Harappa tiny steatite tablets with Indus script are works in process documentation from smelter, smithy

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A Bronze Age revolution necessitated organization of metalwork in workshops with specific functional assignments.This is clearly seeni in the documentation of tiny steatite tablets of Harappa which indicate guild sub-organizations within smithy-forge workshops for 1. smelter work, 2.smithy or furnace work, 3. alloy (bronze) work. Such a functional organization also resulted in a writing system which could detail works in process at different stages of production in workshops before the supercargo consignments are readied, packed and sealed for shipment handed over to seafaring merchants or trade caravans.

This decipherment of 22 tiny steatite tablets discovered in Harappa 1991-1995 (HARP), demonstates how a sequence of hieroglyphs shown on such tablets is used as a hypertext, message string on a seal h1682. (Meadow, Richard H. and Jonathan Kenoyer, 1997, The ‘tinysteatite seals’ (incised steatitetablets) of Harappa: Some observations ontheir context and dating in: Taddei, Maurizio and Giuseppe de Marco, 2000, South Asian Archaeology, 1997, Rome, Istituto Italiano per l’Africa e l’Oriente.)

This is a string of hieroglyphs on 22 tiny steatite tablets of Harappa.

Rebus readings: kolmo 'three' rebus: kolami 'smithy' PLUS kuṭhi kaṇḍa kanka 'smelting furnace account (scribe), karNI, supercargo'. In short, String 1: 'smelter-smithy supercargo'. This hieorlgyph-string is entered on the seal which technically documents the shipment with product catalogues included in a shipment.

h1682A (color) The messages of two strings are r. to l.: String 1: The smelter-smithy supercargo (taken from the product descriptions on tiny steate tablets) PLUS String 2: smithy cast implements. “Of great interest in this regard is a unicorn seal (Fig. 4.1) that was found inside the perimeter wall in the approximate location marked…The last two signs of this seal are the same as those on one side of the 22 tablets (taking the three strokes as a single sign). These are preceded by three additional signs (reading left to right on the seal as opposed to on the tablets which we assume are meant to be read right to left because they were not meant to be uimpressed…) It is rare to find the same sign sequence on a seal and on tablets, and the situation is that much more compelling because the street deposits from which the seal comes contain the same ceramic corpus as the dump deposits from which the tablets come, suggesting that both were originally formed at about the same time.” (Meadow and Kenoyer, 1997, p.16)

This shows that tiny steatite tablets were documentation of work in process (say, from smelters, furnaces, circular platforms) which are brought into the storeroom (documentatin centre) to create a consolidated technical consignment note or metalwork catalogue on a seal. The supercargo is ready for despatch after the cargo is packed and the package sealed with the seal impression. For deciphered hieroglyphs of one-horned young bull PLUS standard device on the seal, see: http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2016/04/one-horned-young-bull-seal-standard.html

Three groups of tablets discovered at Harappa in 1997. 22 tablets were clustered in 3 groups to show styles of writing/incision indicating three distinct scribes at work. "Group of incised baked steatite tablets. A group of 16 three-sided incised baked steatite tablets, all with the same inscriptions, were uncovered in mid- to late Period 3B debris outside of the curtain wall. (See 146). These tablets may originally been enclosed in a perishable container such as a small bag of cloth or leather."

Harappa 1995-7: MoundE, HARP Trench 11: steatite seal and incised steatite tablets (After Fig. 4. Harappa 1995-1997: Mounds E and ET; Trench 11: steatite seal H96-2796/6874-01 and incised steatite tablets (22) with the same inscriptions). "The last 2 signs of this seal are the same as those on one side of the 22 tablets (taking three strokes as a single sign)...Each tablet is three-sided with the inscription on each side comprising a single more complex sign accompanied by three or four simple strokes." The tablets are "incised with script that was to be read directly from the tablet." (Note by J. Mark Kenoyer & Richard H. meadow on Inscribed objects from Harappa excavations: 1986-2007 in: Asko Parpola, BM ande and Petteri Koskikallio eds., 2010, CISI, Vol.3: New material, untraced objects, and collections outside India and Pakistan, Part 1: Mohenjo-daro and Harappa, Helsinki, Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia, (pp.xliv to lviii), p. xliv http://www.harappa.com/indus/Kenoyer-Meadow-2010-HARP.pdf)

Indus script tablets are workshop product account tokens. Seals are technical aggregation of supercargo for shipment (caravan).

Mirror: https://www.academia.edu/11290484/Indus_script_tablets_are_workshop_product_account_tokens._Seals_are_technical_aggregation_of_supercargo_for_shipment_caravan_

Tablets are account tokens of products produced in workshops. Seals consolidate or aggregate the information provided on tablets to prepare technical details for bills of lading.

The Indus Script inscriptions on tiny tablets are linked to an identical segment of inscription on a Harappa seal (h1682A) with hieroglyphs of young bull + lathe. See the next section on "The discovery thanks to HARP (Kenoyer and Meadow)".

The tablets with inscriptions denote consignments coming out of furnace, smelter or smithy. These inscriptions are aggregated to signify as inscriptions on a seal (particularly the seals with hieroglyphs of young bull + lathe), an aggregation of supercargo metalwork, lapidary work (tools, implements, etc.) to be assigned to a sea-faring Meluhha merchant caravan.

This process of 'collection of consignments' to constitute 'supercargo' shipment. This completes the technical specifications in a bill of lading process coming out of the fortification metalcaster, turner workshop.

Thus, the purport of tablets and seals is explained as an accounting process to provide information to prepare a bill of lading, handed over to the caravan leader by sealing the packages with the seal inscription as a technical recor of contents of the packages or shipment.

The discovery thanks to HARP (Kenoyer and Meadow)

A remarkable accounting process was indicated by the archaeologists Kenoyer and Meadow who unearthed a set of 22+6 tablets with identical inscriptions and a seal recording a part of this inscription. This seal (h1682A) also had hieroglyphs of young bull + lathe, together with five 'signs' composed of two signs from the tablets and three other signs. The first two signs on the seal (read from right) are taken from the inscriptions on one side of the 22+6 tablets (which had three sides with three inscriptions).

h1682A (color)

h1682A (Black and white)

Three additionals signs on Seal h1682A, in addition to the two signs taken from 22+6 tiny tablets are read rebus:

खांडा [khāṇḍā] A division of a field. (Marathi) खंडणें (p. 192) [ khaṇḍaṇēṃ ] v c (खंडन S) To break; to reduce into parts (Marathi) Rebus: khāṇḍā ‘metal tools, pots and pans’ (Marathi)

Ku. lokhaṛ ʻiron tools ʼ; H. lokhaṇḍ m. ʻ iron tools, pots and pans ʼ; G. lokhãḍ n. ʻtools, iron, ironwareʼ; M. lokhãḍ n. ʻ iron ʼ(CDIAL 11171).

dula 'two' Rebus: dul 'cast metal'. Thus, the two divisions of field denoted by two rectangles with divisions are read together: dul khāṇḍā ‘castings, metal tools, pots and pans’

kolmo 'three' Rebus: kolami 'smithy'.

The first two signs read from right are explained as follows, since they are taken from the inscriptions on one side of 22+6 tiny tablets:kuṭhi kaṇḍa kanka 'smelting furnace account (scribe), supercargo' PLUS kolami 'smithy'

Together, the five signs on the seal read: dul khāṇḍā kolami 'castings, metal tools, pots and pans -- smithy' PLUS kuṭhi kaṇḍa kanka kolami 'smelting furnace account (scribe) supercargo -- smithy'.

Hieroglyphs: lathe PLUS young bull rebus: 'caravan' PLUS turner: sãghāṛɔ 'lathe', Rebus: sanghāta 'caravan'खोंड [ khōṇḍa ] m A young bull, a bullcalf. (Marathi) గోద [ gōda ] gōda. [Tel.] n. An ox. A beast. kine, cattle.(Telugu) koḍiyum (G.) rebus: koḍ ‘workshop’ (G.) B. kõdā ‘to turn in a lathe’; Or. kū̆nda ‘lathe’, kũdibā, kū̃d ‘to turn’ (→ Drav. Kur. kū̃d ‘lathe’) (CDIAL 3295)

Hieroglyph: sãgaḍ, 'lathe' (Meluhha) Rebus 1: sãgaṛh , 'fortification' (Meluhha). Rebus 2:sanghAta 'adamantine glue'. Rebus 3: sangāṭh संगाठ् 'assembly, collection'. Rebus 4: sãgaḍa 'double-canoe, catamaran'.

Hieroglyph: one-horned young bull: खोंड (p. 216) [ khōṇḍa ] m A young bull, a bullcalf. Rebus: कोंद kōnda ‘engraver, lapidary setting or infixing gems’ (Marathi)

Hieroglyph: one-horned young bull: खोंड (p. 216) [ khōṇḍa ] m A young bull, a bullcalf.

Rebus: कोंद kōnda ‘engraver, lapidary setting or infixing gems’ (Marathi) खोदगिरी [ khōdagirī ] f Sculpture, carving, engraving.

ko_d.iya, ko_d.e = young bull; ko_d.elu = plump young bull; ko_d.e = a. male as in: ko_d.e du_d.a = bull calf; young, youthful (Te.lex.)

Hieroglyph: ko_t.u = horns (Ta.) ko_r (obl. ko_t-, pl. ko_hk) horn of cattle or wild animals (Go.); ko_r (pl. ko_hk), ko_r.u (pl. ko_hku) horn (Go.); kogoo a horn (Go.); ko_ju (pl. ko_ska) horn, antler (Kui)(DEDR 2200). Homonyms: kohk (Go.), gopka_ = branches (Kui), kob = branch (Ko.) gorka, gohka spear (Go.) gorka (Go)(DEDR 2126).

खोंड (p. 216) [ khōṇḍa ] m A young bull, a bullcalf. 2

kot.iyum = a wooden circle put round the neck of an animal; kot. = neck (G.lex.) [cf. the orthography of rings on the neck of one-horned young bull].खोंड (p. 216) [ khōṇḍa ]A variety of जोंधळा.खोंडरूं (p. 216) [ khōṇḍarūṃ ] n A contemptuous form of खोंडा in the sense of कांबळा-cowl.खोंडा (p. 216) [ khōṇḍā ] m A कांबळा of which one end is formed into a cowl or hood. 2 fig. A hollow amidst hills; a deep or a dark and retiring spot; a dell. 3 (also खोंडी & खोंडें) A variety of जोंधळा.खोंडी (p. 216) [ khōṇḍī ] f An outspread shovelform sack (as formed temporarily out of a कांबळा, to hold or fend off grain, chaff &c.)

kod. = place where artisans work (G.lex.) kod. = a cow-pen; a cattlepen; a byre (G.lex.) gor.a = a cow-shed; a cattleshed; gor.a orak = byre (Santali.lex.) कोंड (p. 180) [ kōṇḍa ] A circular hedge or field-fence. 2 A circle described around a person under adjuration. 3 The circle at marbles. 4 A circular hamlet; a division of a मौजा or village, composed generally of the huts of one caste.कोंडडाव (p. 180) [ kōṇḍaḍāva ] m Ring taw; that form of marble-playing in which lines are drawn and divisions made:--as disting. from अगळडाव The play with holes.कोंडवाड (p. 180) [ kōṇḍavāḍa ] n f C (कोंडणें & वाडा) A pen or fold for cattle.कोंडाळें (p. 180) [ kōṇḍāḷēṃ ] n (कुंडली S) A ring or circularly inclosed space. 2 fig. A circle made by persons sitting round.

The Tiny tablets of Harappa

kuṭi ‘water carrier’ (Te.) Rebus: kuṭhi ‘smelter furnace’ (Santali) kuṛī f. ‘fireplace’ (H.); krvṛI f. ‘granary (WPah.); kuṛī, kuṛo house, building’(Ku.)(CDIAL 3232) kuṭi ‘hut made of boughs’ (Skt.) guḍi temple (Telugu)

kaṇḍa kanka 'rim of jar' (Santali); rebus: furnace scribe. kaṇḍa kanka may be a dimunitive form of *kan-khār ‘copper smith’ comparable to the cognate gloss: kaṉṉār ‘coppersmiths, blacksmiths’ (Tamil) If so, kaṇḍa kan-khār connotes: ‘copper-smith furnace.’ kaṇḍa ‘fire-altar (Santali); kan ‘copper’ (Ta.) Rebus: khanda ‘a trench used as a fireplace when cooking has to be done for a large number of people’ (Santali)

kárṇaka m. ʻ projection on the side of a vessel, handle ʼ ŚBr. [kárṇa -- ]Pa. kaṇṇaka -- ʻ having ears or corners ʼ; Wg. kaṇə ʻ ear -- ring ʼ NTS xvii 266; S. kano m. ʻ rim, border ʼ; P. kannā m. ʻ obtuse angle of a kite ʼ (→ H. kannā m. ʻ edge, rim, handle ʼ); N. kānu ʻ end of a rope for supporting a burden ʼ; B. kāṇā ʻ brim of a cup ʼ, G. kānɔ m.; M. kānā m. ʻ touch -- hole of a gun ʼ.(CDIAL 2831).

kanka ‘Rim of jar’ (Santali); karṇaka rim of jar’(Skt.) Rebus: karṇaka ‘scribe’ (Te.); gaṇaka id. (Skt.) (Santali) kāraṇika m. ʻ teacher ʼ MBh., ʻ judge ʼ Pañcat. [kā- raṇa -- ] Pa. usu -- kāraṇika -- m. ʻ arrow -- maker ʼ; Pk. kāraṇiya -- m. ʻ teacher of Nyāya ʼ; S. kāriṇī m. ʻ guardian, heir ʼ; N. kārani ʻ abettor in crime ʼ; M. kārṇī m. ʻ prime minister, supercargo of a ship ʼ, kul -- karṇī m. ʻ village accountant ʼ.(CDIAL 3058). karṇadhāra m. ʻ helmsman ʼ Suśr. [kárṇa -- , dhāra -- 1]

Pa. kaṇṇadhāra -- m. ʻ helmsman ʼ; Pk. kaṇṇahāra -- m. ʻ helmsman, sailor ʼ; H. kanahār m. ʻ helmsman, fisherman ʼ.(CDIAL 2836).

Thus, the 'rim-of-jar' glyph connotes: furnace account (scribe), supercargo.

Together with the glyph showing 'water-carrier', the ligatured glyphs of 'water-carrier' + 'rim-of-jar' can be read as: kuṭhi kaṇḍa kanka 'smelting furnace account (scribe), supercargo'.

Hieroglyph: kolom 'three' Rebus: kolami 'smithy'

Pk. kaṇṇiā -- f. ʻ corner, pericarp of lotus ʼ; Paš. kanīˊ ʻ corner ʼ(CDIAL 2849) kana, kanac 'corner' Rebus: kancu 'bronze, bellmetal' (Telugu) kaṁsá1 m. ʻ metal cup ʼ AV., m.n. ʻ bell -- metal ʼ Pat. as in S., but would in Pa. Pk. and most NIA. lggs. collide with kāˊṁsya -- to which L. P. testify and under which the remaining forms for the metal are listed. 2. *kaṁsikā -- .1. Pa. kaṁsa -- m. ʻ bronze dish ʼ; S. kañjho m. ʻ bellmetal ʼ; A. kã̄h ʻ gong ʼ; Or. kãsā ʻ big pot of bell -- metal ʼ; OMarw. kāso (= kã̄ -- ?) m. ʻ bell -- metal tray for food, food ʼ; G. kã̄sā m. pl. ʻ cymbals ʼ; -- perh. Woṭ. kasṓṭ m. ʻ metal pot ʼ Buddruss Woṭ 109.

gaṇḍaka m. ʻ a coin worth four cowries ʼ lex., ʻ method of counting by fours ʼ W. [← Mu. Przyluski RoczOrj iv 234]S. g̠aṇḍho m. ʻ four in counting ʼ; P. gaṇḍā m. ʻ four cowries ʼ; B. Or. H. gaṇḍā m. ʻa group of four, four cowries ʼ; M. gaṇḍā m. ʻ aggregate of four cowries or pice ʼ.With *du -- 2: OP. dugāṇā m. ʻ coin worth eight cowries ʼ.(CDIAL 4001). Rebus: kaṇḍa ‘fire-altar (Santali)

baṭa = wide-mouthed pot Rebus: bhaṭ 'kiln, furnace' (Hindi.Maithili) bhráṣṭra n. ʻ frying pan, gridiron ʼ MaitrS. [√bhrajj]Pk. bhaṭṭha -- m.n. ʻ gridiron ʼ; K. büṭhü f. ʻ level surface by kitchen fireplace on which vessels are put when taken off fire ʼ; S. baṭhu m. ʻ large pot in which grain is parched, large cooking fire ʼ, baṭhī f. ʻ distilling furnace ʼ; L. bhaṭṭh m. ʻ grain -- parcher's oven ʼ, bhaṭṭhī f. ʻ kiln, distillery ʼ, awāṇ. bhaṭh; P. bhaṭṭh m., °ṭhī f. ʻ furnace ʼ, bhaṭṭhā m. ʻ kiln ʼ; N. bhāṭi ʻ oven or vessel in which clothes are steamed for washing ʼ; A. bhaṭā ʻ brick -- or lime -- kiln ʼ; B. bhāṭi ʻ kiln ʼ; Or. bhāṭi ʻ brick -- kiln, distilling pot ʼ; Mth. bhaṭhī, bhaṭṭī ʻ brick -- kiln, furnace, still ʼ; Aw.lakh. bhāṭhā ʻ kiln ʼ; H. bhaṭṭhā m. ʻ kiln ʼ,bhaṭ f. ʻ kiln, oven, fireplace ʼ; M. bhaṭṭā m. ʻ pot of fire ʼ, bhaṭṭī f. ʻ forge ʼ.S.kcch. bhaṭṭhī keṇī ʻ distil (spirits) ʼ.(CDIAL 9656).

The identical inscriptions on three sides of the following tablets: Side 1. kuṭhi kaṇḍa kanka 'smelting furnace account (scribe), supercargo' PLUS kolami 'smithy'. Side 2. bhaṭ 'kiln, furnace' PLUS kanda 'fire-altar' Side 3. kanac 'bronze, mellmetal' PLUS kolami 'smithy'.

The metalwork products are coming out of 'smithy' or 'furnace'. These products are aggregated as consignments which together constitute the supercargo. The consignments so received through accounting on tablets are consolidated into an inscription on a seal to constitute the supercargo, that is, cargo meant to be carried on a caravan on boat, by seafaring merchants. This intent is indicated by the 'lathe PLUS portable furnace' read rebus as: sãghāṛɔ 'lathe' Rebus: sangāṭa 'a collection of implement, tools, materials, apparatus, furniture OR collectively, metalwork, lapidary work'. That the metalwork or lapidary work is an aggregation of the work in a workshop by a turner, brassworker, engraver, joiner is indicated by the pictorial motif: young bull: godhɔ m. ʻ bull ʼ, °dhũ n. ʻ young bull ʼ(Gujarati)(CDIAL 4315) खोंड [ khōṇḍa ] m A young bull, a bullcalf. (Marathi) గోద [ gōda ] gōda. [Tel.] n. An ox. A beast. kine, cattle.(Telugu) koḍiyum (G.) rebus: koḍ ‘workshop’ (G.) B. kõdā ‘to turn in a lathe’; Or. kū̆nda ‘lathe’, kũdibā, kū̃d ‘to turn’ (→ Drav. Kur. kū̃d ‘lathe’) (CDIAL 3295). The one horn ligatured to the young bull is a signifier (also a phonetic determinant) that the turner is at work in a workshop: kod. 'one horn'; rebus: kod. 'artisan's workshop' (Kuwi)

Hieroglyph: sãghāṛɔ m. ʻlathe ʼ(Gujarati); M. sãgaḍ f. ʻpart of a turner's apparatusʼ; sã̄gāḍī f. ʻlatheʼ (Tulu) Rebus: sangāṭh संगाठ् । सामग्री m. (sg. dat. sangāṭas संगाटस्), a collection (of implements, tools, materials, for any object), apparatus, furniture, a collection of the things wanted on a journey, luggage, and so on. --karun -- करुन् । सामग्रीसंग्रहः m.inf. to collect the ab. (L.V. 17). (Kashmiri) saṁghaṭayati ʻ strikes (a musical instrument) ʼ R., ʻ joins together ʼ Kathās. [√ghaṭ] Pa. saṅghaṭita -- ʻ pegged together ʼ; Pk. saṁghaḍia<-> ʻ joined ʼ, caus. saṁghaḍāvēi; M. sã̄gaḍṇẽ ʻ to link together ʼ. (CDIAL 12855).saṁghātá m. ʻ close union, mass ʼ TS., ʻ closing (a door) ʼ VS., ʻ dashing together ʼ MBh. [Cf. saṁhata<-> with similar range of meanings. -- ghāta -- ]Pa. saṅghāta -- m. ʻ killing, knocking together ʼ; Pk. saṁghāya -- m. ʻ closeness, collection ʼ(CDIAL 12862).

"In the last four editions of South Asian Archaeology, we have given accounts of the different seasons of excavation at Harappa from 1989 to 1995 (4th season: Dales & Kenoyer 1992; 5th season: Kenoyer 1993; 6th season: Mcadow & Kenoyer 1994; 7th and 8th seasons: Meadow & Kenoyer 1997; see also Mcadow, ed. 1991: 1st through 5th seasons). In this edition we continue the tradition for the 9th and 10th seasons but focus on two specific areas of the site - the north end of Mound AB test trenched in 1996 (Kenoyer & Meadow, this volume) and the eastern margin of Mound E excavated since the 1993 season (this paper). Only partially covered in these reports is a particularly significant aspect ofthe work ofthe Harappa Archaeological Research Project (HARP) carried out during the 9th and 10th seasons. This involves an effort to re-investigate previously excavated parts of Harappa (Vats 1940; Wheeler 1947)"

Life and death of Harappan seals and tablets. An additional six copies of these tablets, again all with the same inscriptions, were found elsewhere in the debris outside of perimeter wall [250] including two near the group of 16 and two in debris between the perimeter and curtain walls. Here all 22 tablets are displayed together with a unicorn intaglio seal from the Period 3B street inside the perimeter wall, which has two of the same signs as those found on the tablets. (See also145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150). Quoting from R.H. Meadow and J.M. Kenoyer's article in South Asian Archaeology 1997 (Rome, 2001): "It is tempting to think that the evident loss of utility and subsequent discard of the tablets is related to the “death” of the seal. Seals are almost always found in trash or street deposits (and never yet in a grave) indicating that they were either lost or intentionally discarded, the latter seeming the more likely in most instances. The end of the utility of a seal must relate to some life event of its owner, whether change of status, or death, or the passing of an amount of time during which the seal was considered current. A related consideration is that apparently neither seals nor tablets could be used by just anyone or for any length of time because otherwise they would not have fallen out of circulation. Thus the use of seals -- and of tablets -- was possible only if they were known to be current. Once they were no longer current, they were discarded. This would help explain why a group of 16 (or 18) tablets with the same inscriptions, kept together perhaps in a cloth or leather pouch, could have been deposited with other trash outside of the perimeter wall of Mound E."

Period 3B debris related to: c. 2450 BCE - c. 2200 BCE.

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2011/12/indus-valley-mystery-and-use-of-tablets.html

Kenoyer2000_The Tiny Steatite Seals of Harappa.pdf (Embedded for ready reference.)

Source: Meadow, Richard H & Jonathan Mark Kenoyer, 2000, 'The ''tiny steatite seals"" (Incised steatite tablets) of Harappa, some observations on their context and dating, in: Maurizio Tadei & Giuseppe de Marco, eds., 2000, South Asian Archaeology, 1997, Rome, Istituto Italiano per l'africa e l'oriente, vol. I, pp. 1-20. (embedded) https://www.scribd.com/doc/257745583/Meadow-Richard-H-Jonathan-Mark-Kenoyer-2000-The-tiny-steatite-seals-Incised-steatite-tablets-of-Harappa-some-observations-on-their-contex

See: http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2013/05/functions-served-by-terracotta-cakes-of.html

Examples of 22 duplicates steatite triangular tablets h-2218 to h-2239

h2219A First side of three-sided tablet

h2219B Second side of three-sided tablet

h2219C Third side of three-sided tablet

The two glyphs which appear on the h2219A example also appear on a seal. "In a street deposit of similar age just inside the wall, a seal was found with two of the same characters as seen on one side of the tablets."

While the 22 tablets were meant to help in 'tallying' the products produced by the artisans, the seal was meant to be used in preparing a bill of lading for the products to be couriered through containers.

h1682A. The seal which contained the two glyphs used on the 'tally' three-sided tablets. The seal showed a one-horned heifer + standard device and two segments of inscriptions: one segment showing the two glyphs shown on one side of the 'tally' tablet; the other segment showing glyphs of a pair of 'rectangle with divisions' + 'three long linear strokes'.

Decoding a pair of glyphs, a pair of 'rectangle with divisions': khaṇḍ ‘field, division’ (Skt.); Rebus: kaṇḍ ‘furnace’ (Skt.) Thus, reduplicated glyph connotes dul kaṇḍ ‘casting furnace’. Vikalpa: khonḍu ‘divided into parts’ (Kashmiri)khonḍu । खण्डितः, विकलावयवः adj. (f. khünḍü 1, sg. dat. khanjĕ 1 खंज्य), broken, divided into parts; hence, deprived of a part or limb or member, maimed, mutilated; unevenly formed, irregularly angled. (Kashmiri) A pair of such glyphs divided into parts, may thus be decoded as: dul kaṇḍ khonḍu khonḍ ‘casting furnace workshop’. Vikalpa 1: jaṇḍ khaṇḍ = ivory (Jat.ki) khaṇḍi_ = ivory in rough (Jat.ki_); gaṭī = piece of elephant's tusk (S.) Vikalpa 2: Pa.kandi (pl. -l) necklace, beads. Ga. (P.) kandi (pl. -l) bead, (pl.) necklace; (S.2)kandiṭ bead (DEDR 1215). kandil, kandīl = a globe of glass, a lantern (Ka.lex.) The pair of glyphs 'rectangle with divisions' may thus also connote 'cast beads'. If so, the seal text inscription connotes two sets of products assembled for despatched through a courier: furnace metal products + furnace bead products.

Both sets of products are from the sanga turner's workshop.

Decoding the glyph, 'three long linear strokes': ‘three’; rebus: ‘smithy’ (Santali)

Glyph of standard device in front of the one-horned heifer: sā~gāḍī lathe (Tu.)(CDIAL 12859). sāṅgaḍa That member of a turner's apparatus by which the piece to be turned is confined and steadied. सांगडीस धरणें To take into linkedness or close connection with, lit. fig. (Marathi) सांगाडी [ sāṅgāḍī ] f The machine within which a turner confines and steadies the piece he has to turn. (Marathi)सगडी [ sagaḍī ] f (Commonly शेगडी) A pan of live coals or embers. (Marathi) san:ghāḍo, saghaḍī (G.) = firepan; saghaḍī, śaghaḍi = a pot for holding fire (G.)[culā sagaḍī portable hearth (G.)]

Thus, the entire set of glyphs on the h1682A seal [denoting the heifer + standard device] can be decoded: koḍiyum 'heifer'; [ kōḍiya ] kōḍe, kōḍiya. [Tel.] n. A bullcalf. . k* దూడA young bull. Plumpness, prime. తరుణము. జోడుకోడయలు a pair of bullocks. kōḍe adj. Young. kōḍe-kāḍu. n. A young man.పడుచువాడు. [ kārukōḍe ] kāru-kōḍe. [Tel.] n. A bull in its prime. खोंड [ khōṇḍa ] m A young bull, a bullcalf. (Marathi) గోద [ gōda ] gōda. [Tel.] n. An ox. A beast. kine, cattle.(Telugu) koḍiyum (G.) rebus: koḍ ‘workshop’ (G.) B. kõdā ‘to turn in a lathe’; Or. kū̆nda ‘lathe’, kũdibā, kū̃d ‘to turn’ (→ Drav. Kur. kū̃d ‘lathe’) (CDIAL 3295)

The two glyphs (heifer + lathe) together thus refer to a turner's workshop with a portable hearth. The two sets of the text of the inscription refer to the products assembled together (perhaps on the circular working platforms) by this workshop of the guild. The sets of products denoted by the two sets of glyphic sequences can be explained rebus:

The inscription on seal h1682A can be explained in the context of the tablets used as tally tokens to account for the despatch of the assembled products (delivered by the guild artisans) using the impression of the seal as a bill of lading.

The use of tablets in conjunction with the seal has been elaborated. Once the accounting is completed using the seal and the seal impression on the package to be couriered, the tablets used as tallying instruments by the guild helper of merchant have served their purpose and can be disposed of in the debris.

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2011/12/indus-valley-mystery-and-use-of-tablets.html

Examples of 31 duplicates, double-sided terracotta tablets

h252A Inscription on one side of the 2-sided tablet (in bas relief). The other side shows a one-horned young bull (as in h254B).

The first hieroglyph from the right may be an orthographic variant of the 'pillar of fire' implanted in a smelter.

Relief with Ekamukha linga. Mathura. 1st cent. CE (Fig. 6.2). This is the most emphatic representation of linga as a pillar of fire. The pillar is embedded within a brick-kiln with an angular roof and is ligatured to a tree. Hieroglyph: kuṭi 'tree' rebus: kuṭhi 'smelter'.

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2015/02/textual-evidence-that-rudra-siva-is.html

kolom 'sprout' Rebus: kolami 'smithy'. sal 'splinter' Rebus: sal 'workshop'

ayo ‘fish’ (Munda) Rebus: ayas ‘metal (alloy)’(Sanskrit). PLUS Hieroglyph: పొల [ pola ] or పొలసు pola. పొలుసు [ polusu ][Telugu] A scale of a fish. చేపమీది పొలుసు. Tu. poḍasů scales of fish. Te. pola, polasu, polusu id. Kui plōkosi id. (DEDR 4480). పొలుపు [ polupu ] or పొల్పు polupu. [Telugu] Firmness,స్థైర్యము. "పొలుపుమీరిన నెలవంకిబొమలు జూచి, రమణదళుకొత్తు బింబాధరంబుజూచి." Rukmang. i. 158 Rebus: pola, ‘magnetite’ (Munda)

kāṇḍa 'arrow' Rebus: khāṇḍā 'metalware'

h254B. Two-sided tablet. The other side shows an inscription as in h252A.

खोंड [ khōṇḍa ] m A young bull, a bullcalf. (Marathi) గోద [ gōda ] gōda. [Tel.] n. An ox. A beast. kine, cattle.(Telugu) koḍiyum (G.) rebus: koḍ ‘workshop’ (G.) B. kõdā ‘to turn in a lathe’; Or. kū̆nda ‘lathe’, kũdibā, kū̃d ‘to turn’ (→ Drav. Kur. kū̃d ‘lathe’) (CDIAL 3295)

Harppa. Two sides of a fish-shaped, incised tablet with Indus writing. Hundreds of inscribed texts on tablets are repetitions; it is, therefore, unlikely that hundreds of such inscribed tablets just contained the same ‘names’ composed of just five ‘alphabets’ or ‘syllables’, even after the direction of writing is firmed up as from right to left.

Side 1: Hieroglyph: ayo 'fish' Rebus: ayas 'metal' kan 'eye' Rebus: kan 'copper'

Hieroglyph: kāṇḍa 'arrow' Rebus: khāṇḍā 'metalware'

Side 2: Hieroglyph: kolom 'three' Rebus: kolami 'smithy'

baṭa = wide-mouthed pot Rebus: bhaṭ 'kiln, furnace' (Hindi.Maithili)

bhráṣṭra n. ʻ frying pan, gridiron ʼ MaitrS. [√bhrajj]Pk. bhaṭṭha -- m.n. ʻ gridiron ʼ; K. büṭhü f. ʻ level surface by kitchen fireplace on which vessels are put when taken off fire ʼ; S. baṭhu m. ʻ large pot in which grain is parched, large cooking fire ʼ, baṭhī f. ʻ distilling furnace ʼ; L. bhaṭṭh m. ʻ grain -- parcher's oven ʼ, bhaṭṭhī f. ʻ kiln, distillery ʼ, awāṇ. bhaṭh; P. bhaṭṭh m., °ṭhī f. ʻ furnace ʼ, bhaṭṭhā m. ʻ kiln ʼ; N. bhāṭi ʻ oven or vessel in which clothes are steamed for washing ʼ; A. bhaṭā ʻ brick -- or lime -- kiln ʼ; B. bhāṭi ʻ kiln ʼ; Or. bhāṭi ʻ brick -- kiln, distilling pot ʼ; Mth. bhaṭhī, bhaṭṭī ʻ brick -- kiln, furnace, still ʼ; Aw.lakh. bhāṭhā ʻ kiln ʼ; H. bhaṭṭhā m. ʻ kiln ʼ,bhaṭ f. ʻ kiln, oven, fireplace ʼ; M. bhaṭṭā m. ʻ pot of fire ʼ, bhaṭṭī f. ʻ forge ʼ.S.kcch. bhaṭṭhī keṇī ʻ distil (spirits) ʼ.(CDIAL 9656).

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2015/03/indus-script-tablets-are-workshop.html

S. Kalyanaraman
Sarasvati Research Center
May 1, 2016

https://www.scribd.com/doc/311112457/The-tinysteatite-seals-incised-steatite-tablets-of-Harappa-Some-observations-ontheir-context-and-dating-Meadow-Richard-H-and-Jonathan-Kenoyer

The ‘tinysteatite seals’ (incised steatite tablets) of Harappa: Some observations ontheir context and datin...

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235 Harappa Indus Script tablets deciphered: भरत 'alloy of pewter, copper, tin' ready as supercargo & for turners, from 1. smithy, 2. cast metal, 3. implements furnaces (workshops)

May 2, 2016, 4:03 am

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Mirror: http://tinyurl.com/h45ex2j

Thanks to Nisha Yadav for the Venn diagram for 235 Harappa tablets.

At the outset, it should be noted that these Indus Script expressions are unique to Harappa where tablets (inclduing sealings as tablets) were used to record works in process for subsequent compilation of shipment info. of metalwork catalogues on seals. Decipherment of these expressions yields three types of furnaces: 1. smithy, 2. cast metal, 3. implements. The outputs from the furnaces are meant for 1. supercargo (consignments to be shipped by seafaring merchants, helmsmen) and 2. for further work by kharādī turners.

Yadav, Nisha, 2013, Sensitivity of Indus Script to type of object, SCRIPTA, Vol. 5 (Sept. 2013), pp. 67-103

khareḍo = a currycomb (G.) Rebus: kharādī ' turner' (G.) karNika, kanka 'rim of jar' rebus: kaṇḍa kanka 'smelting furnace account (scribe), karNI, supercargo' baraDo 'spine' Rebus: भरत 'alloy of pewter, copper, tin'.(Frequency of occurrence 41) Note: Frenquency is in reference to Mahadevan corpus. The occurrences will be more if HARP discoveries are reckoned. The string of three hieroglyphs signifies भरत 'alloy of pewter, copper, tin'.ready as supercargo (for seafaring merchants) and for turners in smithy.

baTa 'rimless pot' rebus: baTa 'iron' bhaTa 'furnace' PLUS dula 'two' rebus: dul 'cast metal' Thus, cast metal furnace (Frequency of occurrence: 74)

baTa 'rimless pot' rebus: baTa 'iron' bhaTa 'furnace' PLUS kolmo 'three' rebus: kolami 'smithy'. Thus smithy furnace (Frequency of occurrence: 111)

baTa 'rimless pot' rebus: baTa 'iron' bhaTa 'furnace' PLUS gaNDa 'four' rebus: khaNDa 'implements'. Thus implements furnace (Frequency of occurrence: 50)

The Venn diagram can be explained in the context of metalwork at Harappa, a site which has reported tiny steatite inscribed tablets and also almost all 'seal impressions' used as tablets in the Indus Script Corpora. भरत 'alloy of pewter, copper, tin'.ready as supercargo (for seafaring merchants) and for turners in smithy is sourced from three workspots: 1. smithy furnace; 2. cast metal furnace; 3. implements furnace.

Faience tablet (H2001-5082/2920-02) made from two colors of faience was found eroding from the Trench 54 South workshop area. Identical tablets made from two colors of faience were recovered in Area J, at the south end of Mound AB, in the excavations of Vats during the 1930s. gaNDa 'four' rebus: khaNDa 'implements' baTa 'rimless pot' rebus: bhaTa 'furnace' baraḍo = spine; backbone (Tulu) Rebus: baran, bharat ‘mixed alloys’ (5 copper, 4 zinc and 1 tin) (Punjabi) ayo 'fish' rebus: aya 'iron' ayas 'metal'.

ayo 'fish' rebus: aya 'iron' ayas 'metal' karNika, kanka 'rim of jar' rebus: kaṇḍa kanka 'smelting furnace account (scribe), karNI, supercargo' baraDo 'spine' Rebus: भरत 'alloy of pewter, copper, tin'. Thus, metal alloy of copper, pewter, tin, ready as supercargo-- from implement furnace.

Harappa seals5 cm x 5 cm From r. khaNDa 'arrow' rebus: khaNDa 'implements' kolmo 'three' rebus: kolami 'smithy, forge' muka 'ladle' (Tamil)(DEDR 4887) Rebus: mū̃h 'ingot' (Santali).PLUS baTa 'rimless pot' rebus: bhaTa 'furnace'. Thus implements ingots (from) smithy) furnace. ayo 'fish' rebus: ayas 'metal alloy' PLUS khambhaṛā ʻfinʼ (kammaTa 'coiner,mint' PLUS ayo 'fish' rebus: aya 'iron' ayas 'metal' Thus alloy metal from metal mint' dula 'two' rebus: dul 'cast metal'. koDi 'flag' rebus: koD 'workshop' PLUS baTa 'quail' rebus: bhaTa 'furnace'. The three string of hieroglyphs signify: implements, ingots (from) smithy; metal castings, mint metal; furnace workshop.

Pict-63 khara 'crocodile' rebus: khara 'blacksmith'

h241A

h241B

4663 Pict-69: Tortoise. kamaDha 'turtle' rebus: kammaTa 'mint, coiner' meD ''body' rebus: meD iron' कर्णक 'spread legs' rebus: karNI 'helmsman, supercargo' Stick or staff ma signify kōla (Old Marathi) rebus: kola- boat, raft (Prakritam): Ta. kōl stick, staff, branch, arrow. Ma. kōl staff, rod, stick, arrow. Ko. ko·l stick, story of funeral car. To. kw&idieresisside;s̱ stick. Ka. kōl, kōlustick, staff, arrow. Koḍ. ko·lï stick. Tu. kōlů, kōlu stick, staff. Te. kōlaid., arrow; long, oblong; kōlana elongatedness, elongation; kōlani elongated. Kol. (SR.) kolā, (Kin.) kōla stick. Nk. (Ch.) kōl pestle. Pa. kōl shaft of arrow. Go. (A.) kōla id.; kōlā (Tr.) a thin twig or stick, esp. for kindling a fire, (W. Ph.) stick, rod, a blade of grass, straw; (G. Mu. Ma. Ko.) kōla handle of plough, sickle, knife, etc. (Voc. 988); (ASu.) kōlā stick, arrow, slate-pencil; (LuS.) kola the handle of an implement. Konḍa kōl big wooden pestle.Pe. kōl pestle. Manḍ. kūl id. Kui kōḍu (pl. kōṭka) id. Kuwi (F.) kōlū (pl. kōlka), (S. Su.) kōlu (pl. kōlka) id. Cf. 2240 Ta. kōlam (Tu. Te. Go.). / Cf. OMar. (Master) kōla stick.(DEDR 2237) Rebus 1 : Ta. kōl, kōlam 2238 Ta. kōl, kōlam raft, float. Ma. kōlam raft. Ka. kōl raft, float. Te. (B.) kōlamu id. / Cf. Skt., BHS kola- boat, raft, Pali kulla- id. (CDIAL 2238) Rebus 2: kolhe 'smelter' kol 'working in iron' kolle 'blacksmith'.

खााडा [ kāṇḍā ] m A jag, notch, or indentation (as upon the edge of a weapon) rebus: khaNDa 'implements'.

Pict-90 Text 4305

4305 Pict-90: Standing person with horns and bovine features holding a staff or mace on his shoulder. bhaTa 'warrior' Rebus: bhaTa 'furnace' sal 'splinter' rebus: sal 'workshop' PLUS karNika, kanka 'rim of jar' rebus: kaṇḍa kanka 'smelting furnace account (scribe), karNI, supercargo' Thus, the three-sided Harappa tablet signifies supercargo from furnace workshop.

The embedded pdf document is a gallery of sealings (tablets) and tiny steatite tablets of Harappa to demonstrate their role in compiling hieroglyph messages on seals.
https://www.scribd.com/doc/311204778/Harappa-Tablets-2016 Importance of sealings (tablets) and miniature tablets of Harappa for compiling seal messages

S. Kalyanaraman
Sarasvati Research Center
May 2, 2016

Harappa Tablets (2016)

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Many multiple (duplicated) hypertexts on Harappa tablets are metalwork product descriptions, catalogues, NOT names

May 2, 2016, 8:04 pm

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≪ Previous: 235 Harappa Indus Script tablets deciphered: भरत 'alloy of pewter, copper, tin' ready as supercargo & for turners, from 1. smithy, 2. cast metal, 3. implements furnaces (workshops)

Mirror: http://tinyurl.com/h5pl2j4

Data mining of Indus Script Corpora (about 7000 objects with inscriptions) yields a remarkable feature of Harappa tablets (i.e. sealings as multiples and tablets both on tiny steate tablets and other multi-sided tablets). The feature is occurrence of multiple hypertexts (strings of hieroglyph-multiplexes). This feature of duplication confirms the decipherment of product descriptions of the Bronze Age and confirn that the inscriptions are NOT names of artisans. The set of Harappa tablets with inscriptions is embedded at
http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2016/05/235- Rebus reading of harappa-indus-script-tablets.html The blogpost deciphers 235 Harappa tablets which include the most frequently occurring hypertext on h1827A

Out of 985 inscribed objects published in Mahadevan Concordance (1997, p.7), 288 are ‘sealings' (i.e. tablets creating multiples or duplicates)’ and 272 are ‘miniature stone, terracotta or faience tablets’. Thus, 288+272 = 560 objects (i.e. 57%) of Mahadevan corpora are multiples to record works in process. The information conveyed by these tablets (both sealings and miniatures) are entered into seals for shipment of supercargo as demonstrated in http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2016/05/harappa-tiny-steatite-tablets-with.html

Rebus reading of h1827A: khareḍo = a currycomb (G.) Rebus: kharādī ' turner' (G.) karNika, kanka 'rim of jar' rebus: kaṇḍa kanka 'smelting furnace account (scribe), karNI, supercargo' baraDo 'spine' Rebus: भरत 'alloy of pewter, copper, tin'.(Frequency of occurrence 41) Note: Frenquency is in reference to Mahadevan corpus. The occurrences will be more if HARP discoveries are reckoned. The string of three hieroglyphs signifies भरत 'alloy of pewter, copper, tin'.ready as supercargo (for seafaring merchants) and for turners in smithy. Side h1827B: kanac 'corner' rebus: kanac 'bronze' koDi 'flag' rebus: koD 'workshop' dATu 'cross' rebus; dhatu 'mineral' dula 'pair' rebus: dul 'cast metal' baTa 'rimless pot' rebus: bhaTa 'furnace'. Thus, bronze workshop mineral casting out of furnace.

See also: http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2011/12/indus-valley-mystery-and-use-of-tablets.html Examples of 31 multiple hypertexts on h252A

This hypertext string of 3 hieroglyphs has some variants in messaging by replacing the third hieroglyph (Sign 176 in this case). Such variant strings are 8 copper tablets with raised script which replaces Sign 176 with a dotted oval (like an ingot) or h2200A where Sign 176 is replaced by fish+fin hieroglyph with a linear stroke added

fish fins khambhaṛā 'fin' rebus: kammaTa 'mint' PLUS baraDo 'spine' rebus: bharata 'alloy of pewter, copper, tin' PLUS karNaka 'rim of jar' rebus: karNI 'supercargo' PLUS koDa 'one' rebus: koD 'workshop'

Dotted ovarl hieroglyph: goTa 'round' rebus: khoTa 'ingot' PLUS baraDo 'spine' rebus: bharata 'alloy of pewter, copper, tin' PLUS karNI 'supercargo' PLUS third hieroglyph (illegible, could be karNaka 'rim of jar' rebus: karNI 'supercargo' ).

Many tiny steatite inscised tablets also, as prism tablets add on one side three dotted circles, tridhAtu 'three strands' rebus: tri-dhAtu 'three minerals' to confirm that the product descriptions relate to baraDo 'an alloy of three minerals, copper, pewter and perhaps zinc'. On h979, for example, the rebus readings are: Side C: tridhAtu 'three dotted circles' rebus: tridhAtu 'three minerals' PLUS Side A khareḍo = a currycomb (G.) Rebus: kharādī ' turner' (G.) karNika, kanka 'rim of jar' rebus: kaṇḍa kanka 'smelting furnace account (scribe), karNI, supercargo' baraDo 'spine' Rebus: भरत 'alloy of pewter, copper, tin'.(Frequency of occurrence 41) kolmo 'three' rebus: kolami 'smithy, forge' PLUS baTa 'rimless pot' rebus: bhaTa 'furnace'.

Note: Frenquency of hypertext string Signs 176, 342 and 48 (centre-piece oval in venn diagram) is in reference to Mahadevan corpus. The occurrences will be more if HARP discoveries are reckoned. The string of three hieroglyphs signifies भरत 'alloy of pewter, copper, tin'.ready as supercargo (for seafaring merchants) and for turners in smithy.

Many examples of such smultiple inscriptions on Harappa tablets have been noted by Meadow and Kenoyer (Meadow, Richard H. and Jonathan Kenoyer, 1997, The ‘tinysteatite seals’ (incised steatitetablets) of Harappa: Some observations ontheir context and dating in: Taddei, Maurizio and Giuseppe de Marco, 2000, South Asian Archaeology, 1997, Rome, Istituto Italiano per l’Africa e l’Oriente.After Fig. 3, p.12 Harappa 1995-1997: Mounds E and ET; molded terracotta tablets)

h252A

h254B

Examples of 22 duplicates steatite triangular tablets h-2218 to h-2239

h1155 A&B two-sided tablet (which is one of the 31 duplicates). Tablets in bas relief. The first sign looks like an arch around a pillar with ring-stones. Obverse: One-horned bull.

The inscription on these 31 duplicates can be read rebus in three parts:

1. Composite glyph of arch-around-a-pillar with ring-stones: storehouse

2. unsmelted native metal

3. furace (with)a quantity of iron, excellent iron (metal) from stone ore

h739B & A (Standard device; obverse: tree)

A variant glyph comparable to the 'pillar with ring-stones' which is part of the composite glyph with an arch over the glyph is provided by one side of a Harappa tablet: h739B Obverse: H739A: glyph: kuṭi 'tree'; rebus: kuṭhi 'smelter furnace' (Santali)

If this comparison of glyphs is valid, the 'pillar with ring-stones' may, in fact, represent a churning motion of a lathe-drill: Allograph: A sack slung on the front shoulder of the young bull is khōṇḍā , khōṇḍī , kothḷɔ Rebus: B. kõdā ‘to turn in a lathe’; Or. kū̆nda ‘lathe’, kũdibā, kū̃d ‘to turn’ (→ Drav. Kur. kū̃d ‘lathe’) (CDIAL 3295) Rebus: koṭṭil ‘workshop’ (Ma.)(DEDR 2058). koṭe ‘forged metal’ (Santali) koḍ 'artisan's workshop' (Kuwi) Vikalpa: saṅgaḍa, portable brazier and lathe; rebus: sanga 'guild (of turners)'.

Thus, the arched drill glyph may connote a turner's workshop. This is a vikalpa reading, if the 'arch' is not to be read as roof of a 'storehouse'. The arch over the drill-lathe glyph may connote semantics of a guild: pattar. (Tamil); battuḍu 'guild of goldsmiths'. This may be consistent with the semant. patthar 'stones' (Hindi) pattar ‘trough’; rebus: . patthara -- m. ʻ stone; pattar ‘merchants, guild (smiths)’ (The word may, thus, denote a lapidary).(CDIAL 8857).

Glyph and rebus decoding: Patthara [cp. late Sk. prastara. The ord. meaning of Sk. pr. is "stramentum"] 1. stone, rock S i.32. -- 2. stoneware Miln 2. (Pali) Pa. Pk. patthara -- m. ʻ stone ʼ, S. patharu m., L. (Ju.) pathar m., khet. patthar, P. patthar m. (→ forms of Bi. Mth. Bhoj. H. G. below with atth or ath), WPah.jaun. pātthar; Ku. pāthar m. ʻ slates, stones ʼ, gng. pāth*lr ʻ flat stone ʼ; A. B. pāthar ʻ stone ʼ, Or. pathara; Bi. pāthar, patthar, patthal ʻ hailstone ʼ; Mth. pāthar, pathal ʻ stone ʼ, Bhoj. pathal, Aw.lakh. pāthar, H. pāthar, patthar, pathar, patthal m., G. patthar, pathrɔ m.; M. pāthar f. ʻ flat stone ʼ; Ko. phāttaru ʻ stone ʼ; Si. patura ʻ chip, fragment ʼ; -- S. pathirī f. ʻ stone in the bladder ʼ; P. pathrī f. ʻ small stone ʼ; Ku. patharī ʻ stone cup ʼ; B. pāthri ʻ stone in the bladder, tartar on teeth ʼ; Or. pathurī ʻ stoneware ʼ; H. patthrī f. ʻ grit ʼ, G. pathrī f. *prastarapaṭṭa -- , *prastaramr̥ttikā -- , *prastarāsa -- .Addenda: prastará -- : WPah.kṭg. pátthər m. ʻ stone, rock ʼ; pəthreuṇõ ʻ to stone ʼ; J. pāthar m. ʻ stone ʼ; OMarw. pātharī ʻ precious stone ʼ. (CDIAL 8857)

Rebus: paṭṭarai ‘workshop’ (Ta.) pattharika [fr. patthara] a merchant Vin ii.135 (kaŋsa˚).(Pali) cf. Pattharati [pa+tharati] to spread, spread out, extend J i.62; iv.212; vi.279; DhA i.26; iii.61 (so read at J vi.549 in cpd ˚pāda with spreading feet, v. l. patthaṭa˚). -- pp. patthaṭa (q. v.). பத்தர்&sup5; pattar, n. perh. vartaka. Merchants; வியாபாரிகள். (W.) battuḍu. n. The caste title of all the five castes of artificers as vaḍla b*, carpenter.

Thus, the seal inscription shows the pattern of tally accomplished by bringing into the storehouse 1. unsmelted native metal; and 2. (output from) furnace of worker in wood and iron. The assumptio made is that the the two categories brought into the storehouse would have been tallied using tablets with inscriptions denoting: 1. unsmelted metal; and 2. (output from) stone iron (metal) ore furnace.

Glyph (arch-around a pillar with ring-stones may denote a storehouse): koḍ = a cow-pen; a cattlepen; a byre (G.) कोठी cattle-shed (Marathi) कोंडी [ kōṇḍī ] A pen or fold for cattle. गोठी [ gōṭhī ] f C (Dim. of गोठा) A pen or fold for calves. (Marathi)koḍ = a cow-pen; a cattlepen; a byre (G.) कोठी cattle-shed (Marathi) कोंडी [ kōṇḍī ] A pen or fold for cattle. गोठी [ gōṭhī ] f C (Dim. of गोठा) A pen or fold for calves. (Marathi) Rebus: koḍ = place where artisan’s work (Kur.) कोठी [ kōṭhī] f (कोष्ट S) A granary, garner, storehouse, warehouse, treasury, factory, bank. (Marathi) [An attempt has been made to provide rebus readings of some 'architectural' glyphs and the use of 'dot or circle' as a hieroglyph atop a bull on Urseal 18; the note is appended in Annex 2.]

Glyph: kolmo ‘seedling, paddy plant’; rebus: kolami ‘forge, smithy’ (Te.)Vikalpa: pajhaṛ = to sprout from a root (Santali); Rebus: pasra ‘smithy, forge’ (Santali)[It is possible that two variants of the glyph: one with three pronged representation of seedling; and the other with five-pronged representation of seedling might have been intended to decode the fine distinction between the two lexemes: kolmo, pajhaṛ perhaps denoting two types of forge].

Glyph: aṭar ‘a splinter’ (Ma.)aṭaruka ‘to burst, crack, sli off,fly open; aṭarcca ’ splitting, a crack’; aṭarttuka ‘to split, tear off, open (an oyster) (Ma.); aḍaruni ‘to crack’ (Tu.) (DEDR 66) Rebus: aduru ‘native, unsmelted metal’ (Kannada)aduru = gan.iyinda tegadu karagade iruva aduru = ore taken from the mine and not subjected to melting in a furnace (Ka. Siddha_nti Subrahman.ya’ S’astri’s new interpretation of the Amarakos’a, Bangalore, Vicaradarpana Press, 1872, p. 330)Viklpa: sal ‘splinter’; rebus: sal ‘workshop’ (Santali)

Thus the two glyphs of the text of the tablet inscription showing arch-around a pillar with ring-stones + paddy plant + splinter glyph may connote, rebus: kolami koḍ aduru, 'forge unsmelted metal workshop'.

Glyph: Fish + scales aya ãs (amśu) ‘metllic stalks of stone ore' (Seehttp://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.com/2011/11/decoding-longest-inscription-of-indus.html) Vikalpa: badhoṛ ‘a species of fish with many bones’ (Santali) Rebus: badhoria ‘expert in working in wood’(Santali)

Glyph: kaṇḍa ‘arrow’ (Skt.) rebus: kaṇḍa 'fire-altar, furnace'.

The two glyphs together an furnace of a worker in wood and iron: aya ãs (amśu) ‘metallic stalks of stone ore'aya ãs kanḍa ‘furnace (with)a quantity of iron, excellent iron (metal) from stone ore’ Vikalpa: badhor kanḍa 'furnace (of) worker in wood and iron'. ayaskanḍa is a lexeme attested in: Paan.gan.

Circular platforms (below) in the southwestern part of Mound F excavated by M.S. Vats in the 1920s and 1930s, as conserved by the Department of Archaeology and Museums, Government of Pakistan.

The circular platforms parallel to the street of houses seem to be workspots or workshops of a guild of artisans. Such a workshop is called paTTaDa 'smith's workplace'.

Image result for priest king gold disc harappa

Fired steatite beads appear to have been extremely important to the Indus people because they were incorporated into exquisite ornaments, such as this "eye bead" made of gold with steatite inlay found in 1995 at Harappa [Harappa Phase].

It is possible that the ceramic stoneware bangles (22 discovered in the civilization at Harappa, Mohenjodaro and Balakot) were also used as fillets similar to the 'eye beads' noted by Kenoyer and Meadow. These rings are NOT bangles because of their small size, they were perhaps used as badges tied with bandages on shoulders and foreheads as paTa, 'band' signifying function of importance in the guild. It is likely that such ceramic stoneware bangles or badges or rings were called paTTaDi 'neck ornament', a torc worn by Kernunnos or hung on the twig horns of the person seated in penance (Kernunnos aka karaNIka 'helmsman' and kuThi 'smelter') on Pillar of Boatmen. कारणी or कारणीक (p. 159) [ kāraṇī or kāraṇīka ] a (कारण S) That causes, conducts, carries on, manages. Applied to the prime minister of a state, the supercargo of a ship &c kūdī 'bunch of twigs' (Sanskrit) Rebus: kuṭhi 'smelter furnace'

Ceramic stoneware badge of the type worn on the forehead badge and the shoulder badge of 'Priest-king' of Mohenjodaro. Rebus: Ta. paṭṭaṭai, paṭṭaṟai anvil, smithy, forge. Ka. paṭṭaḍe, paṭṭaḍi anvil, workshop. Te. paṭṭika, paṭṭeḍa anvil; paṭṭaḍa workshop. (DEDR 3865) Cf. 86 Ta. aṭai. Rebus: paṭṭaḍa workshop (Telugu) I suggest that the circular workplatforms were paṭṭaḍa 'workshops'.

Narayan Komerath's musings on Rajiv Malhotra’s The Battle for Sanskrit (4 parts)

May 2, 2016, 8:53 pm

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Part 4 to Part 1: It is my privilege to present these musings extraordinaire of a dharmaatma, Narayanan Komerath. Read on...

A few observations:

What is wrong with the picture of a professor at XYZ university, apparently well-read and even literate in Sanskrit albeit clueless in Samskrtam, Samskaram and Sanskriti, and his South Asia gang of Euro-Indologists, all using their pompously-titled positions to inter(fer/ven)e in Indian politics and society to Improve The Lot Of Women and Dalits, and Protect Them From the Domineering Hindu Right?

It is silly, for starters. The whole stereotype of Phineas Fogg (the Bilayati playboy of “Around the World in 80 Days” fame) rushing in with his walking stick to chase away dem savages and rescue the lovely Princess from the Hindoo evil of Sati, said Princess then becoming his Loyal Slave, no doubt appeals to Americans, Englanders, Pakistanis and Indians brought up on a diet of Mother India, Arundhati Roy, Jungle Book, Masterpiece Theater, Pankaj Mishra and ‘Gungi Dan’ complementing the weekly thunder of White-Shoes Preacher sermons on “AND HWHAI DOOO THE HEEEEAATHAIN RAGE ?”

It is also utterly uncalled-for. India is a free nation, with an elected government, and a free (but often bought-and-paid-for, incompetent and irresponsible these days) press that basically apes Western news outlets. India has a 50% Reservation (Affirmative Action) system for public-sector education and jobs, special privileges for minority educational institutions that are unimaginable anywhere else in the world, and tough laws with practically a presumption of guilt where the accuser is a woman or minority member and the accused is not. Indians do not need Sanskrit Professor PhineasFogg-ul-Manhattani & Co. to save them from India.

Thirdly, the picture provides strong grounds to suspect malicious intent. Let us subject this to the simple Solomon Test as well as the Hippocratic Oath Test. For the benefit of South Asia Furniture, the latter would be “Primum non nocere”. For mere mortals, “First of all, Do No Harm”. These tests are particularly necessary since the first reaction of these Authorities when exposed/critiqued is that of Colonel Rostov in War and Peace:

“What! They are shooting at ME! ME! Whom everyone loves!”

The second reaction, paraphrasing RM’s book, is along the lines of

“How can I, who have made a career in Sanskrit, be accused of doing something to harm a language that I LOVE?

Someone with the knowledge and power of such faculty, could easily choose to use their positions for good instead of evil. Were they honestly endowed with hallowed American Liberalism and true Christian Compassion, or even with real Marxist caring for the “Adhvanikkunna Thozilali” and wanted to Liberate the Huddled Masses From Oppression like the Statue of Liberty, they could easily quote from our Scriptures, and point out that the real intent there, deep down, has always been to treat everyone alike, ensure social justice and compassion. There is absolutely no shortage of verses in the Bhagavad Gita for instance, that demand all those from anyone who has any plans to ascend to Moksha. Argue that the abuses rationalized by reference to Scriptures were utter misinterpretations, as they are in all streams of Faith. Yeso Christo did not tell anyone to go murder 300,000 Muslims in one French City, nor did He command the Inquisition tortures in South America and Portuguese India, nor the slave trade from Africa. Yet all these were done In the Name of Our Lawd Gawd, and the Holy Trinity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, hain?

Pointing to the strong message for compassion and social justice, with the authority of literacy and scholarship, is the obvious way to bring about real reform, driving away the charlatans, not by driving wedges and spreading hate. Surely these professors have enough intelligence to figure that out for themselves. That they choose the opposite approach, in my humble layman’s opinion, proves their true intent.

Sad, but Q.E.D.

2. Shouldn’t esteemed Professors steeped in literacy on Sanskrit, be allowed to come out with observations connecting to, say, events in Europe, and point to Indian influence? For instance, in ascribing Nazi genocidal tendencies to their sudden acquisition of Sanskrit grammar? Perhaps Sanskrit has a strange nonlinear effect on Bavarians, Manhattanians etc: whereas it makes us see the Sacred and the Infinite, it makes them want to go out and mug people in Central Park, or, in Germany, Poland and Ukraine, line their neighbors naked and freezing into poison gas chambers and machine-gun them into pits?

Flashback to 1096. The First Crusades, led by none other than His Holiness the Pope. Quoting from Wikipedia, the Great Wiki-Puranas of modern America:

“According to David Nirenberg, the events of 1096 in the Rhineland“occupy a significant place in modern Jewish historiography and are often presented as the first instance of an antisemitism that would henceforth never be forgotten and whose climax was the Holocaust.”

Do you see above why I say that these Sanskrit== Violence theories are mischievous if not malicious? Q.E.D. again.

3. Isn’t it awesome that these South Asia Furniture have learned enough to converse in Samskrtam, and read so much of our ancient scriptures?

Smart people have been learning about Santana Dharma and indeed Samskrtam scriptures long before there were South Asia Chairs in the United States. Oppenheimer, the nuclear scientist, Jewish by birth and tradition, is said to have recited a verse from the Bhagavad Gita in awe when he saw the fireball rising from the first nuclear explosion at Alamogordo, New Mexico.Seventy years later, most Americans would not be able to tell Samskrtam from Arabic, and were Dr. Oppenheimer to mutter anything of the sort on an American airline flight, the friendly fair woman sitting in the next seat would whisper in the ear of the flight attendant, and Oppenheimer would find himself under three 300-lb Air Marshals before being dragged off the airplane in short order, for “muttering in one of dem terrorist languages” (as happened to a Malayalee film star). The South Asia Chairs have brought very little real understanding of South Asia to the American public or the world; they have succeeded in amplifying the ignorance and bigotry by several decibels, and since that appears to be their main occupation, one must commend them on their success.

4. But.. they have taken the trouble to become Panditas in Sanskrit! Surely that denotes love and dedication to Sanskrit?

Shri Malhotra quotes a very important sloka: to the effect that the true Pandita is seen through his/her actions.

If practical linguistic expertise is what Indians want to admire, the right place to admire is the CIA. Central Intelligence Agency, not these college furniture. They have people with outstanding credentials specializing in every imaginable language, and I am sure Samskrtam is way up on their list to decode. They have to grasp not only grammar and syntax, but some context as well – otherwise how does one figure out from all the intercepted messages that the National Reconnaissance Office provides, what someone is transmitting? So perhaps a lot of the funding and impetus for the translation work comes from the US taxpayer through such agencies

A comforting thought no doubt, for Marxist ‘Liberals’. If they are not funded by the CIA, well, the CIA is the prime beneficiary of their work, and probably one of the prime employers of their graduates. Of course, for ordinary (i.e., non-Marxist, non-SouthAsia Faculty) Americans, the CIA is a source of justifiable pride and an object of respect if not awe.

5. Won’t Hinduism / Sanatana Dharma survive a few obscure writings by hostile faculty, having survived for 1,732,000 years of natural and anthropogenic cataclysms and more gradual erosions? Hinduism today is stronger than ever before: well over a billion people spread out all over the world profess the faith, and it is being accepted. What yaar, even White House celebrates Diwali, no?

This is an utterly lazy and incompetent position. So did the Yazidis survive for thousands of years in Iraq before the ISIS came a-calling, like the “Gatlin Boys” in the inspirational American song: “Coward of the County”.

Perhaps Hinduism will survive, but a great many innocents may be tortured, humiliated, enslaved and die violent deaths, millions will be reduced to misery and tears, all because we did not act when it was our time and our Dharma to act. Those anthropogenic cataclysms were each stoppable/preventable with timely preparation. Our ancestors failed, and it set our people back thousands of years. Must we keep being (never mind)?

Have we ever faced so technologically advanced, sophisticated, utterly antipathic, well-funded and determined an assault? Watch the movie“Independence Day” to get an idea. Especially watch the segment where the President of the US asks the Alien Scholar”

“What do you want us to do?”

“DIE!!!!”

Please take a moment to google the story of the California Textbook Atrocity, later called the California Donkey Trials after the State of California’s Board of Education ended up forking over millions in settlements and fees to their overpaid ambulance-chasers as a result of the violations of due process and civil rights caused by allowing a gang of ‘100 Leading Indologists’ led by Harvard Wales Professor of Sanskrit and Leading Linguist Michael Witzel and his able assistant Steve ‘I’ve started to learn Sanskrit a month ago’ Farmer. Or just see my initial summary of the issues there: The Scholarship of Equine Posteriors. This is what these people do – send out grand letters listing their even more grandiose titles such as ‘Masked Man-Eating Mauler’ of Georgia World Championship fame, under their blood-colored Harvard Crusader Shield letterhead – or the blue one with the Crown of England sporting the crosses. Direct lineage from Sir Richard The LionHeart, Lord of All Christendom, Slayer of Seven At One Blow. (Oops! 7@ 1 blo actually swatted mosquitos, as I recall) Wouldn’t you be scared if you got one of those?

The victims are little children in elementary school, made to feel like worms. Sixth graders asked why they don’t have tails. College students forced to watch Communal Riots for grades. Maybe yours, if you are located in the US, or if you plan to send them to the US. College students who go berserk from the continuous stress of such hate-propaganda (yes, I am speaking of an example). Others who may commit suicide. People attacked in the streets because their appearance reminds some nutcase of the propaganda booklet put out by the friendly neighborhood church. Scholars whose publications and grant applications are rejected because they don’t parrot the Leading Furniture in hating their own culture. Assistant Professors denied promotion and tenure for the same reason. Full professors who are reduced to penury because their clear logical arguments go against the Conclusions ordained by the Leading Furniture. Adults who read the Atlanta Journal, Constitution & Fishwrap by accident. So spare me the line that the South Asia Faculty’s hate propaganda is without adverse consequence. What these entities are doing is blatantly against the Constitution of the United States too.

6. Aren’t the South Asia Faculty ranks filled with dedicated Indian-named people who have been desperately seeking some external support to project the cause of their own Matrubhoomi? Isn’t this Furniture donation the result of long and arduous campaigning by them? Wouldn’t any Indian have reason to be happy that a Hindu organization endorses such fundraising?

Good question. To answer this, look at what happened recently when the Dharma Foundation sought to fund a Chair at the University of California (Irvine, if I recall correctly, but it does not matter). That is a public institution, subject to far more controls and Constitutional obligations than a private institution such as Emory, Harvard or Columbia. The same deal: the university would set up a committee, and they would select candidates. The donors would give the money and shut up. But there, the Committee could not be stacked against Hindus, for whatever reason (I haven’t read up on that). All I know is that a shrill campaign was launched by the SAME South Asia Scholar Gang, PROTESTING the donation and demanding that the university not accept it.

I happen to know a little bit about the recent history of this Dharma Foundation. When I was a second-year graduate student, I was searching the library in the usual panic induced by a fabulous Thesis Advisor (no Chair, just a fantastic Regents Professor, who taught me most of what is good and decent about America that I did not learn from my equally fabulous old landlady) who kindly suggested that I take on a problem for which there has still (decades later) been no other solution than what I developed in that panic. One of the best resources I found early on was a NASA Technical Report authored by a researcher called P. Uberoi. The name intrigued me, I thought it was some scion of the famous hotel chain, and wondered why someone like that would take on so arduous a line of work.

A few years ago, Professor Uberoi passed away. He had spent his career as a professor of aerospace engineering at the University of Colorado. He left a nice bequest to be administered by his loving nieces in India, his only living relatives, who kindly implemented his wishes: they linked up with people in America whom they entrusted to fund endeavors that would promote nonviolence, inter-faith understanding and amity. He did believe strongly that what he had learned of Sanatana Dharma was ultimately congruent with scientific thought and the advancement of civilization. A superb thinker, a brilliant researcher, a top-notch scientist and a quiet, affectionate teacher.If I can find it, I will post what I wrote at the time about him, but you can Google his whole life without my help. I at least could not find any trace of any political leanings on his part, either in the USA where he spent his life, or in India.

This was at least the seed funding, perhaps more than that, behind what rose in profile as the Dharma Foundation. Of course the Foundation is administered by competent people who also share Professor Uberoi’s respect for Sanatana Dharma.

Unfortunately, the above credentials are EXACTLY what the South Asia Faculty gangs fear, hate and despise. The man could read and write. Count. Solve differential equations. Use (indeed he built!) sophisticated probes and measuring instruments. Read Hinze’s book on Turbulence, horror of horrors, and mastered Schichting’s Boundary Layer Theory. Real books, I mean. Use his brain too. Shocking!

They screamed out loud that this Chair was being funded by the people who (paraphrasing for brevity here) disembowel pregnant women, condemn Dalits to a life as scavengers, and toss gas cylinders into businesses and homes owned by Muslims. IOW, not insanely opposed to the present Prime Minister of India, whom they are used to tarring and feathering likewise with not a shred of evidence and despite complete failure through a decade and a half of specific putdowns by the Supreme Courts of India, let alone the voters.

They had very powerful backers. What is not recognized by most desis is the real reason why the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom got the State Department to deny a visa to the elected Chief Minister of Gujarat, had **NOTHING** to do with Muslims. It had everything to do with the fact that Gujarat led Indian states in bravery to enforce the law of the land against predatory Conversionist scams, the main business of the sponsors behind much of that now-widely-exposed Commission. Apparently the word has been slowly seeping even into the Indian Consulates around the US – no more are the blatant websites run by the Jubilee Baptist Missions instructing their recruits on how to lie on the visa form, and which Consulate to get a tourist visa for their conversionist business campaigns in the tribal areas of India, guarantees of success. Oppressive! Dare to enforce INDIAN laws in India? Read the U. Chicago Furniture’s latest whines at the Chronicles of Higher Education about Indian Courts daring to order her ‘scholarly’ works pulped as being nothing but low-class hate trash.

Being a public university (more on that below), the University of California’s leadership is subject to political pressures. The Letters and Petitions from the South Asia gang came with the usual long list of Furniture Titles to fill in for their total lack of evidence, logic or humanity.

I did suggest meekly to the Dharma Foundation that they should withdraw the endowment offer, hold the endowment in trust, and give out the proceeds each year to carefully selected people, none of this trusting to university committees etc, given how ungrateful they were even at the outset. See Part 1 where I advance this again in the present case. Of course they ignored my advice though one of their netas sent me a nice emailed “thx 4 ur input, v wl get bk 2 u” type form reply. IOW, ‘go away!’ Well, I did, but the noisemakers did not. The whole university system was bullied into REJECTING any donations from the Dharma Foundation!!! So much for the tolerance, much less acceptance or empathy, let alone sympathy, for Sanatana Dharma in the contemporary (I wouldn’t use the word ‘modern’) American South Asian Academy.

7. The South Asian furniture generally write books and publish their voluminous papers in esteemed Top Journals such as those of the American Institute of Religion. Books in the Oxford (England) Press. Penguin Publishers. Why don’t these unwashed Hindoo extremists get THEIR papers published in these Top Journals if they want?

Aha! Good question. I do have some small experience in that line of endeavor, as well as in the more modern option of the Internet, so let me comment. Look carefully at the two publications that I linked under Part 3. One was from a JNU Professor of English. But it was an Opinion Piece in the Business Standard, a newspaper, not a Peer-Reviewed Journal. It did have to get past an Editor, that’s it. The other was from a German professor, and it had a whole list of references, etc etc. Where was it published? It was an Open Access Journal, administered by Springer Inc, a reputed worldwide publisher, one of the very few still located outside the People’s Republic of China. Nothing bad or low-class about it, it is the modern option that is opening up worldwide.

How likely is it that lines of argument favorably inclined to Sanatana Dharma would be published in the Journal of the American Institute of Religion? I hear that it does snow in Kolkatta, with much greater likelihood. You see, this is all about Controlling the Narratives. Suppressing Free Speech, and indeed all Free Thinking.

Other cultures would not allow their most treasured traditions to be so tarred. Try this against, ah, Judaism and you will be out of a job in short order. Try it against Islam and you will be minus a head, or perhaps experience the Peace that comes after an encounter with detonation or an AK-47. Try it against Protestantism and you will have a cross burned on your lawn and be further warmed by a firebomb through your children’s bedroom window.

Do it against Sanatana Dharma and a hundred thousand Hindu avatars of Einstein will come to hear your sermons next time you visit India. Arre, Amrika mein Endavad Kursi hain! Wah Wah! How he is talking in Sanskrit onlee yaaar!Wall street billionaires will rush to fund you with their cash.

Reminds me of Padma’s story about all the village matrons rushing out to the Girija Theatre to see “Lanka Dahanam”, in their best temple-going attire. Seeing this episode from the Ramayana would give them beaucoup points towards Moksha. She says what they were saying on their return trip was as loud a Movie Review as it was unprintable – the South Asian director had used this catchy title for a piece of utter garbage on some contemporary Kerala romance-gone-bad / domestic squabble theme with the usual show of hi-cholesterol flesh far beyond the tolerance of the respectable village matrons.

8. Why devote a whole book to critique the guy who is merely the head of the Search Committee for a faculty position at some university? People are generally appointed Head of the Search Committee to make sure they don’t try to grab the post for themselves, after all. The eventual appointee who warms this furniture may be a nice gal/guy, hain? A True Scholar? Why not be optimistic? Don’t worry, be happy!!

See above re: Snowstorms in Kolkatta. You already saw what happened with the Dharma Foundation – apparently a non-partisan Selection Committee in a public university would be entirely unacceptable to the South Asian Academy. Why would you think a Committee headed by one of them in a privateuniversity would be objective or fair?

9. What do people of other cultures/ethnicities do?

If you followed the recent tamasha at U. Ilinois you might get a better feel for this, away from South Asia. The Head of the Search Committee is usually a front/flunky for much more extreme agendas in the background. If allowed to do so, (and at Illinois there WERE powerful entities in the background – see e.g. POTUS) – they are going to make ABSOLUTELY sure that the committee is stacked with enough entities who will do whatever they are told (or already know what they are not told). There will be usual token this or that to provide entertainment and be ignored.

In Illinois, the Search Committee dug far and wide and deep like the Search For a Real Princess – and came up with someone whom ‘they’ wanted. He is a famous Palestinian-American. His theme was to relate the history and plight of Palestinians to that of Native Americans. You can think through the rest of that – who the targets were, etc etc.

Well, in that case the targets did not sit around muttering:

“Bhavitavyam Bhaved Eva! All is Maya! It is after all Kali Yuga, the Khadgi will come by and make things all right!”

They ran what might gently be called a loud, persistent, vicious, rabid and rapidly expanding campaign. Major donors who weren’t stupid enough to have given ALL their money away yet, started pulling out. The university was forced into the untenable position of having to withdraw the offer made to the candidate, AFTER he had resigned his prior position. Predictably, this led to a lawsuit, with the American Association of University Professors weighing in on the side of the dissed candidate. University royalty were forced to resign. I saw all this in the course of other entertainment at the AAUP site provided by the South Asia Faculty in yet another ill-advised Wile E. Coyote /Roadrunner Show episode, but that is for another time. I don’t know what came out of that case.

Musings on Rajiv Malhotra’s THE BATTLE FOR SANSKRIT, Part 3:The $200K Missile vs. $2 Hut Conundrum

https://narayanankomerath.wordpress.com/2016/05/01/musings-on-rajiv-malhotras-the-battle-for-sanskrit-part-3the-200k-missile-vs-2-hut-conundrum/In Part 1, we considered the overall problem: Is the usage of a language far from the shores of its origin, ‘stealing’? ‘Hijacking’? Is there something wrong in, say, Indians, the largest and most devoted population of English-speakers in the world today, virtually the only people on the planet who can spell English any more, celebrating the death of William Shakespeare? (sorry, that didn’t come out the way it was intended, but u know what I mean). So why are Rajiv Malhotra, and a host of others who are slowly waking up, so panicked at the prospect of someone with money to burn, funding an Adi Sankara Chair in Sanskrit Studies at New York’s Columbia University, in the name of the Sringeri Sharada Ashram? With a Selection Committee headed by the (note the name of his endowment) Arvind Raghunathan Professor of South Asian Studies. For those who may be unaware, Sringeri was the southern point of the 4 (always 4 when it is something in Sanatana Dharma!) centers of study established by Adi Sankara. Each is headed by a Sankaracharya, and each Sankaracharya is as close to being a recognized Authority on Sanatana Dharma as we SDs recognize. Should we not celebrate the virtual establishment of another Sankara Ashrama, this time far, far west of Dwaraka and well north of Badri? Shouldn’t we perhaps be clamoring instead to establish one in the Falkland Islands as a Southern outpost, one in Fiji and perhaps one on Bear Island? Perhaps endow one on the International Space Station? Mars? The Moon? Pluto? We work in 4s, remember?

From an Outsider’s point of view, this whole ‘debate’ appears rather trivial: Some desis got together to donate enough cash to endow a Chair at Columbia. They got approval from some of the big Ayatollahs of their cult to use the name of some dead wandering swami. Then these other desis all started jumping up and down to STOP this endeavor. Petty jealosy? Usual Desi Lobster Mentality? YAWN!!!! Back to munching my fat-burger!

I was curious about this. Well, for a second or two until the usual connotation of the term “South Asia Studies” resonated in the space between my ears, and the TubeLight came on.

For starters, one would be well served in these things by remembering the old saying, modified from its original by Joseph Heller, the creator of “Catch-22”, to the more fashionable quote from an American General:

JUST ‘COZ YORE PARANOID DON’T MEAN THEY AIN’T ALL OUT 2 GET YA! d715fb57-2f55-45ce-94cf-1c0dbf000c40

Remember, while I have not done a hundredth of the deep research that RM has done on these folks, I HAVE spent a couple of thousand hours poring through the hilarious ‘scholarly discussions’ of the RISA (Religion in South Asia), FOIL (Forum of “Inquilabi” since they abhor the term “Indian” Leftists), the Harvard Witzel-Farmer Indo Eura(cist/sian) Research Yahoo! group, the Marxist-ISIS IndiaUnity Yahoo! group set up to do something TO, not FOR, Indian Unity, etc etc. And I have actually READ (Yes! Holding my nose, smelling a lemon, but READ) Professor Paul Courtright’s masterpiece, “Ganesa, Lord of Obstacles” and his “Limp Phaullus” psycho-analysis (last pulped by Motilal BanarasaiDas and Sons, in horror after realizing what their JNU/South Asia -graduated illiterate Editors had accepted). Most of their ‘scholarship’ brings to mind the old Malayalam proverb that starts out with

Pantheerandu kuzhalilittuzhinjalum…

If you can’t translate that and don’t know the rest of it, well, take heart, you could be an Endowed Chair in South Asian Studies, a Linguist specializing in Malloostani. Basically, their thinking, if one can call it that, is entirely predictable in theme, though their particular tactics and strategies would put The Coyote in the Roadrunner Show to shame. So let’s get back to what Rajiv Malhotra writes, and related thoughts.

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The entire book delicately balances an incisive debunking reminescent of the Russian Air Force’s precision bombing of the ISIS, with a super debater’s skill of expressing deep the personal respect, bordering on awe, for an adversary (and I use the term deliberately). The adversary, however, has shown no sign of any such civilization beyond a couple of emails inviting RM to chai-biscoot at the Columbia cafeteria or, honor of honors, the Faculty Lounge (see my prior post on Nikolai’s Roof). Likewise, he sets out with the deepest expressions of awe, of the Vedic Scholarship at the present-day Sringeri Sharada Ashram. No comment from me on that, thank you – though there have been quite a few informal ones regarding their discipline as exhibited by the “due diligence” before getting all set to sign contracts. My bridge-selling enterprise cited below perked up at this thought – could I not sell a couple to them, I wonder? But I come from one rail station away from where Adi Sankara was born, and I have prayed often before his emblem of the Shank and Chakra – ultimate symbol of Unity, Advaita. Sringeri was Adi Sankara’s ultimate worship of Sharada, the Avatara of Sarasvati. Knowledge, learning. No way would I do anything to disrespect his name, other than the obvious imperative of spending my evenings and weekends trying to undo the damage already done, and the imminent catastrophe of selling off His name, the deeply unifying philosophy of Advaita, and the worship of Sarasvati Devi to the Atheists and Marxists, acting as agents of the Temple Destroyers.

In Chapters 3 and 4, Shri Malhotra has pulled out all the stops. He delves deep into his understanding of Sanatana Dharma, and the historical record of evolution in philosophy. He goes into the origin of Bhakti, and the branching out into the arts – and the sciences – as expressions of Bhakti. He points out how a certain professor ignores the contributions of the entire literature base on these aspects, and focuses on (predictable RISA/FOIL) Marxist philosophy of seeing all organized faith (except in the Politburo) as being Tools of Oppression Of The Masses.

Repeat: Schools of Divinity vs. Schools of South Asia/Religion Studies

The one aspect of the ‘scholarship’ of this entity that RM does not touch, perhaps intentionally, is whether said entity has any clue about Bhakti. For this you must perhaps read my blog (available on this site, titled “Protestant Pedagogues Peeved..” where I try to explain the difference between Schools of Divinity versus Schools of Religion Studies. The former are set up to teach about Western Religion, i.e., Christianity, typically Protestantism with some nod to Catholicism. Plus an obligatory sprinkling of courses on Judaism to keep the donations from Jewish businesses coming in, and ward off the lawsuits. These courses are generally respectful, and taught by deep Believers in those religions. Well worth a chunk of your $69K fees, I am sure.

The Others are covered with courses in the School of Religion Studies, usually tied in with Middle Eastern Studies and – drumroll! South Asia Studies. These courses have a very definite objective, that one must look carefully to discern in the case of courses on Islam and Buddhism, but is blatant in the case of Hinduism. Example: Professor Paul Courtright’s multimedia course at Emory University, Atlanta on Hinduism Viewed Through Cinema Scenes of Communal Riots. No kidding – that may not have been in the course title, but it sure was a big part of the content, per alumni. They are set up to to show the obvious (to Them) inferiority, violent nature (as opposed to the utter peacefulness of Abrahamic religious history) and general lack of civilization. Dehumanize. Demonize. Rationalize the genocides and tortures of the Inquisition. And point to Christianity as the only Salvation. Convert all the Sheep. Bring them into the Fold. Save their Souls! Mind you, these days, as opposed to not so long ago, this is done with great polish and refinement. Those doing these are experts at Objective Research. They even call it Scientific, though Scientologic is a better word. Being Marxist is an excellent alibi against the shallow charges of bigotry that might come from shocked adherents of these Faiths. What! We Bigots? We Are Objective Scholars! The most vicious attacks against Indian and Dharmic traditions come not from explicit bigots, (that’s for entities such as the ISIS or Professor Hafeez Saeed of the Lashkar-e-Toiba), but from dyed-in-the-wool Scholars. Rationalists. Linguists. Psycho-Analysts. Agnostics. Atheists. Marxists. Look at U. Chicago, or Harvard, for instance. So now you may begin to see what RM is up against.

There is another saying in my zones of awareness: “If u find urself using $200K missiles carried by $60M fighter planes 200 miles out from $6B aircraft carriers, all to hit a $2 hut, u r losing da war”.

I wonder how much of RM’s numerous pages of intricate debate based on his readings of the spewings of certain South Asia faculty, would even be read by said entities whom he respectfully tries to ‘debate’.

So this is my objection to this whole business. Generally speaking, and with no particular individuals in mind, this is what I see happening all too frequently. Some bigoted jerk or arrogant atheist makes a career out of writing communist/terrorist hate literature, trying to incite hate against law-abiding, decent folks going about minding their own business. Powerful organizations that have a business plan to make hundreds of billions of dollars, hire such people and put them in positions where they can do a lot of damage in their chosen profession of hate-inciting.

Losers everywhere, use this sewage to fill their own intra-cranial spaces and rationalize hate-crimes against innocents. The ultimate victims of this are the leprosy-afflicted patients at the Kushta Nivaran Sangh, the orphans and battered women at the Vatsalya Trust Orphanage, the 6th-grade kids in California where the textbook asks the teacher to recite: Turn around and look at your classmates. Does one sport a tail? That must be a Hindu. In the first two cases we stepped in and prevented the damage, in the 3rd, what we did is recently being undone by the next wave of organized attacks.

Other drunken losers go around beating up women who wear a red dot on the forehead, declaring themselves to be “Dotbusters”. Others lynch a Sikh commuter. One pushes a Hindu commuter onto the rails as a New York train approaches and says she did it because the Lawd Gawd commanded her to do that.

A German professor woman in Leipzig, Germany, home to some of the worst gangs of Neo-Nazis, and not far from the train stations where they recently had all those attacks on women, rejects an internship application from an Indian undergraduate kid, claiming that all Indian men must be rapists (her university, paragons of German honesty, of course ended up blaming the kid, yawn!)

And someone claims originality with volumes and volumes of sewage declaring that the Sanskrit (illiterate description of Samskrtam) language with its beautifully structured organization refined over millennia, was all set up to dominate, exclude, exploit and terrorize people, first all over south-east Asia where Sanatana Dharma spread with no sign of military conquest, and then, of all places, IN RACIST NAZI GERMANY!! Oh! The Germans from the time of the Huns’ ancestors swinging by their tails from one tree to another in the Black Forest, have been so inclusive, peaceful, gentle people! Until evil ‘Sans krit’ turned them into monsters that suddenly lined up and machine-gunned 30,000 people at Babi Yar, and herded 6 million of their own Jewish compatriots, Russian prisoners of war, Gypsies (i.e., Indian descendants in Europe), and pretty much everyone else into gas chambers to Purify Europe. Yup! All because of Indian (oh, they mean Indo-European) Sanskrit!

Really? DID anyone peddle such garbage? Don’t look at me, I watch the comics on TV when I need a laugh. But there are people who do read these things. Professor Makarand R. Paranjpe, Professor of English at the Jawaharlal Nehru University apparently does make it his job to read. He cites the original quotes, and goes on to cite the debunking of those by the German professor Reinhold Grünendahl.

In any serious field of endeavor, such nutcase theories would be laughed off. In South Asia Studies in America, it is considered to be the height of Scholarship. It is because of those examples of crimes against those least able to defend themselves, that people like Rajiv Malhotra drive themselves beyond human abilities to fight what was at the start a lone battle. And why they are not fooled by the next antics from the South Asia cartel and their powerful sponsors.

Completely unrelated to my rant above, let us take a moment to look at the logo of Columbia University. I learned that it is not located in Colombia, which managed to spell the name of g

eographically-sign-challenged Cristoforo Colombo a bit better. What’s that gizmo? It looks like the CROWN OF ENGLAND! A symbol that should be greatly admired all over India, and particularly in the Sringeri Ashrama.

Apparently Columbia University was originally KING’s College, established by Royal Charter of King George II, (using loot from India of course – you can almost see the Kohinoor Diamond in the hatband!) in 1754. In 1776, being the King’s anything became a bit unfashionable in the United States of America, so they renamed it to Columbia. To be precise in my deep knowledge of Latin, “Universitas Columbiae Neo Eboracensis” (per WikiPedia, of course). Their motto is: In lumine Tuo videbimus lumen, meaning, again per WP, “In Thy light shall we see light (Psalms 36:9)”. When they write about OUR religion, we should accept that they are being completely objective, not at all related to any faith or belief. And I have these 7 bridges over the Chattahoochee river to sell you, One Owner, Cheap-Cheap, Won’t Last At These Prices. The name Columbia is the female personification of America,per the same source. Sort of like Bharat Mata in connotation. Oops! I mean Mohterma South Asia, of course. To be fair, Columbia University’s religious connections are quite universal: they are affiliated with the Union Theological Seminary, with joint undergraduate programs available through the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. There u go! They treat all REAL RELIGIONS AND FAITHS equally. Why do the Heathen rage, what-what?

This is something that has bothered me a lot. Why do institutions such as Methodist Emory University, Theologically established Harvard and Princeton, etc. hire and foster Marxist types whose primary skill is hate-mongering? Its a plain “Duh!” once one delves a bit deeper. In one stroke it gives them an aura of Tolerance, and allows these types to do their attacks from the sheltered ivory towers behind the moats and power of a $9B endowment. Like the ISIS raping people, protected under sheets strung across the roads of Al Raqqa to hide from the Russian cameras flying overhead, and Stinger Surface To Air missiles supplied from our tax dollars courtesy of Al Obama to shoot at the Russians. Academic Freedom, as the Dean of the Emory College rather arrogantly informed us petty peasants, protecting his university’s peddling of child-p*rnography in the guise of “Psycho Analysis Scholarship” until, ahem, “we” sort-of educated them right back on the subject.

So back to the issue here: These guys get paid $300,000 a year salaries plus a $100K/yr Endowment proceeds, to chew the cud and put out these hate writings, and host conferences and (South Asian) Visiting Researchers whom they can buy with their pocket change. People like Rajiv Malhotra scramble to spend 24, 36, 48 hours a day trying to educate people on what is wrong with the hate propaganda that they put out. And for every one step he climbs, other desis, who supposedly grew up eating rice and hence should have some brains, pull him down 10 steps by rushing to give another $3M to add to that $9.368943 B endowment so they can get invited to football games and pretend to be important.

Spending so much time fighting this is simply not sustainable. Until more desis learn to read and THINK. No danger of their reading this far of course, it wouldn’t show up on their AMOLED Smart Phones with the diamond-studded pouches.

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Cited References

Makarand R. Paranjpe, “The Deepest Orientalist”. The Business Standard, April 29, 2016. http://wap.business-standard.com/article/opinion/makarand-r-paranjape-the-deepest-orientalist-116042901513_1.html

Reinhold Grünendahl, History in the Making: On Sheldon Pollock’s “NS Indology” and Vishwa Adluri’s “Pride and Prejudice”DOI 10.1007/s11407-012-9115-1, International Journal of Hindu Studies, 16, 2: 189–257, 2012.

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Note: My serious views, and the very limited scope of my understanding on Religion are explained in my role as co-author of “Sanatana Dharma: Introduction to Hinduism”. Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/Sanatana-Dharma-Introduction-Narayanan-Komerath-ebook/dp/B00XDN83V4

Musings on Rajiv Malhotra’s “THE BATTLE FOR SANSKRIT”, Part 2: Did WhatsApp precede Twitter or vice versa?

https://narayanankomerath.wordpress.com/2016/04/29/musings-on-rajiv-malhotras-the-battle-for-sanskrit-part-2-did-whatsup-precede-twitter-or-vice-versa/In this second part, I muse on Rajiv Malhotra’s warnings about ceding control and authority on ancient traditions, to ‘outsiders’. He defines outsiders very carefully, not based on race, color, gender or national origin, but somewhat on inimical belief, inimical faith or atheistic arrogance, lack of immersion in tradition and very much on political antipathy towards the ancient traditions of India and their practitioners. There are certainly examples in my view and I am sure RM recognizes these too, of thousands of people born with no connection to India, who have become devout practitioners and believers in our traditions!!

One of the themes running through the book is his hard-earned certainty from decades of reading, watching and debating (with which I agree 100%) that far too many of the “outsiders” purporting to be deeply interested in studying ancient Indian traditions do so not out of love and devotion, but for the express purposes of enriching themselves at the expense of Indian tradition, while simultaneously destroying the traditions. They study the traditions of Sanatana Dharma as the ISIS studied the Yazidis of Iraq or the Christians of Syria. If you have any doubts on this account, or consider the above to be an extreme analogy, please take the time to read about, if not through (which is beyond the nausea-immunity of most decent people), the works of Professor Paul Courtright of Emory University of “Limp Phaullus” fame, or Professor Wendy Doniger of U. Chicago (latest work ordered pulped by the Courts in India for violating hate-crime law), or their ilk. The writings of Harvard University Sanskrit Professor and Linguist Michael Witzel and his sidekick Steve Farmer at their “Indo-Eura(cist/sian) Research Forum on, say, Indian dance traditions and on young Indian women practising classical dance. Yes, there is a reason they hurl the hate-moniker of “Hindu Right” at any of us who dare stand up and protest these atrocities. That reason is that we are indeed Right, and they are Wrong. Hilariously if not hatefully wrong.

Now this is not to agree that particular faculty researching Indian traditions should be subjected to sweeping generalizations based on guilt by association – although that is, to make a sweeping generalization, exactly what they do to us – sweeping generalizations. I know enough to sense why Rajiv Malhotra set out to write this book. I have not read the book enough to see if there is enough damning evidence inside this particular book to prove the case about the specific entities about which he set out to report.

To give an example of a similar situation, we are sure that it is a crime against Humanity to deliver weapons and dollars to terrorist groups operating inside Syria and Iraq. But that is not to say that we have specific knowledge of the specific actions or the specific mental makeup of every terrorist who might be receiving such misguided largesse. Not, of course, to imply that there is any connection between American university furniture and terrorist groups operating in Syria or Iraq.

In other words, I am only up to page 32.

Samskrtam, not ‘Sans krit’!

The values of my tradition connect straight back to the Vamana and Parasurama Avataras. Our idolized and ideal King of the Malayalees was not born Kshatriya or Brahmana, He was just one heck of a ruler. He ruled by self-sacrifice (on his part, not the type that corporate and university bosses exhort these days), not by sacrificing his subjects. He ruled by fairness and kindness, not the sword and the chain and the whip. Our other hero Parasurama nearly annihilated the entire Kshatriya line through his military prowess, before he invented the term “buried the hatchet” in the ocean, creating my native land. These in no way detract from our devotion to Sanatana Dharma. So much for the Pollock/PRC Fallacies.

So I will state my small peeve with Shri Malhotra’s nomenclature in all due humility, though I completely understand the pressures that forced him to adopt it. The word is Samskrtam. The truncated ending preferred by newbies such as Hindiwallahs, is not the original. As Shri Rajiv points out accurately, the language known as Hindi derived from Samskrtam, corrupted (some would say ‘enriched’ which is often the same thing) by Persian influence. Why was Hindi called Hindi? Because it was associated with “Hind” the illiterate foreigners’ version of Sindhu, from Sapta Sindhu. The fashionable but uncivilized “Sans-Krit” means nothing. From here on I will call it Samskrtam, as it has been called in our society since long before the South Asian Faculty’s Martial Aryans came clanking down the Khyber Pass in their horse-drawn Portoilets and supposedly drove my ancestors down to our mountain-walled perch in the deep South. But I digress.

The Importance of the Non-Translatables

Reading on, a big concern is that ‘western’ or ‘outsider’ dabblers refuse to recognize the oral traditions of Sanatana Dharma and hence of Samskrtam. Malhotra refers repeatedly to the knowledge that only exists as “vibrations”, anon-translatable series of knowledge communication protocols that are nevertheless an utterly vital part of Samskrtam and our entire line of knowledge. There are non-translatable words denoting cultural concepts that have no equivalent in English, and there are non-translatables that are simply not translatable into any language.

Just this morning I was studying a paper written by someone from the Chinese People’s Liberation Army on how to use millimeter waves focused on someone’s throat to detect and decode what they were saying. Speech decoding by vibration analysis. Come to think of it, that was 94 GigaHertz, a frequency that gets absorbed in the skin and causes extreme pain. So the subjects of that research, whose speech – probably screaming or 400% Voluntary Confessions – was recorded, may have been Tibetan Splittists or other Bourgeoise Revisionist Camp Followers of the Paper Tigers of Capitalist Imperialism, whom the PLA fights with its might to protect good People’s Politburo Members and their small trillion-dollar sweatshops in the Gobi Desert Re-Education and Rock-Breaking Resorts. Then again, I remember some of my friends who ventured out to see if the Vaimanika Sastra indeed contained detailed instructions on how to cut titanium and build hypersonic, VTOL amphibious transatmospheric vehicles light and pretty enough to be called a Pushpaka Vimana, starting with dog-eared Xerox copies of Samskrtam verses.

All futile endeavors. The learning, what little we can achieve is in the studying and practice. Great minds regardless of geography, race, religion or epoch, have understood this.

“More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of”

as Alfred Tennyson imagined the dying King Arthur telling his grieving ale-sodden Crusader buddies.

This is the Faith part. The knowledge that each ancient sloka and rk and othconvey is not necessarily in the words, nor indeed in acoustic signatures for translation. It is probably in the nonlinear system-level interactions that these have with the minds and bodies and the genes and the whole inner being of those transmitting and receiving them. Do you understand the psuedo-techno-gibberish I just wrote? It sounds good but I don’t.

And unfortunately, in my field, editors don’t publish papers unless reviewers can understand them

I have tried to discuss what I can, from the 10 percent of my limited brain that I am supposedly able to use, to explain this concept, in the introductory book mentioned at the end of this post, so I will not belabor the point here.

While the great minds have understood this, inflated egos and university furniture are not necessarily in that category, their gifted minds are too clouded by pomp and power and pelf.

This sacred knowledge, as much as I can understand, is the crux of the ‘sruti’, entrusted from long before there were humans, through myriad generations and mutations and evolutions, to be transferred and preserved for posterity. As science advances, and human brains perhaps improve, perhaps those who follow us might make sense of more and more of this. Remember that the succinct Vedas, and particularly the Srimad Bhagavad Gita, were the devices to spread at least parts of the knowledge as far and wide as possible among humans, rendering it difficult for the Rakshasas to steal, hide and monopolize it. This is an exceptionally important point, very little appreciated by most of us because we take it so much for granted. But if you look at the first 2 or 3 Avataras, they were all about incessant struggles, wars, fought over thousands of years to recover and protect the knowledge base from the Rakshasas. A point that, with all veneration and humility, I would commend and emphasize to Their Holinesses at Sringeri and all other centers of study on Sanatana Dharma.

Malhotra points out accurately that entrusting translation and decoding of such traditions to outsiders is as smart as (my analogy, not RM’s: giving your AMOLED-screened Smartphone to very highly trained ourangutans to translate). Dear, energetic and intelligent creatures that they are cannot be expected to see much beyond the colors on the screen, send a few text messages, and that not for long before they smash it and move on to something new to mess up.

SOP

In particular, it is easy to understand the fundamental incompetence of the Marxist-influenced PRC and their fundamentalist counterparts in places such as Emory or U. Chicago or Princeton Seminary, in grasping or respecting our oral traditions. The Fundamentalists, the Marxists and the ISIS all go by The Book: either The Book (aka Bible or Holy Quran) or Das Kapital. All reduce everything to WRITTEN commandments. Let me paint a picture, with deep apologies for any sentiments I may offend unintentionally, but with a need to state a succinct point:

Moses came down from Mt. Sinai carrying a set of heavy stone tablets, not pieces of palm leaves with papyrus reed scrawls on them. Understandable. Had those instructions been oral, or scrawled, the Commandments might have got a bit confused. Imagine!

Moses, ol’ buddy, r u sure He didn’t say “Thou shalt Love Thy Neighbor/ Covet His Wife as Thine Own?” Did He say “Thou Shalt, or Shan’t Commit Adultery?” “Do or Don’t Take in Vain the Name of Thy Lord”?

No wonder those had to be written in stone. Fixed. Non-negotiable. Slam-dunk. Standard Operating Procedure. No thinking or debate tolerated. Duh! Soon after, the Christians started writing down their Testament, branching out from the Chronicles then available in the Middle East. The later belief system of Islam, likewise, got things written down in their Book, the Holy Quran. One is not allowed to post quotes from that gentle Religion of Peace, so I won’t.

So did Karl Marx, much admired at the PRC, come to think of it, write down precise procedures. To paraphrase and avoid morbid phrases:

“The Idol-Worshipping Capitalists Will Send Us the Donations With Which To Destroy Their Own Traditions”.

Did this solve their problems and get them to actually observe these Written SOP? Search Google with terms such as “Crusades”. “Inquisition”. “South American Genocide”. “Native American Genocide”. “African Slavery”. “Sir Francis Drake, Pirate”. “Bolshevik Revolution”. “Gulag”. “Shia-Sunni”. “Armenian Genocide”. “Tartar Invasions”. “Vijayanagaram”. “Mohammed of Ghazni”. “Islamic Invasions”. Oops! Now corrected in California’s textbooks, by the kind intervention of the South Asia Faculty, staunch supporters of the PRC and co-Petition-Signors of Dr. Sheldon Pollock to “Gentle expansions of influence into India”.

HD 4K or bust!

If you think a bit, you see that this was the natural progression of technology. My esteemed niece’s generation, for instance, abhors paper books, and believes nothing unless it is on Facebook, or sent as SMS, now via WhatsUp. A few years from now, with most ‘hardcopy’ libraries demolished or turned into video game arcades, their Great Historical Debates will be on whether WhatsApp came first, or Twitter. They will accept nothing that is not rendered in HD 4K, 3D. Paper books? Bah-Humbug!

So those brought up in Book-dictated, latter-day belief systems such as the Furniture at the PRC, cannot be expected to have any aptitude for accepting oral traditions. Q.E.D.

Stay tuned… I’m beginning to get the gist of this book…

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On the other hand, I HAVE learned Catholicism from a Catholic Convent, St. Joseph’s of Gampola, Sri Lanka, nationalized in bloody riots the day I ended kindergarten and was passed harmlessly over the locked gates by the rival mobs who took a ceasefire to do that. I learned Islam for 5 years in an Islamic College, the #1 Ranked College in Gampola. And I have attended enough sermons in the Protestant Churches in America to know the difference in standards of religious understanding and acceptance: y’all in yore hi-falutin’ collegiate furniture and yore Vasco Da Gama costumes with dem frilled sleeves and powdered wigs, cyaint hold a candle to the gentle, civilized people of Gampola or Trissur of decades ago.

Thanks!

Musings on Rajiv Malhotra’s THE BATTLE FOR SANSKRIT. Part 1: Starting 2 Read

https://narayanankomerath.wordpress.com/2016/04/29/musings-on-rajiv-malhotras-battle-for-sanskrit-part-1-starting-2-read/Preface & Disclaimer: No one paid me to write this Review. No one sent me the book: I bought it of my own accord, paying my money, straight from the Infinity Foundation. I have never written a book review before, and no one in their right mind would ask me to – please read on 2 c y. So this is certainly not a crisp, concise Review full of brilliant constructs and deep perspective. It is a rambling monologue. But that is my style of book reviewing, as I have just discovered.

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My niece 199y giggled on the phone that a (namesake of urs truly) from Oxford, England, gave a lecture the other day at her Catholic-Church run college on the occasion of the 400th something of Shakespeare. Located in Atlanta, GA, I would not have heard that Sheikh Bill bin Speare was that old. But I knew enough about the history of Robert Clive starting his genocidal scams, and of Her Imperial Majesty ordering the fingers of North Indian silk weavers cut off to subsidize Sheffield and Birmingham products, to realize that 2016 had to be the death not birth centenary of the Sheikh. But let us ponder that for a moment, braving the shudders as I remember reading of P.G. Wodehouse’s Bertie Wooster giving an Inspiring Lecture at a girls’ school. Obviously the College places much value on learning English literature and celebrating the lives of English writers – in fact an alumna neighbor famously asked decades ago “Why should one even converse in (her native) Tamil once one knows English?”

Is there anything wrong with the College’s emphasis? Compare it to New York colleges that even give out degrees to the semi-literate offspring of political leaders, or to the people who write for The Hindu. Parents scramble to get their daughters into this college for a superlative if somewhat West-gazing education. I can point to a galaxy of alumnae whose lives attest to the quality of that education. Are these alumnae somehow not quite Indian patriots? Were I to suggest that, I would be run off Facebook, besides the Fatwas flying at me next time I venture into my ancestral neighborhood.

I presume that I can point to numerous Indian colleges where there are Furnitured Professors delving into arcane aspects of Shakespearean or Dickensian literature. My own late grandmother, a pioneering post-graduate of the Madras Presidency College, used to reel off quotes, which is where I learned to sing the praises of so-called South Asian Faculty (‘When shall we three meet again, in thunder, lightning or in rain?”) So, would Her Majesty the Namesake of the Sheikh’s Patron, and the guardians of The Queen’s English, harrumph and snort at the atrocity of Indians in post-colonial “Injya” ‘stealing’ their precious language? Would they declare a Battle For English to be in progress? After all, today in the world, the majority of English speakers are of Indian origin, and this ‘normal’ English is what we speak: the others have strange and quaint accents: Bilayati, Scotch, Irish, Welsh, MidWest-American, Southern, New Yorkish, Australian, South African, French, North European, or Carribbean. The King’s English is dead, ta-ta. Hasn’t English been hijacked, what-what, I say?

On the other hand, I doubt that I would go to an American university to study Japanese literature and history. Or Chinese literature. Spanish in Brazil? German, or French literature in Moscow?* Argentina to learn Arabic? Or Beijing to learn Latin literature? I presume that better courses, better archives, better scholars and better authorities on each of these are found in the nations of origin of these languages.*To be fair, the owner of “Nikolai’s Roof”, the most expensive Russian restaurant in Atlanta, famously responded when cornered on the lack of Russian items on his menu: “The Tsar Nikolai preferred French cuisine!” Never mind, I couldn’t afford a glass of Bordeaux there, let aloneTruffles a Vladivostok avec les Escargots Writhinges.

Let me stretch that thought. Would I seek to learn Authoritative Islamic literature at Donald Trump University rather than, say, in Riyadh or Mecca? Or Catholicism in Islamabad? Or in the Baptist Deep South of the USA? Protestantism in Rio? Judaism in Jakarta? Vegetarianism in Papua-New Guinea? Why then would one seek to learn Sanskrit, the language of Sanatana Dharma, in New York?

Ah! But the Quality of the Institution, you say. Let us subject that to some objective criteria. The US News &World Report, published from New York, staffed mostly with graduates from the Columbia University School of Journalism, ranks Columbia University #4 among the universities that they know. I doubt that many of them could get into an IIT IIM or NIT, let alone my niece’s College. In the days when I lived in my hometown, I too ranked the 4 Colleges in/around my hometown within a radius similar to the distance from Manhattan to Boston, as the Best 4 In The Whole Known Dunia. Just like “The Masked Monster” was Ranked Number 1 in the (Georgia) World Championship Wrestling conducted every day at the Atlanta Omni Dome. My roommate in graduate school, now an anti-ballistic missile genius in the stratospheric layers of the DRDO or whatever, never missed a showing of that on Channel 17. If they manage to shoot down the next hydrogen bomb coming in over New Delhi, remember to thank me for not aiming a ballistic bowl of Narayanan’s Haute Cuisine Macaroni avec le Fromage through that TV set.

But from the point of view of rich and successful desis in the US, fixated as most desis are on external Rankings and Accolades, it would be a coup de les coups to have Columbia University establish Adi Sankara Furniture in Sanskrit Studies. With no less than the most famous Sanskrit Professor in America, after Witzel and Doniger, hand-picking the chair-warmer from a well-lobotomized cohort of South Asia graduates from the above 3 entities. Ultimate recognition of authority and excellence, no, yaar? Naxal Ram would gush in The Hindu about how Hinduism had finally Arrived, best coup since Vivekananda spread his pearls of wisdom before a bunch of illiterate bigots wallowing at the Chicago World Parliament of Religions (run by predecessors of those who run Georgia World Championship Wresting, but that’s another matter). Gushing interview with Sheila Bhatt of India Abroad. Another slam at the unwashed Hindu Right on OutLook. Another exclusive to Tehelka slamming the Modi Government’s Genocide against JNU terrorist-admirers. Even a footnote on Page 23 of The Noo Yoik Crimes!

What is wrong with that? You won’t find the answer in the New York Times. You will find it in Rajiv Malhotra’s book. I was sufficiently intrigued to go and spend my own money, a well-spent $20 + shipping at the Infinity Foundation website for a 480-page hard-bound tome, surprisingly light and safe to read in bed with no danger of having one’s nose smashed. I have started reading it, but I read real slow. Stay tuned!

Update:

Apparently some desis decided that it would be a great idea to give a ton of money to Columbia U. to set up an Adi Sankara line of Furniture. Teach Sanskrit and make American students Sanskrit, meaning cultured. Might work wonders for the Protectors of the Proletariat at the People’s Republic of Columbia (PRC), as the University is lovingly described in America. And to head the Committee to pick the occupant to warm said Furniture, with the Donors being completely shut out of the process, the PRC appointed a certain professor who can read Sanskrit, himself warming some other Furniture. The name seems familiar – it may be because a former student of his – (which means a PRC alum?) was involved in some slimy deal where some fundamentalist cleric tried to accuse Rajiv Malhotra of ‘plagiarism’, trying to posture as a Princeton Professor, and after due investigation, was laughed off the Internet. Hmmm!!! Not a great endorsement for the PRC, that.

Mr. Malhotra appears to have reacted like my pet cat Snowy used to do when the neighbor’s mutt came by – and rightfully so. He seems to have got the Sringeri establishment to maybe half open an eye from their deep meditation, and pay a bit of attention before it was too late.

Having stated these things up front, Mr. Mahotra advises the reader to read the Conclusions before venturing deeper into the book. Suits me fine, this is exactly how I “read” technical papers. So far I have not been able to find any pictures in the book.

Now let us ponder for a moment whether there were/are good alternatives to this business of Setting Up a Chair and donating millions of dollars and lending an honored Name to a specific person at a specific university. Indians and Indian-Americans have discovered this great idea – the Stamp of High Society adopted by various super-rich Americans in the past.

What exactly is a University Chair?

Most universities provide a reasonably comfortable chair for each of their faculty offices. In some places, the Chair has to be purchased through the State Purchasing entity, where the boss may or may not have struck a deal with some local fly-by-nite outfit to provide lo-lo-quality at hi-hi-prices. The best deals, in my limited experience, are the hand-me-downs through State Surplus where the State Government Administrators dump REAL high-quality chairs after a year or 2. In my office, I have the Komerath Chair. Back in 1991 or so, my old Navy Surplus chair developed a habit of leaving its castors behind when I tried to move. I conveyed this sad fact to the School Director (now they call that entity a Chair too), and he generously donated the nice, high-back leather chair that he had just discarded, with only a few tears where the hi-quality cotton stuffing can be visually and posteriorously experienced. I still have it. I put my 20-lb bookbag and rain jacket on it.

But I digress.

A few years ago I read in the Chennai newspaper about the Chancellor of a new Self-Financed Engineering College in Chennai. “My mother would be so proud of me!” His Excellency gushed. “For the first time in my life I am running a business that is legitimate!”

Besides being a legal way of making money, a private university is also a great way to, say, launder a name. Leland Stanford made his money, and his name, as a Railroad (some add “Robber” but I wouldn’t) Baron. Perhaps he had the ghosts of a few hundred Chinese and Indian workers haunting his home on the rare occasions when he spared a thought for that human cost of hammering a railroad through the Sierra Nevada or Rockies, building those dizzy viaducts and trellises, and carving ledges around terrifying cliffs. To be fair, the historical accounts now found at Stanford university claim that Chinese railroad workers were paid the same as Caucasian ones – as long as they survived. They just had to work about twice as long and hard, to pay the various baksheesh demands of the (Caucasian) supervisors etc. and maybe do some of the most dangerous work. There were Indian (I mean East Indian) workers there too, but I can’t find any writeup on them by the South Asia Furniture. Mr. Stanford then paid to build a university – and who can deny that this has done an immense amount of good? The key was, eventually, to hand over the key to trustworthy, super-able people to hire people who would turn into fabulous Star scholars – and not mess with the day-to-day administration and petty pompous griping of said Stars. “Spare me that!” He prayed. Leave that to the Deans whom I pay far more generously than I paid those workers, he wisely decided.

This is the well-honed American tradition of Endowing University Resources. Get the university/stadium/building/auditorium/classroom/faculty Chair named after you – or someone who will tell everyone that it is actually you who donated. And then sign that agreement saying that you cannot be sued when whoever was hired, was denied tenure or otherwise sued the university. The best deal would be an Anonymous Donor status – perhaps helps a lot with not unduly alerting the IRS, SEC and FINCEN as well.

What does the Chair do? The business plan is that you donate – starting price for a Full Professor Chair at a well-known university, rather than an Associate Professor Bench or an Assistant Processor Stool is $3M, up from $2M about a decade ago, but I have heard of Chairs as high as $7M. You take your tax writeoff. The university invests through its Foundation, buying stock in, say, BlackWater Security or Halliburton Reconstructions, or ENRON or American Airlines or Marlboro Cigarettes or Johny Walker Whisky, and, perhaps, your own company. The Chair is guaranteed, say, 2 percent on the investment ( in old days, it was 6 percent but now interest rates are dismal). The rest goes into the Foundation to fund worthy causes such as business-class travel and office renovations for the new Associate VP for Fundraising.

The above income from the Chair to the individual School makes its way at least in part to the control, not the wallet, of the person warming the Chair, to use as s(he) pleases, within the laws of the State. In public universities, that would pay for trips to conferences that externally-sponsored research grants would not fund (political conferences, for starters unless one’s grant is in politics). Host visitors from India for a short trip to discuss further funding. Etc etc. In private universities (I believe Columbia is one such), much of the faculty salary also comes from this income. That is the Self-Financed University model in the US. $69,048 per year in fees per undergraduate student doesn’t even begin to cover the expenses of a University in Manhattan, you know…

In public universities, the deal is simple: they use the carrot of a Chair to get someone to move there, and the Expectation is also very simple: the same as Endowing a Chair on the Lower Propulsion Deck of a Roman Galleon. Row, row, row, row! Bring in 10 to 100 times the money in external grants that the Chair gives you. Build up programs, visibility, or we will kick you out. The Endowers of the Chair are a distant memory in the daily grind.

What does this buy, as far as, say, the name of Adi Sankara? I don’t think Adi Sankara cares much any more, but some of us might, because He is such an important part of our tradition. Let’s muse on that. Papers on The Achievements of Adi Sankara? A conference on The True Meaning of Advaita? Maybe, though highly unlikely – they don’t sound Scholarly. BUT.. perhaps as RM hints, not to put words into his word processor, also “innovative” papers such as The Role of Hindu Propaganda in Suppressing the Rights of Dalits. Petitions to Ban the Chief Minister of Gujarat from Visiting the USA. Petitions to Deny Funding to the Kushta Nivaran Sangh (Leprosy Relief Organization) or the Vatsalya Trust Orphanage. Petitions to Condemn the Indian Government for Denying the Fundamental Right of JNU students to celebrate the Birth Anniversary of executed terrorists who murdered 6 Delhi Police personnel defending India’s Parliament. A book like “Ganesa, Lord of Obstacles” theobscene hate creation of Phaullus * Courtright, the (Endowed Chair) professor from Emory University. The hate-filled Nazi-like Indo-Eurasian Research Forum hosted by/for Michael Witzel, the Wales (endowed chair) Professor of Sanskrit at Harvard University, the hate literature of (Endowed Chair) Professor Wendy Doniger of U. Chicago.

Note: As I found out from my Palestinian and Iranian classmates long ago, “Palestine” is an anglicized corruption of what real Middle Easterners call it: “Philistine”. Likewise, the name “Paul” is, from my deep psycho-linguistic analysis, an Anglicized corruption of the Roman Paulus, from the Greek-corrupted Paulose, from the original Middle Easter corrupted Ango-Roman corruption of the original Middle Eastern “Phaullus”. Thus psycho-analysis for once, convincingly gives a rationale behind the obsessive focus of research of some people.

And there is not a blessed thing that the Sringeri people can do about that, once they have signed over the name of Adi Sankara. Which is RM’s point.

Now are there other ways that generous Indian-Americans could support scholarship on our traditions? Absolutely, and they are smart enough to figure that out with no help from me. For instance, they could give out an ANNUAL award for excellence in scholarship, carefully selecting the recipient using a Panel that they establish, hand-pick (and monitor). This would bring His name to the front every year, and encourage real scholarship. Scholarships named after him, to a set of talented youngsters to pursue knowledge in the spirit and tradition of Adi Sankara, at various universities. The difference is that in all of these, the fundamental tenet is conveyed:

“Thou shalt not bite the hand that fed thee”

RM maintains that given the overwhelming dominance of entities inimical to Sanatana Dharma in the US academic establishment, funding a Chair at Columbia U. is as bad as airdropping anti-tank rocket launchers in Syria – in a region where the ISIS is bound to grab them. It matters little that the airdrop shipment says in big letters:

“To Be Used to Fight Against the ISIS Onlee Yaaar!”

I agree 100% with that concern.

********************************************************************

Thanks! n.k.

https://narayanankomerath.wordpress.com/2016/04/29/musings-on-rajiv-malhotras-battle-for-sanskrit-part-1-starting-2-read/

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Prima donna SoniaG Agusta scam: Within days, Haschke and Khaitan joined board of Emaar-MGF

May 2, 2016, 11:14 pm

≫ Next: Rakhigarhi, capital of Sarasvati Civilization? -- Prof. Vasant Shinde

≪ Previous: Narayan Komerath's musings on Rajiv Malhotra’s The Battle for Sanskrit (4 parts)

Within days, Haschke and Khaitan joined board of Emaar-MGF

Written by Sandeep Singh | New Delhi | Updated: May 3, 2016 7:35 am

Kanishka Singh is a close relative of Shravan Gupta, the managing director of Emaar MGF Land. Somaiya alleged that Singh is an aide of Gandhi and their connections should be checked.

On September 25, 2009, as first reported in The Indian Express, Emaar MGF Group appointed Guido Ralph Haschke, one of the accused in the AgustaWestland case, on the board of Emaar MGF Land Ltd.

Records from the Registrar of Companies show that just three weeks earlier, on September 3, 2009, the company had also appointed Delhi lawyer Gautam Khaitan, another accused in the scam, on its board as an additional director and later redesignated him as a director on the board on November 25, 2009. Haschke quit the board on December 7, 2009.

While both these persons have been arrested in the past for allegedly laundering bribe money in the AgustaWestland deal, both were also together on the board of a Chandigarh-based firm called Aeromatrix, an “engineering and design support services organization.”

Aeromatrix was incorporated in 2009 and its last reported Annual General Meeting was in September 2012.

Khaitan resigned from the Aeromatrix board after allegations surfaced against the company in 2012.

He was the first person in India to be arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on September 23, 2014. In October 2012, Haschke was arrested by police in Switzerland in connection with the deal to sell a fleet of Agusta VVIP choppers to India.

The political slugfest over the deal resurfaced Monday with BJP MP Kirit Somaiya, in a letter to the chiefs of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate(ED), asking the investigating agencies to “check” the alleged connections of a political aide of the Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi with a middleman in the AgustaWestland chopper deal.

Also read: Govt defers Agusta-Tata joint venture; FIPB took decision on April 8, day after Milan verdict

Kanishka Singh is a close relative of Shravan Gupta, the managing director of Emaar MGF Land. Somaiya alleged that Singh is an aide of Gandhi and their connections should be checked.

Asked by The Indian Express why Haschke was named on the Emaar-MGF board, Singh said he “has absolutely nothing to do with the matter” and that he “has been on estranged terms with the Rajiv Gupta family (Emaar-MGF) who, though related, fell out in 2005 when Rajiv Gupta propounded a Will of Shri Ved Prakash Gupta”, which, Kanishka Singh and his mother say “is a case of forgery and fabrication, and the matter has been pending in court since then.”

While Gautam Khaitan did not respond to a message sent late in the evening, the spokesperson of Emaar MGF Land, in response to a query, said: “While Mr Guido R Haschke was an independent non-executive director for an extremely brief period of approximately two months i.e. September 25, 2009 to December 7, 2009, Emaar MGF has had no association with him or any of his businesses/associates other than this.”

He further said that, “He (Haschke) did not attend any board meeting during his tenure of appointment and infact has never visited our offices at any time nor has had any meetings with any of our officials at any time. Furthermore, he has not represented the company in any forum at any time.”

Asked why was Haschke on the board, he said: “Haschke was a registered consultant to the World Bank..and was appointed on the basis of his experience (in the) international financial sector.”

India had in 2010 signed a Rs 3,546 crore deal with AgustaWestland to purchase 12 AW 101 choppers for use by VVIPs including the President and Prime Minister.

http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/agustawestland-deal-chopper-within-days-haschke-and-khaitan-joined-board-of-emaar-mgf-2781571/99/print/

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Rakhigarhi, capital of Sarasvati Civilization? -- Prof. Vasant Shinde

May 2, 2016, 11:21 pm

≫ Next: Rakhigarhi Indus script metalwork catalogues deciphered. Capital settlement of Sarasvati-Sindhu civilization (224 hectares). Kudos to Dr. Vasant Shinde

≪ Previous: Prima donna SoniaG Agusta scam: Within days, Haschke and Khaitan joined board of Emaar-MGF

CAPITAL OF CIVILISATION

Rakhigarhi more important than Mohenjo Daro: Data

Published on: May 3, 2016, 1:05 AM

Workers carry out excavation work at Rakhigarhi village in Hisar district. Photo: Sunil Phogat

Deepender Deswal

Tribune News Service

Rakhigarhi (Hisar), May 2

Archaeological findings and scientific data have indicated that Rakhigarhi had been the more important centre of the Indus Valley Civilisation than the townships of Harappa and Mohenjo Daro located in Pakistan.

The team of archaeologists revealed that the excavation at this site is all set to change the view that Mohenjo Daro was the capital city of the Indus Valley Civilisation. “Instead, the scientific data collected on the basis excavations here have strongly pointed that Rakhigarhi, a metropolis, was perhaps the capital of its times about 5,000 years ago,” said Prof Vasant Shinde, in charge of the excavation and Vice Chancellor of Deccan College, Pune. Deccan College and the Haryana archaeological department have been jointly carrying out the excavation at the site from last three years.

To prove his point, Prof Shinde said this site was spread in over 550 hectares, which is about double than that of the Mohenjo Daro site, which was considered the biggest site till now.

“We have collected evidences of massive manufacturing and trade activities in this town, which revealed the economic organisation and the foreign links of people here. They had trade links with people in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Baluchistan and even Afghanistan. The city flourished during the early Harappan era dating back to around 3,300 BC and existed till 2000 BC,” he said.

Moreover, the DNA samples collected from the skeletons at the cemetery here are set to crack a major mystery surrounding their lives, character, diseases and race of the people who lived here 5,000 years ago.

“Scientists have, for the first time ever, succeeded in extracting DNA from the skeletons of the Indus Valley Civilisation. More skeletons have been found during the ongoing excavation season from mound no.2 for further analysis. Three different institutes of world repute are conducting the DNA analysis for a foolproof study, so that there is no scope of any contradiction,” Prof Shinde said.

He said this was the best and most unexplored site related to the Indus Valley Civilisation so far. “So much material is available here that it would take 100 years to complete the study on uninhabited mounds on the outskirts of the village.

Health Minister Anil Vij, who visited the site on Saturday, said since Rakhigarhi was turning out to be the biggest and most crucial Harappan site in the world, the state government had decided to set up a museum, research centre and a hostel for the researchers in the village.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/haryana/rakhigarhi-more-important-than-mohenjo-daro-data/231004.html

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Rakhigarhi Indus script metalwork catalogues deciphered. Capital settlement of Sarasvati-Sindhu civilization (224 hectares). Kudos to Dr. Vasant Shinde

May 3, 2016, 5:45 am

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Mirror: http://tinyurl.com/zat4ty2

Kudos to Archaeology team of Deccan College, Pune for unraveling the largest settlement of Sarasvati-Sindhu civilization at Rakhigarhi spread over 224 hectares
Copper mirror, Rakhigarhi

Copper object, Rakhigarhi

http://asi.nic.in/pdf_data/rakhigarhi_excavation_report_new.pdf

I deem it a privilege to report on an overview report on Rakhigarhi excavations by Dr. Vasant Shinde in an article titled, 'Harappan civilization: current perspective and its contribution'.

The article appeared on Feb. 1, 2016 on sindhology.org website. I reproduce the article in full because of its importance discussing the finds from Rakhigarhi which is now the largest site of the Sarasvati-Sindhu (Indus Valley) Civilization, spread over 224 hectares.

The work of Shinde's Pune Deccan College young archaeologists' team is brilliant, by any archaeological standards, carried out in a space which merges with the present-day villages with occupied areas in a densely populated region of Hissar Dist., Haryana, near Delhi, restricting the areas allowed for digging and exploratio without upsetting the lives of the living.

The challenge to unravel the civilization of ca. 3500 BCE surrounded by people living in the area in houses which have been contructed over the ancient settlement structures is extraordinary and all credit goes to the Pune Deccan College team of young archaeologists, led by Shinde.

Indus Script inscriptions discovered in Rakhigarhi

RG1 Seal remnant. (See decipherment given below)
RG2 Potsherd karNaka 'rim of jar' rebus: karNI 'supercargo' dula 'pair' rebus: dul 'cast metal' sal 'splinter' rebus: sal 'workshop'. Thus supercargo of cast metal workshop. dhAu 'strands' rebus: dhAu 'element, minerals' kamaTha 'bow and arrow' rebus: kammaTa 'mint, coiner'.
One-horned young bull. RG3. Seal and Seal impression. Mound 4
Seal. RG4 3cm.square. dhAu 'strand' rebus: dhAu 'element, mineral' kolmo 'rice plant' rebus: kolami 'smithy, forge' Thus minerals smithy/forge. For decipherment of hieroglyph-multiplex of one-horned young bull PLUS standard device, see decipherment given below.
Seal fragment RG6 kanac 'corner' rebus: kancu 'bronze' sal 'splinter' rebus: sal 'workshop' Thus, bronze workshop PLUS ayo khambhaṛā 'fish-fin', ayas 'metal' PLUS kammaTa 'mint'

RG5 Rakhigarhi seal.

Decipherment of Seal RG5 Rakhigarhi. Note: The splitting of the ellipse 'ingot' into Right and Left parethesis and flipping the left parenthesis (as a mirror image) may be an intention to denote cire perdue casting method used to produce the metal swords and implements. The entire inscription or metalwork catalogue message on Rakhigarhi seal can be deciphered:

This circumgraph of right-curving and left-curving parentheses encloses an 'arrow' hieroglyph PLUS a 'notch'. khāṇḍā A jag, notch, or indentation (as upon the edge of a tool' rebus: khaNDa 'implements'. Thus the hieroglyph-multiplex signifies: ingot for implements.

kaNDa 'implements/weapons' (Rhinoceros) PLUS खााडा [ kāṇḍā ] 'weapons' PLUS mūhā 'cast ingots'(Left and Right parentheses as split rhombus or ellipse).

Thus, the supercargo consignment documented by this metalwork catalogue on Rakhigarhi seal is: metal (alloy) swords, metal (alloy) implements, metal cast ingots.

Hieroglyph: gaṇḍá4 m. ʻ rhinoceros ʼ lex., °aka -- m. lex. 2. *ga- yaṇḍa -- . [Prob. of same non -- Aryan origin as khaḍgá -- 1: cf. gaṇōtsāha -- m. lex. as a Sanskritized form ← Mu. PMWS 138]1. Pa. gaṇḍaka -- m., Pk. gaṁḍaya -- m., A. gãr, Or. gaṇḍā.2. K. gö̃ḍ m.,S. geṇḍo m. (lw. with g -- ), P. gaĩḍā m., °ḍī f., N. gaĩṛo, H. gaĩṛā m., G. gẽḍɔ m., °ḍī f., M. gẽḍā m.Addenda: gaṇḍa -- 4. 2. *gayaṇḍa -- : WPah.kṭg. geṇḍɔ mirg m. ʻ rhinoceros ʼ, Md. genḍā ← (CDIAL 4000) காண்டாமிருகம் kāṇṭā-mirukam , n. [M. kāṇṭāmṛgam.] Rhinoceros;

கல்யானை. খাঁড়া (p. 0277) [ khān̐ḍ়ā ] n a large falchion used in immolat ing beasts; a large falchion; a scimitar; the horny appendage on the nose of the rhinoceros.গণ্ডক (p. 0293) [ gaṇḍaka ] n the rhinoceros; an obstacle; a unit of counting in fours; a river of that name.গন্ডার (p. 0296) [ ganḍāra ] n the rhinoceros.(Bengali. Samsad-Bengali-English Dictionary) गेंडा [ gēṇḍā ] m ( H) A rhinoceros. (Marathi) Rebus: kāṇḍa 'tools, pots and pans and weapons' (Marathi)

An alternative hieroglyph is a rhombus or ellipse (created by merging the two forms: parnthesis PLUS fipped parenthesis) to signify an 'ingot': mũhã̄ = the quantity of iron produced at one time in a native smelting furnace of the Kolhes; iron produced by the Kolhes and formed like a four-cornered piece a little pointed at each end (Munda).

This circumgraph of right-curving and left-curving parentheses encloses an 'arrow' hieroglyph PLUS a 'notch'.

Hieroglyph: kANDa 'arrow' Rebus: kaṇḍ 'fire-altar' (Santali) kāṇḍa 'tools, pots and pans and weapons' (Marathi)

This gloss is consistent with the Santali glosses including the word khanDa:

Rakhigarhi seal with the carving of a tiger is reported by Prof. Shinde of Deccan College.

Here is a decipherment using the rebus-metonymy layered Indus Scipt cipher in Meluhha language of Indian sprachbund (language union):

kul ‘tiger’ (Santali); kōlu id. (Telugu) kōlupuli = Bengal tiger (Telugu)

कोल्हा [ kōlhā ] कोल्हें [kōlhēṃ] A jackal (Marathi)

Rebus: kol, kolhe, ‘the koles, iron smelters speaking a language akin to that

of Santals’ (Santali) kol ‘working in iron’ (Tamil)

I suggest that the language spoken by the Sarasvati's children was Meluhha

(Mleccha), a spoken, vernacular version of Vedic chandas. This may also be

called Proto-Prakritam, not unlike Ardhamaadhi identified by Jules Bloch in

his work: Formation of Marathi Language.

From l. to r. kolmo 'three' rebus: kolimi 'smithy, forge'; kuṭilika 'bent, curved' dula 'pair' rebus: kuṭila, katthīl = bronze (8 parts copper and 2 parts tin); muh 'ingot' PLUS baTa 'quail' rebus: bhaTa 'furnace' PLUS sal 'splinter' rebus: sal 'workshop' bicha 'scorpion' rebus: bicha 'haematite'; tutta 'goad' rebus: tuttha 'zinc sulphate'; dATu 'cross' rebus: dhatu 'mineral' karNaka 'rim of jar' rebus: karNI 'supercargo' karNika 'helmsman'. The one-horned bull (PLUS a standard device) signify a turner PLUS sangaD 'lathe' rebus: sangrah, 'catalogue' of shipment products.

A three-centimetre seal with the Harappan script. It has no engraving of any animal motif.

Source: http://www.frontline.in/arts-and-culture/heritage/harappan-surprises/article6032206.ece

See:

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2015/05/what-did-harappans-eat-how-did-they.html

http://asi.nic.in/pdf_data/rakhigarhi_excavation_report_new.pdf

Hieroglyph: sãgaḍ, 'lathe' (Meluhha) Rebus 1: sãgaṛh , 'fortification' (Meluhha). Rebus 2:sanghAta 'adamantine glue'. Rebus 3:

sangāṭh संगाठ् 'assembly, collection'. Rebus 4: sãgaḍa 'double-canoe, catamaran'.

Hieroglyph: one-horned young bull: खोंड (p. 216) [ khōṇḍa ] m A young bull, a bullcalf. Rebus: कोंद kōnda ‘engraver, lapidary setting or infixing gems’ (Marathi)

Hieroglyph: one-horned young bull: खोंड (p. 216) [ khōṇḍa ] m A young bull, a bullcalf.

Rebus: कोंद kōnda ‘engraver, lapidary setting or infixing gems’ (Marathi) खोदगिरी [ khōdagirī ] f Sculpture, carving, engraving.

ko_d.iya, ko_d.e = young bull; ko_d.elu = plump young bull; ko_d.e = a. male as in: ko_d.e du_d.a = bull calf; young, youthful (Te.lex.)

Hieroglyph: ko_t.u = horns (Ta.) ko_r (obl. ko_t-, pl. ko_hk) horn of cattle or wild animals (Go.); ko_r (pl. ko_hk), ko_r.u (pl. ko_hku) horn (Go.); kogoo a horn (Go.); ko_ju (pl. ko_ska) horn, antler (Kui)(DEDR 2200). Homonyms: kohk (Go.), gopka_ = branches (Kui), kob = branch (Ko.) gorka, gohka spear (Go.) gorka (Go)(DEDR 2126).

खोंड (p. 216) [ khōṇḍa ] m A young bull, a bullcalf. 2

kot.iyum = a wooden circle put round the neck of an animal; kot. = neck (G.lex.) [cf. the orthography of rings on the neck of one-horned young bull].खोंड (p. 216) [ khōṇḍa ]A variety of जोंधळा.खोंडरूं (p. 216) [ khōṇḍarūṃ ] n A contemptuous form of खोंडा in the sense of कांबळा-cowl.खोंडा (p. 216) [ khōṇḍā ] m A कांबळा of which one end is formed into a cowl or hood. 2 fig. A hollow amidst hills; a deep or a dark and retiring spot; a dell. 3 (also खोंडी & खोंडें) A variety of जोंधळा.खोंडी (p. 216) [ khōṇḍī ] f An outspread shovelform sack (as formed temporarily out of a कांबळा, to hold or fend off grain, chaff &c.)

kod. = place where artisans work (G.lex.) kod. = a cow-pen; a cattlepen; a byre (G.lex.) gor.a = a cow-shed; a cattleshed; gor.a orak = byre (Santali.lex.) कोंड (p. 180) [ kōṇḍa ] A circular hedge or field-fence. 2 A circle described around a person under adjuration. 3 The circle at marbles. 4 A circular hamlet; a division of a मौजा or village, composed generally of the huts of one caste.कोंडडाव (p. 180) [ kōṇḍaḍāva ] m Ring taw; that form of marble-playing in which lines are drawn and divisions made:--as disting. from अगळडाव The play with holes.कोंडवाड (p. 180) [ kōṇḍavāḍa ] n f C (कोंडणें & वाडा) A pen or fold for cattle.कोंडाळें (p. 180) [ kōṇḍāḷēṃ ] n (कुंडली S) A ring or circularly inclosed space. 2 fig. A circle made by persons sitting round.

kuṭire bica duljad.ko talkena, they were feeding the furnace with ore. In this Santali sentence bica denotes the hematite ore. For example, samṛobica, 'stones containing gold' (Mundari) meṛed-bica 'iron stone-ore' ; bali-bica, iron sand ore (Munda). mẽṛhẽt, meḍ ‘iron’(Munda. Ho.)

Meluhha rebus representations are: bica ‘scorpion’ bica ‘stone ore’ (hematite).

pola (magnetite), gota (laterite), bichi (hematite). kuṇṭha munda (loha) a type of hard native metal, ferrous oxide.

See: http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2013/06/asur-metallurgists.html

See: http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2014/09/catalogs-of-pola-kuntha-gota-bichi.html#! Hieroglyph: pōḷī, ‘dewlap' पोळ [ pōḷa ] m A bull dedicated to the gods, marked with a trident and discus, and set at large (Marathi) Rebus: pola (magnetite)

ḍaṅgra 'bull' Rebus: ḍāṅgar, ḍhaṅgar ‘blacksmith’ (Hindi).

. See:http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.com/2013/06/asur-metallurgists.html Magnetite a type of iron ore is called POLA by the Asur (Meluhha).

Hieroglyph strings from l. to r.:Top line inscription on stone:कर्णक 'spread legs' rebus: karNika 'helmsman, supercargo' PLUS meD 'body' rebus: meD 'iron' med 'copper' (Slavic) koD 'one' rebus: koD 'workshop' Thus, iron workshop supercargo. khANDA 'notch' rebus: khaNDa 'implements' kanac 'corner' rebus: kancu 'bronze' . Thus, bronze implements. barDo 'spine' rebus: bharata 'alloy of pewter, copper, tin' PLUS karNika 'rim of jar' rebus: karNi 'supercargo'. Bottom line inscription on stone: kanac 'corner' rebus: kancu 'bronze' PLUS eraka 'nave of wheel' PLUS arA 'spoke' rebus: Ara 'brass' karNaka 'spread legs' rebus: karNIka 'helmsman' PLUS meD 'body' rebus: meD 'iron' PLUS tuttha 'goat' rebus: tuttha 'zinc sulphate.

Reading the Indus writing inscriptions on both sides of bun-shaped lead ingots of Rakhigarhi

The Indus writing inscriptions relate to cataloging of metalwork as elaborated by the following rebus-metonymy cipher and readings in Meluhha (Indian sprachbund):

Hieroglyphs (from l.): body, linear stroke, notch, corner, U plus notch, rim of jar

meD 'body' kATi 'body stature' Rebus: meD 'iron' kATi 'fireplace trench'. Thus, iron smelter.

koDa 'one' Rebus: koD 'workshop'

खांडा [ khāṇḍā ] m A jag, notch, or indentation (as upon the edge of a tool or weapon). (Marathi) Rebus: khāṇḍā ‘tools, pots and pans, metal-ware’.

kanac 'corner' Rebus: kancu 'bronze'

baTa 'rimless pot' Rebus: baTa 'furance'

kanka, karNika 'rim of jar' Rebus: karNi 'supercargo'; karNika 'account'.

Hieroglyphs: rhombus (as circumgraph) + spoked wheel PLUS a pair of 'bodies' (twins)

dula 'pair' Rebus: dul 'cast metal'; meD 'body' kATi 'body stature' Rebus: meD 'iron' kATi 'fireplace trench'. Thus, iron smelter.

A spoked wheel is ligatured within a rhombus: kanac 'corner' Rebus: kancu 'bronze'; eraka 'nave of wheel' Rebus: eraka 'copper, moltencast'

See many variants of 'body' hieroglyph and ligatures at

https://www.academia.edu/8408578/Stature_of_body_Meluhha_hieroglyphs_48_in_Indus_writing_catalogs_of_metalwork_processes

Figure 14: Side (A) and top (B) views of a lead ingot inscribed with Harappan characters. Detailed images of the top (C) and bottom (D) inscriptions.

Rakhigarhi finds including a broken seal (one-horned young bull).

Rakhi Garhi (Archeological Mound)

(Sh. Nikhil Gajraj, IAS)

Deputy Commissioner's Message

Rakhigarhi is about to rewrite the 5000 year old history of our civilization. Recent excavations at Rakhi Garhi in Hissar district of Haryana may push the history of the civilization back by over a thousand years. It could change the commonly held view about the Indus Valley civilization, as Rakhigarhi is situated on the bank of the now dry, Saraswati river. Archaeologists and historians are excited about the findings from Rakhigarhi, the largest Indus Valley site after Mohenjodaro. Senior archaeologists consider this to be no ordinary Harappan site and say it is the most important of all the archaeological sites of India. The unearthed clues may yield answers to questions that have remained unanswered so far. Rakhigarhi findings have already started showing new civilization contours.

The area and dimensions of the site are far wider than assessed by archaeologist Raymond and Bridget Allchin and J M Kenoyer. It is 224 hectares, the largest in the country. In size, dimensions strategic location and unique significance of the settlement, Rakhi Garhi matches Harappa and Mohenjodaro at every level. Three layers of Early, Mature and Late phases of Indus Valley civilization have been found at Rakhi Garhi. What has so far been found uncannily indicates that Rakhi Garhi settlement witnessed all the three phases.

The site has trick deposits of Hakra Ware (typical of settlements dating back before the early phases of Indus Valley). Early and Mature Harappan artifacts. The solid presence of the Hakra Ware culture raises the important question: "Did the Indus civilization come later than it is recorded?" The Hakra and the Early phases are separated by more than 500-600 years and the Hakra people are considered to be the earliest Indus inhabitants. Although the carbon-14 dating results are awaited, based on the thick layers of Hakra Ware at Rakhi Garhi, it is said that the site may date back to about 2500 BC to 3000 BC. This pushes the Indus Valley civilization history by a thousand years or more.
http://hisar.gov.in/historyrakhigarhi.aspx
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/379146862355037186/

Rakhigarhi: Discovering India’s biggest Harappan site

GoUNESCO December 4, 2015

Built, Featured, Heritage

The Indus Valley Civilization remains one of the most enigmatic events in human history. It was truly a paean to the desire for human excellence, even in those times, bringing in its wake several important inventions which mankind has derived progress from.
But in 1963 when the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) discovered Rakhigarhi, a village in Hisar District in the state of Haryana, they realized what they had found was a site, more ancient and much larger than Harappa and Mohenjo-daro sites. Dr. Shinde, 59, the vice chancellor of the Deccan College Post-Graduate and Research Institute, a deemed university in Pune, is heading the excavation in Rakhigarhi, and is in pursuit of genetic material.
In April 2015, four complete human skeletons were excavated at Rakhigarhi. These skeletons belonged to two male adults, one female adult and one child. As the skeletons were excavated scientifically without any contamination, Dr. Shinde and his team believe that with the help of latest technology, the DNA of these skeletons can help determine how Harappans looked like 4500 years ago. He tells us more in this interview:
Rakhigarhi has the potential to open doorways to Harappan culture with the latest discovery earlier this year, any progress on this aspect so far?
With Rakhigarhi coming into the picture, Harappan culture covers the largest area compared to the others that existed around this time period. We have successfully detected DNAs and teams from India and South Korea are working on developing it further. The conclusion of this study would tell us what a Harappan man looked like: His origin, relationship with the contemporary man, whether they were indigenous or if they came from outside (descendent of some other civilization).All the remains that were excavated before this were from 4000BC or after. This has been a major breakthrough in the biggest civilization that ever existed. It traces this civilization to as early as 5500 BC. There are three stages of any civilization: Formative, Developed and Decline stage. So far only the developed stages were studied, but in this case, we are also developing new aspects of study, we are exploring the alpha: The Formative Stage – How the civilization came into being, development or changes in culture, DNA etc.
Rakhigarhi: Discovering India’s biggest Harappan site2015-12-24T11:23:12+00:00
How could the site be promoted, to ensure that the research is financially sustained?We have been receiving financial support from ASI, but with such a large scale project, it is not enough to carry out the research on such a shoestring budget. This place is of high historic significance, we are building museums at Rakhigarhi where the artifacts recovered from here can be stored and viewed by general public. It is a major breakthrough into the world history, and once people begin to understand that, the funds will flow in naturally. We are trying to spread awareness about the monumentality of this discovery. It has been proposed to be added among the likes of other civilizations that exist in the UNESCO list today.
With such a large number of ancient cities being discovered in the past decade, where can we trace the origin of Harappan culture from?
India, and specifically Maharashtra, Haryana, Punjab, Gujarat, parts of Rajasthan and also a large part of Pakistan. It is the biggest civilization that ever existed and it gradually aggrandized to other areas. There are traces of this culture in Mesopotamia but it can be safely concluded that it was only on a trade basis, there is no direct supplement of this culture that associates it with likes of others.
With Rakhigarhi being nominated to be listed among the other heritage sites in UNESCO list, it is very likely to attract a lot of tourism. Is it a wise idea to open it to public without the risk of contaminating this work in progress?
On the contrary, we are looking forward to it. The on-site research takes place for only 3 months in a year. There are separate areas of sensitive excavation which will be closed to general public. Although, it will be a good idea if we let others open and the tourists witness the work in progress and observe how the work is carried out. Rakhigarhi is listed as one of the 10 most endangered heritage sites in the world, what are the threats that this site faces today? Earlier, there had been instances of looting and selling of precious artifact, parts of the sites were encroached by private houses; we tried our best to safeguard these evidences. But now, as the local authorities are beginning to understand the significance of their soil, we are receiving a lot of local support and helping hands in our project. We are talking about cities that were constructed over 4000 years ago, hypothetically do you think present day cities have any chance of surviving and being studied about 4000 years later? When our ruins are discovered, will it be of any value at all or what can we do to make it valuable? Well, we have a lot to learn from these civilizations first, Harappan civilization is the most advanced civilization to have been discovered. It has contributed immensely to present day science and technology and are the foundation stone of today’s architectural (city planning), civil engineering, agricultural (crop rotation, double cropping, water harvesting) scenario. And while we learn about them, we forget to apply those values in our lives today. So, it is very likely, that when our ruins are discovered, we may not contribute to the development in that age but just remain as a link from the past. For more pictures of the excavation site, click here. As told to: Vedika Singhania http://www.gounesco.com/rakhigarhi-discovering-indias-biggest-harappan-site/

Move Over Mohenjo-Daro, India Now Has the Biggest Harappan Site In Rakhigarhi

The discovery of two more mounds at the Harappan site of Rakhigarhi in Haryana makes it the biggest excavation site of Harappan civilisation, even bigger than Mohenjo-daro (in Sindh,Pakistan). Until now, Mohenjo-daro in Pakistan was considered the largest among the 2,000 Harappan sites known to exist in India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. A recent report by the Archaeological Survey of India claims that Haryana’s Bhirrana is the oldest Harappan site and Rakhigarhi the biggest Harappan site in Asia.

Here are a few archaeological remains at Rakhigarhi

The excavated site

Clay toys found in rakhigarhi

The excavated grave had terracotta pots as funerary objects arranged placed around the head of the deceased, which suggest a believe in life after death.

Mud pots found in Rakhigarhi

Rakhigarhi Unearthed/FB

One of the skeletons found from Rakhigarhi is displayed in the National Museum, New Delhi.

wikimedia

Meanwhile, here's what you need to know about the Indus Valley Civilisation:

The Indus Valley civilization along with the Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilizations are considered the earliest civilizations of the Old World. Also known as the Harappan civilization after Harappa- the first of its cities to be excavated in the 1920s in what was then Punjab province in British India. Harappa and Mohenjo-daro were the two greatest cities of the civilization.

http://www.indiatimes.com/news/india/rakhigarhi-is-now-the-biggest-harappan-excavation-site-even-bigger-than-mohenjodaro-231896.html

Published: May 2, 2014 00:11 IST | Updated: May 2, 2014 00:11 IST CHENNAI, May 2, 2014

Ancient granary found in Haryana

T. S. Subramanian

Special Arrangement
The granary, built of mud bricks, at the Harappan site of Rakhigarhi village in Haryana. Photo: Rakhigarhi Project/Deccan College, Pune
The Hindu
A potsherd with a Harappan script unearthed in the excavation at the Harappan site of Rakhi Garhi in Haryana. Photo: D.Krishnan

The site belongs to the mature Harappan phase from 2600 BCE to 2000 BCE

A “beautifully made” granary, with walls of mud-bricks, which are still in a remarkably good condition, has been discovered in the just-concluded excavation at Rakhigarhi village, a Harappan civilisation site, in Haryana.

The granary has rectangular and squarish chambers. Its floor is made of ramped earth and plastered with mud.

Teachers and students of the Department of Archaeology, Deccan College Post-Graduate & Research Institute, Pune, and Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak, Haryana, excavated at Rakhigarhi from January to April this year.

Vasant Shinde, Vice-Chancellor/Director, Deccan College, who was the Director of the excavation, said: “We excavated seven chambers in the granary. From the nature of the structure, it appears to be a big structure because it extends on all sides. We do not know whether it is a private or public granary. Considering that it extends on all sides, it could be a big public granary.” He called it “a beautifully-made structure.”

The excavating teams found several traces of lime and decomposed grass on the lower portion of the granary walls.

“This is a significant indication that it is a storehouse for storing grains because lime acts as insecticide, and grass prevents moisture from entering the grains. This is a strong proof for understanding the function of the structure,” explained Dr. Shinde, a specialist in the Harappan civilisation.

The discovery of two more mounds in Rakhigarhi in January this year led to Dr. Shinde arguing that it is the biggest Harappan civilisation site. There are about 2,000 Harappan sites in India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. With the discovery of two more mounds, in addition to the seven already discovered, he estimated that the total area of Rakhigarhi was 350 hectares. It thus overtook Mohenjo-daro with about 300 hectares, in Pakistan, in laying claim to be the biggest Harappan site, he said.

The Rakhigarhi site belongs to the mature Harappan phase, which lasted from 2600 BCE to 2000 BCE. The teams have also found artefacts, including a seal and potsherd, both inscribed with the Harappan script.

In Mohenjo-daro and Harappa, granaries were found in citadels, where the ruling elite lived. So mound number four in Rakhigarhi, where the granary was found, could have been the settlement’s citadel, Dr. Shinde said.

Rakhigarhi is situated in the confluence of Ghaggar and Chautang rivers and it was a fertile area. “So Rakhigarhi must have grown a lot of food grains. They could have been stored in the granary to pay for the artisans or other sections of society or to meet any crisis,” said Dr. Shinde.

Printable version | May 3, 2016 3:11:21 PM | http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/ancient-granary-found-in-haryana/article5966952.ece

Haryana's Bhirrana oldest Harappan site, Rakhigarhi Asia's largest: ASI

TNN | Apr 15, 2015, 04.02 AM IST

The ASI report, submitted in December 2014, a copy of which is with TOI, has now also debunked the early research that the Indus Valley civilization's Harappan phase originated in Sind, in present-day Pakistan.

The ASI report, submitted in December 2014, a copy of which is with TOI, has now also debunked the early resea... Read More

CHANDIGARH: Asia's largest and oldest metropolis with gateways, built-up areas, street system and wells was built at the site of Haryana's two villages, including one on the Ghaggar river, according to a new Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) report.

The ASI report, submitted in December 2014, a copy of which is with TOI, has now also debunked the early research that the Indus Valley civilization's Harappan phase originated in Sind, in present-day Pakistan.

The report, based on C 14 radio-dating, has said the mounds at Bhirrana village, on the banks of Ghaggar river, in Fatehabad district date back to 7570-6200 BC.

The previous Pakistan-French study had put Mehrgarh site in Pakistan as the oldest in the bracket of 6400-7000 BC. Mehrgarh is located near the Bolan Pass, to the west of the Indus River valley and between the Pakistani cities of Quetta, Kalat and Sibi.

"The C 14 dates of excavations at Bhirrana readily agree with the accepted chronology of the Harappan civilization starting from Pre-Harappan to Mature Harappan. But for the first time, on the basis of radio-metric dates from Bhirrana, the cultural remains go back to the time bracket of 7300 BC," said the report.

The C 14 dating was done at Birbal Sahni Institute of Paleobotany in Lucknow over last 10 years.

The ASI report also said that that excavations done by its archaeologists between 1997 and 2005 reveal that a civilization site in Rakhigarhi village in Hisar district is spread over to 240 hectares.

While ASI stopped its excavation activity in Rakhigarhi, a team from Deccan College Post-Graduate & Research Institute, Pune, which is carrying out further research, said the site's dimensions may go beyond 350 hectares with more excavations.

At this moment, Rakhigarhi has emerged as bigger in size than even the Mohenjedaro and Harappa sites in Pakistan and Dholavira in India's Gujarat with dimensions of 200, 150 and 100 hectares.

While the 356-page research on Rakhigarhi has been authored by former ASI's archaeology director Dr Amarendra Nath, the holistic study on Bhirrana has been compiled by ASI's former joint DG K N Dikshit and addtional DG B R Mani.

The archaelological excavations at Rakhigarhi and Bhirrana have revealed all the definite features of Indus civilization such as potter's kiln, an elaborate drainage system, a granary, ritualistic platforms and terracotta figurines.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/Haryanas-Bhirrana-oldest-Harappan-site-Rakhigarhi-Asias-largest-ASI/articleshowprint/46926693.cms

Fri, Jan 04 2013. 05 18 PM IST

History | What their lives reveal

Haryana’s Rakhigarhi, where individuals possess ancient, priceless treasures, will soon be on the world heritage map

Rudraneil Sengupta

A toy from 2300 BC. Photo: Priyanka Parashar/Mint

Wazir Chand Saroae is a slight, nearsighted man with a shuffling gait, the go-to man when electrical appliances in the village need fixing. His house is like any other here—compact, two-storeyed, neat. There are no signs at all to suggest that in a small room on the first floor of this house, Saroae is sitting on a treasure trove that is both priceless and timeless.

Displayed in rickety cabinets with glass fronts, Saroae’s treasure does not look like much—bits of pottery, beads of various sizes, a few clay figurines and toys—but their antiquity is stunning. The oldest things here date back to between 5000 BC and 4500 BC, the early phase of Harappan civilization. The most recent ones are from 2300 BC.

This is not entirely surprising in Rakhigarhi, a cluster of two sprawling villages—Rakhikhas and Rakhi Shahpur—in Haryana, around 170km from Delhi. People living here are used to finding little bits and pieces of ancient history—even 10 years ago, the villagers will tell you, you could not plough your field without unearthing a potsherd (bits of pottery—ceramic is exceptionally durable).

“When I was a child, I found particular pleasure in finding these pots and vases,” Saroae, 52, says. “And then dropping them from a height and breaking them.”

Wazir Chand Saroae at his Rakhigarhi home. Photo: Priyanka Parashar/Mint

Now he can give you detailed descriptions of the various types of Harappan pottery and figurines, tell you about the great Harappan city that once stood where the village and its farmland is, down to town planning details, and walk you through the most important areas for archaeological excavations.

That Rakhigarhi was a large Harappan town was known in 1963, when the area was first surveyed. What archaeologists are finding out now is that it is the biggest ever Harappan city, larger and more extensive than the massive Mohenjo Daro.

“The whole site is around 400 hectares, which is nearly double that of Mohenjo Daro,” says Vasant Shivram Shinde, professor of archaeology and joint director of the Deccan College Post-Graduate and Research Institute, Pune. “It’s in critical condition because of encroachment and construction.”

About 40% of the Rakhigarhi site is protected by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI)—which translates to a fenced boundary wall and a guardroom with no guard. The wall is broken in several places, and the protected area is used by the villagers as a place to dry cow dung. The unprotected areas have houses and farmland. The ancient Harappan city lies buried under.

“People pick up Harappan objects from their fields and sell them for as little as `100,” says Saroae. “They don’t mean to do anything illegal; it’s just that they have little awareness about it.”

Ornamental beads from 2300 BC found in Rakhigarhi show the high level of craftsmanship during the Harappan era. Photo: Priyanka Parashar/Mint

New beginnings

All of this is set to change. The Global Heritage Fund (GHF), a non-profit organization based in the US that works to preserve the world’s most endangered heritage sites, put Rakhigarhi on its project in 2012. This makes the Harappan site one of GHF's 13 projects worldwide, which include Ping Yao Ancient City in China and Ur in Iraq.

“The scope of this site should be emphasized,” says Dan Thompson, director, global projects, Global Heritage Network. “It is large and was occupied for a long period. The potential for research and knowledge is amazing, and I think that with skilled archaeologists, historians and designers, you can craft that knowledge into a compelling narrative that people will want to see.”

GHF will not only coordinate an ambitious excavation and conservation project at the site, led by Prof. Shinde, beginning this month, it will also work with the local community to develop home stays, train tour guides, and establish an on-site lab and museum with the help of the ASI, Deccan College, and other government agencies to turn Rakhigarhi into a heritage tourism hot spot.

“In our experience around the world, local communities are eager to cooperate and preserve the cultural heritage in their midst when they are included in the discussion and their concerns are addressed,” Thompson says. “The economic benefits that can come from heritage preservation are a great incentive to save these sites, as is the pride that communities derive from saving their past.”

For the few villagers in the know, like Saroae, this is a dream come true.

“I have been hoping for something like this from the time I began to understand the importance of this place,” says Saroae. “This work can’t come soon enough.”

Digging Haryana

Animal figurines from Sroae’s collection. Photo: Priyanka Parashar/Mint

Even though the Harappan or Indus Valley Civilization is one of the three oldest urban civilizations, along with Egypt and Mesopotamia, it is the least understood. Its script is yet to be deciphered, and the knowledge of social structures and life during that period is scant. Rakhigarhi promises to change this too. It is one of the few Harappan sites which has an unbroken history of settlement—Early Harappan farming communities from 6000 to 4500 BC, followed by the Early Mature Harappan urbanization phase from 4500 to 3000 BC, and then the highly urbanized Mature Harappan era from 3000 BC to the mysterious collapse of the civilization around 1800 BC. That’s more than 4,000 years of ancient human history packed into the rich soil.

That’s not all—intensive excavations in the last decade have revealed hundreds of Harappan sites all over Haryana. “Rakhigarhi was probably the centre of this vast collection of towns, villages and cities in the Haryana region,” says Prof. Shinde.

A collaborative project between Banaras Hindu University (BHU) and Cambridge University, which began in 2008, has been central to unearthing this trellis of Harappan towns. Their surveys uncovered 127 sites that spanned an incredible timeline from Early Harappan to early medieval (13th century) in the vicinity of Rakhigarhi, a majority of them unknown before; 182 sites spread across the area through which Haryana’s largest seasonal stream, Ghaggar, flows, 125 of which were unknown, and many more.

“In 2009, we excavated at Masudpur, which is 12km from Rakhigarhi, and discovered 13 sites that date back to the Early Harappan phase,” says Ravindra Nath Singh, from the department of ancient Indian history, culture and archaeology at BHU, and one of the leaders of the project. “It is highly likely that these sites fell under the socio-economic and political catchment area of Rakhigarhi.”

Private collections of Harappan artefacts in the village, including fishing hooks and standardized weight measures. Photo: Priyanka Parashar/Mint

The project aims to answer perhaps the most compelling question about the Harappan civilization—why did it disappear? The current assumption is that the shifting and dying away of ancient river systems led to the great Harappan cities to be abandoned. This is the first multidisciplinary and focused investigation into this assumption, bringing together archaeologists, historians, geographers and environmental scientists.

Even though in archaeological terms the probe has just begun, the sheer number of discoveries is turning previous beliefs about the Harappan civilization on its head. Till recently, there was little evidence in India of a gradually developing civilization through the Harappan era. Most discoveries were from the Mature phase only, while in Pakistan, there was plenty of evidence of the earliest years of the culture. This led to the belief that the civilization took root in the regions now in Pakistan before gradually spreading eastward as it developed.

“Now the evidence suggests possibly the opposite,” says Prof. Shinde. “We’ve got a few sites now in Haryana which date all the way back to 6000 BC and it’s evident that this area was one of the first places in the world where humans graduated from a nomadic hunting-gathering lifestyle to settled agricultural communities.”

New carbon-dating tests on material found at an extensive Harappan site in Bhirrana, Haryana, have also thrown up some startling dates. In research led by B.R. Mani, ASI joint director-general, and K.N. Dikshit, former ASI joint director-general, charcoal and shell bangles found at Bhirrana date back to as early as 7380 BC. Like Rakhigarhi, Bhirrana was occupied from the earliest to the last dates of the Harappan era.

The Harappan site at Rakhigarhi is used to dry cow dung. Photo: Priyanka Parashar/Mint

Ground work

Yet another site with the same epoch-bridging characteristic is Farmana, less than 50km from Rakhigarhi. Prof. Shinde and a team from Deccan College and Maharshi Dayanand University in Rohtak excavated this site from 2008-11. As they uncovered layer after layer of evidence, an extraordinary tableau was revealed.

First, a Harappan town with a population of around 3,000 and all the characteristics of the Mature phase—mud brick houses set in chessboard patterns, an elite central part of town, fortifications and industrial areas for potteries and copper and bronze artisans on the outskirts. In the layer below this, more modest, rectangular complexes of houses. Finally, buried deep, the first settlers, in circular pit dwellings dug into the earth.

“It’s such clear phases of development,” says Prof. Shinde, “that we are finally in a position to understand the progress of the civilization in some detail.”

There were more startling discoveries. Burnt rice found near the site dated back to 4000 BC, even though it is widely believed that rice only came to India from China in 2500 BC.

Then, on a winter afternoon in January 2008, as the archaeologists at Farmana were about to break for lunch, a farmer came and told them that he had found something while ploughing his field, a kilometre from the excavation site. What he had stumbled upon is one of the biggest Harappan burial sites ever discovered.

In all 71 burial pits and the skeletal remains of 35 individuals were found. These people died between 2400 and 2100 BC, at the height of the civilization. They were a diverse lot—adults, adolescents, children, men, women, rich and poor. The bones went to Veena Mushrif Tripathy, assistant professor of physical anthropology at the archaeology department at Deccan College, and an expert in the forensic study of ancient diseases.

Excavations in Rakhigarhi. Photo courtesy: Global Heritage Fund

This is what the dead revealed: That burial had an important ritual significance even then, as sometimes only parts of the body were buried, the rest possibly lost in an unnatural death. A man, 35-40 years old, had only his femur and tibia interred. He was also the tallest of the lot here, at a little over 6.1ft. The largest pit (the size of the pit and the number of burial goods like pottery in it determine the socio-economic status of the person buried), had only two skulls, and a few small bones. One of those skulls, an adult male, had signs of a massive blunt object trauma on the left side of the cranial—a gaping crack that should have killed him.

“But he lived for almost two months with that injury,” says Tripathy. “We can see the stages of healing. The only way he could have survived this is if he had some kind of medical attention and medication. He died only of secondary infections later.”

Tripathy, who is at the last stage of interpreting the data, says there is close resemblance in both bone and muscle structure between the 4,000-year-old citizens of Farmana and its current inhabitants. “They were big-boned, had big muscles, a healthy population, with no signs of infectious diseases or malnourishment,” she says.

Genome sequencing to compare DNA with Haryanvis now has so far been impossible because the wet, acidic earth destroys all DNA. Tripathy hopes that in the next three-four years she will be able to collect enough data from other sites, including Rakhigarhi, to be able to compare and find patterns.

“The Haryana region is fantastic if we do systematic scientific analysis,” she says. “Because it has everything when it comes to the Harappan civilization. We can reconstruct our early history with great accuracy, especially with a multidisciplinary approach.”

Lost and found

But this great Harappan network of towns and cities, buried for so many thousands of years, is in danger of being forgotten entirely. Much of the areas excavated in Farmana, Bhirrana, in and around Rakhigarhi are quickly being converted into farmland or land for housing, destroying the chances of preserving these sites. There are few preserved Harappan sites in India—Dholavira and Lothal in Gujarat, and Kalibangan in Rajasthan—none in Haryana.

Prof. Shinde says villagers are reluctant to let archaeologists even work in their areas because of the fear that a discovery will be made and the government will throw them out of their land.

“It’s difficult,” Prof. Shinde says. “The land is precious, and there is no clear, transparent procedure to acquire land for these purposes.” The excavated sites in Farmana, for example, have been turned into farmland, despite the ASI trying to enlist it as a nominee for the Unesco World Heritage list.

Only Rakhigarhi seems to be escaping this fate. It makes Saroae happy, even if that means his private collection might not remain with him much longer. “When the ancient city rises here, next to my house,” Saroae says, “I will go myself and put these things where they belong.”
http://www.livemint.com/Leisure/ljfXtPZHUSi5eG8Di1n9YO/History--What-their-lives-reveal.html

Bhirrana. Oldest site of the civilization.http://www.mysteryofindia.com/2015/04/haryanas-bhirrana-oldest-harappan-site.html

"The report states that while the c 14 radio-dating of the excavations at the Mehrgarh site in Pakistan puts it in the 6400-7000 BC bracket while the latest study has revealed that the cultural remains at the Bhirrana village go back to the time bracket of 7300 BC. It is situated on the banks of Ghaggar river, in Fatehabad district of Haryana."

Rakhi Garhi – Cow Dung Cakes Stored on the 5000 year old site

http://www.sonalika.net/blog/?p=679

https://friendsofasi.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/picture1.jpg

NOTE: There are no archaeological sites on the Sutlej course (present-day) west of Ropar, but there are sites south of Ropar proving the flow of Vedic River Sutlej into Vedic River Sarasvati to join the latter at Shatrana (width of paleochannel here is 20 kms.)

Can 'national heritage' Rakhigarhi survive for long

Ishtiyaq Sibtian Joo, Hindustan Times, Rakhigarhi (Hisar)

Updated: Apr 18, 2015 17:02 IST

With no landmarks or any sign boards to guide you, there is every possibility that you may miss one of the most archeologically important places in India-Rakhigarhi, a collective name given to the twin Haryana villages of Rakhi-khas and Rakhi-shahpur.

Spread over 350 acres of land Rakhigarhi is the biggest Harappan cities all across the world and it also the most important site of the Harappan civilization outside Mohenjodaro.

With less than 160 kms away from the country’s capital, the site has already made it to 10 most endangered heritage sites in Asia by the watchdog Global Heritage Fund due to official apathy.

The place which is attracting national as well as international tourists from all across the world could easily be misconstrued for business centre of dung cakes as ziggurats of dung cakes are found all across Rakhigarhi.

Guided by the locals you may end up at a digging site if you are visiting in between January and April. The digging in absence of any sign board appears like any other regular digging. However, on inquiring one gets briefed that it is an annual digging that Deccan College Post-Graduate and Research Institute, a deemed-to-be university in Pune is doing in collaboration with State Department of Archaeology Haryana.

This ancient city has nine localities which archeologists refer as mounds. The mounds are numerically named mound 1,2,3…and all have their significance in revealing various aspects of Harappan culture and civilization. Besides, they are also important from both historically as well as archaeologically point of view.

Presently digging is going on at mound 4. But even here piles of dung cakes are found.

Although, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is protecting Rakhigarhi as the national monument of the country, however, so far only 60 per cent of land is fenced by them.

Even the present digging site of mound 4 is fenced from one side only, while the villagers easily cross over the seat of old Harappan culture from the other three open sides.

Ironically mounds found in the private property of some villagers are at land owner’s mercy.

The callousness towards preserving national heritage is brazenly seen on mound 6. The mound which bears witness to how Harappans used to live is yet to be bought from the private owner of the land.

“Mound 6 is quite significant. Here we have found four different structures, which are made of mud, and mud bricks. Inside, them there is typical evidence of fire-place, which Harappans might have been using for cooking. Then we also found various pots there, which gives us impression that they were used for storage purposes,” informs Professor Vasant Shinde, Vice-Chancellor, Deccan College Post-Graduate & Research Institute, a deemed-to-be university in Pune, and also director of the current project team.

Ask the professor what if the owner of the land decides to demolish the site and wants to do farming or construct some structure there, optimistic Shinde says, “For first two years before starting this project, we were just meeting villagers to educate them about the importance of preserving the sites. Now they are convinced that land should be preserved,” the director said.

He even believes that farmers are ready to leave the land if given proper compensation.

There are reasons to believe the director project’s words, as it is the village panchayat which has come forward to donate the land of more than six acres of their land for the construction of museum here.

But then there are also instances where villagers or their children are still selling whatever, antiquates they find in the fields to the visitors at dirt price of Rs 100- Rs 200.

Rakhigarhi is a treasure trove of Harappan pottery, antiquities, terracotta bangles, various exotic stones, and different sizes of beads, figurines, toys, and now with the discovery of cemetery on mound 7, its significance has increased manifolds.

The latest finding of four 5000-year-old complete human skeletons which were found this year, has excited the Shinde and his team, and now they are in pursuit to extract DNA from them to unfold the mystery surrounding Harappans.

“These are some exciting times. The skeletons found out here have given us a new hope to decipher the mystery surrounding Harappans. Our preliminary observation has revealed that we may get DNA samples from the skeletons. If it happens, we can shed more light on physical appearance of Harappans by doing their 3-D reconstruction. We can figure out the colour of their skin, their eyes and other things,” says, Professor Shinde.

People have built houses over archaeological remains as much of the Harappan site at Rakhigarhi lies buried under the present-day village.

The director also along with this team is trying hard to make the Rakhigarhi significant on world map.

“Once the significance of site is recognized, which if all goes as per the plan may be next year, then, we can post it for candidature of world heritage site,” reveals the director.

However, to do that the site needs to be protected. Although ASI has posted two guards at one of the mounds, however, their existence also seems to be like a mystery as no one ever knows where they are, even when you look for them.

The Rakhigarhi has two Harappan stages, early Harappan phase, also called as Harappan culture stage dating back to 5500 BC- 2700 BC, and mature stage, also referred as stage of civilization dating from 2600 BC-2000 BC.

According to Dr. Shinde Harappan were very intelligent people as they were the pioneers to develop basic sciences and technologies.

“Traditional knowledge was developed by them and it continued till modern times, and is still relevant,” says, the archaeologist.

However, little did Harappans know that the place they lived and thrived for so many years, would fail to keep their remains.

With no state museum to hold the excavations from here, Deccan College Poona would keep Haryana’s treasure till the state will built one of its own.

“Whatever, remains extracted from here should remain here in the museum. However, till it is constructed, Deccan College will keep hold of the excavation products,” says, Shinde, who informs that the aim of the project was to develop the site into a tourism place of visitors from all over world to see.

Shinde and his team are planning to excavate a part of city like an open air museum and preserve it for general public. However, the big question that needs to be answered is if Rakhigarhi with no government support will survive that long.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/punjab/can-national-heritage-rakhigarhi-survive-for-long/story-Av5Iq5ILSoHAtV1jDnO3GP.html

Sarasvati's children, Bharatam Janam, 'metalcaster folk'. Excavation reports: Farmana, Rakhigarhi

Farmana, Rakhigarhi in Ghaggar basin yield inscribed potsherd, seals, seal impression: Meluhha metalwork catalogues

Mirror: https://www.academia.edu/12439742/Sarasvatis_children_Bharatam_Janam_metalcaster_folk._Excavation_reports_Farmana_Rakhigarhi_--Farmana_Rakhigarhi_in_Ghaggar_basin_yield_inscribed_potsherd_seals_seal_impression_Meluhha_metalwork_catalogues

Following the Rakhigarhi Excavation Report of 1997-2000 by Amarendra Nath, an archaeological team of Deccan College, Pune led by Vasant Shinde has reportedly submitted a report of excavations 2014-15 at Rakhigarhi.

Links:

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.com/2015/05/decipherment-of-cholistan-and.html

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2015/05/sarasvatis-children-to-come-alive-at.html

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2015/04/excavations-at-rakhigarhi-1997-2000-asi.html

This note highlights this report of May 2015 in the context of other excavations at Farmana which is also, like Rakhigarhi, an archaeological site in Ghaggar river basin.

One view is that this Ghaggar river basin was in fact the Sarasvati River basin of Vedic times when Vedic Sutlej was a tributary of Sarasvati River flowing southwards from Ropar. The present-day Sutlej river channel is seen to take a U-turn at Ropar to flow westwards to join Sindhu River. This westward migration of River Sutlej abandoning River Sarasvati is explained as caused by plate tectonics which is an ongoing seismotectonic feature of continental drift and ongoing formation of dynamic Himalayas as the Indian Plate juts into and lifts up the Eurasian Plate.

The finds of potsherd and seals with with inscription at Rakhigarhi and Farmana are metalwork catalogues; the inscriptions deploy Indus Script. The artisans were metalcaster folk, designated as Bharatam Janam in Rigveda which adores the River Sarasvati in 72 rica-s as the best of rivers, नदीतमे nadItame.

The following inscribed potsherd, seals and seal impressions from Farmana and Rakhigarhi are deciphered using rebus-metonymy layered cipher of Indus Script. They are documents which constitute metalwork catalogues like all other inscriptions in Indus Script Corpora.

A potsherd with a Harappan script unearthed in the excavation at the Harappan site of Rakhi Garhi in Haryana. Photo: D.Krishnan http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/ancient-granary-found-in-haryana/article5966952.ece

Hieroglyph: 'rim-of-jar': Phonetic forms: kan-ka (Santali) karṇika (Sanskrit) Rebus: karṇī, supercargo for a boat shipment. karṇīka ‘account (scribe)’.

dula 'pair' Rebus: dul 'cast metal + ()kuṭila ‘bent’ CDIAL 3230 kuṭi— in cmpd. ‘curve’, kuṭika— ‘bent’ MBh. Rebus: kuṭila, katthīl = bronze (8 parts copper and 2 parts tin) Thus, bronze casting.

sal 'splinter' Rebus: sal 'workshop'

ayo 'fish' Rebus: ayo 'iron, metal'

kamaDha 'bow' Rebus: kampaTTa 'mint' kANDa 'arrow'; ..kANDa 'tools, pots and pans, metalware'

Seal and sealing fom Mound No. 4, Rakhigarhi http://www.frontline.in/arts-and-culture/dna-of-a-civilisation/article7194003.ece

Hieroglyph: one-horned young bull

kõdā खोंड [ khōṇḍa ] m A young bull, a bullcalf. (Marathi) Rebus 1: kọ̆nḍu or konḍu । कुण्डम् m. a hole dug in the ground for receiving consecrated fire (Kashmiri) Rebus 2: A. kundār, B. kũdār, °ri, Or. kundāru; H. kũderā m. ʻ one who works a lathe, one who scrapes ʼ, °rī f., kũdernā ʻ to scrape, plane, round on a lathe ʼ.(CDIAL 3297).

Hieroglyph: rāngo ‘water buffalo bull’ (Ku.N.)(CDIAL 10559) Rebus: rango ‘pewter’. ranga, rang pewter is an alloy of tin, lead, and antimony (anjana) (Santali)

Hieroglyphs: dul 'two'; ayo 'fish'; kANDa 'arrow': dula 'cast' ayo 'iron, metal' (Gujarati. Rigveda); kANDa 'metalware, pots and pans, tools' (Marathi) Hieroglyph: Rings on neck: koDiyum (Gujarati) koṭiyum = a wooden circle put round the neck of an animal; koṭ = neck (Gujarati)Rebus: koD 'artisan's workshop'(Kuwi) koD = place where artisans work (Gujarati) koṭe 'forge' (Mu.) koṭe meṛed = forged iron, in contrast to dul meṛed, cast iron (Mundari)

Hieroglyph: one-horned young bull

Hieroglyph: 'rim-of-jar': Phonetic forms: kan-ka (Santali) karṇika (Sanskrit) Rebus: karṇī, supercargo for a boat shipment. karṇīka ‘account (scribe)’.

Hieroglyph: sprout ligatured to rimless pot: baṭa = rimless pot (Kannada) Rebus: baṭa = a kind of iron; bhaṭa 'furnace; dul 'pair' Rebus: dula 'cast (metal) kolmo 'sprout' Rebus: kolami 'smithy/forge' Thus the composite hieroglyph: furnace, metalcaster smithy-forge

Hieroglyph:मेंढा [ mēṇḍhā ] A crook or curved end (of a stick) Rebus: meḍ 'iron'.

(After Fig. 68. Steatite seal and terracotta seal impression from Structure No. 1)

S. Kalyanaraman

Sarasvati Research Center

May 18, 2015

Location of archaeological sites: Farmana, Rakhigarhi, Bhirrana, Mitathal, Kalibangan between present-day Sutlej and Yamuna Rivers south of Siwalik ranges (After Fig. 1 in: Shinde, Vasant, et al., Exploration in the Ghaggar basin and excavations at Girawad, Farmana (Rohtak Dist.) and Mitathal (Bhiwani Dist.), Haryana, India, pp. 77-158 in: Osada Toshiki, Akinori Uesugi, 2008, Linguistics, Archaeology and the Human Past, Kyoto, Japan, Indus Project, Research Institute for Humanity and Naturehttp://southasia.world.coocan.jp/Shinde_et_al_2008a.pdf )

A reconstruction of palaeochannels including flows from tributary Sutlej south of Ropar (where Sutlej had taken a U-turn to abandon Sarasvati river and migrate westwards to join Sindhu river)

An extension of Sarasvati River into Cholistan. Diverted Sutlej river joining Panjnad which joins Sindhu river. There are NO archaeological sites on this Sutlej basin, but there are over 400 sites on Sarasvati River basin (present-day names: Ghaggar-Hakra-Nara)

Palaeo-drainage map of Thar desert region using IRS P3 WiFS satellite image

Published: May 13, 2015 12:30 IST | Updated: May 13, 2015 12:00 IST

ARCHAEOLOGY

DNA of a civilisation

BY T. S. SUBRAMANIANletal remains excavated from Rakhigarhi in Haryana will prove useful in understanding the Harappans’ features, lifestyle and culture. By T.S. WHAT did the Harappan man look like? Was he well built? How tall was he? What were his facial features? What was the colour of his skin, eyes and hair? What were the dietary habits of the Harappans?

The answers to these questions, which have been puzzling archaeologists for several decades, lie in the DNA test results of four skeletons excavated from Rakhigarhi, a Harappan site in Haryana. The results are expected in July. The tests are jointly conducted by archaeologists of the Deccan College Post-Graduate and Research Institute in Pune and forensic scientists from Seoul National University, South Korea. Two of the skeletons, belonging to the Mature Harappan period (2600-1900 BCE), are of adult males, one is of an adult female, and the fourth is of a child.

The growth and development of the Harappan civilisation can be divided into Early Harappan (3000-2600 BCE), Mature Harappan (2600-1900 BCE) and Late Harappan (1900-1500 BCE) phases. “For the first time, we are going to show the world what the Harappan man looked like. It will be a breakthrough in Harappan studies,” said Vasant Shinde, director of the excavation at Rakhigarhi and a specialist on Harappan civilisation. He is the Vice-Chancellor of Deccan College, a deemed university.

The excavation at Rakhigarhi, 25 kilometres from Jind town in Haryana’s Hisar district, is conducted jointly by Deccan College and the Haryana Department of Archaeology. Twenty-one trenches, besides the four burials, were dug during the excavation which began on January 23 and ended in the third week of April.

“We excavated the burials scientifically at Rakhigarhi. If you want to study the DNA, you have to avoid contamination. So we took precautions. We wore suits, gloves and masks. All four skeletons were in good condition,” said Shinde.

The facial bones of two skeletons are intact. Shinde said software developed by forensic scientists of Seoul National University to reconstruct facial features from skeletons would come in handy to reconstruct the Harappan man. “With the help of this software, we can analyse the height of the Harappan person, his facial and body features, and the colour of his skin, eyes and hair. The skeletal remains will be subjected to chemical tests to find the health status of the Harappan people and the diet they had,” he said. It will give insights into whether they preferred a vegetarian diet or not and whether malnutrition was a cause of death among them.

The six months of excavation from November 2014 in Rakhigarhi, the 4MSR site in Rajasthan and Chandayan in Uttar Pradesh revealed a lot of burials with Harappan skeletons. The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) excavated one skeleton at 4MSR in March (“Harappan surprise”, Frontline, April 17). Its archaeologists, led by A.K. Pandey, found a copper crown on the skull of a skeleton at Chandayan in Baghpat district in November. This belongs to the Late Harappan period.

However, what was astounding was the discovery of a cemetery with 70 burials, most of them with skeletons, at the site at Farmana in Haryana. Spread over 3.5 hectares, it is the largest cemetery found in any of the Harappan sites in India, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Most of the skeletons in the 70 burials were found adjacent to one another. Some were found below others, signifying that they belonged to an earlier period. Archaeologists belonging to Deccan College, the Research Institute of Humanity and Nature, Kyoto, Japan, and Maharshi Dayanad University, Rohtak, Haryana, discovered the Farmana cemetery in 2007-08 in their second field season of excavation.

The aim of the excavation at Rakhigarhi was not merely to understand the burial customs of the time, which earlier excavations at Farmana had revealed, but “to study the socio-economic conditions of the Harappans from the size of the burial pits, and the quality and quantity of the burial goods kept along with the dead body,” said Shinde. “Secondly, and more importantly, we want to find out from the DNA testing of the skeletons who the Harappans were, how they looked, what their build was, and so on.”

A lot of broken pottery and charred animal bones were found outside the burial pits at Rakhigarhi. This points to some rituals that had taken place before a body was placed inside the pit. The pots were perhaps broken after the body was placed inside it. Evidence of this kind of ritual was not available at other Harappan sites. Burial customs would have differed from one Harappan site to another.

There are about 2,000 Harappan sites in India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. In India, they are situated in Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Haryana. The civilisation’s southern-most outpost was at Daimabad in Maharashtra. In Haryana alone, there are more than 100 Harappan sites. They include Adi-Badri, Balu, Banawali, Bhagwanpura, Daulatpur, Farmana, Girawad, Mirzapur, Rakhigarhi and Shamlo Kalan, all situated on the banks of the Ghaggar, which is the modern name for the Saraswati river.

Rakhigarhi is situated in the valley falling between the Ghaggar and Drishadvati rivers, a fertile region with large expanses of wheat fields. Excavation at Rakhigarhi is challenging because the ancient Harappan site lies buried under several hundred houses and lanes and alleys teeming with life.

However, there are seven mounds, numbered RGR-1 to RGR-7, that lend themselves to excavation. While the first six have hidden in their innards Harappan habitational sites, RGR-7 is a burial mound belonging to the Mature Harappan phase. R.S. Bisht, former Joint Director General of the ASI, had identified two mounds besides these seven in the late 1970s. They are locally called Arada mounds and are reportedly older than the Harappan civilisation.

The ASI began excavation at Rakhigarhi in 1998 and continued it in the next two years; Amarendra Nath was the director of excavations for all the three years. Teachers and students of Deccan College and the Haryana State Department of Archaeology came together to dig RGR-4 and RGR-6 and the burial site near Arada mounds from January to April this year. Nilesh P. Jadhav, Research Assistant at Deccan College, and Ranvir Shastry of the Haryana State Department of Archaeology, were the co-directors of the excavation. While A. Deshpande and Pankaj Goyal did specialised scientific studies of the artefacts and the animal bones found in the trenches, Satish Nayak investigated the botanical remains. Others who took part in the excavation were Deccan College’s Yogesh Yadhav, Shalmali Mali, Malvika Chatterjee and Nagaraja Rao.

Mature Harappan deposits

RGR-4 is the biggest mound at Rakhigarhi. “The aim of our work here was to go down to the natural soil level from the top of the mound. We have gone to a depth of 18 metres. It is going deeper,” said Shinde. The Mature Harappan deposits were found above 7.5 metres, which indicates a very long period of habitation at the same site. Typical Mature Harappan pottery of different kinds was found at the site. What surprised excavators was a large number of goblets of various varieties. An extension of the granary, which had been uncovered last year in RGR-4, was found this year.

Along with the Early Harappan pottery was found pottery used by local people, indicating “the assemblage or regional cultures”.

Significantly, Harappan pottery found in the Ghaggar basin was not profusely painted. “But at Rakhigarhi,” Shinde said, “we do get a large amount of profusely painted Harappan pottery. This indicates the status of the site in the Saraswati basin. Perhaps, important people were living there. This site obviously controlled small and medium-sized sites in the Saraswati basin. So Rakhigarhi can be called a type site in the entire basin. That is why we are getting so much of classical pottery of the Mature Harappan phase,” he said.

Surprisingly, hundreds of perfectly turned-out idli-shaped terracotta cakes were found in the trenches at Rakhigarhi. (A similar cache of pottery was found during the excavation at 4MSR from January to April.) In comparison, not so many idli-shaped terracotta cakes were found at Mohenjo-daro and Harappa, both in Pakistan now. It is surmised that these cakes could have gone from Rakhigarhi to Mohenjo-daro and Harappa.

An unfinished seal found in the current excavation features the carving of a tiger, but it has no Harappan script. A sealing has the impression of a unicorn. Hearths, furnaces, broken bangles and burnt bangles, all made of faience, found in the trenches at RGR-4 indicate the presence of an industrial unit there. Bangles made of shell point to the Harappans’ trade contacts with the Saurashtra region in present-day Gujarat. The shells could have come only from Saurashtra. There were beads made of lapis lazuli, which came from Afghanistan.

A lot of terracotta animal figurines were found at the site, important among them being those of the wild boar. This is reportedly the only site where terracotta figurines of wild boar have been found. There were representations of the deer. Figurines of dogs with a belt around the neck show that the Harappans kept dogs.

RGR-6, with a four-metre-deep deposit, belonged to the Early Harappan period. “You don’t find such a thick deposit in other Early Harappan sites. So we know that the excavation here will yield sufficient evidence to understand the gradual development from the Early Harappan to the Mature Harappan phase,” Shinde said. In most of the sites, archaeologists stopped short of excavating the Early Harappan deposits as they were found below the Mature Harappan level.

However, as the Early Harappan (RGR-6) and Mature Harappan deposits were available in two different mounds at Rakhigarhi, it was possible to understand the lifestyle of the people who belonged to the Early Harappan period. Besides, it helped archaeologists understand the shift in the cultural phase from the Early Harappan to the Mature Harappan phase, that is, the changes that had occurred in the style of structures, pottery, bead-making, and so on.

“Rakhigarhi was the place to understand how these changes had taken place. So we excavated 16 trenches in mound six. It was a big excavation,” Shinde said. (Rakhigarhi did not boast of a Late Harappan culture.)

Nilesh Jadhav said pottery typical of the Early Harappan period was found in the trenches at RGR-6. They included ceramics painted with peepal leaves; painted pottery resembling the Periano Gundai slipped ware from the Zhop valley in present-day Pakistan; ceramics with appliqué designs; chocolate ware; and bichrome ware. Also found were portable ovens, the types of which are still in use at Rakhigarhi; mud bricks in the ratio of 1:2:3; terracotta beads; steatite micro beads with a diameter of a couple of millimetres; copper objects such as fish hooks; a copper bangle; and so on. No terracotta animal figurines were available at the Early Harappan level.

Shinde said: “Since no evidence has been found so far of a Late Harappan phase having existed at Rakhigarhi, my hypothesis is that the rivers Saraswati and Drishadvati were not active as they were during the Early and Mature Harappan phases. The Saraswati could have gone dry around 2000 BCE and so the Late Harappan people moved away from the Saraswati river banks. So we have sites where the Early and the Mature Harappan phases flourished, mostly on the banks of the Saraswati and the Drishadvati. And there are other Late Harappan sites away from the riverbanks in this region and these sites include Bhagwanpura, Rupar and Barar.”

http://www.frontline.in/arts-and-culture/dna-of-a-civilisation/article7194003.ece

Archaeologists and scientists of Deccan College, Pune, examining a full-length skeleton of a male excavated from a burial site in Rakhigarhi in March. Photo:Deccan College, Pune

Pottery photographed in situ from a burial site. Photo:Deccan College, Pune

The skeleton of a woman found with the customary ritual pottery. Photo:Deccan College, Pune

A series of burials with pottery excavated from a mound at Rakhigarhi in the midst of a vast expanse of wheat fields. Photo:Deccan College, Pune

Pottery which was found with the remains of a skeleton in a burial pit in the Late Harappan site of Chanayan in Baghpat district, Uttar Pradesh, in December 2014. These include pots, deep bowls and flasks and might have contained cereals, milk, butter, etc., as part of some religious ceremony for the dead. Photo:Archaeological Survey of India

Remains of the Harappan grid-planned settlement at Farmana. The picture shows circular pits with post holes in which the Early Harappans lived. Photo:Deccan College, Pune

Vasant Shinde, Vice-Chancellor of Deccan College, Pune, and director of the excavations at Rakhigarhi and Farmana. Photo:Deccan College, Pune

Nilesh P. Jadhav, Research Assistant, Deccan College, and co-director of the excavation at Rakhigarhi. Photo:Deccan College, Pune

A pear-shaped potter's kiln built of clay and plastered on the inner side with fine silt, at Farmana. Its flat bottom and the sides are burnt red because of prolonged usage. Inside the circular portion of the kiln is a large brick, probably meant to support pots to be fired in it. Photo:Deccan College, Pune

A fire altar excavated at Farmana. Photo:Deccan College, Pune

A perfectly ribbed pot belonging to the Early Harappan phase excavated from one of the trenches at RGR-6 in Rakhigarhi. Photo:Deccan College, Pune

Pottery found in profusion at Rakhigarhi. Photo:Deccan College, Pune

A view of the excavated burials which are adjacent to one another at Farmana. All the 70 burials here belong to the Mature Harappan phase. Photo:Deccan College, Pune

A broken copper crown with carnelian and faience beads, found at Chandayan village, Uttar Pradesh, in August 2014. Photo:Archaeological Survey of India

Terracotta bone copper chert faience lapis lazuli toy tools beads bangle from rakhigarhi excavation

Seal and Sealing from rakhigarhi mound no 4

Published: May 13, 2015 12:30 IST | Updated: May 12, 2015 13:12 IST

Tales from the dead

The burials at Farmana are divided into primary, secondary and symbolic/ceremonial. In the primary burial (above), the body was placed in the pit along with ritual pottery, tools, beads, bangles and anklets. Photo:Deccan College, Pune

The secondary burial (above) contains a few human bones and burial goods. It is likely that the body was kept in the open for several days and the bones that remained were collected and buried in the pit. Photo:Deccan College, Pune

In a symbolic burial (above), there are no bones at all. This means a person whose body could not be retrieved was given a ceremonial burial. Photo:Deccan College, Pune

WITH the discovery of 70 Harappan burials, most of them with skeletons, the cemetery at Farmana in Haryana can stake its claim to be the largest Harappan graveyard found so far. The burials provide insights into Harappans’ customs, rituals, beliefs, health and eating habits, and even death from malnutrition. Other facts revealed are the economic and social status of persons, which can be derived from the jewellery found in the burial pits; the respect accorded to women in Harappan society; and their relationship with contemporaneous societies that supplied them raw materials.

“The site of Farmana is one of the few Harappan sites in the subcontinent that have Mature Harappan cemeteries located in their vicinity. Variations in customs, burial goods and the orientation of pits clearly suggest the presence of different population groups within Farmana,” said Vasant Shinde, director of the excavation at Farmana. It is a vast cemetery, covering 3.5 hectares, with only burials. No cremation was done.

A team of archaeologists and scientists from Deccan College Post-Graduate and Research Institute, Pune, Research Institute of Humanity and Nature, Kyoto, Japan, and Maharshi Dayanad University, Rohtak, Haryana, excavated both the Harappan habitational site and the graveyard at Farmana in 2006-07, 2007-08 and 2008-09. An interesting finding from the excavations is the traces of “masala curry of spices, including turmeric”, in a pot along with a skeleton in the cemetery. “This is the first time we found that the Harappans ate curry. They consumed wheat and rice…. We found traces of spices, including turmeric [in a pot in a burial pit]. It shows the contacts that the Harappans had with the south Indian people because the spices must have come from south India,” he said.

In his article entitled “Farmana and the Harappan Civilisation”, published in Heritage India, 2012, Volume 5, Issue 2, May 2012, Shinde says: “The Early Harappans lived in complexes made of circular or oblong pit dwellings. Gradually, over a period of time, these pit dwellings were replaced by rectangular or squarish structures over-ground, culminating in a planned town during the Mature Harappan phase. All the Mature Harappan structures at Farmana were made of mud-bricks and only occasionally, burnt bricks were used and mainly for the construction of foundations, drains and bathing platforms. The bricks used for construction were of the typical [Mature] Harappan ratio of 1:2:4…. Considering the extremely thick walls in the case of some structures, there appears to be a possibility of the presence of double-storey buildings….”

The cemetery at Farmana was discovered by chance. In the second season of excavation, a farmer who owned wheat fields nearby dug up his field for construction and came across human bones and potsherds. He showed them to the archaeologists working at the site. A minor excavation in 2007-08 confirmed the presence of the burial ground. So a major excavation was done the next year, which revealed the 70 burials and a cache of burial goods. The quality and quantity of these goods varied from burial to burial. Most of the burials were in the north-south direction.

There were three kinds of burials at Farmana: primary, secondary and symbolic/ceremonial. In the primary burial, the body was placed in the pit along with ritual pottery, tools, beads, bangles and anklets. In the second type, the body was kept in the open for several days and the bones that remained were collected and buried in the pit along with the burial goods. In the symbolic burial, there were no bones at all. This means that a person who may have died, say, in a fight or was killed by a wild animal and whose body could not be retrieved was given a ceremonial burial.

Another interesting feature of the burials was the use of clay coffins. In this instance, the burial pit was lined with clay and the body was lowered into the pit. The pit was covered with soil and a plaster of clay was applied on the top surface of the soil. Shinde said: “It is made so well that it looks like a clay box. The clay box burials were reserved for people who enjoyed a high status in society…. Besides, from the burials, it appears that the status of women in Harappan society was high because they were carefully buried in the centre of the pit. They were buried with their jewellery.” There were also large pits with big ritual pottery indicating the social ranking of the person buried.

The high content of copper and zinc in the bones points to the fact that Harappans were generally meat-eaters. Some trenches in the habitational area had charred remains of wheat, rice, barley and mustard. The Harappans roasted these grains and ground them to make dishes. The grains that got charred were thrown away.

Isotope analysis on the skeletal remains of the women at Farmana shows that some of them were not Harappans. These women could be from the Khetri region of Rajasthan, which supplied copper to the Harappan sites to make artefacts. Shinde said: “It shows that the Harappans married women from outside their region. This is interesting because the natural resources located outside the Harappan sites were controlled by contemporaneous societies such as the Ahar-Banas and the Ganeshwar-Jodhpura cultures. We had earlier believed that the Harappans obtained raw materials for their products by trade. But they also had matrimonial alliances with those who supplied them raw materials.”

T.S. Subramanian
http://www.frontline.in/arts-and-culture/tales-from-the-dead/article7193919.ece

SLIDESHOW

New burial sites at Rakhigarhi

Skeletal remains excavated from Rakhigarhi in Haryana will prove useful in understanding the Harappans’ features, lifestyle and culture. By T.S. SUBRAMANIAN

Archaeologists and scientists of Deccan College, Pune, examining a full-length skeleton of a male excavated from a burial site in Rakhigarhi in March.

Pottery photographed in situ from a burial site.

The skeleton of a woman found with the customary ritual pottery.

A series of burials with pottery excavated from a mound at Rakhigarhi in the midst of a vast expanse of wheat fields.

Remains of the Harappan grid-planned settlement at Farmana. The picture shows circular pits with post holes in which the Early Harappans lived.

http://www.frontline.in/arts-and-culture/new-burial-sites-at-rakhigarhi/article7197274.ece

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2015/05/sarasvatis-children-bharatam-janam.html

Harappan Civilization: Current Perspective and its Contribution – By Dr. Vasant Shinde

by admin | Feb 1, 2016 | Articles | 0 comments

General view of the excavation Harappan site of Farmana

By Dr. Vasant Shinde

Introduction

The identification of the Harappan Civilization in the twenties of the twentieth century was considered to be the most significant archaeological discovery in the Indian Subcontinent, not because it was one the earliest civilizations of the world, but because it stretched back the antiquity of the settled life in Indian Subcontinent by two thousand years at one stroke. Vincent Smith (1904), one of the leading historians of the era, had written, in the beginning of the twentieth century, that there was a wide gap (Vedic Night) or a missing link between Stone Age and Early Historic periods in the Indian History and the settled life in this part of the world began only after 6-5 century BCE, probably during the Stupa (Buddhist) period. The discovery of the Harappan Civilization proved him wrong and the Indian Subcontinent brought to light the presence of the first civilization that was contemporary to the Mesopotamian and Egyptian Civilizations. This Civilization was unique compared to the two contemporary civilizations on account of its extent and town planning. Extent-wise it was much bigger in size than the Mesopotamian and the Egyptian Civilizations put together and spread beyond the Subcontinent. Its town planning consisting of citadel and lower town, both fortified and having a checkerboard type planned settlement inside them, was a unique and unparallel in the contemporary world. Intensive and extensive works have brought to light over two thousand sites till date. The distribution pattern suggests that they were not only spread over major parts of western and north-western Indian subcontinent, but its influence is seen beyond, up to the Russian border in the north and the Gulf region in the west. In true sense this was the only civilization in the contemporary world, which was an international in nature.

The Indian subcontinent has all the favourable ecological conditions to give birth to the early farming community. The Southwest Asian agro pastoral system with wheat, barley, cattle, sheep and goats had spread through Iran and Afghanistan to Preceramic Mehrgarh in Baluchistan by about 7000 BC. Early Mehrgarh lithics, loaf-shaped mud bricks, female figurines and burial practices all suggest Southwest Asian influence from somewhere in the Levant or Zagros regions. The origins of village life in South Asia were first documented at Kile Ghul Mohammad in the Quetta valley (Fairservis 1956), then at the site of Mehergarh at the foothill of the Bolan pass on the Kacchi Plain on the Indus Valley (Jarrige 1984). Both these sites and numerous other in this region demonstrate cultural development from the seventh millennium BCE to the emergence of the of the Mature Harappan phase in the middle of the third millennium BCE.

As far as the climatic conditions during the Early-Harappan and Harappan times are concerned there are two conflicting interpretation. The data for paleoclimate reconstruction were obtained from Rajasthan lakes such as Didwana, Lunkarsar, Sambhar and Pushkar. The studies carried out by Singh et al (1990) have suggested that the mid-Holocene climatic optimum coincides with the mature phase of the Harappan Civilization and its end with a sharp excursion into aridity. Most interesting example cited is the occurrence of Cerealia type pollen and finely comminuted pieces of charcoal found in these lakes at 7000 BP, which has been interpreted as evidence for forest clearance and the beginning of agriculture. On the other hand, the studies carried out by Enzel et al. (1999) show that there is no simple correlation between favourable climate and the archaeological data. They have suggested that the most humid phase at Lunkaransar has been dated to between 6.3-4.8 kys with abrupt drying of the late sometime around 4.8 kys. During the period between 6.3-4.8 kys the lake was freshwater and never dried up. Significant shift in the carbon isotope values are also seen in this period. The most flourishing Harappan phase (Mature) is thus does not correlate to the favourable climate but indicates that it rather developed in a period of deteriorating climatic conditions. They have concluded that the Harappan Civilization was not caused by the presence of favourable environment. More data in this respect needs to be generated in nature future.

Excavations at Harappa and Mohenjo Daro commenced in 1920s, but the excavators were unable to assess the antiquity of the remains they were excavating. Leonard Woolley and Earnest Mackey who were excavating in Mesopotamia, had discovered some Harappans seals from securely dated strata. Sir John Marshall got a clue from and announced the discovery of the Harappan Civilization on 20 September 1924 through his article titled “First Light on a Long-Forgotten Civilisation: New Discoveries of an Unknown Prehistoric Past in India” published in the Illustrated London News and since then many scholars and institutions, both from India and outside, have been engaged in unravelling the history of this most important cultural phase in Indian History. No other culture in the subcontinent has received as much attention as the Harappan Civilization has. However, it should be mentioned that what is known today about this civilization is mainly the glimpses of their urban life, as the reconstruction done is based on the data recovered from large settlements identified as either cities or towns. Compared to that very few rural Harappan settlements such as agriculture villages, industrial centres or ports have been excavated systematically on large scale. In order to understand holistic life of the Harappans, sufficient systematic work on sites of different categories needs to be carried out. So far more than 100 sites have been subjected to various degrees of excavations, majority of which are large-size settlements. The work carried out at the site of Mehrgah in Baluchistan has already demonstrated the origin of the culture, which was gradual from the modest beginning of the settled life around 7500 BC (Jarrige et al. 1995). Identification of three phases of the Harappan culture- Early Harappan (3300-2600 BC), Mature Harappan (2600-2000 BC) and Late Harappan (2000-1700 BC) suggests cultural processes –origin, development and decline of the culture.

Origin and Extent

The earliest excavations and scholars (Mackay, 1928-29; Marshall, 1931; Vats, 1940) interpreted the rise of the Harappans as a result of a Near Eastern or external stimulus based on simple diffusion models (Fairservis, 1956; Gordon and Gordon, 1940; Piggott, 1950; Sankalia, 1974; Wheeler, 1947, 1968). However, today ideas of indigenous development (Durrani, 1986; Jarrige and Meadow, 1980; Mughal, 1974b; Shaffer, 1982b, Shinde, 2006) as a result of regional interactions among the existing earlier groups of people is believed to be the cause for the development of this civilization covering an area of 2.5 million sq. km nearly four times the size of its contemporary Mesopotamian and Egyptian Civilizations.

Toy Cart frame from Harappan site of Farmana

Of many excavations undertaken over a long period of time in the Subcontinent, the one carried out at Mehrgarh between 1974 and 1985 (Jarrige et al. 1995) is in a real sense an epoch making. Not only that it has provided the first evidence of a settled life in the Indian Subcontinent going back to the seventh millennium BC, but also solid evidence it has produced supporting the steady growth of the Harappan elements. The evidence that came out of this excavation lay to rest the earlier controversial theory of the Western world being responsible for the emergence of the Harappan Civilization. The excavations have demonstrated seven different stages of development prior to the emergence of the Harappan culture, beginning with the Aceramic Neolihtic. What is evident here is the introduction of various Harappan elements at various different levels at the site throughout the first seven phases, culminating into the emergence of the Harappan culture in the last stage/phase (VIII). Three different phases of the Harappan culture – Early, Mature and Late demonstrate cultural processes from origin-development to decline of the culture. The Mature Harappan phase is most prosperous one in which is found the development of the Civilization/urbanization and evidence from various excavated sites now leads us to believe it has emerged out of the Early Harappan phase. As is evident the process of transformation from Early to Mature Harappan appears to have happened simultaneously over the major Harappan region including Baluchistan, Sindh, Ghaggar and Gujrat.

The earlier belief that the Harappan Civilization (Mature Harappan phase) was a homogenous has turned out to be a myth. Within the Harappan region we find manifestation of the regional variation and three such regional variations (Domain according to Possehl (2002) can very distinctly be identified. The first scholar to point out this variation within the Harappan Civilization was J.P. Joshi way back in 1984 (Joshi, 1984). However, Possehl (2002) has identified more than 7 domains on account of geography and settlement pattern data. However, on the basis of variations in the material culture, three zones can clearly be distinguished. The excavations at Rojdi by Possehl and Raval (1989) were important from the point of view of identification of the regional variation of the Harappan Civilization in Saurasthra. It was noticed that the material culture associated with the Harappan culture at Rojdi showed some difference compared to that found in the Sindh-Baluchistan region. This was found true for the whole Saurashtra region. This difference was treated as a regional variation of the Harappan culture in Saurashtra and termed as Sorath Harappan (Possehl and Herman 1990). Similar regional difference in the material culture, more particularly in the ceramic assemblages of the Harappan sites in Ghaggar is visible. The sites located in the Sindh-Baluchistan region have classical Harappan elements and form one distinct zone within the Harappan region.

I can try to explain why such variations have occurred in the material culture of the Mature Harappan period. A number of Early Harappan cultures flourished in various parts of the Harappan region and the Mature Harappan is supposed to be the result of internal development within these Early Harappan cultures. Naturally therefore the features of the Early Harappan cultures persisted through the mature phase in their respective regions. The Early Harappan (4000-2600 BCE) is made up of five regional phases that are thought to be generally contemporary: the Amri-Nal, Kot Diji, Damb Saddat, Sothi-Siswal and Anarta-Padri. They are as follows:

These are the different regional traditions that came into existence during the Early Harappan phase of the Harappan culture. Simultaneous development and integration as a result of intensive contacts and exchange of goods was happening in all the different zones and around 2600 BCE emerged the Mature Harappan (Harappan Civilization) phase.

The northernmost site is Manda on the River Beas in Jammu while Bhagtrav on the Tapti in Maharashtra forms its southern boundary. Alamgirpur on the Hindon River near Delhi and Sutkagendor on the Arabian Sea shore near the Iranian border forms its eastern and western peripheries respectively. Today the Harappans are believed to be a complex of many ethnic groups (Mughal, 1990; Possehl, 1982, 1990b; Shaffer and Lichtenstein, 1989; Thapar, 1979), representing several cultural identities with large regional urban centres like Harappa (Punjab), Mohen-jo Daro (Sindh), Rakhigarhi (Haryana), Dholavira (Kutch/Gujarat) and Ganweriwala (Cholistan) (Fig. 1) supported by innumerable craft centers, and smaller village settlements practicing agriculture which supported this urban and international trading economy.

Structural evidence from Harappan site of Farmana

Ecological setting

The environmental setting of the Harappan Civilization includes two major river systems and its flood plains, the Indus and the Ghaggar-Hakra (now dry); the highlands and plateaus of Baluchistan to the west, and the mountainous regions of northern Pakistan, Afghanistan, and India to the northwest and north. These geographical regions include highlands and lowlands, coasts and interior with distribution of land suitable for agriculture and pastoralism, the location of specific resources the procurement of which influenced the patterns of social and economic interaction and helped define social status.

Chronology

The Harappan culture cannot be studied as a homogeneous cultural phenomena as the cultural assemblages are varied, and include the Pre/Early-Harappan between 3500-2500 BC; Mature Harappan between 2500-2000 BC and the Post/Late Harappan after 2000 BC. A date of 2600 B.C. marks the approximate beginning of the urban fabric of the Harappans with the unification of the urban settlements, the use of writing, weights, Harappan-type ceramic designs, civic planning, etc and is believed to have disintegrated by 2100-1900 B.C. (Shaffer, 1991).

The Harappan urbanisation and standardization (2500-2000 BC)

The urban or the mature Harappan Phase includes a wide range of urban and non-urban rural sites that are varied in size and function but are inherently known for several features like the town planning with defensive walls with impressive gates around the site, two or more divisions of the settlement at the site, drains, baked brick structures, brick size (4:2:1 ratio), pottery, script, similarity in craft products and techniques (etched carnelian beads, copper-bronze artefacts, lithic blades), seals, weights and measures, evidence of external trade etc which help identify and denote them as a Harappan settlement irrespective of their size or urban/rural character. Some of these features have been touched upon in the following section.

Town planning

From excavated remains, it is clear that the Harappan Civilization possessed a flourishing urban architecture laid out on a grid pattern with provisions for an advanced drainage system and the most important innovation was the standardization of the bricks in a size ratio very close to 4:2:1. The citadel, defence walls, dams etc prove to the existence of monumental architecture. Mohenjo-Daro, Harappa, Rakhigarhi and Dholavira were by far the largest urban centers of the Indus civilization evidently as important political and administrative regional centers. The metropolitan centers were internally divided into two or more parts: the Citadel for rulers and the Lower Town for the common people.

The private houses were oriented towards a central space, with access from the street by an entrance that blocks the view of the interior of the house. A group of houses are associated with one or more private wells and approximately 700 wells have been identified in the core area of Mohen-jo Daro, (Jansen, 1989). The number of wells and their association with neighbourhoods could indicate a need for discrete and relatively private water sources.

The large public structures have open access or provide a thoroughfare from one area of the site to another like the “Great Bath” of Mohenjo Daro, and the “granaries” at Mohenjo Daro and Harappa. The “Great Bath” is a large, water-proof tank but its exact purpose remains unknown. The so-called granaries at Mohenjo Daro, Harappa and Lothal are today massive foundation platforms for a superstructure no longer evident.

The cities and smaller settlements also had carefully designed and well maintained drainage systems. Wells and bathing platforms were lined with bricks, and small drains carried water away from the wells or living area to larger street drains (Fig. 2). The street drains were equipped with sump-pits and the streets had bins for non-liquid waste, which was presumably collected and dumped outside the settlement.

The sites were laid out on a rectangular grid of main streets and smaller lanes with an efficient drainage system. The grid-like arrangement of the streets and the stark uniformity of the houses suggest rigid state control, the first instance of town planning in the world. Such a layout is not indicative of a town that has developed from village beginnings; rather, it is the sign of a newly conceived, or relocated, settlement (c.f. Gupta, 1997). The citadel was raised on high mud platforms and its architectural units may have functioned like a palace complex combining the functions of defence stronghold, meeting place, storage area, ceremonial centre, and perhaps the site of community feasting. In the major cities a defensive wall made of mud-brick protected the citadel and often the lower towns as shown by the excavations at Dholavira (Bisht, 1993; Gupta, 1997).

Subsistence and Economy

The economy was largely based on agriculture, animal husbandry and trade with specialized exchange networks for the procurement and distribution of raw materials and manufactured items within and beyond the civilization in existence. All the evidence indicates that the subsistence base of the economy remained much as it had already developed at Mehrgarh some two millennia earlier. The Harappan civilization apparently evolved from their predecessors, using irrigated agriculture with sufficient skill to reap the advantages of the spacious and fertile Indus River basin while controlling the formidable annual flood that simultaneously fertilizes and destroys (Kenoyer, 1991).

Even though most settlements were located in semi-arid areas with winter rainfall their wealth was based on a subsistence economy of wheat and barley. These winter crops, together with chickpeas, mustard, and field peas, were the staples. The other crops grown were rice, dates, melons, green vegetables (primarily legumes), and cotton. Cotton, a summer crop, was grown for fibre. The Harappans cultivated a variety of grains and harvested two crops a year. Fishing and hunting supplemented the diet. The Harappans developed an elaborate water management system and at the site of Dholavira in Kutch a network of dams, canals and reservoirs were used to manage the meagre and crucial water resources (Bisht, 1993).

Industry

The Harappan civilization boomed with industrial activity and a wide range of mineral resources were worked at various sites notably marine shells, ivory, carnelian, steatite, faience, lapis lazuli, gold, and silver. Craftsmen made items for household use (pottery and tools), for public life (seals), and for personal ornament (bangles, beads, and pendants) for elite markets and long-distance trade. The crafts were seen as producing standardized artifacts that were distributed throughout the Indus region. Often there is evidence of specialized crafts being segregated in specific sites (Shortugai, a lapis lazuli mining and processing center, Nageshwar, a shell-working site) and also specific areas of the sites (Chanhu-daro had many groups of artisans involved in the production of elite status items such as seals, long carnelian beads and copper objects). The standardization of crafts is attributed to centralized control of production, organized by a state-level organization (Piggott, 1950; Wheeler, 1968) or the result of a conservative ideology (Fairservis, 1984a; Miller, 1985).

Harappan pottery is perhaps the finest in India and is betoken of the achievement of the Harappan potter. It is made of extremely fine, well-levigated clay, free from impurities, and is uniformly well fired. The surface is treated with a red slip over which designs are executed in black. The painted patterns are rich in variety and the characteristic ones include intersecting circles, fish scales, the pipal leaf, etc but the bulk of the pottery is plain. Typical Mature Harappan shapes include S-shaped jars, the dish-on-stand and perforated cylindrical jars.

Terracotta figurines of humans and animals are an important part of the cultural assemblage of a Harappan site along with beads.

Copper/Bronze Metallurgy: Use of copper and bronze for shaping tools, vessels and ornaments was a characteristic feature of the Harappans. Most of the artifacts found are tools of everyday use such as axes, adzes, knives fish hooks, chisels (Fig. 3) including pots and pans and items of personal use such as jewellery in form of bangles, beads diadem strips while relatively few weapons of war have been found. Though the technique of manufacture of these objects is advanced we do not witness any elaborate ornamental decorative aspects to these items and were at large of a simplistic and modest style probably very typical to the Harappan ideology.

Interestingly most copper artifacts have been found at larger and economically developed settlements in comparison to small agricultural settlements which indicates that it was not in popular use and could have been a symbol of wealth and status. However, most copper artifacts including ornaments and vessels have been found in a non-hoard context which include burials (out of 168 total copper/bronze ornaments 130 were found in non-hoard context) as against other metal objects especially gold and silver (largely hoards and catches), though some copper vessels and beads in hoards cannot be ignored completely. Also the amount of copper/bronze artifacts found at Harappan sites (burial, on sites and hoards) is much less in comparison to the contemporary civilizations probably as an object of scarce availability and a symbol of wealth and status it was passed over from one generation to another and also recycled as is the case today in the region (Agrawal, 2007).

The source for this copper has yet not been identified but the Khetri mines on the Aravalli is the most plausible option. Some scholars have also identified the copper mines in northern and southern Baluchistan, Afghan Seistan as an important source since the Harappans seem to have established flourishing trade relations with the Helmand tradition of this region. The Oman peninsula with evidence of Harappan artifacts and short term Harappan settlements is a candidate for the source of Harappan copper as well. Agrawal (2007) considers the Aravallis as the most likely source for the Harappans especially as the Ganeshwar complex sites have yielded more than 5000 copper objects, with some typical Harappan types like thin blades, arrow-heads etc. Besides Mesopotamians imported copper from Melluha which is traditionally identified as the Indus region and hence the idea of a local source holds stronger ground than import from an outside source though the other mentioned sources could also have been tapped for recasting, fabricating and then export to Mesopotamia. However, Kenoyer and Miller argue that there is no direct evidence of Harappan phase mines or smelting sites in the Aravalli copper source areas, even though the area has been explored by numerous scholars (Piggot, 1999) and hence we are still at no particular consensus as far as the source for Harappan copper is concerned.

The Harappans are referred to as a Bronze Age culture, though they seemed to have preferred use of pure copper since a larger repertory of the artifacts are made of pure copper. Copper alloying though was a common aspect of metallurgy within the contemporary civilizations of the Harappans, only 30% of the 177 copper artifacts analyzed from Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro indicate tin, arsenic, nickel or lead alloying, of which tin is the most common. The amount of tin ranged from 1-12% in the bronze artifacts studied.

The manufacture of copper/bronze objects involves two- three levels of industry. The first and the foremost is obtaining the metal from its ore through smelting for which we do not have any direct evidence in form of slag or the ore at either, the settlement sites or at the Khetri mines the so-called source for Harappan copper. Hence right from the outset we are at a loss for the source of this metal and it has to be put forth that most likely the Harappans obtained the metal from outside as ingots which could be worked by casting through melting and shaping the molten metal through a stone, terracotta or sand mould or direct fabricating or forging and shaping the metal through heating and beating techniques. There is evidence of plano-convex disc shaped ingots with an uneven puckered top surface from Mohenjo Daro, Chanhudaro, Harappa and Lothal which it seems was further worked by the copper smiths for producing the objects required.

A detailed analysis of the copper artifacts indicate that the Harappans were aware of the lost wax process or cire perdueas the two dancing figurines and a covered cart without its wheels and another complete with the driver from Chanhudaro are manufactured using this closed casting technique. According to Mackay (1938), a large number of blade axes were manufactured using closed casting technique and “were so faulty and full of blow holes as to be unusable except for re-melting”. However the absence of moulds at any site except Lothal (not accepted by Agrawal, 2007) is suggested as a result of use of sand based moulds which disintegrate when exposed to nature and hence create a vacuum in the archaeological context.

Several other objects especially the flat celts and axes indicate open mould casting with slow and controlled cooling of the cast metal.

However the maximum objects are of the forged category which is basically the shaping and modification of non-molten metal using the force of a hammer on hot or cold metal. Forging helps shape and hardens the objects and hence is an important aspect of manufacture of edged tools of every day and industrial use, which are the most common finds at Harappan sites (of 521 objects for Chanhudaro, 645 are tools, 26% are ornaments, 7% were vessels and 3% percent included the miscellaneous objects). The most common example is the Harappan chisel which was forged from a cast copper bars, while thin razors were cut from copper sheets and then forged to form a sharp cutting edge. Most of the copper vessels were also manufacture by beating the copper sheet into the required shape.

Besides copper the Harappans worked with gold, silver and lead as is exhibited from the artefactual evidence.

Shell: Gujarat was one of the main centres for production of shell objects from the Turbinella Pyrum which was cut and worked using a bronze saw. Nageshwar, Bagasra, Kuntasi etc. have been identified as important shell working centres for procuring raw material and processing finished goods like bangles, beads-pendants, decorative inlay pieces, spoons and ladles etc.

Stone: various types of stone was worked for different purposes which varied from lithic tools made of chert and chalcedony, seals carved of steatite for public utility to objects of personnel use especially ornaments like beads, bangles pendants etc. made of, technologically altered and transformed materials like faience, carnelian, paste. Some of this was not only for the local but the international market as well since Harappan carnelian beads have been found at the royal cemetery of Ur.

The Harappans and their crafts have been identified as a technologically innovative group with an indifference towards the regular precious stones like lapis and turquoise. Jarrige sums up their attitude by saying that “they didn’t like them because they couldn’t play with them” (Agrawal, 2007:323) while Vidale goes on to say “the Indus people are noteworthy of their cultural expression of not power of conquering, but rather power of creating; from abstract universe created in their urban organization to artificial stone of their microbeads” (Agrawal, 2007:323).

Copper spoon from Harappan site of Farmana

Trade

The evidence for trade/exchange is primarily artifacts made from raw materials with regionally restricted sources, such as marine shell, agate, carnelian, lapis lazuli, turquoise, coloured cherts and jaspers, serpentine, steatite and copper. Transport of objects was probably overland by human porters, cattle carts, and on the backs of sheep, goat, cattle etc. The locations of major settlements were related to the importance of riverine or sea transport as is the case with settlements like Lothal, Balakot, Sutkagendor etc (Ratnagar, 1981; Jansen, 1989),

Evidence from sites in Mesopotamia suggests that the Harappans (Meluhha) exported wood, shell, ivory, gold, decorated carnelian beads, lapis lazuli and perishable items like textiles, cotton and food grains; and much of this trade would have been routed via the Gujarat coast due to its strategic location at the delta of the Indus River. Other goods found are indicative of the trade networks include gold from southern India or Afghanistan, silver and copper from Oman or Rajasthan, lapis lazuli from Afghanistan and turquoise from Iran and Afghanistan. It is believed that trade existed between Egypt and the Harappans on the basis of two terracotta mummies from Lothal. Also the blue colour used by the Egyptians is said to have come from Indigo cultivated in India (Zarins, 1992), evidence of which is found at Rojdi. Trade with the west seem to have received a major boost around 2300-2200 BC, and this is when the Harappans set-up small industrial centres all along the resource and coastal regions for promoting their trade. However by 1900 BC trade with Mesopotamia started to decline and by 1700 it had completely disappeared (Dhavalikar, 1997). The presence of cubical weights of precise measures and impressions of seals (sealings) also point to a well-developed and structured system of trade with control and distribution methods. The well-developed though un-deciphered script was probably also an integral part of this network.

The Harappan script

The urban Harappans can be easily differentiated from their predecessors and successors on the basis of their use of writing which was used for identification of ownership of goods or economic transactions, accounting, the recording of socio-political or ritual events (Fairservis, 1983; Parpola, 1986). The origins of this writing system is not clear and till date has not been deciphered due to the lack of a bilingual text and also because the inscriptions are very short, usually only of about five discrete symbols (Parpola, 1979).

However this has not restricted academic debate and linguists suggest affinities with Proto-Dravidian or Indo-Aryan language (Fairservis, 1983; Parpola, 1986) without any consensus or proof. Though now it is generally agreed that writing was from right to left and is most commonly found on the intaglio seals, made of carved and fired steatite, steatite, clay or faience tablets and numerous incised tools and ornaments and often on pottery before or after firing, stamped on pottery, terra-cotta cakes or terra-cotta cones (Joshi and Parpola, 1987).

These writings or symbols regardless of its understanding by the modern scholars do represent a shared belief and ideology that was distributed over an extremely large area which was undoubtedly a key factor in the integration of the urban and rural populations spread over varied ecological settings.

Religion

Wheeler (1968) emphasized that religious and secular activities were indivisible concepts, and this fact applies not just to ancient past but even today as can be often seen from the religious symbolism of modern Indian sub-continent. Even today several tools and toys used in secular form acquire a “ritual status” with changing contexts. Many objects and symbols have been seen as representing Harappan “religious” beliefs and practices and include seals, horned male deities, Mother Goddess figurines, fire-altars, etc. However all attempts to correlate these objects and scenes to Indian mythology and religion or to the contemporary Mesopotamian religious belief have failed due to lack of deciphered text (Allchin, 1985; Ashfaque, 1989; Dhavalikar and Atre, 1989; Fairservis, 1975, 1984b; Parpola, 1984, 1988).

Religious traditions and beliefs are also witnessed in the death rituals and Harappan burials also indicate localized patterns (Kennedy and Caldwell, 1984). The cemeteries are small and do not appear to represent the entire society, hence, it is possible that certain groups practiced burial while others used cremation or exposure while variation in the mode of burial and the quantity of grave goods also indicate difference of social and religious norms.

Wheeler (1968) had put forth local cults and a state religion, which is similar to what he witnessed in the living traditions of numerable local cults and a larger religious ideology pantheon which is all inclusive. Fairservis (1986) proposed that cities such as Mohenjo-daro were primarily ceremonial centers and that “religion” was an integrating factor using a complex system of shared beliefs and rituals legitimizing the economic and political control.

The Harappan Society and Polity

It is still impossible to do more than guess at the social organization or the political and administrative control implied by this vast area of cultural uniformity. The evidence of widespread trade in many commodities, the apparent uniformity of weights and measures, the common script, and the almost common currency-of seals, all indicate some measure of political and economic control probably originating from the large regional centres. The presence of status objects throughout the Indus region indicates a strong socio-political and religious system of beliefs that demanded and prompted the acquisition and use of such items. A sufficient supply would have been ensured by economic networks and the spread of specialized artisans and technologies to major sites and interestingly there is no evidence for acquisition by force which is obvious in the near absence of weapons of war. The acquisition of exotic goods must be seen as the accumulation of grain or livestock surplus – in an increasing status differentiation between those who have and those who have not.

There is no clear idea about the composition of Harappan population in spite of the fact that a number of their grave-yards have been excavated. The sites like Harappan, Kalibangan, Rakhigarhi, Lothal, Farmana (Shinde et al. 2009) (Fig. 4) have produced separate cemeteries, but due to lack of sufficient scientific analyses such as DNA, Isotope and Trace Element, etc. features like genetic aspects, health and diet of the people is not sufficiently known yet. However, social stratification is evident in their burials.

Recent Researches on the Harappan Culture in the Ghaggar Basin

The Harappans favoured the region of Ghaggar/Hakra the most as is evident from the presence of high density of the Harappan settlements there. The region, particularly on the Indian side of the Ghaggar basin is yet to be systematically surveyed and the work on settlement patterns and systems is still in its infancy. Numerous sites have been reported by the earlier workers, which cannot be visited and studied now. This is simply because either majority of the co-ordinates mentioned by the earlier researchers are wrong, or most of the sites have been completely razed either in the process of converting them into agricultural fields or due to various developmental projects initiated by State or Central Governments.

Among the many factors responsible for the development of the Harappan Civilization, congenial climate and surplus production of food grains are considered to be the most significant. The Ghaggar basin was very potent for the surplus production of food grains as it has very thick cover of fertile alluvium soils and the rivers are perennial due to their rise from the Siwalik Hills. Even today, this region is considered to be part of an “Agricultural Bowl” of India. A large number of Harappan sites located in the proximity of arable land can be interpreted as Agricultural settlements. They are relatively large in size and have considerable thick deposit. However, sites like Rakhigarhi and Farmana, very extensive and under occupation for thousands of years may have played an important role in the socio-economic organizations of the Harappans. The site of Rakhigarhi, by virtue of its location, which is almost in the centre of the region and having vast catchment around it, has grown into most probably a large “Regional Centre” of the Ghaggar basin. It may have controlled administration and overall economy of the region. The site of Farmana may have acquired importance and grown into a town because of its proximity to the site of Rakhigarhi, which is roughly 40 km away and also due to very congenial ecological conditions.

The site of Farmana was selected for large-scale excavation mainly because it has both the Early and Mature Harappan phases and thus an ideal candidate where one can undertake study of cultural processes. Besides, for last many decades the farmers who own the site have been modifying landscape of the site for agricultural activities. As a result, once a prominent habitation mound is being reduced to almost a flat ground now. The excavation thus aims to salvage archaeological record before it is completely destroyed. For the first time this excavation has produced evidence that is enabling understanding of the origin and the factors causing regional variations. The regional cultures like Siswal, Regional Hakra Culture Tradition and Sothi may have evolved in the Ghaggar basin as a result of interactions with the early Neolithic cultures, either from the Baluchistan region or Kashmir.

Excavations carried out at Farmana have thrown immense light on the town planning and the burial customs of the Mature Harappans at this site. The orientation of the town in NW-SE direction closely resembles the one at Kalibangan, whereas overall pattern of the drainage, streets and structures are close to the planning at the site of Harappa. Since only the foundations have survived, it is not possible to visualize the nature of walls and superstructure. The walls above could be either of burnt bricks, which may have been completely robbed by the present villagers, or mud-bricks. The traces of settlements found at Farmana are in general agreement with the usual grid town planning associated with the Harappan Civilization (Shinde et al. 2008a and 2008b, 2010, 2011a 2011b).

It is interesting to note, that the Harappans at Farmana were very fond of geometric structures and features. Majority of the pits including storage, fire and burials found at Farmana are rectangular in shape. These pits are perfectly rectangular with perfectly vertical sides and flat bottom. All the rectangular fire-pits found in the structures are certainly used as domestic hearths and they are usually found in one of the corners or along the inner margin of the wall of structures. Besides, very often a water storage jar and a small rectangular storage pit are found close to the fire-pits. Some of the fire-pits are close on all four sides and considerably large in size. In order to accommodate smaller pot on these fire-pits, they may have used bricks for support of cooking vessels, the evidence of which is found in a few cases. They do not appear to be associated with religious beliefs of the people as their context includes fragments of cooking and storage pots and splinters of charred animal bones would indicate.

On the basis of the presence of large number of artefacts at Farmana, it appears that Farmana was one of the flourishing Harappan centres. It has a strong agricultural base as its catchment is covered with very fertile alluvium soil and has ample source of fine clay for manufacture of pottery and bricks. The site may have been a major regional centre for the manufacture of terracotta objects, including pottery. The lapidary and copper working may have been the other industries at Farmana. It may have acquired semi-precious stones from Gujarat, gold from Karnataka and copper from Khetri region of Rajasthan. The site appears to have flourished because of the major agricultural and industrial activities here. One of the beautifully decorated etched carnelian beads found at Farmana is exactly identical to the one found at Ur in Mesopotamia. This discovery is very important and even leads one to surmise that Farmana played an important role in Harappan Civilization’s international trade with Mesopotamia (Shinde et al. 2008b).

The study of the faunal samples revealed the presence of several animal taxa. Out of the 30 species in the collection, eight wild mammals (wild pig, gazelle, antelope, chital, rat, Indian Hare, four-horned antelope and nilgai) and one reptile (turtle) were found. The six domesticated species include cattle, buffalo, sheep, goat, pig and dog. Molluscs like lamellidens, pila globosa and some fishes which could not be identified at this stage were also found at Farmana. Among the many birds bones recovered, only one that is Busulous ibis could be identified. Though no Laboratory analysis of the grain and plan remains are available, wheat, barley and rice grains were identified during sampling at the site. Thus it is clear that the subsistence of the people of Farmana was based on agriculture but supplemented with animal diet. Further analysis and more work at the site will be able to generate sufficient data to tackle some of the research problems identified.

The site of Farmana is one of the few Harappan sites in the subcontinent that has Mature Harappan cemetery located in its vicinity. There are two more cemeteries, one at Bedwa and the other at Puti Seman, located in the vicinity of 5 km. Cemeteries at Bedwa and Putti Semen belong to the Late Harappan phase as the entire deposit of the Late Harapan at Farmana has been razed, there is no way to connect them to the site of Farmana.

The ancient site (29°02’22”N and 76°18’21”E) that falls in the jurisdiction of three different villages- Farmana, Seman and Bhaini Chandrapal (Badi Bahen) all in the jurisdiction of Meham block of Rohtak district in the state of Haryana (Fig. 1), is locally known as Daksh Kheda. Since major portion of this site lies in the jurisdiction of Farmana village, it is considered a part of that village. The site is 4 km to the west of Farmana on the metal road between Farmana and Semen. It is 2.5 km to the east of the village Seman. The site is in the Chautang river basin, but roughly 30 km away from the river. There are lakes in the vicinity of the site. The Harappans may have relied for their water needs on such lakes.

The survey, which was carried out, revealed a very extensive area under occupation measuring over 18 hectares in size (Shinde et al. 2008a-b). The major portions of the site particularly along the periphery and also the upper levels of the Mature Harappan period have been destroyed as the entire site is under cultivation. The total habitation deposit survived now varies from 2.5 m to 3.5 m.

The site (Fig. 2) has been extensively damage along its periphery area and therefore we are not able to trace the outline of the fortification wall. The excavations carried out at the site has revealed two distinct phases of the Harappan Culture: Early Harappan (Period-1- Regional Hakra Culture) and the Mature Harappan (represented by three sub-phases- Period-IIA, IIB and IIC). The site which was in the form of a prominent mound some 50 years ago is being constantly damaged by the farmers. In the process of converting the site into an agriculture land, the entire Early Historic, Painted Grey Ware, Late Harappan and part of the upper Mature Harappan (Period-IIB) levels have been completely damaged. The site is so rich that the structural remains and features are found immediately below the ploughing zone. This is the ideal site for Horizontal excavation.

Statue seal from Harappan site of Farmana

Two periods of the Harappan culture have been survived at the site. They are as follows:

Period- I Early Harappan (Regional Harkra Culture Tradition) (3500-2600 BC)

This is the period which was called Pre-Harappan in the Farmana excavation report published last year (Shinde et.al. 2008b). However, after evaluating its contribution to the development of Mature Harappan phase, it was clear that most of the elements of this phase continued in the succeeding phase as it is or with minor modifications. It is because of this that this early phase is treated as a formative stage of the Harappan Culture and hence the term Early Harappan. The last three layers at the site (Layers 10-12) belong to the Early Harappan phase (Period- I). The following are some of the AMS dates from the Early Harappan levels from Frmana, Girawad and Mitathal:

These dates are not consistent and hence are not of much use to decide the general chronology of Period-I. There are a number of dates from the early occupation at the site of Bhirrana, which is the closest to Farmana and Girawad. Most of the dates for this period are quit early in age at Bhirrana. It is therefore safe to presume that the Early Harappans flourished in this part in the middle of 4th millennium BC and continued until the emergence of the Mature Harappan phase around 2600 BC.

The kind of pottery, structures and other material recovered from the sites of Farmana is reported from other sites like Bhirrana (Rao, et al. 2004-05), Girawad (Shinde, et. al. 2008a, 2011b) and Kunal (Khatri and Acharya 1995). The excavated evidence from these sites suggests that the early settlers began their lifestyle with modest dwellings consisting of mostly underground structures, either circular or oval in shape dug in natural level. The one excavated at Farmana is an oval in shape, large in size and 90 cm deep. The sides are perfectly vertical and bottom flat. A couple of post-holes were noticed on the periphery. This suggests that there were superstructures on these pit-dwellings. The evidence of charred bones, cooking pottery along with fine variety in them are indicative of their use for dwelling purposes. They used very advanced pottery making and firing technology and produced a variety of wares such as Mud Appliqué, Incised, Chocolate Slipped, Reserve Slipped, Grooved, etc. The copper and lapidary crafts were well developed and the people had already developed long distance trade contacts for acquiring suitable raw materials and circulating finished goods. This no doubt suggests that the first settlers came to the site from elsewhere with ready craft technology. The excavation carried out at Farmana and a few other sites in the Ghaggar basin revealed that the early culture remained rural in character. The urbanization was a gradual process in this region and it was fully achieved only in the Mature Harappan phase in the middle of the third millennium BCE.

As limited excavation was carried out in the early stages at the site it is difficult to discuss about their life-style including social and economic aspects at this stage.

Period- II Mature Harappan (sub-divided into Period-IIA, Period- IIB and Period-IIC)

The Mature Harappan period at the site is represented by a thick deposit of more than two meters. A large number of artefacts, pottery, structures and features of this period have been excavated. There appears to be some variation in the material remains from the beginning to the end of the Mature Harappan occupation at the site. This variation coupled with stratigraphy, enable identification of sub-phases. This sub-phase is quite clear in their burials. The Mature Harappan therefore has been sub-divided into Period- IIA, Period-IIB and Period-IIC. No radio carbon or AMS dates are yet available for this period, but tentatively on the basis of the study of data from the site as well as on comparative analysis Period-IIA can be dated between 2600-2400 BC, Period-IIB to 2400-2200 BC and Period- IIC, which has been completely scooped out from the site can be dated between 2200-2000 BC. This division of the Mature Harappan period and dating will have to be supported by additional data and dates. Tentatively layers 6-9 could be assigned to Period-IIA and 1-5 to Period-IIB. No layers of the last Mature Harappan period have survived at the site.

The Mature Harappan period at the site marks the culmination of the cultural process that began in the early stage at the site, which is reflected in their settlement pattern and cultural material. The entire 18 ha area was occupied during this period suggesting expansion of the population and attainment of prosperity. There is a gradual transition from Early Harappan to the Mature Harappan at the site which is clearly evident in their structures and pottery. The pit-dwelling in the lowermost level at the site was replaced by mud-brick rectangular structures in the subsequent levels. Between the pit-dwellings and the beginning of the Mature Harappan phase (IIA) are noticed a number of floor levels indicating gradual development. In the level between Early Harappan and Mature Harappan, which can also be termed as Transition, are found small rectangular possibly independent structures with circular fire places. Elaborate remains of well planned and built mud and burnt-brick structural complexes, streets, drainages, rectangular fire places and storage areas came into existence right from Period-IIA at the site (Shinde et al. 2011a). The brick size that was used right from the Early Harappan until the end of Period IIB is in the ration of 1:2:4. The so called Early Harappan brick ratio of 1:2:3 is almost absent in the Ghaggar basin, except at the site of Banawali in Hissar District (Bisht 1993), which was excavated on a large scale. Large horizontal area of Period IIB has been excavated which has unearthed a part of the well-planned settlement of the Mature Harappan people at Farmana.

The partially handmade and not well finished pottery found in the Early Harappan period was refining gradually and became superior ceramic assemblage with more typical Harappan shapes in the Mature Harappan phase. The classical painted Harappan Red ware makes its appearance. The seals are completely absent in Period-I, but appears from the beginning of Period-II. The presence of seal and sealing, elaborate evidence for town planning, rich cultural material excavated so far, advance technology and practice of elaborate burial customs during Period- II all point towards the attainment of urbanization in this period.

The site of Farmana is one of the few Harappan sites in Indian Subcontinent having its cemetery in the proximity. The Harappan Cemetery at Farmana was discovered accidently in 2007-08 season and a few burials (7 in all) were excavated then (Shinde et al. 2008, 2010, 2011). The preliminary survey carried out then had indicated its spread over a large area (approximately 3 ha). This cemetery was accidentally discovered, when the owner of the land (Mr. Ramdhari from Seman village) was ploughing this land for lifting the soil. The cemetery is located to the northwest of the habitation site at a distance of 900 m from the datum point located in the centre of the habitation site. It is located to the right hand (north) of the Farmana-Seman motor-capable road. There are many sites in the Ghaggar basin such as Kalibangan, Rakhigarhi, Tarkhanewala Dera, Sanauli, Bedwa, Putti Semen, etc. where Harappan cemeteries were discovered. It is now confirmed that the cemetery at Bedwa, Putti Seman and Sanauli belong to the Late Harappan period, whereas Kalibangan, Rakhigarhi and Tarkhanewala Dera have Mature Harappan cemeteries same as that found at Farmana.

In order to understand various customs and socio-religious aspects of the Harappans from the burials it was decided to excavate their Cemetery on much larger scale this year. As the data is large, it is also proposed to undertake DNA, strontium, pathology, starch grain and residue analyses pottery to understand composition of population, their health and diet.

The cemetery as Farmana is in the natural field. The burial pits were dug in the natural alluvium soil, which is brownish/yellowish in colour. The colour of the soil, filled after placing dead bodies in them, turned slightly greyish/blackish, which is very easy to distinguish from the natural soil (Fig. 3). The dead bodies were placed in pits dug to varied depth. Some to the pits are as deep as 1 m, some 50 cm and some very close to the surviving surface level. It is observed that some dead bodies were placed in clay box (coffin), the traces of which have survived in many cases. Remains of seventy burials were uncovered in the area spread over 35 m by 21 m, of which Nos. 1-7 were excavated in the second season (2007-08). Also there are a few burials, the pit-lines of which have been traced and numbered, but not excavated. The burial pits have three different orientations- northwest-southeast, north-south and northeast-southwest. On the basis of the pottery and ornaments found in burials, their chronological positions have become clear. They belong to three different sub-phases of the Mature Harappan period. The burials belonging to Period-IIA have more Early Harappan pots, particularly Kot Diji type round bodied, flat-based rimless or with very short rim. The burials of Period- IIB have some Kot-Diji type pots, some typical Harappan and very few local varieties. The Burials of Period-IIC are devoid of Kot Diji type pots but contain only typical Harappan and the local pots, almost 50-50. The pottery and ornaments found in burials clearly indicate that these burials are comparable with cemetery R-37 found at Harappa.

The burials found at Farmana can be divided into three categories, i.e. primary, secondary and symbolic. In the case of the primary burial, the dead body was placed in a pit in a supine position with head towards the north and the legs towards the south. The primary burial therefore contains full skeleton in situ. The secondary burial usually contains a few bones. It is quite likely that the dead body was kept in open for some time and later the surviving bones were collected and buried in a pit ceremoniously. There are some burials which are devoid of any skeletal remains but contained pottery and ornaments. Such burials have been termed as symbolic burial. It is quite likely that the body of the person was not retrieved but they thought it fit to give ceremonious burial without the dead body. All the burial pits excavated so far are of the human life-size and rectangular in shape with their sides cut perfectly vertical and the bottom flat. This has been the hallmark of the site of Farmana, as all the small pits, including fire-pits, no matter whether they are connected with the burial or habitation activity, are usually rectangular in shape. The number of pots and jewellery found in burial pits varied from burial to burial, depending possibly on the social and economic status of the individual. The presence of burial goods clearly suggests that the Harappans believed in life after death.

Terra cotta animal figurines from Harappan site of Farmana

Contributions of the Harappan Civilization to the World History

Since the discovery of the Harappan Civilization in 1920s there have been sporadic attempts to discuss about overall lifestyle and socio-economic and religious organizations. But all previous attempts have failed to discuss about the significant contribution made by the Harappan Civilization to the history of the region and the World. Generally it is observed that the domestic and international tourist prefer to travel to Egypt and Mesopotamia to see the monumental architecture, life sized sculptures and very rich royal tombs created by Egyptian and Mesopotamian Civilizations who were contemporary to the Harappans. Such creations are absent in the Harappan sites and therefore tourists do not find these sites attractive. Harappan archaeologists have not made any systematic effort in conveying the practical and philosophical thinking and the contribution made by them to the history. Technologically and economically Harappans were capable of creating such monumental architecture and sculptures. The available evidence indicates that they were getting lot of wealth from the West through international trade. This wealth was used by the Harappans very practically and wisely to create world class cities and basic amenities for all classes of the people in the society. Probably they thought that creation of monumental architecture or burying huge wealth along with dead bodies could be wastage of the resources as they were not beneficial to the society. They use this wealth or prosperity for sustainable development not only within cities and towns but all over the Harappan region. It also enables them to create some sort of uniform culture over a vast territory. This aspect of philosophy and practical consideration of the Harappans needs to be highlighted and brought to the notice of the world. These features of the Harappans will be showcased at the site of Rakhigarhi, where the author has embarked on a very ambitious project. The Harappans are credited to innovation and implementation of basic sciences and technologies, which became a source for a number of contemporary cultures in South Asia. Most of the technologies and traditions developed by these people are so relevant to South Asia that they have continued till date and the significance has not diminished a bit. The roots of the development of South Asia in the field of science, technology, social and economic sphere lie in the Harappan Civilization. It is amazing to see cultural and historical continuity in South Asia at least for 5000 years which makes the Indian History unique in the context of World History. It is because of the emergence of Harappan Civilization that South Asia gained tremendous significance in the world of ancient civilizations. Some of the important contributions of the Harappans to the world history have been listed below:

Development of First Empire in South Asia: The period roughly from 4000 BCE to 2600 BCE is considered to be a formative stage of the Harappan culture. A number of regional cultures like Hakra, Kot Diji, Amri, Sothi, Padri/Anarta, etc. came into existence during this period in different parts of the region where Harappan Civilization flourished. They shared some common cultural features but they could be distinguished mainly on account of their painted ceramic traditions. All these cultures could be integrated at around 2500 BCE and the Harappans managed to create a huge Empire (Civilization) over North-western and Western part of the subcontinent over an area of roughly 2 million sq. km. This is a unique example in the contemporary world of an Empire solely created by peaceful means and not by force, which is usually the case with most of the Empires in the world, including India.

Scientific Construction Method: For the first time in the world, the Harappans produced bricks for construction in the ration of 1:2:3 and 1:2:4 required to undertake scientific construction activity, which is known as “English Bond”. This so called English Bond construction method, in which one line of brick is placed horizontal and the next vertical, was first introduced in the world by the Harappans. It is because of this scientific construction method, the Harappans managed to create very well planned usually referred to as “Grid Planned” cities and towns. This is considered to be the characteristic features of the Harappan town planning. All the public and private structures found in the Harappan lebels were built by following this technique. This is considered to be the beginning of the modern construction method.

Civic Amenities: Well laid out streets and side lanes equipped with drains are one of the most outstanding feature of the Harappan cities. The Harappan cities were very clean and hygienic as they had devised means to dispose of dirty water and solid waste out of the city wall. The cities and towns were provided with a network of closed as well as open drainage system, which was connected to the main drainage line. The drains made of baked bricks, connected with bathing platforms and latrines of private houses. The open drains flowed into larger sewers in the main street which was covered with bricks of dressed stone blocks. Corbeled arches allowed the larger drains to cut beneath streets or buildings until they finally existed under the city wall, spewing sewerage and drain water into the outlying plain. At Harappa a sequence of four drains build one after the other has been found in the existing city at the main gateway between mound E and mound ET (Kenoyer 1998: 61). The main line emptied the dirty water outside the city which kept them clean and hygienic. This provision of civic amenities developed was unique in the contemporary world and one can easily identify this as their contribution to the world.
Pioneers in Water Management and Harvesting– one of the earliest evidence of water harvesting and management comes from the Harappan city of Dholavira, located on Khadir Island in the Runn of Kutch, Gujarat. This city was established in the desert part and hence always faced scarcity of water. There are two ephemeral streams flowing by the side of the city, Manhar and Mansar, the catchment area of which lies about 10-12km away in the hills. The Harappans constructed three check dams (1, 2 and 3) near the site across the stream Manhar with rubbles and masonry stones and the flash flood water, gushing through the river during monsoon was diverted to the 4-6 m high reservoirs in the city. One check dam (no 4) was built on the Mansar stream, which fed 1, 50,000 sq. km of area for agricultural purposes. The check dams built by the Harappan at Dholavira were conducive not only diverting rain water into the city landscape and reservoirs but also for holding sweet water back in the river bed for some time so that the sub soil water of the area rises and get sweetened for agricultural and domestic use. The ground water of the region is otherwise relatively hard and brackish, which gets worse with each passing years if rains fell. The Harappans excavated a series of reservoirs in all the three parts of the city. Some of the reservoirs were built of stone blocks and were provided with flight of steps whereas some were found cut into solid rock with limited use of stone masonry in weak zones of the structure. The different water reservoirs spread over length and breadth of the city were connected to each other by underground closed water channels which were built either of stone slabs or burnt bricks. The reservoirs were meant for storing diverted water from the stream for domestic use it appears that the Harappans make sure that the water remain circulated throughout the city through underground water channel system. This is the earliest evidence of water harvesting and management of such magnitude anywhere in the world. The city of Dholavira though located in desert part remains active and flourished because of provisions of water harvesting made by the Harappans.
Dockyard– A large hydraulic structure measuring 215m in length and 37m width with a depth of 3m was constructed at the site of Lothal (Rao……). The entry of boats to the dockyard at high tide was from the inlets in the northern and eastern walls measuring 12m and 7m respectively. The dock was connected with a nala and a channel to Bhogavo River with emptied in the Gulf of Cambay. For the exit of extra water at high tide there was a spill channel in the eastern wall with a sluice gate. The boats plied during the high tide period. The modern dockyard at Gogha, at Bhavnagar in Saurashtra work on the same principle. This was great engineering feet. With the discovery of marine shells from the dockyard, a few massive anchor stones and the absence of any landing steps into the dock suggest that it was a dockyard for the berthing of the boats. Rear admirer (retd) Bindra in a research paper has scientifically analysed all aspects of controversy with regards to the dockyard raised in last four decades. He says ‘there are four specific constructional features, which distinguish this structure as a ship berthing basin from other similar structures: (i) the two inlets (northern and eastern; (ii) the spill way with its dwarf walls; (iii) the verticality of the inner walls with science of a uniform level on the walls; (iv) the post holes in the enclosure suggesting a tie posts for the ships. Lothal possesses all the essential prerequisites for its identification as an ancient port. We therefore only support the nomenclature “Lothal: A Harappan port town” and further opine that no other tile would have perhaps better explain the commercial and maritime function performed by the Harappans.’ (Bindra 2002-2003:1-18)[Bindra S.C., 2002-2003. A Harappan Town Revisited, Purattatva: volume [1-18].

Earliest Silk Production in Eurasia: Analysis of silk thread found at Harappa and Chanhu daro have indicated that the Harappans did develop sophisticated technique for the production of silk. This research offers new insight on the extent and antiquity of sericulture. Specifically, these finds indicate the use of wild indigenous silkmoth species in South Asia as early as the mid-third millennium BCE. At least two separate types of silk were utilized in the Indus in the mid-third millennium BCE. Based on SEM image analysis there are two thread forms in the samples from Harappa, which appear to be from two different species of silkmoth (Antheraea ). The silk from Chanhu daro may be from yet another South Asian moth species Philosamia spp. (Eri silk). Moreover, this silk appears to have been reeled. The variety in type, technology and thread forms of these few rare examples of silk, offers us a glimpse into the extent of knowledge about sericulture in the Indus Civilization during the Mature Harappan phase. By careful analysis of archaeological silk fibre surface morphology, one can distinguish between the source silkworm species. Through this type of study we can also begin to better understand the origins of silk use further to the East. The discoveries described here demonstrate that silk was being used over a wide region of South Asia for more than 2000 years before the introduction of domesticated silk from China. Earlier models that attribute the origins of silk and sericulture exclusively to China need to be re-examined and revised (Goods et al. 2009)

Lesson to learn from Trade Strategy of the Harappans- one of the regions for the flourishment of the Harappan Culture into Civilization is the wealth generated through hinterland and international trade. As most of the basic raw materials required for manufacturing a variety of different crafts were located outside the Harappan region and controlled by the contemporary Neolithic/Chalcolithic people long distance trade was established by the Harappans. Long distance trade provides individuals or social groups with opportunities to enhance their own wealth and or social status. The Harappans manage to get uninterrupted flow of raw materials from their contemporaries located in hinterland area. They had developed technologies both pyro and non-pyro for the production of a variety of finished goods including pottery, stone beads, stone tools, seals, terracotta objects and variety of stone objects etc. it appears that the Harappans provided finished goods to the same people from whom they acquired basic raw materials. As there was greater demand for the objects made of semi-precious stone, copper, shell etc they established, for the sake of mass production, settlements exclusively for manufacturing purpose. They has developed very well organized trade network and carried trade with Persian Gulf, Mesopotamia, Central Asia and even Egypt with ease. The available data, both archaeological as well as literary evidences indicate that more Harappan goods were sent to West Asia suggesting a surplus trade which was beneficial to the Harappans. This strategy of the Harappans helped them in generating lot of wealth which was used for the development for the cities and towns and welfare of the common people. This is one of the earliest example of the world where it was demonstrated that trade can be important tool for development of the culture and society. Post World War II, Japan followed the same strategy as the Harappans did and became a world economy power in a span of 15 years.

Introduction of new subsistence strategy- there were two major agricultural zones within the Harappan region, the black cotton soil zone in Gujarat and Rajasthan and the alluvium zone in the Indus and Ghaggar-Hakra basin. The choice of two important agricultural zone by the Harappan was conscious as they had realised that one of the two zones will always be available to them at the time of natural calamities. The Harappan culture was constantly developing from 4000 BC onwards and because of the congenial conditions there was tremendous growth in the population. They realised that to support the growing population and culturally further developed from a rural to urban phase a large amount of food grain will be required. It is therefore they introduced a double cropping system in the Indian subcontinent and sophisticated agricultural implement for this purpose. By this strategy they were able to grow surplus amount of food grains and so forth a large groups of craftsman and other people who were not participating in basic subsistence activities. This is the type of model which was developed by the Harappans came handy at the time of second urbanization in Indian subcontinent. The double cropping system and agricultural methods developed by the Harappans is so relevant that it has continued without much change to the modern time. The Harappans were pioneers in the development of concepts which helped the society to move forward.
Pioneers in the development of basic technology- most of the basic technologies required to manufacture pottery, metal artifacts, stones beads, ornaments of variety of different materials and some of the important domesticate objects were introduced with the settled life at around 7000 BC. These technologies were being constantly developed gradually and in the middle of the 3rd millennium BC they attained full maturity. From the available evidence it is clear that the Harappans had played important role in perfecting basic technologies including pottery making and metallurgy. It appears that they became source for basic technologies to a number of contemporary cultures flourished on the eastern and western peripheries.

In conclusion, a short survey of the Harappan achievements indicates a sufficiently advanced socio-economic and technological fabric capable of developing a complex economic infrastructure and political organisation which involved international relations. As technologically and economically advanced people they were able to expand into a number of Eco zones with different environmental variables and economic potential as shown by the location of most of the sites in areas of importance such as resource areas or on trade routes. The Harappans were traders par excellence, which to a certain extent formed the basis of their urbanised status through trade contacts.

Sealing impression from Harappan site of Farmana

Climate and Decline of the Harappan Civilization

The decline of the Harappan Civilization was as dramatic and enigmatic as was its emergence. Of the many reasons, the climate appears to be the major villain in the decline of this great civilization. The reconstruction of the Holocene climatic sequence in the Indian subcontinent, particularly in the Thar Desert area of Rajasthan demonstrated lowering of annual rainfall around 2000 BC that may have caused major decline of the most flourishing first civilization of the Subcontinent. Scholars like Bryson and Swain (1981), Singh et al. (1990), Agrawal (1992) have emphasised the role of climate and environment in affecting habitations, especially the Harappan culture. Studies in respect to the reconstruction of climatic sequence carried out in various parts of the world suggest it was not only the Indian subcontinent that was affected, but the whole glob. In other words it was a major Global Climatic Change Phenomenon around 4000 BP or 2000 BC. Yasuda (2001) believes that it is not only the Harappan but all the civilizations of the Eurasia declined around 4000 BP as a result of dry climate.

Studies of regional late Holocene vegetation history have shown that the most drastic changes in the vegetation pattern and cover, an important indicator of climate change, appeared around 2000 BC in different parts of the world. In north-eastern China in the Changbai Mountain region, the most noticeable event of the Late Holocene forest development around 2000 BC was expansion of Pinus koraientsis (Sun et al., 1990). Vegetation reconstruction at Kurugai site (northern Sichuan, China) in the eastern part of Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau revealed retreat of forest and spread of open areas at about 2000 BC (Gotanda, 1998). Around the same time in warm temperate forest zone located at lower elevation in the southern Sichuan, sclerophyllous drought adapted taxa expanded, suggesting weakening of the East Asian Monsoon activity with decrease in spring and summer precipitation (Jarvis, 1993). The oxygen isotopes analysis from the lake sediments in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and North Xinjiang provinces recorded maximum aridity between 4500-3500 cal. yrs BP (Wei and Gasse, 1999). In parts of Europe, particularly in the Great Poland Plain the Carpinus betulus indicating dry climatic conditions, began its spread around 4100 BP and since 3500 BP has been dominating species in the forest and the lowering of the lake levels began at the same time there (Makohonineko, 1998). The results of pollen analysis from the Ghab valley and El-Rouj basin in Syria show that the climate became dry after around 2000 BC. This dry climate caused a drought and reduced the production of olives, wheat, and barley. People in northwest Syria abandoned their habitation sites completely in the Late Bronze Age because of drought (Yasuda, 2001).

In the Indian Subcontinent a few studies on climate reconstruction carried out also suggest similar trend of aridity around 2000 BC. A work on the core from the oxygen minimum zone off Karachi in Pakistan at water depth of 700 m has produced a unique record of monsoon climatic variability covering the last 5000 years (von Rad et al., 1999). They further noticed that the period from 3900 BP is marked by varve thickness minimal and low termite activity, which they interpret as indicators of low precipitation and decreased river run-off. Thus, the results obtained by various independent researches in different part of the globe do indicate deterioration of climate, which must have had adverse impact on the human cultures including of course the Harappan Civilization.

The deteriorating climatic condition had adverse consequences. One of the mighty and important rivers for the Harappans, the Saraswati dried down and even though the exact contribution of the deteriorating climatic conditions to this effect is not known. There is a possibility of the main river Saraswati (represented by Ghagger-Hakra today) and its main tributary the Drishdvati, changing their courses and merging with other main rivers like Yamuna due to some tectonic upheaval in the upper reaches. However, the fluctuating climatic conditions may also have contributed to the drying up of the Saraswati. This was perhaps the biggest blow to the Harappan civilizations as nearly three-forth of the settlements were located in the basin of this river. Good fertile arable land and ample supply of water made the basin of river Saraswati most attractive and the Harappans were able to produce surplus food grains here. It will not be far-fetched to conclude that the Saraswati River was a life-line of the Harappans. After losing their agriculture base, the Harappans scattered and migrated more to the region having readily available pasture land.

There has been a strong debate going on whether the sea level receded around 2000 BC and if so by how many metres? No satisfactory work has been carried out on this so far. But it seems possibly due to decrease in rain fall, the sea level fluctuated. Whether it was a world phenomenon or a regional phenomenon is not yet clear. But a number of Harappan ports on the Makran coast fell into disuse as they became almost inland sites after the receding of sea level. This must have adversely affected their international trade with the Gulf and subsequently with Mesopotamia and Egypt. As is well known, the international trade which was surplus in favour of the Harappan, was one of the major causes of the prosperity.

After the drying of their international trade, the pace of the decline of the Harappans hastened. The economic decline affected overall Harappan life-style, which is reflected in their material culture. As they lost their agricultural base in the Saraswati basin, they began shifting their settlements away from the banks of the main rivers. New area such as the western part of Uttar Pradesh and the pasture rich area of Gujarat such as Jamnagar District, was preferred by the Harappans in the later stage (Sinha-Deshpande and Shinde, 2005). The culture got mixed up with different local cultures and slowly and gradually merged with them.

Concluding Remarks

Some of the basic issues that have been discussed here are important and they need to be taken seriously and the future researchers will have to design research strategy in such a way that these aspects are taken into consideration. The focus of research will have to shift from Mega Site Archaeology to Small Site Archaeology and sufficient number of sites of the latter category needs to be researched on large scale. Large amount of data from these sites will only help in projecting holistic picture/history of the Harappan culture. There have not been many multi-disciplinary approaches to the Harappan archaeology in India. Archaeological research on the Harappan culture needs support and active participation of scholars from various other fields including geology, environmental science, zoology, botany, physics, chemistry, anthropology, geography, linguistics, Sanskrit studies, ethnology, etc. Systematic scientific research in the Saraswati basin is needed. Excavation of few sites in this basin is not enough but systematic survey to record settlement patterns, reconstruction of site typologies and generation of archaeological data and their co-relation with the Vedic texts needs to be undertaken in a sustained manner. A systematic and scientific study to find out exact causes of the disappearance of the Saraswati and Drishadvati rivers is must. There is no sufficient data to know about the exact climatic conditions during the Harappan times and its impact on the origins, development and decline of the Harappan culture. A lot of palynological data needs to be cored from the Saraswati basin proper for the reconstruction of the climate of that period. Considering various basic issues it appears there is no alternative but to undertake multi-disciplinary research strategy in various Harappan regions.

Pottery is one of the most important artefacts dug out from ancient sites and the Harappan sites are not an exception to that. Huge amount of pottery is found in the explorations and excavations. These potteries are classified and described by those scholars who either collect them from the surface of the site or dig out from sites. The various criterion and parameters considered for classification and analysis of pottery and the style of describing forms and rim shapes of pottery differ from scholar to scholar. As a result there is no uniformity in the use of either term for the ware or description of pottery form or rim style. In fact there are as many terms and ways of description as there are scholars describing them. I order to bring uniformity in the use of term and description style, we suggest following the work on pottery from Mohenjo-daro done by Dales and Kenoyer (1986). Because of this problem, sometimes it is hard to use pottery data for interpretation. Finally, it is suggested that future research on the Harappan Civilization needs to be problem oriented and multi-disciplinary.

Pottery kiln from Harappan site of Farmana

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Rakhigarhi seal evidence for orthographic design method to achieve precision in Indus Script hieroglyphs & cipher to document metalwork catalogues
A unique evidence is found from a Rakhigarhi seal with Indus Script inscription to demonstrate the method (tantra yukti) used by Indus engravers, artisans, metalsmiths, to create hieroglyph-multiplexes (hypertexts) to signify precisely a description of the product/s of metalwork catalogue which were the supercargo of a shipment on a boat.

Rakhigarhi seal with hieroglyphs: Rhinoceros, arrowhead, arrow in circumscript of Left & Right parenthesis ligatured with a ‘notch’.

A brilliant insight of Gadd provides a lead to analyze orthography of Indus Script hieroglyphs to enable precise matching of orthographic components with the semantics of the message in Meluhha (Prakritam).

A unique example identified by Gadd is the deployment of a split ellipse as a hieroglyph. An ellipse (also as a rhombus or parenthesis) signifies the semantics of mūhā '(metal) ingot'. An allograph also signifies the semantics: mũhe ‘face’. It is thus deduced that the split ellipse signifies the gloss: mūhā '(metal) ingot'.

meḍha 'polar star' Rebus: mẽṛhẽt, meḍ ‘iron’ (Mu.Ho.) PLUS kuṭi ‘water-carrier’ (Telugu); Rebus: kuṭhi ‘smelter furnace’ (Santali) kuṛī f. ‘fireplace’ (H.); krvṛI f. ‘granary (WPah.); kuṛī, kuṛo house, building’(Ku.)(CDIAL 3232) kuṭi ‘hut made of boughs’ (Skt.) guḍi temple (Telugu) A comparable glyptic representation is provided in a Gadd seal found in an interaction area of the Persian Gulf. Gadd notes that the ‘water-carrier’ seal is is an unmistakable example of an 'hieroglyphic' seal. Seal impression, Ur (Upenn; U.16747); [After Edith Porada, 1971, Remarks on seals found in the Gulf States. Artibus Asiae 33 (4): 331-7: pl.9, fig.5]; water carrier with a skin (or pot?) hung on each end of the yoke across his shoulders and another one below the crook of his left arm; the vessel on the right end of his yoke is over a receptacle for the water; a star on either side of the head (denoting supernatural?). The whole object is enclosed by 'parenthesis' marks. The parenthesis is perhaps a way of splitting of the ellipse (Hunter, G.R., JRAS, 1932, 476).

Gadd has demonstrated how an ellipse may be broken into parenthesis marks contituting hieroglyph component pair. His insight is that an ellipse split into parenthesis of two curved lines ( ) signifies hieroglyph writing. I suggest that the hieroglyph components signify the orthography which matches an 'ingot' formation -- a four-cornered ellipse a little pointed at each end.

This shows that splitting an ellipse as in Sign 373 results in Left parenthesis and Right parenthesis, both of which are used as circumscript on Rakhigarhi seal to enclose a 'notch' PLUS 'circumflex or caret'.

On the Rakhigarhi seal, a fine distinction is made between two orthographic options for signifying an arrow with fine pronunciation variants, to distinguish between an arrowhead and an arrow: kaNDa, kANDa. The word kANDa is used by Panini in an expression ayaskANDa to denote a quantity of iron, excellent iron (Pāṇ.gaṇ) i.e., metal (iron/copper alloy). This expression ayas+ kāṇḍa अयस्--काण्ड is signified by hieroglyphs: aya 'fish' PLUS kāṇḍa, 'arrow' as shown on Kalibangan Seal 032. An allograph for this hieroglyph 'arrowhead' is gaNDa 'four' (short strokes) as seen on Mohenjo-daro seal M1118.

Rebus: ayaskāṇḍa ‘a quantity of iron, excellent iron’ (Pāṇ.gaṇ) aya = iron (G.); ayah, ayas = metal (Skt.)

Thus, the arrowhead is signified by the hieroglyph which distinguishes the arrowhead as a triangle attached to a reedpost or handle of tool/weapon.

As distinct from this orthographic representation of 'arrowhead' with a triangle PLUS attached linear stroke, an arrow is signified by an angle ^ (Caret; Circumflex accent; Up arrow) with a linear stroke ligatured, as in the Rakhigarhi seal. To reinforce the distinction between 'arrow' and 'arrowhead' in Indus Script orthography, a notch is added atop the tip of the circumflex accent. Both the hieroglyph-components are attested in Indian sprachbund with a variant pronunciation: khANDA. खााडा [ kāṇḍā ] m A jag, notch, or indentation (as upon the edge of a tool or weapon) (Marathi)

It is thus clear that the morpheme kANDa denotes an arrowhead, while the ^ circumflex accent hieroglyph is intended to signify rebus: kāṇḍā 'edge of tool or weapon' or a sharp edged implement, like a sword. In Indian sprachbund, the word which denotes a sword is khaṁḍa -- m. ʻswordʼ(Prakritam).

In the hieroglyph-multiplex of Rakhigarhi seal inscription, the left and right parentheses are used as circumscript to provide phonetic determination of the gloss: khaṁḍa -- m. ʻswordʼ (Prakritam), while the ligaturing element of 'notch' is intended to signify खााडा [ kāṇḍā ] 'A jag, notch, or indentation (as upon the edge of a tool or weapon)' Rebus: kaNDa 'implements' (Santali).

Thus, the hieroglyph-multiplex is read rebus as kaNDa 'implements' PLUS khaṁḍa ʻswordʼ. The supercargo is thus catalogued on the seal as: 1. arrowheads; 2. metal implements and ingots; 3. swords.

The hieroglyph 'rhinoceros is: kANDA rebus: kaNDa 'implements/weapons'.

The entire inscription or metalwork catalogue message on Rakhigarhi seal can be deciphered:

kaNDa 'implements/weapons' (Rhinoceros) PLUS खााडा [ kāṇḍā ] 'weapons' PLUS mūhā 'cast ingots'(Left and Right parentheses as split rhombus or ellipse).

Thus, the supercargo consignment documented by this metalwork catalogue on Rakhigarhi seal is: metal (alloy) swords, metal (alloy) implements, metal cast ingots.

Rakhigarhi seal
Hieroglyph-multiplex on Rakhigarhi seal.
Maysar c.2200 BCE Packed copper ingots. The shape of the ingots is an 'equilateral lump a little pointed at each of four ends' -- like an ellipse or rhombus. See:
http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2015/08/decipherment-of-harappa-zebu-figurine.html

See: http://nautarch.tamu.edu/pdf-files/JonesM-MA2007.pdf Michael Rice Jones' thesis of 2007 on the importance of Maysar for copper production.

An ingot may be signified by an ellipse or parenthesis of a rhombus. It may also be signified by an allograph: human face.

Hieroglyph: mũhe ‘face’ (Santali) mũhã̄ = the quantity of iron produced at one time in a native smelting furnace of the Kolhes; iron produced by the Kolhes and formed like a four-cornered piece a little pointed at each end; kolhe tehen me~ṛhe~t mūhā akata = the Kolhes have to-day produced pig iron(Santali) Rebus: mūhā 'ingot'; Compound formation: mleccha-mukha (Skt.) = milakkhu ‘copper’ (Pali)

Santali glosses
Wilhelm von Hevesy wrote about the Finno-Ugric-Munda kinship, like "Munda-Magyar-Maori, an Indian link between the antipodes new tracks of Hungarian origins" and "Finnisch-Ugrisches aus Indien". (DRIEM, George van: Languages of the Himalayas: an ethnolinguistic handbook. 1997. p.161-162.) Sumerian-Ural-Altaic language affinities have been noted. Given the presence of Meluhha settlements in Sumer, some Meluhha glosses might have been adapted in these languages. One etyma cluster refers to 'iron' exemplified by meD (Ho.). The alternative suggestion for the origin of the gloss med 'copper' in Uralic languages may be explained by the word meD (Ho.) of Munda family of Meluhha language stream:

Sa. mE~R~hE~'d `iron'. ! mE~RhE~d(M).
Ma. mErhE'd `iron'.
Mu. mERE'd `iron'.
~ mE~R~E~'d `iron'. ! mENhEd(M).
Ho meD `iron'.
Bj. merhd(Hunter) `iron'.
KW mENhEd
@(V168,M080)
http://www.ling.hawaii.edu/austroasiatic/AA/Munda/ETYM/Pinnow&Munda

— Slavic glosses for 'copper'
Мед [Med]Bulgarian
Bakar Bosnian
Медзь [medz']Belarusian
Měď Czech
Bakar Croatian
KòperKashubian
Бакар [Bakar]Macedonian
Miedź Polish
Медь [Med']Russian
Meď Slovak
BakerSlovenian
Бакар [Bakar]Serbian
Мідь [mid'] Ukrainian[unquote]
http://www.vanderkrogt.net/elements/element.php?sym=Cu
Miedź, med' (Northern Slavic, Altaic) 'copper'.

One suggestion is that corruptions from the German "Schmied", "Geschmeide" = jewelry. Schmied, a smith (of tin, gold, silver, or other metal)(German) result in med ‘copper’.

A lexicon suggests the semantics of Panini's compound अयस्--काण्ड [p= 85,1] m. n. " a quantity of iron " or " excellent iron " , (g. कस्का*दि q.v.)( Pa1n2. 8-3 , 48)(Monier-Williams).

From the example of a compound gloss in Santali, I suggest that the suffix -kANDa in Samskritam should have referred to 'implements'. Indus Script hieroglyphs as hypertext components to signify kANDa 'implements' are: kANTa, 'overflowing water' kANDa, 'arrow' gaNDa, 'four short circumscript strokes''rhonoceros'.

Rebus: H.gaṇḍaka m. ʻ a coin worth four cowries ʼ lex., ʻ method of counting by fours ʼ W. [← Mu. Przyluski RoczOrj iv 234]S. g̠aṇḍho m. ʻ four in counting ʼ; P. gaṇḍā m. ʻ four cowries ʼ; B. Or. H. gaṇḍā m. ʻ a group of four, four cowries ʼ; M. gaṇḍā m. ʻ aggregate of four cowries or pice ʼ.Addenda: gaṇḍaka -- . -- With *du -- 2: OP. dugāṇā m. ʻ coin worth eight cowries ʼ.(CDIAL 4001)

Rebus: *gaṇḍāsi ʻ sugarcane knife ʼ. [gaṇḍa -- 2, así -- ]Bi. gãṛās, °sā ʻ fodder cutter ʼ, °sī ʻ its blade ʼ; Bhoj. gãṛās ʻ a partic. iron instrument ʼ; H. gãṛāsī f., °sā m. ʻ knife for cutting fodder or sugarcane ʼ (→ P. gãḍāsā m. ʻ chopper for cutting fodder &c. ʼ).(CDIAL 4004) gaṇḍa2 m. ʻ joint of plant ʼ lex., gaṇḍi -- m. ʻ trunk of tree from root to branches ʼ lex. 2. *gēṇḍa -- . 3. *gēḍḍa -- 2. 4. *gēḍa -- 1. [Cf. kāˊṇḍa -- : prob. ← Drav. DED 1619]

1. Pa. gaṇḍa -- m. ʻ stalk ʼ, °ḍī -- f. ʻ sugarcane joint, shaft or stalk used as a bar ʼ, Pk. gaṁḍa -- m., °ḍiyā -- f.; Kt. gäṇa ʻ stem ʼ; Paš. lauṛ. gaṇḍīˊ ʻ stem, stump of a tree, large roof beam ʼ (→ Par. gaṇḍāˊ ʻ stem ʼ, Orm. goṇ ʻ stick ʼ IIFL i 253, 395), gul. geṇḍū, nir. gaṇīˊ, kuṛ. gã̄ṛo; Kal. urt. gəṇ ʻ log (in a wall) ʼ, rumb. goṇ (st.gōṇḍ -- ) ʻ handle ʼ, guṇḍík ʻ stick ʼ; Kho. (Lor.) gon, gonu, (Morgenstierne) gɔ̄ˋn ʻ haft of axe, spade or knife ʼ (or < ghaná -- 2?); K. gonḍu, grọ̆nḍu m. ʻ great untrimmed log ʼ; S. ganu m.ʻ oar, haft of a tool ʼ, °no m. ʻ sweet stalks of millet ʼ; P. gannā m. ʻ sugarcane ʼ (→ H. gannā m.), Bi. gaṇḍā, H. gã̄ṛā m., M. gã̄ḍā m. -- Deriv. Pk. gaṁḍīrī -- f. ʻ sugarcane joint ʼ; Bhoj. gãṛērī ʻ small pieces of sugarcane ʼ; H. gãḍerī f. ʻ knot of sugarcane ʼ; G. gãḍerī f. ʻ piece of peeled sugarcane ʼ; -- Pk. gaṁḍalī -- ʻ sugarcane joint ʼ; Kal. rumb. gaṇḍau (st. °ḍāl -- ) ʻ ancestor image ʼ; S. g̠anaru m. ʻ stock of a vegetable run to seed ʼ.2. Ku. gino ʻ block, log ʼ; N. gĩṛ ʻ log ʼ, gĩṛo ʻ piece of sugarcane ʼ (whence gẽṛnu, gĩṛ° ʻ to cut in pieces ʼ); B. gẽṛ ʻ tuber ʼ; Mth. gẽṛī ʻ piece of sugarcane chopped ready for the mill ʼ.3. Pk. geḍḍī -- , giḍḍiā -- f. ʻ stick ʼ; P. geḍī f. ʻ stick used in a game ʼ, H. geṛī f. (or < 4).4. N. gir, girrā ʻ stick, esp. one used in a game ʼ, H. gerī f., geṛī f. (or < 3), G. geṛī f.*gaṇḍāsi -- ; *agragaṇḍa -- , *prāgragaṇḍa -- .Addenda: gaṇḍa -- 2: S.kcch. gann m. ʻ handle ʼ; -- WPah.kṭg. gannɔ m. ʻ sugar -- cane ʼ; Md. gan̆ḍu ʻ piece, page, playing -- card ʼ.(CDIAL 3998)

Rebus: kāˊṇḍa (kāṇḍá -- TS.) m.n. ʻ single joint of a plant ʼ AV., ʻ arrow ʼ MBh., ʻ cluster, heap ʼ (in tr̥ṇa -- kāṇḍa -- Pāṇ. Kāś.). Pa. kaṇḍa -- m.n. ʻ joint of stalk, stalk, arrow, lump ʼ; Pk. kaṁḍa -- , °aya -- m.n. ʻ knot of bough, bough, stick ʼ; Ash. kaṇ ʻ arrow ʼ, Kt. kåṇ, Wg. kāṇ,, Pr.kə̃, Dm. kā̆n; Paš. lauṛ. kāṇḍ, kāṇ, ar. kōṇ, kuṛ. kō̃, dar. kã̄ṛ ʻ arrow ʼ, kã̄ṛī ʻ torch ʼ; Shum. kō̃ṛ, kō̃ ʻ arrow ʼ, Gaw. kāṇḍ, kāṇ; Bshk. kāˋ'nʻ arrow ʼ, Tor. kan m., Sv. kã̄ṛa, Phal. kōṇ, Sh. gil. kōn f. (→ Ḍ. kōn, pl. kāna f.), pales. kōṇ; K. kã̄ḍ m. ʻ stalk of a reed, straw ʼ (kān m. ʻ arrow ʼ ← Sh.?); S. kānu m. ʻ arrow ʼ, °no m. ʻ reed ʼ, °nī f. ʻ topmost joint of the reed Sara, reed pen, stalk, straw, porcupine's quill ʼ; L. kānã̄ m. ʻ stalk of the reed Sara ʼ, °nī˜ f. ʻ pen, small spear ʼ; P. kānnā m. ʻ the reed Saccharum munja, reed in a weaver's warp ʼ, kānī f. ʻ arrow ʼ; WPah. bhal. kān n. ʻ arrow ʼ, jaun. kã̄ḍ; N. kã̄ṛ ʻ arrow ʼ, °ṛo ʻ rafter ʼ; A. kã̄r ʻ arrow ʼ; B. kã̄ṛ ʻ arrow ʼ, °ṛā ʻ oil vessel made of bamboo joint, needle of bamboo for netting ʼ, kẽṛiyā ʻ wooden or earthen vessel for oil &c. ʼ; Or. kāṇḍa, kã̄ṛ ʻ stalk, arrow ʼ; Bi. kã̄ṛā ʻ stem of muñja grass (used for thatching) ʼ; Mth. kã̄ṛ ʻ stack of stalks of large millet ʼ, kã̄ṛī ʻ wooden milkpail ʼ; Bhoj. kaṇḍā ʻ reeds ʼ; H. kã̄ṛī f. ʻ rafter, yoke ʼ, kaṇḍā m. ʻ reed, bush ʼ (← EP.?); G. kã̄ḍ m. ʻ joint, bough, arrow ʼ, °ḍũ n. ʻ wrist ʼ, °ḍī f. ʻ joint, bough, arrow, lucifer match ʼ; M. kã̄ḍ n. ʻ trunk, stem ʼ, °ḍẽ n. ʻ joint, knot, stem, straw ʼ, °ḍī f. ʻ joint of sugarcane, shoot of root (of ginger, &c.) ʼ; Si. kaḍaya ʻ arrow ʼ. -- Deriv. A. kāriyāiba ʻ to shoot with an arrow ʼ.kāˊṇḍīra -- ; *kāṇḍakara -- , *kāṇḍārā -- ; *dēhīkāṇḍa -- Add.Addenda: kāˊṇḍa -- [< IE. *kondo -- , Gk. kondu/los ʻ knuckle ʼ, ko/ndos ʻ ankle ʼ T. Burrow BSOAS xxxviii 55]S.kcch. kāṇḍī f. ʻ lucifer match ʼ?kāṇḍakara 3024 *kāṇḍakara ʻ worker with reeds or arrows ʼ. [kāˊṇḍa -- , kará -- 1]L. kanērā m. ʻ mat -- maker ʼ; H. kãḍerā m. ʻ a caste of bow -- and arrow -- makers ʼ.*kāṇḍārā ʻ bamboo -- goad ʼ. [kāˊṇḍa -- , āˊrā -- ]Mth. (ETirhut) kanār ʻ bamboo -- goad for young elephants ʼ kāˊṇḍīra ʻ armed with arrows ʼ Pāṇ., m. ʻ archer ʼ lex. [kāˊṇḍa -]H. kanīrā m. ʻ a caste (usu. of arrow -- makers) ʼ.(CDIAL 3024-3026)

An insight in the orthography of Indus Script hieroglyphs is the matching of orthographic components with the semantics of the message in Meluhha (Prakritam).

A unique example is the deployment of an ellipse (also as a rhombus or parenthesis) to signify the semantics of mūhā '(metal) ingot'. An allograph also signifies the semantics: mũhe ‘face’.

Semantics: mūhā mẽṛhẽt 'iron smelted by the Kolhes and formed into an equilateral lump a little pointed at each of four ends.' Matching orthography of a rhombus or ellipse:

A Rakhigarhi seal presents an alternative orthographic representation of the 'split ellipse':

((

That this innovation signifies rebus kaNDa 'arrow' is reinforced by the phonetic determinant of 'arrow' used in the hieroglyph-multiplex, resulting in the new 'sign' shown below:

On this hieroglyph-multiplex, one parenthesis is FLIPPED to create a new circumgraph of two orthographic components:

Right parenthesis

( Left parenthesis

Note: The splitting of the ellipse 'ingot' into Right and Left parethesis and flipping the left parenthesis (as a mirror image) may be an intention to denote cire perdue casting method used to produce the metal swords and implements.

This circumgraph of right-curving and left-curving parentheses encloses an 'arrow' hieroglyph PLUS a 'notch'.

Hieroglyph: kANDa 'arrow' Rebus: kaṇḍ 'fire-altar' (Santali) kāṇḍa 'tools, pots and pans and weapons' (Marathi)

This gloss is consistent with the Santali glosses including the word khanDa:

Hieroglyph: खााडा [ kāṇḍā ] m A jag, notch, or indentation (as upon the edge of a tool or weapon) (Marathi) Rebus: kāṇḍa 'tools, pots and pans and metal-ware' (Marathi)

What the hieroglyph-multiplex seeks to convey is that the seal as a metalwork catalogue documents the process of making kāṇḍa 'metal implements' from the fire-altar kaND signified by the arrow AND circumfix of split parentheses with one parenthesis presented as a unique flipped configuration. Thus the hieroglyph-multiplex is an orthographic reinforcement of the two other hieroglyphs signified on the Rakhigarhi seal; the two other hieroglyphs are: kANDa 'rhinoceros'; kANDa 'arrow'. Thus, all the three signifiers on the Indus Script inscription of Rakhigarhi seal are a proclamation of the production of metal implements (from ingots). There is also a Meluhha (Prakritam) gloss khaṁḍa which means 'a sword'. It is possible that the concluding sign on the inscription read from left to right signifies 'sword'.

Thus, the Rakhigarhi seal inscription can be read in Prkritam: khaṁḍa 'sword' PLUS खााडा [ kāṇḍā ] 'metal implements', more specifically, recorded as a Santali compound expression:

*khaṇḍaka3 ʻ sword ʼ. [Perh. of same non -- Aryan origin as khaḍgá -- 2]

Pk. khaṁḍa -- m. ʻ sword ʼ (→ Tam. kaṇṭam), Gy. SEeur. xai̦o, eur. xanro, xarno, xanlo, wel. xenlī f., S. khano m., P. khaṇḍā m., Ku. gng. khã̄ṛ, N. khã̄ṛo, khũṛo (Xchuri < kṣurá -- ); A. khāṇḍā ʻ heavy knife ʼ; B. khã̄rā ʻ large sacrificial knife ʼ; Or. khaṇḍā ʻ sword ʼ, H. khã̄ṛā, G. khã̄ḍũ n., M. khã̄ḍā m., Si. kaḍuva.(CDIAL 3793).

Figure 4: (A) Seal RGR 7230 from Rakhigarhi. (B) The side of the seal where surface has partially worn away revealing the black steatite beneath. (C) A swan black steatite debris fragment from Harappa.

See: http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2015/08/supercaro-ingots-1-of-cast-metal-2-for.html

An ingot may be signified by an ellipse or parenthesis of a rhombus. It may also be signified by an allograph: human face.

Hieroglyph: mũhe ‘face’ (Santali) mũhã̄ = the quantity of iron produced at one time in a native smelting furnace of the Kolhes; iron produced by the Kolhes and formed like a four-cornered piece a little pointed at each end; kolhe tehen me~ṛhe~t mūhā akata = the Kolhes have to-day produced pig iron (Santali) Rebus: mūhā 'ingot'; Compound formation: mleccha-mukha (Skt.) = milakkhu ‘copper’ (Pali)

See:Previous report http://asi.nic.in/pdf_data/rakhigarhi_excavation_report_new.pdf Excavations at Rakhigarhi 1997 to 2000 (Dr. Amarendranath)

Rakhigarhi seal with the carving of a tiger is reported by Prof. Shinde of Deccan College.

Here is a decipherment using the rebus-metonymy layered Indus Scipt cipher in Meluhha language of Indian sprachbund (language union):

kul ‘tiger’ (Santali); kōlu id. (Telugu) kōlupuli = Bengal tiger (Telugu)

कोल्हा [ kōlhā ] कोल्हें [kōlhēṃ] A jackal (Marathi)

Rebus: kol, kolhe, ‘the koles, iron smelters speaking a language akin to that

of Santals’ (Santali) kol ‘working in iron’ (Tamil)

Figure 1: Steatite sources of the Greater Indus region and Harappan steatite trade networks.

Figure 6: (A) Unicorn seal fragment #6304. (B) Detail of the grayish-green steatite of the seal's interior

Figure 9: Agate-carnelian nodule fragments and flakes from Rakhigarhi

Figure 18: Lead and silver artifacts from Rakhigarhi compared to South Asian lead and lead-silver sources.

Figure 29: Saddle quern (left) and fragment (right) composed of a deep red sandstone of unknown origin.

Figure 30: Hematite cobbles/nodules of unknown origin. Geologic provenience studies of Rakhigarh's stone and metal artifact assemblage are ongoing or in the planning stages.

Figure 31: Rakhigarhi grindingstone acquisition networks

Figure 32: Rakhigarhi stone and metal sources and acquisition networks identified in this study. Potential, but as of yet unconfirmed, copper, gold and chert source areas are also indicated.

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2015/04/excavations-at-rakhigarhi-1997-2000-asi.html

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2015/11/rakhigarhi-seal-evidence-for.html

S. Kalyanaraman

Sarasvati Research Center

May 3, 2016

Excavations at Rakhigarhi, 1997-98 to 1999-2000 (Full text of ASI Report; Dr. Amarendra Nath, Former Directo...

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Hindu American Foundation Releases Bullying Report

May 3, 2016, 6:38 am

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≪ Previous: Rakhigarhi Indus script metalwork catalogues deciphered. Capital settlement of Sarasvati-Sindhu civilization (224 hectares). Kudos to Dr. Vasant Shinde

Hindu American Foundation Releases Bullying Report

Report details the bullying and bias that Hindu American youths face in American schools as a result of cultural stereotypes and textbook inaccuracies

May 02, 2016 08:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Hindu American Foundation (HAF), the advocacy organization for the Hindu American community, has today announced the release of its 2016 Bullying in American Schools report. The report includes testimonies and data demonstrating how Hindu American students are being singled out, bullied, and ostracized by their peers, largely due to academic curricula that reinforce negative and inaccurate stereotypes.

The bullying report has several key findings:“For many years the American perception of Hinduism has been wrong, in large part due to the content of textbooks, and our kids pay the price,” said Samir Kalra, Esq. Senior Director and Human Rights Fellow of theHindu American Foundation. “These textbooks have enormous power in shaping the only ‘official’ information many young Americans will ever see—and the impression they will form—regarding the sizable and growing block of their peers who practice Hinduism.”

One out of three respondents said they had been bullied for their religious beliefs
Half of the total sample size indicated feelings of awkwardness or social isolation because of their religious identity
More than three out of five respondents said that their schools focus on caste and Hinduism, including inaccurate claims about the religion and Indian social practice
About one in eight respondents said their teachers made sarcastic remarks about Hinduism in front of a class
About one out of every four respondents surveyed said she/he was put on the spot or singled out by a teacher when the section on Hinduism was discussed
About one in four respondents said they had been bullied within the past year, with about a third saying those who bullied them were “making fun of Hindu traditions”

Of those who had shared anecdotes, most highlighted a sense of alienation for being a different religion, particularly one not understood well in most U.S. classrooms or textbooks. As a result, some respondents said they hid their religious identity in order to prevent or stop bullying. Others reported deep emotional scars from bullying incidents.

A 12th grader from Denton, TX explained: “...I have had countless people try to convert me or mock my religion at school. This started as early as kindergarten and persisted through high school. It actually reinforces my love for Hinduism, for it is a non proselytizing religion that accepts all views and opinions, but no Hindu child should have to deal with such intolerance and coldhearted mockery, especially in school. Having an incomplete, brief, and completely generalized unit which only focuses on negative aspects of Hinduism, if that, does not help to dispel the persistent stereotypes. I have seen too many friends give up on their faith and hide their Hindu identity to avoid being socially isolated.”

Inaccuracies in instructional content

One of the biggest sources of anxiety cited by the youths in the bullying report was the way their religion is inaccurately portrayed in textbooks.

63 percent of surveyed youths reported that their units on Hinduism included claims that Hindus worship cows as a sacred animal
About 53 percent said that their units described Hindus as worshiping idols
Nearly 25 percent reported that their classes taught that “most Hindus do not believe in dating and will get an arranged marriage”
60 percent reported that Hinduism was linked with the caste system, with 47 percent noting that their units on Hinduism taught them that “higher castes discriminate against lower castes”
40 percent of respondents said their units taught them that “individuals can only marry people of the same caste”
20 percent said their instructional content claimed that “the caste system only exists because of Hinduism”

Promoting cultural competency

The release of the bullying report is part of HAF’s larger campaign to help foster safe spaces for Hindu American students and promote cultural competency in classrooms across America. The pilot study is just one step towards helping lessen the alienation that many Hindu American schoolchildren face in schools. HAF is a participating organization in the White House Initiative on Asian American Pacific Islanders Act to Change efforts to combat bullying and bias.

HAF’s efforts in the classroom focus on cultural competency, to empower educators and ensuring that instructional materials are accurate for diverse learning communities. HAF has participated in numerous curriculum reform efforts across the country, including the ongoing effort in California. In May, a final decision will be reached by the CDE, and a final draft of the framework will be created.

“Our efforts have always been focused on a pluralistic and progressive understanding of Hinduism within classrooms that is on par with the way other faith traditions are taught,” said Murali Balaji, director of education and curriculum reform. “More accurate instructional materials can certainly be one of the factors in mitigating anti-Hindu bias and bullying while helping to create safe learning environments for all students.”

About the Hindu American Foundation

The Hindu American Foundation (HAF) is an advocacy organization for the Hindu American community. The Foundation educates the public about Hinduism, speaks out about issues affecting Hindus worldwide, and builds bridges with institutions and individuals whose work aligns with HAF’s objectives. HAF focuses on human and civil rights, public policy, media, academia, and interfaith relations. Through its advocacy efforts, HAF seeks to cultivate leaders and empower future generations of Hindu Americans. The Hindu American Foundation is not affiliated with any religious or political organizations or entities. HAF seeks to serve Hindu Americans across all sampradayas (Hindu religious traditions) regardless of race, color, national origin, citizenship, caste, gender, sexual orientation, age and/or disability.

Contacts

The Hindu American Foundation
Murali Balaji

murali@hafsite.org
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160502005248/en/Hindu-American-Foundation-Releases-Bullying-Report

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CAPEEM uncovers chuch connections of the adversaries of Hindus

May 3, 2016, 7:46 am

≫ Next: Primadonna SoniaG Agusta scam: Why it is dirtier than Bofors-- Maj. Gen. Mrinal Suman. CAG Report on scam.

≪ Previous: Hindu American Foundation Releases Bullying Report

Please go though the legal documents at the following website to see a trove of information uncovered by CAPEEM and which are related to the church connections of the adversaries of Hindus.

Here is the link http://capeem.org/legal.php

Following are some legal documents pertaining to CAPEEM's lawsuit against the California State Board of Education.

10/2008: Church connections uncovered by CAPEEM

↧

Primadonna SoniaG Agusta scam: Why it is dirtier than Bofors-- Maj. Gen. Mrinal Suman. CAG Report on scam.

May 3, 2016, 5:42 pm

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Why the AgustaWestland scam is dirtier than Bofors Source

Major General Mrinal Suman

Last Updated: Mon, May 02, 2016 18:50 hrs

Media is agog with reports of gross misdemeanours in India’s deal to purchase AgustaWestland helicopters. Unfortunately, what has been reported in the media is merely the tip of the iceberg. In fact, the whole deal is mired in gross irregularities and infirmities. At every step, provisions of the Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP) were violated with audacious abandonment. Mi-8 helicopters of the Communication Squadron of the Indian Air Force have been meeting heli-lift requirements of VVIPs since 1988. A need was felt to replace the complete fleet with modern helicopters possessing better capability in terms of avionics, high altitude operations and passenger comfort. After evolving parameters in consultation with the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), tender documents were issued to 11 manufacturers in March 2002. It was mandated that the helicopters should be able to operate at an altitude of 6,000 meters. After field trials, Eurocopter EC- 225 emerged as the sole fully compliant helicopter. Because of the single vendor situation, PMO directed the Air Headquarters (Air HQ) to reformulate parameters – jointly with the Home Ministry and the Special Protection Group (SPG) – to generate competition. Consequently, in a meeting convened by PMO in November 2003, it was decided to issue fresh tenders after reducing ceiling requirement to 4,500 meters, thereby inventively facilitating the entry of AgustaWestland as EH-101 (AW-101) could fly only up to 4,572 meters. Thereafter, the whole procurement exercise was reduced to a sham. At every stage, devious steps were taken to swing the deal in favour of AgustaWestland by tweaking the procedure. The unbridled audacity displayed by the decision makers is simply unbelievable. Some major transgressions are recounted here to demonstrate enormity of the rot that afflicted the deal. Restricting Competition to Help AgustaWestland Two smart moves were made to help AgustaWestland clinch the deal. One, tenders were issued to only six vendors as against eleven earlier, thereby reducing competition. Two, a new parameter of minimum cabin height was cunningly made mandatory. Whereas the Air HQ considered cabin height of 1.45 meters to be acceptable, PMO/SPG insisted that it should be 1.8 meters. It was a master stroke, as except AgustaWestland, no other helicopter in the world met such a requirement. It made the entire exercise of generating competition a big farce. Expectedly, the process led to the emergence of AW-101 as the sole compliant helicopter. Sham of User Trials Field trials are by far the most critical aspect of the entire procedure as it validates performance claims of the vendors. DPP mandates that the trials be carried out on the actual equipment on offer and in Indian conditions. Both the provisions were blatantly violated. The Air HQ coerced MoD to allow it to conduct trials abroad at the vendors’ premises. More shockingly, as the helicopter offered by AgustaWestland was under development, trials were carried out on two representative helicopters and a mock-up of the passenger cabin. In a first of its kind, equipment was declared fully SQR-compliant when still under development. It needs to be recalled here that during the same period, trials in the case of multi-role combat aircraft were being carried out at Leh (high altitude), Jaisalmer (hot weather) and Bangalore (plains). Equally interestingly, field trials were started in January and the report submitted in April. It must be an all-time record of exceptional efficiency. Detailed evaluation of high-tech helicopters including validation of the support system and maintainability aspects was carried out in mere two months; that too for machines on which safety and security of nation’s VVIP depended. Compare it with 2-3 years taken in the trial evaluation of multi-role combat aircraft. Inflating Requirement of Helicopters One of the most intriguing aspects of the deal is an increase in the requirement of helicopters from 8 to 12. As reported by Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), the Air Force had been meeting the transportation requirement of the VVIPs with a fleet of six Mi-8 helicopters, that too with a low utilisation level of mere 29 per cent. Therefore, quite justifiably, the first proposal initiated in 1999 sought only eight helicopters (five in VIP configuration and three in non-VIP configuration). However, in October 2005, SPG insisted that the requirement be increased to 12 (eight in VIP configuration and four in non-VIP configuration). MoD accorded sanction for the increased number in January 2006. CAG has found the procurement of additional helicopter to be totally unjustified. It resulted in an avoidable excess expenditure of Rs 1240 crore. Two interesting points emerge. One, whereas it should be for the Air HQ to determine the requirement as it is its responsibility to make adequate helicopters available for the transportation of VVIPs, NSG was allowed to usurp this right. Two, PMO/NSG had been co-opted with the proposal since 1999. They never projected additional requirement till October 2005. It appears that the requirement was increased only after it was reasonably ensured that the order would go to AgustaWestland through the tailor-making of parameters. Reason: higher the contract value, higher the cut. Grant of Undue Deviations According to the CAG report, AgustaWestland was recommended for procurement despite the fact that it did not satisfy all parameters. Contrary to all orders, it was granted waver for non-compliance of two key parameters. In all, eight major deviations were approved. Most surprisingly, fresh commercial bids were sought. As AgustaWestland was reasonably assured of emerging as the sole technically acceptable vendor by then, revised bids provided an unwarranted opportunity to it to its bid upwards. Delivery period was extended from 36 to 39 months. Validity period of the option clause was reduced from 5 to 3 years, thereby giving undue benefit to the vendors. As per tender documents, vendors were required to provide warranty for 3 years or 900 hours ‘whichever is later’. On the request of the vendors, the clause was unethically changed to ‘whichever is earlier’, thereby diluting the warranty clause to India’s disadvantage. In fact, every deviation granted was beneficial to the vendors and detrimental to the interests of India. Inclusion of Additional Equipment While contract negotiations were in progress with AgustaWestland, Air HQ recommended inclusion of Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS-II) and Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System (EGPWS) for all 12 helicopters. SPG concurred. In addition, SPG recommended inclusion of Medical Evacuation System (Medevac) for 8 helicopters. It was a patently wrong and gratuitous step. It provided a windfall opportunity to AgustaWestland to quote any price that it wanted to for the add-on systems. To guard against such a contingency, DPP forbids any change in the configuration of equipment after the issuance of tenders.P>It is not understood as to why the requirement of TCAS-II, EGPWS and Medevac could not be foreseen before the issuance of tender in September 2006. What new developments had taken place in the intervening period of two years that necessitated these add-on systems? Determination of Fair and Reasonable Price Every procurement proposal contains estimated cost of the whole project. In single vendor cases, Contract Negotiation Committee (CNC) is required to establish a benchmark of reasonableness of price prior to the opening of the commercial offer. If the quoted price falls within the benchmark, price negotiations are dispensed with. × Estimated cost in the proposal submitted by the Air HQ was Rs 793 crore which was duly approved by the Ministry in January 2006. In September 2008 (in less than three years), CNC benchmarked the reasonable cost at Rs 4,877.5 crore – more than six times the estimated cost. Cost quoted by the vendor AgustaWestland turned out to be Rs 3,966 crore. Thus, the benchmarked cost was higher by a whopping 22.80 per cent. The contract was signed for a negotiated price of Rs 3,726.96 crore. Criticality of fixing a realistic benchmarked price can be gauged from the fact that an absurdly high value can provide windfall gains to a vendor. This is exactly what happened in the ibid case. Finally: Murkier than Bofors As has been seen above, every act of omission or commission was carried out to tweak the process:- Service ceiling was reduced to 4,500 meters as AW-101 could fly only up to 4,572 meters. Cabin height was fixed at 1.8 meters. It effectively made it a single vendor case as no other helicopter possessed that facility. Moreover, fewer vendors were invited to limit competition. Major deviations were granted to favour the vendor – all to the disadvantage of India. Trials were held abroad on substitutes and mock-ups as the helicopter on offer was still under development. Thus AW-101 was declared acceptable without testing it. There cannot be a greater mockery of trials. Whereas the Air HQ had projected the likely cost to be Rs 793 crore in January 2006, CNC benchmarked it at Rs 4,877.5 crore in September 2008. Something is terribly amiss. The contract was signed on 08 February 2010. India got the first whiff of unethical practices from Italy in February 2012. Reports started appearing in the foreign press alleging that bribes and commissions had been paid by the company to bag the contract. India did not take the issue seriously. Instead of putting the contract on hold till the allegations got verified, India continued to release advance payments to AgustaWestland. Resultantly, by February 2013, India had paid about 45 per cent of the total cost of the deal to the vendor and received three helicopters. However, arrest of Mr Giuseppe Orsi, CEO, Finmeccanica (AgustaWestland is a division of Finmeccania) on 12 February 2013 by Italian investigative agencies forced India to act. It could not dither any more. The case was handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation for enquiry and all further payments were put on hold. Recent judgment of the Italian Appellate Court in Milan has unravelled the sordid deeds of the Indian leadership to a great extent. From all indications, it is emerging to be a far murkier affair than the much maligned Bofors. Read More By Major General Mrinal Suman: Why does India breed so many traitors? Siachen: Where India's bravest serve to keep you safe What is the relevance of the Rajya Sabha? Ten reasons why Modi was disliked in 2015 'Intolerance': How else can anti-nationalism be defined? How the BJP lost the soldiers' vote

Major General Mrinal Suman, AVSM, VSM, PhD, commanded an Engineer Regiment on the Siachen Glacier, the most hostile battlefield in the world. A highly qualified officer (B Tech, MA (Public Administration), MSc (Defence Studies) and a Doctorate in Public Administration) he was also the Task Force Commander at Pokhran and was responsible for designing and sinking shafts for the nuclear tests of May 1998.

http://www.sify.com/news/why-the-agustawestland-scam-is-dirtier-than-bofors-news-columns-qfcslJbgdahbb.html

Summary of CAG findings in the #AgustaWestland acquisition

CAG Report on Acquisition of Helicopters for VVIPs

By Team PerformanceGurus -

May 4, 2016

Summary of the CAG Report on Acquisition of Helicopters for VVIPs

The AW-101 Agusta Westland Helicopter

Our posts on the #AgustaWestland acquisition and the findings of the Italian Appellate Court have struck a chord amongst the reading public. This post details the summary of the findings of the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) on this. An excellent summary is available at PRSIndia site. We reproduce some of the salient findings followed by the complete CAG report (which is well-written and a good read – 40 pages).

Background

The Indian Air Force keeps a fleet of helicopters and aircraft for supplying air transportation. In 1999, it suggested replacing its choppers with more sophisticated variations, given their operational limits. The audit analyzes conformity of the special procurement with the Defence Procurement Process (DPP).

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) submitted a report on the acquisition of choppers for Very Very Important Persons (VVIPs) on August 13, 2013. The audit sought to analyze the procedure for acquisition of VVIP choppers and its conformity with the DPP, the official process for procurement in the defence services.

Key findings and recommendations

As you read the line items below, you can see how some of the specifications were changed/ tweaked to support the case of one vendor over the other. For your information, VVIPs in the United States use the Sikorsky helicopters.

The initial Request for Proposal (RFP) issued by the Ministry of Defence in 2002 mandated an altitude requirement of 6000 metres. Only one helicopter, the EC 225 of Eurocopter met this requirement. The EH-101 helicopter (later renamed AW-101) of AgustaWestland did not meet this requirement.
However, the first RFP was cancelled due to the emergence of a single vendor situation. In the revised RFP in 2006, the altitude requirement was reduced to 4500 metres, and a cabin height requirement of 1.8 metres was introduced, making the AW-101 eligible, and the EC 225 ineligible.
The CAG report points out that the lowering of the altitude requirement was against the operational requirement of the procured helicopters, especially in many areas of the north and north east of India. In addition, the single vendor situation remained even after lowering the altitude requirement, because of which the AW-101 of AgustaWestland was selected.
The revised Service Qualitative Requirements (SQRs) in 2006 made competition more restrictive instead of making the procurement procedures more broad-based to increase competition. The fresh RFP with revised SQRs was issued to only 6 vendors as opposed to 11 in 2002.
The Field Evaluation Trial (FET) of the AW-101 was conducted on representative helicopters and not the actual helicopter. The AW-101 was still at the development stage at the time of the FET.
Although the 2006 RFP had laid down the necessity of carrying out the field evaluations in India, they were conducted abroad.
Given the low utilisation levels of the existing fleet of helicopters, the Ministry was not justified in procuring four additional helicopters for VVIPs.
The IAF continued to face operational difficulties with existing helicopters as the acquisition of the new helicopters took more than 10 years.
The cost benchmarked by the Contract Negotiation Committee was much higher than the offered price, allowing no room for negotiation.
The DPP, 2006 makes an offset clause mandatory in all contracts above Rs 300 crore(The offset clause mandates that 30% of the estimated costs must be invested in indigenous defence industries in acquisitions of over ₹300 crores ($45 million) in certain categories). Certain offsets were allowed which were not compliant with the provisions of the DPP.

The CAG report concludes that the process of acquisition from framing of quality requirements to the conclusion of the contract differed from established procurement procedures.

Note:
1. The conversion rate used in this article is 1 USD = 66.53 Rupees.
2. Text in Blue points to additional data on the topic.

It will be interesting to get current CAG fellows views on this subject,whole bunch of corrupt TA/DA wallahs in the garb of under secretaries and over secretaries needs to be kicked into tihar in their undies.Without their active participation,many crooked deals will not happen.All 3rd rate dishonest IAS officers waiting with their tongues out to loot whatever comes their way.Shameless fellows.So many millions without roof,proper job,education,access to toilets/clean water and these jokers systematically loot without conscience.Spit on them.

https://www.pgurus.com/summary-cag-findings-agustawestland-acquisition/

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Primadonna SoniaG Agusta scam: Turning approver is out of question, says Italian middleman Christian Michel

May 3, 2016, 6:29 pm

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Agusta Westland chopper deal: Turning approver is out of question, says Italian middleman Christian Michel

Last Updated: Wednesday, May 4, 2016 - 00:22

Zee Media Bureau

Delhi: Italian middleman Christian Michel has said that turning approver in the Rs 3,600-crore Agusta Westland chopper deal was 'out of question'.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=-qrjaTvOfmw

Published on May 2, 2016

a new revelation has come into light in AgustaWestland case, according to reports former air chief marshal SP Tyagi had met with mediators four five times.

Zee News always stay ahead in bringing current affairs from all the valley of National interest, Politics, Entertainment, Sports and International happenings. We take you to the depth of every matter by providing every small detail and makes you familiar with all the happening around you.

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In an interview to India Today, Michel said, "I am ready to submit documents and proof related to the case through the Indian embassy.

He also said that he "will be hiring an Indian lawyer very soon" and that he was "willing to move Indian courts very soon."

Michel maintained that he had never met the Gandhi (Sonia and Rahul) family.

He was further quoted as saying, "I have sued Hascke and am willing to give proof."

At the same time, he clarified, "I gave no favours to any journos either. The job was to monitor and follow media."

Meanwhile, former IAF chief SP Tyagi was today questioned by CBI for around 10 hours over his alleged links with middlemen in the chopper deal during which he was also quizzed about the source of funding for his post-retirement trip to Italy.

It was for the second time in three years that the retired Air Chief Marshal was being questioned in connection with the VVIP chopper deal but it was for the first time he was quizzed after an order of the Italian court on the matter.

VVIP chopper scam: Ex-IAF chief SP Tyagi was codenamed 'gorgeous girl' by European middlemen?

MUST READ

VVIP chopper scam: Ex-IAF chief SP Tyagi was codenamed 'gorgeous girl' by European middlemen?

He was earlier quizzed in 2013.

The Milan Court of Appeals - equivalent of an Indian High Court - has given details of how alleged bribes were paid by helicopter-maker Finmeccanica and AgustaWestland to Indian officials through middlemen to clinch the deal.

The order reportedly mentions the name of Tyagi at several points.

CBI had registered a case against Tyagi along with 13 others including his cousins and European middlemen.

The allegation against the former Air Chief was that he reduced flying ceiling of the helicopter from 6,000m to 4,500m (15,000ft) which put AgustaWestland helicopters in the race for the deal without which its choppers were not even qualified for submission of bids.

It is alleged by Italian prosecutors that bribes to clinch the deal were paid through middlemen and routed through a consultancy contract between AgustaWestland and companies owned by middlemen.

(With PTI inputs)

http://zeenews.india.com/news/india/agusta-westland-chopper-deal-turning-approver-is-out-of-question-says-italian-middleman-christian-michel_1881837.html

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Primadonna SoniaG Agusta scam: breakthrough, Tyagi sings? He says he met Finmeccanica chief

May 3, 2016, 6:44 pm

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Published: May 3, 2016 12:40 IST | Updated: May 4, 2016 02:05 IST New Delhi, May 3, 2016

Tyagi confesses to having met Finmeccanica chief, says CBI

Devesh K. Pandey

The Hindu

Retired Air Chief Marshal S.P. Tyagi arriving at the CBI headquarters in New Delhi on Monday. Photo: R.V. Moorthy

The Enforcement Directorate has summoned Mr. Tyagi for questioning on May 5.

Even as retired Air Chief Marshal S.P. Tyagi on Tuesday purportedly confessed to the Central Bureau of Investigation that he had met the COO of Italian military major Finmeccanica when he was still in office in February 2005, the Enforcement Directorate claims to have strong reasons to believe that he had met two of the middlemen in the chopper deal.

“Mr. Tyagi on Monday denied having met any official of Finmeccanica, the parent company of AgustaWestland. However, when shown a visitor’s diary records, he has now accepted that he had met the company’s then chief operating officer Giorgio Zappa on February 15, 2005. He was questioned for about 11 hours,” said a CBI official, adding that he has been summoned again on Wednesday along with another accused Gautam Khaitan.

ED summons

The Enforcement Directorate has summoned Mr. Tyagi for questioning on May 5.

The CBI considers Mr. Tyagi’s “confession” on the meeting with Mr. Zappa as a breakthrough in the case. According to reports, accused middleman Guido Haschke, had told the Italian police that he had also met the then Finmeccanica COO Zappa during a visit to India as part of an official delegation led by the former Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi in 2005.

The then Italian President was visiting India in February 12-16, 2005. The Italian authorities quoted Haschke as saying: “I saw Zappa for the first time on the occasion of the visit of President Ciampi in India in February 2005.” In his statement to the Enforcement Directorate, the retired Air Chief Marshal’s cousin Sanjeev Tyagi has claimed that he did not know Mr. Zappa. However, he had heard that Mr. Zappa was some high ranking official of Finmeccanica.

Noida firms

The CBI has also identified four Noida-based companies — Meghanshu, Shavan, Anuras and Vanshi — that were set up by the retired air chief in 2011-12, almost four years after his retirement in 2007. According to the CBI, the agency is trying to ascertain the nature of services provided by these companies and their financial transactions.

According to the Enforcement Directorate, they need to question Mr. Tyagi on his purported meetings with two of the middlemen in the deal.

The agencies have identified three alleged middlemen, Guido Haschke, Carlo Gerosa and Christian Michel.

They would also ask him about his trip to Italy after his retirement in 2007.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/vvip-chopper-deal-tyagi-quizzed-again/article8551236.ece?homepage=true&css=print

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Swamy hour for Primadonna SoniaG Agusta scam. NaMo, nationalise kaalaadhan.

May 3, 2016, 7:09 pm

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Congress wary of Swamy ahead of chopper debate

TNN | May 4, 2016, 06.32 AM IST

NEW DELHI: Mind games are on ahead of Wednesday's discussion on Choppergate in the Rajya Sabha as Congress plans to target its pet hate Subramanian Swamy and defence minister Manohar Parrikar is likely to avoid holding any papers to preempt attempts to snatch them from his hands.

If Parrikar has his way, he would like Swamy to exhaust the Congress benches in the morning itself. Since he became a nominated MP this session, Swamy's success in ensuring an adjournment has seen the morning session being referred to as the "Swamy hour".

On Wednesday, Congress is expected to watch Swamy closely like a football defence following a particularly pernicious forward even as former defence minister A K Antony is expected to counter Parrikar on Choppergate.

Other Congress netas who might speak include leader of opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma and Ahmed Patel. They will look to counter-attack the pitch that UPA showed no interest in tracking the graft trail in the acquisition of AgustaWestland helicopters.

On his part, Parrikar seems ready to argue that UPA helped AgustaWestland win the Rs 3,600 crore deal by changes in specifications that were okayed by then IAF chief S P Tyagi.

Top Comment

Rise and fall of a party and congress which epitomises sycophancy will be doomed with its track of massive corruption now exposed to perish.Kallumadanda Ganesh

While Congress said the changes were initiated by the Vajpayee government, BJP has argued that these were limited to ensuring that a single vendor situation did not arise. Parrikar is understood to be ready with an aggressive argument on UPA's alleged complicity in Choppergate, with Antony signing a hastily written six-page note putting the VVIP deal "on hold" just days before the 2014 Lok Sabha results were announced on May 16.

Parrikar has said he would reveal details on the deal but the main opposition does not seem to be ready to listen to him and noisy disruptions might well be the order of the day. Parrikar is nonetheless determined to make his speech in full. Even though establishing the money trail in the kickbacks needs further investigation, Parrikar can be expected to argue that the evidence so far does make it clear that bribes were paid and UPA did its bid to help Italian defence firm Finmeccanica -the parent company of AgustaWestland.

10 COMMENTS

Kallumadanda Ganesh

bangalore-21 mins ago

Rise and fall of a party and congress which epitomises sycophancy will be doomed with its track of massive corruption now exposed to perish.

2 0 ReplyFlag

19 mins ago

Definitely they should be worried.

1 0 ReplyFlag

Vijay Naidu

Location-21 mins ago

The defense minister could hold some papers not relevant to Choppergate in his hand and let the opposition grab them.If a few MP''s do their homework like Swamy the nation would be better of.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Congress-wary-of-Swamy-ahead-of-chopper-debate/articleshow/52100923.cms

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Primadonna SoniaG Agusta scam: MMS reporting RS as warzone using military jargon

May 3, 2016, 7:54 pm

≫ Next: Indus Script on Kabul mss compared with deciphered hypertext strings of metalwork catalogues reported by Rick Willis and Vasant Shinde

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AgustaWestland issue: Subramanian Swamy to make fresh revelations, Congress plans counter offensive

4MAY

NEW DELHI: A Short Duration Discussion on the AgustaWestland issue slated to take place in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday is likely to witness a fiery exchange between the BJP and Congress, with the ruling party planning to field Subramanian Swamy. The principal opposition may depute former defence minister AK Antony or even former prime minister Manmohan Singh to counter charges from the Treasury benches.

BJP leaders Bhupendra Yadav and Subramanian Swamy had given notices for holding a Short Duration Discussion on the AgustaWestland issue. While Swamy has already caused enough discomfort in the Congress camp with his attack on two previous occasions, sources said defence minister Manohar Parrikar who will reply to the debate is also going to make some revelations before the House.

Congress members were furious when Swamy had named their party president Sonia Gandhi while speaking on the issue in the Rajya Sabha last week.

Leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad had later alleged in the House that Swamy — whom he referred to as a “gift of the BJP” — did not know the difference between “street words and Parliament words.” BJP also wants to “expose” the Congress claim — later withdrawn — that the erstwhile UPA government had blacklisted AgustaWestland International Limited (AWIL).

With the first family of Congress in the line of fire in the chopper deal, the principal opposition went into a huddle on Tuesday evening at the residence of Sonia Gandhi to discuss its strategy in Parliament. Antony, who was busy campaigning in Kerala, flew in to attend the meeting. He will be speaking on behalf of the Congress during the debate.

The Congress will also field Azad, deputy leader of the party in Rajya Sabha, Anand Sharma, and may even ask former PM Manmohan Singh to defend the party during the debate. Senior leader Digvijaya Singh is also a probable speaker if time permits.

Congress has asked for a similar debate in the Lok Sabha in the coming week. The Trinamool Congress is also targeting the Congress and will again be attacking the party during the debate.

It would be interesting to watch the JD(U) stand as the party, now supporting the Congress, had slammed the Grand Old Party in 2013. When the scam first came to light in February 2013, then defence minister AK Antony had informed Parliament that CBI has lodged a Preliminary Enquiry into the case. He further said 11 persons, including former Air Chief SP Tyagi, have been named in the case. Antony had also announced that the government is ready to form a 30-member JPC, but the Opposition did not agree to the proposal.

http://www.politicalmann.com/agustawestland-issue-subramanian-swamy-to-make-fresh-revelations-congress-plans-counter-offensive/

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Indus Script on Kabul mss compared with deciphered hypertext strings of metalwork catalogues reported by Rick Willis and Vasant Shinde

May 3, 2016, 10:25 pm

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Mirror: http://tinyurl.com/jnxqgho

This monograph is compiled in two sections.

Section 1 reports the insights of Daniel Salas who finds common hypertext strings on copper plate inscriptions reported by Rick Willis and Vasant Shinde and compares the strings with hypertext strings on 1. Kabul mss and 2. Indus Script Corpora.

Section 2 presents a decipherment of the hypertext strings on copper plate inscriptions (9) reported by Rick Willis and Vasant Shinde. The strings of hieroglyph-multiplexes are metalwork catalogues.

For a background note on Kabul mss. reviewed in a thesis by Lucy Zuberbuhler see: http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/10/a-comparison-of-manuscript-with-indus.html

Thus, the strings of hypertexts on Kabul mss are also sangraha, 'metalwork catalogues' or indicating the possibility that any skepticism about the authenticity of the Kabul mss on birchbark should be re-visited, revised.

Rick Willis and Vasant Shinde have made a breathtaking demonstration of the possible use of copper plates with inscriptions as printers' plates to be used with ferrous oxide as ink. Such a possibiity could have resulted in reproduction of copies of metalwork catalogues for dissemination -- as the earliest recorded marketing campaign in civilizational history -- by seafaring merchants of Meluhha.

Section 1: Daniel Salas links Rick Willis' copper plates and Kabul mss

[quote] This page looks at the relationship between the new copper tablets found in Pakistan, first published in 08 Oct. 2014 and the Kabul manuscript July 31, 2009. The first top line match's the indigenous Indus Valley tradition that goes back 5000 years.I used only the appearnt visual relationship without putting a phonetic value on the glyphs.link below

Kabul mss

The picture above shows a many layered text, glued on the ends to preserve the manuscript. This manuscript betrays a prior knowledge that could not have been forged. Below I used only the apparent visual relationship without putting a phonetic value on the glyphs.

Below; A group of nine Indus Valley copper plates (c. 2600–2000 BC), discovered from private collections in Pakistan, appear to be of an important type not previously described. The plates are significantly larger and more robust than those comprising the corpus of known copper plates or tablets, and most significantly differ in being inscribed with mirrored characters. One of the plates bears 34 characters, which is the longest known single Indus script inscription. Examination of the plates with x-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrophotometry indicates metal compositions, including ars nical copper, consistent with Indus Valley technology. Microscopy of the metal surface and internal structure reveals detail such as pitting, microcrystalline structure, and corrosion, consistent with ancient cast copper artifacts. Given the relative fineness of the engraving, it is hypothesised that the copper plates were not used as seals, but have characteristics consistent with use in copper plate printing. As such, it is possible that these copper plates are by far the earliest known printing devices, being at least 4000 years old.

Daniel Salas, April 29, 2016

[unquote] http://indoeurohome.com/Induskabul.html

Section 2: Deciphered Copper plates (9) reported by Rick Willis and Vasant Shinde

I pay my humble tribute to Rick Willis who has provided scintillating insights into the use of copper plates with inscriptions in Indus Script. I should also compliment Vasant Shinde for bringing to light, as a co-author of Rick Willis, the discoveries of unprovenienced samples of copper plates with inscriptions in Indus Script. No shame on you Vasant Shinde for bringing to light a game-changer evidence of Rick Willis and may constitute a significant contribution to resolving the cipher of Indus writing and enabling a possible re-write of the Itihaasa of Bharatam Janam, 'metalcaster folk'.

I am sorry that Rick Wills had to contend with criticism from members of an e-group who had, in my view, prejudged that the finds reported by Rick Willis were fake without adducing any iota of evidence, excepting for making unacceptable comments (aha, 'blatantly' fake in the title of the thread) and even a shocking comment attributing 'faking' as an ethnic trait. One fake or even 10 fakes do not a summer make; it is the responsibility of the critics to prove 'faking' or 'forgery' and come up with positive, falsifiable answers to the challenge in cryptography posed by Indus writing system. Unfair comments have been made asking Rick Willis to prove that the copper plates are not 'fake' even after he has sought the cooperation of so-called experts in symbol-reading or symbol-sequencing technologies to come up with the 'reading' of the inscriptions. One can dispute a 'reading' but not declare the objects themselves as 'fake' without even examining or evaluating the reasons adduced by the authors to proceed with the demonstration of possible use of the plates as templates for printing multiple messages. There is NO reason whatsoever to dismiss this suggestion, given the penchant for marketing evidenced archaeologically by a Dholavira Sign board or multiple tablets with the same inscription which get consolidated into inscriptions on seals for supercargo consolidation of consignments assigned to caravans of seafaring Meluhha merchants. See: http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.com/2015/03/indus-script-tablets-are-workshop.html

There is, however, no reason why one should rush to just ignore unprovenienced finds of the writing system, considering that a large part of the Indus Script Corpora are not provenienced to the present-day archaeological standards. The ultimate validation of authenticity of a new find will be in the acceptability of the decipherment of the inscriptions on the find.

One such standard is exemplified by Harappa Archaeological Research Project (HARP) which reported on recent diggings -- from 1995 -- in Harppa. (See Annex: Exchange of comments in a yahoo group).

In my view, the insight of Rick Willis that the copper plates might have been used for 'printing' is brilliant and is validated by his demonstration, taking two printouts -- one in carbon black ink and another in ferric oxide ink -- from two copper plates in his possession which he explains as follows:

"My theory is that these copper plates were made for printing. The text is reversed and the engraving is too fine to serve as a seal with clay. Perhaps these plates served as templates from which prints were taken to instruct scattered seal-makers? I have been working with a master printer here to test the theory and all nine plates have been trialled in a cylinder printing press. Another argument for these plates being designed for printing is that the plates are unusually thick (compared with the Mohenjo Daro tablets) and strong (to take the pressure required). We have trialled the plates with two types of ink which we believe could simulate an ink available millennia ago: carbon black pigment and ferric oxide pigment. Of course, so far we have used paper for trials, and paper would not have been available. Eventually we will try leather and real vellum or parchment, and maybe silk. Any ideas are welcome. The plates, despite their age give a remarkably good image. The image I sent was a print on paper with the carbon black ink."

10/26/2012: "Attached please find a trial print of the large deity plate - this one uses the ferric oxide ink. It requires a lot of time to get a good print, as each plate has a different thickness to go through the roller, and furthermore, because of the corrosion, the plates do not print evenly at first because of the uneven thickness of the plate. These problems can be overcome through trial and error. Again it is highly unlikely there was a cylinder printing press in the Indus Valley, and down the track we will try applying simple pressure with a heavy stone or something similar to press the ink onto the medium."

Rick Willis allelopathy8@gmail.com

These two are extraordinary demonstrations of the possible use of copper plates with inscriptions. I have elaborated the possibility that all the ca. 7000 inscriptions of Indus Script Corpora constitute metalwork catalogs. If such catalogs had to be disseminated as broadcasting media (as was done with the Dholavira Signboard), there is a distinct possibility that multiple 'printouts' on birchbark may have been taken and distributed through the seafaring Meluhha merchants and artisans. Considering the extraordinary literary features embodied in the use of layered rebus-metonymy cipher to encrypt the messages, it is certainly reasonable to posit the idea that the copper plates were used to take out prinouts for distribution and wider dissemination. The penchant for marketing shown by the display of hieroglyphs carried on flag-staffs in procession are an example validity the possibility of such a 'marketing' effort by the Meluhha merchants and artisans.

I bow to the insights provided by Rick Willis with admiration and in awe at what the metalcasters, Bharatam Janam had achieved during the Bronze Age as explorers of the phenomena which would later be celebrated in the metaphor of samudra manthanam, 'churing of the ocean'. One side of the civilization is called Khirsara, an abbreviated phonetic form of ksheerasaagara 'ocean of milk'. I think we will err if we disregard or underestimae the competence of our ancestors who have left behind such a treasure house attesting to archaeometallurgical excellence, not excluding the cire perdue technique for casting alloy metals into exquisite bronze statues or statues of tin-bronzes. Tin Road linked Ancient Far East as the (supply) source of tin which travelled to the Ancient Near East as the (demand) consumption-points for tin to create trade in tin-bronzes. The enormity of the trade which travelled on the Tin Road caravans is exemplified by the hundreds of tablets in cuneiform found in Anatolia.

I present in this note rebus readings of the copper plates recently reported by HARP discoveries -- as precursors of printing. This insight is consistent with the purport of the Indus script as Meluhha metalwork catalogs. Hopefully, more prints (perhaps on birchbarks) would be found which are replicas of such copper plates or copper tablets of Harappa with raised script reported by HARP.

I am citing the work of HARP because, the digs produced an artifact which compares with the orthography of a horned, seated person on a copper plate discussed in this note. I interpret the orthography of the seated person with hands held close to the knees in a squat posture to be a signifier of a person in penance. The horns are a signifier (layered rebus-metonymy) of a smithy artisan workshop. The seated person has his head turned to a side. This may signify krammara 'head turned back or sideways' Rebus: kamar, karmAra 'artisan, smith'

Two other hieroglyphs flank the person seated in penance: 1. a twig and 2. a stylized 'standard device' which may compare with a lathe + portable furnace which is deployed in front of a young bull on hundreds of seals. Both Meluhha hieroglyphs are read rebus-metonymy substitution cipher.

It is suggested that the three hieroglyphs: seated person in penance, twig, standard device (lathe + portable furnace) are complementary to unambiguously signify the life-activity of the person shown as composite pictorial motifs on copper plate: mint-master. Hieroglyph 'twig' signifies a smelter.

Focus on the 'lathe or portable furnace' flanking the seate person

Hieroglyph sãgaḍ 'lathe' 'standard device, lathe + portable furnace' signifies an aggregation of consignments (products from smithy/forge). Rebus: sã̄go m. ʻ caravanʼ(Si.)(CDIAL 12854) sangath संगथ् । संयोगः f. (sg. dat. sangüʦü association, living together, partnership (e.g. of beggars, rakes, members of a caravan, and so on); (of a man or woman) copulation, sexual union.sangāṭh संगाठ् । सामग्री m. (sg. dat. sangāṭas संगाटस्), a collection (of implements, tools, materials, for any object), apparatus, furniture, a collection of the things wanted on a journey, luggage, and so on. --karun -- करुन् । सामग्रीसंग्रहः m.inf. to collect the ab. (L.V. 17).(Kashmiri)

Focus on the twig fanking the seated person

Twig next to the horned seated person in penance can be compared to the following example:

Meluhha hieroglyphs of 'goats, twigs, overflowing pot' read rebus: ingot, smelter, copper, metal pots and pans, metalware.

Tammuz, alabaster (Gypsum?) relief from Ashur, c. 1500 BCE; in the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Germany Foto Marburg/Art Resource, New York. Two goats flank the person feeding them with leafy twigs. In the lower register, two women carry jars with overflowing streams of water. This is a Meluhha hieroglyph, as is the pair of twigs emanating from the waist of the standing person. Tham·muz (tä'mʊz) n. The tenth month of the year in the Jewish calendar. [Hebrew tammūz, akin to Iraqi Arabic tabbūz, July, both ultimately from Sumerian dumu-zi, Dumuzi, a dying and rising shepherd divinity (Inanna's husband): dumu, son, offspring + zi, true, effective.]

mr̤eka, melh 'goat' Rebus: milakkhu 'copper'.

kūdī, kūṭī ‘bunch of twigs’ (Sanskrit) Rebus: kuṭhi ‘smelter furnace’ (Santali) kūdī (also written as kūṭī in manuscripts) occurs in the Atharvaveda (AV 5.19.12) and Kauśika Sūtra (Bloomsfield’s ed.n, xliv. Cf. Bloomsfield, American Journal of Philology, 11, 355; 12,416; Roth, Festgruss an Bohtlingk, 98) denotes it as a twig. This is identified as that of Badarī, the jujube tied to the body of the dead to efface their traces. (See Vedic Index, I, p. 177). The twig is also shown with three leaves:

దళము [daḷamu] daḷamu. [Skt.] n. A leaf. ఆకు. A petal. A part, భాగము. dala n. ʻ leaf, petal ʼ MBh. Pa. Pk. dala -- n. ʻ leaf, petal ʼ, G. M. daḷ n.(CDIAL 6214). <DaLO>(MP) {N} ``^branch, ^twig''. *Kh.<DaoRa>(D) `dry leaves when fallen', ~<daura>, ~<dauRa> `twig', Sa.<DAr>, Mu.<Dar>, ~<Dara> `big branch of a tree', ~<DauRa> `a twig or small branch with fresh leaves on it', So.<kOn-da:ra:-n> `branch', H.<DalA>, B.<DalO>, O.<DaLO>, Pk.<DAlA>. %7811. #7741.(Munda etyma) Rebus: ḍhālako = a large metal ingot (Gujarati.) ḍhālakī = a metal heated and poured into a mould; a solid piece of metal; an ingot (Gujarati).

dula 'pair' Rebus: dul 'cast (metal)'.

lo ‘pot to overflow’; kāṇḍa ‘water’. Rebus: लोखंड lokhaṇḍ Iron tools, vessels, or articles in general.

kola ‘woman’ Rebus: kol‘ 'smithy, working in iron’

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2014/01/assur-as-meluhha-speakers-asura-some.html

Overflowing water from a vase Hieroglyphs: lo 'pot overflow' kāṇṭam 'water' Rebus: lo 'copper' khāṇḍā 'tools, weapons'. The 'overflowing pot' hieroglyph is also seen on:

m1656 Mohenjodro Pectoral. kāṇṭam காண்டம் kāṇṭam, n. < kāṇḍa. 1. Water; sacred water; நீர். துருத்திவா யதுக்கிய குங்குமக் காண் டமும் (கல்லா. 49, 16). <kanda> {N} ``large earthen water ^pot kept and filled at the house''. @1507. #14261.(Munda) Rebus: khāṇḍā ‘metal tools, pots and pans’ (Marathi)

Seated person, example 1 from Indus Script corpora:

One side of a triangular terracotta tablet (Md 013); surface find at Mohenjo-daro in 1936. Dept. of Eastern Art, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.

Hieroglyph: kamaḍha 'penance' (Prakrit) kamaḍha, kamaṭha, kamaḍhaka, kamaḍhaga, kamaḍhaya = a type of penance (Prakrit)

Rebus: kamaṭamu, kammaṭamu = a portable furnace for melting precious metals; kammaṭīḍu = a goldsmith, a silversmith (Telugu) kãpṛauṭ jeweller's crucible made of rags and clay (Bi.); kampaṭṭam coinage, coin, mint (Tamil)

kamaṭhāyo = a learned carpenter or mason, working on scientific principles; kamaṭhāṇa [cf. karma, kām, business + sthāna, thāṇam, a place fr. Skt. sthā to stand] arrangement of one’s business; putting into order or managing one’s business (Gujarati)

The composition of two hieroglyphs: kāru 'crocodile' (Telugu) + kamaḍha 'a person seated in penance' (Prakrit) denote rebus: khar ‘blacksmith’ (Kashmiri); kāru ‘artisan’ (Marathi) + kamaṭa 'portable furnace'; kampaṭṭam'coinage, coin, mint'. Thus, what the tablet conveys is the mint of a blacksmith. A copulating crocodile hieroglyph -- kāru 'crocodile' (Telugu) + kamḍa, khamḍa 'copulation' (Santali) -- conveys the same message: mint of a blacksmith kāru kampaṭṭa 'mint artisan'.

Seated person, example 2 from three tablets of Indus Script corpora:

Harappa. Three tablets with identical glyphic compositions on both sides: h1970, h1971 and h1972. Seated figure or deity with reed house or shrine at one side. Left: H95-2524; Right: H95-2487.

Two sides of a terracotta tablet found in the 1995 dig h1971

See: http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2014/01/meluhha-hieroglyphs-snarling-iron-of.html

Side 1: crocodile + person with foot on head of animal + spearing + bison + horned (with twig) + seated horned person in penance

NOTE: The horned seated person, has a twig emanating between the horns. On the copper plate the 'twig' hieroglyph is shown as a separate entity; both the 'twig' and 'standard device' are shown flanking the horned person, seated in penance

Image result for killing of water buffalo kenoyer

One side of a planoconvex molded tablet found in 1995 in Mound ET at Harappa. Mark Kenoyer writes about his narrative scene depicting the killing of a water buffalo: "A person, possibly a man, with hair tied in a bun on the back of the head, impales a water buffalo with a barbed spear. The hunter's foot presses down on the water buffalo's head as he thrusts the spear into its shoulder. In Later Hindu rituals, the water buffalo sacrifice is associated with the worship of the goddess Durga, but on this seal the sacrifice takes place in the presence of a priest or diety seated in yogic position. The seated figure wears bangles and a horned and plumed headdress. Above the head of the hunter is a gharial, a small species of crocodile with a narrow snout that was once common in the Ravi and Indus rivers, but is now almost extinct. Similar scenes of an individual spearing a water buffalo have been found on other terracotta tablets from both Harappa and Mohenjo-daro . . .. (Ancient Cities of the Indus Valley Civilization, pp. 114-5).

Material: terra cotta
Dimensions: 3.91 length, 1.5 to 1.62 cm width
Harappa, Lot 4651-01
Harappa Museum, H95-2486
Meadow and Kenoyer 1997

Side 1: a female (with one eye) battling two tigers and standing above an elephant and below a six-spoked wheel

Sign 391 eraka ‘nave of wheel’. Rebus: era ‘copper’. āra 'spokes' Rebus: āra 'brass'.

Animal glyph: elephant ‘ibha’. Rebus ibbo, ‘merchant’ (Gujarati).

Composition of glyphics: Woman with six locks of hair + one eye + thwarting + two pouncing tigers (jackals)+ nave with six spokes. Rebus: kola ‘woman’ +kaṇga ‘eye’ (Pego.), bhaṭa ‘six’+ dul ‘casting (metal)’ + kũdā kol (jackal or tiger leaping up) or lo ‘fox’ (WPah.) rebus: lōha ʻmetalʼ (Pali) + era āra (nave of wheel, six spokes),ibha (elephant). Rebus: era ‘copper’; kũdār dul kol ‘turner, casting, working in iron’; kan ‘brazier, bell-metal worker’; ibbo ‘merchant’; ib 'iron'.

Planoconvex molded tablet from Harappa showing a diety battlong two tigers. "The thick jungles of the Indus Valley were full of tigers and leopards, so it is not surprising that the image of a ferocious feline is a recurring motif in ritual narratives on seals as well as molded tablets. . .. The figure strangling the two tigers may represent a female, as a pronounced breast can be seen in profile. Earlier discoveries of this motif on seals from Mohenjo-daro definitely show a male figure, and most scholars have assumed some connection with the carved seals from Mesopotamia that illustrate episodes from the famous Gilgamesh epic. The Mesopotamian epics show lions being strangled by a hero, whereas the Indus narratives render tigers being strangled by a figure, sometimes clearly males, sometimes ambiguous or possibly female. This motif of a hero or heroine grappling with two wild animals could have been created independently for similar events that may have occurred in Mesopotamia as well as the Indus valley." (Mark Kenoyer, Ancient Cities of the Indus Valley Civilization, p. 114)

Material: terra cotta
Dimensions: 3.91 length, 1.5 to 1.62 cm width
Harappa, Lot 4651-01
Harappa Museum, H95-2486

Deploying the layered rebus-metonymy cipher, a horned person may denote:

Hierolyph: *ḍaṅgara1 ʻ cattle ʼ. 2. *daṅgara -- . [Same as ḍaṅ- gara -- 2 s.v. *ḍagga-- 2 as a pejorative term for cattle] 1. K. ḍangur m. ʻ bullock ʼ, L. ḍaṅgur, (Ju.)ḍ̠ãgar m. ʻ horned cattle ʼ; P. ḍaṅgar m. ʻ cattle ʼ, Or. ḍaṅgara; Bi. ḍã̄gar ʻ old worn -- out beast, dead cattle ʼ, dhūr ḍã̄gar ʻ cattle in general ʼ; Bhoj. ḍāṅgar ʻ cattle ʼ; H. ḍã̄gar, ḍã̄grā m. ʻ horned cattle ʼ.2. H. dã̄gar m. = prec. (CDIAL 5526)

koṭ 'horn; red Rebus: khoṭ 'alloy'; Rebus: koD 'workshop' (Kuwi)

In a literate society and culture, what were written on tablets, seals, copper plates and even on metal weapons themselves, should have related to the life-activities of the people of the civilization. The cipher for the writing system was a layered rebus-metonymy.

Some insights provided by Rick Willis [I am listing some excerpts from private communication.Errors and omissions excepted (E&OE)].

I have in my possession a set of 9 Indus copper plates which are rather different from those known from Mohenjo Daro. I have shown photos of these plates to a number of people, and most immediately try to compare them to the Mohenjo Daro tablets, and then form an opinion, which is usually uncertain or at least sceptical. My plates are quite different, and I see little sense in this course of action. Firstly my plates are large, about 5-6 cm square and about 3-5 mm thick - they are robust. Secondly, most have an animal image AND text inscribed on the one side (like a seal). The backs are blank and corroded. Thirdly, the text is reversed (like a seal); however, the engraving is too shallow and too fine to leave an impression in clay. Finally, the texts are quite long, and one plate has a seemingly boustrephedonic text of 34 characters in 5 lines. I have no reason to suppose the plates are from Mohenjo Daro although the style of engraving is somewhat similar - I do not know the place of origin of the plates as they were acquired by a major Pakistani collector of antiquities from an anonymous "digger", likely in the 1990s. There are a few unrecorded characters used in the texts, and thus the plates could be from a little known site. To my eye the icongraphy of the plates relates more closely to Indus steatite seals than to Mohenjo Daro tablets, and if I had to put forward a hypothesis, I would suggest that these are printing plates designed to produce images to instruct seal carvers. This of course, is a revolutionary idea, but I thought that you especially might be interested, or might have a different idea.

I believe the text on the plates could be significant, as it seems quite possible that the text relates to the image (unlike seals).

I have attached images of some of the plates. Image 046 gives you an idea of the back of a plate.

In the case of these plates, no-one has been able to say they are fake, apart from the fact that they do not fit the corpus of known Indus objects bearing script. All that I known of their origin is that they were excavated, and likely found as a mass of several adhering plates. It seems that they were separated and cleaned with hydrochloric acid (common practice I am told in Pakistan, as HCl does not affect copper). I would guess that several plates were damaged/lost in the process, as my surviving 9 plates have traces of adhering copper from other plates. The metal has been analysed by x-ray fluorescence and is mostly copper with traces of tin, lead, arsenic, silver (no zinc so not brass). There are differing types of mtal and differing styles of engraving. Sadly the cleaning process has removed all traces of carbonate as I was hoping to try 14C analysis on the verdigris material. I still may try isotopic lead-210 analysis to at least assert metal is "old". The copper plates are quite capable of yielding images by printing, and a master printer and I are experimenting on this aspect.

I am well aware that the idea of printing (sensu stricto), transfer of image using pigment is very radical. But honestly, I can think of no other reason for these copper plates appearing the way that they do, and indeed, they produce an excellent and detailed print - look at the detail in the bull print. This establishes a new date for the dawn of printing (3rd millennium) and displaces the Chinese as the alleged inventors of printing. It established the Indus Valley (India/Pakistan) as the birthland of printing, and I am hopeful that someone is willing to give credit to this story.

As far as printing is concerned, a suitable ink can be made from almost any pigment, including carbon black, ferric oxide, indigo or various copper salts (azurite, malachite, etc.). The trick is to mix them with the right amount of water and thickening agent (e.g. hide glue) as in "India ink". With the copper plates, the plate is smeared with ink, and then the plate is wiped clean except for the pigment that remains in the grooves. The inked plate is then set on a base and covered carefully with the print medium (damp paper). Uniform pressure is applied, and the print results. The process is inherently simple and was likely discovered accidentally during some cleaning process, or something.

With the Mohenjo Daro plates, something different is happening as there are multiples of the same image. Furthermore, the writing is on the back of the plate is not reversed. It could be that these items were tokens or amulets.

I just wanted to throw another idea at you. One of the characters on one of the copper plates (9 character plate) is the character that looks like the radiation symbol. It occur to me the other day that this three-fold character may be very important, in a way that has not been considered before.

I am guessing that bas relief metal seals were cast by metal-workers from incised stone seals, as this is the way seal-makers knew best to make seals. I have one copper bull seal similar to the silver one you sent. To my eye, the 3-headed animal seal is in BMAC style of compartment seals (I have many of these including bull, master of the beasts, bird as well as the conventional geometric styles). Thus it may be a seal intermediate between Indus and BMAC, as the 3-headed beast is distinctly Indus.

I have entertained the theory that the Indus Valley was possibly run by a triumvirate (?Mohenjo Daro, Harappa, Lothal?). This stems from the finding of an Indus Valley copper figure that has three faces, and each face seems to have a priest-like or king-like appearance. This small copper statue is here in Melbourne where I live, and has not been exhibited . Furthermore, as you well know, the famous steatite figure of the priest-king is covered in a garment that is patterned with the trefoil pattern. Thus I am thinking all these elements are linked, and the Indus script character (which has a roof-like line over it) relates to an important government building or temple.

I have attached a document that illustrates these three elements. What are your thoughts?

Attached are seven images of the copper plates which are inscribed only one side of the plates. The last image (Fig.7) is not legible and could be from the reverse of the copper plate.

In my view, these copper plates are authentic Indus script legacy considering the remarkable parallels with many glyphic (signs) and pictorial motifs (field symbols) on many Indus inscriptions and should be treated as part of the Indus Script Corpora. As Rick Willis has noted, the copper plates DO NOT have parallels in the over 200 copper plate inscriptions of the Corpora and certainly use pictorials and glyphic sequences commonly observed in the Corpora.

Sadly one cannot test bronze for 14-Carbon, although originally I had the idea that I might be able to test the carbonates in the verdigris material. Chemical digestion revealed that there was no carbon, and I am guessing that at some oint after excavation the plates were cleaned with hydrochloric acid which removed the carbon.

I have quite a lot of data on the copper plates, e.g. scanning electron micrographs, x-ray fluorescence composition, and everything suggests the plates are authentic. The plates appear to be from different sources, as one can discern about 4 different types of bronze. To me this is not surprising, as my impression is that metal was a valuable, essentially imported commodity, and that metalworkers likely worked with whatever diverse ingots they could obtain through trade from time to time.

I thought I should at least provide you with images of the other 3 copper plates, and these are attached. The elephant plate is very different - it has a high lead content, and one can see by the loss of detail that is quite soft metal. Also, it appears the text is applied upside-down! The loss of detail is consistent with use by printing. I have also attached an image of a trial print of the bull plate with carbon black ink.

Marble/limestone seal.

The following examples of a seal inscribed on lead (metal) and other examples of writing on metal including 8 copper tablets with the same inscription on raised script are apposite to record the competence achieved by metalworkers to write/inscribe on metal:

One lead celt with a hazy inscription has also been found in Harappa (HARP project). The same project team also found raised inscriptions on copper tablets with the famous 'backbone' glyph. Why they produced raised bas-relief inscriptions on metal is really a mystery. See figure below of Harappa Raised script. H94-2198

Mohenjodaro. Silver seal. Mackay 1938: Vol. 1, p. 348, Vol. 2, Pl. XC,1; XCVI, 520.

Altyn-depe. Silver seal. Pictograph of ligatured animal with three heads.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/2232464/epigraphica

Copper plates from Mohenjo-daro: an analysis of 46 tablet groups (After Parpola, 1994, fig 7.14)

Inscribed weapons are further reported from Harappa Vats 1940: 384 ss, Pl. CXX, 5,19), Chanhudaro (Mackay 1943: 178, Pl. LXXIV, 1-1a, 8) and Kalibangan inscribed bronze rod (Mahadevan 1977:7).

Chanhu-daro, Pl. LXXIV & Mohenjo-daro: copper and bronze tools and utensils (an inscription line mirrored on a zebu seal)

Banawari. Seal 17. Text 9201. Hornd tiger PLUS lathe + portable furnace. Banawali 17, Text 9201 Find spot: “The plan of ‘palatial building’ rectangular in shape (52 X 46 m) with eleven units of rooms…The discovery of a tiger seal from the sitting room and a few others from the house and its vicinity, weights ofchert, and lapis lazuli beads and deluxe Harappan pottery indicate that the house belonged to a prominent merchant.” (loc.cit. VK Agnihotri, 2005, Indian History, Delhi, Allied Publishers, p. A-60)

Message on metalwork: kol ‘tiger’ (Santali); kollan ‘blacksmith’ (Ta.) kod. ‘horn’; kod. ‘artisan’s workshop’ PLUS śagaḍī = lathe (Gujarati) san:gaḍa, ‘lathe, portable furnace’; rebus: sangath संगथ् । संयोगः f. (sg. dat. sangüʦü association, living together, partnership (e.g. of beggars, rakes, members of a caravan, and so on); (of a man or woman) copulation, sexual union.sangāṭh संगाठ् । सामग्री m. (sg. dat. sangāṭas संगाटस्), a collection (of implements, tools, materials, for any object), apparatus, furniture, a collection of the things wanted on a journey, luggage, and so on. --karun -- करुन् । सामग्रीसंग्रहः m.inf. to collect the ab. (L.V. 17).(Kashmiri)

Some rebus readings are suggested for hieroglyphs on the copper plates discovered by Rick Willis

Fig. 1

Glyph on Fig. 1

A 'notch' is ligatured to the hieroglyph: खााडा [ khāṇḍā ] m A jag, notch, or indentation (as upon the edge of a tool or weapon)(Marathi). Rebus: kāṇḍa 'tools, pots and pans and metalware' (Marathi) This may be a stylized orthography to denote a rib emanating from the backbone and hence may compare with Sign 47 which shows four ribs. This composite hieroglyph may be joined with a zig-zag line to denote 'flowing water': kāṇḍa ‘water’. Rebus: लोखंड lokhaṇḍ Iron tools, vessels, or articles in general. Thus, as a collection of words, the composition may signify: metalware, tools, pots and pans made of bharat, 'mixed alloy'. This hieroglyph composition defines the profession of the standing horned person wearing a scarf. dhatu 'scarf' Rebus: dhatu 'mineral'. The standing person with the horns of a bovine is a signifier for: ḍaṅgra 'bull' Rebus: ḍāṅgar, ḍhaṅgar ‘blacksmith’ (Hindi).

This glyph could be a variant of the glyph (Sign 47) which occurs in the most frequent text sequence in inscriptions of Indus script corpora.

Sign 47 may signify kaśēru rebus: metal worker. Sign 48 may signify भरत bharata n A factitious metal compounded of copper, pewter, tin &c

baraḍo = spine; backbone (Tulu) Rebus: baran, bharat ‘mixed alloys’ (5 copper, 4 zinc and 1 tin) (Punjabi).

भरत (p. 603) [ bharata ] n A factitious metal compounded of copper, pewter, tin &c.भरताचें भांडें (p. 603) [ bharatācē mbhāṇḍēṃ ] n A vessel made of the metal भरत. 2 See भरिताचें भांडें.भरती (p. 603) [ bharatī ] a Composed of the metal भरत. (Molesworth Marathi Dictionary).This gloss, bharata is denoted by the hieroglyphs: backbone, ox.

Seal published by Omananda Saraswati. In Pl. 275: Omananda Saraswati 1975. Ancient Seals of Haryana (in Hindi). Rohtak.

This pictorial motif gets normalized in Indus writing system as a hieroglyph sign: baraḍo = spine; backbone (Tulu) Rebus: baran, bharat‘mixed alloys’ (5 copper, 4 zinc and 1 tin) (Punjabi) Tir. mar -- kaṇḍḗ ʻ back (of the body) ʼ; S. kaṇḍo m. ʻ back ʼ, L. kaṇḍ f., kaṇḍā m. ʻ backbone ʼ, awāṇ. kaṇḍ, °ḍī ʻ back ʼH. kã̄ṭā m. ʻ spine ʼ, G. kã̄ṭɔ m., M. kã̄ṭā m.; Pk. kaṁḍa -- m. ʻ backbone ʼ.(CDIAL 2670) Rebus: kaṇḍ ‘fire-altar’ (Santali) The hieroglyph ligature to convey the semantics of ‘bone’ and rebus reading is: ‘four short numeral strokes ligature’ |||| Numeral 4: gaṇḍa'four' Rebus: kaṇḍa'furnace, fire-altar' (Santali)

kaśēru ‘the backbone’ (Bengali. Skt.); kaśēruka id. (Skt.) Rebus: kasērā[i]ʻ metal worker ʼ (Lahnda)(CDIAL 2988, 2989)Vikalpa: riṛ ‘ridge formed by the backbone’ (Santali); rebus: rīti ‘brass’ (Skt.) Vikalpa: bharaḍo ‘spine’; Rebus: bharan ‘to spread or bring out from a kiln’ (P.) baran, bharat (5 copper, 4 zinc and 1 tin)(P.B.) baraḍo = spine; backbone; the back; baraḍo thābaḍavo = lit. to strike on the backbone or back; hence, to encourage; baraḍo bhāre thato = lit. to have a painful backbone, i.e. to do something which will call for a severe beating (G.lex.)

Fig. 2 has about 37 signs in the inscription. It should be possible to make segments of the inscription to compare the segments with inscriptions on seals/seal impressions.The pictorial motifs include a horned, seated person with a twig adorning the horns, accompanied by the ‘standard device’ and a ‘tree’. These pictorial motifs are comparable to glyphs on Indus script corpora of seals and seal impressions.

Fig.5 The glyph in front of the horned tiger is remarkable. kamaṛkom = fig leaf (Santali.lex.) kamarmaṛā (Has.), kamaṛkom (Nag.); the petiole or stalk of a leaf (Mundari.lex.) kamat.ha = fig leaf, religiosa (Skt.) Rebus: Rebus: kammaṭa ‘mint,coiner’. Hieroglyph: Ka. mēḍi glomerous fig tree, Ficus racemosa; opposite-leaved fig tree, F. oppositifolia. Te. mēḍi F. glomerata. Kol. (Kin.) mēṛi id. [F. glomerata Roxb. = F. racemosa Wall.](DEDR 5090) Rebus: meḍ ‘body’ Rebus: meḍ ‘iron’ (Ho.)

Compares with Sign 327.

Fig. 1

Fig. 2

Fig. 3

Fig. 4

Fig. 5

Fig. 6

Schedule

Fig. 7

[i] L. awāṇ. kasērā ʻ metal worker ʼ, P. kaserā m. ʻ worker in pewter ʼ (both ← E with -- s -- ); N. kasero ʻ maker of brass pots ʼ; Bi. H. kaserā m. ʻ worker in pewter ʼ. (CDIAL 2988) கசம்¹ kacam , n. cf. ayas. (அக. நி.) 1. Iron;இரும்பு. 2. Mineral fossil; தாதுப்பொருள் (Tamil) N. kasār ʻ maker of brass pots ʼ; A. kãhār ʻ worker in bell -- metal ʼ; B. kã̄sāri ʻ pewterer, brazier, coppersmith ʼ, Or. kãsārī; H. kasārī m. ʻ maker of brass pots ʼ; G.kãsārɔ, kas m. ʻ coppersmith ʼ; M. kã̄sār, kās m. ʻ worker in white metal ʼ, kāsārḍā m. ʻ contemptuous term for the same ʼ. (CDIAL 2989)

Indus Script on copper plate reported by Dr. Vasant Shinde & Dr. Rick Willis

Mirror: https://www.academia.edu/8742338/Indus_Script_on_copper_plate_reported_by_Dr._Vasant_Shinde_and_Dr._Rick_Willis

This is with reference to http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.com/2014/10/mystery-of-indus-valley-script-as.html

Mystery of Indus Valley script as printing unraveled - Andi Horvath

See: The paper which appeared in Ancient Asia, a journal of the Society of South Asian Archaeology Society, contains a discussion on the provenience and inscription on the copper plate which is the longest inscription (34 hieroglyphs on 5 lines) reported so far in Indus Script Corpora.

The authors proceed to describe the use in printing processes: "It is reasonable to be very suspicious of unprovenienced artifacts bearing Indus script, as very recently an Afghan manuscript with purported Indus script on birch bark (Zuberbühler, 2009) was judged to be a fake (L. Zuberbühler, pers. comm.). The copper plates do allow some interesting observations, and clearly warrant expert study." Rick Willis and Vasant Shinde should be complimented for not declaring the nine copper plates they found with inscriptions as fakes and proceeding with the analysis and indicating a possible use of the plates to create printed replica pages.

Such replica printouts would have served as metalwork catalogs as explained in the book Indus Script -- Meluhha metalwork hieroglyphs which deciphers about 2000 inscriptions.

What is the message on the copper plate shown by the authors?

In my opinion, the conclusions of the authors, Vasant Shinde and Rick Willis are consistent with the decipherment of Indus script inscriptions as metalwork catalogs. If printing was indeed used on materials such as cloth, bark or silk, the such printing would constitute duplication of metalwork catalog pages to be distributed to the trade network on the Tin Road from Meluhha to Haifa.

See the blogpost and preceding posts (List annexed) on rebus readings of Meluhha hieroglyphs:

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.com/2014/10/indus-script-and-cross-cultural.html

The Meluhha hieroglyphs on the copper plate can also be read rebus.

Hieroglyphs as field symbol (pictorial motifs) read rebus:

'penance'

'horns'

kamaḍha ‘penance’ Rebus: kammaṭa ‘mint, coiner’.

koḍ = horns (Santali); koḍ ‘workshop’ (G.)

tagara = the shrub tabernaemontana coronaria, and a fragrant hair powder or perfume obtained from it, incense (Vin 1.203); tagara-mallika_ two kinds of gandha_ (Punjabi) t.agara (tagara) a spec. plant; fragrant wood (Pkt.) tagara = a kind of flowering tree (Telugu) Rebus: tagara 'tin'

'standard device' śagaḍī = lathe (Gujarati) san:gaḍa, ‘lathe, portable furnace’; rebus: battle; jangaḍiyo ‘military guard who accompanies treasure into the treasury’ (Gujarati) Rebus: sanghāḍo (Gujarati) cutting stone, gilding (Gujarati); sangatarāśū = stone cutter (Telugu)

'plant or tree' kolmo ‘paddy plant’ Rebus: kolami ‘smithy, forge’ kuṭi ‘tree’. Rebus: kuṭhi ‘smelter furnace’ (Santali).

37 Meluhha hieroglyphs on inscription text read rebus from r. to l.

dula 'pair' Rebus: dul 'cast metal' ; mogge ‘sprout, bud’ Rebus: mū̃h ‘ingot’; koḍ = one (Santali); koḍ ‘workshop’ (G.) Thus, cast metal ingot workshop.

khareḍo = a currycomb (Gujarati) खरारा [ kharārā ] m ( H) A currycomb. 2 Currying a horse. (Marathi) Rebus: करडा [karaḍā] Hard from alloy--iron, silver &c. (Marathi) kharādī ‘ turner’ (Gujarati)

mēḍu height, rising ground, hillock (Kannada) Rebus: mẽṛhẽt, meḍ ‘iron’ (Munda.Ho.)

aya kāṇḍa ‘alloy metalware’ ayo 'fish' Rebus: ayas 'metal' aya 'iron' (Gujarati) PLUS notch: kānḍa ‘notch’ Rebus: khānḍa ‘tools, pots and pans, metal-ware’. Rebus 2: kaṇḍ 'fire-altar' (Santali)

ayo 'fish' Rebus: ayas 'metal' aya 'iron' (Gujarati) baṭa = rimless pot (Kannada) Rebus: ) baṭa = a kind of iron (G.) )

bhaṭa furnace (Gujarati) sal ‘splinter’ Rebus: sal ‘workshop’

dula दुल । युग्मम् m. a pair, a couple, esp. of two similar things (Rām. 966). Rebus: dul meṛeḍ cast iron (Mundari. Santali) dul ‘to cast metal in a mould’ (Santali) Ta. koṭu curved, bent, crooked Rebus: koḍ ‘workshop’ (G.) Thus, cast metal workshop.

sal ‘splinter’ Rebus: sal ‘workshop’

āra 'spokes' Rebus: āra ‘brass’.

kolom 'three' Rebus: kolami 'smithy, forge' PLUS baṭa = rimless pot (Kannada) baṭa = a kind of iron (Gujarati)

khuṇṭī or khuṭī a peg or wooden pin (Marathi) kuṭhi 'smelting furnace‘; koṭe ‘forged (metal) (Santali)

baṭa = rimless pot (Kannada) baṭa = a kind of iron (Gujarati)

ḍhanga = a crook used for pulling down the branches of trees, for goats, sheep and camels (P.) Rebus:ḍhangar blacksmith’. Thus, tools and metalware of iron smith.

koḍ = 'one'(Santali); koḍ ‘workshop’ (G.)

dhol 'knob' Rebus: dul 'cast metal' PLUS kānḍa ‘notch’ Rebus: khānḍa ‘tools, pots and pans, metal-ware’. Rebus 2: kaṇḍ 'fire-altar' (Santali)

ḍhanga = a crook used for pulling down the branches of trees, for goats, sheep and camels (P.) Rebus:ḍhangar blacksmith’. Thus, tools and metalware of iron smith.
ḍhālako kāṇḍa ‘ingot, tools, pots and pans and metal-ware’.

dhāḷ ‘a slope’; ‘inclination of a plane’ (G.); ḍhāḷiyum = adj. sloping, inclining (G.) Rebus: ḍhālako = a large metal ingot (G.) ḍhālakī = a metal heated and poured into a mould; a solid piece of metal; an ingot (Gujarati) PLUS खांडा [ khāṇḍā ] m A jag, notch, or indentation (as upon the edge of a tool or weapon). Rebus: kāṇḍa ‘tools, pots and pans and metal-ware’

kanka rim of jar (Santali) karṇika ‘scribe’(Sanskrit) Rebus: karṇī, supercargo for a boat shipment. karṇīka ‘account (scribe)’.कारणी kāraṇī ‘the supercargo of a ship’ (Marathi)

aḍaren ‘cover of pot or lid’ Rebus: aduru ‘native, unsmelted metal’ Duplicated: dula ‘pair’ Rebus: dul ‘cast metal’

|||| Numeral 4: gaṇḍa 'four' Rebus: kaṇḍa 'furnace, fire-altar' (Santali) kanac 'corner' Rebus: kañcu ‘bronze’ Thus, bronze (casting or ingot) furnace.

dāṭu ‘cross’(Telugu) Rebus: dhatu ‘mineral’ (Santali) PLUS kaṇḍo ‘stool, seat’ Rebus: kāṇḍa ‘metalware’ kaṇḍa ‘fire-altar’ Thus, mineral furnace or fire-altar.

baraḍo = spine; backbone (Tulu) Rebus: baran, bharat ‘mixed alloys’ (5 copper, 4 zinc and 1 tin) (Punjabi)

ḍato = claws of crab (Santali); dhātu = mineral (Sanskrit) Sharp claws ligatured to: ḍhālako = a large metal ingot (Gujarati) kamaḍha ‘crab’ Rebus: kammaṭa ‘mint, coiner’.

ayo 'fish' Rebus: ayas 'metal' (Vedic); aya 'iron' (Gujarati)

baṭa = rimless pot (Kannada) baṭa = a kind of iron (Gujarati)

ḍhanga = a crook used for pulling down the branches of trees, for goats, sheep and camels (P.) Rebus:ḍhangar blacksmith’. Thus, tools and metalware of iron smith.

dhāḷ ‘a slope’; ‘inclination of a plane’ (G.); ḍhāḷiyum = adj. sloping, inclining (G.) Rebus: ḍhālako = a large metal ingot (G.) ḍhālakī = a metal heated and poured into a mould; a solid piece of metal; an ingot (Gujarati) PLUS खांडा [ khāṇḍā ] m A jag, notch, or indentation (as upon the edge of a tool or weapon). Rebus: kāṇḍa ‘tools, pots and pans and metal-ware’

ḍato = claws of crab (Santali); dhātu = mineral (Sanskrit) Sharp claws ligatured to: ḍhālako = a large metal ingot (Gujarati) kamaḍha ‘crab’ Rebus: kammaṭa ‘mint, coiner’.

gummaṭ m. ‘dome’ (Punjabi) CDIAL 4217 Rebus: kummaṭa, kummaṭe a chafing dish, a portable stove, a goldsmith’s portable furnace (Kannada. Telugu) PLUS sal ‘splinter’ Rebus: sal ‘workshop’

cīmara ‘black ant’ Rebus: cīmara ‘copper’. cīmara kāra -- ʻ coppersmith ʼ

baṭa = rimless pot (Kannada) baṭa = a kind of iron (Gujarati) PLUS sal ‘splinter’ Rebus: sal ‘workshop’

baraḍo = spine; backbone (Tulu) Rebus: baran, bharat ‘mixed alloys’ (5 copper, 4 zinc and 1 tin) (Punjabi) PLUS ||| Numeral 3: kolom 'three' Rebus: kolami 'smithy, forge'.

kanac 'corner' Rebus: kañcu ‘bronze’ .

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2014/10/indus-script-on-copper-plate-reported.html

Copper plates of Indus Script and rebus Meluhha readings

Mirror: https://www.academia.edu/8886084/Copper_plates_of_Indus_Script_and_rebus_Meluhha_readings

It is unfortunate that ‘fake experts’ cry ‘fake’ the moment a long inscription of 37 hieroglyphs of 'text' PLUS pictorial motifs is evidenced. There are hundreds of inscriptions in Indus corpora which have not been precisely provenienced. This does not automatically make the nine copper plates recently reported as ‘blatant fakes’. The blatant appellation comes from those who consider the authors of Indus writing to be illiterates. Massimo Vidale and other archaeologists are convinced that it was a writing system and a number of books have been brought out reading the inscriptions as Meluhha hieroglyphs of metalwork. It is for the criers of wolf or fake to come out with a logical explanation of the purport of the inscriptions which have been found not only in the Sarasvati-Sindhu civilization area but also in the contact areas of Ancient Near East and the Levant (pace two tin ingots found in Haifa with Indus writing inscriptions designating them as tin metal).

Vasant Shinde and Rick Willis have reported a remarkable discovery of nine copper plates which can be compared with the 200+ copper plates of Indus Script corpora. Links:

https://www.academia.edu/8742338/Indus_Script_on_copper_plate_reported_by_Dr._Vasant_Shinde_and_Dr._Rick_Willis

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.com/2014/10/indus-script-on-copper-plate-reported.html

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.com/2014/10/mystery-of-indus-valley-script-as.html

The authors make an insightful comment that the plates could have been used for printing, taking the discovery of first known printing techniques to ca. 2300 BCE in Sarasvati-Sindhu civilization.

The size of the copper plates is comparable to the size of such plates found in Mohenjo-daro, in archaeological contexts and hence included in the Indus Script corpora. In addition to the sizes making the discovery notable, the hieroglyphs deployed in the inscribed copper plates are also comparable to those used on Mohenjo-daro copper plates. That the artisans had the competence to create such inscriptions in bas relief (as raised script), on copper is also evidenced by the multiple solid copper tablets found in Harappa and reported by HARP. An example is provided by Kenoyer who was in the HARP project team:

Copper tablet (H2000-4498/9889-01) with raised script found in Trench 43 Source:http://www.harappa.com/indus4/351.html

“For example, the characteristic square steatite seals with animal motifs and short inscriptions begins in late Period 2 as noted above, is found in 3A and continues into Period 3C, but the carving style for both the animal motifs, and the inscriptions shows stylistic changes. The greatest variation and widespread use of such seals appears to be during Period 3B. Small rectangular inscribed tablets made from steatite begin to appear at the beginning of Period 3B and by the end of 3B there is a wide variety of tiny tablets in many different shapes and materials. They were made of fired steatite or of molded terracotta or faience. Some of the steatite tablets were decorated with red pigment and the faience tablets were covered with a thick blue-green glaze. These various forms of inscribed tablets continued on into Period 3C where we also find evidence for copper tablets all bearing the same raised inscription.”http://www.harappa.com/indus4/print.html Kenoyer and Meadow date the Period 3 between c.600 BCE – 1900 BCE.(Period 3A c.2600BCE -2450BCE; Period 3B c.2450BCE – c. 2200BCEl Period 3C c. 2200BCE -1900BCE) This particular inscription on the tablet is one of the most frequently occurring texts in Indus Script corpora, in particular the hieroglyphs of ‘back-hone + rim-of-jar’

The full text is seen at http://www.ancient-asia-journal.com/article/view/63

(Readings for Plate 1 have been given at http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.com/2014/10/indus-script-on-copper-plate-reported.html).

Rebus Meluhha readings of hieroglyphs on the copper plates 2-8 are given below

Horned, scarfed standing person, wearing bangles: मंडन [ maṇḍana ] n (S) corruptly मंडण n Ornament or decoration: also the adorning material; jewels, trinkets &c. (Marathi) Rebus: meḍ (Ho.); mẽṛhet ‘iron’ (Mu.Ho.)mẽṛh t iron; ispat m. = steel; dul m. = cast iron (Munda)

dhatu ‘scarf’ (WPah.) Rebus: धातु [ dhātu ] m pl (S) metals (Marathi)

meḍ ‘body’ (Santali) Rebus: meḍ ‘iron’ (Ho.Munda) काठी [ kāṭhī The frame or structure of the body (Marathi) Rebus: ‘fire-trench’ (Tamil)

koḍ ‘horns’ Rebus: koḍ ‘workshop’.

पेंढें [ pēṇḍhēṃ ] n Weaver's term. A cord-loop or metal ring (as attached to the गुलडा of the बैली and to certain other fixtures).

पेंडकें [ pēṇḍakēṃ ] n Weaver's term. A cord-loop or metal ring. Rebus:

पेठ or पेंठ [ pēṭha or pēṇṭha ] f ( H) A manufacturing or trading town, an emporium, a mart: also a markettown.

Ta. meṭṭu mound, heap of earth; mēṭu height, eminence, hillock; muṭṭu rising ground, high ground, heap. Ma. mēṭu rising ground, hillock; māṭu hillock, raised ground; miṭṭāl rising ground, an alluvial bank; (Tiyya) maṭṭa hill. Ka. mēḍu height, rising ground, hillock; miṭṭu rising or high ground, hill; miṭṭe state of being high, rising ground, hill, mass, a large number; (Hav.) muṭṭe heap (as of straw). Tu. miṭṭè prominent, protruding; muṭṭe heap. Te. meṭṭa raised or high ground, hill; (K.) meṭṭu mound;

miṭṭa high ground, hillock, mound; high, elevated, raised, projecting; (VPK) mēṭu, mēṭa, mēṭi stack of hay; (Inscr.) meṇṭa-cēnu dry field (cf. meṭṭu-nēla, meṭṭu-vari). Kol. (SR.) meṭṭā hill; (Kin.) meṭṭ, (Hislop) met mountain. Nk. meṭṭ hill, mountain.

Ga. (S.3, LSB 20.3) meṭṭa high land. Go. (Tr. W. Ph.) maṭṭā, (Mu.) maṭṭa mountain; (M. L.) meṭāid., hill; (A. D. Ko.) meṭṭa, (Y. Ma. M.) meṭa hill; (SR.) meṭṭā hillock Konḍa meṭa id. Kuwi (S.) metta hill; (Isr.) meṭa sand hill.(DEDR 5058). Rebus: meḍ ‘iron’ (Ho.Munda)

G. bhaṛ m. ʻ warrior, hero, opulent person ʼ, adj. ʻ strong, opulent ʼ, S.kcch. bhaṛ ʻ brave ʼ; Garh. (Śrīnagrī dial.) bhɔṛ, (Salānī dial.) bheṛ ʻ warrior ʼ.(CDIAL 9588) Rebus: baṭa ‘iron’ (Gujarati) bhaṭa ‘furnace’ bhātaḍ n. ʻ bellows, quiver ʼ; <-> (X bhráṣṭra -- ?) N. bhã̄ṭi ʻ bellows ʼ, H. bhāṭhī f OA. bhāthi ʻ bellows ʼ (CDIAL 9424) bhráṣṭra n. ʻ frying pan, gridiron ʼ MaitrS. [√bhrajj]Pk. bhaṭṭha -- m.n. ʻ gridiron ʼ; K. büṭhü f. ʻ level surface by kitchen fireplace on which vessels are put when taken off fire ʼ; S. baṭhu m. ʻ large pot in which grain is parched, large cooking fire ʼ, baṭhī f. ʻ distilling furnace ʼ; L. bhaṭṭh m. ʻ grain -- parcher's oven ʼ, bhaṭṭhī f. ʻ kiln, distillery ʼ, awāṇ. bhaṭh; P. bhaṭṭh m., °ṭhī f. ʻ furnace ʼ, bhaṭṭhā m. ʻ kiln ʼ; N. bhāṭi ʻ oven or vessel in which clothes are steamed for washing ʼ; A.bhaṭā ʻ brick -- or lime -- kiln ʼ; B. bhāṭi ʻ kiln ʼ; Or. bhāṭi ʻ brick -- kiln, distilling pot ʼ; Mth. bhaṭhī, bhaṭṭī ʻ brick -- kiln, furnace, still ʼ; Aw.lakh. bhāṭhā ʻ kiln ʼ; H. bhaṭṭhā m. ʻ kiln ʼ, bhaṭ f. ʻ kiln, oven, fireplace ʼ; M. bhaṭṭā m. ʻ pot of fire’S.kcch. bhaṭṭhī keṇī ʻ distil (spirits) ʼ(CDIAL 9656)

aḍaren, ḍaren lid, cover (Santali) Rebus: aduru ‘native metal’ (Ka.) aduru = gan.iyinda tegadu karagade iruva aduru = ore taken from the mine and not subjected to melting in a furnace (Kannada) (Siddhānti Subrahmaṇya’ śāstri’s new interpretation of the Amarakośa, Bangalore, Vicaradarpana Press, 1872, p. 330)

dula ‘two’ Rebus: dul ‘cast metal’. Thus, native metal casting.

kana, kanac = corner (Santali); kañcu = bronze (Te.) kan- copper work (Ta.)

Pa. kuṭila— ‘bent’, n. ‘bend’; Pk. kuḍila— ‘crooked’, °illa— ‘humpbacked’, °illaya— ‘bent’ (CDIAL 3231) Rebus: kuṭila ’bronze’

‘Sloping’: ढाळदार [ ḍhāḷadāra ] a ( H) Sloping esp. steeply sloping.(Marathi) Rebus: ḍhāḷako ‘large ingot’ (Gujarati)

’rim of jar’: kaṇḍ kan-ka, ‘rim-of-jar’; rebus: ‘furnace-scribe’ (Santali). कारणी or कारणीक [ kāraṇī or kāraṇīka ] the supercargo of a ship &c. (Marathi)

See an earlier occurrence read rebus in the inscription. kuṭila ’curved’ Rebus: ‘bronze’

kolom ‘three’ Rebus: kolami ‘smithy, forge’ PLUS meṭa sand hill.(DEDR 5058). Rebus: meḍ ‘iron’ (Ho.Munda) PLUS पिढें [ piḍhēṃ ] n (पीठ S) A sort of stool. Rebus: पेठ or पेंठ [ pēṭha or pēṇṭha ] f ( H) A manufacturing or trading town, an emporium, a mart: also a markettown. Vikalpa: Kur. kaṇḍō a stool. Malt. kanḍo stool, seat. (DEDR 1179) Rebus: kaṇḍ ‘fire-altar, furnace’ (Santali) kāṇḍa ’stone ore’.

kole.l ‘temple’ Rebus: kole.l ‘smithy’.

ranku ‘liquid measure’ Rebus: ranku ‘tin’ (Santali)

Rebus: baṭa ‘quail’ Rebus: baṭa ‘iron’ (Gujarati) bhaṭa ‘furnace’ baṭa = kiln (Santali).

ḍõgā trough, canoe, ladle (H.)(CDIAL 5568). Rebus: ḍānro term of contempt for a blacksmith (N.); ḍangar (H.) (CDIAL 5524) Vikalpa: muka ‘ladle’ muh ‘ingot’ (Santali) blacksmith (N.); ḍangar (H.) (CDIAL 5524) PLUS baṭa ‘rimless pot’ Rebus: Rebus: baṭa ‘iron’ (Gujarati) bhaṭa ‘furnace’ baṭa = kiln (Santali).. Thus, ingot kiln.

mogge ‘sprout’ Rebus: muh ‘ingot’ PLUS kolmo ‘paddy plant’ Rebus: kolami ‘smithy, forge’.

‘Sloping’: ढाळदार [ ḍhāḷadāra ] a ( H) Sloping esp. steeply sloping.(Marathi) Rebus: ḍhāḷako ‘large ingot’ (Gujarati)

ayo ‘fish’ Rebus: ayas ‘metal (alloy)’(Vedic); aya ‘iron’ (Gujarati)

See an earlier occurrence on a copper plate. kolom ‘three’ Rebus: kolami ‘smithy, forge’ PLUS meṭa sand hill.(DEDR 5058). Rebus: meḍ ‘iron’ (Ho.Munda) PLUS पिढें [ piḍhēṃ ] n (पीठ S) A sort of stool. Rebus: पेठ or पेंठ [ pēṭha or pēṇṭha ] f ( H) A manufacturing or trading town, an emporium, a mart: also a markettown. Vikalpa: Kur. kaṇḍō a stool. Malt. kanḍo stool, seat. (DEDR 1179) Rebus: kaṇḍ ‘fire-altar, furnace’ (Santali) kāṇḍa ’stone ore’.

Second hieroglyph from right on the text is comparable to the ‘triple hillock’ motif read rebus above. Other hieroglyphs on the text are hazy and hence decipherment not done.

kol ‘tiger’ Rebus: kolhe ‘smelter’ kol ‘working in iron’ (Tamil) PLUS koḍ ‘horns’ Rebus: koḍ ‘workshop’.

loa ‘ficus religiosa’ (Santali) Rebus: lo ‘copper’ (Assamese. Bengali); loh id. (Sanskrit)

ḍaṅgra 'bull' Rebus: ḍāṅgar, ḍhaṅgar ‘blacksmith’ (Hindi).

पोळ [ pōḷa ] m A bull dedicated to the gods, marked with a trident and discus, and set at large. See:http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.com/2013/06/asur-metallurgists.html Magnetite a type of iron ore is called POLA by the Asur (Meluhha).

aḍar ḍangra ‘zebu’ read rebus: aduru ḍhangar ‘native-unsmelted-metal blacksmith’ (Santali); aduru denotes ‘unsmelted, native metal’. ḍhangar ‘blacksmith’ (Maithili) aduru ಗಣಿಯಿಂದ ತೆಗದು ಕರಗದೆ ಇರುವ ಅದುರು (Kannada) gan.iyinda tegadu karagade iruva aduru = ore taken from the mine and not subjected to melting in a furnace (Ka. Siddhānti Subrahmaṇya Śastri’s new interpretation of the Amarakośa, Bangalore, Vicaradarpana Press, 1872, p.330). adar = fine sand (Tamil) aduru native metal (Kannada); ayil iron (Tamil) ayir, ayiram any ore (Malayalam); ajirda karba very hard iron (Tulu)(DEDR 192). Rebus: ḍhangar ‘blacksmith’ (Maithili)

khũṭ mʻ Brahmani bull ʼ (Kathiawar).(CDIAL 3899) (Kathiawar) khũṭro m. ʻ entire bull used for agriculture, not for breedingʼ(Gujarati). Rebus 1: khũṭ ‘community’ (Guild). Cf. khũṭ a community, sect, society, division, clique, schism, stock (Santali) kuṭhi, kut.i (Or.; Sad. koṭhi) the smelting furnace of the blacksmith.

kuṇṭha munda (loha) 'hard iron (native metal)'

dolucu ‘to make a hole’ Rebus: dul ‘cast metal’

‘Sloping’: ढाळदार [ ḍhāḷadāra ] a ( H) Sloping esp. steeply sloping.(Marathi) Rebus: ḍhāḷako ‘large ingot’ (Gujarati)

kānḍ a ‘notch’ Rebus:khānḍ a‘tools, pots and pans, meta-ware’. Rebus2: kaṇḍ 'fire-altar' (Santali)

kana, kanac = corner (Santali); Rebus: kañcu = bronze (Telugu) PLUS खांडा [ khāṇḍā ] m A jag, notch, or indentation (as upon the edge of a tool or weapon). Rebus: kāṇḍa ‘tools, pots and pans and metal-ware’ Thus, bronze metalware. + kāṭi 'body stature; Rebus: fireplace trench. Thus, furnace bronze metalware castings.

kolom ‘three’ Rebus: kolami ‘smithy, forge’ PLUS dula ‘two’ Rebus: dul ‘cast metal’.

Boar. Allograph: ‘rhinoceros’: gaṇḍá4 m. ʻ rhinoceros ʼ lex., °aka -- m. lex. 2. *ga- yaṇḍa -- . [Prob. of same non -- Aryan origin as khaḍgá --1: cf. gaṇōtsāha -- m. lex. as a Sanskritized form ← Mu. PMWS 138]1. Pa. gaṇḍaka -- m., Pk. gaṁḍaya -- m., A. gãr, Or. gaṇḍā. 2. K. gö̃ḍ m., S. geṇḍo m. (lw. with g -- ), P. gaĩḍā m., °ḍī f., N. gaĩṛo, H. gaĩṛā m., G. gẽḍɔ m., °ḍī f., M. gẽḍā m.Addenda: gaṇḍa -- 4. 2. *gayaṇḍa -- : WPah.kṭg. geṇḍɔ mirg m. ʻ rhinoceros ʼ, Md. genḍā ← H. (CDIAL 4000). காண்டாமிருகம் kāṇṭā-mirukam , n. [M. kāṇṭāmṛgam.] Rhinoceros; கல்யானை. (Tamil) Rebus: kāṇḍa ‘tools, pots and pans and metal-ware’ (Gujarati)

kana, kanac = corner (Santali); Rebus: kañcu = bronze (Telugu)

ayo ‘fish’ Rebus: ayas ‘metal (alloy)’(Vedic); aya ‘iron’ (Gujarati)

‘Sloping’: ढाळदार [ ḍhāḷadāra ] a ( H) Sloping esp. steeply sloping.(Marathi) Rebus: ḍhāḷako ‘large ingot’ (Gujarati) PLUS dula ‘two’ Rebus: dul ‘cast metal’ Thus a pair of curved, sloping lines signify dul ḍhāḷako 'ingot of cast metal'.'

’rim of jar’: kaṇḍ kan-ka, ‘rim-of-jar’; rebus: ‘furnace-scribe’ (Santali). कारणी or कारणीक [ kāraṇī or kāraṇīka ] the supercargo of a ship &c.

(Marathi)

kana, kanac = corner (Santali); Rebus: kañcu = bronze (Telugu)

miṇḍāl 'markhor' (Tōrwālī) meḍho a ram, a sheep (Gujarati)(CDIAL 10120); rebus: mẽṛhẽt, meḍ 'iron' (Munda.Ho.) mr̤eka, melh 'goat' (Telugu. Brahui) Rebus: melukkha 'milakkha, copper. Text of inscription is smudged.

Elephant ‘ibha’. Rebus: ibbo (merchant of ib ‘iron’)ibha ‘elephant’ (Skt.) Rebus: ibbho 'merchant' (cf.Hemacandra, Desinamamala, vaṇika). ib ‘iron’ (Santali) karibha ‘elephant’ (Skt.); rebus: karb ‘iron’ (Ka.)

Text of inscription is smudged; but, the traces do attest to their authenticity when compared with frequently used metalwork hieroglyphs on thousands of inscriptions in Indus script corpora.

Vasant Shinde and Rick Willis have demonstrated the possible use of such copper plates to create printouts. Hopefully such prints will be found on birchbarks or silk or cloth as 2000 sites of the civilization get explored fully in the Sarasvati River Basin. Such finds will reinforce the purport of the Indus Script to create metalwork catalogs founded on Meluhha speech.

A note on line engraving in the history of printing is reproduced below.

[quote]Line engraving has a very long history. Developed during the fifteenth century, engraving was at first traditionally regarded as a branch of the goldsmith's art. During the latter 15th century and into the 16th century the art of engraving was developed to a very high degree by the Italian school, often by artists who turned their hands to engraving. Rapidly following them the Nuremburg school in Germany (Martin Schongauer, Durer, Van Mechens) took engraving to new heights of technical perfection. After this time the art of engraving gradually spread throughout Europe, England had resident engravers and the start of a school by around 1600.

The Technique -

Most plates that are classed as engraved start out by having parts of the main design etched first. (See Etching.) Etching gives a greater freedom and ease in laying down bold areas of design, the finishing and detail then being added by pure engraving.

The engraver used a burin (illustration above), or graver, which was a prism shaped bar of hardened steel with a sharp point and wooden handle. This was pushed across the surface of the plate away from the artist, the palm was used to push the burin and it was guided by the thumb and forefinger. The action of engraving produced thin strips of waste metal and left thin furrows in the plate's surface, to take the ink. Any burr left on the edge of the engraved lines was removed with a 'scraper'.[unquote]

Excerots from: http://www.antiqueprints.com/Info/engraving.php

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2014/10/copper-plates-of-indus-script-and-rebus.html

Meluhha glosses

lōpāka m. ʻa kind of jackalʼ Suśr., lōpākikā -- f. lex. 1. H. lowā m. ʻfoxʼ.2. Ash. ẓōki, žōkī ʻfoxʼ, Kt. ŕwēki, Bashg. wrikī, Kal.rumb. lawák: < *raupākya -- NTS ii 228; -- Dm. rɔ̈̄pak ← Ir.? lōpāśá m. ʻfox, jackalʼ RV., lōpāśikā -- f. lex. [Cf. lōpāka -- . -- *lōpi -- ] Wg. liwášä, laúša ʻfoxʼ, Paš.kch. lowóċ, ar. lṓeč ʻjackalʼ (→ Shum. lṓeč NTS xiii 269), kuṛ. lwāinč; K. lośu, lōh, lohu, lôhu ʻporcupine, foxʼ.1. Kho. lōw ʻfoxʼ, Sh.gil. lótilde;i f., pales. lṓi f., lṓo m., WPah.bhal. lōī f., lo m.2. Pr. ẓūwī ʻfoxʼ.(CDIAL 11140-2).Rebus: lōhá ʻred, copper -- colouredʼ ŚrS., ʻmade of copperʼ ŚBr., m.n. ʻcopperʼ VS., ʻironʼ MBh. [*rudh -- ] Pa. lōha -- m. ʻmetal, esp. copper or bronzeʼ; Pk. lōha -- m. ʻironʼ, Gy. pal. li°, lihi, obl. elhás, as. loa JGLS new ser. ii 258; Wg. (Lumsden) "loa"ʻsteelʼ; Kho. loh ʻcopperʼ; S. lohu m. ʻironʼ, L. lohā m., awāṇ. lōˋā, P. lohā m. (→ K.rām. ḍoḍ. lohā), WPah.bhad. lɔ̃u n., bhal. lòtilde; n., pāḍ. jaun. lōh, paṅ. luhā, cur. cam. lohā, Ku. luwā, N. lohu, °hā, A. lo, B. lo, no, Or. lohā, luhā, Mth. loh, Bhoj. lohā, Aw.lakh. lōh, H. loh, lohā m., G. M. loh n.; Si. loho, lō ʻ metal, ore, iron ʼ; Md. ratu -- lō ʻ copper lōhá -- : WPah.kṭg. (kc.) lóɔ ʻironʼ, J. lohā m., Garh. loho; Md. lō ʻmetalʼ. (CDIAL 11158).

Glyph: ‘woman’: kola ‘woman’ (Nahali). Rebus kol ‘working in iron’ (Tamil)

Glyph: ‘impeding, hindering’: taṭu (Ta.) Rebus: dhatu ‘mineral’ (Santali) Ta. taṭu (-pp-, -tt) to hinder, stop, obstruct, forbid, prohibit, resist, dam, block up, partition off, curb, check, restrain, control, ward off, avert; n. hindering, checking, resisting; taṭuppu hindering, obstructing, resisting, restraint; Kur. ṭaṇḍnā to prevent, hinder, impede. Br. taḍ power to resist. (DEDR 3031)

Allograph: ‘notch’: Marathi: खांडा [ khāṇḍā ] m A jag, notch, or indentation (as upon the edge of a tool or weapon).

Glyph: ‘full stretch of one’s arms’: kāḍ 2 काड् । पौरुषम् m. a man's length, the stature of a man (as a measure of length) (Rām. 632, zangan kaḍun kāḍ, to stretch oneself the whole length of one's body. So K. 119). Rebus: kāḍ ‘stone’.Ga. (Oll.) kanḍ, (S.) kanḍu (pl. kanḍkil) stone (DEDR 1298). mayponḍi kanḍ whetstone; (Ga.)(DEDR 4628). (खडा) Pebbles or small stones: also stones broken up (as for a road), metal. खडा [ khaḍā ] m A small stone, a pebble. 2 A nodule (of lime &c.): a lump or bit (as of gum, assafœtida, catechu, sugar-candy): the gem or stone of a ring or trinket: a lump of hardened fæces or scybala: a nodule or lump gen. CDIAL 3018 kāṭha m. ʻ rock ʼ lex. [Cf. kānta -- 2 m. ʻ stone ʼ lex.] Bshk. kōr ʻ large stone ʼ AO xviii 239. கண்டு³ kaṇṭu , n. < gaṇḍa. 1. Clod, lump; கட்டி. (தைலவ. தைல. 99.) 2. Wen; கழலைக்கட்டி.3. Bead or something like a pendant in an ornament for the neck; ஓர் ஆபரணவுரு. புல்லிகைக்கண்ட நாண் ஒன்றிற் கட்டின கண்டு ஒன்றும் (S.I.I. ii, 429). (CDIAL 3023) kāṇḍa cluster, heap ʼ (in tr̥ṇa -- kāṇḍa -- Pāṇ. Kāś.). [Poss. connexion with gaṇḍa -- 2 makes prob. non -- Aryan origin (not with P. Tedesco Language 22, 190 < kr̥ntáti). Pa. kaṇḍa -- m.n. joint of stalk, lump. काठः A rock, stone. kāṭha m. ʻ rock ʼ lex. [Cf. kānta -- 2 m. ʻ stone ʼ lex.]Bshk. kōr ʻ large stone ʼ AO xviii 239.(CDIAL 3018). অয়সঠন [ aẏaskaṭhina ] as hard as iron; extremely hard (Bengali)

Glyph: ‘one-eyed’: काण a. [कण् निमीलने कर्तरि घञ् Tv.] 1 One-eyed; अक्ष्णा काणः Sk; काणेन चक्षुषा किं वा H. Pr.12; Ms.3.155. -2 Perforated, broken (as a cowrie) <kaNa>(Z) {ADJ} ``^one-^eyed, ^blind''. Ju<kaNa>(DP),,<kana>(K) {ADJ} ``^blind, blind in one eye''. (Munda) Go. (Ma.) kanḍ reppa eyebrow (Voc. 3047(a))(DEDR 5169). Ka. kāṇ (kaṇḍ-) to see; Ko. kaṇ-/ka·ṇ- (kaḍ-) to see;Koḍ. ka·ṇ- (ka·mb-, kaṇḍ-) to see; Ta. kāṇ (kāṇp-, kaṇṭ-) to see; Kol.kanḍt, kanḍakt seen, visible. (DEDR 1443). Ta. kaṇ eye, aperture, orifice, star of a peacock's tail. (DEDR 1159a) Rebus ‘brazier, bell-metal worker’: கன்னான் kaṉṉāṉ , n. < கன்¹. [M. kannān.] Brazier, bell-metal worker, one of the divisions of the Kammāḷa caste; செம்புகொட்டி. (திவா.) Ta. kaṉ copper work, copper, workmanship; kaṉṉāṉ brazier. Ma. kannān id. (DEDR 1402). கன்¹ kaṉ , n. perh. கன்மம். 1. Workmanship; வேலைப்பாடு. கன்னார் மதில்சூழ் குடந்தை (திவ். திருவாய். 5, 8, 3). 2. Copper work; கன்னார் தொழில். (W.) 3. Copper; செம்பு. (ஈடு, 5, 8, 3.) 4. See கன்னத்தட்டு. (நன். 217, விருத்.) கன்² kaṉ , n. < கல். 1. Stone; கல். (சூடா.) 2. Firmness; உறுதிப்பாடு. (ஈடு, 5, 8, 3.)

kã̄ḍ 2 काँड् m. a section, part in general; a cluster, bundle, multitude (Śiv. 32). kã̄ḍ 1 काँड् । काण्डः m. the stalk or stem of a reed, grass, or the like, straw. In the compound with dan 5 (p. 221a, l. 13) the word is spelt kāḍ.

kō̃da कोँद । कुलालादिकन्दुः f. a kiln; a potter's kiln (Rām. 1446; H. xi, 11); a brick-kiln (Śiv. 133); a lime-kiln. -bal -बल् । कुलालादिकन्दुस्थानम् m. the place where a kiln is erected, a brick or potter's kiln (Gr.Gr. 165). -- । कुलालादिकन्दुयथावद्भावः f.inf. a kiln to arise; met. to become like such a kiln (which contains no imperfectly baked articles, but only well-made perfectly baked ones), hence, a collection of good ('pucka') articles or qualities to exist.

kāru ‘crocodile’ (Telugu). Rebus: artisan (Marathi) Rebus: khar ‘blacksmith’ (Kashmiri) kola ‘tiger’ Rebus: kol ‘working in iron’. Heraka ‘spy’ Rebus: eraka ‘copper’. khōṇḍa ‘leafless tree’ (Marathi). Rebus: kõdār ’turner’ (Bengali)

Looking back: krammara ‘look back’ Rebus: kamar ‘smith, artisan’.

khār 1 खार् । लोहकारः m. (sg. abl. khāra 1 खार; the pl. dat. of this word is khāran 1 खारन्, which is to be distinguished from khāran 2, q.v., s.v.), a blacksmith, an iron worker (cf. bandūka-khār, p. 111b, l. 46; K.Pr. 46; H. xi, 17); a farrier (El.). This word is often a part of a name, and in such case comes at the end (W. 118) as in Wahab khār, Wahab the smith (H. ii, 12; vi, 17). khāra-basta khāra-basta खार-बस््त । चर्मप्रसेविका f. the skin bellows of a blacksmith. -büṭhü -ब&above;ठू&below; । लोहकारभित्तिः f. the wall of a blacksmith's furnace or hearth. -bāy -बाय् । लोहकारपत्नी f. a blacksmith's wife (Gr.Gr. 34). -dŏkuru लोहकारायोघनः m. a blacksmith's hammer, a sledge-hammer. -gȧji or -güjü - लोहकारचुल्लिः f. a blacksmith's furnace or hearth. -hāl -हाल् । लोहकारकन्दुः f. (sg. dat. -höjü -हा&above;जू&below;), a blacksmith's smelting furnace; cf. hāl 5. -kūrü लोहकारकन्या f. a blacksmith's daughter. -koṭu - लोहकारपुत्रः m. the son of a blacksmith, esp. a skilful son, who can work at the same profession. -küṭü लोहकारकन्या f. a blacksmith's daughter, esp. one who has the virtues and qualities properly belonging to her father's profession or caste. -më˘ʦü 1 - लोहकारमृत्तिका f. (for 2, see [khāra 3] ), 'blacksmith's earth,' i.e. iron-ore. -nĕcyuwu लोहकारात्मजः m. a blacksmith's son. -nay -नय् । लोहकारनालिका f. (for khāranay 2, see [khārun] ), the trough into which the blacksmith allows melted iron to flow after smelting. -ʦañĕ । लोहकारशान्ताङ्गाराः f.pl. charcoal used by blacksmiths in their furnaces. -wānवान् । लोहकारापणः m. a blacksmith's shop, a forge, smithy (K.Pr. 3). -waṭh -वठ् । आघाताधारशिला m. (sg. dat. -waṭas -वटि), the large stone used by a blacksmith as an anvil.

Thus, kharvaṭ may refer to an anvil. Meluhha kāru may refer to a crocodile; this rebus reading of the hieroglyph is.consistent with ayakāra ‘ironsmith’ (Pali) [fish = aya (G.); crocodile = kāru (Telugu)]

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2015/03/a-tribute-to-rick-willis-who.html

S. Kalyanaraman

Sarasvati Research Center

May 4, 2016

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Agusta scam handling: NaMo governance indicted for goof ups-- Kanchan Gupta. NaMo, nationalise kaalaadhan.

May 4, 2016, 12:39 am

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Who’s afraid of Sonia Gandhi in Modi sarkar?

When it comes to the Nehru Dynasty, everybody backs off from a proverbial fight to the finish.

Posted by

Kanchan Gupta

| May 2, 2016 in Criticles | 20 Comments

Last week, the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting issued a sharply-worded lengthy press note on the action taken since May 2014 to unravel the AgustaWestland bribery scandal and bring the middleman who brokered the deal as well as bribe-takers to book. The unusually detailed note was prompted in large measure by senior leaders of the Congress demanding an explanation from the NDA Government for a foul deed that was committed when the UPA was in power.

The details of the scandal and subsequent revelations of how money changed hands are too well-known to merit repetition. Like any other case of bribery involving the purchase of military hardware, in this instance too circuitous methods were used to canalise paybacks to beneficiaries in the political, bureaucratic and defence establishments of Lutyens’s Delhi.

What we know for sure is that the UPA Government agreed to pay ₹3546 crore for 12 AgustaWestland helicopters. Of that ₹3546 crore, nearly 10 per cent, or ₹360 crore, was paid back to certain individuals, powerful enough to have facilitated the deal, by way of bribes. There can be no other word for that, unless we settle for ‘kickbacks’, a word much used by newspapers in the 1980s and 1990s when the popular imagination was seized by the Bofors bribery scandal. We will come to that in a while.

We also know, courtesy the judgement of an Italian appeals court, that some very powerful people were the “driving force” behind the decision to purchase AgustaWestland helicopters that were primarily meant to ferry “VVIPs”, which is a code for the President, the Prime Minister and other top Ministers. Why were so many helicopters needed for this purpose when a couple would have sufficed is a mystery that remains untouched, unresolved, untalked about?

But let not such mundane details distract us. What is important to note is that technical requirements were tailored in a manner that AgustaWestland could qualify as a supplier. A key clause in such procurements, that the Government will sign purchase agreements only with ‘Original Equipment Manufacturers’, was waived to bring the deal to fruition. Field trials, to have been conducted in Indian locations, were done at AgustaWestland’s facilities in Italy.

These are decisions that are taken only on the basis of political interventions. And such interventions matter only if they are made by politicians at the top of Delhi’s power pyramid. So it can be safely surmised that there was indeed a “driving force” that drove the AgustaWestland deal. Whether that “driving force” was a certain ‘Signora Gandhi’, as claimed by the Italian court, is something best left to Indian investigators to establish.

For the record, Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who was chairperson of the UPA and who, using the cover of the National Advisory Council, ran the Government notionally headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with an iron fist, has denied any role in the entire affair. She has let it be known, for good measure, not once but twice, that she’s not afraid. The last time we heard her say that was when the courts took cognisance of allegations of National Herald properties being misappropriated by Sonia Gandhi and her son, Rahul.

The brazen attempt by the Congress’s leaders to deflect attention from the usual suspects, the Dynasty and its doorkeepers, revives memories of 1987. Which brings me to the Bofors bribery scandal. The Howitzer field guns offered by the Swedish arms manufacturer Bofors were no doubt the best in their class. When Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi agreed to purchase 410 of these guns for $285 million in 1986, eyebrows were raised and suggestions made of price-padding.

But any defence deal fetches similar allegations by politicians and, more so, a certain class of journalists who tout their expertise on military affairs. The competitor who loses out spends lavishly to run down the bid-winner; the bid-winner spends even more lavishly in countering the allegations. This would explain why AgustaWestland and its parent company Finmeccanica spent ₹45 crore to scotch inimical references to the helicopter deal.

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I was at the newsdesk of The Telegraph when Swedish Radio broke the story about how Bofors had bribed the political leadership in Sweden and India to secure the deal. That was in April 1987. Predictably, major outrage followed. Rajiv Gandhi retorted that neither he nor his family had taken any money. The bribery amounted to ₹65 crore, loose change by today’s gold standards of corruption and bribery in high places

That brazen denial and defiance did not go down well. Nor did the blacklisting of Bofors cut any ice with the masses. The dominant slogan of the 1989 election was “Gali, gali mein shor hai, Rajeev Gandhi chor hai“. VP Singh, who had walked out of the Congress and Rajiv Gandhi’s Government, went from kasba to kasba, waving a Casio digital diary (quite an awe-inspiring device those days), claiming he had the number of the Swiss bank account in which the Bofors payola had been parked and promising to make it public if voted to power.

History tells us VP Singh was voted to power but is remembered for implementing the Mandal Commission report on OBC quota, not for disclosing the Swiss bank account number and bringing those guilty of accepting bribes from Bofors to justice. The CBI investigation dragged on; Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated (as was the Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme), the Congress returned to power in 1991, and one fine day, or rather dark night, Ottavio Quattrochhi, an Italian wheeler-dealer known for his proximity to Sonia Gandhi, fled from India. By then he had been identified as the bribe-taker.

To cut a long story short, Red Corner notices were issued for Quattrochhi and his wife, the CBI and the courts played an elaborate game of ducks and drakes, Atal Bihari Vajpayee came to hold the Prime Minister’s office as the head of the first NDA Government, the Bofors investigation became a dumb charade, the Congress returned to power as the leading party in the UPA, and the ghost of Bofors was laid to rest.

The two bank accounts of Quattrochi in London where bulk of the Bofors payoff had been parked and which had been frozen, were ‘defreezed’ at the request of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s Government. The money was wired out within minutes before India got to learn of what had happened. Manmohan Singh was unfazed. He went on to say that the entire investigation and prosecution “was an embarrassment”.

So why does the Bofors bribery case become relevant today? It’s as relevant as the National Herald scandal or the land scams in Rajasthan and Haryana: When it comes to the Nehru Dynasty, everybody backs off from a proverbial fight to the finish. Politicians otherwise hostile to the Congress and especially its first family rage and rant in Parliament, threaten disclosure and punishment at election rallies, but do next to nothing when they are given the mandate to out and oust the obvious beneficiaries. Those who were once willing to strike become strangely afraid to wound.

That takes me back to where I began: the Government’s press note giving an account of all that has been done to investigate the AgustaWestland scandal and prosecute the beneficiaries of ₹360 crore in kickbacks after Narendra Modi became Prime Minister. A close scrutiny of the seemingly aggressive note will tell you it’s a defensive litany of ‘we did a lot but so far it has yielded little result; we plan to do a lot more, please bear with us’.

Politics is less about reality and more about perception. In the popular perception while Modi and his team may have signalled the end of venality in the guise of governance, they have done nothing to punish the guilty men and women of the UPA’s tainted decade. True, procedures and processes have their own momentum and neither can be accelerated beyond a point, but an India impatient to see the corrupt punished has neither the time nor the inclination to read the small print.

That exuberant impatience which made the most significant contribution to Modi’s spectacular victory in the summer of 2014 is, exactly two years on, fast turning into despondency and doubt. The 2G cases are in a limbo, prosecution in the coal scam is far away from a closure, the beneficiaries of the Aircel-Maxis deal remain un-prosecuted, and the promise to get cracking on black money remains unfulfilled, at least in perception if not in reality. As for Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra’s dubious land deals, neither the Government of Haryana nor that of Rajasthan has cared to dig for facts.

The Government’s antipathy towards its core support base among the middle-classes has left many asking, ‘Quo vadis, Modi sarkar?’ More worrisomely for Modi sarkar, many of its diehard supporters have begun to flirt with indifference even as charlatans wave the flag. Here is a poll I conducted on Twitter last week which attracted 3,851 respondents:

After initial bluster, will the AgustaWestland copter scandal go the way of the Bofors field-gun scandal?
Yes. 65%
No. 24%
DK/CS 11%

These findings are no small indictment of a Government that could do no wrong for the better part of the last two years.

The writer is often found gallivanting at odd hours on Twitter under the guise of@KanchanGupta or can be contacted at mail2kgupta@gmail.com

http://www.newslaundry.com/2016/05/02/whos-afraid-of-sonia-gandhi-in-modi-sarkar/

↧

Manohar Parrikar and Dr. Subramanian Swamy rock RS. Agusta debate: Congress stages walkout after Parrikar’s statement

May 4, 2016, 7:49 am

≫ Next: Primadonna SoniaG Agusta scam: Lightning rod Swamy and ED on foreign money trails. NaMo, nationalise kaalaadhan.

≪ Previous: Agusta scam handling: NaMo governance indicted for goof ups-- Kanchan Gupta. NaMo, nationalise kaalaadhan.

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Agusta debate: Congress stages walkout after Parrikar’s statement

Jayant Jacob, Hindustan Times, New Delhi
Updated: May 04, 2016 19:54 IST

A view of the Rajya Sabha in New Delhi on Wednesday. (PTI)

The Rajya Sabha on Wednesday began what was expected to be a fiery debate on alleged graft in the purchase of AgustaWestland VVIP helicopters, with both the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the opposition Congress in attack mode against each other.

Here is how the debate panned out.

7:30 pm:

- Rajya Sabha adjourned till 11AM on Thursday.

- Congress stages walk out from Rajya Sabha after defence minister Manohar Parrikar’s statement on Agusta Westland issue.

6:30pm:

Manohar Parrikar ends his speech.

- After present Govt took over, CBI & ED have been rigorously pursuing all aspects of the investigation.

- It appears that an invincible hand was guiding actions or inactions by CBI & ED.

- CBI registered an FIR in the case on March 12, 2013 based on reference made by defence ministry on February 12, 2013. But CBI didn’t bother to forward a copy of the FIR to Enforcement Directorate (ED) for nine months. Strangely ED did not act on the FIR till July 2014.

- UPA, instead of taking action against the company, wrote to external affairs Ministry, embassy & court

- Investigation so far in the VVIP chopper case has revealed involvement of Ids Infotech as a channel for transfer of bribe money.

- The benchmark cost given by contract negotiation committee (CNC) was unreasonably high and had provided no realistic basis for price negotiations

- CAG report highlighted that allowed offsets were not compliant with Defence Procurement Policy (DPP).

Uproar in Rajya Sabha after Parrikar’s statement on Agusta Westland issue.

- The fact that there was corruption in the chopper deal is brought out in recent judgments of Milan court.

- India wants to know who instigated, supported and benefited from the VVIP chopper scam. We can’t let this pass.

Defence minister Manohar Parrikar begins his speech.

6:00pm:

AK Antony ends his speech.

- The decision to change the height was taken by then PMO and NDA Govt
(the chopper’s flying ceiling of 6,000 m and a cabinet height of 1.8 metre was altered allegedly to suit AgustaWestland)

- We acted immediately after the first report in media on alleged scam in helicopter deal.

- It is proved beyond doubt there was corruption in chopper deal, you (NDA Govt) have to act now.

-Former defence minister AK Antony begins his speech.

5:55pm:

Read : Will quit public life if found guilty, says Ahmed Patel
- Ahmed Patel ends his speech

- If you can find even an iota of truth in all the accusations being made, I will give up public life and resign.

- And if anyone can prove that from this report, I will submit my resignation.

- My name only comes 4 times in the entire report. Does it say anywhere in the report that the Cong leaders have taken a bribe?

- CAG should not be used as a tool for political bickering.

- Government should probe into the deal, I will quit politics if they get something against me.

- This is not the first time I am being attacked.

5:50pm:
- Congress leader Ahmed Patel begins his speech in Rajya Sabha

5:40pm:
-Anand Sharma ends his speech.

5:30pm:- What has been said in the House, attributing motives, insinuations, innuendos are without any foundation, malicious and motivated.

- Truth and medicine both are bitter but both are cures - one for lies, the other for disease.

5:20pm:

- We know their agenda and we are determined to fight and expose that agenda.

- This is a democracy. What has been referred to, must be authenticated by government, put here and scrutinised legally.

- Congress will answer on every question raised by the ruling party.

- Attempts are being made to mislead the people.

5:09pm:
- Congress leader Anand Sharma begins his speech in Rajya Sabha.

5:05pm:
- Subramanian Swamy ends his speech in Rajya Sabha

- Will provide authenticated letter copy.

- Bribes couldn’t have been taken by 1 IAF man, ex-PM Manmohan Singh was overruled by ‘super cabinet’.

5pm:
- Uproar in House as Congress questions AgustaWestLand deal documents quoted by Swamy.

- Congress leader Anand Sharma says rules of discussion have been broken. He demands authenticaion of the documents.

4:50pm: Highlights of Subramanian Swamy’s speech in Rajya Sabha- Air Force in Jan 2006 gave their benchmark estimate for this deal as 793 cr. This was approved by Mr Antony the then defence minister.

- In Sept 2008, contract negotiations committee arbitrarily fixed Rs 4877.5 cr as the deal which was 6 times more.

4:45pm:- Ruckus in House by Congress members over Swamy’s speech. Venkaiah Naidu requests deputy chairman to allow Swamy to complete his speech.

4:40pm- CAG says that already present 8 helicpoters which was bought in 1988 was hardly utilised, what was need for this additional 4?

- Original proposal was to buy 8 helicopters, after it became clear that Agusta was only 1 to qualify, they decided to buy 4 more.

4:25pm:- Field tests were not conducted on AW101, supposed to be used for VVIP, but on some other choppers

- There was a clear effort to eliminate all other companies so that only Agusta would fit the required criteria.

4:15pm
- It took a NDA government to ban AgustaWestland.

- They didn’t use AW101 aircraft (which was bought) for field trials but used some other helicopter, which is fraud in its itself.

- That was lowered because it was found that present choice that we have made of AgustaWestland cannot fly beyond 4500 metres.

- People who lowered height was not NDA. It is a lie to say that NDA government was one which changed specification of height..

4:10pm: Subramanian Swamy begins his speech in Rajya Sabha.

3:40m: Highlights of BSP chief Mayawati’s speech
- Our party demands that investigation into #AgustaWestland matter should be quick and impartial.

- Would’ve been better had final investigations report come and then we’d debate.

- There should be a Supreme Court monitored probe into AgustaWestland case.

3pm: Highlights of JDU leader Sharad Yadav’s speech
- No need to make false accusations. Accusations need corroboration else it simply defames people for no reason.

- There are so many more important issues going on in the nation. They are the ones that should be discussed in the House.

- Why are you not letting Parl function? Why is this an issue when you have all the agencies to your behest?.

Also Read | In 5 points: All you need to know about AgustaWestland deal

2:44 pm

- Congress MP Abhishek Manu Singhvi leads party’s Agusta defence in Rajya Sabha. Training gun on BJP, Singhvi said charges of corruption leveled against Congress are baseless as the government is trying to divert attention from getting to the root of the Agusta scam.

- Reading the judgment of the Italian court, Sanghvi said “We have no evidence against Sonia Gandhi. Only a mention of her in the facts, as a person who will fly in these machines. The same holds true for Manmohan Singh. We have faith in the loosely translated report of a judge of another country but dont trust our own courts.”

“Just because you have inbuilt hatred for certain names doesn’t mean they shall be put in place for initials used,” said Sanghvi in Parliament.

“How can you have hypocrisy & double standard? we have to be more matured,” he added.

2:35 PM

- BJP member Bhupendra Yadav initiated the discussion, accusing the Congress of creating conditions to favour the Italian company for the purchase.

- “All defence procurements need to be made transparent,” he said in his initial remarks of a “serious” debate that “involves revelations of corruption in a defence purchase”.

2:30 PM

- Uproar in Rajya Sabha as defence minister Manohar Parrikar started giving chronological details of AgustaWestland matter.

Parrikar’s much-awaited ‎statement in the Rajya Sabha came in the wake of the ruling BJP mounting sharp attacks on top Congress leaders, including party president Sonia Gandhi, over the deal.

Also Read | AgustaWestland deal: ED summons former IAF chief SP Tyagi on May 5

The BJP has alleged that the former UPA government allegedly eased some key clauses to benefit the UK-based AgustaWestland, with whom India had signed a Rs 3,727-crore contract for 12 AW-101 choppers in February 2010.

The firm, a subsidiary of Italian defence conglomerate Finmeccanica, beat off competition from US rival Sikorsky to win the deal.

Much to the delight of the central government, which was facing attacks from the Opposition on the imposition of President’s rule in Uttarakhand as well as its Pakistan policy, an Italian court of appeals in Milan brought the deal back into the spotlight early last month by reversing a lower court’s verdict that there was no evidence of corruption. The court then found former Finmeccanica chairman Giuseppe Orsi and AgustaWestland ex-CEO Bruno Spagnolini guilty of corruption, and sent them to prison.

Also Read | Govt defers approval to AgustaWestland FDI in Indian joint venture

While former IAF chief Air Chief Marshal SP Tyagi and his cousins are suspected to have manipulated the system to swing the chopper deal, the names of some top Congress leaders and bureaucrats have also been linked to the alleged kickbacks. On April 27, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy mentioned Gandhi’s name in the Rajya Sabha while referring to allegations made by one of the middlemen.

Last week, when the Congress sought to defend itself by saying that the company was banned by the erstwhile UPA government, Parrikar challenged it to produce the order blacklisting the firm.

Also Read | Come out with AgustaWestland deal truth in 2 months: Congress dares govt

http://www.hindustantimes.com/india/live-uproar-in-rajya-sabha-as-parrikar-gives-details-of-agustawestland/story-kiRefDpSrgQsiNw0ijVrCM.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=feJxIqBrOVM

Manhoar Parrikar makes statement on Agusta issue in Rajya Sabha

↧

Primadonna SoniaG Agusta scam: Lightning rod Swamy and ED on foreign money trails. NaMo, nationalise kaalaadhan.

May 4, 2016, 6:02 pm

≫ Next: CAG out of the bag -- Sam Rajappa

≪ Previous: Manohar Parrikar and Dr. Subramanian Swamy rock RS. Agusta debate: Congress stages walkout after Parrikar’s statement

ED questions Emaar MGF MD Shravan Gupta, probes ‘funds from Mauritius’

By: Express News Service | New Delhi | Published:May 5, 2016 3:39 am

The Emaar-MGF issue was raised by BJP member Kirit Somaiya in the Lok Sabha today, as he demanded a probe into the chopper deal.

THE ENFORCEMENT Directorate (ED) on Wednesday questioned the managing director of realty firm Emaar MGF in connection with its probe into the VVIP chopper deal. It is also looking into some funds that Emaar MGF reportedly received from Mauritius.

Sources said Shravan Gupta, managing director of Emaar MGF, was questioned about alleged middleman Guido Haschke, who was an independent director of the realty firm from September to December 2009.

They said Gupta, whose statement was recorded under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), was also questioned about “business links” with Rahul Gandhi’s aide Kanishka Singh and sale of two shops to the Congress vice-president in a shopping mall in south Delhi in 2005.

The questioning lasted for over five hours.

“Since a complaint has come and some new facts have been brought to the fore, we have questioned Gupta. The company has also received some funds from Mauritius, which we are looking at,” said an ED official.

Much of the alleged bribe money in the AgustaWestland deal was reported to be routed through Mauritius via a subsidiary of IDS Tunisia.

In a statement released to the media, Emaar MGF said, “Executive vice-chairman and managing director of Emaar MG is a law abiding responsible corporate. He has done no wrong and not violated any law of the land… Emaar MGF, as also Mr Gupta, will cooperate fully in every possible manner in the ongoing investigation and will meet the authorities as and when required. We have done no wrong and are fully compliant with all the laws and regulations in the utmost responsible manner.”

Dismissing the “allegations” as “false, baseless and without any substance”, the statement said the company would “do everything within the ambit of law to protect its and its executive’s reputation, image, commercial and business interests.”

Emaar MGF had earlier denied any “business links” with Kanishka Singh, and said Haschke was an independent director for an “extremely brief period”. With regard to Rahul, the company said the two shops were sold in December 2005 at the market rate, and denied that they were leased or bought back by the company.

The Emaar-MGF issue was raised by BJP member Kirit Somaiya in the Lok Sabha today, as he demanded a probe into the chopper deal.

The ED, which has begun the second round of questioning of witnesses and accused in the case, is set to question former IAF Chief S P Tyagi on Thursday.

Meanwhile, CBI has asked the then Assistant Chief of Air Staff (Plans) N V Tyagi to appear before it for questioning. CBI sources said N V Tyagi was part of a team of senior officials who were involved in the deliberations to change the technical specifications of the VVIP helicopters.

The agency questioned S P Tyagi for the third consecutive day on Wednesday. It also questioned advocate and former board member of Aeromatrix Gautam Khaitan, who is named in the CBI FIR as one of the accused in the case and has been chargesheeted by ED for laundering bribe money on behalf of the alleged middlemen in the deal.

Sources said the focus of the questioning was Khaitan’s reported links with alleged middlemen Carlo Gerosa and Guido Haschkhe.
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/ed-questions-emaar-mgf-md-shravan-gupta-probes-funds-from-mauritius/

AgustaWestland deal: Send us property details of 10 officers of IAF, ministry, ED writes to Defence

Written by Deeptiman Tiwary | New Delhi | Updated: May 5, 2016 4:16 am

Former Air Chief Marshal S.P. Tyagi arriving at the CBI headquarters in New Delhi in connection with alleged corruption in AgustaWestland choppers deal. (File Photo)

Probing alleged payoffs in the AgustaWestland helicopter deal, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) wrote to the Ministry of Defence earlier this week, seeking property details of 10 officers of the ministry and the Indian Air Force (IAF).

Sources said the list of officers was drawn largely on the basis of a handwritten note, allegedly prepared on the directions of suspected middleman James Christian Michel. The note, which Michel has now disowned, is part of the order of the Milan appellate court that handed prison terms last month to former chiefs of AgustaWestland and its parent company Finmeccanica.

Read: If you have all evidence take action, don’t threaten, says A K Antony to Gov

In a letter to the Prime Minister on November 8, 2015, Michel claimed the note was wrongly attributed to him, that it was fake and was prepared by Guido Haschke, another suspected middleman, to throw investigators off track.

The note mentions several initials which investigators believe refer to IAF officers, bureaucrats and politicians. Mentioned as a “budget-sheet” in court papers, it has initials that supposedly correspond to designations held by different people at that time.

The Milan court mentioned the note while citing the statement of a witness identified as Venere.

ED sources said their “request” for details of assets of individuals is “not an indication of bribe flow but just an examination of allegations” that the note suggests.

Highlights: August House debates AgustaWestland

“We have requested the Ministry of Defence to send us details of properties declared by officers who held designations suggested in the Michel note. We are trying to verify suggestions that the note makes. There are some names on our list which are not part of the note,” an ED officer said.

According to the Milan court order, the note mentioned initials, perhaps denoting designations of officials under various heads of “AF” and “Bur”. It is the same note that mentions “AP” under the head of “Pol”. The court order has described these heads as “Air Force”, “Bureaucrats” and “Politicians”. Against each head, there are figures in Euros.

Against “AF”, the figure is Euro 6. Against “Bur”, the figure is Euro 8.4. Against “Pol” is the figure of Euro 15/16.

Initials mentioned under “AF” include, Dch, PDSR, 2FTT, DG Maint. Under the head “Bur”, the initials mentioned include DS, JS Air, AFA Air and DG Acq, CVC and Auditor gen.

http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/agustawestland-chopper-deal-vvip-chopper-case-sp-tyagi-iaf-defence-ministry-2785007/

Chopper scam: ED ex-director under scanner for sitting on probe

Shishir Gupta, Hindustan Times, New Delhi
Updated: May 05, 2016 02:11 IST

Documents accessed by Hindustan Times suggest former Enforcement Director Rajan S Katoch wanted the kickback scandal to be investigated under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), 1999. (Shutterstock)

Among the many questions swirling around the tainted AgustaWestland deal are those that loom over the conduct of former Enforcement Director Rajan S Katoch.

The officer, who was unceremoniously removed from his position on August 1, 2014, after taking over in March 2012 and retired as Secretary (Heavy Industry) this February, is alleged to have dragged his feet for nearly seven months in the money laundering investigation related to the Rs 3,600-crore deal.

Documents accessed by Hindustan Times suggest Katoch wanted the kickback scandal to be investigated under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), 1999. FEMA — where a made-out offence is compoundable — is a milder law compared to the much stringent Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, that can lead to arrest and confiscation of property of the accused. Katoch apparently overruled junior colleagues in the Headquarters Investigation Unit (HIU) who recommended that the case be registered under the PMLA.

There is documentary evidence to show that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) sent its First Information Report (FIR) of March 12, 2013 on the purchase of 12 VVIP Augusta-Westland helicopters for 556.26 million euros to the Enforcement Directorate on December 11, 2013, a full nine months after investigations began.

Read | Key accused ‘admits’ to setting up shell firm to route bribes

The CBI sent the FIR after being reminded by the ED in writing on June 18, 2013 as the latter could only investigate the proceeds of a crime on the basis of the report.

After receiving the FIR, Katoch marked it for action to the HIU.

On April 7, 2014, when the first round of polling for 2014 Lok Sabha elections began, Katoch got the case file from HIU. On May 7, the penultimate round of nine-phase Lok Sabha elections, Katoch sent the case file to the Delhi Zonal Unit rather than then Special Director Karnal Singh, who was the overall in-charge of the Central Region comprising National Capital Region (NCR), Lucknow and Patna. Subsequently, the file moved significantly only after the NDA government took power.

HT tried repeatedly to contact Katoch but he remained unavailable.

Finance ministry sources confirmed that the file was put up to Karnal Singh on July 1, 2014 as Special Director (Central Region) and a PMLA case was registered on July 3, 2014, with Katoch being duly informed. Singh took over as Enforcement Director on August 15, 2014.

“There was considerable delay in registering the PMLA case and this has made our task tougher. For instance, call data records are only kept by the service providers for only a year. So if ED had registered the case within a month of CBI, then the CDRs would have helped in tracing the money trail,” said a senior official.

Another ED source sounded defensive about Katoch’s role.

“The ED Director himself does not conduct any investigation. The CBI had registered its FIR in the AgustaWestland scam in March 2013. Two months later, at a time the CBI had not shared its FIR with the agency, ED began proceedings suo motu under FEMA provisions,” he told HT.

“A case under the PMLA could not have been registered then since a copy of the prior FIR in the same case was required for that. The HIU probed the case under FEMA.”

The source went on to say, “When the CBI sent its FIR, the same was forwarded to ED’s Delhi zone. It was the Delhi zone that subsequently registered a case under PMLA in July 2014 to probe the case and filed a charge sheet too.”

http://www.hindustantimes.com/india/agusta-deal-ed-ex-director-under-scanner-for-sitting-on-probe/story-SoDdHP0POytcuR1kfZTmPM.html

Lightning rod Swamy winds up Cong members in House

TNN | May 5, 2016, 03.50 AM IST

NEW DELHI: The rush of MPs — till then chatting and savouring food and hot drinks in central hall — towards the Rajya Sabha chamber as Subramanian Swamy began speaking said it all. The BJP MP might have become a lightning rod for disruption, but neither side wants to miss out on the pyrotechnics.

In the event, Swamy did manage to get the goat of Congress benches with his references to party chief Sonia Gandhi and dogged refusal to authenticate a particular document unless leader of opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad did so too.

Swamy's demand that political personages named in the Italian court documents be questioned by the CBI and even be subjected to custodial interrogation set off protests from the Congress benches.

He said that notes of European middlemen clearly pointed to "budgets" for officials, politicians and media and the persons whose initials were mentioned should explain on the dealings.

The paper in question was the alleged note of Choppergate middleman Christian Michel that Swamy claimed has been referred to by Azad, though the Congress functionary angrily denied the imputations the nominated MP was making.

Before Swamy spoke, the much anticipated showdown in the Rajya Sabha had failed to spark into a flame. The MP began by dwelling on Congress allegation that it was NDA that had changed the ceiling specification for the helicopters, a move that helped the AgustaWestland machines.

Swamy said the NDA-era decision was intended to ensure that the acquisition did not face a single-vendor situation. It was not aimed at altering the ceiling and it was UPA that did this in 2006. The UPA also tweaked the cabin size to virtually rule all of AgustaWestland's competitors, he said.

Challenging the Congress argument that the Modi government, despite blacklisting AgustaWestland's holding company Finmeccanica, had opened the door to several exemptions, Swamy said it was more to do with fulfilling existing contracts.

Beginning the discussion, BJP MP Bhupendra Yadav went into the CAG report on AgustaWestland choppers to refer to former defence minister A K Antony's notings against the choppers being tested abroad. Besides, the chopper tested was not the one for acquisition.

Yadav said the final cost of the chopper deal was six times higher than that anticipated by the Italian firm itself. The terms of warranty were made more favourable for the supplier and the procurement was in excess of the requirement.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshowprint/52116318.cms

↧

CAG out of the bag -- Sam Rajappa

May 4, 2016, 6:09 pm

≫ Next: Primadonna SoniaG Agusta scam: Italian court judgement Full report. Who benefited? -- Manohar Parrikar

≪ Previous: Primadonna SoniaG Agusta scam: Lightning rod Swamy and ED on foreign money trails. NaMo, nationalise kaalaadhan.

CAG out of the bag

Sam Rajappa

| 04 May, 2016

The BJP government of Narendra Modi is in a dilemma over whether or not to subject Shashi Kant Sharma, former Defence Secretary presently holding the office of Comptroller and Auditor-General of India, a constitutional post, whose name figures in the list of recipients of bribes in the aborted Augusta Westland VVIP helicopter purchase deal, to interrogation. On page 9 of the Italian appeal court judgment there is a seized handwritten document from middleman Christian Michel on how to distribute the bribe amount to the key people, Indian Air Force officials, bureaucrats in the Ministry of Defence including Sharma and Sonia Gandhi’s political secretary, Ahmed Patel, among others. The crucial document was written in March 2008 when Sharma was Director-General (Acquisition) in the Defence Ministry. He was appointed as the CAG in May 2013 by the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government.

A 1976 batch Indian Administrative Service officer of Bihar cadre, Sharma was posted as Joint Secretary (Air) in the Defence Ministry in the middle of 2003. He never looked back. He was involved in most of the defence deals in the next 10 years till he retired as Defence Secretary in 2013. His political masters found him useful not only in striking lucrative defence deals but also in other matters such as ensuring a chosen line of succession for the post of Chief of Army Staff.

No defence deal takes place in Delhi without greasing the palms of political leaders and it helps them if pliable men head the different services. There is an unwritten convention in the ‘Delhi Durbar’ that 40 per cent of the kickbacks go to the key decision-maker involved, 40 per cent to the ruling political party and 20 per cent to the opposition politicians to keep them in good humour. The Indian judiciary could never touch Sharma so far but nemesis caught up with him in a Milan appeal court and he has no place to hide. Between 2003 and 2007 Sharma was the Joint Secretary in the Defence Ministry. After a brief stint as Additional Secretary, he was made the Director-General of Acquisitions in charge of defence purchases in 2007. He served in that post till September 2010. Thereafter, he served briefly as Officer on Special Duty and was appointed as Defence Secretary in July 2011.

During the last six years of his stewardship in the Defence Ministry, Sharma was involved in clearing all major purchases running into thousands and thousands of crore of rupees. Correspondingly, the defence budget grew hugely and touched Rs. 203,672 crore in 2013-14. A major share of the annual budget is accounted for by defence procurements and acquisitions. Among the controversial procurements Sharma was involved in were the payout of $ 2.9 billion to Admiral Gorshkov for refurbishing, a discarded Russian naval ship acquired by India for $ 947,000 in January 2004, the aborted Rafale deal, and resumption of Tatra trucks purchase which Gen VK Singh stopped after he was offered a bribe of Rs 14 crore by the middleman in 2012. In all these scams the CBI drew a blank.

The UPA government wanted to appoint Sharma as GAG to cover up the misdeeds in defence procurement during its 10 years in office. Kamal Kant Jaswal, director of Common Cause, on coming to know about the government move, sent a memorandum to Murli Manohar Joshi of the BJP who was the chairman of the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament, pointing out the conflict of interest such an appointment involved. Joshi ignored it. The Comptroller and Auditor-General of India is the constitutional auditor who acts as a watchdog over the expenditure and accounts of the Union government, its instrumentalities and the state governments. The CAG has been given the stature and oath akin to the Supreme Court Judge.

In the Constituent Assembly debates, BR Ambedkar and others described the CAG as the most important officer under the Constitution and one who must be above suspicion like Caesar’s wife. “If this functionary is to carry out the duties which are far more important than the duties even of the judiciary, he should have been certainly as independent as the judiciary,” said Ambedkar. Rajendra Prasad, the first President of India, observed, “It is of the highest importance that a proper check is maintained on expenditure and that the funds drawn by various government departments are not in excess of the appropriations.” Speaking about the role of the CAG in the preservation of democracy in the country, S Radhakrishnan, as Vice-President, said, “The Audit Department is obliged to say things which are embarrassing to the government on account of their responsibility.” Vinod Rai, Sharma’s immediate predecessor, did just that and came a cropper.

Finding the BJP was in consonance with the appointment of Sharma as the CAG, N Gopalaswamy, former Chief Election Commissioner, two of the former chiefs of the Naval Staff, Admiral (Retd) L Ramdas and Admiral (Retd) RH Tahiliani, EAS Sarma, KK Jaswal and Ramaswamy Iyer, former Secretaries to the Government, BP Mathur, former Deputy CAG, MG Devasahayam, former IAS and Indian Army Officer, and S Krishnan, a retired officer of the Indian Audit and Accounts Service, filed a petition in public interest seeking a writ of quo warranto or any other appropriate writ to declare the appointment of Sharma as the CAG as void as it was made arbitrarily by a procedure that did not withstand the test of constitutionality and also on the ground nemo judex in causa sua which means no person shall be a judge in his own cause, in the Delhi High Court. The petitioners first filed such a public interest litigation before the Supreme Court under Article 32 of the Constitution. The apex court, by its order dated 15 July 2013, directed the petitioners to approach the High Court instead. The High Court did not see any merit in their petition and dismissed it.

The Constitution has not prescribed the method of selection of the CAG, but it is obvious that it should be in a manner that enables the selection of the best person for the office. The Supreme Court has repeatedly held in a number of judgments that every selection must follow a process consistent with the rule of law. The process must be non-arbitrary and transparent. Since the office of the CAG acts as watchdog over the government, the process cannot be at the sole discretion of the executive and has to be non-partisan. The UPA government followed no system while appointing Sharma as the CAG except to protect its own interest and hide the bribe takers from the public. There was neither a selection committee nor any call for applications or nominations. The government could not have found a person with greater conflict of interest than Sharma.

There is no provision in the Constitution or the CAG Act for the person holding the high office to recuse himself in situations where clear conflict of interest exists. Unlike the Supreme Court, the Election Commission or the Central Vigilance Commission, the CAG is a single-member body. Major defence procurement and acquisitions cannot be exempted from audit. Any exemption would surely be unconstitutional. The Supreme Court had ruled that the CVC, akin to the institution of the CAG, was an “integrity institution” and that a person who was himself the subject of scrutiny, irrespective of his personal integrity, would not be able to perform his duties impartially and would affect his functioning. This judgment applies with greater force in the appointment of Sharma as the CAG. Nevertheless the apex court, whose primary role is to determine substantial questions of law relating to the Constitution or of general importance, failed to direct the government to form a transparent procedure for the selection of the CAG while disposing of the Special Leave Petition of the nine citizens against the High Court order rejecting their contentions based on an incorrect appreciation of law and facts of the case. Does the Supreme Court think the CAG is not an integrity institution?

Read more at http://www.thestatesman.com/news/opinion/cag-out-of-the-bag/140143.html#jd9MXYWYJuUro0IT.99

↧

Primadonna SoniaG Agusta scam: Italian court judgement Full report. Who benefited? -- Manohar Parrikar

May 4, 2016, 6:23 pm

≫ Next: Primadonna SoniaG Agusta scam: Giulia, gorgeous girl starts singing? NaMo, nationalise kaalaadhan

≪ Previous: CAG out of the bag -- Sam Rajappa

Manohar Parrikar ‏@manoharparrikar 9 hours ago
At various stages, despite specific directions to the contrary, acquisition process was influenced to make Agusta the only eligible bidder.
1,141 retweets1,269 likes
Manohar Parrikar ‏@manoharparrikar 9 hours ago
The people need to know who instigated, who supported & who benefitted from the Augusta deal.
1,057 retweets1,288 likes

Italian Court judgment exposing Sonia Gandhi & Manmohan Singh in AgustaWestland Chopper Deal (Full report)

The complete judgment of Italian Appellate Court in Milan in the AgustaWestland bribery case.

By Team PerformanceGurus -

April 26, 2016

The complete judgment of Italian Appellate Court in Milan in the AgustaWestland bribery case.

This article lists the complete judgment of an Italian Court in the case of bribery in selling AgustaWestland helicopters to India

The Italian court’s judgment exposes the role of Sonia Gandhi, Manmohan Singh in AgustaWestland Chopper Deal. The 225-page judgment also reveals that Sonia’s Political Secretary accepted the commission of €15 to 16 million ($17 – 18 million) from the middlemen. The judgment of the appeal court in Milan convicting AgustaWestland chopper company chief Giuseppe Orsi described how the firm paid bribes to top Congress leaders in India and lobbied with them to bag the Rs 3600-crore ($451 million) deal. Reproducing the handwritten notes seized from middlemen, the judgment says that the political leaders accepted the commission of 15 to 16 million Euros (around Rs.120 to 125 crores) in the controversial purchase of 12 VVIP chopper deal. It also names the role of Sonia Gandhi’s trusted aide and AICC General Secretary Oscar Fernandes and the then National Security Advisor MK Narayanan (Page 193).

Mrs. Gandhi and her closest advisers are the people who the British ambassador should target…

The 225-page judgment of the appeal court in Milan also annexed several documents, handwritten notes exchanged between the middlemen on how the total commission of Euro 30 million between India’s political leaders, bureaucracy, and Air Force officials.

Payoff details of Euro 30 million for the AgustaWestland chopper deal

Sonia Gandhi’s name (signora GANDHI) is mentioned four times, two times each on page 193 and 204 of the judgment, convicting Orsi and other officials of Finmeccanica, the firm which manufactures AgustaWestland VVIP Choppers. Orsi and other officials were convicted for four and a half years.

A letter dated March 15, 2008, seized by investigators shows the main middleman Christian Michel, who is still a fugitive, writing to Peter Hulet, then India region sales and liaison head of the helicopter company. The letter states that Sonia is the main driving force behind this deal and she will no longer fly in the existing MI- 8 choppers. The letter is quoted verbatim in the judgment. Details of lobbying and corruption of Congress leadership, writing to the then British High Commissioner in India that he should target top Congress leadership for clinching the deal are clearly explained.

Names of Sonia Gandhi, Manmohan Singh and Ahmed Patel in Pg 204

“Dear Peter, since Mrs. Gandhi is the driving force behind VIP will no longer fly in the MI-8. Mrs. Gandhi and her closest advisers are the people who the British ambassador should target,” said the letter of Michel seized by the probe team. This letter was seized from the home of arrested middleman Guido Haschke in later early 2013.

The judgment also says Haschke had identified all the Congress leaders including Sonia Gandhi and Ahmed Patel on the court when their photos were shown to him during the trial by the Italian prosecution.

The Page 9 of the Judgment also affixed the handwritten note of Michel exchanged to Haschke on how to distribute the total commission of 30 Million Euro. Air Force officials were allotted six Million Euro and Bureaucracy including Defence Ministry officials to be allotted 8.4 Million Euro. The note gives split up to several top bureaucrats like DG Acquisition, Defence Secretary (DS), Joint Secretary(JS) etc. For more, see the interactive Pie chart below:

Answer	Result
Political	15.6
Air Force	6
Bureaucracy	8.4

The note says Political leaders were to be allotted 15 to 16 Million Euro and the name shown to political level was noted as AP. Only one political leader to whom the money handed over is shown as AP, which refers to Ahmed Patel as confirmed on page 204 (see picture above). The note also shows on sharing the commission with ‘Family’ and the Judgment says it meant the family of the then Air Force Chief S P Tyagi.

Page Nos. 163 and 164 names Manmohan Singh and details that Orsi used Italian leadership and diplomats to contact the then Prime Minister to scuttle the probe by non-cooperation from Indian government side. In Page 163, the Judgment produces a hand-written note by Orsi from jail in July 2013 asking his people to contact then Italian Prime Minister Monti or Ambassador Terracciano to call Manmohan Singh.

Handwritten note by Orsi to call PM Singh

“Call Monti or Amb. Terracciano in my name to ask him to call the PM Singh,” said the note seized from the prison cell of Orsi. The Judgment in several areas blames the non-cooperation from Indian authorities including Defence Ministry and other probe agencies in 2013.

Note:
1. The conversion rate is 1 Euro = 1.1264 US Dollars
2. 1 US Dollar = 66.525 Rupees

Annexure:

Below is the translation of Pages 162-165 of the judgment. The complete judgment (in Italian) is at the end of this post. The grammar may not be perfect in some sentences – it is reproduced here for completeness.

The documents also show a wide range of “surrounding” circumstances that outline a more widespread and grave dimension of the case (both from the point of view of the number of the people involved and in terms of financial data than it appears from the description given in Chapter A) which is unlikely to be clarified, due to the limits that the investigations have met in the present case, particularly because of the lack of responses from countries involved in the case, to the requests of assistance placed by the Italian Judicial Authority: this showing a substantial disregard to arrive at a full explanation of the facts, effectively demonstrated by the procedural behavior of the Indian Ministry of Defense (which brought a civil action in the criminal proceedings in the first instance of this judgment), already effectively stigmatized in the appealed judgment.

This attitude of the Indian authorities with regard to this trial clearly brings to mind an episode that occurred to ORSI during the preliminary investigation, and falls within the context of the previously mentioned initiatives of the defendants intended to disperse and tamper the evidence, and to create elements which are favorable and coherent with the pre-agreed line of defense.

In the period in which the above (ORSI) was jailed at the prison of Busto Arsizio, the custodial agents found in his cell, among his papers, a handwritten note (a copy of which was produced in the proceedings) which reads:

“Call Monti

or amb. TERRACCIANO

in my name to ask him

to call the P.M. Singh”

Given the date on which the document was found (03/07/13), the information contained in the text, the context in which the protagonists of this story act and move, and other indications which appear from the documents, it is possible to identify the people mentioned (in addition to the lawyer of the defendant):

“Monti”: it is undoubtedly the former Prime Minister Mario MONTI, at that time still in office;
“amb . TERRACCIANO”: can be identified as Pasquale TERRACCIANO, previously ambassador in Madrid, and, at the time, Diplomatic Advisor to the Prime Minister;
“P.M. Singh”: the initials before the surname unequivocally lead to Manmohan SINGH, Prime Minister in India from 2004 to 2014.

We are obviously not in a position to determine what was the message that ORSI, during his detention, intended to send to the Head of the Government of India, but the same can be guessed if we think – on one hand – about the outcome of the requests for judicial assistance sent to Indian Authorities, of which we spoke about above, and – on the other hand – about the intense activities of evidence tempering which the protagonists of the story carried out for a considerable period of time, and with a considerable deployment of resources.

The memories written by the defense “skip” to talk about such activities. They dedicate them only a few lines of the extensive defensive memories of Spagnolini dated 03/24/16:

“This is the lawful alternative explanation that takes into consideration also Haschke’s wish … to get rid of some papers – which instead have been found at Agusta and that pertained to consulting activities provided by GORDIAN and which could be mixed with the contract of engineering works”.

In addition to the attempt of the defense to circumscribe Haschke’s behaviour to the hiding of “some papers”, the defense here repeats the same reductive interpretative line already seen for the dialogue between Haschke and GEROSA on the corruption and omits to quote any reference to the prolonged tampering activities of the evidence base directly attributable to the accused, and any reference to the agreements on the defensive line and on the representation of the incident to be provided to the Judicial Autority in order to give a semblance of legality to their relations: this, given the absence of any explanation from interested parties or contradicting versions, inevitably results in a further argument in favor of the prosecution.

In brief, from the analyzed conversations we can get unequivocal indications about:

The corruption of an Indian public officer, identified as the cousin of the Tyagi brothers: in this regard, the explicit content of the dialogue is sufficient to establish the “reasonable belief that corruption took place” (recalling GEROSA’s own words);
The involvement of different people in the task, including AGUSTAWESTLAND, ORSI, Bruno (SPAGNOLINI), Gautam (KHAITAN), Juli TYAGI;
the instrumental connection between the corruption and the Indian contract
the money used for this purpose, the amounts transferred to accounts in Mauritius Islands, the cash payments in favor of the Tyagi “family” and other Indian people, still in progress at that time;
the means and tricks used for the creation of the illicit funding.

About this, ORSI and his defenders evoke a conspiracy hatched by the “old guard” of FINMECCANICA against him, as the leader of a line of radical renovation: hypothesis that cannot be accepted, due to the absence of reliable evidence.

Italian Court Judgment on Augusta Westland

41 COMMENTS

joy May 2, 2016 at 10:59 AM
Bribe has been taken, it is a tradition of indian politics, But it should be investigated in a fair manner and culprit should be punished severely.There should not be war of word between political parties and waste valuable time of parliament.
Reply
Vijay April 29, 2016 at 9:59 PM
I hate the congress party and Sonia & Rahul in particular, But my question is would these mom son ever get convicted. We keep hearing about these scams which these people have don but when would they get convicted and punished. WHEN??????
Reply
- shailendra May 2, 2016 at 5:09 PM
  you will never see this in your life time. Can’t you see how Italian court pronounced the judgement in three years and clearly convicted the people and Indian courts are no where near to judgement where as the proceedings were started in India first. Our judiciary is not to judge but to time pass. and when i is not able to do it further it judges and give judgement and not the justice.
  Reply
Bharat April 28, 2016 at 4:31 PM
Your paper also shows names of CVC and Auditor General names. Does that mean whom BJP gave Padam Shri recently is a corrupt man?
Reply
- Gaurav April 30, 2016 at 8:43 AM
  yes you are right. He is Shashi Kant Sharma. Maybe BJP didn’t know about this that’s why they gave him the award.
  Reply
Bharat April 28, 2016 at 4:29 PM
What a biased interpretation of the court judgement? Court never said Sonia took bribe and being a “target of British High Commission”, “not liking to lfy in Russian MI8”, “being influential”, all these doesnt mean corruption.
I will believe Sonia Gandhi took bribe if PM Modi shows guts and himself says it from his mouth rather than using alleged CIA agent as per WikiLeaks
Reply
vg April 28, 2016 at 4:28 PM
Its really high time to think about highest punishment. It could be calling them traitors in public.
Agree on some of the view that irs difficult to prive in indiancourt of law but looking at the trail of papers it is emply clear that who has got what.
Start calking congress as party of traitors with the head of helm is traitor.
Reply
Sam April 28, 2016 at 1:21 AM
This corrupt, anti-national dynasty has ruled because of us, people of India. We are so immoral, foolish, coward, spineless and unethical that we voted them to power for 60 years. Some of us just voted for few rupees, some for false promises for personal benefit
Reply
- bennedose (@bennedose) April 28, 2016 at 7:51 AM
  Congress has always dubbed Hindus as dangerous and has garnered votes from Muslims saying that Hindus will kill them. Meanwhile the cooked up “Hindu terror” to keep Hindus off balance. With both in check they made merry in a thousand scams. No more. No more. no more.
  Reply
rajesh April 27, 2016 at 3:44 PM
this is public money on which every party man playing politics and enjoy the fruit of corruption, this is really serious charges and govt should take immediate action those who are culprit.
Reply
Raj April 27, 2016 at 2:32 PM
Wow what paid propaganda… If Sonia and MMS were involved why would they blacklist Augusta and why was CBI inqury intiated… mere initials is not good enough Sonia Gandhi being the driving force is established that new choppers were being procured as MI have history of mishaps plus SPG cant fly along that does not imply anything more than that. What has chaiwala and his favourite stooge sitting over for last 2 years???.
It is known fact that Tyagi was paid as money trails has been established.
Reply
Lila Dhar April 27, 2016 at 11:56 AM
See the trails.
Most of them are Christians and few are non christians & also non Hindus. This clearly shows that Sonia trusted only Christians & never Hindus in the work of importance.
Yet, Hindu congis are so faithful to Sonia. Its a shame.
Reply
Dinesh jalmi April 27, 2016 at 11:42 AM
Why BJP is quite? Because they know, it is a well framed story.
Name of Sonia and Manmohan is, as identified, mentioned by the media. Result of court need not be truth to send someone behind bars.
Reply
- deepak April 27, 2016 at 6:39 PM
  BJP is quite because they know if they have taken first step then Die heart supporters(including media channels like Aajtak, NDTV etc) of Gandhis/Congis would have started saying look what Modi is doing,he is targeting innocent woman.
  And she would shed crocodile tears to gain more support and sympathy.
  Reply
- d April 28, 2016 at 2:51 PM
  How Indian Government will ask Other country court to name Indian politician …kindly throw some light on possible wrong doing in this Court notice from Current BJP gov. ..stop being blind….
  Reply
Mahesh April 27, 2016 at 11:30 AM
For the Indian government to punish Sonia or MMS or Ahmad Patel it will be necessary to show that money transfer took place or proof that money was actually demanded by them for clearing the deal. Mere mention in the notes of some criminals is worth nothing legally although it may be good for getting some press coverage. Try to imagine if AB Vajpayee’s name was mentioned in the notes, does that mean ABV is guilty? The same goes for SG/MMS/AP etc. Mere mention is not proof of guilt.
Reply
- Truth Bites April 27, 2016 at 1:59 PM
  So Novice You are !! In the land of Criminals , there is unwritten rule of Honesty amongst the Criminals to keep the records Straight !!
  Sonia is well known corrupt !! She has the duo of Ahmed patel and Oscar Frnand… to carry out the loot and the Gate keeper Man Mohan was sleeping for being rewarded the position of PM GAte keeper– Sonia and Rau l… India and In dins like you are still find White Skin very attractive and trying to be sympathetic ..That’s the typical Indian Syndrome … to b Slave of White Skin and Remain eternal Slave …
  Reply
N. Kumar April 26, 2016 at 11:18 PM
It is congress culture, which will trap anybody , including forgeiners too. any way things lays exposed, let see what congress has in defence.
Reply
Ms April 26, 2016 at 10:53 PM
One steo ahead towards Nehru-Gandhi Free India.
Please remove this mother son duo. They both are good for nothing.
Reply
- R. Yadav April 27, 2016 at 9:54 AM
  They are good for BJP. BJP will constantly winning if they stay on the top of congress.
  Reply
Nandkishore Tambe April 26, 2016 at 10:36 PM
Its we Indian who tolerate all these things.
Shameless is the breed of these politicians. The likes of many politicians, specially from Bihar, the politicians from Western Maharashtra, one and all are the same class.
May the Almighty help our country and punish the guilty.
I really feel HELPLESS before our corrupt system.
Reply
- rajesh April 27, 2016 at 3:40 PM
  agreed..
  Reply
Ganesan April 26, 2016 at 7:33 PM
INTERESTING OBSERVATION: Some of the TV channels (esp NDTV) are dishing out the laboured explanation that, in the hand written note, “Fam” 15/16 E refers to Tyagi Family. “Fam” is listed under “POL” (Politicians), after AF (Air Force) and BUR (Bureaucrats). I’m not aware of any Indian political family by the name of Tyagis; can someone enlighten me? Is there such a political family that will be paid 50% of the total kickbacks?
Reply
- pravendra patel April 26, 2016 at 8:29 PM
  tyagis may mean one who has given up pm post.
  Reply
  - Nateshan Kumaran April 27, 2016 at 9:32 AM
    That was not given up voluntarly. When she was told about the implication of an Italian becoming Indian Prime Minister and an Indian citizen who took Italian citizenship cannot become Prime minister of Italy she got the point and appointed Paneerselvan as CM as Jayalalitha has done.
    Reply
SUDHIR April 26, 2016 at 6:37 PM
Govt.id India must take serious decisions on Gandhi’s to eradicate them from Politics
Better for Country
Reply
SUDHIR April 26, 2016 at 6:34 PM
For the betterment of the Country family known as Gandhi must be removed from Politics
Congress must take action against their top leadership
Reply
SUDHIR April 26, 2016 at 6:28 PM
Shameful Congress Party
Must remove this corrupt family for once & all
party & Country both will become safe
Reply
hraha April 26, 2016 at 5:05 PM
the most telling comment is that of mr. S. Shankar – ” congratulations for identifying the rotten apple in the basket “
Reply
hraha April 26, 2016 at 5:05 PM
the most telling comment is that of mr. S. Shankar – ” congratulations for identifying the rotten apple in the basket “
Reply
Mr.Makeitpossible April 26, 2016 at 4:09 PM
People of India deserve this. They are still electing Congress and Congress allies in various Indian states.
Reply
suryanarayana kolluru April 26, 2016 at 2:26 PM
Such traitors of India should be booked and debarred from contesting elections for ever
Reply
Syama Prasad April 26, 2016 at 2:17 PM
Another manipulated paid story.
If it is truth why Modi Govt. is not taking any action.
Reply
Krishna April 26, 2016 at 12:30 PM
Do India courts look at judgment of Italian Court?
Reply
Ajay Patwardhan April 26, 2016 at 10:34 AM
File FIR in SC straight away!
Reply
shiv April 26, 2016 at 10:32 AM
Why BJP govt. mum on this issue?Are their leaders too got money from sonia gang to keep quiet?
Reply
- Ganesan April 26, 2016 at 2:05 PM
  BJP is keeping mum because our legal system is so archaic that getting conviction is very, very difficult, if not impossible. If they charge and/ or arrest Sonia, et al, they will become martyrs. So, it is best to keep the democle’s sword above their heads rather than flash the sword. Threat is more powerful than execution, as they say in chess.
  Reply
  - Munendra Parmar April 27, 2016 at 1:03 PM
    Perfect reply. No need to make them Martyrs. Let them be at the helm of their party to become perfect catalyst to destroy their own party. And this is not the last, these scams will keep coming.
    Reply
Xavier April 26, 2016 at 9:50 AM
Snatch the OFFICIAL ALLOTMENTS of Bunglows to the traitor Manmohan & Sonia. Send them to Tihar immediately
Reply
Subhash Agarwal April 26, 2016 at 6:25 AM
Without delay BJP & Modi Govt. should file FIR and proceed legally to put these anti-nationals behind bars. Time has come to end this menace once for all.
Reply
- S.Sankar April 26, 2016 at 7:32 AM
  Until AJ is removed from the ministry this cannot happen.Like bringing black money from abroad this will also remain to be a promise on paper only.
- https://www.pgurus.com/italian-court-judgment-exposing-sonia-gandhi-manmohan-singh-agustawestland-chopper-deal-full-report/

↧

The Indus Script inscriptions on tiny tablets are linked to an identical segment of inscription on a Harappa seal (h1682A) with hieroglyphs of young bull + lathe. See the next section on "The discovery thanks to HARP (Kenoyer and Meadow)".

Hieroglyph: sãgaḍ, 'lathe' (Meluhha) Rebus 1: sãgaṛh , 'fortification' (Meluhha). Rebus 2:sanghAta 'adamantine glue'. Rebus 3: sangāṭh संगाठ् 'assembly, collection'. Rebus 4: sãgaḍa 'double-canoe, catamaran'.

Hieroglyph: one-horned young bull: खोंड (p. 216) [ khōṇḍa ] m A young bull, a bullcalf. Rebus: कोंद kōnda ‘engraver, lapidary setting or infixing gems’ (Marathi)Hieroglyph: one-horned young bull: खोंड (p. 216) [ khōṇḍa ] m A young bull, a bullcalf.

Rebus: कोंद kōnda ‘engraver, lapidary setting or infixing gems’ (Marathi) खोदगिरी [ khōdagirī ] f Sculpture, carving, engraving.

ko_d.iya, ko_d.e = young bull; ko_d.elu = plump young bull; ko_d.e = a. male as in: ko_d.e du_d.a = bull calf; young, youthful (Te.lex.)

The Tiny tablets of Harappa

Part 4 to Part 1: It is my privilege to present these musings extraordinaire of a dharmaatma, Narayanan Komerath. Read on...

A few observations:

Musings on Rajiv Malhotra’s THE BATTLE FOR SANSKRIT, Part 3:The $200K Missile vs. $2 Hut Conundrum

Musings on Rajiv Malhotra’s “THE BATTLE FOR SANSKRIT”, Part 2: Did WhatsApp precede Twitter or vice versa?

Musings on Rajiv Malhotra’s THE BATTLE FOR SANSKRIT. Part 1: Starting 2 Read

Within days, Haschke and Khaitan joined board of Emaar-MGF

Rakhigarhi more important than Mohenjo Daro: Data

RG5 Rakhigarhi seal.

Hieroglyph: sãgaḍ, 'lathe' (Meluhha) Rebus 1: sãgaṛh , 'fortification' (Meluhha). Rebus 2:sanghAta 'adamantine glue'. Rebus 3:

sangāṭh संगाठ् 'assembly, collection'. Rebus 4: sãgaḍa 'double-canoe, catamaran'.

Hieroglyph: one-horned young bull: खोंड (p. 216) [ khōṇḍa ] m A young bull, a bullcalf. Rebus: कोंद kōnda ‘engraver, lapidary setting or infixing gems’ (Marathi)Hieroglyph: one-horned young bull: खोंड (p. 216) [ khōṇḍa ] m A young bull, a bullcalf.

Rebus: कोंद kōnda ‘engraver, lapidary setting or infixing gems’ (Marathi) खोदगिरी [ khōdagirī ] f Sculpture, carving, engraving.

ko_d.iya, ko_d.e = young bull; ko_d.elu = plump young bull; ko_d.e = a. male as in: ko_d.e du_d.a = bull calf; young, youthful (Te.lex.)

Rakhi Garhi (Archeological Mound)

Rakhigarhi: Discovering India’s biggest Harappan site

GoUNESCO December 4, 2015

Built, Featured, Heritage

Move Over Mohenjo-Daro, India Now Has the Biggest Harappan Site In Rakhigarhi

Ancient granary found in Haryana

The site belongs to the mature Harappan phase from 2600 BCE to 2000 BCE

Haryana's Bhirrana oldest Harappan site, Rakhigarhi Asia's largest: ASI

History | What their lives reveal

Can 'national heritage' Rakhigarhi survive for long

SLIDESHOW

Harappan Civilization: Current Perspective and its Contribution – By Dr. Vasant Shinde

By Dr. Vasant Shinde

Introduction

Origin and Extent

Ecological setting

Chronology

The Harappan urbanisation and standardization (2500-2000 BC)

Town planning

Subsistence and Economy

Industry

Trade

The Harappan script

Religion

The Harappan Society and Polity

Recent Researches on the Harappan Culture in the Ghaggar Basin

Period- I Early Harappan (Regional Harkra Culture Tradition) (3500-2600 BC)

Period- II Mature Harappan (sub-divided into Period-IIA, Period- IIB and Period-IIC)

Contributions of the Harappan Civilization to the World History

Climate and Decline of the Harappan Civilization

Concluding Remarks

References

Contacts

Why the AgustaWestland scam is dirtier than Bofors Source

Major General Mrinal Suman

Last Updated: Mon, May 02, 2016 18:50 hrs

Summary of CAG findings in the #AgustaWestland acquisition

Agusta Westland chopper deal: Turning approver is out of question, says Italian middleman Christian Michel

Tyagi confesses to having met Finmeccanica chief, says CBI

The Enforcement Directorate has summoned Mr. Tyagi for questioning on May 5.

Congress wary of Swamy ahead of chopper debate

Top Comment

10 COMMENTS

37 Meluhha hieroglyphs on inscription text read rebus from r. to l.

dula 'pair' Rebus: dul 'cast metal' ; mogge ‘sprout, bud’ Rebus: mū̃h ‘ingot’; koḍ = one (Santali); koḍ ‘workshop’ (G.) Thus, cast metal ingot workshop.

khareḍo = a currycomb (Gujarati) खरारा [ kharārā ] m ( H) A currycomb. 2 Currying a horse. (Marathi) Rebus: करडा [karaḍā] Hard from alloy--iron, silver &c. (Marathi) kharādī ‘ turner’ (Gujarati)

mēḍu height, rising ground, hillock (Kannada) Rebus: mẽṛhẽt, meḍ ‘iron’ (Munda.Ho.)

aya kāṇḍa ‘alloy metalware’ ayo 'fish' Rebus: ayas 'metal' aya 'iron' (Gujarati) PLUS notch: kānḍa ‘notch’ Rebus: khānḍa ‘tools, pots and pans, metal-ware’. Rebus 2: kaṇḍ 'fire-altar' (Santali)

ayo 'fish' Rebus: ayas 'metal' aya 'iron' (Gujarati) baṭa = rimless pot (Kannada) Rebus: ) baṭa = a kind of iron (G.) )

bhaṭa furnace (Gujarati) sal ‘splinter’ Rebus: sal ‘workshop’

dula दुल । युग्मम् m. a pair, a couple, esp. of two similar things (Rām. 966). Rebus: dul meṛeḍ cast iron (Mundari. Santali) dul ‘to cast metal in a mould’ (Santali) Ta. koṭu curved, bent, crooked Rebus: koḍ ‘workshop’ (G.) Thus, cast metal workshop.

sal ‘splinter’ Rebus: sal ‘workshop’

āra 'spokes' Rebus: āra ‘brass’.

kolom 'three' Rebus: kolami 'smithy, forge' PLUS baṭa = rimless pot (Kannada) baṭa = a kind of iron (Gujarati)

khuṇṭī or khuṭī a peg or wooden pin (Marathi) kuṭhi 'smelting furnace‘; koṭe ‘forged (metal) (Santali)

ḍhanga = a crook used for pulling down the branches of trees, for goats, sheep and camels (P.) Rebus:ḍhangar blacksmith’. Thus, tools and metalware of iron smith. ḍhālako kāṇḍa ‘ingot, tools, pots and pans and metal-ware’.

kanka rim of jar (Santali) karṇika ‘scribe’(Sanskrit) Rebus: karṇī, supercargo for a boat shipment. karṇīka ‘account (scribe)’.कारणी kāraṇī ‘the supercargo of a ship’ (Marathi)

aḍaren ‘cover of pot or lid’ Rebus: aduru ‘native, unsmelted metal’ Duplicated: dula ‘pair’ Rebus: dul ‘cast metal’

|||| Numeral 4: gaṇḍa 'four' Rebus: kaṇḍa 'furnace, fire-altar' (Santali) kanac 'corner' Rebus: kañcu ‘bronze’ Thus, bronze (casting or ingot) furnace.

dāṭu ‘cross’(Telugu) Rebus: dhatu ‘mineral’ (Santali) PLUS kaṇḍo ‘stool, seat’ Rebus: kāṇḍa ‘metalware’ kaṇḍa ‘fire-altar’ Thus, mineral furnace or fire-altar.

baraḍo = spine; backbone (Tulu) Rebus: baran, bharat ‘mixed alloys’ (5 copper, 4 zinc and 1 tin) (Punjabi)

Hieroglyph: one-horned young bull: खोंड (p. 216) [ khōṇḍa ] m A young bull, a bullcalf. Rebus: कोंद kōnda ‘engraver, lapidary setting or infixing gems’ (Marathi)

Hieroglyph: one-horned young bull: खोंड (p. 216) [ khōṇḍa ] m A young bull, a bullcalf.

Hieroglyph: one-horned young bull: खोंड (p. 216) [ khōṇḍa ] m A young bull, a bullcalf. Rebus: कोंद kōnda ‘engraver, lapidary setting or infixing gems’ (Marathi)

Hieroglyph: one-horned young bull: खोंड (p. 216) [ khōṇḍa ] m A young bull, a bullcalf.

ḍhanga = a crook used for pulling down the branches of trees, for goats, sheep and camels (P.) Rebus:ḍhangar blacksmith’. Thus, tools and metalware of iron smith.
ḍhālako kāṇḍa ‘ingot, tools, pots and pans and metal-ware’.