INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION

INTRODUCTION
The Indus Valley Civilization was one of the world's first great urban civilizations. It flourished in the vast river plains and adjacent regions in what are now Pakistan and western India. The earliest cities became integrated into an extensive urban culture around 4,600 years ago and continued to dominate the region for at least 700 years, from 2600 to 1900 B.C. It was only in the 1920's that the buried cities and villages of the Indus valley were recognized by archaeologists as representing an undiscovered civilization.

Discovery of Indus valley Civilization

South Asia's first cities were established around 2600 B.C. in what is now Pakistan and western India .The people who built and ruled these cities belong to what archaeologists refer to as the Harappan Culture or Indus Civilization. This civilization developed at approximately the same time as the early city states of Egypt and Mesopotamia Until 1922 A.D. it was believed that India did not have a past of any special significance.It was only in places like Egypt and Mesopotamia that great ancient civilizations had flourished and died. Archaeologists like Sir Alexander Cunningham(1814 1893) found strange unidentified seals in Harappa. However, he missed the importance of Harappa and it merely remained a place of interest until the discovery of Mohen-jo-daro.

 The greatest triumph of the archaeological survey of India under Sir John Marshalls(1876-1958),directorship was the discovery of the Indus Civilization which existed between 2500 B.C to 1500 B.C However, in 1922 A.D, Rakhaldas Banerjee , an officer of the Archaeological Survey of India , discovered several layers while excavating the ruins of a Buddhist stupa of second century A.D at a place called Mohen-jo-daro in the Larkana district of Sind (now in Pakistan) Banerjee had stumbled upon the remains of the Indus valley civilization , this discovery took back Indias known history by almost 2000 years,taking it to 3000 years before Christ. At Ur , Kish and other sites in Mesopotamia and Iran , some seals of the Harappa type have been found in contexts which suggest the time of Saragon of Akkad as 2350 B.C . Taking this as a fixed point in chronology , the Harappan culture is provisionally dated 2500-1500 B.C and was in existence at the beginning of the third millennium B.C.

Time - line
Indus Tradition Early Food Producing Era ca. 6500 - 5000 B.C. Regionalization Era ca. 5000 - 2600 B.C. Indus Civilization - Harappan Culture Integration Era 2600 - 1900 B.C. Late Harappan Period 1900 - 1300 or 1000 B.C. Post-Indus Tradition Painted Grey Ware +1200 - 800 B.C. Northern Black Polished Ware + 700 - 300 B.C. Early Historic Period ca. 600 B.C.

Nature and Extent of Harappan culture

Indus Valley remnants have been discovered from as far south as Mumbai [Bombay], in Maharashtra State, India, and up north until the Himalayas and northern Afghanistan. The westernmost sites are on the Arabian sea coast in Baluchistan, Pakistan, right next to the Iranian border. A thousand miles to the east in India, Harappan settlements have been found beyond Delhi in Uttar Pradesh State. Discoveries in Lothal or Gola Dhoro in Gujarat State suggest a southern coastal network spanning hundreds of miles.

Indus Valley culture seems to have moved from west to east, with sites towards centr and southern India flourishing after Harappa and Mohenjo-daro had declined. The drying up of the ancient Sarasvati or Ghaggar-Hakra river, east of and parallel to the Indus, may also have affected the civilization.

Factors that favored the Indus civilization

The climate was very moist and humid (unlike the present dry, desert conditions). This favored dense forests which provided timber for brick kilns and for buildings boats. The rivers provided an abundant supply of water which could support large settlements. Annual flooding of the Indus made the land fertile. The rivers also provided abundant fish. The rivers were a means of cheap and easy transport.

Physical Map

The Indus cities

Over 250 sites of the Indus Civilization have been so far located. Some sites are large enough to be called cities. These included : MOHENJO DARO :(meaning mound of the dead in Sindhi) : It is the largest site and is located in the Larkana district of upper Sind , 480 km north of Karachi. It lies on the right bank of Indus , some 400 km north from its mouth. Excavations indicate that this city was built over 5000 years ago .It was destroyed and rebuilt at least seven times. HARAPPA:It is located on the left bank of the river Ravi in Montgomery district of Punjab.Both Harappa and Mohen-jo-daro were more than 4.8 km in circuit. KALIBANGAN: It is in Ganganagar district of Rajasthan is the third important site. It lies on the left bank of the river Ghaggar in northern Rajasthan. LOTHAL:It is a settlement near a tributary of the Saabarmation the west side of the Gulf of Cambay in Gujarat.An interesting find here is a great basin measuring 290m by 30m with brick walls of 4.5 m in height.Scholar believe that this was a dock for ships Lothal was a port or a trading station

The Indus cities

GANWERIWALA:This town is almost the same size as Mohen-jodaro. Other important sites are: RUPAR in Punjab ALAMGIRPUR in Uttar Pradesh BANWALI in HISSAR district of Haryana SUTGAGEN-DOR on the eastern coast of south Baluchistan CHAN-HU-DARO in Sind SURKOTADA, DHOLAWIRA, RANGPUR, DAIMABAD, AMRI etc are the cities which have yielded characteristic elements of this civilization which extends from Rupar in the north below the Simla hills to Lothal in Gujarat , more than 1280 km towards the south.

Way of Life
FOOD
It would appear they were very good farmers. They grew barley, peas, melons, wheat, and dates. Farms raised cotton and kept herds of sheep, pigs, zebus (a kind of cow), and water buffalo. Fish were caught in the river with fish hooks! Each town had a large central storage building for grain. Crops were grown, and the harvest stored centrally, for all in the town to enjoy. The food of the people consisted of beef, muttons, pork, poultry, turtles and tortoises. But wheat was their principle staple food. Barley and palm- date were also familiar. Fish was commonly used. Milk was used and vegetables and fruits seem to have been known, though there is no positive evidence. Dinner might have been warm tasty wheat bread served with barley or rice .

Way of Life
Dress and Ornaments
Dress was simple ; men used a shawl which was drawn over the left shoulder and under the right arm, so as to leave the right arm free, and in the sitting posture came down to the feet. It formed the upper garment. The lower garment was like a modern dhoti Men kept short beards and whiskers and sometimes the upper lip was shaved. Their hair was combed backwards and was either cut short or coiled in a knot on the top of head. Ornaments were worn by both men and women of all classes. Necklaces, fillets, armlets, finger- rings and bangles were worn by both men and women, and girdles, nose- studs, earrings and anklets by women alone. The rich made ornaments of gold, silver, ivory, faience ( fine pottery decorated with colorful glazes) and other semi- precious stones. The ornaments of the poor were made of copper, bone, shell and terracotta. People knew the art of toilet and cosmetics.

Way of Life
Toys and Amusements
People enjoyed games and other form of entertainment. They played marbles and another game with a marker board and dice. They also enjoyed dancing to the accompaniment of a drum. Some of the toys found were small carts, whistles shaped like birds, and toy monkeys which could slide down a string! Hunting and fishing also formed a favorite sport. Childrens toys were various, interesting and ingenious. Usually they were crude claymodels of birds, animals, whistles, rattles, men and women. There were wheeled carts and chairs. A beautiful small bronze statue of a dancer was found, which tells us that they enjoyed dance and had great skill working with metals. In the ancient city of Mohenjo-daro, scientists have found the remains of a large central pool, with steps leading down at both ends. This could have been a public swimming pool, or perhaps have been used for religious ceremonies. Around this large central pool were smaller rooms, that might have dressing rooms, and smaller pools that might have been private baths.

Indus Toy-carts

Clay models

Hunting and fishing also formed a favorite sport. Childrens toys were various, interesting and ingenious. Usually they were crude clay- models of birds, animals, whistles, rattles, men and women. There were wheeled carts and chairs.

Way of Life
Household Articles
The metals known to the people of the Indus Valley were gold, silver, copper, tin, lead and bronze. The earthenware vessels of rich variety were made with the potters wheel and were either plain or painted with a slip of red ochre. Vessels of copper, bronze, silver and porcelain were known, though very rarely used. Among other articles of domestic use may be mentioned spindles and spindle-whorls made of baked earth, porcelain and shell; needles and combs made of bone or ivory; axes, chisels, saws, knives, sickles, fish-hooks and razors made of copper and bronze.

Way of Life
Trade and Commerce
The small- sized seals found there, were most probably used in connection with trade. The people traded with other parts of India as well as with countries of Asia, Egypt an Crete. There is evidence of a flourishing trade between the Harappa Culture and the Sumerian culture- both, by land across the Iranian Plateau and by sea from a port near the mouth of the Indus. In exchange they secured tin, copper and precious stones. Hugging the dangerous coastline to reach the Persian Gulf, Indian crews used a compass bird- a crow which would fly, when released, towards the nearest point of land. The people used camels, oxen and elephants to travel over land. They had carts with wooden wheels. They had ships, with one mast, probably used to sail around the Arabian Sea. Seals with a pictographic script, which has not as yet been deciphered, were found at the Indus Valley sites. Similar seals were found in Mesopotamia, which seems to indicate possible trade between these two civilizations.

Way of life Weights

Cubical weights in graduated sizes. These weights conform to the standard Harappan binary weight system that was used in all of the settlements. The smallest weight in this series is 0.856 grams and the most common weight is approximately 13.7 grams, which is in the 16th ratio. In the large weights the system become a decimal increase where the largest weight is 100 times the weight of the 16th ratio in the binary system. These weights were found in recent excavations at Harappa and may have been used for controlling trade and possibly for collecting taxes

Way of Life
Art, Craft and Sculpture
This ancient civilization must have had marvelous industrial classes like the potter, the carpenter, the mason, the blacksmith, the goldsmith, the jeweller, the ivory- worker and the stone- cutter. People possessed artistic skills of a high order. A few stone images found at Harappa recall the finish and excellence of Greek statues and show a high degree of development in the sculptor' art. A few stone images found at harappa recall the finish and excellence of Greek statues . The seals are considered as among the finest examples of ancient art in the world .the short horned bull and the figure of a buffalo with uplifted head are superb. The discovery of statues and figurines in terracotta, stone and metal show a high degree of development in the art of sculpture.

A Sculpture in metal Copper and bronze were the principal metals used for making tools and implements. Artists had perfected the technique of casting metal images by the process called cire perdue(lost wax). Most impressive is a unique metal sculpture of a dancing girl. B Sculpture in stone A very fine torso of a man sculpted in red sandstone was discovered at Mohen-jo-daro which showed amazing perfection. C Sculpture in terracotta The mother goddess figurine in terracotta found at Mohen-jo- daro is an exquisite piece of sculpture.

Figurines

Way of life
religious beliefs

No temples or shrines have been uncovered.It appears that religious worship may have been a household rite.

Worship of mother goddess

One of the main objects of worship of people was the Mother Goddess. Many figurines of this mother goddess on pottery , seals and amulets have come to light. The range and cult of Mother Goddess at one time extended without break, from the Indus to the Nile. The Mother Goddess became the prototype of the cosmic energy (prakrit) regarded as the source of all creation. Along with this a male god, representing her counter part cosmic soul (purusha) was also worshipped.

a.

Worship of pashupati

Lord Shiva was considered the Lord of beasts (Pashupati). The seals depict figures surrounded by wild animals and sitting in an erect meditative posture

a.

Worship of animism

People worshipped stones, trees and animals in the belief that these are abodes of spirits, good or evil.

a.

Worship of trees

The seals and painted pottery of Indus valley show the figures of the pipal and acacia trees . They were celestial plants and were supposed to be inhabited by divine spirits.

a.

Faith in magic, charm and sacrifices

The people had faith in amulets and charms and this shows they were afraid of demons. The worship of sacred incense burners was also prevalent.

a.

Burial rites

Various burial rites seem to have been used by different tribes. Generally, there were three methods of burials- complete burial, fractional burial and post cremation. The ashes were sometimes placed in urns, at other times unburnt bones were collected and buried in jars. Such urns containing human bones and ashes have been found at many sites in Baluchistan.

The Indus Seals

A seal is an engraved gem or other hard substance used to form an impression upon soft clay, wax, etc. The Indus seals, which can be grouped under animal seal, unicorn seal (depicts mythical animal) and Shiva PASUPATI SEAL. A few seals in Mohen-jo-daro had the similarities with the Harappan seals. More than 2000 seals have been discovered in Mohengodaro itself. They are made of sap stone of steatite of various colors. The normal seal is square in shape with sides from 2- 3 cm in length, and perforated at the back for handling and suspension. They have fine engravings of animals like the bull, unicorn, elephant, antelope or the like on one side. The absence of the cow or the horse is significant. A sort of pictorial writing is inscribed over it which indicates that the people were familiar with a pictographic system of writing , each sign standing for a particular word or object. The seals were probably used by Harappa merchants as a kind of trademark.

Unicorn seal Material:White fired glazed steatite Dimension:5.08 by 5.08cm Moulded Tablet Material: Terracotta Dimension: 4.6cm length,1.2 by 1.5cm width

Unicorn seal(Silver seal) Dimension:5.08 by 5.08cm :

Bison seal

Bull seal

Scorpio seal

Architectural Aspects
Town Planning
Both Mohenjodaro and Harappa have the distinction of being the worlds first cities where a scheme of systematic planning existed. In both these cities there was a citadel, a strongly fortified place, on the western side. It was based upon an artificial hill which rose from 6.2 12 m. high walls protected the city. Within the citadel were a palace, a bathing tank and a large granary. The principal streets in the lower city all ran in straight lines either from north to south or from east to west (grid pattern), and is some places the main roads were thirty feet wide so that carts could pass without difficulty. The fronts of the houses were carefully lined up and could not be projected beyond the building line. Each street had a small water- course, covered with stone, for drainage purpose.

Closed Drainage System

Almost every house had a well, drains and comfortable bathrooms, for which pottery drain pipes and receptacles were laid down, connecting them with the street drain or gutter. Drains from bathrooms, courtyards and other parts of the houses were placed on the street side of the building for the convenient disposal of wastes. The walls of the bathroom were lined with fine quality bricks to prevent leakage of water. The main drains were provided with manholes, at regular intervals for regular inspection and clearance.

The streets and alleyways wind through the neighborhood and are oriented along a strict grid plan.

Narrow streets and drains.

Buildings
The buildings can be classified into three categories, viz, dwelling houses, larger building and public baths.

A.

Dwelling Houses
The dwelling houses were many and they varied in size from a small building with two rooms to a palatial structure. The outer walls were 1- 1.5 m thick. The houses were built strongly of well burnt red bricks, cemented together with dried mud. The houses were plain with narrow doors,flat roofs,no ornamentation and no windows.the big houses had two or more storeys and were furnished with paved floors, courtyards kitchens with raised platforms, excellent doors,windows and narrow stairways. Some buildings had large pillared halls.they were supposed to have been palaces , temples or public assembly halls.

Large Courtyard with mud brick filling

This large room or courtyard was filled with a solid mud brick platform that was almost entirely excavated to investigate the underlying room. A section of the platform has been preserved beneath the tin roof on the left and part of the platform is still visible in the foreground and in the top right hand section

B. Larger Buildings GREAT GRANARY AT HARAPPA

The great granary is the most remarkable and the largest building discovered at Harappa. The granary measures 51.5m from north to south and 41 m from east to west.On the inside , it was divided in storage blocks. The granary was raised on a platform to protect it from floods.below the granary were found brick loading bays. The granary was built with sufficient natural ventilation to prevent the grain from becoming mildewed. Grain was brought in boats along the river and stored in the granary

GREAT GRANARY AT HARAPPA

Built on top of a tapered brick platform, this building had a solid brick foundation that extended for 50 meters east west and 27 meters north south. The foundation was divided into 27 square and rectangular blocks by narrow passageways, two running east west and eight running north south. A section of the northern foundation had hollow sockets for wooden beams used to support a stairway or wooden structure. Later wells and walls are seen in the foreground

a.

Public baths

The great bath at Mohen-jo-daro

The most imposing structure in the city was the great bath Its located within the citadel and measures 54.8 m from north to south and 32.9 m from east to west.its outer walls are 2 to 2.5 m thick at the base. It consisted of a large paved quadrangle in the centre with galleries and rooms on all sides. In the centre of the quadrangle was a large swimming enclosure, 12 m long, 7 m wide n about 2.5 m deep. It had a flight of steps running down the centre at either end.precaution was taken to make the bath water tight by lining it with finely dressed bricks laid in gypsum mortar The solidarity of the construction is borne out by the fact that it has successfully withstood the ravages of time for five thousand years. The special attention paid by the people of harappa to cleanliness indicates that it was precursors to purificatory rite of Hindus.

The great bath

The Great Bath is situated along a north-south street with a drain covered with limestone blocks. In the background is the so-called Granary, while in the foreground are the walls of several domestic structures.

The great bath surrounded by a brick colonnade, measures approximately 12 meters north-south and 7 meters wide, with a maximum depth of 2.4 meters. In the background is a massive brick structure with narrow passages that was first identified as a hammam or hot-air bath, and later as the state granary.

The Great Bath was entered using two wide staircases, one from the north and one from the south. The floor of the tank is watertight due to finely fitted bricks laid on edge with

At the foot of the stairs is a small ledge with a brick edging that extends the entire width of the pool. People coming down the stairs could move along this ledge without actually stepping into the pool itself. Small sockets at the edges of the stairs could have held wooden planks or treads

The side walls of the tank were constructed with finely fitted bricks and a thick layer of bitumen (natural tar) was laid along the sides of the tank to keep water from seeping through the walls and up into the superstructure.

Characteristics of the Indus civilization

Standardization , an ordered society and ten centuries of relatively stable conditions are among the surprising features revealed by the excavations of these two urban centers MOHEN-JO-DARO and HARAPPA. Both made use of vast quantities of bricks , presupposing the existence of forests to provide firing fuel. The ground-plans of both were not only similar but also retained a common principle , with a raised citadel on the west , main street laid out in grid iron fashion , a network of lanes within each block (the better houses concealed in courtyard) The great size of granaries indicates a strong centralized authority. The water supply and drainage systems were extremely thorough.

Destruction of Indus valley civilization

1.Natural calamities: Either a flood of the Indus or its gradual drifting away from the city might have made the place unfertile. 2.Invasion by nomadic tribes: The conquering Aryans or some other tribes from outside India might have sacked Mohen-jo-daro and destriyed its civilization.

view of the houses and streets with the citadel and stupa mound in the background.

This general view of houses shows the colour of the brick walls prior to use of mud brick and clay slurry for conservation. The lower parts of the walls have the natural reddish colour of fired brick.

Toilets would have been an essential feature in Mohenjo-daro, but the early excavators identified most toilets as postcremation burial urns or sump pots. This brick structure had a hole in the top that was connected to a small drain leading out of the base into a rectangular basin

Many large covered drains were constructed with corbelled arches. These drains ran beneath streets and lanes and were large enough for workmen to enter and clear any obstructions.

The ground floor drain of the bathing platform empties out into the street next to tapered chute from a roof Empty spaces and alleyways in Mohenjo- drain or a second storey bathing area. Daro were used to dispose of trash and occasional unwanted bodies. This blocked lane had a human skeleton dumped unceremoniously at the juncture between the two buildings.

This unique well and associated bathing platform was discovered in the course of building a catchment drain around the site

This oval well is located in room 19 northeast of Great Bath. It is the only well with an oval structure and may have been used to draw water for nearby bathing platforms or for filling the Great Bath.

This bathing platform is located next to the street, and is made with bricks laid flat. A small drain running along one side of the bathing floor channels dirty water out to the street. A brick on edge with a notch was placed across the drain hole to keep objects from flowing out with the bath water.

Oxcarts could not reach many of the urban neighborhoods. Pack animals and pedestrians could have used this narrow lane.