Horse Symbol Absense - Indus Scripts Deciphered

Absence of horse and composite culture of Indus Valley Civilization.

Abstract

My research shows that the Indus script was a composite of Egyptian hieroglyphs and Vedic ritual symbolism. There are many symbols of Vedic rituals in the Indus script. Then, the glaring contradiction is the absence of a horse in IVC. Indo-European people entered India in waves, the first around 4000 BC and the second wave around 2000 BC. The first wave was from Iran, and the second was from the European steppe. The Iranian farmers did not know about the horses, even though they spoke some IE language. That explains the absence of horses in the Indus Valley civilization.

There is limited evidence of the horse in the Indus valley civilization. Many of the seals recovered from IVC sites are engraved with various animals, but there is no sign of the horse.

Horse In IVC

Horse remains from the Harappan site Surkotada (dated 2400-1700 BC) have been identified by A.K. Sharma as Equus ferus caballus. (1 p. 171)The horse specialist Sandor Bökönyi (1997) later confirmed these conclusions and stated that the excavated tooth specimens could, in all probability, be considered remnants of true horses [IE. Equus ferus caballus]”. (1) Bökönyi, as cited by B.B. Lal, stated that “The occurrence of true horse (Equus caballus L.) was evidenced by the enamel pattern of the upper and lower cheek and teeth and by the size and form of incisors and phalanges (toe bones).” (2)However, archaeologists like Meadow (1997) disagree because the remains of the Equus ferus caballus horse are difficult to distinguish from other equid species such as Equus asinus (donkeys) or Equus hemionus (onagers). (1 pp. 169-175) Recent excavations at Sanauli in Uttar Pradesh have yielded three chariots with solid wheels dated to 2000–1800 BCE, which horses might have pulled. (3)

Vedic period

Sites such as the BMAC complex are at least as poor in horse remains as the Harappan sites. The earliest undisputed finds of the horse remain in South Asia are from the Gandhara grave culture, also known as the Swat culture (c. 1400-800 BCE), (4) related to the Indo-Aryans (5) and coinciding with their arrival in India. (6) The DNA analysis of bones from Swat Valley graves provides evidence of “connections between [Central Asian] Steppe population and early Vedic culture in India”. (7) (6)

Horses were of significant importance for the lifestyle of the Indo-Europeans. (4)Ashva, a Sanskrit word for a horse, one of the important animals of Vedic people, finds references in the Vedas and several Hindu scriptures. Many personal names in the Rig Veda are also centred on horses. (4) Its cognates are derived from asva in Indo-European languages like Sanskrit, Avestan, Latin and Greek. (4) There are repeated references to the horse in the Vedas (c. 1500-500 BC). In particular, the Rigveda has many equestrian scenes, often associated with chariots. The Ashvamedha, or horse sacrifice, is a notable ritual of the Yajurveda. (7)

Vedic culture elements are seen in IVC seal inscriptions, except the horse. The genetic study of David Reich confirms the two waves of Aryan immigration. It shows that the first IE migrants were from Iran around 4000 BC. They likely did not know about the horse but spoke some IE language. But the second immigration of IE people was around 2000 BC from the steppe was definitely along with the horse, and Rig Veda was an amalgamated version of the religious ideas of both waves of Aryans. The book of Tony Joseph, “Early Indians”, also follows the research findings of David Reich. (8) I follow the ‘Anatolian Hypothesis’ of Colin Renfrew on the origin of IE languages. (9) (10)

Defending the presence of a horse in IVC along with Vedic elements is a difficult proposition. It has already been proved that the horse was absent in India during IVC times. The only way to navigate this problematic situation is to argue that the first wave of Aryans did not know about the horse. Only the second wave of Aryans did know about the horses. That explains the absence of horses in IVC even though components of Vedic rituals are seen in the IVC seal inscriptions. My research shows that IVC was a composite culture of Egyptian ideas and Vedic traditions. I call IVC’s ancient Egyptian cultural elements the Dravidian feature of IVC. For more information, read my article, ‘Indus symbols follow the Egyptian hieroglyphics way of writing and ideas’. (11)

1. Bryant. The Quest for the Origins of Vedic Culture. [book auth.] Edwin Bryant. The Quest for the Origins of Vedic Culture. Oxford : Oxford University Press., 2001.

2. Lal., B.B. New Light on the Indus Civilization. Delhi: Aryan Books. [book auth.] B.B. (1998). Lal. New Light on the Indus Civilization. . Delhi. : Aryan books., 1998.

3. Theprint.in. India nativehorses disappeared 8000-bc Rig veda mentions them more than cow. . https://theprint.in. [Online] https://theprint.in/pageturner/excerpt/india-native-horses-disappeared-8000-bc-rig-veda-mentions-them-more-than-cow/586756/.

4. Reddy, Krishna. Indian History,. New Delhi. : Tata McGraw-Hill Education., 2006.

5. Kennedy, Kenneth A.R. “Have Aryans been identified in the prehistorical skeletal record from South Asia? Biological anthropology and cocnepts of ancient races”. [book auth.] George (ed.). The Indo-Aryans of Ancient South Asia: Language, Material Culture and ethinicity.Walter de Gruyt. s.l., 2012.

6. The Genomic Formation of South and Central Asia. Narasimhan, Vagheesh M., et al. s.l. : BioRxiv: 292581. doi:10.1101/29, 2018.

7. Wikipedia(Horse). History of the horse in the Indian subcontinent. Wikipedia.org. [Online] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_horse_in_the_Indian_subcontinent.

8. Reich, David. Who we are and how we got here. New York. : Pantheon books., 2018. 9781101870327.

9. Wikipedia(Antolian-hypothesis). Anatolian hypothesis. Wikipedia.org. [Online] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anatolian_hypothesis.

10. Wikipedia(Colin-Renfrew). Colin Renfrew. Wikipedia.org. [Online] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_Renfrew.

11. Jeyakumar(hieroglyphics-link). Indus symbols follow the Egyptian hieroglyphics way of writing and ideas. Academia.edu. [Online] 2021. https://www.academia.edu/43722883/Indus_symbols_follow_the_Egyptian_hieroglyphics_way_of_writing_and_ideas.