“The Knowledge Library”

Knowledge for All, without Barriers…

An Initiative by: Kausik Chakraborty.

“The Knowledge Library”

Knowledge for All, without Barriers……….
An Initiative by: Kausik Chakraborty.

The Knowledge Library

HARAPPAN AND INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION

Introduction

    • Named after Harappa the first site where the unique urban culture was discovered, a civilization existed that is dated between 2600 – 1900 BC.
    • There were earlier and later cultures known as Early Harappa and Late Harappa in the same region.
    • The Harappan phase characterized by distinctive objects such as seals, beads, weights, stone blades, and baked bricks is called Mature Harappan culture.
    • The transition from Early Harappan to Mature Harappan is best seen at Amri where at the beginning of the 3rd Millenium BC a distinctive culture complex to the southeast of Baluchistan appeared. Here people lived in stone houses of mud-brick houses. They had constructed some kind of granary too. They painted animal motifs such as humped bulls on thin pottery.

The extent of the Civilization

    • The civilization was spread over Baluchistan, Jammu, Sind, Punjab, North Rajasthan, and Gujarat. The climate of these regions was moist and humid and not like the desert areas these have become today.
    • Although the Kalibangan Mohenjodaro axis is where the majority of the houses were present. The spread of the civilization is vast due to the wide trade network and the economic independence of each region.

Harappan civilization [since Harappa was the first place to be discovered] or Indus valley civilization [it is located on the banks of Indus River] is 5000 year old civilization. 80% of the settlements were on the banks of the now lost Saraswati River. The civilization was first discovered in 1920 while laying the Lahore Multan railway line.

The capital cities: are Harappa [banks of Ravi River] and Mohenjo-Daro [banks of Indus River].

Harappa was discovered by Dayaram Sahni and Mohenjo-Daro by Rakal das Banerjee.

John Marshall the head of the Archaeological Survey of India played an important role.

Alexander Cunningham, the father of Indian archaeology was the first director of the Archaeological Survey of India.

Carbon dating uses C-14 isotope to find human bones’ age. The inventor is Libby.

Findings at the cities:

  1. Harappa
  • Granaries
  • Male and female gods
  • Painted pottery
    • No cluster of settlements around Harappa.
    • A substantial section of the population was involved in activities other than food production.
    • The isolation of Harappa can be explained by the fact that it was located in the midst of some important trade routes which are still in use.
    • Harappa’s pre-eminent position was therefore linked to its ability to procure exotic items from faraway lands.
  • Wheat and barley
  1. Mohenjo-Daro –Largest city of the civilization spread over 200 hectares.
    • Excavations show that people lived here for a very long time and went on building and rebuilding houses in the same location.
    • As a result, the height of the remains of the buildings and debris is about 75 feet.
    • Ever since its occupation there are regular foods here which causes deposition of soil.
    • At the time of its decline, garbage was seen piled upon its streets, the drainage system broken down and new less impressive houses built even over the streets.

                  ·   Public granary; Bath [the largest structure in civilization]
Lothal –Port city

                  ·    Terracotta figures
                  ·     Fire altars and dockyard, surrounded by a brick wall for flood protection.

    • In Gujarat, settlements such as Rangapur, Surkotada and Lothal have been discovered.
    • Lothal located in the coastal flats of the Gulf of Cambay stood beside a tributary of Sabarmati.
    • It was an important center for making objects out of stones, shells, and metals.
    • This place seems to have been an outpost for sea trade with contemporary west Asian societies like Oman.
  1. Kalibangan – elaborate town planning and urban features
  •  fire altars
    • Kalibangan located on the dried up bed of river Ghaggar was excavated in 1960 under the guidance of B K Thapar.
    • This area had the largest concentration of Harappan settlements. It has yielded evidence of the early Harappan period.
  1. Dholavira

                  ·  Water and drainage system
                  ·   Stadium

  • Located on khadir beyt in Rann of Kutchh was divided unlike other cities in three parts and each part was surrounded by massive stone walls with entrances through gateways.
  • There was also a large open area in the settlement where public ceremonies can be held.
  • Another important find is a sort of a public inscription comprising ten large-sized signs of the Harappan scripts besides the water reservoir.

Sutkagen Dor

    • It is located near the Makran coast which is close to the Pakistan Iran border.
    • At present, the settlement is landlocked and is located in dry inhospitable plains.
    • The towns had a citadel surrounded by a stone wall built for defence.
    • It is probably to fill the need for a seaport for trading purpose.

System of Harappan civilization:

  1. Progress in agriculture, industry, crafts and trade.
  2. System of grid-shaped roads – streets and lanes cut at right angles, citadels – political authority was present, walled cities, burned bricks – the absence of stone bricks.
  3. Houses with no windows; Made of stone and wood, every house had a bathroom.
  4.  Citadel areas for upper classes and non citadel areas for lower classes.
  5. Drains adjacent to the house are covered with stone slabs or bricks.
  6. Seals, script [not yet been deciphered] written from right to left and left to right in alternate lines, standard weights and measures.
  7. Wheel-based pottery is the practice of burying the dead in the north-south direction.
  8. Cotton and woolen clothes.
  9. Male and female goddesses. Tree worship. Snake worship. No temples were found and religion and castes did not exist in this civilization hence it was a predominantly secular civilization.
  10. Vegetarian and non-vegetarian eaters.
  11. Cosmetics and weapons were used.
  12. Horses were not known but domesticated animals were cows, bulls, dogs, elephants.
  13. Iron was not known but bronze was used.
  14. Knowledge of tides and medicines.
  15. No currency so barter-based exchange. Trade with other civilizations both internal and foreign.
  16. Agriculture based on wheat and barley.
  17. Fishing, hunting, and bullfighting, music were common pass times.
  18. Bronze, stone, and terracotta sculptures.
  19. Granaries show organized collection and distribution. A great bath shows the importance of ritualistic bathing and cleanliness.

Causes of decline:

    Climate change led to changes in the river course.

    Invasion by Aryans.

    Civil wars

By 1500 BC the civilization began to decline. The Sanskrit-speaking Indo – Aryans entered the subcontinent in this period.

Major Characteristics

    • Town planning
      • The most remarkable feature of the Harappan civilisation was its urbanization. The Harappan settlements which were small towns show a remarkable unity of conception and an advanced sense of planning and organization.
      • Each city was divided into a citadel area where the essential institutions of civil and religious life were located and the lower residential area where the urban population lived.
      • In Mohenjodaro and harappa the citadel was surrounded by a brick wall. At kalibangan, both the citadel and the lower city are surrounded by a brick wall. Usually towns and cities are laid out in parallelogramic fashion. Bricks of both baked and unbaked categories were used of standard size showing the presence of a large-scale industry for the Harappan.
      • Lower towns were divided into wards like a chessboard by north-south, east-west roads, and smaller lanes cutting each other at right angles as in a grid system.
      • Houses of varying sizes were an indication of economic groups in the settlement. The parallel rows of two rooms and cottages unearthed at mohenjodaro and Harappa were used by the poorer sections of the society. Houses were equipped with priate toilets and wells. The bathrooms were connected to drains under sewers under the main street. The drainage system was one of the main impressive features of the Harappan civilization. It is also an indicator of a presence of a municipal authority.
    • Agriculture :
      • Wheat and barley were cultivated. Sesame and mustard were used for oil.
      • There are indications of the use of a wooden plough and toothed barrow.
      • Lothal people cultivated rice and harappans also grew cotton.
      • Though canal irrigation was absent but irrigation depended on the irregular flooding of the rivers of Punjab or Sind.
    • Stock breeding :
      • Sheep, goats, cattle, buffalo, pigs and elephants were domesticated. Camels were rare and horses were unknown.
      • Wild animals were hunted for food and game.
    • Trade and Network :
      • Trade routes were through land and sea both. Inland as well as foreign trade was carried out. This is proved by the occurrence of small terracotta boats and by a vast brick dock built at Lothal.
      • The barter system was the medium of exchange.
      • Well created system of weights and measures was present. The eights were in order of 2 as 1,2,4,8,16,32,64 till 160. The lengths were measured using strips of shells which were unshrinkable in heat and cold.
      • Harappan seals and small objects used by traders to stamp their goods were found in Mesopotamia.
    • Crafts
      • People were involved in pottery making, bead making, seal making, spinning, and weaving both cotton and wool. Terracotta toys were made, handicrafts were glazed and carved with beautiful motifs of animals and birds.
      • Metalworkers were highly skilled. They made fine jewelry in gold, bronze, copper, saws, chisels and knives.
      • Stone sculptures were rare and undeveloped.
    • Science :
      • Harappans knew mining, metal working, art of constructing well planned buildings.
      • they were adept at manufacturing gypsum cement which was used to join stones and even metals.
    • Scripts, Political organization, and Religion :
      • The evidence of political organization isnt found and hence it cant be concluded which kind of political organization was followed in Harappa.
      • However, uniformity in tools, weapons, bricks, and seals shows a presence of political authority.
      • There could have been a class of merchant ruling the civilization unlike in Egypt and Mesopotamia which were ruled by the priestly class.
      • This conclusion stems from the absence of temples in Harappa.
      • Script has too many symbols and is written from right to left and left to right in alternate lines.
    1. The Harappan worshipped both male and female deities. Worship of female sex organs, trees, and bulls are also seen at sites. The Harappan belived in life after death as their dead were buried along with household items and jewellery. The head of the dead body was pointed north. The evidence of urn burial is also seen at sites.

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