CM of Tamil Nadu announces huge award for ancient script

An archaic writing system, containing unsolved symbols such as a headless stick man and a fish beneath a roof, continues to baffle specialists. Part of the Indus Valley Civilisation, the script is one of the greatest linguistic mysteries in history. In January, MK Stalin, the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, declared a $1 million prize for anyone able to decode the Indus script successfully.

The Indus Valley civilization, which thrived over 4,000 years back in what is now India and Pakistan, was a sophisticated society featuring carefully designed cities, effective drainage systems, and prosperous trade routes. However, in contrast to modern civilizations such as Egypt and Mesopotamia, which produced extensive written documents, the script of the Indus civilization is still indecipherable.

The script, discovered on ceramics and stone seals, consists of brief sequences – mostly featuring just four to five characters. The restricted dataset complicates interpretation significantly, as does the lack of a bilingual object, similar to the Rosetta Stone, which aided in decoding ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs.

“Not a single sign is deciphered yet,” said Nisha Yadav, a researcher at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research who has spent nearly 20 years studying the script.

“A really important question about the pre-history of South Asia could potentially be settled if we are able to completely decipher the script,” Rajesh PN Rao, a computer science professor at the University of Washington who has studied the script for more than a decade, 

Certain experts think the script is part of the Dravidian language family, which is still in use in South India today. Some contend it is related to Indo-European languages such as Sanskrit.

The debate has ignited intense responses. Several researchers have been threatened with death, including Steve Farmer, a co-author of a 2004 study suggesting that the Indus symbols may not signify a language, but rather a collection of non-linguistic signs similar to contemporary traffic symbols.

In spite of these obstacles, academics persist in their endeavors. Certain individuals, such as Finnish Indologist Asko Parpola, examine specific signs for possible interpretations. Others, such as Mr. Rao and researcher Nisha Yadav, utilize AI models to identify patterns in the text.

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