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Discover the fascinating insights from our LUCA Talk on the “Role of the Indus Script in Taxation, Licensing, and Control Mechanism” by Bahata Ansumali Mukhopadhyay (ബഹതാ അൻശുമാലി മുഖോപാധ്യായ്). Part of the 100 Years of the Discovery of the Harappan Civilization series, this talk explores how the undeciphered script sheds light on the governance of ancient urban societies
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Role of the Indus script in taxation, licensing, and control mechanism
Since the first discovery of the Indus valley civilization, and its enigmatic writing system, which is mostly found from miniature seals, sealings, and tablets, the Indus script has been rigorously researched for more than hundred years. The Indus script is ironically called the most deciphered script of the world, as it has received more than hundred claimed decipherments from both eminent scholars and amateur enthusiasts, none of which have enjoyed considerable scholarly consensus. Although several pioneering scholars (Asko Parpola, Iravatham Mahadevan, Bryan K. Wells, to name a few) have significantly contributed towards ISC’s research, the existing studies often have severe methodological issues which have led to various illogical conclusions regarding the sounds and/or meanings of the Indus script signs. Interestingly, even the very nature of Indus script is highly debated till date, with a wide range of scholarly opinion (syllabic, logo-syllabic, logographic, etc.). Similarly, there is a huge controversy regarding the underlying language(s) of Indus script. Moreover, certain scholars claim that the Indus script never encoded any linguistic word. In this talk, based on my structural analysis published in a Nature group journal, I shall briefly discuss the semasiographic and/or logographic nature of Indus script. Next, I shall discuss that contrary to the popular scholarly belief, the Indus script did not encode proper nouns, such as names of the seal-owners, or names of places. I shall also oppose the popular belief that Indus script inscriptions mainly encoded religious messages. Based on my another article published in a Nature group journal, I shall discuss various script-internal and archaeological evidence, that indicate that the inscribed Indus seals and tablets were mainly used as tax-stamps, trade/craft licenses, and access control passes, and their inscriptions encoded taxation and licensing related rules and information, such as names of taxed commodities, licensed crafts, tax-rates, license-slabs, etc.
Bahata Ansumali
Bahata Ansumali is a senior software architect at Infor and an independent researcher dedicated to unraveling the structural and semantic intricacies of the undeciphered Indus script inscriptions. Her work also explores the linguistic landscape of the Indus Valley Civilization, shedding light on the types of languages that may have been in use.
With a BE (Honors) in Computer Science and Engineering, Bahata seamlessly integrates her technical expertise with a profound interest in ancient history. Her research has produced several acclaimed scholarly articles in journals such as Humanities and Social Sciences Communications and Palgrave Communications. She has delivered over 20 invited talks at international seminars and prestigious institutions and has served as a reviewer for academic articles in Humanities and Social Sciences Communications.
Research highlights:
- Bahata’s work uniquely bridges computational methods and historical research, offering innovative perspectives on ancient scripts and languages.
- nsumali Mukhopadhyay, Bahata (2023) Semantic scope of Indus inscriptions comprising taxation, trade and craft licensing, commodity control and access control: archaeological and script-internal evidence. Humanit Soc Sci Commun 10, 972. >>>
- I have given 20 invited talks on Indus script, and Indus civilization’s language(s) at international seminars, reputed academic institutions, and corporate houses.
- Ansumali Mukhopadhyay, Bahata (2021) Ancestral Dravidian languages in Indus Civilization: ultraconserved Dravidian tooth-word reveals deep linguistic ancestry and supports genetics. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications 8.1: 1-14. >>>
- Ansumali Mukhopadhyay, Bahata (2024) Did Indus script use crucible-blowpipe based symbols to signify gold, precious metals, and goldsmithing? Script-internal, archaeological, linguistic, and historical evidence. Proceedings of the 2nd International Seminar in Commemoration of Padma Shri Iravatham Mahadevan, on Recent Advances in Archaeological Investigations of South India, Government of Tamil Nadu, Department of Archaeology. Pp. 183-215
- Ansumali Mukhopadhyay, Bahata (2024) Tax and license categories, modes of tax payment, taxed commodities, and licensed commercial activities: Semantic scopes of phrase-final, pre-phrase-final, and core-informational segments of Indus script inscriptions. Proceedings of the 1st International Seminar in Commemoration of Padma Shri Iravatham Mahadevan, named Early Tamil Culture and Heritage. Published by Government of Tamil Nadu, Department of Archaeology. Pp. 42-82
- Ansumali Mukhopadhyay, Bahata (2023) Living Harappans: Incredible continuity of Indus material and linguistic culture in later India, seen through archaeological, ethnohistorical, and linguistic lenses. Proceedings of the seminar titled Reflections on Cultural Development: An Archaeological Perspective on 22nd and 23rd November 2023 at Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai, organized by Government of Tamil Nadu, Department of Archaeology.
- I have also reviewed three academic articles on Indus script and language(s) as an invited reviewer at the Nature group journal Humanities and Social Sciences Communications (>>>).
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