Source: www.thehindu.com
NEW DELHI, INDIA, April 15, 2010: Dr. Asko Parpola, an Indologist from Finland, is Professor Emeritus of Indology, Institute of World Cultures, University of Helsinki, and one of the leading authorities on the Indus Civilization and its script. He has concluded that the script — which is yet to be deciphered — encodes a Dravidian language. As a Sanskritist, his fields of specialization include the Sama Veda and Vedic rituals. Here are some of his thoughts:
“There is some criticism that the Indus script is not a writing system. I do not agree [with that]. All those features of the Indus script which have been mentioned as proof for its not being a writing system, characterize also the Egyptian hieroglyphic script during its first 600 years of existence. For detailed counterarguments, see my papers at the website www.harappa.com .”
“What I mean by the Dravidian solution of the Indus enigma is obtaining certainty that the language underlying the Indus script in South Asia belongs to the Dravidian language family. For this, it is not necessary to decipher the entire script (which in any case is impossible with the present materials) but we need a sufficient number of tightly cross-checked sign interpretations.”
“It is 16 years since I published ‘Deciphering the Indus Script.’ Since then some progress has been made, and I shall talk about it at the Classical Tamil Conference in June. Progress is very difficult, however, also because our knowledge of Proto-Dravidian vocabulary and especially phraseology is so incomplete. This knowledge is critical for reliable readings, and here Old Tamil offers precious but unfortunately limited material.”