Indus Valley Civilization Flashcards
Origin of Harappan Civilization
Discovery: 1921
Covered parts of Punjab, Haryana, Sind, Baluchistan, Gujarat, Rajasthan, UP.
Larger than Mesopotamia and Egypt
Cunningham, Director-General of ASI began excavations there in mid 19th century.
Seals discovered by D.R. Sahni and RD Bannerjee in early 20th century.
On the basis of this, John Marshall (DG of ASI) announced the IVC to the world in 1924.
Through radio-carbon dating, age determined to be 2350-1750BC.
Major developments in Harappan Archaeology
1875: Report of A. Cunningham on Harappan seal
1921: DR Sahni began excavations at Harappa
1925: Excavations at Mohenjodaro began
1946: REM Wheeler excavated Harappa
1955: SR Rao began excavations at Lothal
1960: BB Lal and BK Thapar began excavations at Kalibangan.
1974: MR Mughal began explorations in Bahawalpur, Pakistan
1980: A team of German and Italian archeologists began surface explorations at Mohenjodaro
1986: American team started excavations at Harappa
1990: RS Bisht began excavations at Dholavira.
Phases of IVC:
Early Harappan Phase (3300 to 2600BC):
Related to Hakra phase (ghaggar-hakra river valley).
Centralized authority + urban life
Cultivated crops.
For example: Kot Diji.
Mature Harappan Phase (2600 to 1900BC):
Large urban centres
For example: Lothal, chanhudaro, Harappa, Mohenjodaro, surkotda, sutkagendor, Kalibangan, banawali.
Later Harappan Phase (1900 to 1300BC):
Decline of the IVC
For example: Rangpur, Rojdi (Gujarat)
Eastern most site: Alamgir, UP
Westernmost: sutkagandor, Baluchistan
Northernmost: Manda, Jammu
Southern most: Daimabad, Maharashtra
Contemporaries of the IVC
Egypt on the banks of the Nile river (Pharaohs).
Mesopotamia (Iraq) on the banks of Euphrates and Tigris river (Sumerians)
Hwang Ho (China) on the banks of Hwang Ho river.
Cities of IVC
Harappa:
On the banks of river Ravi.
1st site to be discovered and excavated in 1921
First visited by Charles Masson in 1826-27.
In 1922, J Fleet discovered Harappan seals, prompting excavations under Sir John Marshall
Visited by Cunningham in 1853 and 1873.
Mohenjodaro:
Largest site
Discovered by TlRD Bannerjee in 1922.
Sindhi: Mound of the Dead.
Great Bath: Important public place, 39ft long, 23ft wide and 8ft deep. At the centre of the citadel. Floor made of bricks set in gypsum and mortar.
Great Granary was the largest building (150ft length and 50ft wide, located within the citadel
Other buildings: assembly hall, etc.
Chanhudaro:
Lancashire of India
No citadel
Bead manufacturing centre.
Kalibangan:
Meant black bangle.
Largest concentration of settlements
Houses + wells.
3 cultural layers: indus, jhukar, jhangar.
Ropar:
Punjab.
Excavated after independence.
Buildings made of stone + soil.
6 cultural periods: painted grey ware, northern black polished, kushana, gupta, etc.
Lothal:
Dockyard.
1st tidal port of the world.
Main seaport from Indus people.
Baked bricks with lime plaster used in the dockyards of Lothal.
Situated in Gujarat.
Long distance trade route.
Supplied cities with raw materials also.
Outpost for sea trade with contemporary West Asian societies, for example, Oman.
Manchester of IVC for its cotton trade.
Banawali:
Oval-shaped settlements
Radial streets + no systematic drainage pattern.
Dholavira:
One of the 2 largest settlements in India (the other is rakhigarhi in haryana)
It is divided into 3 sections.
Warehousing settlement.
Large open area for public ceremonies.
10 large sized signs are also discovered here besides water reservoirs.
Features of the IVC
Town Planning: Citadel (west) + lower town (east)
Citadel:
On mud brick platform
Smaller + walled
Ruling class occupied
Special public purpose structures
Warehouse (granary) + bath
Watertight tanks
Drainage system
Planned
Drains covered with bricks + stone slabs
Manholes
Even smaller settlements had them
Variations in planned cities
Fortified settlements at Dholavira (3 part divisions) and Lothal (walled at a height) in gujarat.
Lower town:
Below citadel, inhabited by common folk
Houses followed grid system and city divided into blocks
Wide streets, main street about 10m wide
Residential buildings
Houses were generally one or two storeys high
Rooms built around courtyard
Brick houses have takes strong walls which were plastered and coloured
The kitchen had a fire place and large jars of pottery for storing grain or oil
Adjacent do it was the drain
Bathrooms were built on one side the house with drains connected to the street drain
Courtyard had an oven for baking bread
For privacy they had no windows along the walls along the main road and the main entrance does not give a direct view of the interior or the courtyard
Some houses the had their own Wells
Harappans used burnt bricks, egyptians used dried bricks and mesopotamians used baked bricks.
Economic conditions:
Main economic activity was agriculture
Agriculture:
Most Harappan villages were situated near the flood plains, which held in producing sufficient food grains for themselves and others
Sowing:
Seeds were sown in November, when the flood water receded and reaped their harvest of wheat and Barley in April before the advent of the next flood
Plough:
Wooden ploughshare and stone sickles may have been used for harvesting of crops
Bulls were used by them (seals and sculpture)
Terracotta models of the plough have been found in Cholistan and Banawali
Archaeologist have also found the evidence of a ploughed field at kalibangan associated with the early Harappan period, to sets of furrows at right angles to each other suggesting that two different crops were grown together
Crops
Earliest Civilization to produce cotton
Rice cultivation was rare (only in Lothal)
Main crops grown were wheat, Barley, rye, peas, sesame, lentil, rice etc
Barley has been discovered in Banawali
And millets are found in Gujarat
Irrigation
Most Harappan sites are located in semi arid lands, where irrigation was important for agriculture
Gabbarbans or nalas enclosed by dams were used for storing water in Balochistan but channels or canals were absent
Traces of canals have been found at Harappan site of Shortughai in Afghanistan but not in Punjab or Sind
It is also likely that water drawn from Wells was used for irrigation, for example in Dholavira
Storage
Food grains were stored in granaries and the remains of which have been found in mohenjodaro, Harappa, and kalibangan
Domestication of animals
Animals by domesticated on a large scale
Animals used wear oxen, buffaloes, goats, sheep, dog, pigs, etc.
Camels and donkeys were used for carriage purposes
Humped bulls were favoured by the Harappan
Evidence of the horse comes from a doubtful figurine from Lothal
Remains of a horse found in surkotada
Elephant and rhinoceros were also known to harappans
Other animals where bulls, camels donkeys, etc
Occupations
Weavers, masons, potters, bead makers, boat makers, seal maker.
Bead making factories found in Chanhudaro and Lothal
Trade and commerce
Seals, uniform script, regulated weights and measures
Trade in shell, metal, stone, etc.
No metal money, barter existed
Internal + external trade
Internal trade carried out through ships
External trade through navigation along the coast of the Arabian sea
Commercial links with Rajasthan, Afghanistan, and Iran.
Seals found in Mesopotamia
Records from about 2350BC refer to trade relations with Meluha (ancient IVC)
2 trading stations called Dilmun and Magan
Items exported were pottery, grains, cotton goods, spices, stone beads, pearls and eye paint
Long distance trade for lapis lazuli contributed to the social prestige of the ruling class.
Imports during IVC: Gold (Afghan), silver (Afghan), copper(Oman), tin(Afghan,Iran), carnelian, jade(Central Asia), amethyst, turquoise (Central Asia, Iran)
Social conditions:
Egalitarian society
No caste system
Size of houses defined a class system
Food:
Various plants and animals
Plants: wheat, barley, maize, millet, pulses, rice, fruits, etc
Animal: fish, meat of cattle, sheep, goat, buffalo, pig
Clothes:
Cotton was weaved (clay spindles found)
Cotton, wool used for clothes
Skirts for women, loin cloth for men
Ornaments worn by both genders
Men wore amulets
Women wore bracelets and necklaces made of shell, gold, silver
Amusements and toys:
Small clay carts (modern ekkas), animal figurines, whistles, rattles
Marbles, dolls also found
Gambling, dancing, hunting was practiced.
Burials:
Burial of dead in pits.
Some graves contain pottery and ornaments (belief in afterlife)
Jewellery found in pits, copper mirrors found too
Art and craft:
(Bronze age)
Metallurgy + bronze craft:
Tools of stone
Use of bronze prevalent+ manufacturing
Bronze made by mixing tin with copper
Metal workers are bronze makes were an important group of artisans
They produced images, utensils, tools and weapons like axes, saws, knives, spears etc
A bronze statue of a dancing girl found in mohenjo daro
Terracotta figurines
Figurines made of fire baked earthen clay or Terracotta found in the sites
Representing birds, dogs, sheep, cattle, men and women
Unsophisticated artistic works
Weights + measures:
Used for trade and other transactions
Numerous articles used for weights, showing mostly 16 or its multiples
The lower denominations of the weight were binary, while the higher denominations where decimal
Made of chert stone, cubicle in shape with no markings
The art of measurement was known and sticks inscribed with measure marks have been found
Pottery:
Expert in the use of the potter’s wheels
Produced their own characteristic pottery which was glossy and shiny
Red and black wear pottery was popular
Most of them were made on radish clay
Lines, dots, geometrical designs, tree and leaf designs, animals figureines were painted in Black on them
Harappan script
The invented the art of writing
First noticed in 1853
Continues to remain undeciphered
Alphabetical but mainly pictographic
Written in alternate lines of writing which are reversed with reversed letters (boustrophedon)
Unlike egyptians and Mesopotamia the harappans did not right long inscriptions
Most inscriptions were recorded on seals and contain only a few words
Around 250 to 400 pictographs are found in the form of a picture with each letters standing for some sound, Idea or object
Seals
The greatest artistic creations of the Harappan culture
Made of steatite stone or soft stone
With animal pictures as inscriptions
Facilitated long distance communication
Used by the merchant and traders to stamp their goods
Also identified the sender
For example the Pashupati seal
Bead making
Experts in bead making
Variety of materials used, like carnelian, Jasper, crystal, quartz, steatite all copper, bronze, gold, shell, faience, Terracotta or burnt clay
Some beats were made of two or more stones cemented together, some with gold caps
Shapes included disc shaped, cylindrical, spherical, barrel shaped, segmented
Somewhere decorated by incising or painting or had designs etched on them
Centres of crafts:
Chanhudaro was almost exclusively devoted to craft production, like bead making, shell cutting, metal working, seal making and weight making.
Specialised drills were found in Chanhudaro, Lothal and Dholavira.
Nageshwar and balakot where specialised centres for making shell objects like bangles, ladles and inlay
Religious practices:
Nature worship was prevalent
No temples
Mother goddesses worshipped in the form of Terracotta figurines
Figurine of goddess Earth found in one figure where a plant is shown growing out of the embryo of a woman (fertility goddess)
A male deity is represented with three horned heads (pashupati)
Phallus worship was common
Animals were also worshipped (humped bull)
Amulets were found in large numbers, indicating a belief of the supernatural
Political organization in IVC:
No clear idea about the political organisation
Perhaps greater importance was given to commerce than conquests
Likelihood of the rule by a class of merchants
Weapons not found
Palaces and kings:
No archaeological evidence of a centre of power or of people in power
A large building found that mohenjodaro was labelled as a palace by archaeologists
A stone statue labelled as a priest King found
Some believe that Harappan society had no rulers and everyone enjoyed in egalitarian status
Others believe that there was no single ruler but several rulers
A third opinion is there was a single state due to similarity in artefacts, planned settlements, and the standardised ratio of a brick size
Important sites of the IVC
Site Harappa, location Montgomery in Pakistan on the banks of river Ravi. Excavated by D.R. Sahni in 1921. Major findings are granary, workmen’s quarter, vanity case, furnaces, pieces of pottery with the Indus script, cubical limestone weight, copper bullock cart, coffin barriers, cemetery, Terracotta figurines, evidence of horse at superficial level etc.
Site mohenjo daro, located in Larkana district of Sindh on the banks of river Indus. Excavated by RD Banerjee in 1925. Its major findings are the great bath, granary, unicorn seals, bronze dancing girl statue, Pashupati seal, steatite statue of a bearded priest, peace of woven cloth, etc.
Site sutkagendor, located in Balochistan on Dasht river. Excavated by Auriel Stein in 1929. Its findings are trade point between Harappa and Babylon, flint blades, stone vessels, stone arrowheads, shell beads, pottery, horse remains, etc.
Site chanhudaro, located in mullan sandha on the banks of river Indus. Excavated by NG Majumdar in 1931. Findings are bangle factory, ink pot, Bead maker shop, the footprint of a dog chasing a cat, cart with a seated driver driver, it is the only city without a citadel.
Rangpur, located in kathiawar, Gujarat on the banks of Madar river. Excavated by MS Vats and SR Rao from 1931 to 1957. Its findings are post Harappan site, rice husk, six types of pottery etc.
Amri, close to Balochistan on the banks of river Indus. Excavated by NG Majumdar in 1935. Findings are antelope’s evidence, rhinoceros’ evidence, etc.
Kot-diji, located in khairpur, Sindh, Pakistan on the banks of river Indus. Excavated by Fazal Ahmed and Ghurrey from 1935 to 1955. Findings are figurine of an ox, steatite seal, Terracotta beads, etc.
Kalibangan located in Hanumangarh district of Rajasthan on the banks of the ghaggar river. Excavated by Amalanand Ghosh in 1953. Findings are granary, ploughed field, wooden drainage, evidence of an earthquake, wooden plough, camel’s bone, fire alters, earthen brick instead of a baked one, etc.
Lothal located in Ahmedabad of Gujarat on the banks of River Bhogava. Excavated by R Rao in 1955. Findings are it was divided into 6 sections, a bead making factory, rice husk, ivory weight balance, dockyard, fire alters, terracotta figurine of a horse, etc.
Ropar, located in Punjab on the banks of river Sutlej. Excavated by YD Sharma in 1953. Findings are a five-fold sequence of culture, stone and mud houses, evidence of dog burial along with human burial, etc.
Alamgirpur in Meerut UP on the banks of river Hindon. Excavated by YD Sharma in 1958. Its findings are pottery, animal bones, plant fossils, copper tools, etc.
Surkotada located in Gujarat. Excavated by JP Joshi in 1964. Findings are bones of horses, beads, stone covered beads, etc.
Rakhigarhi in Hisar, Haryana on the Drishdavati river. Excavated by Surajbhan in 1969. Findings are largest Harappan site, fire alters, cylindrical seal, Terracotta wheel, etc.
Banavali in Fatehabad district of Haryana. Excavated by RS Bisht in 1974. Findings are remains of streets and drains, beads, Barley, oval shaped settlement, the only city with radial streets, toy plough, the largest number of Barley grains, etc.
Dholavira in Gujarat. Excavated by RS based in 1990. It is the only site to be divided into 3 parts, giant water reservoir, unique water harnessing system, dams, embankments, sign board with indus script, etc.
Balakot in the Arabian sea. Excavated by George F. Dales from 1973 to 1979. Early Harappan findings, bricks, bead workshop.
Dasalpur or Gunthli located in Gujarat. Excavated by SR Rao and A Ghosh in 1963. Copper and Terracotta sales, brown pottery, etc found here.
Decline of IVC
By 1800 BC the mature Harappan sites where abandoned. There was an expansion of population into the newer settlements of Gujarat, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh
In the few Harappan sites that continued to be occupied after 1900 BC, there was a transformation of material culture marked by the disappearance of the distinctive artifacts like weights, seals, special beads, writing, long distance trade and craft specialisation, etc.
Different theories state that the decline maybe Aryan invasion, climate change, deforestation, excessive floods, epidemic, shifting or drying up of rivers, ecological imbalance, etc.
Aryan invasion theory was propounded by mortimer wheeler. It’s supported by the fact that some exotic tools and pottery indicate the entry of new people. A few signs of violence also appear in the last phase of Mohenjodaro.
Traces of new people also appear in a cemetery belonging to the late phase of Harappa. However there is no evidence of any mass scale confrontation between the Harappans and the Aryans.
Thus, the causes of the decline of the civilization is not clear. Archaeologists now believe that the Civilization did not come to an abrupt end and gradually declined. This is extrapolated by the theory of ecological imbalance by Walter Fairservis.
Post-Harappan Phase of the Harappan Culture
Sub-Indus Culture
Later Harappan
Chalcolithic in nature.
Sites in Rajasthan, MP, Maharashtra, E. India.
Less advanced. No cities (rural) or writing systems. Agricultural, stock based with hunting and fishing.
Exotic tools and pottery –> incoming new populace in the Indus basin.
Contributions of the IVC
Developed the 1st accurate system of standardized weights and measures
Created sculpture, seals, pottery and jwellery from terracotta, metal and stone
Vast maritime network with C. Asia, Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, Syria, etc.
Grid-pattern of planned cities.
Underground drainage
Multi-cropping + irrigation
Worship of Shiva, Phallus, Pipal, Mother Goddess, Bull, etc.
