Indus Valley Civilization - A Summary One of the ancient Civilizations One of the ancient civilizations is the Civilization of Indus

Valley, which is also most commonly known as Harappa Civilization. This relies, at the first excavations that were made, for the cradle discovery of the civilization, which were held at the city HarappaPakistan. It was developed around 2600 B.C.-1500 B.C. Archaeological findings show that it probably significantly affected the Hindu culture. Being forgotten from the history until its discovery in 1920, this civilization is being filed among its contemporary civilizations, Mesopotamian and Egyptian, as the one of the three most ancient cultures on our planet, according to the elements of cities appearance, agriculture, architecture and writing. We have indications for gradual culture reduction around 1800 B.C. Until 1700 B.C. most of the towns were abandoned. But the civilians were not disappeared completely. And many elements of their culture can be found in later civilizations. Indus Valley Civilization was mainly located around Indus River at the Indian subcontinent. Ruins discovered among Pakistan, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan and Iran. Based on the excavations, it is estimated that its population fluctuated around 200,000 inhabitants. The Discovery The discovery of Indus Valley Civilization happened while manufacturing railway line, to connect the cities Karachi and Lahore. The brothers John and William Brunton were constructing that project. They searched for the ancient town, as they needed stones for the line quarry. They werent aware of being in front of a great discovery. And, when John Brunton visited the ruins, for the first time, he said that: here is the grand quarry for the ballast I want. This had as a result of caring away the city walls, for the needs of the railway constructions. That happened in 1856. But excavations started in 1920, with the most important discoveries in 1999. That was the discovery of ceramics, with the first samples of writing. That fact brought up, the dispute of the theory that the discovery of writing, belonged to the Mesopotamians or Egyptians. Other important findings in the excavations of Harappa were Krishnas grave, and ceramics with the symbol of swastika. Cultivation, harvesting and trade Indus Valley Civilization, like every civilization of that era, was dealing with trade, mostly with the most important civilizations of that period, Mesopotamians and Egyptians. Its main source for trading raw materials was lapis lazuli and other materials for bead-making. Except trading they also had farms. Their main cultivation products, amongst others, were the peas, sesame seed and cotton. They also domesticated wild animals in order to use them for harvesting their farms. One of them is the water buffalo, which is still used in some provinces of Asia.

Architecture Another important thing in Indus Valley Civilization is their architecture. They used to create their houses, by using a unique urban characteristic, for that era. And, by saying urban, we mean the way of town planning in order to create a society, founding cities. A house in Harappa is an amazing example of traditional people, without the advantages of technology with adaption to the local conditions and sensed to product a proper architecture for the climate. It was designed with cyclical rooms, which their doors faced in a central yard. This yard worked as source of light for the rooms, and because of the climate it absorbed the heat in the summer and worked also as radiator in the winter. It also provided space for external activities. There were no openings towards the road for the safety of the private life. Literally, whatever openings they used to have at rooms, were small and were used for avoiding the heat-wave of the summer. That specific architectural type is contemporary for that era, having for typical example the Romans, who were the next people using that type, while an interval of 2500 years elapsed. What we will never find Although the importance of Indus Valley civilization and the very important findings, we may not know anything more about this civilization and we may never find out what the scripts are written about, or any findings that have graphic elements. The reason is because this language does not exist anymore and it cannot be deciphered. Unfortunately, for the historians, the scholars and generally for all of us, this leads to acknowledge of an important civilization, which was the basis for several features of the current lifestyle. Indus Valley Civilization - Culture and Trade Tagged with: Ancient Indian History Vedic Age The Indus Valley Civilization was one of the worlds first great urban civilizations. It flourished in the vast river plains and adjacent regions which are now Pakistan and Western India. The origin of the Indus Valley Civilization dates back to 2300 B.C, developed in the river basins of Sutlej, Ravi and Indus. The two cities of this civilization were located below the Himalayan Mountains bordering Pakistan and North East India. The discovery of Indus Valley Civilization During the 1980s, while the construction of railway line was going on, French archaeologists have found this place. They excavated it further to discover systematic housing colonies built by mud of the Mehargarh people. Further excavation leaded to discovery of their amazing irrigation and drainage system. Unearthed ornaments, plates and dishes, drinking glasses, tools made up stones, painted bowls and jars further established the facts about their prosperity and development. Anthropologists believe that these centres of Indus Valley Civilization were epitome of

development and one of the finest examples of flourishing trade and agriculture based economy. The people of Indus Valley Civilization made the clever and resourceful use of rivers present in their area surrounding them. Agriculture based economy Being the fertile land and with the sound network of irrigation, Indus Valley people thrived on the system that was centralized towards agriculture. They used to cultivate of crops like barley, wheat, melon seeds, and oil crops like dates, mustard and sesame. Field pea was observed as the only source for vegetables. The research revealed that Indus people also knew the cultivation of cotton. It is also believed that on the west coast, these people also used to cultivate rice although this is not a proven fact. Numerous wild species of animals that were available locally were domesticated by Indus people. These include cattle, buffaloes, short horns, horses, camels, pigs. They also used dogs and cats as their pets. Trade Apart from the subsistence of agriculture and hunting, the people of Indus Valley civilization made a living for themselves by trading different goods. Trading of different goods helped the Indus Civilization expanded its culture, coming into regular contacts with faraway lands. The areas along the coastline and many rivers provided the Indus Valley people with consistent territories of water. The Harappa people were not confined to the boundaries of their own places. Foreign trades and sea ports were found in Harappa Civilization. Guesswork and the theories continue about the imported goods that are traded from such territories and the circumstances and environment implicated with trade routes of long distance. However, the reliance of Harappa people on such trade practice is quite apparent through the research done in this perspective it. A complex yet elaborate system of weights that involve stone cubes of small size was perhaps used as the standard norms in weighing system of Harappa Civilization. With these facts to fore, it is obvious to draw a conclusion that by 2,500 BC Harappa civilization was a distinctive civilization that was spread over a great piece of land. Governance Archaeologists strongly believe that the Harappa people had a federal type of government which was divided with diverse public classes, and guided by the norms of its own distinctive religion. There were administrators, artisans, middle class people and rich merchants and several other officials. Religion The existence of a religious life is still uncertain but there exists some remarkable similarity to the Hinduism of modern times (for example figure of three headed deity resembles to Lord Shiva). Decline

As all societies and civilizations are bound to face decline and extinction after a certain period of time, the Indus Valley Civilization too fell prey to it, and the cities began to wither and the strong economy slowly deteriorated. The intermittent floods tore apart and put an end to this civilization. Natural disasters like floods and storms wiped out the irrigation system that supplied water to the crops, and many of the buildings were reduced to rubbles. Due to these continuous natural disasters, people were unable to keep the cities orderly and prosperous. The constant disasters simply broke them of their morale as a proud people of such an advanced civilization. But, it is certain that these people were powerful, determined, and advanced; as it is evident easily seen through their strong willed and successful economy.

Indian HistoryVedic Period Tagged with: Ancient Indian History Vedic Age In India, around 1500 BC to 600 BC, a completely new civilization and culture has developed. The country had seen various cultures and civilization since the Bronze Age. The most popular Indus Valley civilization had declined by around 1500 BC due to several unknown factors including invasion of Aryans and deforestation. Most of the archaeologists considered the invasion of Aryans the main reason of collapsing the Harappa civilization. The Aryans came from the Central Asia and entered India through Khyber Pass around 2000 BC-1500 BC. They forcefully introduced their own culture and civilization to the Indus people. Thus, the Indus people began to follow Aryans culture and civilization. However, the social status of Aryans was the rural one as compare to the urban civilized Indus people. This age of Aryans in India is termed as the period of Vedas. In this epoch, four VedasRig Veda, Sam Veda, Yajur Veda, and the last Atharva Vedacame into existence. The Aryans daily life and beliefs are described in four Vedas. These Vedas are the main literary sources of this Vedic era. The whole Vedic period is divided into two: early Vedic period (2000 BC-1000 BC) and the Later Vedic period (1000 BC to 600 BC). Early Vedic Period

In the early Vedic period, religious practice was in the form of nature worship. In this period, sun, fire, wind, trees and sky were worshipped. The worship of early Vedic period incorporated chanting of Rig Vedic verses and singing of mantras (yajus). In this early Vedic period, people migrated from one place to another in search of fertile land for agriculture. The caste system was not very rigid. Although, people made differences between white skinned peoples (Aryans) and dark skinned peoples (actually the non

Aryans). They lived on agricultural products and other dairy products obtained from their cattle. Almost all the religious performances were to get the victory in battles and to ensure the good productivity from their crops. Later Vedic Period

Later Vedic period was more synchronized than the early Vedic period. During the later Vedic period, the people started worshipping Gods like Krishna, Vishnu, Prajapati, and Pasupathi Nath. In addition to that, in the later Vedic period, the theory of incarnation and the theory of Karma were broadly accepted and these theories actually became the philosophical truth in the Vedic civilization. In this later Vedic period, animals were sacrificed during worship of God. Ashram system came into existence in the Vedic period. These ashrams of Vedic period are: Bramacharya ashram, Grihashta ashram, Vannaprashta ashram and the last, Sannyasa ashram. The ashram system was introduced in order to make understand the individual the idea of both karma and dharma in his life. The patriarchal family system was broadly accepted in this era. Marriage was considered as one of the main rituals in an individuals life. Cattle carving and agriculture were the two main occupations of the people. People began to live in permanent settlements, which were protected and fortified by warriors. It was mentioned in the Ramayana that the increase in the population led the people of late Vedic period move to the southern part of India. Epic Age The later Vedic period is also known as Epic age. In this epoch, great epics, Ramayana and Mahabharata, and Upanishads were written. Vedic civilization is the forerunner of modern Hinduism. These epics contain broad principles of Hinduism within them. This period is largely characterized by the hereditary form of kingship. The society was divided into four main casts based on their work: Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishya, and Shudra. The Brahmins are for conducting the religious duties and Kashtriyas are for protecting the kinship groups. The Vashiyas are merchants and Shudras are for serving the other upper castes. Since the caste system was based on the work performed by the individuals, it was very flexible in the Vedic period. People were allowed to change their occupation and hence their class as per their needs and interests. However, the scope of rising in the society was quite less. The late Vedic period was noted by the introduction of sixteen Mahajnapadas, marked in some of the literature. Vedic period actually formed the basics for the modern Hinduism. This epoch has contributed immensely for the development of Vedas and other Indian literatures.