CM Stalin commemorates discovery of Indus Valley Civilisation; celebrates Dravidian roots

CHENNAI: Chief Minister M K Stalin on Friday commemorated the centenary of discovery of Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC) and thanked British archaeologist Sir John Marshall for the discovery which reshaped the history of the landscape and exemplified the rich ancestry of the modern day Dravidian stock.

In a message posted on his ‘X’ page, Stalin subtly celebrated the roots of the Dravidian stock and said, “Exactly 100 years ago, on 20th September 1924, Sir John Marshall announced the discovery of the Indus Valley Civilisation, reshaping the history of the Indian subcontinent. I look back with gratitude and say, "Thank you, John Marshall."

“By taking right cognisance of the material culture of the IVC, he linked it to the Dravidian Stock. My government has already announced that the centenary of this historic discovery will be marked by an international conference and the installation of a life-size statue of Sir John Marshall in Tamil Nadu,” added Stalin, posting literary references quoting Sir John Marshall as concluding that the Indus civilisation was pre-Aryan and the Indus language or languages must be pre-Aryan also.

The Chief Minister also highlighted the portion of the literature saying, “Dravidians of India, who, though now restricted to south of India, are believed on linguistic and ethnological grounds to have once populated virtually the whole of the peninsula, including Punjab, Sind and Baluchistan, where, as is well known, the Dravidian speech is still preserved in a he by language of the Brahuis.”