Harappan Seals — 2021 Paper II

Approach

• Demand of Question: Describe the major characteristics of Harappan seals and explain their archaeological significance.
• Structuring the Response: Discuss material and morphology, motifs and script, probable functions, and what seals reveal about Harappan economy and ideology.
• Key Dimensions to Cover: Steatite seals, unicorn and animal motifs, Indus script, sealings, trade, administration, Marshall’s Pashupati interpretation and its limitations.

Model Answer

Introduction

Harappan seals are among the most distinctive artefacts of the Indus Civilization, especially its Mature Harappan phase. Found at sites such as Mohenjo-daro, Harappa and Lothal, they provide important evidence concerning communication, trade, administration and symbolism.

Characteristic features

1. Material and form: Most seals were made from steatite, generally square in shape, and frequently possessed a projecting boss on the reverse.
2. Animal motifs: Common representations include:
   • so-called unicorn;
   • humped bull;
   • elephant;
   • rhinoceros;
   • buffalo and other animals.
3. Script: Short inscriptions in the still-undeciphered Indus script usually occur above the animal motif.

Functions and significance

• Economic: Seals and sealings may have identified goods, owners, merchants or institutions.
• Administrative: Standardized seals indicate mechanisms of identification and control in an organized urban economy.
• Trade: Indus seals and related objects discovered in West Asian contexts indicate interaction with Mesopotamia and the Persian Gulf region.
• Symbolic: Animal and composite motifs probably carried social or ritual meaning.

The famous horned seated figure was interpreted by John Marshall as a proto-Shiva or “Pashupati,” though this interpretation remains debated.

Conclusion

Harappan seals reveal the civilization’s sophisticated symbolic communication, economic organization and interregional contacts, though their precise meanings remain uncertain because the script is undeciphered.