It is a riddle that has confounded scholars for over a century. And now it carries a handsome cash prize: $1 million for anyone who can decipher the script of the ancient Indus Valley civilization.

       Relatively little is known about the creators of the script, who built a sprawling urban system about 5,000 years ago across what is modern-day India, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

       Excavations at more than 2,000 sites have unearthed a wealth of artifacts. But until the civilization’s script can be read, its language, culture and religion, as well as the history of its rise and fall, will remain shrouded in mystery.

       The prize, announced by M.K. Stalin, the chief minister of the southern state of Tamil Nadu, is intended to renew efforts to decipher the script. The push, however, is not merely about historical scholarship. It is the latest front in a cultural war over India’s ancient past.

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       The country’s ascendant Hindu nationalists argue that the Aryan race, which brought the Vedic religion of Hinduism to India, represents the original Indian people. The claim is central to the concept of Hindutva, the ideology of Hindu supremacy promoted by the party of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

       Mr. Stalin’s party, and many others, hold a different view. They say that the Dravidians of southern India are the country’s indigenous people, and that the Aryans of northern India were invaders from Europe. (In reality, the distinction between Aryans and Dravidians is itself not clear-cut.)

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