THE INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION

Introduction

The remains of Indus Culture were first discovered at Harappa (West Punjab) and Mohenjodaro (Sindh). Both these sites are situated now in Pakistan. The findings in these two sites revealed that they were cities. This brought to light a civilization which was first referred to as the ‘Indus Valley Civilization’. But it was later named as the ‘Indus Civilization’ as more and more sites were found far away from the Indus valley.

Learning Objectives

In this chapter, you will learn about:

• Indus Civilization

• Social, Cultural and Economic Set-up

Indus Civilization

• The term ‘Indus Civilization’ was first used by archaeologist Sir John Hubert Marshall.

• Indus Valley Civilization prospered alongside the Indus River and was part of the Proto-Historic period or the Bronze Age.

• It is also known as the Harappan Civilization as Harappa was the first discovered site.

• Harappa was discovered in 1921 by Rai Bahadur Dayaram Sahni and Mohenjodaro in 1922 by Rakhal Das Banerjee.

• The areas where ruins of the Indus Civilization were found are spread across Sindh, Rajasthan, Punjab, Baluchistan, Northern Maharashtra, Haryana, Western U.P. and Gujarat.

• It was urban in nature with the most unique feature being the development of urban centres.

• Harappa and Mohenjodaro were its capital cities while Lothal, Sutkagendor, Allahdino, Balakot and Kuntasiwere its port cities.

• Mohenjodaro means ‘mound of dead’ in Sindhi language.

• It was the largest of all the Indus cities, spreading over 200 hectares of area.

• In records of ancient Mesopotamia there is mention of ‘Meluha’ which was found to be the ancient name given to the Indus region.

• According to Carbon-14 dating, the most accepted period for it is 2350 BC – 1750 BC.

Important Sites

Several sites of the civilization have been excavated till date. Continuous research and excavations are being carried out in this regard even now. The most important sites discovered till now are given below.

Important Harappan Sites

Key Archaeological Findings

Important Indus Valley Sites (Geographical Extent)

• Northern-most:

  • Ropar (Sutlej) – Earlier Punjab

  • Manda (Chenab) – Now J & K

• Western-most:

  • Sutkagendor (Dasht) / Makran Coast

  • Pakistan–Iran Border

• Eastern-most:

  • Alamgirpur (Hindon) – Now Uttar Pradesh

• Southern-most:

  • Bhagatrav (Kim) – Earlier Gujarat

  • Daimabad (Pravara) – Now Maharashtra

Important Facts

• Largest Harappan site in India is Rakhigarhi situated in Haryana; second largest is Dholavira in Gujarat.

• The state of Gujarat has accounted for the highest number of Harappan sites after independence.

• A small stone statue found at Mohenjo-Daro in 1927 showed the head of a man with a beard and headband. He was wearing a robe with a three-leaf pattern on it. He looked important, and people have called him the ‘Priest-King’.

• The largest building in Mohenjodaro is a granary measuring 150 feet length and 50 feet breadth.

• The most important public place of Mohenjodaro is the Great Bath measuring 39 feet long, 23 feet wide and 8 feet deep.

Social, Cultural and Economic Set-up

Evidences found have indicated that the Indus civilization was ahead of its time in terms of its planning and infrastructure. Robust and advanced town planning with well-developed water and drainage system was a basic feature of Indus cities.

Town Planning

• Systematic planning based on grid system was followed.

• Streets cut across each other at right angles dividing the town into large rectangular blocks.

• Towns had two parts – a Citadel or upper part and lower part.

• Burnt bricks were used in constructing houses.

• Sophisticated underground drainage system which hooked up all the houses to street drains made of lime, mortar and gypsum.

• Stone slabs or bricks were used to cover them up.

• Street lighting also existed as lamp posts at regular intervals were also found.

Trade

• Main sources for domestic and outside trade were agriculture, industry and forest yield.

• Barter system was used to trade.

• Foreign trade was mainly conducted with Mesopotamia, Afghanistan and Iran.

• Seals and terracotta models of this period show that bullock carts and oxen were used for land transport while boats and ships were used for river and sea transport.

• Gold, copper, tin and several semi-precious stones were imported.

• Main exports were several agricultural products such as wheat, barley, peas, oil seeds and a variety of finished products including cotton goods, pottery, beads, terracotta figures and ivory products.

• A variety of metals and stones were imported from different places.

Major Imports

Agriculture

• It was the civilization’s backbone.

• Wheat and barley were the main crops.

• Dates, mustard and peas were some of the other crops.

• Indus natives were unaware of sugarcane.

• Indus was the first to produce cotton in the world.

• Wooden plough, share and stone sickles were used for harvesting.

• Evidence of a ploughed field was found at Kalibangan.

Animals

• Animals such as buffaloes, oxen, sheep, pigs and elephants were reared and domesticated.

• A number of other animals, including deer, were hunted for food.

• Unicorn was the animal most frequently represented on the seals.

Art and Culture

• Jewellery from gold, silver and precious stone was made.

• Boat and bead making was also undertaken.

• Plain or painted pottery was made and decorated with human figures, designs of animals, plants and geometry.

• Images from metal or bronze and stone steatite were made.

• Terracotta or burnt clay figurines such as toys, worship objects, male and female figurines were found.

• Most common materials used for Harappan stone sculpture were limestone and steatite (soft stone).

Religion

• Both male and female deities were worshipped.

• Mother Goddess was the principal female deity. It was in the form of a plant emerging out of a woman’s embryo.

• Proto-Siva or Pashupati Mahadeva was the principal male deity.

• Seals seated in a yogic position on a throne with three faces and two horns, surrounded by an elephant, a tiger, a rhino and a buffalo with two deer at his feet represented it.

• Linga worship was also prevalent.

• Trees and animals were also worshipped by the Harappans.

• Harappans believed in ghosts and evil forces and wore amulets as protection against them.

Script and Language

• The script used in Indus Valley civilization remains undeciphered to date.

• It is found that the script used was not alphabetical, where each sign stands for a vowel or a consonant, as it contained many signs (approximately 400 in number).

• Seals or stone tablets found show a wider spacing on the right and cramping on the left symbolizing that the script was written from right to left.

• In a few long seals, the ‘boustrophedon method’ of writing in the reverse direction in alternative lines can also be seen.

• Recently, scholars are pointing towards the fact that Harappans used Brahmi script.

Summary

In this chapter, you learned that:

Indus Valley Civilization

• The remains of Indus Culture were first discovered at Harappa (West Punjab) and Mohenjodaro (Sindh).

• The term ‘Indus Civilization’ was first used by archaeologist Sir John Hubert Marshall.

• Indus Valley Civilization prospered alongside the Indus River and was part of the Proto-Historic period or Bronze Age.

• It is also known as Harappan Civilization as Harappa was the first discovered site.

• It was urban in nature with the most unique feature being the development of urban centres.

• Harappa and Mohenjodaro were its capital cities.

• According to Carbon-14 dating, the most accepted period for Indus civilization is 2350 BC – 1750 BC.

• Largest Harappan site in India is Rakhigarhi situated in Haryana; second largest is Dholavira in Gujarat.

• The largest building in Mohenjodaro is a granary and the most important public place is the Great Bath.

Social, Cultural and Economic Set-up

• Towns had two parts – a Citadel or upper part and lower part.

• Systematic planning based on grid system was followed and burnt bricks were used in constructing houses which had sophisticated underground drainage system.

• Main sources for domestic and outside trade were agriculture, industry and forest yield, and barter system was used for trade.

• Foreign trade was mainly conducted with Mesopotamia, Afghanistan and Iran.

• Agriculture was the backbone of this civilization. Wheat and barley were its main crops.

• Indus was the first to produce cotton in the world.

• Jewellery from gold, silver and precious stone was made.

• Terracotta or burnt clay figurines such as toys, worship objects, male and female figurines were found.

• Most common materials used for the Harappan stone sculpture were limestone and steatite.

• Proto-Siva or Pashupati Mahadeva was the principal male deity. Linga worship was also prevalent.

• The script used in Indus Valley civilization remains undeciphered to date.