Linguist Peggy Mohan examines early Indus Valley languages and their lack of ‘literature’

There were probably many languages and dialects in the Indus Valley region, with one standard variety located at the centre of the civilisation. But it would make sense for many of the little languages and dialects of the region to have belonged to a larger family, though there would probably have been some unrelated languages also looking on from the sidelines. In such great cities there would definitely have been local minority groups, as well as diplomats and traders from neighbouring lands who left behind communities to keep the relationship going.

Much of the early search for a lost Indus Valley language centred on the seals that were found when the old cities were excavated by archaeologists. These were small reliefs, many of which depict animals or people interacting with animals, besides more abstract markings that would appear to be “writing” or some form of notation. What could these seals be? Could they be people’s names? Perhaps the names of important merchants who needed to put a stamp on their transactions? Edicts? They were too short to be full sentences. And if they were words, what did they sound like? Were these markings meant to represent sounds? Or were they just…

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