This is a tribute to Iravatham Mahadevan who in his ASI 1977 concordance of Indus inscriptions has clearly identified that the sign uniquely used in Chanhudaro inscriptions with one slanted stroke + two linear strokes is a sign distinct from three linear strokes.
The reference to chanhiyun and bohiyun in Sindhi expressions is significant to trace the etymology of the place name: Chanhuyin-jo-daro.channi refers to a covered, thatched temporary residence for a marriage party during a wedding.bohiyun refers to WPah.kṭg. bɔ́i f. (obl. -- i) ʻ account book ʼ; S. L. vahī f. ʻaccount -- book, ledgeʼThus, Chanhiyun and bohiyun is an ancien Sindhi idiom which can be related to the context of metalwork wealth accounting related to covered areas where metalwork is carried out and to areas where account ledgers are entered and maintained..Ernest JH Mackay makes the following perceptive observation in his excavation report:(Excerpt from Page v of the Preface):![]()
Asko Parpola provides an insight that a unique 'sign' of the Indus Script with two linear strokes + one slanted stroke may signify a location. While the 'sign' which is a variant of a sign called 'three long linear strokes', the location DOES NOT refer to the site name but to a work area within an artisan settlement, such as Chanuyin-jo-daro engaged as Sheffield of Ancient India in producing exquisite artifacts of the Tin-Bronze Revolution.
Asko Parpola refers to two inscriptions numbered 5024 and 5035 which deploy the unique 'sign' as a vAkyam, a full expression.
I submit that this is NOT a variant of ||| three linear strokes but a distinct sign composed of one slanted stroke PLUS two linear strokes.
See, for example, sign 124 which is composed of a slanted stroke PLUS a notch. Thus, slanted stroke is a unique lexeme signifier. Sign 124: slant + notch:dhAla 'slanted' rebus: dhALaka 'large ingot' PLUS Sign 97 खांडा [ khāṇḍā ] m A jag, notch, or indentation' rebus: khaṇḍa 'equipment' as in the Santali expression:![]()
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Sign 89 kolom 'three' rebus: kolimi 'smithy, forge'
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Sign 93 Metalcasting ingot
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Sign 94 Metalcasting workshop
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Sign 97 dula 'two' rebus: dul 'metal casting'![]()
Sign 124 slant + notch:dhAla 'slanted' rebus: dhALaka 'large ingot' PLUS Sign 97 खांडा [ khāṇḍā ] m A jag, notch, or indentation' rebus: khaṇḍa 'equipment' as in the Santali expression:
Thus, I suggest that the unique sign on Chanhu-daro inscriptions should be read as slanted stroke PLUS two linear strokes. || Two linear strokes signify dula 'two' rebus; dul 'metal casting' PLUS dhAla 'slanted' rebus: dhALaka 'large ingot'
While ||| signifies kolom 'three' rebus: kolimi 'smithy, forge' (as a location within a guild of artisans complex), the unique signs of Sign 93 and Sign 94 signify a hypertext: dula 'two' rebus: dul 'metal casting' PLUS dhAla 'slanted' rebus: dhALaka 'large ingot' . Thus the hypertext signified by Sign 93 or Sign 94 reads rebus in Meluhha LOCATION within guild artisans complex, the workplace where metalcastings of ingots are produced. This location is distinct from smithy, forge signified by ||| three linear strokes, i.e. Sign 89.
Thus, while Sign 89 signifies a smithy, forge where ingots are worked on and forged into equipment, metalware etc., Sign 93 or Sign 94 (unique sign on Chanhudaro inscriptions) signifies a workplace location within the guild of artisans complex as in Chanhuyin-jo-daro, where ingots are produced using metalcasting (cire perdue) processes -- such a workplace can be called metalcasting workshop..
Sign 93 is composed of one slanted stroke: dhAL 'slanted' rebus: dhALako 'ingot' PLUS two linear strokes: dula 'two' rebus: dul 'metal casting'. Thusmetalcasting ingot.
Sign 94 is composed of two slanted strokes PLUS one linear stroke: koDa 'one' rebus: koD 'workshop' PLUS dhAL 'slanted' rebus: dhALako 'ingot' PLUS dula 'two' rebus: dul 'metalcasting'; thus, metalcasting workshop.
Sign 89 kolom 'three' rebus: kolimi 'smithy, forge'
Sign 93 Metalcasting ingot
Sign 94 Metalcasting workshop
Sign 97 dula 'two' rebus: dul 'metal casting'
Sign 124 slant + notch:dhAla 'slanted' rebus: dhALaka 'large ingot' PLUS Sign 97 खांडा [ khāṇḍā ] m A jag, notch, or indentation' rebus: khaṇḍa 'equipment' as in the Santali expression:
Chanhudaro, Sheffield of Ancient India.
'Sheffield of ancient India'Chanhujo-daro metal artefacts (Illustrated London News 1936, Nov. 21)
A "Sheffield of Ancient India: Chanhu-Daro's Metal Working Industry
photos of copper knives, spears , razors, axes and dishes Note the fluted vase(left, second row) is one of the finest metal work of ancient India. Published in The Illustrated London News(1936)vahikā in rāja -- vahikā -- f. ʻ king's diary ʼ Siṁhās.Pk. vahiyā -- f. ʻ accounts ʼ (cf. vahia -- ʻ examined ʼ); S. L. vahī f. ʻ account -- book, ledger ʼ, P. vahī, ba˚ f., N. A. bahi, B. Or. bahi, baï, H. bahī f., G. M. vahī f.Addenda: vahikā -- : WPah.kṭg. bɔ́i f. (obl. -- i) ʻ account book ʼ.(CDIAL 11460)
channa1 ʻ covered ʼ MBh. [√chad 1 ]Pa. channa -- ʻ covered, thatched ʼ, n. ʻ secret place ʼ; Pk. chaṇṇa -- ʻ covered ʼ; S. chano m. ʻ shed ʼ, Ku. chāno; N. chānu ʻ roof ʼ; A. sāniba ʻ to cover, spread, fill ʼ; OMarw. chānaü ʻ hidden ʼ; OG. chānaüṁ ʻ secretly ʼ, G. chānũ ʻ hidden, secret ʼ; Si. san ʻ covered ʼ, sb. ʻ hiding ʼ, han, an ʻ dressed ʼ (pp. of han̆dinavā < chandáyati 1 ) Addenda: channa -- 1 : S.kcch. chano m. ʻ temporary residence for a marriage party during a wedding ʼ; Garh. chān ʻ cowshed ʼ; A. spel. chāniba ʻ to cover ʼ AFD 337.*channa2 ʻ jingle ʼ. [Cf. chanacchaniti ʻ sizzlingly ʼ Amar.] P. chanchan f. ʻ jingling ʼ, N. chanchan, ˚ni, chanchanāunu ʻ to jingle ʼ; B. chanchan ʻ sound of urinating ʼ; Or. chanchan ʻ unsteady ʼ; H. chanchan m., chanchanānā ʻ to jingle ʼ. *channapradēśa ʻ hidden region ʼ. [channa -- 1 , pra- dēśa -- ]Si. sanpiyes ʻ pudenda ʼ (ES 87) prob. Si. cmpd. *channi ʻ covering ʼ. [channa -- 1 , √chad 1 ]S. chana f. ʻ shed ʼ; P. chann f. ʻ thatched roof or shed ʼ; Or. chāni ʻ cataract in eye ʼ; Bi. chānh, ˚hī, ˚hiyā ʻ thatch roof ʼ, OAw. chāna; H. chān f. ʻ thatch, hut ʼ, chānī f. ʻ woven cover of jar for sugarcane juice ʼ..*channighara ʻ roofed house ʼ. [*channi -- , ghara -- ]Bhoj. chanihar ʻ thatched house ʼ.(CDIAL 4989to 4993)
An Indus Sign Place Name?
March 25th, 2017
"The distribution of sites, too, provide clues to the seal inscriptions. In Dravidian-speaking South India today, the name of the ancestral village often forms the first element of a person's proper name. Such a place-name, of course, serves the purpose of interregional identification. It is not impossible that place-names were used for this purpose in the Indus seals. Minoan-Mycenaean place-names surviving to historical times played a central role in the decipherment of Linear B. A similar survival of Harappan place-names in the Greater Indus Valley is not at all unlikely. But how can potential place-names in Indus inscriptions be isolated?
A fundamental condition is that the sign or sign sequence suspected to represent a toponym should be peculiar to inscriptions from a single place. The likelihood that a sign known from one site only represents the ancient name of that site increases with the frequency of the sign. As toponyms can hardly be expected to be a regular component of all seal inscriptions, they should stand out from the more usual contents and be placed at either the beginning or end of the text, perhaps even more clearly apart from other signs.
Following these criteria, at least one Harappan toponym can be isolated with a fair amount of confidence. Altogether 70 Indus insciptions have been recovered from Chanhujo-daro. Eleven of them contain the sign [Figure 1, three line marks, repeated in variations like and ], which is not known from any of the other thousands of Indus inscriptions found at other sites. This sign starts texts twice (5018, 5036), and ends them eight times, just one of its occurrences being medial (5033). In five of the final occurrences, it occupies the whole line of the second line of the inscription alone, suggesting that it forms a separate phrase. That the remaining part of the inscription, too, forms an integral whole, not necessarily requiring the addition of the sign , is shown by parallel inscriptions (in the following examples from Mohenjo-daro) which lack the sign , characteristic of inscriptions from Chanhu-jo-daro [Figure 2]." (Asko Parpola, Deciphering the Indus Script, pp. 118-119.)
"According to a resident of the little village of Jamal-Kirio, who is a Professor at the Sindh College, Karachi, the name Chanhu-daro," wrote Ernest Mackay, who led the first excavations here in 1935-36, "is derived from the names of two sisters, Chanhiyun and Bohiyun, of whom nothing else is known; daro in Sindhi means a "place." Which mound is Chanhiyun and which Bohiyun I was unable to ascertain, and these names are probaby much older than their Sindhi equivalents. There is no fixed tradition in the neighbourhood as to the origin of the mounds, but a great black snake, said to have been many yards long, is associated with them in village legend. It is quite possible that this serpent was simply a king cobra maginified by tradition, for snakes are quite commonly found among the ancient mounds of Sindh. In the course of our excavations we came across several snakes, off of normal size, hibernating deep in the ruins." (Ernest Mackary, Chanhu-daro Excavations (1935-1936), p. V).
Although this may be entirely coincidental, the sign does convey something two-fold or double.
The font above in black is taken from the Indus Script Corpus Compiled by Asko Parpola, digitized and offered as font packages for free by the National Fund for Mohenjodaro in Karachi, Pakistan.
https://www.harappa.com/blog/indus-sign-place-name
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Chanhudaro 11 text
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Chanhudaro 11 Seal
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Chanhudaro 11 ![]()
6220 Meaning, artha: Trade (and metalwork wealth production) of kōnda sangara 'metalwork engraver'... PLUS (wealth categories cited.).
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Chanhudaro inscription
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6403 text Chanhudaro
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Thus, the narrative signifies mint (of) blacksmith:kammaTa Dhangar.
Hieroglyph of 'kneeling adorant' or 'worshipper' is such an abiding message that Mahadevan concordance treates the hieroglyph as a text 'sign'.![]()
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Signs 45, 46 Mahadevan Concordance. In Sign 46, Sign 45 is ligatured with a pot held by the adoring hands of the kneeling adorant wearing a scarf-type pigtail. I suggest that the rimless pot held on Sign 46 is a phonetic determinant: baTa 'rimless pot' Rebus: bhaTa 'furnace'. So, is the kneeling adorant, a worshippper of a person seated in penance, a bhaTa 'worshipper in a temple' Rebus: bhaTa 'furnace'. For him the kole.l 'temple' is kole.l 'smithy, forge' (Kota language).
A fundamental condition is that the sign or sign sequence suspected to represent a toponym should be peculiar to inscriptions from a single place. The likelihood that a sign known from one site only represents the ancient name of that site increases with the frequency of the sign. As toponyms can hardly be expected to be a regular component of all seal inscriptions, they should stand out from the more usual contents and be placed at either the beginning or end of the text, perhaps even more clearly apart from other signs.
Following these criteria, at least one Harappan toponym can be isolated with a fair amount of confidence. Altogether 70 Indus insciptions have been recovered from Chanhujo-daro. Eleven of them contain the sign [Figure 1, three line marks, repeated in variations like and ], which is not known from any of the other thousands of Indus inscriptions found at other sites. This sign starts texts twice (5018, 5036), and ends them eight times, just one of its occurrences being medial (5033). In five of the final occurrences, it occupies the whole line of the second line of the inscription alone, suggesting that it forms a separate phrase. That the remaining part of the inscription, too, forms an integral whole, not necessarily requiring the addition of the sign , is shown by parallel inscriptions (in the following examples from Mohenjo-daro) which lack the sign , characteristic of inscriptions from Chanhu-jo-daro [Figure 2]." (Asko Parpola, Deciphering the Indus Script, pp. 118-119.)
"According to a resident of the little village of Jamal-Kirio, who is a Professor at the Sindh College, Karachi, the name Chanhu-daro," wrote Ernest Mackay, who led the first excavations here in 1935-36, "is derived from the names of two sisters, Chanhiyun and Bohiyun, of whom nothing else is known; daro in Sindhi means a "place." Which mound is Chanhiyun and which Bohiyun I was unable to ascertain, and these names are probaby much older than their Sindhi equivalents. There is no fixed tradition in the neighbourhood as to the origin of the mounds, but a great black snake, said to have been many yards long, is associated with them in village legend. It is quite possible that this serpent was simply a king cobra maginified by tradition, for snakes are quite commonly found among the ancient mounds of Sindh. In the course of our excavations we came across several snakes, off of normal size, hibernating deep in the ruins." (Ernest Mackary, Chanhu-daro Excavations (1935-1936), p. V).
Although this may be entirely coincidental, the sign does convey something two-fold or double.
The font above in black is taken from the Indus Script Corpus Compiled by Asko Parpola, digitized and offered as font packages for free by the National Fund for Mohenjodaro in Karachi, Pakistan.
https://www.harappa.com/blog/indus-sign-place-name
Chanhudaro 11 text
Chanhudaro 11 Seal
Chanhudaro 11 
6220 Meaning, artha: Trade (and metalwork wealth production) of kōnda sangara 'metalwork engraver'... PLUS (wealth categories cited.).kuṭi— in cmpd. ‘curve’, kuṭika— ‘bent’ MBh. Rebus: kuṭila, katthīl = bronze (8 parts copper and 2 parts tin) cf. āra-kūṭa, 'brass' Old English ār 'brass, copper, bronze' Old Norse eir 'brass, copper', German ehern 'brassy, bronzen'. kastīra n. ʻ tin ʼ lex. 2. *kastilla -- .1. H. kathīr m. ʻ tin, pewter ʼ; G. kathīr n. ʻ pewter ʼ.2. H. (Bhoj.?) kathīl, °lā m. ʻ tin, pewter ʼ; M. kathīl n. ʻ tin ʼ, kathlẽ n. ʻ large tin vessel ʼ.(CDIAL 2984) कौटिलिकः kauṭilikḥ कौटिलिकः 1 A hunter.-2 A blacksmith PLUS dhāḷ 'slanted stroke' rebus: dhāḷako 'ingot' PLUS खांडा (p. 116) khāṇḍā A jag, notch, or indentation (as upon the edge of a tool or weapon). khaṇḍa 'implements'.
खांडा (p. 116) khāṇḍā A jag, notch, or indentation (as upon the edge of a tool or weapon). khaṇḍa 'implements'.PLUS ayo 'fish' rebus: aya 'iron' ayas 'alloy metal' (R̥gveda) PLUS khambhaṛā 'fish-fin rebus: kammaṭa 'mint, coiner, coinage'.
Circumscript four: gaṇḍa 'four' rebus: khaṇḍa 'implements' PLUS ayo 'fish' rebus: aya 'iron' ayas 'alloy metal' (R̥gveda)
bhaṭā 'warrior' rebus: bhaṭa 'furnace'
khaṇḍa 'division'. rebus: kaṇḍa 'implements'
ranku 'liquid measure' rebus:ranku 'tin'
Chanhudaro inscription6108 Meaning, artha: Trade (and metalwork wealth production) of kōnda sangara 'metalwork engraver'... PLUS (wealth categories cited.).
kāru pincers, tongs. Rebus: khār खार् 'blacksmith' PLUS dhāḷ 'slanted stroke' rebus: dhāḷako 'ingot' PLUS खांडा (p. 116) khāṇḍā A jag, notch, or indentation (as upon the edge of a tool or weapon). khaṇḍa 'implements'.
ayo 'fish' rebus: aya 'iron' ayas 'alloy metal' (R̥gveda) aya aDaren,'fish+superscript lid' Rebus: aya aduru 'iron/metal native unsmelted metal'
dula ‘duplicated’ rebus: dul ‘metalcasting’ PLUS kuṭi— in cmpd. ‘curve’, kuṭika— ‘bent’ MBh. Rebus: kuṭila, katthīl = bronze (8 parts copper and 2 parts tin) cf. āra-kūṭa, 'brass' Old English ār 'brass, copper, bronze' Old Norse eir 'brass, copper', German ehern 'brassy, bronzen'. kastīra n. ʻ tin ʼ lex. 2. *kastilla -- .1. H. kathīr m. ʻ tin, pewter ʼ; G. kathīr n. ʻ pewter ʼ.2. H. (Bhoj.?) kathīl, °lā m. ʻ tin, pewter ʼ; M. kathīl n. ʻ tin ʼ, kathlẽ n. ʻ large tin vessel ʼ.(CDIAL 2984) कौटिलिकः kauṭilikḥ कौटिलिकः 1 A hunter.-2 A blacksmith
khareḍo = acurrycomb (G.) Rebus: kharādī ' turner' (Gujarati) PLUS kāmsako, kāmsiyo = a large sized comb (G.) Rebus: kaṁsa 'bronze' (Telugu)
dhāḷ 'slanted stroke' rebus: dhāḷako 'ingot' PLUS dula ‘two’ rebus: dul ‘metal csting’.
6403 text ChanhudaroChanhudaro 29 6403 Meaning, artha: Trade (and metalwork wealth production) of kōnda sangara 'metalwork engraver'... PLUS (wealth categories cited.).
kāru pincers, tongs. Rebus: khār खार् 'blacksmith' PLUS dhāḷ 'slanted stroke' rebus: dhāḷako 'ingot' PLUS खांडा (p. 116) khāṇḍā A jag, notch, or indentation (as upon the edge of a tool or weapon). khaṇḍa 'implements'.
ayo 'fish' rebus: aya 'iron' ayas 'alloy metal' (R̥gveda) aya aDaren,'fish+superscript lid' Rebus: aya aduru 'iron/metal native unsmelted metal'
dula ‘duplicated’ rebus: dul ‘metalcasting’ PLUS kuṭi— in cmpd. ‘curve’, kuṭika— ‘bent’ MBh. Rebus: kuṭila, katthīl = bronze (8 parts copper and 2 parts tin) cf. āra-kūṭa, 'brass' Old English ār 'brass, copper, bronze' Old Norse eir 'brass, copper', German ehern 'brassy, bronzen'. kastīra n. ʻ tin ʼ lex. 2. *kastilla -- .1. H. kathīr m. ʻ tin, pewter ʼ; G. kathīr n. ʻ pewter ʼ.2. H. (Bhoj.?) kathīl, °lā m. ʻ tin, pewter ʼ; M. kathīl n. ʻ tin ʼ, kathlẽ n. ʻ large tin vessel ʼ.(CDIAL 2984) कौटिलिकः kauṭilikḥ कौटिलिकः 1 A hunter.-2 A blacksmith
khareḍo = acurrycomb (G.) Rebus: kharādī ' turner' (Gujarati) PLUS kāmsako, kāmsiyo = a large sized comb (G.) Rebus: kaṁsa 'bronze' (Telugu)
dhāḷ 'slanted stroke' rebus: dhāḷako 'ingot' PLUS dula ‘two’ rebus: dul ‘metal csting’.
6223 Field symbol on Side A crocodile PLUS fish
Text 6223 6233 Pict-67: Gharial, sometimes with a fish held in its jaw and/or surrounded by a school of fish. Field symbol: Crocodile PLUS fish: ayo 'fish' rebus: aya 'iron' ayas 'alloy metal' PLUS karā crocodile' rebus: khār 'blacksmith'
ayo 'fish' rebus: aya 'iron' ayas 'alloy metal' (R̥gveda)
(lozenge) Split parenthesis: mũh, muhã 'ingot' or muhã 'quantity of metal produced at one time in a native smelting furnace.' PLUS kolmo 'rice plant' rebus: kolimi 'smithy, forge'.
dula'two' rebus: dul'metalcasting'
ayo 'fish' rebus: aya 'iron' ayas 'alloy metal' (R̥gveda)
karã̄ n. pl. wristlets, bangles Rebus: khār खार् 'blacksmith'
kolmo 'rice plant' rebus: kolimi 'smithy, forge'.
dhāḷ'slanted stroke' rebus: dhāḷako'ingot' PLUS dula‘two’ rebus: dul ‘metal csting’.
Field symbol narrative: Bison (gaur) trampling a prostrate person (?) underneath. Impression of a seal from Chanhujodaro (Mackay 1943: pl. 51: 13). The prostrate ‘person’ is seen to have a very long neck, possibly with neck-rings, reminiscent of the rings depicted on the neck of the one-horned bull normally depicted in front of a standard device.
Alternative reading: Bull, bison: Ka. gōnde bull, ox. Te. gōda ox. Kol. (SR.) kondā bull; (Kin.) kōnda bullock. Nk. (Ch.) kōnda id. Pa. kōnda bison. Ga. (Oll.) kōnde cow; (S.) kōndē bullock. Go. (Tr.) kōnḍā, (other dialects) kōnda bullock, ox (Voc. 972)(DEDR 2216) Pa. guḍva nilgai. Go. (Mu.) koḍal (māv) a kind of deer; (L.) koḍā māv, (SR.) khoḍḍa māv blue bull (Voc. 890); (Ko.) guṛiya māv nilgai (Voc. 1159). Ga. (S.) guri goḍ bison. Konḍa (BB 1972) gura bison(DEDR 1664) Rebus: kōḍ 'workshop'.
Hieroglyph: tall woman: d.han:ga = tall, long shanked; maran: d.han:gi aimai kanae = she is a big tall woman (Santali.lex.) S. ḍhaṅgaru m. ʻlean emaciated beastʼ; L. (Shahpur) ḍhag̠g̠ā ʻ small weak ox ʼ(CDIAL 5324) Rebus: Rebus: d.han:gar ‘blacksmith’ (WPah.): d.a_n:ro = a term of contempt for a blacksmith (N.)(CDIAL 5524) t.ha_kur = blacksmith (Mth.); t.ha_kar = landholder (P.); t.hakkura – Rajput, chief man of a village (Pkt.); t.hakuri = a clan of Chetris (N.); t.ha_kura – term of address to a Brahman, god, idol (Or.)(CDIAL 5488). dha~_gar., dha_~gar = a non-Aryan tribe in the Vindhyas, digger of wells and tanks (H.); dha_n:gar = young servant, herdsman, name of a Santal tribe (Or.); dhan:gar = herdsman (H.)(CDIAL 5524). dhangar 'blacksmith' (Maithili.Nepali). Mth. ṭhākur ʻ blacksmith ʼ (CDIAL 5488) N. ḍāṅro ʻ term of contempt for a blacksmithʼ(CDIAL 5324) The narrative of 'copulation' (bison in heat) atop the long-legged person: khamḍa 'copulation' (Santali) signifies Rebus: kampaṭṭa 'mint, coiner'.Rebus: khaNDa 'implements' (See Santali expressions):
kaṭā, kaṭamā 'bison' (Tamil)(DEDR 1114) Rebus: khaṇḍ ‘tools, pots and pans, metal-ware’; kaḍiyo [Hem. Des. kaḍa-i-o = (Skt.Sthapati, a mason) a bricklayer, mason (G.)] G. lokhãḍ n. ʻtools, iron, ironwareʼ; M. lokhãḍ n. ʻ iron ʼ(CDIAL 1117) Note on orthography and image signifiers: It is seen from an enlargement of the bottom portion of the seal impression that the ‘prostrate person’ may not be a person but a ligature of the neck of an antelope with rings on its necks or of a post with ring-stones. The head of the ‘person’ is not shown. So, I would surmise that this is an artist's representation of an act of copulation (by an animal) + a ligatured neck of another bovine or alternatively, a pillar with ring-stones ligatured to the bottom portion of a body. It is not uncommon in the artistic tradition to ligature bodies to the rump of, for example, a bull's posterior ligatured to a horned woman (Pict. 103 Mahadevan) or standing person with horns and bovine features (hoofed legs and/or tail) -- Pict. 86-88 Mahadevan.
dhāḷ 'slanted stroke' rebus: dhāḷako 'ingot' PLUS dula ‘two’ rebus: dul ‘metal casting’.
mēṭu 'height, eminence, hillock' rebus: meḍ 'iron' (Mu.Ho.)PLUS kolom 'three' rebus: kolimi 'smithy, forge'. Thus, iron forge.PLUS மேடை mēṭai, n. [T. mēḍa.] Platform, raised floor'rebus: meḍ 'iron' med 'copper'
kanka, karṇika 'rim of jar'rebus: karṇī 'supercargo, scribe'.
kanka, karṇika 'rim of jar'rebus: karṇī 'supercargo, scribe'. PLUS खांडा (p. 116) khāṇḍā A jag, notch, or indentation (as upon the edge of a tool or weapon). khaṇḍa 'implements'. Thus, supercargo (in-charge) of implements
kāru pincers, tongs. Rebus: khār खार् 'blacksmith'
dula 'two' rebus: dul 'metalcasting'
kanac 'corner' rebus: kancu 'bell-metal'
Thus, iron, copper, bell-metal workshop metalcastings, equipment supercargo
Pict-108 ![]()
Person kneeling under a tree facing a tiger. [Chanhudaro Excavations, Pl. LI, 18] ![]()
6118 ![]()
Chanhudaro Seal obverse and reverse. The ‘water-carrier’ and X signs of this so-called Jhukar culture seal are comparable to other inscriptions. Fig. 3 and 3a of Plate L. After Mackay, 1943.
Person kneeling under a tree facing a tiger. [Chanhudaro Excavations, Pl. LI, 18] 
6118 
Chanhudaro Seal obverse and reverse. The ‘water-carrier’ and X signs of this so-called Jhukar culture seal are comparable to other inscriptions. Fig. 3 and 3a of Plate L. After Mackay, 1943.dhāḷ'slanted stroke' rebus: dhāḷako'ingot' PLUS dula‘two’ rebus: dul ‘metal csting’.
kuṭi 'water-carrier' rebus: kuṭhi 'smelter' PLUS kanka, karṇika 'rim of jar'rebus: karṇī 'supercargo, scribe'. Thus supercargo of smelter metal product output.
kuṭi 'tree' Rebus: kuṭhi 'smelting furnace' (Semantic determinative)
dāṭu 'cross' rebus: dhatu = mineral (Santali) Hindi. dhāṭnā 'to send out, pour out, cast (metal)' (CDIAL 6771)
kola 'tiger' rebus: kol ‘furnace, forge’ (Kuwi) kol ‘alloy of five metals, pancaloha’; kolhe (iron-smelter; kolhuyo, jackal) kol, kollan-, kollar = blacksmith; kol‘to kill’ (Tamil) me~ṛhe~t iron; ispat m. = steel; dul m. = cast iron; kolhe m. iron manufactured by the Kolhes (Santali
Hieroglyph of 'kneeling adorant' or 'worshipper' is such an abiding message that Mahadevan concordance treates the hieroglyph as a text 'sign'.
Signs 45, 46 Mahadevan Concordance. In Sign 46, Sign 45 is ligatured with a pot held by the adoring hands of the kneeling adorant wearing a scarf-type pigtail. I suggest that the rimless pot held on Sign 46 is a phonetic determinant: baTa 'rimless pot' Rebus: bhaTa 'furnace'. So, is the kneeling adorant, a worshippper of a person seated in penance, a bhaTa 'worshipper in a temple' Rebus: bhaTa 'furnace'. For him the kole.l 'temple' is kole.l 'smithy, forge' (Kota language).