Dr Rajaram and Dr. Jha: Vedic Glossary of Indus Seals

[Vishal Agarwal]

Mr. Frosse had asked in an earlier posting of Dr. Rajram accepts the glossar
of Dr. Jha. Here is a press release from Dr. Rajaram which suggests that he
does accept it. This is just for the information of the List Members
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Press release:
                       WORLD'S OLDEST WRITING IS VEDIC

        The recently discovered sample of writing at Harappa, the oldest example of
writing known, is a more primitive form of the Harappan script, according to
Dr N.S. Rajaram, who, along with Dr. Natwar Jha, has read and deciphered the
messages on more than 2000 Harappan seals. They are included in their book
'The Deciphered Indus Script: Methodology, Readings, Interpretations', to be
released later this year.

        Recently, Dr. Richard Meadow of Harvard University announced the discovery
of a piece of pottery at Harappa, with a written message on it. Dating to
about 3500 BC, it is the oldest example of writing known and about a
thousand years older than the bulk of Harappan writing. Dr. Rajaram was able
to examine the writing by accessing the BBC website on which the piece of
pottery was displayed. Based on this he deciphers it as 'ilavartate vara',
which means 'Ila surrounds the blessed land (vara or 'the best')'. In the
Rigveda, Ila is often used to denote the Sarasvati River. The message
reflects the Rigvedic idea of the sanctity of the land associated with the
Sarasvati. It could also refer to the ancient country 'Ilavrita', ruled by a
king by the same name, who received it as a gift from his father Agnidru.
Ilavrita also means 'surrounded by Ila', which made it blessed (vara).

        The writing found by Dr. Meadow is more primitive than the Harappan but
clearly related to it. It can therefore be called pre-Harappan. Where the
Harappan script uses a single sign to indicate all the vowels, the
pre-Harappan, judging from the example, has no vowels. Instead it uses
'doubled consonants' to indicate vowels appearing at the beginning of words,
a feature found in some Harappan examples also. This lack of vowels in
pre-Harappan writing had been anticipated by Jha and Rajaram, which allowed
Rajaram to decipher the writing almost immediately.

        In addition to being the oldest writing, the example shows that Rigvedic
concepts already existed by 3500 BC. (The idea that the Vedic people were
'Aryan invaders' who came to India c. 1500 BC is no longer accepted by
scholars though it finds mention in some books.) Since Vedic India has shown
the oldest writing in the world, it is reasonable to suppose that the Vedic
Civilization is also the oldest civilization in the world. This should make
scholars reexamine the theory of Mesopotamia as the Cradle of Civilization.
If there was such a Cradle, more likely, it was Vedic India.




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