Indus valley civilization
Indus valley Civilization is one of the four earliest Civilization of the world along with the civilizations of Mesopotamia a(Tigris and Euphrates), Egypt(Nile) and China ( Hwang Ho). The Civilization forms a part of the proto-history of India belongs to the Bronze age. The development of this civilization took place in the northwestern part of the subcontinent of India.It is also called Harappan culture because this civilization was discovered in a place called Harappa in western Punjab (a province of modern Pakistan) . Under this civilization Punjab, Sindh Baluchistan, Gujarat, Rajasthan and coastal part of western Uttar Pardesh come.Its expansion from Jammu in the north to the estuary of Narmada in the south was about 1299600 sq.km. Its shape was like an irregular triangle, whose base was in the north-west and top point was in the south-west. Largest sites is Rakhigarhi in Hissar, Haryana .Next comes mohenjodaro, then Harappa.
Discovery and time of Indus Valley Civilization:
The discovery of this civilization was done by the Archaeological Department of India, under the supervision of Sir.Johan Marshal, Dayaram Sahani first discovered Harappa in the year 1921 and R.D Banerjee discovered Mohanjodaro in the year 1922. According to radiocarbon-14 dating ,it spread from the year 2500 - 1750 BC.
It can be divided into following sub parts.
• Early Phase -------------------2900-2500 BC
• Middle(mature) phase----2500- 2000 BC
• Later Phase--------------------2000-1750 BC
Town Planning of Indus Valley Civilization:
Harappan culture is famous for its Town planning. The towns were divided into two parts the upper part or Citadel and the Lower part. On the Citadel were the Ruling class of the city,the main Industries and granaries etc. On the Lower side there were the houses of common people. The houses were made of bricks. Most of the houses were made of burnt bricks, but some houses made of raw bricks have also found. The windows of the houses were opened in the street ,not towards the road so that the noise of the road would not enter the houses.In the construction of houses, attention was given to strength rather then beauty.The town planning was not uniform. A common feature was the gird system i.e. Streets cutting across one another at right angle ,divided the town into larger rectangular blocks. The road of the city paved. Major roads of the city were founded to be 33 ft. Wide.the streets which were found to be less wide were also up to 4 ft. Lamp-post were made erected at regular intervals. It indicated the existence of street lighting.
Drainage system: Underground drainage system was connected all houses to the street drains, made up of mortar, lime and gypsum. They were covered with either brick or stone slabs and equipped with manhole. This shows a developed sense of health and sanitation.
The Great Bath: The great bath was found in Mohenjodaro. It was used for religious bathing. The stairs used to reach the water from all the four sides . it was also a very big reservoir . The reservoir was 39 feet long ,33 feet wide and 8 feet deep. It was made of solid bricks. The reservoir was filled with water from the well. There was a system to drain the water and to fill it with fresh water.There were changing rooms alongside.
The Granaries: Six granaries in a row were found in the Citadel at Harappa.
Organization of society:
The excavations of mohenjodaro show that the society of the people of the Indus valley divided into four classes.the first class was scholars , in which there were priests, vaidya, astrologers. The second class was of warriors whose duty was to protect the society . The third class consisted of merchants and the fourth class consisted of domestic servants and laborers.
Foods:
The people of Indus valley used wheat ,rice and dates in food. Indus people were both non-vegetarian and vegetarian.These People used to meat meat,eggs and fruits,milk and various types of vegetable,vegetables.
Religious Practices of Indus People:
• Chief Female Diety: A terracotta figurine,where a plant is shown growing out of the embryo of a women and represented the mother Goddess(Goddess of Earth).
• Chief male Diety Pashupati Mahadeva (proto-Shiva),represented in seals , sitting in a yogic posture on a throne and having three face and two horns. He is surrounded by an elephant, and two deer appears at his feet. against them. Fire altars are found at Lothal and Kalibangha .
• Many trees (pipal),animals(bull),birds(dove, pigeon) and stones were worshipped.
• Dead bodies were placed in the north-south orientation.
• Indus people believed in ghosts and evil forces and used amulets for protection
• The river were considered sacred and on the days of festivals these people would have been bathing in the great bath.they also used to burn and bury their dead bodies.Agriculture of Indus valley Civilization:
• Agriculture was the back bone of the civilization. The soil was fertile due to inundation in the river Indus.
• They used wooden plough share (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 husk were found.
• They were first 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.
Domesticated animals of Indus people:
• Animals rearing was practiced. They were domesticated buffalos , oxen, sheep, ass, goat , pigs, elephants, dogs, cats etc.
• Camel bones are reported at Kalibanga.Although the people of Sandhav were unfamiliar with the horse, but the remains of horse has been found from Surkotada.
Art and Crafts of Indus People:
• Harappans used stone tools and implements and were well acquainted with bronze. Bronze was made by mixing copper with tin.
• Boat making , jewellery of gold , silver precious stone and bead making was practiced. Cotton fabrics were used in summer and woolens in winter.
• Pottery: both plain or painted (red and black) pottery was made. Pots were decorated with human figure , plants , animals and geometrical patterns.
• Bronze image of a nude women dancer (identified as devdasi) and stone steatite image image of beareded man were both obtained from Mohenjodaro.
• Terracotta figurines fire baked clay was used to make toys ,objects of worship , animals(monkey ,dog , sheep,cattle, humped and hump less bulls), cattle toys with movable head , toy-carts, whistle shaped like birds, and both male and female figurines.
Trades of Indus Valley People:
• 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.
• Weights and measures were made of limestone , steatite etc. Generally in cubical shape and in multiples of 16.
• Foreign trade tread flourished with Mesopotamia or Sumeria (Iran),Central Asia ,Persia,Afghanistan and Bahrain.
Major Imports Of Indus People:
• Gold: From Kolar(Karnataka),Afghanistan, Persia(Iran).
• Silver: From Afghanistan, Persia(Iran), south India.
• Copper: From Khetri(Rajasthan), Balochistan,Arabia.
• Tin: From Afghanistan, Hazaribagh(Jharkhand)
Jad: From Central Asia
Mode of Entertainment:
The people of Indus valley were interested in merriment .These people were found of dancing,singing and gambling.Gambling seems to be their favorite time pass. These people used to hunt wild goats and deer with bow and arrow.they were used to play chess. Apart from this ,they used to fight chickens and bulls.their famous musical instruments were drums, trumpet and veena.
Script of Indus valley People:
The script of Indus people 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 style is called Boustrophedon.
Important Sites of Indus Valley Civilization
Harappa: Harappa was discovered DR Sahni in 1921.The site was located on the banks of river Ravi in Montgomery district of Punjab region of Pakistan.
Archaeological Finds
• It is second biggest site of Indus Civilization.
• Labor housing were found here.
• The Swastika symbol were found here.
• Moose of soil and granary have been obtained here.
• Clay figure of mother Goddess.
• Sculpture dog chasing a deer(bronze)nude male and nude dancing female (stone),sand stone male torso.
Mohenjodaro: Mohenjodaro in Sindh language means Mound of Dead.It was discovered by RD Bannerjee in 1922. This site was located on the banks of river Indus in Larkana district of Sindh Province of Pakistan.
Archaeological Finds
• Evidence of huge bath has been found here. T type bricks have been used in the construction of this bath.
• The Great granary(largest building).
• Evidence of cotton cloth has been found.
• The idol of Pashupati Shiva found from Mohenjodaro is famous.
• Sculpture Bronze dancing girl, steatite image of bearded man.
Kalibanga: The meaning of Kalibanga is black colored bangle. Kalinanga was discovered by BB Lal in 1961.It was situated on the bank of river Ghagger in Hanumangarh district of Rajasthan.
• Bangle factory,wheels of a toy cart
• Bronze bullock cart or Ikkagadi obtained from here are important.
• The footprints of a dog chasing a cat have been found brick found here.
Rangpur: The site was discovered by MS Vats in 1931.It was situated on the bank of river Meedar in Gujarat.
• Rice bran found in Rangpur .
Chanhudaor: chanhudaro was discovered by MG Majumdar in 1931. It was situated on the bank of river Indus in Sind province.
• Inkpot, iKKas of bronze,Imprint of dog's paw on brick were found , only city without citadel.
Sutkagendor: This site was discovered by Aurel Stein in the year 1931. Sutkagendor was situated on the bank of river Dasht in Balochistan.
• Two fold divisions of township Citadel and lower Town.
Ropar: Ropar was discovered by YD Sharma in 1953. It was located on the bank of river Sutlej in Indian Punjab.
• Building made of stone and soil. Dog buried with human .one inscribed steatite seal with topical Indus pictographic;oval pit burials were found.
Lothal(Manchester of Indus Valley Civilization): Lothol was discovered by SR Rao in 1957.It was situated on the bank of river Bhogava Gujarat.
• Rice Husk, Fire altars, tusks of elephant, terracotta figure of horse and seal, panted jar(bird and fox),houses with entrance on main streets, impressions of cloth on some seals,instrument for measuring 180°, 90° and 45° angle were found.
• A dockyard has been discovered at Lothal.
Dholavira: Dholavira was discovered by JP Joshi in 1967.It was located on the bank of river Luni i Kachchh(Gujarat).
• Giant water reservoir , unique water harnessing system, dams and embankments,a stadium, rock-cut architecture were found here.
Banawali: Banawali was discovered by by RS Bisht in 1973.. This site was located on the bank of river Ghaggar in Haryana.
• Oval shaped settlement, only city with radial streets, lack of systematic drainage pattern.
• Toy plough largest numbers barley grains were found here .
Alamgirpur: Akamgirpur was discovered by YD Sharma in 1974. It was situated on the bank of river Hindon Uttar Paradesh.
Impression of cloth on a trough.
• The river were considered sacred and on the days of festivals these people would have been bathing in the great bath.they also used to burn and bury their dead bodies.
Town famous for Trade
| Town | Trade |
|---|---|
| Lothal | Factory for stone tools and metallic finished goods. |
| Daimabad | Bronze Industry |
| Balakot | Pearl finished goods.bangle and shell industry. |
| Chanhudaro | Beads and Bangles factory. |
Different Views of historians about Decline of Indus civilization
| Views | Historians |
|---|---|
| External Aggression | Wheeler,Piggot and Gordon-Childe |
| Inundation | Mr.Sahni |
| Epidamic | KVR Kennedy |
| Tectonic Disturbance | Marshall and Raikes |
| Sudden Dicline | Wheeler |
| Climatic Change | RL Steine and AN Ghosh |
| Flood | Marshall, SR Rao,Maickey |
| The Destruction due to change in course of river Ghaggar | GF Foles |
| Deforestation ,scarcity of resources, Ecological imbalance | Fairservis |
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