This study analyzes archaeological, linguistic, archaeogenetic, and historical evidence to argue that Proto-Dravidian was spoken in the Indus Valley Civilization (IVC). The analysis centers on the Proto-Dravidian tooth-word *pal* and its variants, which are etymologically linked to words for elephant and the toothbrush tree *Salvadora persica* found in ancient texts from Mesopotamia and Persia. Because "tooth" is part of the ultraconserved vocabulary, its presence supports the hypothesis of a significant Dravidian-speaking population in the IVC. Recent archaeogenetic studies on the migration of Proto-Dravidian speakers from the Indus Valley to South India further corroborate these findings.

Bahata Ansumali Mukhopadhyay