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Indus Valley Civilization

The Indus Valley Civilization developed over four stages: pre-Harappan, early Harappan, mature Harappan, and late Harappan. During the mature Harappan stage from 2600 to 1900 BCE, great cities like Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa emerged with standardized urban planning including lower towns, citadels, and drainage systems. The Indus Valley Civilization engaged in agriculture, domesticated animals, and extensive regional trade. However, by 1800 BCE most major cities had been abandoned possibly due to environmental factors like flooding or the migration of new groups into the region.

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185 views

Indus Valley Civilization

The Indus Valley Civilization developed over four stages: pre-Harappan, early Harappan, mature Harappan, and late Harappan. During the mature Harappan stage from 2600 to 1900 BCE, great cities like Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa emerged with standardized urban planning including lower towns, citadels, and drainage systems. The Indus Valley Civilization engaged in agriculture, domesticated animals, and extensive regional trade. However, by 1800 BCE most major cities had been abandoned possibly due to environmental factors like flooding or the migration of new groups into the region.

Uploaded by

Mani Babu
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Indus Valley Civilization

There are four important stages or phases of evolution and they are named as

Pre-Harappan: The stage is located in eastern Baluchistan. In this stage,


the nomadic people began to lead a settled agricultural life. Ex Mehrgarh
Early-Harappan: In the early-Harappan stage, the people lived in large
villages in the plains. There was a gradual growth of towns in the Indus
valley. Also, the transition from rural to urban life took place during this
period. The sites of Amri and Kot Diji remain the evidence for earlyHarappan stage.
Mature-Harappan: In the mature-Harappan stage, great cities emerged.
The excavations at Kalibangan with its elaborate town planning and urban
features prove this phase of evolution.
Late-Harappan: In the late-Harappan stage, the decline of the Indus
culture started. The excavations at Lothal reveal this stage of evolution.
Lothal with its port was founded much later. It was surrounded by a
massive brick wall as flood protection. Lothal remained an emporium of
trade between the Harappan civilization and the remaining part of India as
well as Mesopotamia

Some Important Mature Harappan Sites

Pakistan: Harappa, Mohenjodaro, Kot Diji, Amri, Balakot, Ganweriwala


India: Manda J&K, Rakhigarhi, Banawali Haryana, Ropar Punjab,
Kalibangan Rajasthan, Lothal, Dholavira, Nageshwar, Rangpur Gujarat

Agriculture

Crops: Harappans practiced agriculture including wheat, barley, lentil,


chichpea and sesame. Surplus crops were stored in granaries. Animals like
sheep, goat & buffalo were domesticated.
Ploughing: Evidences of ploughing were found. Two set of furrows at right
angles were found, suggesting two different crops were grown. Oxen was
known. Ex: terracotta sculpture of bull
Canals: Most sites were located in semi- arid lands. Traces of canals have
been found at Harappan sites like Shortugai in Afghanistan, but absent in
Punjab or Sind. Probably canals silted or water drawn from wells. Besides
reservoirs found in Dholavira

Urban Planning & Architecture

Most unique feature of Harappan Civilization is development of urban


centres. Ex: Mohenjodaro
Architecture: Settlement divided into two sections.
o Citadel:
Buildings constructed on Mud brick platform. It was walled
Special public purpose: Include Warehouses and Great Bath
(large rectangular tank in a courtyard surrounded by corridors
on all 4 sides)
o Lower Town

Lower town also walled. Buildings built on platforms served


as foundations
Residential Architecture
o Many were centred on a courtyard with rooms on all sides.
Courtyard being centre of activity such as cooking, weaving etc
o Apparent concern for privacy, with no windows in the walls along
the ground level. Besides main entrance does not direct view of
interior of courtyard
o Every house with bathroom paved with bricks, with drains
connected to the street drains
o Some houses have stair cases and second storey or roof
o Houses had wells, often in a room that could be reached from
outside, perhaps used by passers-by
o
Planning:
o Building activity restricted to fixed area on the platform.
o Bricks were sun-dried and were of standard ratio
o Carefully laid out drains
o Roads and streets were laid out in grid pattern, intersecting at right
angles
o Every house has atleast one wall along the drain for wastewater to
flow

Social Life

The dress of both men and women consisted of two piece of cloth, one
upper garment and one lower garment.
Beads were worn by both men and women. ewelleries such as bangles,
bracelets, fillets, girdles, anklets, ear-rings and finger rings were worn by
women
These ornaments were made of gold, silver, copper, bronze and semi
precious stones. The use of cosmetics was common
Spindles, needles, combs, fishhooks, knives are made of copper. Childrens
toys include little clay carts. Marbles, balls and dice were used for games.
Fishing was a regular occupation while hunting and bull fighting were other
pastimes.
There were numerous specimens of weapons of war such as axes,
spearheads, daggers, bows, arrows made of copper and bronze.

Social Differences

Burials:
o Some pits were lined with bricks while others dont. Some graves
contain pottery and ornaments, perhaps indicating a belief in
afterlife.
o Jewellery found in burials of both men and women. However, it
appears they didnt believe in burying precious things with the dead
Luxuries
o Artefacts made of valuable materials are generally located in large
settlements like Mohenjodaro and Harappa and are rarely found in
small settlements. Ex: miniature pots of faience perhaps used as
perfume bottles, Gold etc

Art
Craft Making

Tiny settlement almost exclusively devoted to craft production including


bead- making, shell-cutting, metal-working, seal-making and weightmaking
Variety of materials used to make beads including stone like carnelian (red
color), jasper, crystal, quartz, and steatite. Metals like copper, bronze,
gold; and shell, faience and terracotta or burnt clay.
Some were decorated with incising or paining, and some had designs
etched on them
Sites: Nageshwar and Balkot, both located at the coast are centres of shell
objects including bangles, ladles and inlay which were taken to other
settlements

Harappan Seal

Use: To facilitate long distance communication


Made of soft river stone called steatite.
Scripts were written from right to left
Famous seal: Proto- Shiva seal with Shiva in yogic posture surrounded by
animals like Unicorn, Rhinoceros, Tiger, Elephant and seated on 2
antelopes

Weights:

Exchanges were regulated by precise system of weights, usually made up


of stone called chert, generally cubical with no markings
The denominations of weight were binary (1,2,4,8,16..etc) while the higher
denomination followed decimal system

Ritual significance:

Mother goddess and Priest king found were usually considered as symbols
worshiped by harappans
Great Bath and fire altars found at Kalibanghan and Lothal are considered
of having ritual significance
Some conical stones objects classified as lingas were also found
Trees and animals were also worshipped by the Harappans. They believed
in ghosts and evil forces and used amulets as protection against them.

Others

Red and Black pottery was found. The pictorial motifs consisted of
geometrical patterns like horizontal lines, circles, leaves, plants and trees
The figure of a dancing girl from Mohenjodaro made of bronze is
remarkable for its workmanship

Trade and Communication

Many materials like stone, metal & timber had to be procured from far-off
places. Terracotta toy model of bullock suggest that they are one of the
means of transport

Riverine routes along Indus and its tributaries, as well as coastal routes
may have also been used
Most of the sites were located near raw materials such as shortugai in
Afghanistan for Lapis lazuli (a blue stone), metal (Rajastan), Gold (from
south India) etc. there by establishing communication with local
communities
Copper was also probably brought from Oman as both have traces of
Nickel. A large Harappan jar coated with thick black layer of clay (to
prevent percolation of liquids) has been found in Omani sites. Seals
depicted with ships were also found
Foreign trade was conducted with Mesopotamia. Trade was of barter type

End of Civilization

By 1800 CE most of the Mature Harappan sites in the region such as


Cholistan had been abandoned. Simultaneously there has been expansion
of population in Gujarat, Haryana and UP
There appears to have been a transformation of material culture, marked
by disappearance of the distinctive artefacts of the civilization weights,
seals, long-distance trade and craft specialisation also disappeared.
House construction technique deteriorated and large public structure were
no longer produced. Urban life declined to a rural life
Many factors climate change, deforestation, excessive floods, the shifting
and drying up of rivers, to overuse of landscape could have contributed to
collapse
More convincing hypothesis could be the end of strong unifying state of
Harappa. This is evidenced based by disappearance of seals, the script,
distinctive beads and pottery, the shift of standardised weight system to
local weights; and the decline of the abundance of the cities
Also, the discovery of human skeletons huddled together at Mohenjodaro
indicates that the city was invaded by foreigners. The Aryans had superior
weapons as well as swift horses which might have enabled them to
become masters of this region

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