How new insights into Indus Valley were unlocked

The elite groups in the region did not want to use any language-specific phonological script on their seals.

An encounter with a Cambridge mathematician at a Bengaluru dinner party led software engineer Bahata Ansumali Mukhopadhyay to decode the arcane script of the Harappan civilization, shedding light on the mercantile culture during this Bronze Age civilization. That was almost a decade ago, and it is thanks to that chance meeting that the world now knows about the commercial activities of the ancient race.

Across the ancient world, all writing systems were invented from the needs of accounting and commercial administration. (HT PHOTO) (HT_PRINT)

Mukhopadhyay, 42, published her third paper in the peer reviewed journal, Nature Group journal on December

Map of Greater Indus Valley Civilisation

Bahata’s approach uses lateral thinking. She saw unfinished seals and found that they were being made in a workshop alongside the tools that were being used for gold smithing. These Indus symbols do not represent phonetic sounds. Think of it: when you give your clothes to dhobis, they mark them with notation that a layperson can’t read, but it is important information, and designed for a specific purpose. It is not a story. Bahata has to have a chance to do more of this work and I hope that a research institute or university supports her so that she is able to spend all her creative time and energy on this.” says Dr Mohan adding that Mukhopadhyay should now build further on her thesis.