The Indus Valley Civilisation Flashcards
Why was the Indus Valley in the Indus Valley?
Due to favourable land and climatic conditions.
The land was super fertile.
How were the cities divided?
Cities divided into two parts, higher and lower parts.
The higher part - Citadel
Lower part - lower town - houses n shops
What was the citadel?
Area built on a brick platform, surrounded by big brick wall, largest and most important buildings were built in this are.
What were the buildings in Mohenjo daro?
Great bath
Granary
Pillard structure - hall?!
Hey tell me about the towns! (3)
. Grid structure
. Well planned
. Include drainage systems
Hey tell me about the houses! (4)
. Made of baked bricks
. Some were two-storyed
. Had several rooms, including bathrooms and sometimes wells!
. Each house had its own drain, connected to drains in the street which ran underground
Hey tell me about the dockyard!
Ar Lothal in Gujarat, brick basin found, could be filled with water, believed to be a dockyard for ships used for trade.
What did they cultivate?
Wheat / barley / mustard / sesame / peas / cotton
Animals?
Had domestic cattle
What did they make? (6)
Stone and bronze tools. Pottery Bricks Stone and terracotta images Jewellery from gold, silver etc Boats n carts
What were the seals?1
Stone seals, small tablets, could have been used for trade
Who did they trade with?
Traded both within their territory and also over long distance.
Traded with Afghanistan, Iran and Mesopotamia.
What did they think about religion?
Some of their Gods connected with fertility
Male God with head dress, surrounded by animals - early form of Shiva?
Rituals?
Evidence of worship of fire and sacrifice of animals, fire altars in kalibangan (Dalas)
Great bath could have been a sacred pool.
Structure in Mohenjo daro looks like a temple
Writing?
Writing carved in seals. Cannot be interpreted.
Why did the Indus Valley fall?
Natural disaster - Earth quake / flood ?
Disease?
Climate change?
Invasion - Aryans?
What does Mohenjo daro suggest about the downfall of the IVC?
Signs of fire and the sudden death of inhabitants.
What do the terracotta figures suggest?
The worship of the Mother Goddess, which is still practised in modern India.
Proto Siva seal? (4)
Seal found with image that looks like Proto Siva:
- Figure seated - Holy men and women, important feature of -Hinduism
- God is three faced
- Has horns, a ruler who wore horns in Mesopotamia was said to possess power and divinity
- Figure is surrounded by animals - Siva is lord of beasts
Explain the seal with the kneeling lady (3)
- Could be a ritual offering
- Horned Goddess in U shaped tree with Pipal Leaved (Pipal trees and sacred in Hinduism)
- Goddess is worshiped by a kneeling figure, probably making a sacrificial offering according to Marshall
- Atre, she has ‘raised her arms only in the act of supplication’
How did people in the Indus Valley dispose of dead people?
BURIALS!
In pit graves, wrap body up in cloth because didnt want it to touch the ground, could be linked with purity.
What IVC people buried with?
Ornaments, jewellery
How have archeologists interpreted the burial sites?
As a reflection of social structure and hierarchy, evidence for this is smaller and bigger burial sites were found.
People of a higher class had a separate burial site.
Some burials found with alot less ornaments.
Evidence for caste system?
Where were the two huge burial sites found?
Harrapa
Kalibangan
What are the three categories for burial sites in Kalibangan
1 - bodies buried in supine (lying on back) position
2 - burials in circular pits
3 - Pots found with no skeletal remains, could have been because of cremation.
How do we know that the IVC gave alot of importance to hierarchy and status?
Individual found with more pots and ornaments in his burial pit than usual, shows he had a higher status than most people. We can tell that they put alot of energy and expenditure into his funeral.
IVC and trees?
Believed in tree of life, shown in seals, Pipal or Acasia tree, defended by guardian spirit.
What did the terracotta figures resemble?
Humans and animals, showed fashion - fan shaped hair dresses.
Use of terracotta figures?
Toys
Good luck charms - found in rubbish pits
To make jewellery
Oil lamps
What have the terracotta figures shown us?
IVC people could have believe in good luck
They liked to dance, could have been during rituals which is what Hindus do today.
How did the IVC people trade?
By bullet cart, boat and foot.
What were the bricks made of?
Sun dried kiln or fired brick
What was special about the bricks?
They were all of equal size, which suggested that they had a way of measuring them
What tools were used?
Chisels, pickaxes and saws, all made of copper
Why was the IVC in such a good place?
Next to Indus river, meant the land was very fertile, plus flooded twice a year so was reliable.
Surrounded by desert and mountains, so safe from attack and disease.
Uses of water? (4)
1 - Great bath
2 - Wells - one in most houses
3 - Home bathing
4 - Drainage system - chanels which let to brick lined sewers, enclosed channels down street.
Why do we think they traded?
Because seals were found in Mesopatamia and Central Asia
What did Marshall think
- there was worship of the mother goddess
- trees were worshipped and their indwelling spirits were anthropomorphised
What did ivc religion involve according to Ratnagar?
- gods, ancestor beings, supreme mother goddesses
- demons, animal spirits, ritual practices
- kings, priests
- symbols and metaphors
Who thought proto shiva seal was not shiva? (2)
- D.Srinivasan ‘the figure represents a divine bull man , possibly a deity of fertility and abundance’
- H.P Sullivan ‘a female deity’
Who called shiva seals proto seals
Marshall
K.Dalas- how big was ivc
1.3 million sq km
Dalas when did downfall start?
Between 2000 and 1800 bc
Dalas why did ivc end (2)
- signs of fire and sudden death at mohenjo daro
- river ghaggar hakra could have dried up in 2000 bc
When/who discovered ivc
1921 by John Marshall and r.d bannerjee
Decline of ivc according to smith
Result of environmental factors, drought or famine surrounded area no longer able to support such a large urban population
Decline of ivc according to Mortimer
An invading army because of number of skeletons which appear to be left where they fell, no one was left to bury them
