Call for papers

The conference aims to deepen our understanding of the Indus Valley Civilization and its enduring relevance to contemporary society by bringing together diverse perspectives and fostering interdisciplinary dialogue. Scholars may choose one of the areas mentioned to present their views.

(Registration for paper presentation is closed since we received enough applications).

Concept note & Topics

Sir John Marshall and his contributions

John Marshall served as the Director-General of the Archaeological Survey of India from 1902 to 1928. He was rightly spotted by Lord Curzon who recruits him for the highest position in the field. In the initial years of service he excavated the Buddhist centres -Taxila, Sanchi and Saranath. He also oversaw the excavations of two major and important Indus cities – Harappa and Mohenjo-daro which culminated in the announcement of the discovery of the IVC. Marshall brought several changes to the archaeology department in his days and his pioneering works brought the antiquity of Indian civilization to the world stage.

Decipherment of Indus Script

The intriguing area of the IVC is the decipherment of the Indus script. Right from the day of the announcement of the Indus civilization, several attempts from all over the world have been made to decipher the script. Numerous scholars including scholars like Asko Parpola, Iravatham Mahadevan have attempted to interpret and decipher the script. Several theories have been developed about the script. Still, none of the decipherment attempt has been accepted worldwide.

Legacy markers, shared and Unique paradigms

Many scholars compared the Indus script with the existing languages such as Tamil, Sanskrit, Egyptian and even Chinese language. For example, Iravatham Mahadevan took the direction of bilingual parallels, that is, he interpreted the Indus script by comparing the similarities that exist in both Old Tamil and Old Sanskrit. Some scholars study the uniqueness of certain language and compare it with IVC. The legacy markers of the Indus Valley Civilization refer to various cultural and societal elements that continue to influence the contemporary practices. R. Balakrishnan’s work on ‘High West – Low East’ is one of the important study to understand the legacy markers of IVC. Mahadevan’s work on chieftain names compared with Indus signs and identification of ‘Pazhi’ the destructed city are such legacy markers. Many tribal societies in India still hold certain features of the Indus people. For example, the head gear depicted in the Indus seal is still used in some tribal communities and the lost wax method which was used to create the ‘Dancing Girl’ statueof IVC, is still practised by some tribal communities in India. Hence, understanding the tribal markers of the IVC will help us to understand the civilization better.

Technology and tools for understanding IVC

Rapid development in the technology greatly benefits the understanding and study of the Indus civilization. In addition to technologies such as LiDAR, remote sensing, satellite imaging, GPR and GIS, groundbreaking advancements in artificial intelligence and machine learning help scholars to understand the civilization better.

Genetic studies, the undisputed evidence

Genetic markers of the Indus people help us to understand the origin and migration of Indus people. Scientists like David Reich and Vagheesh Narasimhan have worked in this area and their works gave clues about the migration of Indus people. The genetic studies might be the undisputed evidence-based study supporting the understanding of the IVC people.

Material Culture

As the Indus script still remains undeciphered, the material culture of the IVC provides valuable information to reconstruct the Harappan civilization. Archaeological excavations in several Harappan sites unearthed lots of items including potteries, ornaments, toys, unfinished goods, weights and measures, tools and other household objects and artefacts. Comparative study of Harappan material culture with other documented cultures and continuing legacies provide useful insights about the undeciphered past.