Script of the Indus Valley Civilization

Indus script has defied decipherment. Several attempts have been made in the past to decipher the Indus script but there is no consensus about its content. The lack of definite knowledge about its structure makes it difficult to objectively evaluate any claim of decipherment. In the present talk, I will provide a brief overview of the material on which the Indus texts have been inscribed and discuss the results of our work on the Indus script. We aim to explore the structure of the Indus writing using computational tools and techniques without making any assumptions about its content. The study provides a glimpse of the nature and style of writing of the Indus people.

About the Speaker:
Dr. Nisha Yadav is working as the Science Communication and Publication Officer at TIFR, Mumbai. Her research work aims at elucidating the structure of the Indus script using computational methods and investigating its connection to other aspects of the Harappan culture. She has published several papers on the Indus script in leading international and Indian academic journals. Her work has also been the subject of articles in the press, journals, and documentaries. She was awarded the INSA Young Historian of Science Award (2017) for her work on the Indus script.