INDUS -VALLEY CIVILIZATION CHAPTER-1


INDUS -VALLEY CIVILIZATION

Indus Valley Civilization was the first major civilization in south Asia, which spread across a vast area of land in present day India and Pakistan (Around 12 lakh sq.km). The time period of mature Indus Valley Civilization is estimated between B.C. 2700- BC.1900 ie for 800 years. But Early Indus Valley Civilization had existed even before B.C 2700.

Features of Indus Valley Civilization

  • B.C 2700- B.C 1900 ie for 800 years
  • On the valleys of river Indus
  • Also known as Harappan Civilization
  • Beginning of city life
  • Harappan Sites discovered by-Dayaram Sahni (1921) - Montgomori district, Punjab, Pakistan.
  • Mohenjodaro discovered by - R. D. Banerji - Larkana district, Sindh, Pakistan
  • Red pottery painted with designs in black
  • Stone weights, seals, special beads, copper tools, long stone blades etc.
  • Copper, bronze, silver, gold present
  • Specialisation in handicrafts
  • Import of raw materials from other civilizations
  • Plough was known to be used
  • Bodies were buried in wooden coffins, but during the later stages 'H symmetry culture' evolved where bodies were buried in painted burial urns.
  • Sugarcane not cultivated, horse, iron not used.

INDUS VALLEY SITES AND SPECIALTIES

Harappa
  • Seals out of stones
  • Citadel outside on banks of river Ravi
Mohenjodaro
  • Great Bath, Great Granary, Dancing Girl, Man with Beard, Cotton, Assembly hall,
  • Term means " Mound of the dead"
  • On the bank of river Indus
Chanhudaro
  • Bank of Indus river, discovered by Gopal Majumdar and Mackey (1931)
  • Only city without citadel.
Kalibangan
  • At Rajasthan on the banks of river Ghaggar, discovered by A.Ghosh (1953)
  • Fire Altars
  • Bones of camel, Evidence of furrows & Horse remains (even though Indus valley people didn't use
  • horses)
  • known as third capital of Indus Empire.
Lothal
  • At Gujarat near Bhogava river, discovered by S.R.Rao (1957)
  • Store house
  • Dockyard and earliest port.
  • House had front entrance (exception).
Ropar
  • Punjab, on the banks of river Sutlej. Discovered by Y.D Sharma (1955)
  • Dog buried with humans.
Dholavira
  • Biggest site in India and last discovered
  • Located in Khadir Beyt, Rann of Kutch, Gujarat. Discovered by J.P Joshi/Rabindra
  • Large letters of the Harappan script (sign boards)

INDUS VALLEY SOCIETY AND CULTURE

  • Systematic method of weights and measures (16 and its multiples).
  • Pictographic Script, Boustrophedon script Deciphering efforts by I. Mahadevan
  • Equal status to men and women
  • Economic Inequality, not an egalitarian society
  • Textiles Spinning and weaving
  • 3 types - burial, cremation and post cremation were there, though burial was common,
  • were present in the city culture.
  • Majority of people Proto-australoids and Mediterraneans (Dravidians), though Mongoloids, Nordics etc
Important Discoveries
  1. 1921 Harappa Dayaram Sahni
  2. 1922 Mohenjodaro R.D. Banerjee
  3. 1953 Kalibangan B.B. Lal
  4. 1955-56 Ropar Y.D. Sharma
  5. 1957 Lothal S.R. Rao
  6. 1973-74 Banwali R.S. Bisht
Geographical Extent
  • Covered parts of Punjab, Sindh, Baluchistan, Gujarat, Rajasthan and some parts of western UP.
  • Major s..es in Pakistan are Harappa (on Ravi in Western Punjab), Mohenjodaro (on Indus), Chanhu
  • Daro (Sindh), etc. In India, major sites are Lothal, Rangpur and Surkotda (Gujarat), Kalibangam
  • (Rajasthan), Banwali (Hissar) and Alamgirpur (western UP)
  • Largest and the latest site in India is Dholavira in Gujarat. Dr. J.P. Joshi and Dr. R.S. Bisht were
  • involved in it.
Town Planning
  • Elaborate town-planning. It follows the grid system. Roads well cut. dividing the town into large
  • rectangular blocks.
  • Used burnt bricks of good quality as the building material.
  • Their drainage system shows developed sense of health and sanitation.
  • The towns were divided into 2 parts: Upper Part-Citadel and Lower Part-Residential Complex.
  • In Mohenjodaro, a big public bath (Great Bath) has been found.
Script and Language
  • The script was boustrophedon, written from right to left in one line and then from left to right in the
  • next line.
  • Not yet deciphered.
  • The script is not alphabetical but pictographic (about 600 undeciphered pictographs).
Religion
  • The chief male deity was Pashupati Mahadeva (proto-Siva), represented in seals as sitting in a yogic posture on a low throne, and having three faces and two horns. He is surrounded by four animals (elephant, tiger, rhino and buffalo), each facing a different direction, and two deers appear at his feet.
  • The chief female deity was Mother Goddess, who has been depicted in various forms.
  • There is sufficient evidence for the prevalence of phallic (lingum) and yoni worship also.
  • The worship of fire is proved by the discovery of fire altars at Lothal, Kalibangan and Harappa.
  • Indus people also worshipped Gods in the form of trees (pipal, etc.) and animals (unicorn etc).
  • Further they believed in ghosts and evil forces and used amulets as protection against them.
Art and Craft
  • The Harappan culture belongs to the Bronze Age.
  • Bronze was made by mixing tin and copper.
  • Tools were mostly made of copper and bronze.
  • Cotton fabrics quite common. Woollen in winter.
  • Very fond of ornaments (of gold, silver, ivory, copper, etc) and dressing up.
  • Ornaments were worn by both men and women.
  • Potter's wheel was in use
  1. Harappan Pottery is bright or dark red and is uniformly sturdy and well baked.
  2. It is chiefly wheel made and consists of both plain and painted ware, the plain variety being more common.
  3. They played dice games.
Sources of Materials
Gold-Afghanistan, Persia
Silver-Afghanistan, Iran
Silver-Baluchistan and Khetri (Rajsthan)
Tin-Afghanistan, Central Asia

Reasons for Decline of Indus Valley Civilization

  • Environmental Changes- It declined because of the change in the course of the rivers and because the rivers dried up. The decline theory of environment degradation was given by John Marshall. The dogma says that cutting of forests for agricultural and timber for fuel may have resulted in the barren land and silting of rivers.
  • Another version of the same story says that it declined and decayed because of the Floods in the rivers.lt has been postulated that in Saraswati region, the civilization declined mainly because of the shifting of the river channels. However, the decline was not sudden and took several hundred years.
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