INDUS VALLEY CIVILISATION

Dr.Vikalp R. Kotwal www.vikalpkotwal.org

 The Indus Valley Civilisation was
a Bronze Age civilisation (3300–1300 BCE; mature period 2600–1600 BCE)

in the north-western regions of South Asia, extending from what today is

northeast Afghanistan to Pakistan and northwest India.

Along with ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia it was one of three early
civilisations of the Old World, and of the three, the most widespread.

It flourished in the basins of the Indus River

had a population of over five million.

Dr.Vikalp R. Kotwal www.vikalpkotwal.org

 The Indus Valley Civilisation is also known as the Harappan Civilisation,
after Harappa, the first of its sites to be excavated in the 1920s, in what was
then the Punjab province of British India, and now is Pakistan.

The discovery of Harappa, and soon afterwards, Mohenjo-Daro, was the

culmination of work beginning in 1861 with the founding of
the Archaeological Survey of India in the British Raj.

Excavation of Harappan sites has been ongoing since 1920, with important
breakthroughs occurring as recently as 1999.

Dr.Vikalp R. Kotwal www.vikalpkotwal.org

 Covered parts of Punjab, Haryana, Sindh, Baluchistan, Gujarat, Rajasthan
and the fringes of western Uttar Pradesh

Dr.Vikalp R. Kotwal www.vikalpkotwal.org

 Nearly 1500 Harappan sites are known so far in the subcontinent
of these, the two most important cities were Harappa in Punjab & Mohenjo-
daro(literally the mound of the dead) in Sindh, both forming parts Pakistan.
Situated at a distance of 483 kilometers they were linked together by the
Indus.

A third city lay at Chanhu-daro about 130 km south of Mohnejo-daro in Sindh

fourth at Lothal in Gujarat
fifth at Kalibangan, in northern Rajasthan
sixth Banawali in Hissar district of Haryana

the Harappan culture is noticeable in its mature and flourishing stage at all
these six places.

It is also found in its mature phase in the coastal cities of Sutkagendor and
Surkotada, each one of which is marked by Citadel

Dr.Vikalp R. Kotwal www.vikalpkotwal.org

 The later Harappan phase is found in Rangpur and Rojdi in the Kathaiwar
peninsula in Gujarat

In addition to these, Dholavira lying the Kutch area of Gujarat shows

Harappan fortification and all the three phases of Harappan culture
these phases also appear in Rakhigarhi which is situated on the Ghaggar in
Haryana and is much bigger than Dholavira

Dr.Vikalp R. Kotwal www.vikalpkotwal.org

 Town Planning and Structures
was distinguished by its system of town planning
Harappa & Mohenjo, each had its own citadel or acropolis which was possibly
occupied by members of the ruling class

below the citadel in each city lay a lower town containing brick houses, which
were inhabited by the common people

the remarkable thing about the arrangement of the houses in the cities is that
they followed the grid system
according to it, roads cut across one another almost at right angles, and the
city was divided in so many blocks.

Dr.Vikalp R. Kotwal www.vikalpkotwal.org

 Big buildings distinguished both Harappa and Mohenjo-daro, the latter was
extremely rich in structures

the most important public place of Mohenjo-daro seems to be

the Great bath, comprising the tank which is situated in the citadel mount.
flights of steps at either end lead to the surface.
there are side rooms for changing clothes
the floor of the bath was made of burnt bricks
water was drawn from a large in an adjacent room, and an outlet from the
corner of the bath led to a drain

it is suggested that the Great bath served ritual bathing which has been so
vital to ay religious ceremony in India

Dr.Vikalp R. Kotwal www.vikalpkotwal.org

 In Mohenjo-daro the largest building is Granary

to the south of the granaries at Harappa lay working floors consisting of the
rows of circular brick platforms. These are evidently meant for threshing grain
because wheat and barley

At Kalibangan also we notice in the southern part brick platforms which may
have been used for granaries.

Thus, it would appear that granaries constituted an important part of the

Harappan cities.

Dr.Vikalp R. Kotwal www.vikalpkotwal.org

 The use of burnt bricks in the Harappan cities is remarkable, because in the
contemporary buildings of Egypt mainly dried bricks were used.

We find the use of baked bricks in contemporary Mesopotamia, but they

were used to a much larger extent in the Harappan cities.

Dr.Vikalp R. Kotwal www.vikalpkotwal.org

 The drainage system of Mohenjo-daro was impressive.

In almost all cities every big or small house had its own courtyard and
bathroom.

In Kalibangan many houses had their wells.

Water flowed from the house to the streets which had drains.

Some times these drains were covered with bricks and sometimes with stone
slabs.

Altogether the quality of the domestic bathrooms and drains is remarkable

and the drainage system of Harappa is almost unique.

Perhaps no other Bronze Age civilization gave so much attention to health

and cleanliness as the Harappan did.

Dr.Vikalp R. Kotwal www.vikalpkotwal.org

 Agriculture
in earlier times the Indus region possessed more natural vegetation which
attracted more rainfall

it supplied timber fuel for baking brick on a large scale, and also for
construction

in course of time, natural vegetation was destroyed by the extension of

agriculture, large-scale grazing, and supply of fuel

a far more important reason for the fertility of the area seems to have been
the annual inundation in the Indus river

walls made of burnt bricks raised for protection show that floods took place
annually

Dr.Vikalp R. Kotwal www.vikalpkotwal.org

 no hoe or ploughshare has been discovered

probably used the wooden ploughshare

stone sickles may have been used for harvesting crops

irrigation seems to have been absent

produce wheat, barley, rai, peas, sesamum and mustard

they were the earliest people to produce cotton because cotton was first
produced in this area
the Greeks called it Sindon, which is derived from Sindh.

Dr.Vikalp R. Kotwal www.vikalpkotwal.org

 Domestication of Animals
animals were kept on a large scale – oxen, buffaloes, goats, sheep, pigs

from the very beginning dogs were regarded as pets

cats were also domesticated

also kept asses and camels which were used as beasts of burden

remains of the horse are reported from Surkotada, but the identity is doubtful
– culture was not horse-centred

elephants were well known to the Harappans who were also acquainted with
the rhinocores

the contemporary Mesopotamian people produced the same foodgrains and

domesticated the same animals as the Harappans did. But the Harappan
people in Gujarat produced rice and domesticated elephants, which was not
the case with the people of Mesopotamian cities

Dr.Vikalp R. Kotwal www.vikalpkotwal.org

 Technology and Crafts
very well acquainted with the manufacture & use of bronze

originally bronze was made by the smiths by mixing tin with copper

since none of the two metals was easily available to the Harappans, bronze
tools are not prolific in Harappa

the impurities of the ores show that copper was obtained from the Khetri
copper mines of Rajasthan

Tin was probably brought with difficulty from Afghanistan

bronze-smiths constituted an important group of artisans in the Harappan

society. They produced not only images and utensils but also various tools
and weapons such as axes, saws, knives and spears

Dr.Vikalp R. Kotwal www.vikalpkotwal.org

 potter’s wheel was in full use and they produced their own characteristic
pottery, which was made glossy and shining

piece of woven cotton has been recovered

weavers wove cloth of wool and cotton

brick-laying was a important craft

also practised boat-making

goldsmiths made jewellery of silver, gold and precious stones

– experts in bead-making

Dr.Vikalp R. Kotwal www.vikalpkotwal.org

 Trade
presence of numerous seals, uniform script and regulated weights and
measures in a wide area

carried on considerable trade in stone, metals etc within the Indus culture
zone.

They did not use metal money. Most probably they carried on all exchanges
through barter

they knew the use of wheel, and carts with solid wheels were in use in
Harappa

had commercial links with Afghanistan and Iran

many Harappan seals have been discovered in Mesopotamia

Dr.Vikalp R. Kotwal www.vikalpkotwal.org

 Political Organization
no clear idea
cultural homogeneity would not have been possible to achieve without a
central authority

in sharp contrast to Egypt and Mesopotamia, no temples have been found

no religious structures except the Great Bath

it would be wrong to think that priests ruled in Harappa, as they did in the
cities of Mesopotamia

perhaps Harappan rulers were more concerned with commerce than with
conquests,

and Harappa was possibly ruled by a class of merchants.

It may be noted that they were lacking in weapons

Dr.Vikalp R. Kotwal www.vikalpkotwal.org

 Religious practices
numerous terracotta figurines of women have been found
in one figurine a plant is shown growing out of embryo of woman. Probably
the image represents the goddess of earth

they looked upon the earth as a fertility goddess and worshiped her

we do not know whether they were a matriarchal people like Egyptians

Dr.Vikalp R. Kotwal www.vikalpkotwal.org

 Male Deity
represented on a seal
this god has three horned heads
represented in sitting position of a yogi, placing one foot on the other
god is surrounded by an elephant, a tiger, a rhinoceros and
has a buffalo below his throne.
At his feet appear two deer
the depicted god is identified as Pashupati Mahadevea

numerous symbols of the phallus and female sex organs made of stone have
been found in Harappa.
The phallus worship which started in the days of Harappa came to be
recognized as a respectable form of worship in Hindu society

Dr.Vikalp R. Kotwal www.vikalpkotwal.org

 Tree & Animal worship
also worshipped trees
picture of a deity is represented on a seal in the midst of the branches of
pipal. This tree continues to be worshipped to this day

animals were also worshipped & many of them are represented on seals
the most important of them is the one horned animal unicorn. Next in
importance is the humped bull

obviously the inhabitants of the Indus region worshipped gods in the forms of
trees, animals and human beings.
But the gods were not placed in temples a practice which was common in
ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia

probably they believed that ghosts and evil forces are capable of haring them
and therefore used amulets against them.

Dr.Vikalp R. Kotwal www.vikalpkotwal.org

 The Harappan Script
invented the art of writing like the people of ancient Mesopotamia
it has not been deciphered so far
some try to connect it with the Dravidian or the proto-Dravidian language,
other with the Sanskrit language, and still others with the Sumerian language,
but none of these reading is satisfactory
we cannot judge their contribution to the literature

nearly 4,000 specimens of Harappan writing on stone seals and other objects
are found
did not write long inscriptions
most inscriptions were recorded on seals, and contain only a few words

script is no alphabetical but mainly pictographic

Dr.Vikalp R. Kotwal www.vikalpkotwal.org

 Weights and Measures
for trade and transactions
they show that in weighing mostly 16 or its multiples were used; for instance
16,64,160,320 & 640.
interestingly this tradition of 16 has continued in India till mdoern times and
till recently 16 annas made one rupee

Dr.Vikalp R. Kotwal www.vikalpkotwal.org

 Harappan Pottery
great experts in the use of the potter’s wheel
pots were generally decorated with the designs of trees and circles
images of animals also appear on some pottery fragments

Dr.Vikalp R. Kotwal www.vikalpkotwal.org

 Seals
the greatest artistic creations of the culture are seals
about 2000 seals have been found, and of these a great majority carry short
inscriptions with pictures of the one horned bull, the buffalo, the tier, the
rhinoceros, the goat and the elephant

Dr.Vikalp R. Kotwal www.vikalpkotwal.org

 Images
made beautiful images of metal
a woman dancer made of bronze is the best specimen
except for a necklace she is naked

Dr.Vikalp R. Kotwal www.vikalpkotwal.org

 Terracotta Figurines
made of fire-baked earthen clay
used either as toys or objects of worship
represent birds, dogs, sheep, cattle and monkeys
men and women also find place-more women

poor in artistic works made of stone

Dr.Vikalp R. Kotwal www.vikalpkotwal.org