INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATIONTime Span of Indus Civilization Geographical range: South Asia Period: Bronze Time: 3300 to 1900 BCE (determined using the radiocarbon dating method) Area: 13 lakh sq.km Cities: 6 big cities Villages: More than 200 The civilization that appeared in the northwestern part of India and Pakistan in third millennium BCE is collectively called the Indus Civilization. Since Harappa was the first site to be identified in this civilization is also known as Harappan Civilization. This civilization did not appear all of a sudden. The beginnings of the Neolithic villages in this region go back to about 7000 BCE at the Neolithic site of Mehrgarh. Discovery * The Indus valley site of Harappa was first visited by Charles Mason in 1826,and Amri by Alexander Burnes in 1831. + He wrote that he saw a "ruined brick castle with very high walls and towers built on a hill". This was the earliest historical record of the existence of Harappa. * In 1856 when engineers laid a railway line connecting Lahore to Karachi, they used the bricks for laying the rail road. + The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) was started in 1861 with Alexander Cunningham as Surveyor. Ii headquarters is located in New Delhi, + Alexander Cunningham visited the site in 1853,1856 and 1875. But the importance of the site and the associated civilization were not realized until Sir John Marshal took over as the Director General of AS! and initiated research at the site. * Harappa was older than Mohenjo-Daro.Geographical Area : Boundaries of Indus Valley Civilization North - Shortugal (Afghanistan) East - Alamgirpur (Uttar Pradesh) South - Daimabad (Maharashtra) West - Sutkagen (Pakistan-Iran Border) The Indus Civilization and the contemporary culture covered nearly 1.5 million sq. km area in India and Pakistan. Kalibangan, Lothal, Rakhi Garhi and Dholavira are the Indian sites that have been excavated. The Early Harappan phase saw the development of villages and towns in the entire region. In the Mature Harappan phase, urban centers developed.Highlights Of Indus Valley Civilization : Town Planning Houses and Streets Drainage System Great Bath and Granaries How do archaeologists explore a lost city? tops tcitcsis ye eas ube peuaee ee Seccare teeters iegmtoticed ee eee ele gare neat eee Fs asad Sees CoE gEN easae Ss We oe or aren seal naa ary sources for references C Town Planning : Harappa(Punjab, Pakistan), Mohenjo- Daro(Sindh, Pakistan),Dholavira, Lothal, and Surkotada (Gujarat, India) Kalibangan and Banawall(Rajasthan India) and Rakhigarhi(Haryana, India)are the major cities in the Harappan period. Fortification, well planned streets and lanes and drainages are noticed in the Harappan towns, A civic authority perhaps controlled the planning of the towns. The Harappans used baked and unbaked bricks, and stones for construction. The towns had a grid pattern and drainages were systematically built Radiocarbon Dating Method: A Standard Tool for Archaeologists ‘Also known as C,, method, the radiocarbon method uses the radioactive isotope of carbon called carbon,, to determine the age of an object,+ The houses were built of mud bricks while the drainages were built with burnt bricks. Houses had more than one floor. + The site of Mohenjo-Daro had a planned town, built on a platform. + Ithas two distinct areas. One is identified as a citadel and another as the lower town. The houses had bathrooms paved with burnt bricks and proper drains. + Some houses had stairs indicating the existence of an upper floor. * The citadel area had important residential structures that were either used by the public or select residents. + In Mohenjo-Daro, a building has been identified as a warehouse. Houses and Streets: + The streets are observed to have a grid pattern. They were straight running from north to south and east to. west and intersected each other at right angles. + The roads were wide with rounded comers. * Houses were built on both sides of the street. The houses were either one or two storeys. + Most of the houses had many rooms, a courtyard and a well. Each house had toilets and bathrooms. + The houses were built using baked bricks and mortar. Sun-dried bricks were also used. Most of the bricks were of uniform size. Roofs were flat. + There is no conclusive evidence of the presence of palaces or places of worship.Drainage System : Many of these cities had covered drains. The drains were covered with slabs or bricks. Each drain had a gentle slope so that water could flow. Holes were provided at regular intervals to clear the drains. House drains passed below many lanes before finally emptying into the main drains. Every house had its own soak pit, which collected alll the sediments and allowed only the water to flow into the street drain.Great Bath : + The great bath was a large, rectangular tank in a courtyard. It may be the earliest example of a water- proof structure. + The corridors were present on all four sides and stairs are seen on the northem and southern sides. + The bath was lined with bricks, coated with plaster and made water-tight using layers of natural bitumen. + Itwas well paved with several adjacent rooms. Some structures are identified as granary. + There were steps on the -north and south leading into the tank. There were rooms on three sides. Water was drawn from the well located in the courtyard and drained out after use. The Great Granary + The granary was a massive building with a solid brick foundation. Granaries were used to store food grain. + The remains of wheat, barley, millets, sesame and pulses have been found there. * Agranary with walls made of mud bricks, which are still ina good condition, has been discovered in Rakhigarhi, a village in Haryana, belonging to Mature Harappan Phase. The Assembly Hall + The Assembly Hall was another huge public building at Mohenjo-Daro. It was a multi- pillared hall(20pillars in41 ows to support the roof).Economy : * Agriculture was an important source of subsistence for the Harappans. The Harappans cultivated diverse crops such as wheat, barley, lentil, chickpea, sesame and various millets, + They adopted a double cropping system. + The Harappans used ploughs. They perhaps ploughed the land and then sowed the seeds. Ploughed fields have been found at Kalibangan, They used both canal and well imigation. + Archaeobotanists study ancient agriculture, and human and environmental relationships Animal Domestication : + Pastoralism was also practiced by thi domesticated sheep, goat and fowl. Harappans. They + They had knowledge of various other animals including buffalo, pig and elephant + But horse was not known to them. + The Harappan cattle are called Zebu, It is a large breed, often represented in their seals. * They also ate fish and birds. Evidence of boar, deer and gharial has been found at the Harappan sites.Crafts Found in Indus Valley Civilization Mohenjo-Daro Leader : + Asculpture of a seated male has been unearthed in a building, with a head band on the forehead and a smaller ornament on the right upper arm. * His hair is carefully combed, and beard finely trimmed. + Two holes beneath the ears suggest that the head omament might have been attached fill the ear. The left shoulder is covered with a shaw/-like garment decorated with designs of flowers and rings This shaw! pattem is used by people even today in those areas. Statue of Dancing Girl : This little statue was found at Mohenjo- Daro. When Sir John Marshall saw the statuette known as the dancing girl, he said, "When | first saw them | found it difficult to believe that they were pre-historic modeling. Such as this was unknown in the ancient worlds up to the age of Greece. | thought that these figures had found their way into levels some 3000years old to which they properly belonged” ".Pottery : + Pottery was practiced g the potter's wheel. It was well fired. Potteries were red in color with beautiful designs in black. + The broken pieces of pottery have animal figures and geometric designs on it + The pottery are shaped like dish-on-stands, storage jars, plates, dishes, bowls and pots. + The painted motifs, generally noticed on the pot! are pipal leaves, fish-scale design, intersecting circles, zigzag lines, horizontal bands and geo-metrical motifs with floral and faunal patterns + The Harappan pottery is well baked and fine in deco rations. Metal, Tools and Weapons : + The Harappan civilization belongs to the Bronze Age + The Harappans used chert blades, copper objects, and bone and ivory tools. + The tools of points, chisels, needles, fishhooks, razors weighing pans, mirror and antimony rods were made o| copper. + The chert blades made out of Rohrichert was used by the Harappans. + Their weapons include arrow heads, spearhead, Celt and axe. They did not have the knowledge of iron.Textiles and Ornaments . srappar * Cotton fabrics * Wool was also used f silk. +H 1 therr vith necklaces armlets, bangles, finger rings, ear studs and anklets. Iron was unknown to people of Indus. F r Carnelian t r MesopotamianTrade and Exchange : Harappans had close trade contacts with the Mesopotamians and also with various cultures of India. The Harappan seals and materials have been found in the Sumerian sites in Oman, Bahrain, Iraq and Iran The cuneiform inscriptions mention the trade contacts between Mesopotamia and Harappans. The mention of "Meluhha" in the cuneiform inscriptions refers to the Indus region. ‘A Harappan jar has been found in Oman. Harappan seals, weights, dice and beads are found in Mesopotamia, Camelian, lapis lazuli, copper, gold and varieties of wood were exported to Mesopotamia. + There is evidence for extensive maritime trade with Mesopotamia. Indus Seals have been found as far as Mesopotamia(Sumer) which are modern-day Iraq, Kuwait and parts of Syria. + King Naram-Sin of Akkadian Empire(Sumerian)has written about buying jewellery from the land of Melukha (a region of the Indus Valley). * Cylindrical seals similar to those found in Persian Gulf and Mesopotamia have also been found in the Indus area. * This shows the trade links between these two areas. A naval dockyard has been discovered in Lothal In Gujarat. It shows the maritime activities of the Indus people. Dockyard at Lothal * Lothal is situated on the banks of a tributary of Sabarmati river in Gujarat.Weights and Measures Technology : + Harappans had developed proper weights and measures + Cubical chert weights have been unearthed from Harappan sites. + The weights exhibit a binary system. The ratio of weight is doubled as 1:2:4:8:16:32.The small weight measure of 16th ratio weighs 13.63 grams. + They also used a measuring scale in which one inch was around 1.75 cm. Weights made of chert were cubical + They used binary numbering system(1,2,4,8,16,32,etc.) + Ivory scale found in Lothal in Gujarat is 1704mm (the smallest division ever recorded on a scale of other contemporary civilizations). Seals, Sealings and Scripts : * The seals from various media such as steatite, copper, terracotta and ivory are frequently found in the Harappan sites. + The Harappan script has not yet been convincingly deciphered. + The longest text has about twenty six signs. Some scholars are of the view that it is Dravidian. + The earliest form of writing was developed by Sumerians.Arts and Amusement : + The terracotta figurines, the paintings on the pottery, and the bronze images from the Harappan sites suggest the artistic nature of the Harappans. + "Priest king” of steatite, dancing girl of copper (both from Mohenjo-Daro),and stone Dholavira a the important objects of art. + Toy carts, rattles, wheels, tops, marbles and hopscotches exhibit the amusement of the Harappan people. + Toys like carts, cows with movable heads and limbs, clay balls, tiny doll, a small clay monkey, terracotta squirels eating a nut, clay dogs and male dancer have been found. + They made various types of toys using terracotta, which show that they enjoyed playing. Faith and Belief System : + The Indus people worshipped nature. + They worshipped the pipa/tree. + Some of the terracotta figures appear to be mother goddess + They buried the dead. Burials were made elaborately and evidence of cremation is also reported. + The Harappan burials have pottery, omaments, jewellery, copper mirrors and beads. These suggest their belief in an afterlife + There might have been worship of Mother Goddess (which symbolized ferllity), which is concluded based upon the excavation of several female figurines.Polity : + Uniformity in pottery, seals, weights and bricks reveals the existence of a polity. + Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro might have had a city state like polity. * The uniformity in the cultural materials and measurement units point to a central authority during the Harappan times. General Facts about Indus Civilization : * Itis among the oldest in the world. + It is also the largest among four ancient civilizations. + The world's first planned cities are found in this civilization. * The Indus also had advanced sanitation and drainage system. + There was a high sense of awareness on public health. * Archaeological site at Mohenjo-Daro has been declared as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. + Radiocarbon Dating Method: A Standard Too! for Archaeologists Also known as C14 method, the radio carbon method uses the radioactive isotope of carbon called carbon! 4 to determine the age of an object.Decline: The Indus Valley Civilization declined from about 1900 BCE. Changes in climate, decline of the trade with the Mesopotamia, and the drying of the river and water resources due to continuous drought are some of the reasons attributed by historians for the decline. Invasions, floods and shifting of the river course are also cited as reasons for the ruin of Indus civilization. In course of time, the people shifted to the southem and eastem directions from the Indus region.Migration of Homo sapiens from east Africa to other parts of the world. STAGES OF HUMAN EVOLUTION fou)