Indus valley civilization



Harappan Civilization:

First site excavated – Harappa (Dayaram Sahni

- 1921). So, name of the particular culture goes by the name of first site excavated.

It is also called as Indus Valley civilization because most of the sites are found in the valley of River Indus.

Harappan Civilization is older to chalcolithic



  Refer : Pre History (Table:1)


Important findings in the sites of pre- historic period.

�cultures but advanced when compared to the latter.

Geographical Area:

Flourished between 2500-1500BC

But 2200-1800BC was its mature period

Bhimbetka Homo Sapiens' Cave 500 painted Rock Shelters (MH)(Prominently Mesolithic site)

Mirzapur Shows that goats and sheep were exploited during Palaeolithic phase

Atranjikhera Textile printing

Hastinapur Wild Sugarcane

Inamgaon Statue of mother Goddess (MH)

Mehargarh Earliest evidence of agriculture, settled life, evidence of Dentistry (Baluchistan) (Neolithic)

Koldihawa Earliest evidence of rice

Bagor and Adamgarh Earliest evidences of Domestication of animal (Rajasthan)


It covered the present Pakistan & North western and western part of India.

It extended from Jammu in the North to the Narmada estuary in south, and covers western part of UP and extends to Baluchistan, forms the western boundary.


Refer Harappan Civilization (Table : 2)




Table: 1 Prehistory:


Category Palaeolithic age (Old stone age) Mesolithic age (later stone age) Neolithic age (New stone age) Chalcolithic age

Time period Early or Lower Palaeolithic. (5 lakh

B.C to 50,000 B.C)

Middle Palaeolithic (50,000 B.C-40,000 B.C)

Upper Palaeolithic (40,000 B.C to 10,000 B.C) In India, it started around 8000 B.C and continued upto 4000 B.C. It started around 6000

B.C in India.

In the sub-continent, Neolithic phase started in Mehrgarh (Baluchistan, Pakistan) Around 2000-1500 B.C

Artefacts Hand axes, cleavers.

Flakes -scrappers made of flakes, borers and blade like tools.

Blades and burins. Microliths- small tools used in addition to few old stone age tools. Regional & temporal variations in  the Neolithic artefacts that were found.

Polished stone tools with sharp cutting edges.

Beehive type of hutments, common hearths, querns and mullers.

Specialised tools like chisels, celts and adzes.

Different forms of pottery.

Animal bones and food grains Stone and copper tools.

Terracotta bangles and beads.

Terracotta animal figurines.

Stone querns and pestles.

Copper hoards-

harpoon, celts, rings, axes.

Ochre coloured

Pottery (OCP), Black & Red Ware, PGW pottery.

Sites Early old stone age- Belan valley in Mirzapur (U.P).

Middle Palaeolithic – valley of Narmada and Tungabhadra.

Upper Palaeolithic- Bhimbetka caves,

Gujarat dunes Andhra, Karnataka etc. Tilwara and Bajor (largest Mesolithic site in India), Rajasthan.

Sites like Langhnaj, river sabramati, Narmada valley.

Bhimbetka and Adamgar.

Sarai Nahar Rai (U.P)

Sangankallu (Kar) and Renigunta (AP) Burzahom and Gufkral (J&K)

Chopani mandu, Koldihawa (Belan Valley, UP). (earliest evidence of pottery and farming in India

Chirand and senuwar in Bihar.

Deojali Hading, (North cachar Hills, Assam).

Sangankallu, Nagarjuna konda, Maski, Brahmagiri in South India. Banas culture

Kayatha culture, Chambal region.

Malwa culture. Jorwe culture

Daimabad-large number of bronze goods

Inamgaon- largest site, Big House with granary near- by Malwa- bull terracottas symbolizing religious cult.

Gungeria- largest hoard of copper tools and weapon.

Ganeshwar- close to copper Khetri

mines

Economic conditions Man lived on Hunting and food gathering.

Old stone age was almost Ice age. Limiting the flora and fauna variety. Hunting, food

gathering and fishing.

Domestication of cattle started. Domestication of cattle and plants.

Settled and sedentary life.

Crops like Rice, Wheat and Ragi were grown. Technology wise, the culture had seen progress.


Settled agriculture practise.

Social aspects They inhabited in Caves and rock shelters.

Social groupings formed the basis for hunting.

Division of work based on gender is evident. Paintings on the caves in Bhimbetka and Adamgarh reflect the social life of the people.

They depict activities like sexual union, child birth, child rearing and burial ceremony.

Society became stable compared to Palaeolithic people. Transformation of social life from nomadic to settled life.

Social differences emerged but not so distinct.

Birth and death became an important event in social life. Social inequalities started emerging.

Community life transforming into a family life.

Settlement size and variety in the size and shapes of houses.


Table: 2 Harappan Civilization


Harappan civilization Salient Features

Town Planning and structures. The city is divided into two parts, the city on raised platform, Known as Upper citadel and the lower town known as lower citadel.

Grid system followed in arrangement of houses and roads.

Usage of Burnt bricks, a remarkable feature of Harappan.

Great Bath, served as ritual bathing, found in upper citadel of Mohenjo-Daro.

A large granary in Mohenjo-Daro and six granaries in Harappa.

Two roomed barracks in Harappa, which possibly accommodated labourers.

Drainage system was another remarkable feature of the civilization.

Agriculture& Trade. The Indus region was fertile in ancient times, otherwise it would not have supported towns and villages.

The crops grown were wheat, Barley, peas, seasum, mustard. And in Lothal, people started producing rice.

Indus people were the first to produce cotton.

Though there were structures used to store water- Gabarbands or nalas, but channel or canal irrigation seems to have been absent.

Indus valley people had both short and long-distance trade, and also foreign trade.

They used boats and bullock-carts for transportation.

No use of metallic currency, but practised barter system of exchange.

Developed uniform system of weights and measures.

Seals and sealings were used in trade, as marks of ownership meant to guarantee the quality of the product.

Domestication of Animals Some form of Mixed farming was practised in Harappan Civilization.

Domestication of animals on large scale- Oxen, buffaloes, goats, sheep and Pigs.



Dogs and cats were domesticated.

Humped bulls were favoured and kept asses and camels, which were used as beasts of burden.

There was an ambiguous evidence of Horse reported from Surkotada, Mohenjo-Daro and from Lothal.

Harappans were well known of Elephants and rhinoceros.

  Society The society seems to be stratified based on class.

Based on the settlement patterns, location of granaries, objects found in Burials, one can say strongly there existed social inequalities.

People of Indus were beauty conscious-this is reflected in the dressing styles and ornaments used.

Different hair styles were practised by men and women. Ornamentation made up of precious and semi-precious stones were used by men and women.

Merchants and priests were important class of this period.

Though there was worship of mother goddess, it is not so clear, whether the society is matriarchal or not.  

  Religion and Religious practices Presence of some structures with ritual significance indicate the existence of collective worship.

Great Bath, Mohenjo-Daro had a great ritual significance.

Prevalence of cults of fertility and mother goddess worship.

They worshiped tree spirits-Pipal tree was worshipped.

On the seals, a famous deity, who has been identified as proto-Shiva was found. The deity is surrounded by animals like goats, elephant, tiger and antelope.

There is sufficient evidence for the prevalence of phallic worship. Numerous stone symbols of female sex organs (yoni worship), besides those of phallus, have been discovered. Fertility cult was main feature.

The worship of fire is proved by the discovery of fire altars at Lothal, Kalibangan and Harappa.

They believed in ghosts and evils forces and used amulets as protection against them.

Disposal of the dead has been an important religious activity.

Dead bodies were generally placed in the north-south direction and nearby the dead body the ornaments and other objects were also buried.  

  Harappan script They invented the art of writing, but the script is not yet deciphered.

The script is not alphabetical but mainly pictographic.

It is written from right to left; a practise very common to that region in the later times.  

  Technology and crafts The Harappan culture belongs to the Bronze age.

They are acquainted with Bronze, which is an alloy of copper and Tin.

They got copper from Khetri mines in Rajasthan, although it could also be brought from Baluchistan.

Tin, they got from Afghanistan.

Bronze smiths constituted an important group of artisans in the Harappan society.

Weavers wove cloth of wool and cotton.

Brick-laying was an important craft.

Boat making, Bead-making, seal making and terracotta manufacture were also important crafts.

Pottery wheel was in full use.

Goldsmiths made jewellery made up of silver, gold and precious stones was found.  

Decline of Indus Valley Civilization

Many theories promoted

Aryan Invasion theory, supporting evidence from Mohenjo-Daro multiple wounded dead bodies at one place (theory refuted)

Destruction of sites due to floods, (Mohenjo- Daro was destroyed by floods not less than 7 times)

Tectonic forces and earthquakes (Evidence from Kalibangan)

Fire (Evidence from Rakhigarhi)

Malaria (Evidence from Mohenjo-Daro)

Ecological changes due to deforestation, desert

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Evidence:

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into 3 parts.

Rangapur by Arul Stein Rice cultivation and rice husk

Daimadabad Bronze images of chariot, ox etc.

Southern most Harappan Site

Manda Northern most site

Alamgirpur Eastern most site

Sukagendor Western most site