Harappa: Copper Model of a Vehicle: Stuart Piggott, 1970: Copper-Models in the Indus Civilization: Fig. 1: The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland: Page 201.

There are two Indus signs inscribed on the toy carriage. The noun ekka appears on the side of the vehicle's canopy, whilst the verb to obscure or to hide can be seen on the body of the carriage. The side of the carriage was relatively high. It therefore, seems likely that the toy represented a vehicle that was for private hire, and that a selling point was the privacy afforded to the occupant.

Mark Kenoyer argues that this type of vehicle was not an ekka, because a modern ekka is drawn by a single animal, and the Indus vehicle would have been drawn by two bullocks¹. However, there are some old images on the web that depict this type of vehicle being drawn by two bullocks². This suggests that similar passenger vehicles were in use in the nineteeth century. Whilst the correct name for the vehicle may be in dispute, the key fact is the distinctive shape of the chassis. This readily identifies it as a vehicle for carrying passengers rather than freight.

See also Mahadevan's sign number 4497.

Ekka: Lynn Fawcett, 2017.

1. Single Draft Animal Carts: Jonathan Mark Kenoyer, 2004: Wheeled Vehicles of the Indus Civilization of Pakistan and India: Page 9: Harappa.com: https://www.harappa.com/sites/default/files/pdf/Kenoyer2004_Wheeled%20Vehicles%20of%20the%20Indus%20Valley%20Civilizatio.pdf: Accessed: 31 March 2020.

2. The term ekka in a glossary compiled by Frances Pritchett, on the Columbia University website, has several images of passenger vehicles drawn by two bullocks.

The shallow V, from the canopy on the copper model, can be seen in the outline of the base of the vehicle chassis in the image entitled "A view from 'Voyage aux Indes orientales': http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00glossarydata/terms/ekka/ekka.html: Accessed: 31 March 2020.