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).

Indus valley civilization is also called Harappa civilization (bcoz first found site was Harappa in 1921)

It has got other names Bronze civilization and Proto-Historic civilization (had script but not studied by any archaeologist).

Indus Valley Civilization is estimated between BC. 2700- BC.1900 ie for 800 years.

Contemporary Civilizations:

Sumerian: Mesopotomia(Meso=between,potomus=rivers)-land b/w two rivers.

Egyptian: Nile valley

Chinese: Hwang Ho valley

 

Extent of Indus-valley civilization:

East-west: Alamgirpur (Hindon river-UP) to Sutkenjendaro(Dashk river-Anglo Iran border)

North-South: Manda(J&K-chenab river) to Daimabad (Maharashtra-pravara river)

Founders of Indus valley civilization:

Historians believe that 4 diff races of people built this civilization

Mongoloids, proto-austroloits, Albinoids and Medeterranian or Dravideans

North-Indian languages: Aryan group of languages

South-Indian languages: Dravidean group of languages.

Imp cities of IVC:

Total-1400 sites(India-900,Pakistan-500)

Mohenjadaro-means “Mound of Dead”(in SINDI)

Lothat –Means “Mound of Dead”(Gujarati)

Imp Char’s of IVC:

Town planning: Every city is divided into 2 parts(upper and lower).Citadel built in upper class and is protected by a wall.

City doesn’t have a citadel is Chanhudara.

 Every city built in grid pattern with Drainage system with man holes except Banavali.

Features of Indus Valley Civilization

BC. 2700- BC.1900 ie for 800 years

On the valleys of river Indus

Beginning of city life

Harappan Sites discovered by – Dayaram Sahni (1921) – Montgomori district, Punjab, Pakistan

Mohanjodaro discovered by – R. D. Banerji – Larkana district, Sind, Pakistan

City was divided into Citadel(west) and Lower Town(east)

Red pottery painted with designs in black

Stone weights, seals, special beads, copper tools, long stone blades etc.

copper, bronze, silver, gold present

Artificially produced – Faience

Specialists for handicrafts

Import of raw materials

plough used

Bodies were buried in wooden coffins, but during the later stages ‘H symmetry culture’ evolved where bodies were buried in painted burial urns.

Sugar cane not cultivated, horse, iron not used.

Social & Political life

Society is divided based on the wealth .

IVC society is Matriarchal society(Mother is head of family)

 

Religion of Indus Valley People

Pashupathi Mahadev :In Mohanjodaro a seal was found consists of pashupati mahadeva image with 3heads and 2 horns surrounded by animals called-“Proto Siva”

Mother goddess

Nature/ Animal worship

Unicorn, Dove, Peepal Tree, Fire

Amulets

Idol worship was practiced ( not a feature of Aryans)

Did not construct temples.

Similarity to Hindu religious practises. (Hinduism in its present form originated later)

No Caste system.

Evidence of Linga-Yoni

Evidence of rituals along with animal slaughtering.

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.

Majority of people Proto-australoids and Mediterraneans (Dravidians), though Mongoloids, Nordics etc were present in the city culture. Read more on races of India.

Economy of IVC:

Agrarian economy : Agriculture is main backbone to economy

Imp food grains: Wheat & Barley

Commercial crops: Cotton & Mustard

Rice was rarely cultivated

Lothal-Rice grain was found

Rangapur-Rice husk was found

Hoe was used instead of plough for plantation

Plough evidence was found in two places

Kalibangan: Furrows(a field which has plough marks

Banavali: Terracota replica of plough.

Evidence of horse was found in

Lothal: A doubtful terracotta horse was found

Surkotado: horse skeleton was foud

Industries:

Textile industry(cotton),

Brick industry,

Mettalurgical industry(copper&bronze),

ship building industry(only at Lothal)

Jewellary industry(breads & shell ornaments) only located in 3 sites chanhudaro,Lothal and      Dholavira.

Trade and Barter system:

International(Lothal) and National

Sumeria is imp trading partner(indus valley seals were found in Mesapotamia)

Seal:small piece of steatite(1cm),consist of pictographs, animals etc and shape is rectangle(arroung 4000 seals were found)

In Mohanjadaro 3 Mesapatomia seals were found which were in cylindrical shape

Indian cotton(SINDON) from MELUHA was found in UMMA.

Mesapatomia scripts were in CUNEIFORM

16 is the base weight for measuring

Reasons for Decline of Indus Valley Civilization

One theory suggests that a nomadic, Indo-European tribe called the Aryans suddenly overwhelmed and conquered the Indus Valley Civilization.

However, many scholars now believe that the collapse of the Indus Valley Civilization was caused by climate change as the monsoons migrated eastward.

As the eastward shift of the monsoons reduce the water supply, the Indus Valley Civilization residents may have migrated east to establish smaller villages and isolated farms.

These small communities could not produce the large-scale agricultural surpluses needed to support cities, and the cities were abandoned.

Indus Valley Sites and Specialties

S.No	city	Year	excavation	River	State	findings
1	Harappa	1921	Rai bahadur Dayaram sahni	Ravi	Punab(in pak)	Granaries, coffin burial, Lot of artefacts, Important IVC Town, First town which is Excavated and studied in detail
2	Mohenjadaro	1922	R.B.Benarjee	Sindh(in pak)	karacjo	Great Bath (the biggest bath ghat), Great granary, Bronze dancing girl, Bearded man, terracotta toys, Bull seal, Pashupati seal, three cylindrical seals of the Mesopotamian type, a piece of woven cloth
3	Chanhudaro	1930	N.G.Majumdar	Sindh(in pak)	sindh	Bead making factory, use of lipstick only Indus site without a citadel
4	Kalibangan	1953	A.Ghosh	Ghagger river(branch of saraswathi)	Rajastan	Baked/burnt bangles, fire altars, small circular pits containing large urns and accompanied by pottery
5	Lothal	1955	S.R.Rao	Bhogava river	Gujarat	Bead making factory, dockyard, button seal, fire altars, painted jar, earliest cultivation of rice (1800 BC)
6	Rupar	1955	Y.D.Sharma	Sutlej	Punjab	Dog buried with humans
7	Banavali		R. S. Bisht	Lost river saraswathi	Haryana	Barley, terracotta figure of plough
8	Dholavira	1990	J.P.Joshi	------	Gujarat	Figure of chariot tied to a pair of bullocks and driven by a nude human, Water harvesting and number of reservoirs, use of rocks for construction.