📌 Topic 05 of 6 · Chapter 02 · Prehistoric India & IVC
Harappan Script, Religion & Society
Undeciphered script, Pashupati seal, Mother Goddess, fire altars, social structure, and cultural achievements.
📝 Harappan Script
- IVC had a pictographic script — symbols representing objects and ideas
- About 400–600 signs identified
- Written right to left (and sometimes boustrophedon — alternating directions)
- Found mainly on seals, pottery, and copper tablets
- Still undeciphered — the biggest mystery of IVC
- Cannot be linked to any known language family with certainty
- Longest inscription: 26 signs — too short to decipher using statistical methods
⭐ Why Undeciphered? The IVC script remains undeciphered because: (1) No bilingual inscription found (like Rosetta Stone for Egyptian hieroglyphics), (2) Inscriptions are very short, (3) The language it represents is unknown. Many scholars have attempted decipherment but none is universally accepted.
🙏 Harappan Religion
1. Mother Goddess
- Numerous terracotta figurines of women found — interpreted as Mother Goddess
- Suggests fertility cult — worship of female deity for agricultural prosperity
- Evidence of matriarchal elements in IVC religion
2. Pashupati Seal (Proto-Shiva)
- Famous seal from Mohenjo-daro showing a three-faced figure seated in yogic posture
- Surrounded by animals: elephant, tiger, rhinoceros, buffalo, deer
- Wearing horned headdress
- Interpreted as Proto-Shiva or Pashupati (Lord of Animals)
- Suggests early form of Shaivism
3. Tree & Animal Worship
- Pipal tree (sacred fig) worship — depicted on seals; still sacred in India
- Humped bull — most common animal on seals; possibly sacred
- Unicorn — mythical animal on seals; religious significance
- Worship of water — Great Bath suggests ritual bathing
4. Fire Worship
- Fire altars found at Kalibangan and Lothal
- Evidence of fire worship — precursor to Vedic yajna tradition
👥 Harappan Society
- No evidence of kings — no palaces, no royal burials, no war weapons
- Possibly governed by merchant oligarchy or priestly class
- Egalitarian society — houses of similar size; no extreme wealth disparities
- Women’s status: Mother Goddess worship suggests women were respected; terracotta figurines show women in various roles
- Burial practices: Extended burial (body laid flat); grave goods — pottery, ornaments
- No evidence of slavery — unlike Mesopotamia and Egypt
🎨 Cultural Achievements
| Achievement | Details |
|---|---|
| Dancing Girl | Bronze figurine from Mohenjo-daro — evidence of dance and art |
| Priest-King statue | Steatite sculpture from Mohenjo-daro — shows a bearded man in shawl |
| Toys | Terracotta toys — bullock carts, whistles, rattles — evidence of playful culture |
| Jewellery | Gold, silver, carnelian, lapis lazuli ornaments — evidence of aesthetic sense |
| Weights | Standardised cubical weights — evidence of mathematical knowledge |
📝 Exam Tip:
• Pashupati Seal → Mohenjo-daro → Proto-Shiva → three-faced, yogic posture
• Dancing Girl → Mohenjo-daro → bronze figurine
• Priest-King → Mohenjo-daro → steatite sculpture
• Fire altars → Kalibangan and Lothal
• No temples found in IVC — unlike later Indian civilisations
• Pashupati Seal → Mohenjo-daro → Proto-Shiva → three-faced, yogic posture
• Dancing Girl → Mohenjo-daro → bronze figurine
• Priest-King → Mohenjo-daro → steatite sculpture
• Fire altars → Kalibangan and Lothal
• No temples found in IVC — unlike later Indian civilisations