious in this case that these cryptograms are essentially equivalent. All that is of
421 importance in a simple substitution with random key is the pattern of letter repetitions,
422 the actual letters being dummy variables. Indeed we might dispense with them entirely
423 indicating the pattern of repetitions.
424 Cryptanalysis of cryptograms depends entirely on the pattern of positions and repeti-
425 tions of signs in the ciphertext and does not depend on symbol shape, evolution history
426 of a sign, assumptions on cultural aspects, geography, etc. Indeed, because none of
427 these aspects are inputs, they can be credibly deduced as outputs once sufficient signs
428 are deciphered.

11
429 Patterns in the Indus corpus may be represented as regular expressions enabling
430 us to search in dictionaries and determine their values. Solving cryptograms using
431 regular expressions is a known art and we will only touch upon the techniques used for
432 deciphering the Indus script(Goibhniu, 2007).

433 2.10. The dictionary method of solving cryptograms

434 We illustrate the dictionary method with a simple example of an unknown script en-
435 coding text in the English language. There are 26 possible values for each symbol and
436 trying each value would require 26! possibilities, which is infeasible. If we can, however,
437 reduce the number of possibilities to solve an individual letter to two or three options,
438 then the script can be deciphered in under a hundred attempts.

439 2.10.1. Bootstrapping

440 Let us suppose we parse through the corpus of the enciphered text and isolate the
441 following words from the ciphertext. Whether these words were collected from one or
442 many messages does not affect the decipherment as long as the values assigned to signs
443 haven’t changed.

W ords = {πασσ, σαπσ, ασπσ, σπασ}

444 The sign σ has the value of one of the few letters that are doubled at the end of a four-
445 letter-word such as bass, pull, cuff, etc. represented by πασσ . The regular expression
446 / ̂(.)(.)(.)\3$/ can be used to check for candidates that match this pattern. The
447 periods in parentheses are capture groups that are used to extract letters in positions
448 1-3. The final \3 indicates that the last letter is repeated. Note that we are not guessing
449 any value here, but simply extracting all possible words that match this pattern from
450 a dictionary. The above expression returns 95 words:

M atches = ASSS, BALL, BASS, ...W ILL, Y ELL, Y ESS(abbreviated)

451 The possible values for each sign are captured by the regex group (period in paren-
452 theses):
453 π in {A, B, C, D, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, P, R, S, T, W, Y}
454 α in {A, E, H, I, L, N, O, R, S, U, W}
455 σ in {E, F, L, O, R, S, T, Z}
456 For the next word σαπσ , we can substitute the list of possibilities instead of the
457 period to capture the words that have the same letters in the new positions. The regex
458 / ̂(E|F|L|O|R|S|T|Z)(A|E|H|I|L|N|O|R|S|U|W)([A-DF-NPR-TWY])\1$/
459 gives 41 words:

M atches = EASE, ELSE, ...T OF T, T U F T (abbreviated)

460 The solution set reduces to:

461 π in {A, B, C, D, F, G, L, M, N, P, R, S, T, W, Y}
462 α in {A, E, H, I, L, N, O, U}
463 σ to {E, L, O, R, S, T}.
464 Repeating the above for σπασ reduces the set further to:
465 π in {A, P, R}

12
466 α in {A, O, U}
467 σ to {S, T}.
468 Repeating with the last word ασπσ we resolve all three:
469 π in {P}
470 α in {A}
471 σ to {S}.

472 2.10.2. Further progress

473 Once we have a starting set of symbols, we can simply use them to find other symbols.
474 For example, If we find a word παστ , then we can use the regex / ̂PAS(.)$/ to discover
475 only two matching words PASS, PAST which resolves τ to one of {T, S}. If we already
476 know τ and σ are not allographs, then τ is resolved. If not we need to find more words.

477 2.10.3. False negatives and false positives

478 It is pretty clear from the method that the accuracy of the dictionary and the correctness
479 of the regexes have a significant role in the correct decipherment of the script. In
480 our example above, the word ASPS did not exist in the dictionary and we had to
481 manually add it. Missing words may give a false negative and the sign cannot be
482 resolved and it would appear we are at a dead end. At this point, we should check
483 if the dictionary needs to be augmented from the possible candidates. Often not all
484 conjugations, compounded stems or declined forms are available in dictionaries and
485 false negatives should be expected. If a conjugated verb, plural noun or gerund form is
486 obvious, then we may simply add it to the dictionary. If the sign being resolved is in
487 the word-stem and the other signs are all known, then it is sufficient to simply match
488 the stem itself. For example, if the word KNOWING is missing in the dictionary, and
489 we are trying to resolve KNO(.)ING, it’s sufficient to just match KNO(.). This is how
490 long compound words in inscriptions can be matched.
491 On the flip side, a false negative can lead to a false positive. Suppose in our example,
492 the dictionary did not have the word PAST, the regex / ̂PAS(.)$/ would match only
493 PASS and τ would also be resolved to S. This risk can be greatly mitigated by repeating
494 the resolution of every sign using many different subsets of inscriptions, all of which
495 should resolve to the same value. In addition, if there are plenty of attestations for
496 the sign, grammatically correct and meaningful values for all of them reassure us that
497 no false positive has been chosen. Incorrectly decoded signs will not match further
498 downstream and quickly result in a dead end making this approach self-correcting. For
499 example, if τ is incorrectly assigned the value S in our example, many future words like
500 TRAP and TOAST will fail to match despite words like WITH matching WISH. With
501 enough attestations, it becomes clear which signs are incorrect. Signs which have very
502 few attestations may never resolve purely via dictionary check and a grammar check
503 and a general theme consistency may be required.

504 2.10.4. Translation and correctness

505 Translation is a post-decipherment activity and an occasional bad translation does not
506 invalidate the decipherment. Translating ancient inscriptions without spacing or punc-
507 tuation is challenging on its own. Consider an inscription: MAYBEFOREMAN. Purely
508 based on spacing adjustments, it could be read as MAY, BE FOREMAN or MAYBE
509 FORE, MAN or MAY BEFORE MAN. One way to address this is to look for con-
510 sistency in themes. If most of the inscriptions are about a workshop or factory, then

13
511 FOREMAN could be the right pick.
512 The abundance of choices on how to translate an inscription is generally a good sign
513 that the decipherment is nearly correct. If many signs are right but a few of the signs
514 are incorrect, they would typically force a break or the translation would not be in the
515 same themes as the rest of the translation. For example, if the letter E was incorrectly
516 deciphered as T, we would have MAYBTFORTMAN, forcing a word break near the
517 bad letter and we may attempt to read as MAY BT FORTMAN. Sometimes the bad
518 letter may be innocuous in one inscription, for example, if O was deciphered as I :
519 MAYBE FIREMAN. While this instance is grammatically correct, many others would
520 have breaks and the text would be nonsensical or incongruous with the general themes
521 of the rest of the inscriptions. These errant signs can be detected using the intersection
522 of the signs in all broken inscriptions and the decipherment process is repeated for such
523 signs with greater thoroughness.
524 If a decipherment is utterly incorrect, it won’t even be possible to make any words,
525 let alone morphologically consistent words and grammatically correct phrases that can
526 be read meaningfully. For example: mapagakajh cannot be made into a Sanskrit or
527 English phrase no matter how we dice it. This is because p or ph never follow m in
528 Sanskrit phonotactics, nor do words end in jh. Even plausible sounding short strings
529 like hena, hoja etc are non-words and it is unlikely that we get many matches because
530 the symbol space of a language is mostly filled with non-words.
531 A small subset of short inscriptions may be read as an abjad and with wide latitude
532 for word forms, ignoring morphology or syntax with a partially correct decipherment.
533 The grammatically correct reading of the longest inscriptions thus becomes a litmus
534 test for decipherment accuracy.

535 2.10.5. Adjustments for Sanskrit in an ancient script

536 From the Meluhhan words and names attested in Sumerian inscriptions, it appears that
537 Meluhhans spoke some form of post-Vedic Sanskrit, but one that is too early to be
538 termed classical Sanskrit. This enables us to use a downloadable Sanskrit dictionary
539 with some caveats. Most dictionaries do not have compound, declined, conjugated or
540 affixed forms so we need to add these forms as needed. Many words like root forms,
541 grammar terminology and those created by medieval lexicographers should be ignored.
542 A few words may be potentially lost over the millennia, and we may find some inscrip-
543 tions unreadable despite deciphering the script accurately.
544 Indus script is a bronze age script and we have no idea how much fidelity an inscription
545 has to the actual spoken language. Based on very early scripts, our derivation should
546 handle a script that is unlikely to have a virama (i.e., handle a consonant without an
547 assumed a vowel). We need to accommodate for the possibility of sign reuse among
548 dentals and retroflexes, aspirated and unaspirated and possibly voiced and unvoiced,
549 similar to later Tamil Brahmi. Doubled consonants may also be written as a single
550 sign(i.e., datta written as data).
551 We adjust for these by flattening sibilants together and also dentals with retroflexes
552 and aspirated with unaspirated. Doubled consonants are rare enough that we can only
553 examine them when we run into a dead end. This enables us to use simpler regexes
554 and reduces the chances of user error in derivation. In general, the regex capture
555 group (.) captures a single consonant or a single vowel. To capture either a syllable
556 or consonant without a following vowel, we would need to use (..?) as the capture
557 group. Technically (..?)\1 would also capture reduplicated consonants but it’s an
558 unwarranted complexity. For conjunct signs like �, it may be necessary to use (.+) as

14
559 a capture group.

560 2.11. Sign classification

561 Although we have used Mahadevan’s 417 signs as valid for a decipherment-neutral metric
562 of correctness, it is by no means authoritative. Indus script is a hand-carved writing
563 system and not a typeset or a tool-based script (unlike say, cuneiform). Therefore, just
564 as every handwriting sample of the same letter is unique, no two instances of any Indus
565 sign are exactly alike. There is plenty of room for stylistic and regional variants and
566 present classifications are subjective for the most part.

567 2.12. Signs and Glyphs

568 A sign is an idea of visual representation of a member of the script. A glyph is a partic-
569 ular realization of a sign and it’s normal to have multiple glyphs that represent the same
570 sign. For example, A A A A are all different realizations of the same sign in the Latin
571 alphabet. To be properly deciphered, the idea of the sign must be articulated clearly,
572 i.e., The first letter A of the Latin alphabet is two vertical lines joined at the top and
573 separate at the bottom with a horizontal connection midway. This specification is suffi-
574 cient to read an enormous array of handwriting and stylized fonts. For pictorial signs,
575 something like the phoneme D is a pictograph of a dog may be sufficient. Regardless of
576 the breed and orientation of the dog pictured, its intent is unambiguous.
577 A script made of pictorial glyphs is unlikely to have different signs based on tiny
578 variations such as “fish with two fins” vs “fish with 4 fins”. They are likely to represent
579 the same idea “a fish” and therefore different glyphs of the same sign. A rarely occurring
580 sign that is only slightly different from a frequently occurring sign is likely to be a
581 stylistic variant rather than an unrelated sign. Usually, there are unique characteristics
582 for variants of the same sign that help us correctly identify variants. For example, the
583 jar sign is unique for having zero to four small numeric strokes within it � � � � � �
584 � �. All renditions of this sign are treated as variants. For simplicity, we use the most
585 common rendition in the paper, i.e., any of � � � will be denoted as � in the derivation
586 section. While variants of most signs are quite apparent, we present a concise list of
587 the most expansive variants in table 3.
588 Rare mirrored signs like � � are likely an artifact of carving for seal impressions.
589 Bracketed signs � � � are likely to be word fragments consisting of three or more
590 signs rather than a single unrelated sign simply because the brackets and numerics occur
591 independently for example in M-2069 ��. These presumptions are validated if we can
592 read nearly all bracketed signs as a string of their constituents. Similarly, if conjunct
593 signs like � � � are indeed digraphs, then nearly all digraphs should be readable as
594 their constituent signs. Gradual abstractions of complex signs such as � � � should
595 independently be deciphered to the same value.

596 2.13. Stylistic and geographic variants

597 While an ornate rendition of the first sign of an inscription may be used, different glyphs
598 are often stylistic variations that may rarely be mixed in an inscription. For example,
599 Upper Case Is Rarely Mixed With Lower Case except in titles and italics are rarely
600 mixed with bold. The scarcity of mixed styles gives us a proof point to verify that
601 certain glyphs are indeed variants of the same sign if their values are identical.

15
 Table 3. Six extensively stylized signs

Sign name Stylized variants

Barley merchant ���������

Spider/Insect �����
Spider/Insect ������
Horse/Equid ��������
Leaf �������
Chariot �����������

Table 4. Discovery of distinct signs and allographs

Glyphs Inscription Matches Result

H-1850 ���� bhaṭṭi

� vs � Distinct
Dholavira ���� mānana māyya mālla

M-874 ��� rayi yayi

� vs � Allograph /ra/
H-1182 ���� śaraṇi

602 When individual variants have sufficient attestations, we may prove each variant
603 individually for example, all 3 variants �� � may be independently proven to have
604 the value /ka/ क. Where sufficient attestations don’t exist we can narrow down the
605 possibilities to a handful and attempt to read all the inscriptions meaningfully. For
606 example, by applying the regex method to identify � we do not get a unique value,
607 but narrow it down to /ra/ र or /va/ व. Based on sign similarity and readability in
608 inscriptions, we can confirm the sign is a variant of � /ra/ र.
609 This method is not only helpful in identifying variants, but it is also self-correcting
610 and an incorrect identification will be easy to identify:
611 (1) two signs which are different are assumed to be the same
612 (2) two signs that are the same are assumed to be different
613 In the first case, regular expression search yields two disjoint sets of inscriptions with
614 two different phonetic values. For example, if we presume the signs � and � are variants
615 of the same sign, An attempt to narrow the matches from the first set using a member
616 of the second set will yield a null set. This immediately alerts us to the fact that the
617 signs are indeed distinct.
618 In the second case, both sets will yield the same phonetic value. In fact, this is how
619 we discover allographs as shown in Table 4.
620 While an optimal reachability graph can be constructed by analyzing the inscriptions,
621 we can use the heuristic of solving signs in descending order of frequency with a few
622 detours as needed.

16
623 2.14. The first sign
624 The first sign we decipher is the jar sign � representing an. It also represents a variety
625 of nasal sounds including anusvara, which is a post-vocalic nasal sound. From the
626 dictionary itself, a regex for H-764B ��� we get a single match ananan, representing
627 ananaṃ, which is an accusative of anana. Technically, there are other possible matches
628 like jajaja, lalala which are legitimate matches. The seal Dmd-1 � single jar sign
629 matches ana and eliminates other alternatives like ja and la. Finally, many inscriptions
630 with terminal jar signs representing the accusative ending aṃ resolve the value of the
631 sign.
632 After we decipher the first sign, we simply look for other inscriptions that enable
633 us to decipher more signs by substituting the value of the first sign. The vertical bar
634 sign � is decipherable with just the jar sign and we keep repeating the steps till all
635 signs are resolved. We continue the process roughly going in the descending order of
636 frequency of signs, to optimize the probability of finding sufficient attestations needed
637 for deciphering the sign. The complete derivation may be followed step by step in
638 Section 8. A computer program that partially reproduces the derivation is available in
639 the supplementary section.

640 2.15. Chances of force-fitting a language

641 In general, it’s very hard to force-fit any arbitrary language onto a cryptogram simply
642 because of the structure of human language itself. Language being a Markov process,
643 almost all words of one language are random strings in another. However, the following
644 features improve the chances somewhat:
645 (1) No verb conjugation
646 (2) No noun declensions
647 (3) Monosyllabic
648 (4) Free word order
649 From the above criteria, Sanskrit is the worst possible choice, with complex verb
650 conjugations in 3 numbers, 10+ tenses and person, split into 10 present classes or
651 gaṇas(गण), active/passive atmanepadi/parasmaipadi/ubhayapadi groups, declensions in
652 3 genders and eight noun cases. Every noun/stem group has its own set of declen-
653 sions and it’s impossible to force the proper declension for the stem and subject/verb
654 agreement on any of this.
655 Languages without a grammatical gender but those that have prepositions are some-
656 where in the middle and would probably need to be claimed as “Names only.” Chinese
657 would fare far better since it matches most of the criteria. However, even Chinese
658 would fail because random verbs showing up together fly-eat-plumb-sweat would look
659 non-sensical. Using monosyllabic nouns only and claiming every inscription attests only
660 names and titles may work, but the decipherment is essentially logographic at this point
661 and invalid without a Rosetta stone.

662 2.16. Formalization

663 Let G = {g0 , g1 , g2 ...} be the set of symbols whose sound value is known.
664 Let X = {x0 , x1 , x2 ...} be the set of all symbols.
665 Let S = {s0 , s1 , s2 ...} be the set of inscriptions where si is a vector from symbols in
666 X

17
667 (1) Let two inscriptions sa = gi xa gk xc ... and sb = gj xa gl xf ...
668 (2) Let set of symbol matches Gxa = /gi (.+)gk . + / ∩ /gj (.+)gl . + /
669 (3) Repeat intersection with new inscription above until Gxa is of unit length
670 (4) x a = G xa
671 (5) G = G ∪ xa
672 (6) Repeat until G = X

673 3. Results

674 Indus script is made of 74 allographs representing the most common signs shown in
675 table 6. The complete derivation can be traced in section 8. A compact one-pager is
676 given in table 5. Long inscriptions and inscriptions with conjunct signs are listed in
677 sections 5 and 6 respectively. Some signs have variants that mark reading direction or
678 word boundaries and they are listed in table 11. Consonant clusters using syncope are
679 shown in table 10. Table 7 shows Indus signs standardized into Brahmi.
Table 5. Indus script phoneme glyphs

Phoneme Glyphs
अ a �� � �� � � � � � �� � � � �
आ ā �� � ��� � � � ����
इ i ��
ई ī ��
उ u �����
ऋ ṛ �
ए e �
ओ o ��
अन� अ� ṃ ��������
अस� अ� ḥ ��������������

कख k kh �� � � � � � � � � �
गघ g gh �
ङ ṅ �
चछ c ch ��
जझ j jh �� � ��
ञ ṅ �
तथटठ t th ṭ ṭh ��������������
�

दधडढ d dh ḍ ḍh � � �� � � � � � � � � � � � � � �
नण nṇ � � � � � � � � � � �� � �
पफ p ph �� � �
बभ b bh ������
म m ����↑�������������������
य y ����������
र r ��������������������
ल l ��
व v � �� � �
शषसह śṣsh � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �� � � � � � �

18
680 3.1. Sign values and their reconstructed names

Phoneme Reconstructed Sign Name Sign Glyphs

अ a अय�ग ayuga one[VarBṛS] � 1

आय� āyu man[RV] �� 2

अग aga mountain[Kirat] � 3

अङ्क aṅka curve/hook[RV] � �� � � � � � 4

आज�न ājani stick[AV] ���� 5

अजशृङ्ग� ajaśṛṅgī goat’s horn[AV] �� 6

आ ā repeated अ a � � � � � �� �
� � 7

इ i इष�क� iṣīkā stalk of grass[AV] �� 8

ई ī doubled इ �� 9

उ ū उ��म udyāma rope[TS] ��� 10

उदप�न udapāna well[MBh] �� 11

ए e एक eka one[RV] � 12

ओ o ओपश opaśa pillar[RV] �� 13

अन� अ� अ� श� aṃśu soma drink[ŚBr] �������� 14

an aṃ

अस� अ� अष्टप�द aṣṭapāda eight legged[MBh] (spider) ������������ 15

as aḥ अष्टन� aṣṭan eight[RV] �� 16

कख क�तम� kṛtam dice[ŚBr] �� � � � � � 17

k kh क�तम� kṛtam axe[Cutting √क�त� √kṛt] � 18

क�ष kṛaṣa ploughshare[Gal] ��� 19

गघ ग�धन gādhana arrow[Hariv] � 20

g gh

चछ चत�र� catur four[RV] � 21

c ch छत्त्र chattra mushroom[CarakaS] � 22

जझ झर jhara waterfall[Prab] �� � 23

j jh झञ्झ�न� jhañjān rain and wind[KāśīKh] �� 24

तथटठ त�ड्य tāḍya drum[Mn] � 25

t th ṭ ṭh त�ड� ल tāḍula fighter; beater[Uṇvṛ] ��

�

26

तण्ड� ल taṇḍula rice plant[AV] � 27

त�ल tāla small cymbal[BhP] � 28

त�� tardū wooden ladles[L] ���� 29

तद� tarda Indian blackbird[AV] ���� 30

त्र tra three[RV] � 31

दधडढ धन्वन� dhanvan bow[RV] ������ 32

d dh ḍ ḍh ध�न dhāna receptacle[RV] ��� 33

दन्त danta teeth[RV] �� 34

ध�नक�� dhānakāḥ coins[Car] � � �� � � � 35

19
Phoneme Reconstructed Sign Name Sign Glyphs
न n न�ल nāla mat of reeds[BhP] � 36

न�ल ṇāla stalk[MBh] �������� 37

न�ल�क� nālīka arrow[MBh] � 38

नल nala reed[Bhp] � 39

नवन� navan nine[RV] � 40

न�व� nāvā boat[RV] � 41

पफ पञ्चन� pañcan five[RV] �� � 42

p ph पञ्चन� pañcan hand[RV] � 43

बभ भक्षपत्त्र� bhakṣapattrī edible[RV] leaf[RV] ����� 44

b bh भक्षत्र bhakṣatra oven[भक्ष bhakṣa:RV] � 45

म m मत्त matta elephant[R] �� 46

मत्स्य matsya fish[RV] �� 47

मन्द�र mandāra a flower[MBh] ����� 48

मन्थ mantha fire sticks[MBh] �� 49

म�न्दर mandira dwelling[MBh] ��� 50

म�द्र� mudrā seal[MBh] �↑� 51

मय maya horse[VS] ������� 52

य y यव�� �� yavaśreṣṭhi barley[RV] merchant[Hariv] ������ 53

यव yava barley[RV] �� 54

य�ष्ट yaṣṭi pearl necklace[VarBṛS] ��� 55

य�ष्ट yaṣṭi twig[Hariv] � 56

र r रथव� ratharvī split snake[AV] ���� 57

रथ��रन� rathārin chariot[RV] wheel[BhP] ����� 58

रथ ratha chariot[RV] ������� 59

रथद�रु rathadāru chariot wood[Pāṇ] ������ 60

ल l लत� latā creeper[MBh] �� 61

व v वत� vartī lamp wick[MBh] � 62

�व vi two[RV] � 63

वरट� varaṭī wasp[Suśr] � 64

वट� vaṭī banyan tree[MBh] �� 65

सशषह श�ख�र śākhāra squirrel; branch mover[RV] ������ 66

sśṣh श�क्र śukra seed[RV] ��� 67

�शखर śikhara mountaintop[MBh] ��� 68

�शख� śikhā peacock crest[MBh] ���� 69

श्य� न śyena falcon[RV] � 70

श�ण śāṇa weight of four[Hariv] � 71

षण� ṣaṇ six[RV] �� 72

सप्तन� saptan seven[RV] �� 73

स�प�न sopāna ladder[MBh] ��� 74

20
Table 8. Allograph derivation for अ /a/ and क /k/

Sign Glyphs Sign Name Operator Operand

� अय�ग ayuga one
� आय� āyu man खण्डन khaṇḍana अय�ग ayuga
� अग aga mountain प्रत्य�ह�र pratyahāra अय�ग ayuga
� अइक aika one स�म्य sāmya अय�ग ayuga
� अङ्क aṅka curve अपभ्र� श apabhraṃśa अइक aika

���� क�तम� kṛtam dice

� क�तम� kṛtam axe स�म्य sāmya क�तम� kṛtam
���� क�ष kṛṣa plough अपभ्र� श apabhraṃśa क�तम� kṛtam

Table 9. Numeric and pictorial line stroke signs

Numeric from digits 1-10 Pictorial

� � � � � � � � � �� � � � � � �
अ व त च प ष स अस� न द अ स ज न ष ज
a v t c p ṣ s as n d a s j n ṣ j

Table 7. Indus signs standardized into Brahmi

अ a इ i उ u ए e ओ o
𑀅 � 𑁦𑁇𑁦 � 𑀉 � 𑀏 � 𑀑 �
क k ख kh ग g घ gh ङ ṅ
𑀓 � 𑀔 � 𑀕 � 𑀖 � 𑀗 �
च c छ ch ज j झ jh ञ ñ
𑀘 � 𑀙 � � 𑀝𑀝 � 𑀜 �
𑀚

ट ṭ ठ ṭh ड ḍ ढ ḍh ण ṇ
𑀝 𑀞 � 𑀟 � 𑀠 � 𑀡 𑀭𑁉
𑀝

त t थ th द d ध dh न n
𑀢 � 𑀣 � 𑀤 � 𑀥 � 𑀦 𑀦
प p फ ph ब b भ bh म m
𑀧 � 𑀨 � 𑀩 � 𑀪 � 𑀫 �
य y र r Brahmi ल l व v
𑀬 � 𑀭 � vs 𑀮 � 𑀯 �
श ś ष ṣ Indus स s ह h
𑀰 � 𑀱 � 𑀲 � 𑀳 �

21
 Table 10. Consonant clusters using schwa and double syncope

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Transliteration Conjunct

H-43 ��� शक्र śakra क्र kra

H-152a ��� क्षय kṣaya क्ष kṣa
M-43a ��� ��� मज्ज वम�हन� majja vamāhan ज्ज jja
M-1316 �������� स�ह वल्लभ sāha vallabha ल्ल lla
बड�द baḍāda

Table 11. Directional and word-boundary variants

Sign Marked Variants Sign Marked Variants

अ a � � � � � � � �� �
�� द d � �
अ a � ��� न n � �
अन� an � ����� ब b � �
अन� an � ���� म m � �
अस� as � �� म m � �
त t � � य y � �
द d � � र r � �����
द d � � र r � ����

681 4. Discussion

682 Indus script is a segmental script that may be described as proto-abugida. The major
683 difference from Brahmi is that retroflexes use the same signs as dentals and aspirated
684 and unaspirated stops use the same signs. Signs have a default vowel of अ a unless
685 overridden by an immediately following vowel sign. No diacritics are used.
686 Many signs have stylistic variations that have no phonetic distinctions. While signs
687 are clearly distinct in most cases, occasional ambiguities do exist, which are discussed
688 below. Signs may be classed into several groups based on characteristics specific to
689 them.

690 4.1. The language

691 Many words from post-Vedic literature such as the Ramayaṇa and Mahābhārata are
692 attested, but the meanings of many archaic words are from the Vedic corpus. The first
693 few signs often invoke a deity. Most of these are of the meaning of destroyer or roarer.
694 The Vedic god Rudra is both Roarer and Destroyer. This may be because the root ru
695 means both roar and kill. Most names are simply constructed by the -a affix to the root,
696 which creates the agent-noun from the verb-root (i.e., roarer from roar). In Paṇinian
697 grammar, this is called the अच� ac affix. Although Pāṇini mentions this rule to apply
698 only to a specific set of roots (pacādi roots), in practice this affix is universal and can
699 be applied to any root as evidenced in the oldest books of Rigveda [च�द� + अच� = च�द cud
700 + ac = coda RV 5.61.3].

22
 Table 12. Provisional readings of mixed IVC/Brahmi inscriptions from subsection 1.1

Source Inscription Reading Translation

1 Keezhadi 𑀘𑀸𑀧𑀬�� च�पयशम� renowned archer

600 BCE cāpayaśam
2 Marungur 𑀅𑀫𑀳� अमहस� the mighty one
200 BCE amahas
3 Annakodai ��𑀓𑀸𑀯𑀸𑀢 रर क�व�त� given by Kāva
300 BCE rara kāvāt (a Sāman)
4 Vietnam Gold foil 𑀯𑀭𑀸 � वर�ह Varaha avatar
100CE varāha
5 Copper Hoard 𑀰𑀁𑀔𑀸𑀢 𑀓𑀺𑀫 श� ख�त� �क� what emanated
1800 BCE �𑀞�𑀠𑀬 रठ� डय from the conch?
śaṅkhāt kiṃ
raṭaṇ ḍaya
6 Bet Dwarka ���𑀔𑀸 ��𑀫 म�रख� ईश O Ocean expanse!
(R to L) <1000 BCE mīrakhā īśa O Lord!
7 Bijar-Ghamchoghai ��𑀬� ��� रूर रय�� O fire, the rivers
(R to L) undated ��� �� मम मठम� are my home
rūra rayāḥ
mama maṭham

701 4.2. Validations

702 Although the results of this decipherment are markedly different from prior decipher-
703 ments, we validate many important findings of prior decipherments. These are listed in
704 table 14.

705 4.3. Allographs

706 The script has 74 allographs for the most common signs with a median of three allo-
707 graphs per phoneme shown in Table 6. These allographs seem to have occurred via
708 abbreviations and mutations when the sign name was orally transmitted or deliberately
709 as a Pāṇini style प्रत्य�ह�र pratyahāra based on the fact that many allographs are simply
710 the first and last letter of a longer name. A synonym or homonym transmutation, which
711 we term as स�म्य sāmya is likely to be accidental. Or the name is simply severed, which
712 we call खण्डन khaṇḍana. A general mispronunciation may be termed अपभ्र� श apabhraṃśa.
713 The mutations are illustrated in Table 8. The full derivation is in Section 8.
714 A comprehensive allograph chart is in table 6. An average of a little over 4 variants per
715 allograph for 74 allographs explains the approximately 118+ signs. Allograph derivation
716 examples are shown in table 8.

23
 Table 13. Provisional readings for non-Sanskrit seals from Mesopotamia and Dilmun(Laursen, 2010)

Source Inscription Reading Translation Language

Karzakan �� an-an Lord above Sumerian

Karzakan ����� a’aš am sign of the wild bull Sumerian
Karzakan ���� a’aš aga sign of the crown Sumerian
Mesopotamia? ����� kaš an-an decision of the sky god Sumerian
Mesopotamia? ����� ma-a-a where Sumerian
Saar ������� ḫama ’ u to see Akkadian
Susa ����� karānu wine Akkadian
Ur ����� kamāmu nod head/agree Old Akkadian

Table 14. Validated analyses from past decipherments

Authors Finding

Mahadevana Primary direction is Right-to-left

Parpolab Signary contains allographs
Rajesh Rao et. al.c non-IVC language inscriptions in West Asia
S. R. Raod Language is Indo-Aryan
Huntere Indus script and Brahmi are related
Sullivanf Brahmi signs in Indus script have identical values
Bontag Semiotics suggest Indo-Aryan language
Heggarty et. al.h Indo-Aryan and Iranic separated by 3000 BCE
a (Mahadevan, 1977);b (Parpola, 1994); c (Rao et al., 2009); d (Rao, 1980);
e (Hunter, 1934); f (Sullivan, 2011); g (Bonta, 2023); h (Heggarty et al., 2023);

717 4.4. Line strokes and Numeric signs

718 A numeric sign does not encode an actual number, but rather the first syllable of its
719 name. The sound values are shown in Table 9. A sign with eleven strokes does not exist,
720 suggesting the Indus civilization used a decimal system. The name for a single numeric
721 stroke, अय�ग ayuga, represents the अ a vowel. अय�ग ayuga may have mutated into अइक
722 aika which may have been used as the diphthong अइ ai. The word एक eka evidently
723 evolved from अय�ग ayuga via अइक aika. The other numeric signs are self-explanatory,
724 each representing the initial consonant of its name.
725 Non-numeric signs seem to have been invented earlier than numeric signs, as evi-
726 denced by workarounds to comply with non-numeric signs. Evidence for this is that
727 other अ a signs can be doubled to form आ ā but not the � vertical stroke since it would
728 be read as � स and inscriptions work around this by inserting � between the two to
729 create ���. The sign � often written as � representing rain, is not a numeric sign. Its
730 allograph � is not to be confused with the numeric sign �read as त ta.

731 4.5. Sign disambiguation

732 Numeric signs in general take all strokes as a single sign. Spacing, stroke size differences
733 and incline differences are used to distinguish two adjacent numeric signs or signs made

24
734 of simple line strokes.
735 For example, the sign M-734 reads � � ��� वरण-जज varaṇa-jaja, “chosen[Uṇādi] war-
736 rior[Śiś].” The clear space between � � is unambiguously read as two � ज ja signs, rather
737 than a single �� sibilant sign, which would need to be read as वण�स�, “color[MBh].” Seal
738 M-1822 ��� uses incline differences to distinguish � � स� sā to avoid being read as � ज
739 ja.
740 When strokes are arranged in rows, if the upper row has an equal or higher number
741 of strokes than the lower row, then the sign is read as representing the total number of
742 strokes. Inscriptions use spacing to ensure clear separation between distinct signs.
743 For example, the sign M-1904 reads � जज jaja, “warrior.” The three-stroke sign
744 representing the first syllable is marked as distinct from the other by horizontal and
745 vertical spacing. If there was no clear spacing, the seal would look like � and be read
746 as a sibilant.
747 When the upper row has fewer strokes than the lower row, spacing or other indications
748 of separateness become important for an accurate reading. For example, M-948 reads
749 ����� अववज्य avavajya “off[RV] journey[√वज� ]”, rather than अवपय avapaya “desiring[RV]
750 water[RV]” due to slight offset of two rows of strokes. While signs with five or more
751 strokes can appear in one or two rows, signs with two and four always appear in a
752 single row. If they appear in two rows, they are distinctly different signs with distinctly
753 different sound values. Note the differences between �व va, � ज ja, � च ca versus� न
754 na, �त ta, � श śa.

755 4.6. Vowels

756 A vowel sign overrides the default अ a vowel of the preceding sign just as in abugida
757 unless it’s another a, which lengthens to आ ā. In practice, a leading अ a can be either
758 अ a or आ ā. Repeated vowel signs make a long vowel. The only long vowels attested
759 are आ and ई. Other vowels such as ऊ simply use the same sign � to indicate both long
760 and short vowels. ऋ ṛ uses signs for र r and presumably so do the unattested ॠ ṝ ऌ
761 ḷ. The signs for � अन� an and � अस� as represent अ� ṃ and अ� ḥ respectively and have
762 vowel length flexibility, the rest are abugida and always read with default vowel a or
763 without any vowel and conjunct with the next sign.

764 4.7. Diphthongs

765 The sequence अइ a-i exists as a diphthong in some seals indicating that is possibly used
766 for ऐ ai as in H-1056 ���� � जमन� � jamanaiḥ [√जम� + ल्य�ट� n.ins.pl of noun from √jam].
767 An equivalent diphthong for औ au is not attested but may be reconstructed as ��.

768 4.8. Sibilants and nasals

769 All signs for श ष स ह ś ṣ s h are interchangeable including अस� as signs. These are
770 also used as visarga ḥ where needed. The usage of the as signs for h ḥ may reflect a
771 grammatical feature of Sanskrit where a nominative affix s becomes ḥ in sandhi. The �
772 sign is also used nasal consonants न n, ण ṇ and ङ ṅ. The � variant seems to be preferred
773 for ञ ñ but in principle, all jar-like signs are interchangeable. Ambiguities that may be
774 caused by the flexible vowel length of jar signs are avoided by adding an अ a right after.
775 For example, L-218 ��� would be read as अनवस anavasa, Rivedic[6.66.7] word meaning
776 “unstopping” describing the unstoppable march of the storm gods, the Maruts, rather

25
777 than a fairly meaningless अण्वस aṇva-sa “interstice bestowing”.

778 4.9. Base consonants

779 A base consonant sign represents an ordinary consonant with the default vowel अ a.
780 Retroflex ṭ ḍ and dentals t d use the same signs, similar to the usage of the Latin
781 alphabet to write Sanskrit. Aspirated kh gh ch jh th dh ph bh use the corresponding
782 unaspirated k g c j t d p b signs.

783 4.10. Conjunct signs

784 A conjunct sign is created by combining two (or rarely more) base signs and represents
785 the sounds of the combined signs. The most common being the signs for अम ama,
786 which can take a variety of forms by vertically assembling a rotated curve sign � अ a
787 and one of the म m signs, giving many possible conjuncts, � roofed-fish sign being the
788 most common. In addition to these, there are over 100 rarely used conjuncts that are
789 deciphered in Section 6.
790 Conjuncts appear to be artifacts of limited space. One type of conjuncts is constituted
791 of two base signs that appear to be ligatured because they touch each other due to
792 crowding caused by lack of space. Extremely rare occurrences of conjunct signs clarify
793 that a conjunct sign is simply two or more normal signs that just happened to touch due
794 to crowding. They may be simply read as if they are separate. Often signs are missed
795 during the initial carving and later squeezed if space permits as in C-8 �����. These
796 are read as if they were normal-sized. If there is insufficient space to squeeze in the
797 sign, then a narrow sign like � or � may be rotated and placed above the next character
798 as in � � �. These are simply read as two separate signs with the top sign followed by
799 the bottom within the flow of the text. Occasionally, there is insufficient space to insert
800 a character in the right location, so a proper conjunct is made, for example, � ji in
801 M-409 ���. Such conjuncts appear at the ends of inscriptions where there is no space
802 to insert the missed character, so the missed sign is conjunct to its nearest one and may
803 be read with the (normal sized) base character first and the attached sign following it:
804 ��� is read as ����. Exceptions can be made based on words that are attested in
805 other inscriptions like � dhakka but these are rare.

806 4.11. Consonant clusters

807 Clustered consonants are simply written adjacent but are pronounced with a schwa
808 syncope. Doubled consonants are written as a single consonant. Examples are shown
809 in Table 10.

810 4.12. Directional markers

811 While the preferred direction of writing is right-to-left as discussed in 2.1, occasional
812 left-to-right and boustrophedons are also attested. Since the vast majority of signs are
813 symmetric and sometimes even the asymmetric signs are inscribed mirrored horizon-
814 tally, there is a chance that the inscriptions are read in the wrong direction. For large
815 inscriptions, this is usually not a problem, since they would be unreadable the wrong
816 way. However, short inscriptions have the risk of being read incorrectly.

26
 Table 15. Directional markers on jar signs

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Transliteration Direction

H-1711 ������ क�न्तद�न kāntadāna ←

M-1353 ���� अन्नदन annadana ←
M-1304 ���� अनवरम� anavaram ←
H-1801 ���� अनवरम� anavaram ←
M-862 ��� अनरम� anaram ←
M-420 ���� अन� चर anācara ←
M-1822 ��� अन�ष� anūṣā ←
M-1700 ���� अन्ध�� andhaiḥ ←

Ns-86 �� अन� anu →

M-1336 ���� आनवम� ānavam →

M-2062 �� line1: चर cara ←

�� line2: अ� श aṃśa →

M-378 ������ वनम� अपर vanam apara word boundary

H-454 ����� अनम� वरम� anam varam word boundary

817 Indus signary evolved to address this challenge by deliberately adding asymmetry to
818 some signs. For example the elephant head sign � and the wasp sign � are asymmetric
819 and the direction is obvious at a glance and the inscribed direction flows from the
820 pointed side to the blunt side.
821 The most common sign, the � jar sign repeated sufficiently within inscriptions to
822 enable a directional marker of its own, by adding one to four small strokes inside the
823 jar as shown in the first section of Table 15. The strokes appear in non-ascending order.
824 The first jar always has the highest number of strokes and the next sign can either
825 decrease or maintain the number of strokes. Typically, the final jar sign will end up
826 with no strokes. This pattern holds for over two hundred inscriptions with just a handful
827 of exceptions as in the last section of Table 15. The improbability of these strokes to
828 have any kind of phonetic meaning is easily verified by testing the inscriptions against a
829 dictionary. These strokes are a directional marker similar to a fuel gauge, tracking the
830 remaining text portions from full to empty. The directional mark is placed on a nearby
831 sign if the starting sign is numeric or otherwise unsuitable for a directional indicator.
832 A directional marker may be used even when it’s the only jar sign in the inscription to
833 avoid accidental reading in the wrong direction as we see in the second section since the
834 � jar sign is so often a terminal sign. When the leftmost sign has a directional marker
835 and the rightmost sign doesn’t, the seal may be preferentially read left to right as we
836 see in the last section of Table 15. This is most useful for multi-line boustrophedon
837 inscriptions but occasionally also occurs in single-line seals.
838 Signs other than jar signs can also have one to four strokes to indicate direction or
839 word boundary. Usually, these occur as the initial sign in the inscription and act as a
840 directional indicator and are listed in Table 11.

27
841 4.13. Stylistic variants
842 The different glyphs of the same allograph without directional function in Table 6 are
843 likely to be stylistic variations, based on the fact that different forms of a single allograph
844 rarely occur together in the same inscription. Typically when the inscription needs to
845 use the same allograph twice, the scribe seems to choose the same variant or one very
846 close to it. There are a few obvious exceptions, such as fish sign, where variants do
847 occur together.

848 4.14. Evolution

849 Signs that take up horizontal space undergo rotation � � � � � to fit in limited space.
850 Complex and time-consuming signs undergo abstraction � � � � � and simplification �
851 � �. Indus script developed several artifacts that can all be parsimoniously attributed
852 to the lack of horizontal space since inscribed objects were the size of coins. Eliding
853 the final anusvāra (ṃ sound) and double consonants were a matter of economy on
854 small seals but are unnecessary on stone and pillar inscriptions, given that the Brahmi
855 anusvāra is a simple dot and doesn’t even take up any space. This may be simply due
856 to continued scribing tradition.

857 4.15. Evolution to Brahmi

858 When we arrange Brahmi signs with their closest corresponding Indus script allograph
859 for the same sound value, we notice that every Brahmi sign seems to be a minor variant
860 or simplification of a pre-existing Indus sign. Indus script glyphs are closer to Brahmi
861 than Brahmi glyphs are to modern Devanagari script. Among the earliest Brahmi are
862 inscriptions from Keezhadi among which there is at least one sample on a potsherd that
863 reads 𑀫𑀱𑀭𑀼 𑀅. This is meaningless when read left-to-right but when read right-to-left,
864 reads अरुषम� aruṣam, which is a Rigvedic word for the red color of the god Agni, the Sun
865 or cows and horses[MW](Sivanantham and Seran, 2019). This is an early attestation of
866 direction change in Keezhadi. The gradual change from Indus script at the earliest levels,
867 followed by mixed inscriptions and finally only Brahmi on the latest levels may indicate
868 a gradual evolution from Indus script to Brahmi captured in Keezhadi stratigraphy.
869 Table 7 is an accurate snapshot of the Indus signs chosen to be standardized into
870 Brahmi using the observation that retroflexes and dentals are interchangeable as a group
871 as are non-labial nasal consonants.

872 4.16. Script fidelity

873 Bronze-age scripts generally do not have high fidelity to their transliteration. Linear
874 B for example, has no consonant clusters. Sumerian is a polyvalent script that has
875 multiple ways to read and write a word and different signs are used based on meaning.
876 Even classical Arabic did not have dots (i฀jām) to distinguish different phonemes on
877 many rock inscriptions, despite having multiple forms (initial, media, terminal) for the
878 same phoneme. By comparison, the Indus script has a fidelity similar to Tamil Brahmi
879 with nearly the same sign reuse groups of consonants. Indus inscriptions are fairly
880 readable even after 4-5 millennia with little effort.

28
881 4.17. Religious continuity
882 We see several linguistic and cultural features that continued post-Indus phase. The
883 deities in Indus inscriptions are the same as Vedic. The Sun, Soma, Rudra, Indra, Agni,
884 Ushas, Ashlesha and Bharani constellations, the horse ashva, Ardhanareeshwara (seals
885 depicting one-breasted human) and pipal tree continue to be revered to this day. Select
Rigvedic references related to long inscriptions are noted in Section 5.
Table 16. Post-IVC attestation of script elements(Balasubramaniam, 2005; Bhatt, 1998; Hultzsch, 1925)

Indus feature Attestation Attested as Read as

merged dentals/ Avanti fish seal द� वट�ह devaṭāḥ द� वत�� devatāḥ

retroflex Mansehra दुवडश duvaḍaśa दुवदश duvadaśa

merged un/aspirated Girnar उस्ट�न usṭāna उस्थ�न usthāna

merged Kalsi द�श, द�ष dāśa, dāṣa द�स dāsa

sibilants Girnar वस� varsa वष� varṣa

no virama Ajagara अगसतय agasataya अगस्तय agastya

elided doubled Qutub Iron pillar म�त्य�� mūrtyā म�त्त्य�� mūrttyā

consonants Girnar अ�ग agi अ��ग aggi

elided anusvara Girnar इद ida इद� idaṃ

अ� अन� aṃ an Qutub Iron pillar प्रन्श� pranśu प्र�श� praṃśu

flexibility Girnar अ� ञ aṃña अन्य anya

initial आ ā as अ a Girnar अर��पत� aropitaṃ आर��पत� āropitaṃ

886

887 4.18. Vestiges of Indus linguistic forms

888 Indus script characteristics are also attested into post-IVC inscriptions, coins and
889 seals(Bhatt, 1998; Hultzsch, 1925; Solomon, 1998). These are shown in Table 16. The
890 Iron pillar presently in the Qutub complex retains some of the archaic language features
891 of Indus inscriptions(Singh, 2006). It uses a lone consonant to represent a doubled con-
892 sonant (mūrtyā instead of mūrttyā) and the anusvara अ� aṃ is denoted अन� an (pranśu
893 instead of praṃśu). Indus script provides evidence that the Qutub inscription was not
894 an aberration, but rather that अ� aṃ was inscribed as अन� .
895 Inscriptions with mixed Indus/Brahmi signs are now readable such as the one from
896 Marungur(Subrahmanian, 2010). These are shown in Table 12. Indus-seal technology
897 was exported to Mesopotamia and Dilmun in the mature phase(Laursen, 2010). Of the
898 more than 121 seals unearthed, most do not have any inscription. At least 27 have Indus
899 inscriptions shown in Table 13, of which some are readable as Sumerian, Akkadian or
900 Old Akkadian(Association Assyrophile de France, 2006; Gelb, 1957; UPenn, 2006).

29
901 5. Long inscriptions with their scriptural references

Seal-Id Inscription Translation

1 M-314 �������� ���� ���� �� Honor the powerful Roarer

रव�मम� मन सक्षनर� जठलध�र रह O Sustainer, O Ocean(Shiva)
rava-amam mana sakṣa-naraṃ yield to the capable man
jaṭhala-dhāra raha
RV 5.45.10 hearing him, the waters receded

रव rava roarer[√रु + अच� ]; अमम� amam ams. the powerful[RV]; मन mana honor[√म्न� + ल�ट� 2s.];
सक्ष sakṣa capable[TS]; नर� naraṃ ams. man[TS]; जठल jaṭhala vms. Ocean[Sāy] =सम�द्र=Shiva[MBh];
ध�र dhāra vms. Sustainer[MBh 13.14.13]; रह raha yield, release[√रह� + ल�ट� 2s.];

2 M-23 ������ ��������� Great Giver, this cup

द�ममन क�स� न� रन्धन is for us, O Shiva
dāma-mana kaṃsaṃ naḥ randhana
RV 2.37.2 his name is “The Giver”
RV 10.112.6 Filled is the beaker with the meath

द�मन� dāman giver[RV]; मन mana vns. great[=मह�न� mahān Vā.]; क�स� kaṃsaṃ ans. cup/jar[AV];
न� naḥ for us[RV dp. of अस्मद� asmad]; रन्धन randhana vms. destroying[Bhp];

3 M-234 ������ ��������� Great Giver, the cup

द�ममन क�स� च आस नदन� is taken roaringly!
dāma-mana kaṃsaṃ ca āsa nadan
RV 10.136.7 Rudra roaring hath drunk from the cup

द�मन� dāman giver[RV]; मन mana vns. great[=मह�न� mahān Vā.]; क�स� kaṃsaṃ ans. cup/jar[AV];
आस āsa taken[√अस� + �लट� 1s./3s.]; नदन� nadan roaring[√नद� + शत��];

4 M-626 ������ ���������� Excellent sacrificial cup

कम� म�ख� क�स� द�त नदन� O roaring purified one!
kam mākhaṃ kaṃsaṃ dāta nadan
RV 1.15.2 Drink from the purifier’s cup
RV 2.37.1 meath out of the sacrificer’s cup

कम� kam indc. good/well[TS]; म�ख� mākhaṃ ans. oblation[Hariv]; क�स� kaṃsaṃ ans. cup[AV];
द�त dāta vms. purified[Pāṇ]; नदन� nadan roaring[√नद� + शत��];

30
 Seal-Id Inscription Translation

5 H-1657 ����� � ���� ��� O Destroyer(Rudra), bring us

धक्क वह म�� सज�शवरम� the gift of food full of fatness
dhakka vaha māṃsaja-āśa-varam
RV 10.169.1 waters rich in life and fatness: to food that moves, O Rudra

धक्क dhakka vns. destroyer[√धक्क� + अच� ]; वह vaha carry[√वह� + ल�ट� 2s.]; म�� सज māṃsaja fat[Suśr];
आश āśa food[ŚBr]; वरम� varam ams. boon[RV];

6 M-355 ������� ������� O Roarer, That gift of

तद्ददनम� रव अममञ्जस्सर� powerful Soma juice
tat-dadanam rava amam-añjas-saraṃ
RV 9.80.2 powerful Soma, thou to whom the cows have-lowed

तत� tat ans. that[RV]; ददनम� dadanam ans. present[√दद� + ल्य�ट�]; रव rava vns. roarer[√रु + अच� ];
अमम� amamam ams. powerful[RV]; अञ्जस� añjas Soma[RV]; सरम� saram ams. liquid[VS];

7 M-38 �������� ������ O Roarer, Giver of plenty!

शतद�रव आम मह� म�ख� may I serve this great sacrifice
śatadā-rava āma mahaṃ mākhaṃ
RV 1.122.01 bringing sacrifice to bounteous Rudra

शतद� śatadā giver of a hundred[SV]; रव rava vns. roarer; आम āma serve[√अम� + ल�ट� 1s.];
मह� mahaṃ ams. great[RV]; म�ख� mākhaṃ ans. oblation[Hariv];

8 M-391 ������� � �� ���� O burning roarer, bless us

द�हरव श� ज�र��ङ्कधर O lover, O Indra, O bearer
dāha-rava śaṃ jāra-aṅki-dhara
RV 1.115.2 Like a young man, Sun follows the Dawn
RV 3.45.4 Indra uses hooks to get fruit

द�ह dāha burning[MBh]; रव rava vns. roarer; श� śaṃ indc. bless[RV];

ज�र jāra lover of dawn[RV]; अ�ङ्कन� aṅkin Indra[RV 3.45.4]; धर dhara bearer[MBh];

9 M-1954 ����� � ���� �� O Shiva, soul of the day,

रव अहत्मन� जर�वर�न� bring us great praises
rava aha-tman jarā-varān
RV 1.26.9 may the eulogies of mortal men Belong to us

रव rava vns. roarer; अह aha day[RV]; त्मन� tman vms. soul[RV];

जर� jarā praise[RV]; वर�न� varān anp. best[RV];

31
 Seal-Id Inscription Translation

10 M-1688 ���� ������� � � O ancestor, strengthen indeed

वज ह�न आम� अश्वम�द�[न� ] the delights of possessing horses
vaja hāna ām aśva-modā[n]
RV 1.92.7 confer on us strength ... kine and horses

वज vaja strengthen[√वज� + ल�ट� 2s.]; ह�न hāna vms. departed[VS];

आम� ām indc. indeed[MaitrS]; अश्व aśva horse[RV]; म�द�[न� ] modān amp. joy[RV];

11 H-130 ��� � ��� ������ Grant us your power,

दद� तव वशम� अञ्जदह्र O Shining fire
dadā tava vaśam añja-dahra
RV 1.36.11 Agni, we extol: his powers shine out preeminent.

दद� dadā grant[RV 4.36.9]; तव tava your[RV]; वशम� vaśam ams. power[AV];
अञ्ज añja shining[√अञ्ज� + अच� ]; दह्र dahra vns. fire[Uṇvṛ];

12 M-359 ������ ����� Roaring Shiva, bring

तनभव वह अमम� वरम� a mighty blessing
tana-bhava vaha amam varam
RV 10.164.2 A happy boon do men elect, a mighty blessing they obtain

तन tana roarer[√तन� + अच� RV]; भव bhava Rudra[BhP,AV]; वह vaha carry[√वह� + ल�ट� 2s.];
अमम� amam mighty[RV]; वरम� varam ams. choicest[MBh];

13 H-280 ����������� I enjoyed, O Shining one

हट ममद म�खवरम� the sacrificial gifts
haṭa mamada mākha-varam
RV 1.83.3 thy power brings blessing to the sacrificer pouring gifts.

हट haṭa vns. shining one[√हट� + अच� ]; ममद mamada enjoyed[√मद� + ल�ट� 1s.];
म�ख mākha oblation[Hariv]; वरम� varam ams. choicest[MBh];

14 M-369 ����������� O Subduing Spirit

दमनसत� मम म�खम� My sacrifice
damana-sat mama mākham
RV 10.099.06 subdued the demon who roared aloud

दमन damana subduing[MBh]; सत� sat vns. Universal Spirit[RV];

मम mama my[RV]; म�ख� mākhaṃ ams. sacrifice[Hariv];

32
 Seal-Id Inscription Translation

15 M-623 ������� ���� O Oblation bearer(Agni),

रस�लव�ह तमसहरण O darkness destroyer
rasāla-vāha tamasa-haraṇa
RV 1.12.2 Oblation-bearer, much beloved
RV 9.66.24 Destroying darkness black of hue

रस�ल rasāla oblation food of milk/curds[Īśvarasaṃhitā]; व�ह vāha ams. bearer[BhP];

तमस tamasa darkness[Uṇ., Sch]; हरण haraṇa vms. destroyer[Suśr];

16 M-10 �������� ��� O mighty bringer of wealth

स�त�वह�म अञ्जसम� तर bring Soma
sāta-āvaha-ama añjasam tara
RV 1.8.1 Indra, bring wealth
RV 2.14.8 to Indra bring ... the Soma.

स�त sāta wealth[RV]; आवह āvaha vms. bringer[RV]; अम ama mighty[RV];

अञ्जसम� añjasam ams. Soma[√अञ्जस� ]; तर tara bring[√त� + ल�ट� 2s.];

17 M-1169 � � ����� ���� [My] youngest from a hundred,

शत�त� अवमम� समञ्जन O shining one!
śatāt avamam sa-mañjana
RV 5.61.5 hundreds of sheep and steeds and kine

शत�त� śatāt hundred, abnp. शतम� śatam[RV]; अवमम� avamam ams. youngest[RV];
स sa indc. with[RV], मञ्जन mañjana vms. shine[√मञ्ज� + ल्य�ट�];

18 Ns-60 �������� ������ O unwavering shining bearer,

इद्ध�चलव�ह न�मनश� तर overcome the loss of rains
iddha-acala-vāha nāma-naśaṃ tara
RV 1.38.6 Let each (calamity), with drought, depart from us

इद्ध iddha shining; अचल acala vns. immovable[RV,BG]; व�ह vāha vms. bearer[BhP];
न�म nāma from न�मन� nāman water[Naigh]; नश� naśaṃ ams. loss[MW]; तर tara overcome[√त� + ल�ट� 2s.];

19 M-714 ��� � ���� ��� O Roarer, ruler of

आरव श�स� अञ्जसभ� honored council
ārava śāsaṃ añja-sabhaṃ
RV 1.114.2 Rudra, ruler of heroes

आरव ārava vns. Roarer[Pāṇ]; श�स� śāsaṃ ams. ruler[RV]; अञ्ज añja honored[√अञ्ज� + अच� ];
सभ� sabhaṃ ans. council[RV];

33
 Seal-Id Inscription Translation

20 M-677 ���� � ��� ��� O Roarer,

आरव मम अञ्जस� म�न O my honored Soma
ārava mama añjas māna
RV 1.84.9 Soma juice prepared amid the many honours

आरव ārava Roarer[Pāṇ]; मम mama my[RV];

अञ्जस� añjas vms. Soma mixture[RV]; म�न māna vms. honored[MBh];

21 M-577 ��������� ���� Oh Desert Roamer(Indra)

आ धन्वचर नश�व�नन protect, O destroyer, O face
ā dhanvacara naśa ava ānana
RV 1.143.6 praise Him whose face is bright

आ ā indc. particle of reminiscence[Pāṇ.]; धन्वचर dhanvacara desert Roamer[RV 5.36.1];

नश naśa vms. destroyer[√नश + अच� ]; अव ava protect[√अव� + ल�ट� 2s.]; आनन ānava ans. face[R];

22 M-665 ��� ���� ��� O prayer-heeding fire

मतवच�द�हन त�म्र O red one
matavacaḥ-dāhana tāmra
RV 10.37.10 bless us with fervent heat and lustre

मतवचस� matavacas prayer-heeding[RV 1.46.5]; द�हन dāhana vms. fire[MBh];

त�म्र tāmra vms. red[MBh];

23 Lh-1 ������ ����� O fiery Roarer, help

द�वरव अम द�नर� the giver (of sacrifice)
dāva-rava ama dāna-raṃ
RV 1.114.4 We call Rudra for help, who fulfills our sacrifice

द�व dāva √दु fire[AV]; रव rava vns. roarer[√रु + अच� ];

अम ama help[√अम� ल�ट� 2s.]; द�न dāna giving[RV]; र� raṃ ams. effecting[Śiś];

24 K-10 ���� ������ New sacrifice oblation

नश्वरनवम�ख�
naśvara-nava-mākhaṃ
RV 10.89.3 I sing a new prayer
RV 10.89.17 may we partake of thy new favors

नश्वर naśvara perishable[Pur]; नव nava new[RV]; म�ख� mākhaṃ ans. oblation[Hariv];

34
 Seal-Id Inscription Translation

25 H-8 ����� � � ��� O Destroyer,

धक्क व अञ्जवरम� आच I seek a splendorous gift
dhakka va añja-varam āca
RV 1.92.13 bestow on us the wondrous gift

धक्क dhakka vns. destroyer[√धक्क� + अच� ]; व va indc. like; अञ्ज añja shining[√अञ्ज + अच� ];
वरम� varam ams. gift[RV]; आच āca I seek[√अच� + ल�ट� 1s.];

26 M-119 ��� �������� By the giver,

द� शतध�रवहमय[म� ] bearing a hundred streams
dā śata-dhāra-vahamaya[m]
RV 1.95.10 he makes stream ... and inundates with floods
RV 9.97.29 Sprung from the Gods, a hundred streams

द� dā ims. of द� dā giver[RV]; शत śata hundred; ध�र dhāra stream[RV 9.109.19];

वहमय[म� ] vahamaya[m] ans. bearing[Hcat];

27 H-103 ���� � � � ����� O Kāmā-killer

हतमदन अञ्जन� आय[म� ] shining arrival
hata-madana añjan āya
RV 10.121.6 When over them the risen Sun is shining

हत hata Slayer[RV]; मदन madana vms. Kāmā[MBh]; अञ्जन� añjan shining[√अञ्ज� + शत��];
आय[म� ] āya[m] ams. arrival[RV]

28 M-494 ������������ Verily, the giftgiver sets flow

अन� आनष� स�त�द�
anā ānarṣa sātā-daḥ
RV 8.93.2 As from a mountain flow the water-brooks, thus flow his gifts

अन� anā indc. verily[RV]; आनष� ānarṣa set flow[√ऋष� + �लट� 3s.]; स�त� sātā gifts[RV];
द� daḥ nms. giver[MBh];

29 H-268 ��� � �� ���� O extraordinary one

दस्म वह अञ्जस्भ�� flow-forth the shining Soma
dasma vaha añjas-bhāṃ
RV 8.96.10 brightly-shining, mingled with the milk, the draughts of Soma

दस्म dasma vms. extraordinary[RV]; वह vaha bring[√वह� + ल�ट� 2s.]; अञ्जस� añjas Soma[RV];
भ�� bhāṃ ans. shine[RV];

35
 Seal-Id Inscription Translation

30 M-396 ����������� O unequalled one,

असम�मत� आत्मतस� serve from the self
asama amatu ātmatas
RV 4.12.3 the self-reliant God,
RV 2.3.1 Let Agni serve the gods

असम asama vms. unequalled[RV]; अमत� amatu serve[√अम� + ल�ट� 3s.];

आत्मतस� ātmatas abns. from the self[आत्मन� + त�सल� RV];

31 M-1676 ������ ���� O Savior

समव वम तम�मरम� emit darkness removing (light)
samava vama tamaḥ-maram
RV 1.62.5 with the Dawn, Sun, rays, dispelled the darkness
समव samava vms. helper[समव� + अच� RV]; वम vama[√वम� + ल�ट� 2s.];
तमस� tamas darkness[RV]; मरम� maram ams. death[RV];

32 K-15 ����� ���������� O my healer(Shiva), with roofs

मम रसद सछद��न अक��र may I raise, O Sun
mama rasada sa-chadāni arka-āra
RV 4.5.1 he uplifted as a pillar bears the roof

मम mama my[RV]; रसद rsada healer[MBh]; स sa indc. with[RV];

छद��न chadāni amp. cover[BhP]; अक� arka vms. Sun[RV];आर āra raise[√ऋ + ल�ट� 1s. RV];

33 M-1690 ���������� O Yama’s killer(Shiva),

यमहन� अ� श� शममन� My portion, O calm one
yama-han aṃśaṃ śama-man
RV 3.62.11 Our portion of prosperity

यम yama Lord of death[RV]; हन� han killer[RV]; अ� श� aṃśa ams. portion[RV 2.19.5];
शम śama calm[MBh]; -मन� -man vms. containing[R];

34 Ns-9 ��� ������ Verily, O immovable one

[अ]थ अचलत्व म�न O honored one
[a]tha acala-tva māna
RV 8.14.9 Firm and immovable from their place

अथ atha indc. now/hereby[RV]; अचल acala immovable[Bhag]; त्व tva vms. one[RV];
म�न māna honored[MBh]

36
 Seal-Id Inscription Translation

35 H-12 �������� �� O Roarer, a powerful

रव अमम� महम�ख� great sacrifice (to you)
rava amam maha-mākhaṃ
RV 1.75.5 our mighty sacrifice

रव rava vns. Roarer; अमम� amam ams. powerful[RV]; मह maha great[RV];

म�ख� mākhaṃ ans. oblation[Harv];

36 M-495 ������������ Verily, he set flow the gifts

अन� आनष� स�त�न�
anā ānarṣa sātān
RV 8.93.2 As from a mountain flow the water-brooks, thus flow his gifts

अन� anā indc. verily[RV]; आनष� ānarṣa set flow[√ऋष� + �लट� 3s.];
स�त�न� sātān amp. gifts[RV];

37 M-900 �������� �� O Roarer, my lasting wish

रव सहत� मम वरम�
rava sahat mama varam
RV 6.45.21 satisfy our wish with power and wealth

रव rava vns. Roarer; सहत� sahat ans. lasting[RV]; मम mama my[RV];

वरम� varam ams. wish[RV];

38 M-52 �������� ��� O subduer,

दमवह आ मथमह�न� O great Churner
dama-vaha ā matha-mahān
RV 10.24.4 ye Twain churned the united worlds apart

दम dama subdue[RV]; वह vaha vms. bearing[RV]; आ ā as[RV], मथ matha churner[√मथ + अच� ];

मह�न� mahān vms. महत� great[RV];

39 C-24 ������� � �
�� O Roaring destroyer, salutations
रसतस नमन� स� ध�र O possessor of all things
rasa-tasa naman saṃ-dhāra
RV 4.8.1 Your envoy who possesses all
रस rasa roarer[√रस� + अच� ŚBr]; तस tasa vms. destroyer[√तस� + अच� Dhātup];
नमन� naman saluting[√नम� + शत��]; स� saṃ indc. all[RV]; ध�र dhāra vns. possessing[BG];

37
 Seal-Id Inscription Translation

40 H-20 ���������� I am capable of salvation

अहम� सह� म�क्षम�
aham sahaṃ mokṣam
RV 10.52.5 I shall give you freedom

अहम� aham ns. I[RV]; सह� sahaṃ ams. capable[Kālid]; म�क्षम� mokṣam ams. salvation[MBh];

41 Krs-1 ����� � ���� O Ocean, (protect)

नम� जठल श�य[म� ] the sleeping Nami
namīm jaṭhala śāya[m]
RV 6.20.6 He guarded Nami, Sapya’s son, in slumber

नम� namīṃ ams. Nami, son of Sapya[RV 6.20.6]; जठल jaṭhala vms. Ocean;
श�य[म� ] śāya[m] ans. sleeping[RV];

42 M-49 ����� ����� Indeed, pulverizing

अह अचलवशम� मषम� mountain at will
aha acala-vaśam maṣam
RV 1.55.3 great manly power, so as to bend ... that famed mountain down

अह aha indc. Indeed[RV]; अचल acala mountain[GārgīS];

वशम� vaśam ams. at will[RV]; मषम� maṣam indc. pulverized[ŚāṅkhGṛ];

43 M-1052 ���������� I served small offerings

आम व�हस्मन�क�
āma vāhas-manāk
RV 10.91.8 sacrificial offerings great and small alike.

आम āma I served[√अम� + �लट� 1s.]; व�हस� vāhas offering[RV];

मन�क� manāk indc. small[Kāv];

44 M-634 ���������� bestowed fit small chariot

ऋतरथर�तमन�क�
ṛta-ratha-rāta-manāk
RV 8.58.15 boy exceeding small, mounted his newly-fashioned car.

ऋत ṛta fit[RV]; रथ ratha chariot[RV];

र�त rāta bestowed[RV]; मन�क� manāk indc. small[Kāv];

38
 Seal-Id Inscription Translation

45 H-129 ������ ���� do invite, O powerful

भसरव�म आम� त्र shining Roarer
bhasa-rava-ama āmantra
RV 6.50.4 This day invited the Sons of Rudra

भस bhasa shining[√भस + अच� ]; रव rava Roarer[√रु + अच� ]; अम ama vms. powerful[RV];

आमन्त्र āmantra invite[आ + √मन्त्र + ल�ट� 2s.];

46 M-1834 ��� � ������� Giving and restoring

दद�न�दम� जननल Speech maker (Agni)
dada-anudam jana-nala
RV 10.137.1 restore to life again the man who has committed sin
RV 3.1.19 make our share glorious and adorned with fine speech

दद dada giving[RV]; अन�द� anudaṃ ans. restoring[RV]; जन jana creator[√जन� + अच� ];

नल nala speaker[√नल� + अच� ];

47 Nd-1 ��������� O red bodied one

शमशर�ङ्गतम्र with calmed arrows
śama-śara-aṅga-tamra
Sri Rudram/KYV TS 4.1 Your calm arrow ... O red one

शम śama calm[MBh]; शर śara arrow[RV,MBh]; अङ्ग aṅga body[Uṇ]; तम्र tamra vms. red/dark[RV];
[Sri Rudram: 1.4 य�त इष�� �शवतम�, 1.11 यस्त�म्र�]

48 M-1892 ��� ������� Suitable bountiful rains

अरवष��रर�ण�न�
ara-varṣā-rarāṇān
RV 2.27.15 shed in abundance, The rain of heaven
अरम� aram suitable[RV]; वष�� varṣā rain[TS]; रर�ण�न� rarāṇān anp. bountiful[RV];

49 H-270 ���������� I salute the praised destroyer

ननम शस्त� जष�
nanama śastaṃ jaṣaṃ
RV 8.86.10 Most eminent for power, destroyer in the conflict
RV 10.170.3 he spread wide unfailing victory and strength

ननम nanama I salute[√नम� + ल�ट� 1s.]; शस्त� śastaṃ ams. praised[MBh];

जष� jaṣaṃ ams. destroyer[√जष� + अच� ];

39
 Seal-Id Inscription Translation

50 H-10 ��������� I steadied the strong horse

बबद अश्ववलर[म� ]
babada aśva-vala-ra[m]
RV 1.38.12 steady your horses

बबद babada steadied[√बद� + �लट� 1s.]; अश्व aśva horse[RV];

वल=बल vala=bala strength[RV]; रम� ram ams. possessing[Naiṣ];

51 M-1123 ����� Given speed

रर ररय[म� ]
rara ra-raya[m]
RV 2.31.2 Gods of one, accord speed on our car

रर rara given[√र� + �लट� 2p.]; र ra possessing[RV];

रय[म� ] raya[m] ams. speed[Pur];

40
902 6. Sign Variants and Conjuncts

903 Variants are stylistic and abstracted evolution of symbols. Conjunct signs combine two
904 or more signs and are read as adjacent signs: firstly in the direction of writing, secondly
905 top to bottom and lastly the base character followed by the ligatured character.

906 (1) Ligatured symbols that are simply touching but otherwise written in normal size
907 and position are read as normal. For example, � is simply read as ���.
908 (2) Symbols arranged vertically are read from top to bottom. � is read as �� �र as
909 opposed to � which is read as �� ईर
910 (3) The base character, i.e., the large character is read first and the embedded char-
911 acter is read subsequent. � becomes �� रस� .

Sign Variant Inscription Sanskrit

अ M-875→ ����� आम्र
1 �� �
a mango[MBh] āmra

अ M-403 ���� अन्तर

� �
a antara
2
nearby[RV]

अ H-777 ��� अचर

� �
a acara
3
immovable[RV]

अ H-829→ � �� अवर
� �
a avara
4
youngest[RV]

अ H-792 ��� अ�य

� �
a ayi
5
(vocative particle)

अ M-73 ��� अन�

� �
a the living one[√अन� +अच� +इ�न] anī
6

अ M-210 ��� अरण

� �
a araṇa
7
distant[RV]

अ M-123 ���� मन� �

� �
a manaiḥ
8
by the great one[Vā]

आ M-1151 ������� आम� नमन�

9 ��� ��
ā verily[MaitrS] worshipping[√नम� ] ām naman

अक M-1764 ��� अस्म�क[म� ]

� ��
aka asmāka[m]
10
ours[RV]

आक� H-2104 ��� आक�शम�

� ���
ākā ākāśam
11
sky[ŚBr]

41
 Sign Variant Inscription Sanskrit
अद� Ad-6 �/�\��� तद्धनद�म
/� \ ���
adā tat-dhana-dāma
12
giver of that wealth[RV,RV,RV]

अन� M-89 ����� अमह�न�न

� �
an amaha-anūna
13
O complete[AV] giver[RV]

अन L-218 ��� अनवस

� ��
ana anavasa
14
unstoppable[RV]

अन� M-812 ��� अन�म�

�� ���
anā anām
15
indeed, indeed[RV,MaitrS]

अन्न C-68 ����� अन्नद अञ्ज

� ��
anna annada añja
16
speak[अञ्ज� ], O foodgiver[MS]

अन्तर M-639 ���� ��� अन्तर�श्वत्थ नमन�

� ���
antara antara-aśvattha naman
17
saluting Ashwatta[AV] spirit[RV]

आप H-413 � आप
� ��
āpa āpa
18
vedic deity(Vasus)[MBh]

आभ� M-742 ����� अभ�म� सर�[म� ]

� ��
ābhā ābhām sarā[m]
19
Splendorous[RV] streams[AV]

अम M-18 ��� जनम�

� ��
ama janam
20
people[RV]

अम M-896 ������ अम�श�य

� ��
ama ama-āśāya
21
sleeping[AV] at home[RV]

अम D-51582 ���� आभ�मह

� ��
ama ābhāmaha
22
O shining[RV] day[RV]

अम M-969 �� आमय
� ��
ama serve[√अम� + ल�ट� 2s.] āmaya
23

आम H-449 ������� अमरणम� वर�

24 � �� āma gift[RV] of immortality[MBh] a-maraṇam varaṃ

अम� RGR-7230 �� आम�न

� ���
āmā āmāna
25
to honor[Mn]

अर M-713 ����� �� आरवदहनमन

26 � �� ara great[Vā] burning[√दह�] Roarer[√रु] ārava-dahana-mana

42
 Sign Variant Inscription Sanskrit
अर K-45→ ���� अण�पय
� ��
ara arṇapaya
27
power[RV] of flood[RV]

आरव M-1105 � आरव

� ��� ārava ārava
28
Roarer[√रु]

आल M-367 ����� �� आलवहनमन

� ��
āla āla-vaha-namana
29
salute[RV] poison[Suśr] remover[RV]

अश� H-1513 �� अश्न

� � aś aśna
30
voracious[RV]

अश� M-821 �� अशम�

� � aś aśam
31
eating[ŚBr]

अश� H-1841 ���� मसद�

� � aś masadaṃ
32
to the tansformer[√मस� ]

अश� H-1994 ��� भ�� श

� �
aś bhāṃśa
33
ray[RV] of light[MBh]

अश� H-1049 �� �� अश्वचर

� �
aś aśva-cara
34
O mover[MBh] on horses[RV]

अश� M-243 ����� दत्त�श्वद

� �
aś datta-aśva-da
35
given[RV] by horsegiver[Mn]

अस� M-954 ���� मम अनस�

� ��
as mama anas
36
my[RV] cart[RV]

अस M-1724 � � ��� आशभ�ज्य

� � asa āśabhājya
37
food[ŚBr] to share[BhP]

आस� K-17 �� आश�

� �
ās āśaṃ
38
food[ŚBr]

अ�श H-679 �� श�श[न� ]

� �� aśi śaśi[n]
39
moon[MBh]

अश M-219 �� अश्म[न� ]
� ��
aśa aśma[n]
40
sky[RV]

आश M-2088 �� आश
� �
āśa āśa
41
food[ŚBr]

43
 Sign Variant Inscription Sanskrit
आश M-1887 ���� म�म� आश�
� ��
āśa mām āśaṃ
42
obtaining me[RV]

आश� H-156 �� आश��

� ���
āśā āśāṃ
43
desires[AV]

अश्व M-1106 ��� अन� अश्वद

� ��
aśva anā aśvada
44
indeed[RV] horse[RV] giver[RV]

ईर M-1170 � ईर
� ��
īra īra
45
rising [ईर� :RV]

ई�र M-151 ��� ई�रणम�

� ����
īri īriṇam
46
desert[MBh]

ईशन� M-1548 ��� सह ईशन�

� ����
īśan saha īśan
47
Vanquish[RV], O Shiva[MBh]

उ M-20 �� ����� उदसव�पर

� �
u uda-sarva-para
48
Beyond[RV] all[RV] waters[RV]

क H-66 ���� क�मनन�

� �
ka kāmanan
49
misremembering[Pāṇ,√म्न�]

क H-513 ��� क्षण

� �
ka kṣaṇa
50
moment[Śak]

क M-68↔ �� ������ दमनह�नक�म

� �
ka damana-hāna-kāma
51
subduing[MBh,Gaut] of Kāma

कर M-57 ������ �� खरव�हमह नमन

� ��
kara khara-vāha-maha namana
52
saluting cloud[R] bringer[MBh]

च H-214 ���� �छ�न्न[न� ]

� �
ca chinni[n]
53
destroyer[�छन्न:AV]

चर C-13 ����� चम�समम�

� �� cara carma-samam
54
shield[MBh] like[RV]

ज M-1848 �� जष
� �
ja jaṣa
55
O destroyer[√जष� Dhātup]

जर M-898 �� जरम�
� ��
jara jaram
56
praise[√ज� RV]

44
 Sign Variant Inscription Sanskrit
जस� Ns-4 �� यजस�
� ��
jas yajas
57
sacrifice[RV]

�ज M-409 ��� स�ञ्ज

� ��
ji sañji
58
complete victory[RV]

/ त K-11 /�
���� आतटद�
� �
ta ā-taṭa-daṃ
59
one who crosses[MBh]

त M-1082 �� ��� तन्व आमत�

� �
ta tanva āmat
60
Tanva has served[√अम� ]

तर M-1792 ������ अन्तर� मर�

� ��
tara antaraṃ maraṃ
61
near[RV] death[RV]

तर H-1192 ����� तमत्र��ण

� �� tara tama-trāṇi
62
dark[RV] and protected[MBh]

त�स M-1721 �� �� रवत�सम�

� � � �
tāsa Roarer’s[√रु] destruction[√तस� घञ� ] rava-tāsam
63

त्र M-360 ����� अमत्रद�न

� �� tra amatra-dāna
64
powerful[RV] gift[RV]

द H-7 ������ दद एकपद�

� �
da dada ekapadaḥ
65
from Vishnu[MBh], O Giver[Paṇ]

द M-1793 ������ दम� नमन�

� �
da damaḥ naman
66
house[RV] praying[ŚBr]

धक्क M-261 ���� धक्क अतन

� ��
dhakka Destroyer[√धक्क�] passing[Nir] dhakka atana
67

द� H-1662 ����� �� � द�व तत�न�

�� ��
dā dāva tatān
68
O fire[MBh], to my fathers[RV]

द�द Umma �� ��� द�द�ण्वचर

� ���
dāda dāda-aṇvara-cara
69
gift[MBh] of Soma[RV,MBh]

ध� M-605 � ध�
� ��
dhī dhī
70
devotion[RV]

न H-74 ����� सद�न्व

� �
na sadānva
71
roaring[RV]

45
 Sign Variant Inscription Sanskrit
न H-295 �� सन
� �
na sana
72
ancient[RV]

न M-1277 �� नश
� �
na naśa
73
destroyer[√नश� ]

न M-747 ���� न न�श�

� �
na na nāśaṃ
74
no loss[MBh]

न M-986 ��� नर�

� �
na naraṃ
75
man[TS]

न H-228 ����� न�य�

� �
na guiding [nms. न��यन� ] nayī
76

नम� H-1869 ��� नम�न्य

� ���
namā nama-anya
77
inexhaustible[AV] pasture[RV]

न�शन M-975 ���� नशन�नलसक्ष

� ���
naśana naśana-anala-sakṣa
78
loss[BhP] by intense fire[Subh]

प H-1024 ���� मव पण
� �
pa mava paṇa
79
bind[√मव� ] the wager[MBh]

पद M-777 ������
� असम�मनपद
��
� ��
pada asama-āmana-pada
80
unequalled[RV] friendly[TS] sign[MBh]

पर M-83 ��� प्रसर

� ��
pra prasara
81
stream[BhP]

बत Frm-1329 �� भटन�
� ��
bata employing[√भट� +शत��] bhaṭan
82

बद्ध K-53 � बद्ध

� ��
baddha baddha
83
bound[RV]

भ M-331 ���� आभस�

� �
bha ābhasa
84
splendor[आभ�स ābhāsa R]

म H-2125 ����� म�न

� �
ma māna
85
honor[MBh]

म H-64 ���� मदमन

� �
ma mada-mana
86
great[Vā] joy[RV]

46
 Sign Variant Inscription Sanskrit
म M-523 ��� समर
� �
ma samara
87
confluence[RV]

↑ म H-2575 ↑� वम
�
ma vama
88
emitter[√वम� :RV]

म M-1367 �� मर
� �
ma mara
89
death[AV]

म Louvre �������� आमज्ज अयतस�

� �
ma āmajja ayatas
90
unrestrained[RV] ascent[RV]

म M-899 ��� मय्य

� �
ma mayya
91
(name of a Brahmin)

मद C-8 ����� मद� मह�

� ��
mada madaṃ mahaṃ
92
abundant[RV] joy[RV]

मर H-142 �������� कम� तम्र�त�न

� ��
mara kam tamra-ātān
93
pleasant[TS] spreading[RV] darkness[RV]

म� M-649 �� म�र
� ��
mī mīra
94
ocean[Uṇ]

य M-1628 ��� नयद

� �
ya nayada
95
O giver[RV] of prudence[MBh]

य H-951 ���� वनयव

� �
ya vana-yava
96
wild[RV] grain[RV]

य M-831 �� यत
� �
ya yata
97
controlled[RV]

य H-455 � � � ��� हयव�न� जन

� �
ya hayavān jana
98
O horse-owning[RV] people[RV]

य C-39 ��� दध्य

� �
ya dadhya
99
meditate[√ध्य� ]

य अय M-288 ��������� य�यनम� शरण[म� ]

��� ���
ya aya yāyanam śaraṇam
100
protecting[RV] journey[RV]

ऋभ� M-2012 ��� �� ऋभ्वप�न

� ��
ṛbh ṛbhva-pāna
101
Indra’s[RV] drink[RV]

47
 Sign Variant Inscription Sanskrit
र K-18 �� ��� तद� वरल
� � ra tad varala
102
that[AV] swan[Mṛga]

र H-212 ��� र�य

� �
ra rayi
103
wealth[RV]

र H-510 ����� रमवरम�

� �
ra rama-varam
104
delightful boon[RV]

र L-48 ������� � ररख अ� श नमन�

� �
ra rakha aṃśa naman
105
I moved[√रख� ] praying[√नम� ] O Aditya[RV 2.1.4]

र H-299 ��� रण्व

� �
ra raṇva
106
delightful[RV]

र M-1424→ ����� रणभ�द

� �
ra raṇa-bhāda
107
O pleasing[RV] lightgiver[MBh]

र H-2214→ ���� रसमत�

� �
ra rasamat
108
juicy[RV]

र Salut �� ��� व्यवचर

� �
ra vyavacara
109
move[RV] away[√व्यय� ]

र H-1988 ������ इमम� रजम�

� �
ra imam rajas
110
this[RV] color[Sarvad]

र H-172 ����� प��णधर

� �
ra pāṇidhara
111
O hand holder[RV,Kāv]

रक K-15/2 ����� अक��र

�� ��
raka arka-ara
112
reached[√ऋ] the Sun[RV]

रक M-120 � ������ मदनब�ण रख

� ��
raka madana-bāṇa rakha
113
go, O cupid’s[MBh] arrow[RV]

रक्त M-1759 ��� �� रक्तवधहन�

� ��� rakta rakta-vadhahan
114
O red one[MBh], who kills[RV]

रण M-84 ������ धन�मरण�

115 � �� raṇa prize[RV] of immortality[MBh] dhana-a-maraṇaṃ

रण M-1771 ���� रण� भ��

� ��
raṇa raṇaṃ bhāṃ
116
delightful[RV] lustre[MBh]

48
 Sign Variant Inscription Sanskrit
रर H-405 ���� �� रर वहन�मन�
� ��
rara rara vahanāman
117
give, O sign[RV] of bearer[RV]

रर M-1154 ������ प�शमन रर

� ��
rara pāśamana rara
118
Give[√र�], O great[Vā] noose[RV]

रज K-122 ��� रर जट
� ��
raja rara jaṭa
119
granted[√र�] O Shiva[MBh]

रस� H-598 ��� ���� रहम� अवमतम�

� �� ras raham avamatam
120
separator[√रह�] of despised[Mn]

�र Desalpur �� ��� �रशवधम�

� ��
ri riśavadham
121
destroyer[AV] killer[RV]

�र M-918 �� �� रव र�र
� ��
ri rava rīra
122
O Roarer[√रु], O Shiva[Cat]

र� H-1033 ��� ��� हर�वन�म

� ���
rī hari-iva-nāma
123
Golden[RV,RV] appearance[RV]

लल M-751A �� ललक
� ��
lala lalaka
124
little delight[√लल� ]

व MS-5062 ���� अवभ�स�

� �
va avabhās
125
shine forth[MBh]

श M-207 �� शद
� �
śa śada
126
Destroyer[√शद� MBh]

सक्ष M-1342 ����� सभ�सक्ष�

� ���
sakṣa sabhā-sakṣaṃ
127
powerful[TS] council[RV]

स�त H-325 �� स�त�

� �
sāta sātaṃ
128
gains[RV]

सन M-800 ������� चषन� श नमन�

� ��
sana caṣan-aṃśa naman
129
saluting[MārkP] destroyer[√चष� ,RV]

सर D-9824 ���� �� शव��म मञ्ज

� ��
sara śarva-ama mañja
130
Shine[√मञ्ज� ] mighty[RV] Shiva[AV]

ह� M-203 ������ मह� अनवर�

� ��
hā mahā anvaraṃ
131
great[RV] excellence[RV]

49
912 7. Very Short Inscriptions

Seal-Id Inscription Translation Seal-Id Inscription Translation

1 Bhirrana � अम� to fix[TS] 2 M-1203 � अम� to fix[TS]
3 H-367 � अम� to fix[TS] 4 L-106 � अस shine![√अस� ]
5 Bhirrana � अम� to fix[TS] 6 M-1203 � अम� to fix[TS]
7 H-367 � अम� to fix[TS] 8 L-106 � अस shine![√अस� ]
9 M-842 � अ�स sword[RV] 10 M-1198 � अ (voc.)[T]
11 M-1905 � अ (voc.)[T] 12 H-481 � आ (voc.)[Pāṇ]
13 C-52 � अक्क O mother[Pāṇ] 14 M-1105 � आरव O Roarer[√रु]
15 H-1113 � इ (interj)[Pāṇ] 16 M-597 � ईश O Shiva[MBh]
17 K-464 � उष� dawn[RV] 18 M-949 � क joy[Nir]
19 H-1113 � क joy[Nir] 20 H-1833 � च also[Pāṇ]
21 M-607 � च also[Pāṇ] 22 M-262 � अच beg[√अच� ]
23 M-331 � ज born[Mn] 24 M-85-5 �/ त[म� ] him[RV]
25 D-50318 � त[म� ] him[RV] 26 L-66 � त[म� ] him[RV]
27 Blk-5 � त[म� ] him[RV] 28 H-94 � त�[न� ] them[MS]
29 M-996 � द giving[MS] 30 M-326 � द giving[MS]
31 M-470 � द giving[MS] 32 H-1514 � द giving[MS]
33 H-1011 � द giving[MS] 34 K-476 � द�द gift[MBh]
35 M-605 � ध� prayer[RV] 36 M-326 � न praised[TS]
37 M-1118 � नमन bow[MārkP] 38 M-1084 � न�मन� sign[RV]
39 D-48576 � नवन praising[Nalod] 40 K-53 � बद्ध bound[RV]
41 M-273 � भ O star[Sūryas] 42 K-67 � भ O star[Sūryas]
43 L-105 �� बभ shining[√भ�] 44 M-1465 � प protection
45 M-410 � म� to me[म�म� ] 46 M-1898 � म� to me[म�म� ]
47 K-462 ↑ म� to me[म�म� ] 48 L-54 � म� to me[म�म� ]
49 M-516 � म� to me[म�म� ] 50 M-1162 � य him[यद�]
51 Lakhanjo � य him[यद�] 52 K-446 � य him[यद�]
53 C-94 � य him[यद�] 54 M-1563 � र� giving[Śiś]
55 M-604 � र� giving[Śiś] 56 B-12 � र giving[Śiś]
57 M-1641 � र giving[Śiś] 58 M-1205 � र giving[Śiś]
59 M-1233 � र giving[Śiś] 60 M-593 � र giving[Śiś]
61 M-599 � र giving[Śiś] 62 D-17490 � ह verily[Ved]
63 M-1642 � व similar[MBh] 64 K-458 � ह verily[Ved]
65 L-66 � ह verily[Ved] 66 B-10 ��� ह verily[Ved]
67 Bhirrana �� ह verily[Ved] 68 H-1016 � ह verily[Ved]

50
913 8. Derivation

914 8.1. � · अन� · an from अ� श� aṃśu soma drink

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

H-764 B ��� अनन� ananaṃ the living[Nir]

Dmd-1 � अन ana breath[ŚBr]
(Many) �* *अ� *aṃ (terminal अन�स्व�र)

� = अन� अ� · an am (1)

915 8.2. � · अ · a from आज�न ājani stick

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

Harappa ���� आननम� ānanaṃ face[R]

H-1550 �� अन� anā indeed[RV]
H-1919 �� आम� ām verily[MaitrS]

� = अ · a from 1 (2)

916 8.3. � · द · d from धन्वन� dhanvan bow

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

C-80 �� अन्ध andha O Soma[RV]

H-1919 �� धन dhana wealth, prize[RV]
M-1637 �� ध� dhā to place[RV]

� = द · d from 1, 2 (3)

51
917 8.4. � · अ · a from आय� āyu man

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

M-191 ��� ध� dhā to place[RV, कण� कर� ध�]

H-346 �� आम� ām verily[MaitrS]

� = अ · a from 1, 3 (4)

918 8.5. � · इ · i from इष�क iṣīkā stalk of grass

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

M-87A ��� अ�ध adhi above[RV]

H-2244B �� इद� id (affirmation)[Ved]

� = इ · i from 3, 4 (5)

919 8.6. � · द · d from धन्वन� dhanvan variant of bow �

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

C-15a ���� अध�न adhīna belonging to[R]

� = द · d from 1, 2, 5 (6)

920 8.7. � · त · t from त�ड� ल taḍula variant of fighter �

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

B-8 �� तन tana offspring[AV]

H-150 ����� ददद�न्त dada-dānta Given[RV 1.39.9] by
pacified one[√दम� + क्त]

� = त · t from 1, 6 (7)

52
921 8.8. � · श · s from श�क्र śukra seed

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

M-916A ��� शश� śaśī the Moon[ŚvetUp]

M-482A ��� श�न śani Saturn[R]

� = श · s from 1, 5 (8)

922 8.9. � · न · n from न�ल nāla stalk

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

M-922a ��� अशन aśana reaching across[Nir]

M-812a ���� अन�न� anān breathing[ŚBr]

� = न · n from 1, 2, 8 (9)

923 8.10. �� · ई · ī from इइ ī long i

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

M-1824 ���� अनन� ananī ananin[anana + इ�न]

�� = ई · i� from 1, 5 (10)

924 8.11. � · ज · j from झर jhara waterfall; cascade

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

H-246B ��� � जनध� janadhā nourishing creatures [TBr]

� = ज · j from 1, 3, 4 (11)

53
925 8.12. � · र · r from रथ ratha chariot

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

H-842 ��� ऋण� ṛṇī debtor[BG]

H-923 �� जर jara aging[RV]
H-305B � �� अरज araja dustless (pure)[R]

� = र · r from 1, 2, 5, 11 (12)

926 8.13. � · र · r from रथव� ratharvī multi/split snake

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

H-1745A �� रज raja pollen[Prasaṅgābh]

H-585A �� जर jara aging[RV]
M-1170A �� ईर īra mover[√ईर� + अच� RV]

� = र · r from 5, 11 (13)

927 8.14. � · च · c from चत�र� catur four

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

D-33544 ��� च�र cari (a name)[Pravar]

M-749A �� चर cara move[MBh]
H-215B �� चण caṇa chickpea[MBh]

� = च · c from 1, 5, 13 (14)

54
928 8.15. � · अ · a from अजशृङ्ग� ajaśṛṅgī goat’s horn

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

L-20a ��� अचर acara immovable[RV]

H-70a ��� अजर ajara undecaying[RV]
H-2173 ���� अर�ण araṇi kindling wood[RV]

� = अ · a from 1, 5, 11, 12, 13, 14 (15)

929 8.16. � · म · m from मत्स्य matsya fish

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

M-238a ��� मसन masana transformation[√मस� + ल्य�ट�]

M-1344A ��� मरण maraṇa death[MBh]
H-1192A ��� चमन� caman eating[√चम� + शत��]

� = म · m from 1, 8, 13, 14 (16)

930 8.17. �· व · v from �व vi two

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

H-292A �� रव rava O Roarer[√रु + अच� ]

M-330 ���� अन� अनव� anā anarva Indeed, O unstoppable one[RV,RV]

�= व · v from 1, 12 (17)

931 8.18. � · र · r from रथ ratha variant of ratha �

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

M-1233 � �� � वण�ज varṇaja born of class[VarBṛS]

� = र · r from 1, 11, 17 (18)

55
932 8.19. � · र · r from रथ��रन� rathārin chariot wheel

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

M-1119a �� ��� अनव�हन� anarva-han Unstoppable Killer[RV,RV]

H-2018 �� रज raja passion[Uṇ.]

� = र · r from 1, 8, 11, 12, 17 (19)

933 8.20. � · ब · b from भक्षपत्त्र� bhakṣapattrī betel leaf

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

M-311A �� ��� भणव� bhaṇavī Roarer[√भण� + अच� + व� Pāṇ,RV]

� = ब · b from 5, 9, 17 (20)

934 8.21. � · य · y from यव�� �� yavaśreṣṭhi grain merchant

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

H-81A �� जय jaya victory[AV]

M-209A ��� म�न्य mānya respected[MBh]

� = य · y from 1, 11, 16 (21)

935 8.22. � · अ · a from आय� āyu variant of �

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

L-38 ��� म�य māya illusion[MBh]

M-1654 ��� आन āna nose[RV]

� = अ · a from 1, 2, 16, 21 (22)

56
936 8.23. � · न · n from न�ल�क� nālīka arrow

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

M-1206 ��� चमन camana eating[Jaim]

M-403 ���� अन्तर antara internal[RV]

� = न · n from 4, 7, 13, 14, 16 (23)

937 8.24. � · अस� · as from अष्टप�द aṣṭapāda eight legged; spider

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

H-1513 �� अश्न aśna voracious[RV]

B-1A ��� ����� ररस्नवमन ra-rasna-vamana Emitting[Kālid,Śiś] object[Uṇ]

� = अस� · as from 1, 4, 9, 16, 17, 19 (24)

938 8.25. � · अम · ama from अङ्क + मत्स्य ama conjunct curve + fish

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

M-686a ��� स�मन� sāman wealth[RV]

H-1085 �� ज�म� jāmā daughter[MBh]
Allahdino �� अम� amaṃ power[RV]

� = अम · ama from 1, 11, 8, 23 (25)

939 8.26. � · न · n from न�ल nāla reed

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

H-59A ��� अश्न� aśnaṃ a stone[RV]

M-1118A ��� नमन namana salute[MārkP]

� = न · n from 1, 16, 24 (26)

57
940 8.27. � · न · n from न�व� nāvā boat

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

H-550 � � �� आञ्जन āñjana fat[RV]

M-928A ��� आनम� ānam subdue[RV]
Harappa �� अञ्च añca curling[RV]

� = न · n from 2, 11, 14, 23, 25 (27)

941 8.28. � · त · t from त�� tardū variant of wooden ladles �

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

H-786 ��� त्मन� tman self[RV]

L-145 �� �� अश्वतर aśvatara mule[AV]

� = त · t from 13, 16, 17, 23, 24 (28)

942 8.29. � · स · s from स�प�न sopāna ladder

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

H-1492 �� शश śaśa rabbit[RV]

H-1533 �� अ� श aṃśa stake[RV]
H-2585 ��� श�न śani Saturn[R]

� = स · s from 1, 5 (29)

943 8.30. � · क · k from क�तम� kṛtam dice

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

H-300B ��� रणक raṇaka N. of King[BhP]

M-176 �� कम� kam well[ŚBr]

� = क · k from 1, 9, 12 (30)

58
944 8.31. � · अ · a from अङ्क aṅka curve

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

H-1520 ��� आजक ājaka goats[Pāṇ]

M-1658 �� आभ ābha beauty[MBh]
Nuhato ��� श�ण śāṇa flaxen[ŚBr]

� = अ · a from 1, 8, 11, 20, 30 (31)

945 8.32. � · अ · a from अङ्क aṅka boldface variant of curve �

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

M-917a ��� श�ण śāṇa flaxen[ŚBr]

M-1903 ��� अम�न� amān measure[√म� + लङ� 3p.]

� = अ · a from 1, 8, 25 (32)

946 8.33. �� · अ · a from अङ्क aṅka variant of curve �

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

M-1569 ����� आश� āśā desire[AV]

M-1137 ��� �� रव�ण ravāṇa roaring[√रु Ved]

�� = अ · a from 1, 17, 19, 29 (33)

947 8.34. � · अ · a from अङ्क aṅka variant of curve �

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

M-951 ���� अम�न amāna not standard[Nyāyam]

M-1179 �� आन āna nose[RV]

� = अ · a from 1, 2, 16 (34)

59
948 8.35. � · म · m from मन्थ mantha firesticks

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

M-501 ���� अश्मक� aśmakam son of Vasiṣṭha[MBh]

M-257 ���� दमन damana charioteer[BhP]

� = म · m from 1, 2, 3, 24, 30 (35)

949 8.36. � · म · m from मय maya variant of horse �

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

M-1989B ���� मन�क� manāk slightly[Kāv]

M-1233a ��� म�ण maṇi gem[RV]

� = म · m from 1, 5, 30, 31 (36)

950 8.37. � · न · n from न�ल nāla mat of reeds

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

M-382A ��� आनन ānana face[R]

H-1682 � � �� � जननजय janana-jaya creator[RV] of victory[AV]

� = न · n from 4, 11, 21 (37)

951 8.38. � · व · v from वत� vartī lamp wick

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

M-925A ��� नवन navana praising[Nalod]

M-1689a ��� वश्य vaśya dutiful[MBh]
H-194 ���� मवर� mavaraṃ multitudes[Buddh]

� = व · v from 1, 8, 13, 16, 21, 26 (38)

60
952 8.39. � · श · s from श�खर śākhāra squirrel

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

H-1080a ��� श�ण śāṇa hempen[ŚBr]

M-1829a ��� श�न śani Saturn[R]
H-1830a �� शय śaya sleeping[Dhātup]
L-35A ��� मसन masana transformation[√मस� + ल्य�ट]

� = श · s from 1, 5, 16, 21, 22 (39)

953 8.40. � · म · m from म�न्दर mandira dwelling

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

M-832a ��� शमन śamana soothing[MBh]

H-892B ���� शमन� śamanī soothing[MBh]
H-854 ��� � जम��न jamāni may I eat[√जम� + ल�ट� 1s.]

� = म · m from 1, 5, 11, 39 (40)

954 8.41. � · अ · a from अय�ग ayuga one

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

Banawali �� आन āna nose[RV]

H-2570 ��� आच� ācaṃ A name[Rājat]
M-1458 ������� आनन�चर ānana-acara constant[RV] face[R]

� = अ · a from 1, 2, 4, 13, 14, 23, 37 (41)

61
955 8.42. � · र · r from रथद�रु rathadāru Dalbergia tree

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

H-1975A ����� कम� तर� kam taraṃ pleased[TS] Shiva[MBh]

H-289A ��� चरण caraṇa feet[MBh]
Dholavira ���� म�रण māraṇa destruction[Mn]

� = र · r from 1, 7, 8, 14, 30, 35, 40 (42)

956 8.43. � · स · s from �शखर śikhara mountaintop

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

H-441a ��� सम� samaṃ level[RV]

H-201A ���� मसर� masaraṃ measurer[W,RV]

� = स · s from 1, 16, 40, 42 (43)

957 8.44. � · ह · h from स=ह

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

M-1705 ��� आमह� āmahaṃ to[RV] might[RV]

M-1845 ��� आमह� āmahaṃ to[RV] might[RV]
M-445 ��� आमह� āmahaṃ to[RV] might[RV]
H-474 ����� असह�म� asahām impatient[Kathās]

� = ह · h from 1, 8, 24, 25, 31, 39, 43 (44)

62
958 8.45. � · द · d from ध�नक�� dhānakāḥ variant of coins �

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

H-1740 �� दद dada given[√द� + �लट 2p.]

M-1088 �� �� रवद�न rava-dāna Roarer’s[√रु + अच� ] gift[RV]
M-1379 ��� दद�न dadāna gave[√द�न� + �लट� 3s.]

� = द · d from 1, 6, 17, 19 (45)

959 8.46. � · र · r from रथव� ratharvī multi/split snake

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

D-9093 �� ���� हन�वचर hana-avacara killing[RV] domain[Buddh]

M’daro 84-2 �� वर vara gift[RV]
M-361 ��� अरर arara door[Mcar]

� = र · r from 1, 4, 14, 17, 19, 39, 41 (46)

960 8.47. � · य · y from यव yava barley

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

D-16261 � � �� ��� आवय�जय āvaya-ajaya remove [√अज� + ल�ट� 2s.] pain[AV]

M-218A ��� यम� yamī (Yama’s) twin sister[RV]
H-48A �� जय jaya victory[AV]
M-1322a ��� अजय ajaya undefeated[RV]

� = य · y from 2, 4, 5, 11, 15, 16, 17, 41 (47)

63
961 8.48. � · द · d from ध�नक�� dhānakāḥ coins

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

M-619A �� दह daha He who burns[√दह� + अच� RV]

H-844A �� � वदन vadana face[ŚBr]
M-190 ���� सदस्य sadasya sacrifice attendee[TS]

� = द · d from 1, 17, 21, 29 (48)

962 8.49. � · त · t from त�ड्य tāḍya drum

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

M-228A ��� मथन mathana churn[MBh]

M-459A �� तन tana offspring[AV]
M-2079A �� तद� tad there[AV]

� = त · t from 1, 16, 48 (49)

963 8.50. � · म · m from मत� ग mataṅga elephant head

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

M-286a ��� नमन namana saluting[Śiś]

M-100a ���� �� रवनमन rava-namana salutation[Śiś] to Roarer[√रु + अच� ]
H-921A ��� तमन tamana desire[√तम� + ल्य�ट�]

� = म · m from 1, 4, 7, 12, 17, 27 (50)

64
964 8.51. � · त · t from त�ड� ल tāḍula fighter

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

M-1743A ����� श�न्तधर śānta-dhara tranquil[MBh] bearer[MBh]

H-1666A ������ तन�य tana-āya gain[MBh] of offspring[AV]

� = त · t from 1, 2, 4, 13, 21, 39, 48 (51)

965 8.52. � · स · s from सप्तन� saptan seven

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

M-673 �� सर sara move[√स� + ल�ट� 2s.]

Krs-2 ��� समन� saman keeping calm[√सम� + शत��]
H-9 �� सम sama equal[RV]
H-296 ������ द�सम��न dāsamāni patronym द�सम�न�[√द�स� + श�नच� ]

� = स · s from 1, 5, 6, 13, 16, 36, 41 (52)

966 8.53. � · र · r from रथ��रन� rathārin variant of wheel �

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

H-668A �� रण raṇa joy[RV]

H-841A ��� ऋण� ṛṇī debtor[BG]
H-1951A ��� � � रज अश्नन� raja aśnan color[√रञ्ज� + ल�ट� 2s.] while eating[√अश� + शत��]

� = र · r from 1, 5, 11, 24, 37 (53)

65
967 8.54. � · श · s from श�खर śākhāra variant of squirrel �

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

H-771 ��� दहस� dahas destroyer[√दह� + अच� RV]

M-1202A ������� दस्र�न्त�न� dasra-antān Dasra’s[RV] boundaries[RV]

� = श · s from 1, 22, 28, 29, 48, 53 (54)

968 8.55. � · प · p from पञ्चन� pañcan hand

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

H-443A ���� अमपण ama-paṇa powerful[RV] wager[MBh]

H-758A ��� प�न pāna drink[RV]
M-967A ����� (अ)मपर� (a)ma-parī attain[AV] power[RV]
H-101a ��� पण� parṇa leaf[RV]
D-19655 �� � � यजपर yaja-para sacrifice[ŚBr] protector[√प� + अच� ]

� = प · p from 1, 2, 5, 9, 11, 12, 16, 22, 42, 47 (55)

969 8.56. � · द · d from दन्त danta teeth

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

M-326c �� दधद� dadhad wearing[√ध� + शत��]

H-2336 ���� म�दन mādana exhilarating[RV]
H-86a ��� अदन adana food[RV]

� = द · d from 1, 2, 15, 16, 23, 48 (56)

66
970 8.57. � · म · m from मय maya horse

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

H-2024 ����� म� हन maṃhana gift[RV]

M-93 � � ��� मन� जय manaṃ-jaya mind[RV] conqueror[RV]

� = म · m from 1, 4, 11, 16, 21, 39 (57)

971 8.58. � · म · m from मय maya variant of horse �

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

L-52a �� आशम� āśam food[ŚBr]

M-965a ������ मनस्वर� manas-varaṃ willingly[RV] chosen[RV]

� = म · m from 1, 13, 24, 29, 38 (58)

972 8.59. � · अ · a from आज�न ājani variant of stick �

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

M-950a ���� म�ख� mākhaṃ oblation[Hariv]

M-97A ��� म�य māya illusion[MBh]
M-189a ��� स�न sāna destruction[√स� + ल्य�ट�]
L-11a ������ �� रवस्रम आनव ravas-rama O pleasing[RV] Roarer[RV]
ānava O one kind to men[RV]

� = अ · a from 1, 17, 19, 21, 24, 27, 30, 38, 39, 42, 50 (59)

67
973 8.60. � · ल · l from लत� latā creeper

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

M-13a ���� द�लन dālana decay[Suśr]

H-390a ���� अमलरम amala-rama pleasingly pure[AV,MBh]
M-183A ���� ल� मन laṃ mana greatly[Vā] pleasing[SBr 5.3.2.3]

� = ल · l from 3, 4, 9, 16, 19, 23, 25, 35, 58 (60)

974 8.61. � · त · t from त�ल tāla small cymbal

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

M-1097A ��� तमत tamata desirous[Uṇ]

M-831A �� यत yata governed[RV]
M-150a �� तन tana offspring[AV]

� = त · t from 1, 7, 21, 57 (61)

975 8.62. � · अन� · an from अ� श� aṃśu variant of drinking vessel �

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

H-450a ������ � ज�नन� म�न jānan māna knowing[√�� + शत��] honored[MBh]

M-1787a �� ��� अन्वत� anvataṃ following[ĀpŚr]

� = अन� · an from 1, 7, 11, 15, 16, 17, 22, 31 (62)

68
976 8.63. � · अ · a from अग aga mountain

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

H-139A ��� अरण araṇa foreign[RV]

H-157A ��� अन्य anya inexhaustible[AV]
M-1307a ��� अदन adana eating[√अद� + ल्य�ट�]

� = अ · a from 1, 9, 12, 21, 37, 56 (63)

977 8.64. � · भ · b from भक्षत्र bhakṣatra oven

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

H-136A �� � �� मञ्जभर mañja-bhara shine[√मञ्ज� ] bestower[RV]

M-742A ������ आभ�म� सर�(म� ) ābhām sarā(m) river[AV] of light[MBh]
M-1777a ��� सभ�म� sabhām council[RV]
M-492A ����� महभण maha-bhaṇa mighty[RV] Roarer[√भण� + अच� ]

� = भ · b from 1, 2, 4, 8, 11, 12, 13, 16, 27, 29, 31, 35, 52 (64)

978 8.65. � · ष · s from षण� ṣaṇ six

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

H-98A ����� समन्द्र sa-mandra with[RV] pleasantness[RV]

M-1314A ����� आनहर āna-hara (Sarasvati’s) nose[RV] severer[MBh]
H-514a ��� �� रवस्मय ravas-maya Roaring[RV,मयट� ]

� = ष · s from 1, 6, 12, 13, 16, 17, 19, 21, 23, 31, 41 (65)

69
979 8.66. � · श · s from �शख� śikhā variant of peacock crest �

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

M-2033A ����� दशरथ्य daśa-rathya ten[RV] chariot horses[RV]

M-1095a ���� अमम� श� amam-śam powerful[RV] blessing[RV]

� = श · s from 1, 6, 12, 16, 25, 21, 51 (66)

980 8.67. � · उ · u from उ��म udyāma coil of rope

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

M-1773A ���� उदर� udaraṃ belly[RV]

Ad-5A ��� उदय udaya sunrise[ŚBr]

� = उ · u from 1, 21, 42, 56 (67)

981 8.68. � · इ · i from इष�क iṣīkā variant of stalk of grass �

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

H-1511 �� अ�ह ahi Vrta[RV]

M-1632 ��� ईम्प īmpa his[RV ईम� = एनम� ] protector[RV]
H-2102 �� ऐ ai vocative particle
Luristan ����� आ�द� ādiḥ the beginning[ChandUp]

� = इ · i from 4, 8, 16, 24, 48, 55 (68)

982 8.69. � · व · v from वरट� varaṭī wasp

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

M-212A � ��� व��णज vāṇija merchant[YV] (Shiva)

M-948A � � ��� अववज्य ava-vajya off[RV] journey[√वज� + ल्यप� ]

� = व · v from 1, 2, 11, 17, 47, 68 (69)

70
983 8.70. � · क · k from क�तम� kṛtam axe

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

H-3a ��� ���� अन्नकवष्सभ�� anna-kavaṣ- open[RV] food[RV]

sabhāṃ meeting[RV]
M-56A �������� धक्क� म�म� dhakkaḥ mām The destroyer[√धक्क� + अच� ]
सरन� saran moves[√स� + शत��] me
H-1076a ��� �� रव�ङ्कम� rava-aṅkam Roarer’s[√रु + अच� ] mark[R]
Dholavira ���������� रकवर�रक- raka-varāraka- “gem of chosen gems”
Signboard अररस� araras entrance[Mcar]

� = क · k from 1,2,17, 18,19,24,25, 27,29,30,35, 37,48,52,53, 62,64,69 (70)

984 8.71. � · क · k from क�ष kṛaṣa ploughshare

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

M-1889A ����� क�न्दर kāndara from a valley[R]

H-1987A ������ वङ्कश्चर vaṅkas-cara roam[Bhadrab] about[√चर� ]
M-1684a ��� अक्र akra banner[RV]

� = क · k from 1, 2, 13, 14, 38, 48, 66 (71)

985 8.72. � · प · p from पञ्चन� pañcan five

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

M-1909A � ����� अश्ववपन aśva-vapana cutting[ŚBr] the horse[RV]

M-1202C ���� आदप āda-pa protector[RV] of eating[Samyutta]

� = प · p from 2, 4, 9, 17, 31, 38, 48, 66 (72)

71
986 8.73. � · उ · u from उ��म udyāma variant of �

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

M-1822 ��� अन�ष� anu-uṣā post-dawn[Pāṇ,RV]

M-1180 ��� य�प yūpa sacrificial post[RV]

� = उ��म · u from 1, 2, 21, 29, 72 (73)

987 8.74. � · द · d from ध�नक�� dhānakāḥ variant of coins �

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

M-78 ���� दस्म� dasmaṃ extraordinary[RV]

� = ध · d from 1, 29, 57 (74)

988 8.75. � · छ · c from छत्त्र chattra mushroom

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

H-1148 �� छन्न channa covered[MBh]

M-1129 �� ���� दहनछद� dahana-chadaṃ cremation[BhP] shroud[BhP]
H-530a ���� अ�छन्न a-chinna undivided[�छद� + क्त]
H-642 ������ � जटध�चल� jaṭa-dhā-acalā immovable[BG] Shiva[Hariv,RV]

� = छ · c from 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 11, 23, 37, 45, 41, 60, 61, 66 (75)

72
989 8.76. � · भ · b from भक्षपत्त्र� bhakṣapattrī betel leaf

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

H-1850A ���� भरण� bharaṇī N. stellar mansion[AV]

M-213A �� ��� मव� भ�� marva bhāṃ fill with[√मव� + ल�ट� 2s.] shining[RV]
H-5a �������� नट naṭa O dancer[MBh], O giver[Pāṇ] of
दहभस�नद daha-bhasāna-da heat[√दह� + अच� ] and shine[√भस� + ल्य�ट�]

� = भ · b from 1, 5, 6, 9, 13, 17, 24, 27, 29, 42, 51, 57 (76)

990 8.77. � · अ · a from अङ्क aṅka variant of curve �

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

M-331 ���� आभस� ā-bhasa the shining one[RV,√भस� ]

� = अ · a from 43, 76 (77)

991 8.78. � · त · t from त�� tardū wooden ladles

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

M-1913 � �� रवत ravata roaring[ĀpŚr]

M-741A �� तय taya protector[√तय� + अच� ]

� = त · t from 12, 17, 21 (78)

992 8.79. � · म · m from मन्द�र mandāra variant of flower �

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

M-1826a ��� दमन damana subduer[MBh]

M-1961a �� �� रव मर rava mara O Roarer, O Killer[√रु + अच� ,√म� + अच� ]

� = म · m from 6, 12, 13, 17, 23 (79)

73
993 8.80. � · क · k from क�ष kṛaṣa ploughshare

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

H-152a ��� क्षय kṣaya dominion[RV]

H-146 ���� अक्षय akṣaya undecaying[BG]
M-1419 ���� क्षय� kṣayī consumptive[MBh]

� = क · k from 2, 5, 8, 21 (80)

994 8.81. � · ध · d from ध�न dhāna receptacle

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

BM-123208 ����� छद�स्त chada-asta shroud[MBh,ŚBr]

Ch-5A ��� ��� अनलवदत्त� ana-lava-dattaṃ breath[ŚBr]
destroyer’s[Mn] gift[RV]

� = ध · d from 1, 8, 17, 28, 41, 51, 60, 75 (81)

995 8.82. � · झ · j from झञ्झ�न� jhañjān rain and wind

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

M-1308a ������ चर�जष� cara-a-jaṣaṃ moving[MBh] immortal[√जष� + अच� ]

H-57a ���� अज�य ajāya for Creator[RV]
M-836A ��� ज�न jani woman/wife[RV]
M-1848a �� जष jaṣa killer[√जष� + अच� ]

� = झ · j from 1, 5, 9, 13, 14, 21, 29, 31, 41 (82)

74
996 8.83. � · म · m from मय maya variant of horse �

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

M-648A �������� आम अ� शम�न āma aṃśa-māna serve[√अम� + ल�ट� 2p.] portion[RV]

preparation[RV]
H-1706A � � ��� मल्लवज्र malla-vajra strong[MBh] Vajra[RV]
H-6A ������ भरस�दम� bhara-sādam carrying[RV] on horseback[RV]
K-40A �� ����� दमधरव�र dama-dhara-vāra householder’s[RV,RV]
treasure[RV]

� = म · m from 1,2,3, 4,11,12, 13,16,17, 20,22,29, 31,42,41, 48,60,81 (83)

997 8.84. � · त · t from तद� tarda Indian blackbird

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

M-1204 ����� मम अथ� mama athā mine certainly[Ved]

M-214 ����� र�त ऐ rata ai O bestowed[RV]
M-1896 ��� तत्र tatra there[RV]

� = त · t from 5, 12, 19, 31, 50, 77, 83 (84)

998 8.85. � · द · d from धन्वन� dhanvan variant of bow �

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

H-7a ������ दद एकपद� dada ekapadaḥ given[Pāṇ] by Viṣṇu[MBh]

M-159A ������� मदनह�न madana-hāna Kāma[MBh] remover[Gaut]
M-331a �������� अम�दभच�प ama-adabha-cāpa powerful[RV]
benevolent[RV] bow[MBh]

� = द · d from 1, 6, 14, 15, 20, 30, 31, 36, 41, 45, 52, 55, 72, 77, 79 (85)

75
999 8.86. � · द · d from धन्वन� dhanvan variant of bow �

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

H-91 ����� कम� दमन kam damana excellent[RV] subduer[MBh]

M’daro 84-6 �� दव dava heat[Car]

� = द · d from 23, 30, 35, 38, 79 (86)

1000 8.87. � · स · s from �शख� śikhā variant of �

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

M-1744 �������� ध�मस��द� dhāma-sādi majestic[RV] horseman[MBh]

� = स · s from 2, 3, 5, 15, 25, 41, 85 (87)

1001 8.88. � · म · m from मन्द�र mandāra variant of flower �

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

M-810a ��� आमन āmana affection[TS]

M-308A �� ��� मम वमन� mama vaman my emitting[√वम� + शत��]

� = म · m from 1, 16, 17, 23, 31, 83 (88)

1002 8.89. � · म · m from म�न्दर mandira dwelling

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

D-24795 ��� उन्नम� unnam moist[KātyŚr]

� = म · m from 1, 67 (89)

76
1003 8.90. � · त · t from त्र tra three

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

H-1711 ������ क�न्तद�न kānta-dāna delightful[GargaS] gift[RV]

H-1713 ��� � रतजय rata-jaya pleasing[BhP] victory[RV]
H-351 ����� तमस��न tamasāni dark-colored (pl)[AV]

� = त · t from 1, 2, 5, 11, 12, 29, 35, 47, 48, 71 (90)

1004 8.91. � · उ · u from उदप�न udapāna well

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

M-1923 ������ श� अपरम� śu aparam the future[RV] quickly[Naigh]

M-1224 ����� उस्र�� usreeḥ morning-lights[RV]
Unknown ����� � � उज्झमत� मन ujjha-matam mana remember,[√म्न� + ल�ट� 2s.]
relinquishing[Mn] desires[RV]

� = उ · u from 1, 4, 5, 11, 13, 16, 23, 42, 50, 55, 61, 65, 79 (91)

1005 8.92. � · उ · u from उदप�न udapāna variant of well �

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

H-720 �� उन्न unna moist[KātyŚr]

H-149 �� � ���� �� रवम� त�ञ्जतर ravam tuñja-tara Roarer, the attack protector[Nir]

� = उ · u from 1, 7, 11, 13, 16, 17, 19, 27, 49 (92)

77
1006 8.93. � · ए · e from एक eka one

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

M-1087A ����� अ�� षम� aśleṣam Hydra constellation[AV]

� = ए · e from 24, 58, 60 (93)

1007 8.94. � · अस� · as from अष्टन� aṣṭan eight

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

M-283A �� अशर aśara unwounded[W]

H-818 ��� अश्मन� aśman sky[RV]

� = अस� · as from 1, 13, 40 (94)

1008 8.95. � · न · n from नव nava nine

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

H-4a ���� अन्तम antama nearest[RV]

Dholavira �� नय naya leading[R]
H-23a ����� नरह�न nara-hāna departed[VS] man[TS]

� = न · n from 1, 7, 13, 16, 21, 22, 31, 39 (95)

1009 8.96. � · र · r from रथ ratha variant of chariot �

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

H-24a ��� � �� मञ्ज शरण mañja śaraṇa refuge[RV] O Roarer[√मञ्ज� + अच� ]

M-255a ��� मरण maraṇa death[MBh]
M-1366A ����� तर शतम� tara śatam a hundred[RV], O Rudra[MBh]

� = र · r from 1, 7, 8, 11, 16, 27, 39 (96)

78
1010 8.97. � · य · y from य�ष्ट yaṣṭi pearl necklace

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

H-465A ���� आय�न āyana arrival[RV]

M-324b �� य�न yāna leading[RV]
M-99A �� ���� र�न्नव्य� rān-navyaṃ giving[√र� + शत��] praise[RV]

� = य · y from 1, 2, 4, 9, 12, 17 (97)

1011 8.98. � · य · y from य�ष्ट yaṣṭi twig; arm

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

M-290a ��� यम� yamī (Yama’s) twin sister[RV]

H-1922 ������� असम�मम� य��न asama-amam yāni unequalled[Mn]
path[TS] of power[RV]

� = य · y from 1, 5, 16, 24, 25, 57 (98)

1012 8.99. � · त · t from त�� tardū variant of wooden ladles �

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

H-90A ����� पश्यन्त� paśyantaḥ onlookers[RV]

C-6 ��� ����� ��� आव आम�न तत्र āva āmāna tatra go[√अव� + ल�ट� 2p.] there[RV]
to[RV] honor[RV]

� = त · t from 1, 2, 4, 9, 12, 16, 17, 24, 31, 55, 63, 77, 98 (99)

79
1013 8.100. � · झ · j from झर jhara variant of rain; waterfall �

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

M-1691a ������� जन्मम�ख� janma-mākhaṃ birth[RV] oblation[Hariv]

K-30A �� जज jaja warrior[Śiś]

� = झ · j from 1, 16, 30, 50, 59, 82 (100)

1014 8.101. � · ग · g from ग�धन gādhana arrow

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

H-1924A ��� गज� gajaḥ elephant[Mn]

M-1749a ����� गद�श्म gadā-aśma club[MBh] of stone[Pāṇ]
M-972a ���� ग�न gāna song[Śiś]
Allahdino-4A ������ घन�म�ह�� ghanā-māhāṃ great[MBh] destroyer[RV]

� = ग · g from 1, 2, 3, 4, 11, 16, 24, 25, 52, 63, 66 (101)

1015 8.102. � · म · m from म�द्र� mudrā seal

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

M-1850a ��� �� रवनमन rava-namana bowing[Śiś] to Roarer[√रु + अच� ]

H-391 ������ दम�मम�न dama-ama-māna this[RV] honored[MBh] house[RV]
M-285 ��� �� रवमच्छम� ravam-accham towards[Ved] the Roarer[√रु + अच� ]

� = म · m from 1, 2, 6, 12, 16, 17, 25, 26, 35, 75 (102)

80
1016 8.103. � · म · m from मन्द�र mandāra a flower

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

H-1411 ��� सम�न samāna uniform[RV]

H-950 ���� शमशम śamaśama perpetually tranquil[MBh]
M-760 ����� मनस्स्थम� manas-stham stilled[RV] mind[RV]

� = म · m from 1, 8, 16, 28, 29, 52, 66 (103)

1017 8.104. � · स · s from श�ण śāṇa weight of four

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

M-260A ���� �� रवसम�न rava-samāna like[RV] the Roarer[√रु + अच� ]

H-472a ����� रस�भ� rasa-ābhaṃ essence[RV] of beauty[MBh]

� = स · s from 1, 4, 12, 16, 17, 19, 31, 64 (104)

1018 8.105. � · अस� · as from अष्टप�द aṣṭapāda spider variant of �

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

M-628a ��� ���� आशक लवमह�न� āśaka lava-mahān O bestower[RV]

O great reaper[MBh,RV]
H-1708A ��� असत्त्व asattva non-presence[Nyāyam]
M-1262a �
�� ���� बभ अश्नचर babha aśna-cara illumined[√भ� + �लट 2s.]
the moving[Mn] clouds[Naigh]

� = अस� · as from 1, 13, 14, 16, 17, 24, 30, 38, 41, 49, 60, 64 (105)

81
1019 8.106. � · त · t from तण्ड� ल taṇḍula rice plant

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

B-28 ��� चलत calata move[√चल� + ल�ट� 2p.]

D-26514 ����� यत्न� yatna-ā from zeal[RV, MBh]

� = त · t from 1, 4, 21, 60, 75 (106)

1020 8.107. � · स · s from �शखर śikhara mountaintop

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

Ns-79 �� � वहस� vahas bearing[MBh]

M-2063 ��� श�ण śāṇa hempen[ŚBr]

� = स · s from 1, 4, 17, 29 (107)

1021 8.108. � · स · s from �शखर śikhara variant of mountaintop �

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

M-264a ��� शहम� saham mighty[RV]

L-98A ����� सहत्मन� sahat-man mighty[RV]
M-1709a ��� �� रवमहम� rava-maham mighty[RV] Roarer[√रु + अच� ]

� = स · s from 1, 12, 16, 17, 23, 28, 89 (108)

1022 8.109. � · ल · l from लत� latā creeper

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

M-751A ��� ललक lalaka playful[W] happiness[ChUp]

Dholavira ����� कमल�स्र kamala-asra red[TS] blood[Ragh]

� = ल · l from 13, 24, 30, 35 (109)

82
1023 8.110. � · श · s from �शख� śikhā peacock crest

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

M-241a ������� सभ� दहन sabhaṃ dahana the council[RV],

O Rudra[MatsyaP]
M-1674a ������ ��� शव� मनम�न śarva mana-māna O Shiva[AV],
O greatly[Vā] honored[MBh]

� = श · s from 1, 4, 9, 12, 16, 17, 29, 48, 64, 77 (110)

1024 8.111. � · म · m from मन्द�र mandāra variant of flower �

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

M-34A ��� ���� तम्रवस्मन� tamra-vasman red[VS] covering[RV]

M-1823A �� ��� �� अम�वचर ama-avacara domain[Buddh] of power[RV]
M-43a ��� ��� मज्ज व मह�न� majja va mahān submerge[MBh] like
the great one[MBh]

� = म · m from 1, 2, 13, 14, 16, 17, 24, 34, 39, 40, 82, 106 (111)

1025 8.112. � · व · v from वट� vaṭī banyan tree

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

M-1397 ���� म�नव mānava O human[RV]

M-101 ���� �� रव वन�र rava vana-āra O Roarer[√रु + अच� ], destroyer[√वन� + अच� ]
of multitude of enemies[Śiś]

� = व · v from 1, 12, 13, 17, 27, 34, 63, 83 (112)

83
1026 8.113. � · र · r from रथद�रु rathadāru variant of Dalbergia �

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

M-1773 ���� उदर� udaraṃ belly[RV]

M-1514 �� रण raṇa joy[RV]
M-1275 ������ अहसम� परम� ahasam param first[MBh] day[RV]

� = र · r from 1, 16, 24, 29, 55, 56, 67 (113)

1027 8.114. � · स · s from श्य� न śyena falcon

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

M-222a ��� मयस� mayas delight[RV]

M-6 ���� सन्नरर san-arara existing[√अस� + शत��] door[Mcar]

� = स · s from 9, 12, 19, 50, 98 (114)

8.115. · त · t from त�ड� ल tāḍula variant of fighter �

�

1028

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

M-2118 ���� हय च पत haya ca pata roarer[√हय� + अच� ] and master[√पत� + अच� ]

�

= त · t from 8, 14, 21, 72 (115)

�

1029 8.116. � · अस� · as from अष्टप�द aṣṭapāda variant of spider �

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

M-976 ����� रण�क्ष raṇa-akṣa eye[RV] of Roarer[Pur]

� = अस� · as from 9, 12, 30, 41 (116)

84
1030 8.117. � · ओ · o from ओपश opaśa tuft of hair

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

H-1924 ��� ओजस� ojas vigour[RV]

� = ओ · o from 11, 24 (117)

1031 8.118. � · र · r from रथद�रु rathadāru variant of Dalbergia �

Seal-Id Inscription Sanskrit Translation

H-1522 ��� ररर ra-ra-ra possessing[Naiṣ]

love and desire
L-45 �������� तन�मन�मन� tana-ama-nāman fulfill[प� + ल�ट� 2s.] the mark[RV]
पर para of the destroyer[√तन� + अच� ]

� = र · r from 1, 16, 25, 26, 49, 55 (118)

85
1032 9. Derivation Sequence

Phoneme Reconstructed Name

1 � अन� an अ� श� aṃśu soma drink

2 � अ a आज�न ājani stick
3 � द d धन्वन� dhanvan bow
4 � अ a आय� āyu man
5 � इ i इष�क iṣīkā stalk of grass
6 � द d धन्वन� dhanvan variant of bow �
7 � त t त�ड� ल taḍula variant of fighter �
8 � श s श�क्र śukra seed
9 � न n न�ल nāla stalk
10 �� ई ī इइ ī long i
11 � ज j झर jhara waterfall; cascade
12 � र r रथ ratha chariot
13 � र r रथव� ratharvī multi/split snake
14 � च c चत�र� catur four
15 � अ a अजशृङ्ग� ajaśṛṅgī goat’s horn
16 � म m मत्स्य matsya fish
17 � व v �व vi two
18 � र r रथ ratha variant of ratha �
19 � र r रथ��रन� rathārin chariot wheel
20 � ब b भक्षपत्त्र� bhakṣapattrī betel leaf
21 � य y यव�� �� yavaśreṣṭhi grain merchant
22 � अ a आय� āyu variant of �
23 � न n न�ल�क� nālīka arrow
24 � अस� as अष्टप�द aṣṭapāda eight legged; spider
25 � अम ama अङ्क + मत्स्य ama conjunct curve + fish
26 � न n न�ल nāla reed
27 � न n न�व� nāvā boat
28 � त t त�� tardū variant of wooden ladles �
29 � स s स�प�न sopāna ladder
30 � क k क�तम� kṛtam dice
31 � अ a अङ्क aṅka curve
32 � अ a अङ्क aṅka boldface variant of curve �
33 �� अ a अङ्क aṅka variant of curve �
34 � अ a अङ्क aṅka variant of curve �
35 � म m मन्थ mantha firesticks
36 � म m मय maya variant of horse �
37 � न n न�ल nāla mat of reeds
38 � व v वत� vartī lamp wick
39 � श s श�खर śākhāra squirrel
40 � म m म�न्दर mandira dwelling
41 � अ a अय�ग ayuga one
42 � र r रथद�रु rathadāru Dalbergia tree
43 � स s �शखर śikhara mountaintop

86
 Phoneme Reconstructed Name

44 � ह h स=ह
45 � द d ध�नक�� dhānakāḥ variant of coins �
46 � र r रथव� ratharvī multi/split snake
47 � य y यव yava barley
48 � द d ध�नक�� dhānakāḥ coins
49 � त t त�ड्य tāḍya drum
50 � म m मत� ग mataṅga elephant head
51 � त t त�ड� ल tāḍula fighter
52 � स s सप्तन� saptan seven
53 � र r रथ��रन� rathārin variant of wheel �
54 � श s श�खर śākhāra variant of squirrel �
55 � प p पञ्चन� pañcan hand
56 � द d दन्त danta teeth
57 � म m मय maya horse
58 � म m मय maya variant of horse �
59 � अ a आज�न ājani variant of stick �
60 � ल l लत� latā creeper
61 � त t त�ल tāla small cymbal
62 � अन� an अ� श� aṃśu variant of drinking vessel �
63 � अ a अग aga mountain
64 � भ b भक्षत्र bhakṣatra oven
65 � ष s षण� ṣaṇ six
66 � श s �शख� śikhā variant of peacock crest �
67 � उ u उ��म udyāma coil of rope
68 � इ i इष�क iṣīkā variant of stalk of grass �
69 � व v वरट� varaṭī wasp
70 � क k क�तम� kṛtam axe
71 � क k क�ष kṛaṣa ploughshare
72 � प p पञ्चन� pañcan five
73 � उ u उ��म udyāma variant of �
74 � द d ध�नक�� dhānakāḥ variant of coins �
75 � छ c छत्त्र chattra mushroom
76 � भ b भक्षपत्त्र� bhakṣapattrī betel leaf
77 � अ a अङ्क aṅka variant of curve �
78 � त t त�� tardū wooden ladles
79 � म m मन्द�र mandāra variant of flower �
80 � क k क�ष kṛaṣa ploughshare
81 � ध d ध�न dhāna receptacle
82 � झ j झञ्झ�न� jhañjān rain and wind
83 � म m मय maya variant of horse �
84 � त t तद� tarda Indian blackbird
85 � द d धन्वन� dhanvan variant of bow �
86 � द d धन्वन� dhanvan variant of bow �
87 � स s �शख� śikhā variant of �
88 � म m मन्द�र mandāra variant of flower �
89 � म m म�न्दर mandira dwelling

87
 Phoneme Reconstructed Name

90 � त t त्र tra three

91 � उ u उदप�न udapāna well
92 � उ u उदप�न udapāna variant of well �
93 � ए e एक eka one
94 � अस� as अष्टन� aṣṭan eight
95 � न n नव nava nine
96 � र r रथ ratha variant of chariot �
97 � य y य�ष्ट yaṣṭi pearl necklace
98 � य y य�ष्ट yaṣṭi twig; arm
99 � त t त�� tardū variant of wooden ladles �
100 � झ j झर jhara variant of rain; waterfall �
101 � ग g ग�धन gādhana arrow
102 � म m म�द्र� mudrā seal
103 � म m मन्द�र mandāra a flower
104 � स s श�ण śāṇa weight of four
105 � अस� as अष्टप�द aṣṭapāda spider variant of �
106 � त t तण्ड� ल taṇḍula rice plant
107 � स s �शखर śikhara mountaintop
108 � स s �शखर śikhara variant of mountaintop �
109 � ल l लत� latā creeper
110 � श s �शख� śikhā peacock crest
111 � म m मन्द�र mandāra variant of flower �
112 � व v वट� vaṭī banyan tree
113 � र r रथद�रु rathadāru variant of Dalbergia �
114 � स s श्य� न śyena falcon
त t त�ड� ल tāḍula variant of fighter �
�

115

116 � अस� as अष्टप�द aṣṭapāda variant of spider �

117 � ओ o ओपश opaśa tuft of hair
118 � र r रथद�रु rathadāru variant of Dalbergia �

88
1033 10. Conclusion

1034 The ability to read well beyond the unicity distance alone should be sufficient proof
1035 of correct decipherment of the Indus script. This decipherment has many additional
1036 compelling attributes. This is the only cryptanalytic decipherment and the only one
1037 that uses well-established mathematical models and methods instead of guessing sign
1038 values based on their appearance. This decipherment is the only full decipherment
1039 and the only one where every sign and every stroke has been resolved, the only one
1040 that is programmatically reproducible, the only one where the decipherment can be
1041 followed sign-by-sign by the reader, the only decipherment that reads Semitic and mixed
1042 inscriptions in addition to native IVC inscriptions, the only one that reads over 500
1043 inscriptions including all 50 longest inscriptions grammatically correctly in an attested
1044 language, the only one that validates research spanning almost a century from Hunter to
1045 Heggarty. In addition, we have uncovered a remarkable number of additional evidence
1046 such as reconstructed names of the signs, reasons for their allographs, and the clear
1047 correspondence of derived sound values to known Brahmi values. We also show how
1048 the constraints and habits of the Indus script carry on to Brahmi inscriptions of the
1049 early historic era. Such a strong result is a first in any ancient script decipherment and
1050 should be taken as plenary proof of decipherment of the Indus script.

1051 11. Data Availability Statement

1052 A programmatic decipherment of the first 40 signs is openly available in the GitHub
1053 repository at https://github.com/yajnadevam/ScriptDerivation. This paper uses the
1054 Indus script font from the National Fund for Mohenjodaro under open license(Kumb-
1055 har and Buriro, 2017). Brahmi and Devanagari fonts are from Google Fonts under Open
1056 Font license(Google, 2021, 2022). Adinata font for Tamil Brahmi is under Open Font
1057 license (Rajan, Sharma, and Sankar, 2021). The Indus corpus reference used is Interac-
1058 tive Corpus of Indus Text(Wells and Fuls, 2023). Corpus of Indus seals and inscriptions
1059 volumes are also the primary reference(Parpola et. al., 1991). Rigveda translations in
1060 section 5 are from Griffith(Griffith, 1896). The dictionary used for decipherment deriva-
1061 tion is the downloadable Monier-Williams dictionary(Monier-Williams, 1899b). Attes-
1062 tation data of individual words are from Monier-Williams dictionary(Monier-Williams,
1063 1899b), the Purana Index(Dikshitar, 1955) and Wisdomlib(Hiemstra, 2023).

1064 12. Disclosure Statement

1065 The authors report there are no competing interests to declare.

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Appendix A. Evolution of Brahmi signs

Figure A1. Evolution of Brahmi signs: Wikimedia Commons

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