The Decipherment of the Indus-Saraswati Script

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The Indus-Saraswati script is thought to be enigmatic as regards it decipherment, but it is not so any longer. It is Indiaâ€™s one of the most simple and easiest ancient scripts. It is the unique by-product of the Indian genius and appears to have borrowed little from any other script of the contemporary ancient world. The direction of its writing is mostly, from left to right as well have the present day ‘Devanagari’ script, but in rare cases it is from right to left. Certain examples of boustrophedon writing are also there. The language of the Indus-Saraswati writings is ‘Prakrit’ and ‘Vedic Sanskrit’. Interestingly, the names of the ‘Puranas’ and ‘Vedic Hymns’ find a place in the seals. Mathematical calculations, numerals, brackets synonyms, adjectives etc. show a remarkable height in the use of semantics and prosody. Again, the use of diacritical marks and combination of letters is the chief characteristics of Indus Saraswati writings which is not to be seen elsewhere in any other script of the old world. Present book is the lifetime achievement of the author who has devoted precious 38 years of his academic life to the pursuit and decipherment of this illusive yet interesting script of India. It is self-rewarding to taste the nectar of Saraswati-Indus streams flowing into the great ocean of knowledge and wisdom.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Karuna Shankar Shukla

Born at Bangarmau, a small town in district Unnao (U.P.), Dr. K.S. Shukla graduated in 1957 from Agra University and obtained his Master's degree in English from the same University. Later he did his M.A. in A.I.H.C. and Archaeology from B.H.U. in 1957 and soon after joined the school of Archaeology, New Delhi and tope the list of successful candidates in 1968. He got Ph.D. degree from Sagar University, Sagar (M.P.). He had excavaed Rajghat (Varanasi) and Kalibangan (Rajasthan). He explored more than 70 sites in the upper Mid-Ganga Valley and found for the first time he Acheulian hand axes and Chopper-chopping tools at the ancient sites of Bangarmau and Kannauj in the Ganga Valley. His discovery of pre-Harappan terracotta compartmented seals at many sites in the Ganga Valeyhas opened a new vista of the archaeological importance of the Gangetic region and its unique contribution to the emergence of writing system in the Sraswati-Indus valleys in the later periods. The prizes, Medal and Honours which he got include: Sir Mortimer Wheeler Prize, Puri Memorial Prize, Maulana Azad gold Medal, Unnao Gaurava Samman on the Golden Jubilee Year of India's Independence.