Indus Valley Civilization / Harappan Civilization : Ancient India

Indus Valley Civilization / Harappan Civilization:

• The Harappan Civilization is dated between 2600 BC and 1900 BC.
• It was a Bronze Age Civilization in the northwestern regions of South Asia.
• Named after Harappa, the first site to be excavated, the entire civilization is known as the Harappan Civilization.
• Sir John Hubert Marshall was responsible for the large-scale excavations that revealed Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro, the two largest cities of the previously unknown IVC (Indus Valley Civilization).
• The Civilization was first identified in 1921 at Harappa in Punjab region (present-day Pakistan) and then in 1922 at Mohenjo-Daro near the Indus river.
• There are 5 major urban sites (Harappa, Mohenjo-Daro, Dholavira, Ganeriwala, and Rakhigarhi).
  
  

 Origin

• There were earlier and later cultures, known as Early Harappan and Later Harappan.
• Harappan Civilization is also called Mature Harappan to distinguish from other cultures.
• The period is characterized by seals, beads, weights, baked bricks and stone blades (also called Mature Harappan culture).
  
  

 Geography

• It was spread over Sind, Afghanistan, Jammu, Punjab, Gujarat, Balochistan, northern Rajasthan, and Kathiawar.
• It covered most of Pakistan along with the western states of India.
• The Kalibangan - Mohenjo-Daro represents the center of the Harappan civilization.
• The number of Harappan sites, of the Ghaggar-Hakra river and its tributaries are around 500 and those along the Indus and its tributaries are approximately 100 in number.

Town plan

• Usually towns were laid out in a parallelogrammic form.
• System town planning, drainage system, granary, dockyard, public bathing place, use of bricks, buildings, etc are some of the most impressive achievements.
• Social equality seems to be widely prevalent in the cities of Indus Valley.
• Existence of the first urban sanitation systems in the world.
• The concept of urban planning is also widely evident.

Science

• They knew how to make long lasting paints and dyes.
• They also had the knowledge of proto-dentistry and the touchstone technique of gold testing.
• The people evolved new techniques in metallurgy and produced copper, bronze, lead and tin.
• First to develop a system of uniform weights and measures.
• They knew metal working and mining.
• They constructed well planned multi storey buildings.

Agriculture

• The major cultivated cereal crop was naked six-row barley, a crop derived from two-row barley.
• The Harappan cultivated wheat, peas, sesame and mustard.
• Rice husk in Lothal and Rangpur which proves cultivation of rice as well.
• First people in the world to grow cotton.
• Sheep, oxen, goats, buffaloes, dogs were domesticated.

Religious beliefs

• Harappans worshipped the mother Goddess as the symbol of fertility.
• They also worship Lord Pashupati, which is a figure, seated in a yoga - like posture and is surrounded by animals.
• Certain trees seem to have been considered as sacred.
• They believed life after death, as their graves often contained belongings to the dead person.

Crafts

• Various sculptured, seals, pottery, gold, jewelry and figurines in terracotta, bronze, and steatite, etc have been excavated from the sites of the Harappan Civilization.
• Other crafts include shell works, special kinds of combs, ceramics, agate, glazes steatite bead making, etc.
• Evidence of toys and stringed musical instruments.
• The ‘Dancing Girl’ and the ‘Bearded Head’ from the Mohenjo-Daro are the two well-known pieces of art.

Trade and Transportation

• The main forms of transport include bullock carts and boats.
• Signs of maritime trade network between the Harappan and Mesopotamian civilizations also.
• Tin and precious stones were imported from Iran and Afghanistan.

Decline

• The gradual decline of the Indus Valley Civilization is believed to have started around 1800 BC.
• By 1700 BC, most of the sites were abandoned.
• The decline of civilization is believed to be connected with climate change.
• The over utilization of resources and an increase in population contributed to the decline of Harappan Civilization.

Some important IVC sites

• Harappa: the first site excavated, in 1921

Situated on banks of Ravi

Structures - 6 granaries in a row, images of mother goddess.

• Mohenjo-Daro: largest site of IVC

Excavated in 1922

Structure- Great Bath, Great Granary

• Lothal: Dock site

Rice husk found

• Kalibangan: Black Bangle factory
• Chanhudaro: city without a citadel, inkpot and lipstick
• Dholavira: in Gujarat, stone water reservoir
• Surkotada: Horse remains