Meluhaitat

Meluhaitat is a scholarly term used to designate the people of Meluhha, the ancient region associated with the Indus Valley Civilization. The name Meluhha appears in Mesopotamian cuneiform texts from the third to the second millennium BCE, where it is used to refer to a distant trading partner located to the east of Sumer and Akkad. In modern scholarship, the inhabitants are often referred to as Meluhhans or Meluhhites, and Meluhha itself is identified with parts of the Indus Valley, roughly corresponding to present-day Pakistan’s Sindh and Punjab and, in some models, adjacent areas of western India.

Historical context and economy: Textual and archaeological evidence indicates a long-standing trade network between Mesopotamia and the Meluhha region. Goods likely exchanged included metals, beads, textiles, and other craft products from the Indus Valley, alongside Mesopotamian textiles, oils, or timber. Seals bearing the Indus script have been found in both Mesopotamia and Indus sites, underscoring commercial and cultural contacts. The Indus script, the primary symbolic system of the Meluhha region, remains undeciphered, limiting precise statements about language and administration.

Language and identity: Because the Indus Valley language is not yet deciphered, the linguistic affiliation of Meluhhans is uncertain; hypotheses include Dravidian or other regional language families. The ethnonym itself is known primarily from external texts rather than self-designation.

Decline: References to Meluhha fade as the Indus Valley cities decline circa 1900–1800 BCE, and later Mesopotamian records offer little independent information about Meluhha.