Indus Valley Civilization (2500 BC -1750 BC)

Indus Valley Civilization (2500 BC – 1750 BC)

Index ·        Indus valley Civilization (Harappa civilization) ·        Nomenclature of Indus valley civilization ·        Important sites and discoveries of Indus valley civilization ·        Indus Valley Civilization (Cities, Findings, Arts and Crafts, Script) ·        Indus Valley Civilization (Agriculture, Animals and Trade) ·        Indus valley civilization (Burial practices, Religious practices) ·        Decline of the Civilization - theories for extent of Indus valley civilization

Indus valley Civilization (Harappa civilization) (2500 BC-1750 BC)

The Pre-Historic period of the world is classified as

• 1.     Palaeolithic period (Classified as Lower, Middle and Upper)
• 2.     Mesolithic period (Old Stone age)
• 3.     Neolithic period (New Stone age)
• 4.     Chalcolithic period

Around 5000 BCE, as existing process has slowly begun, humans started to settle at one place began farming and making permanent settlements and in further ages use of metals like copper, tin and bronze begun, around the years 3000 BCE. System of letters, Symbols begun. This form of organized living is termed as civilization. For more Info Refer Here

Many civilizations rose from different corners of the world, But we consider 4 civilizations of the world are most important ones. These ancient civilizations rose around river valleys, on the banks of four rivers.

Indus valley civilization is one of the four earliest civilizations of world

(Civilization: Organized form of living)

1.     Mesopotamia (Tigris and Euphrates) Civilization

2.     Egypt (Nile) Civilization

3.     Yellow or China (Hwang Ho) Civilization

4.     Indus Valley Civilization or Harappa Civilization

Indus Valley Civilization (2500 BC -1750 BC)

·   Indian History begins with Indus Valley civilization around (2500 BCE- 1750 BCE) (which have different Nomenclature (Names) like Indus Valley Civilization, Harappa civilization/etc)

Mohenjadaro Cite

As the bronze was discovered in this period we also call this Bronze Age.

·        The most accepted period is 2500-1700 BC (derived by carbon-14 dating).

·        Daya Ram Sahni (DR Sahni) first discovered Harappa in 1921.

·        RD Bannerje discovered Mohenjo Daro (‘Mound of the dead”) discovered in 1922.

Nomenclature of Indus Valley Civilization

·      

            Indus valley Civilization – As this civilization is flourished along the Indus River

·        Harappan Civilization – Named by John Marshall, after first Discovered site, Harappa in the (Punjab Province of British India and now is Pakistan)

·        Saraswathi - Sindhu Civilization – Most of the sites of this period have been found at Hakra – Ghaggar River

·        Bronze Age Civilization – As the use of Bronze began in this period (Copper + tin = Bronze), as the use of Bronze began in this period

Geographical Extent of Indus Valley Civilization

1st Evidences by the Excavation found by the archaeologist "Daya Ram Sahni" on the banks of the river Indus in the north part of present India spreading across the area

The geographical Extent of this civilization

1.     Manda (Jammu) -Daimabad (Pune) (North to South)

2.     Alamgirpur (Meerut) - Suktagendar (Markana coast) (Baluchistan)(East to west)

3.     Discoveries of the sites where and by whom

4.     Some the famous cities of Indus Valley Civilization Includes Harappa, Mohenjo daro, Dholavira, Lothal, kalibangana,etc

Discoveries of cities by Different Archaeologist

S.No	Cities	Province	River Bank	Year of Discovery	Archaeologist
1	Harappa	Punjab	Ravi	1921	DR Sahnis
2	Mohenjo Daro	Sind	Indus	1922	RD Bannerjee
3	Chanhudaro	Sind	Indus	1931	MG Majumdar
4	Sutkagandor	Balochistan	Dasht	1931	Aurel Stein
5	Rangpur	Gujarat	Bhadur	1931	MS Vats
6	Ropar	Indian Punjab	Sutlej	1953	YD Sharma
7	Lothal	Gujarath	Bhogava	1957	SR Rao
8	Kalibangana	Rajasthan Kutchh	Ghaggar	1961	BB Lal
9	Dholavira	Gujarath	Luni	1967	JP Joshi
10	Banawali	Harayana	Ghaggar	1973	RS Bisht
11	Alamgirpur	Uttar Pradesh	Hindon	1974	YD Sharma

For more details Refer Here 

Indus Valley Civilization (Cities, Findings, Arts and Crafts, Script)

Important Cities, archaeological findings, Arts and Crafts, Script of Indus valley Civilization (includes town planning also)

S. No	Sites/Harappa Cities	Findings/ Important Discoveries
1	Harappa (Gateway City)	·        Two Rows of 6 granaries ·        Work men’s quarter ·        Virgin-Goddess (Seal) ·        Clay Figures of Mother Goddess ·        Wheat and Barley in wooden Mortar ·        Copper Scale, Mirror, Vanity Box, Dice ·        Sculpture Dog chasing a Deer (made of Bronze) ·        Nude Male and Nude Dancing female (Stone) ·        Sand Stone Male Torso
2	Mohenja Daro (Mound of the Dead)	·        Steatite Image of Bread Man The Great Bath of Mohenja Daro ·        Sculpture of Dancing Girl (Bronze) ·        Proto- Shiva seal ·        The great granary (Largest-Building) Multi-pillared Assembly Hall ·        Clay figures of mother goddess
3	Chanhudaro (Lancashire of India)	·        Inkpot, Lipstick ·        Carts with Seated Driver, Ikkas of Bronze ·        Imprint of Dogs paw on the brick ·        Only city without citadel
4	Lothal (Manchester of Indus valley Civilization)	·        Rice Husk, Fire altars, Grinding Machine ·        Terracotta figure of Horse and Seal, Terracotta Ship, Tusks of Elephant ·        Dying Rat, Painted jar (Bird and Fox) ·        Houses with entrance on the main streets ·        Impressions of cloth on some seals ·        Modern Clay chess ·        Instruments for measuring etc
5	Kalibangana (Black Bangle)	·        Decorated Bricks, Bangle factory, Wheels of toy cart ·        Remains of massive Brick wall around the citadel and lower town, Bones of camel ·        Mother goddess figurines are absent here
6	Surkotada	·        Both Citadel and Lower town fortified with stone wall ·        Remains of Horse Bones ·        Cemetery with four pot burials
7	Daimabad	·        Bronze Images of Charioteer with Chariot ox, elephants and Rhinoceros
8	Dholavira	·        Only cite to be divided into 3 parts Giant water Reservoir ·        Unique water harnessing system ·        Dams and Embankments ·        A stadium, Rock cut architecture
9	Banawali	·        Oval shaped settlement ·        Only city with Radial streets ·        Lack of Systematic Drainage Pattern ·        Toy plough, largest Number of Barley grains
10	Ropar	·        Buildings made of stone and soil ·        Dog buried with Human ·        One inscribed steatite seal with typical Indus pictographs, Oval pit Burials
11	Amri	·        Actual remains of rhinoceros
12	Alamgirpur	·        Impression of Cloth on a trough
13	Sutkagendor	·        Two Fold Division of lower Town

Arts and Crafts

Harappans used stone tools and implements and were all acquainted with tools made of Bronze. Bronze is obtained by mixing copper with tin.

Beard Man

Boat making, jewellery of gold, silver precious stone and bead making was practiced

Pottery both plain red of painted pots were decorated with human figures, plants, animals and geometrical patterns.

Metal Images bronze image of a nude woman dance identified as devadasi and stone steatite images of bearded man were both obtained from Mohenjo Daro.

Terracotta figurines fire baked clay was used to make toys, objects of worship, animals (monkey, dogs sheep cattle, humped and humpless Bulls) Cattle toys with movable head, toy-carts, whistles shaped like birds, and both male and female figurines.

They played dice games. Gambling seems to be their favourite time pass.

Script

It was pictographic in nature; fish symbol is the most represented. Overlapping of the letters show that it was written from right to left in the first line. The second line is from right to left, This Style is called Boustrophedon

Town planning

Town planning was not uniform a common feature was the grid system i.e. streets cutting across one another at right angles, dividing the town into large rectangular blocks

The towns were divided into two parts the upper part or citadel and the lower part

·    Underground drainage system connected all the houses to the street Drains, made of mortar, lime and gypsum, they were covered with either brick or stone slabs and equipped with manholes. This shows a developed sense of health and sanitation

·    

        The great bath (Mahenjo Daro) was used for religious bathing steps for inlet to the tank and outlet for drain water, there were changing rooms long side

·        

     The granaries (Harappa) 6 granaries in a row were found in the citadel at Harappa

·       Houses were made up of burnt bricks

·   

     Lamp posts were erected at regular intervals. It includes the existences of the street

     lighting

Indus Valley Civilization (Agriculture, Animals and Trade)

Agriculture

• ·        Agriculture was the backbone of the civilization. The soil was fertile due to inundation in the river Indus
• ·        They used wooden plough share (Evidence ploughed field from kalibangan) and stone sickles for harvesting
• ·        Crops produced were wheat, barley, dates, peas, sesamum, mustard, millet, ragi, bajra and jowar. At Lothal and Rangpur rice husks were found
• ·        Indus valley civilized people were 1st to produce cotton in the world, which Greeks called as Sindon derived from sind. A fragment of woven cotton cloth was found at Mohenjodaro
• ·        Well-irrigation is evident from the dams and irrigation canals found at Dholavira sugarcane was not known to the Indus people

Domestication of Animals

• Animal rearing was practiced. They domesticated buffaloes, oxens, sheep, asses, goats, pigs, elephants, dogs, cats, etc
• Camel bones are reported at kalibangan and remains of horse are discovered from Surkotada.

Trade (Includes Imports and Exports)

• Agriculture, industry and forest provided the basis for internal and external trade.
• Trade was based on barter system coins are not evident. Bullock carts and boats were used for transportation.

  

  Harappan Seals

• Weights and measures were made of limestone, steatite etc. generally in cubical shape and in multiples of 16.
• Foreign trade flourished with Mesopotamia or sumeria Iraq, Central Asia, Persia, Afghanistan and Bahrain.

Towns and trade important

Harappa Towns	Famous Industry
Daimabad	Bronze Industry
Lothal Factory	Stone tools, Metallic finished goods
Bajakot	Pearl Finished goods, Bangle and Shell Industry
Chanhudaro	Beads and Bangles factory
Kalibangana	Bangles factory

Major Imports of Indus Valley Civilization

Major Imports

Imports	Place
Gold	1.     Kolar (Karnataka) 2.     Afghanistan 3.     Persia (Iran)
Silver	1.     Afghanistan 2.     Persia (Iran) 3.     South India
Copper	1.     Khetri (Rajasthan) 2.     Balochistan 3.     Arabia
Tin	1.     Afghanistan 2.     Hazaribagh (jharkhand)
Lapis lazuli and Saphire	1.     Badak-Shan (Afghanistan)
Jade	1.     Central Asia
Steatite	1.     Shahr-i-Sokhta 2.     Kirthar Hills
Amethyst	1.     Maharashtra

Indus valley civilization (Religious practises and Burial Practises)

Religious practises

Chief female Diety A terracotta figurine, where a plant is shown growing out of the embryo of a woman and represents the mother goddess (goddess of earth)

Mother Goddess

Chief male Diety Pashupati Mahadeva (proto- Siva) represents in seals, sitting in a yogic posture on a throne and having three faces and two horns, He is surrounded by an elephant, a tiger, a rhino and a buffalo, and two dears appear at his feet.

Indus people believed in ghosts and evil forces and used amulets for protection against them. Fire altars are found at Lothal and Kalibangan

The principal sites are Harappa Kalibangan, Rakhigarhi, Lothal, Rojdi, and Ropar. Harappa period were all in brick or stone lined rectangular or oval pits

Burial Practices Includes

Maharashtra- Dead Body in North-South Position

South India- Dead body in East-West position

West India- Complex, Extended Burial

East India- Fractional Burial

Decline of the Civilization

The Harappa culture flourished up to 1800 BC, and then it began to decline. There is no unanimity among historians regarding the reasons for decline of this Indus valley Civilization. Some of the theories have been given by the Historians regarding the decline of this civilization and are summarized below.

Decline of Indus valley Civilization from different views

S. No	View points	Historians/Thinkers
1	Inundation theory	MR Sahni
2	External  Aggression theory	Wheeler, Piggot and Gordon-Childe
3	Tectonic Disturbances	Marshall and Raikes
4	Epidemic	KVR  Kennedy
5	Sudden decline	Wheeler
6	Climatic change	RL Stein and AN Ghost
7	Deforestation, scarcity of resources, Ecological Imbalances	Fairservis
8	Destruction due to Change of course of River Ghaggar	GF Holes
9	Flood	Marshall,  SR Raso Maickey