INDUS VALLEY CIVILISATION :IAS EXAM NOTES History special for Prelims and Mains
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| Indus Valley civilisation |
Indus Valley Civilisation, also named as the Harappan Civilisation, due to 'Harappa' being thefirst site to have been discovered, stands as one of the earliest civilisations of the world, apartfiom those of ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia and China's Shang civilisations.
THE DISCOVERY
A vast civilisation in the North-West of India was archaeologically discovered in 1921-22, what is now referred to as the Indus Valley Civilisation or the Harappan Civilisation. Harappa and Mohenjo-daro were its two urban
centres. These excavations were carried out by the then Director General of Archaeological Survey of India, John Hubert Marshall and his colleague RD Banerjee.
Many other cities too came to be dug out gradually, by other excavators, namely-Ropar (Chandigarh), Lothal (Ahmedabad), Kalibangan (Rajasthan), Kot Diji and Chanhudaro (Sindh), Dholavira (Kutch, Gujarat), Banawali (Hisar, Haryana) and Sutkagen-Dor (Makran coast, Pakistan) etc.
The Harappan Civilisation is dated between 2600 and 1900 BC and procured its name from Harappa, the first site where the culture was discovered. There were three cultures termed as Early, Mature and Late Harappan Phase. The Early Phase characterised by authority and an increasingly urban quality of life. The Mature Phase saw the emergence of large urban centres. This transitional phase from the Early Harappan to the Mature Harappan can be witnessed to the core at Amri, where the beginning of the 3rd millennium BC saw the
appearance of a distinctive culture complex to the South-East of Baluchistan. This complex had people inhabiting in stone or mud brick houses and was marked by existence of granaries too. Animal motifs such as humped bulls were
painted by them on thin pottery. The Later Harappan Phase gives the signs of a gradual decline of the Indus Valley Civilisation. A series of evolving stages gave way to what is now known as the Harappan Civilisation.
Phases of lndus Valley Civilisation The three maln phases of the lndus Valley Clvllisatlon are
Early Harappan (Integration era). (3300 BC to 2800 BC) Mature Harappan (Locallsatlon era) (2600 BC) Late Harappan Phase (Reglonalisation era) (1800 BC-I700 BC)
The Harappan Civilisation was one of the four earliest civilisations of the World, alongwith the civilisations of Mesopotamia (between the rivers Tigris and Euphrates), Egyptian Civilisation on river Nile and the Shang
Civilisation on river Hwang Ho. The Harappan Civilisation was known as a Bronze age civilisation.
THE GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT
The Harappan culture was spread over Afghanistan, Sindh, Jammu, Baluchistan, Northern Rajasthan, almost the whole of Punjab, Kathiawar and Gujarat. While Sutkagen Dor on the Makran coast of Pakistan represents its western boundary, Alamgirpur in Uttar Pradesh represents its Eastern boundary, Manda in Jammu and Kashmir represents the Northern extreme and Daimabad in Maharashtra represents its Southern boundary. The Harappa-Ghaggar (Ka1ibangan)- Mohenjo-
daro axis is perceived to be representing the heartland of the Harappan Civilisation, with most of the Harappan settlements located in the region. The occupying of far away places, for instance-Shortughai in North-Eastern Afghanistan or Surkotada in Gujarat, by the Harappans can be seen as a result of the wide trade network and the economic independence of each Harappan region. Nearly 1500 Harappan sites are known so far in the sub-continent. Most of them are Late Harappan e.g. Bhagwanpura lies on the bank of Ghaggar Hakra channel. They belong to the Early, Mature and the Late phases of the Harappan culture. But the number of sites belonging to the mature phase is limited and only a few of them can be regarded as cities for instance, Harappa in Punjab and Mohenjo-daro in Sindh, both forming parts of Pakistan and linked together by the river Indus. Chanhudaro (Sindh), Lothal (Gujarat), Kalibangan in Rajasthan and Banawali in Haryana were the other major cities. The later Harappan phase is found in Rangpur and Rojdi in Gujarat. In addition to these, Dholavira lying in the Kutch district of Gujarat shows Harappan fortifications and seems to have witnessed all the three phases of the Harappan culture.
FEATURES OF HARAPPAN SITES . . ,
HARAPPA (PUNJAB, PAKISTAN)
Located on the banks of the river Ravi, it was the first Indus site to be discovered and excavated in 1921. It was Charles Masson, who first visited Harappa near Sahiwal in Punjab, now in Pakistan in 1826-1827 and gave its earliest reference.
Though, Harappa came to be ranked as the premier city of the civilisation, no cluster of settlement sites were around it. The reason so attributed for the same is that a substantial section of the Harappan population remained engaged in activities other than food production for instance-trade,administration, religion etc.Barracks or rows of single roomed quarters are situated just below the walls of the citadel found at Harappa. They probably housed labours. Since Harappa was located in the midst of important trade routes, its isolation has been thus, justified.These routes connected Harappa with Central Asia, Afghanistan and Jammu.
Harappa's importance was thus, also connected with its ability to procure luxurious items of use from the distant lands. Each city was surrounded by massive walls. The walls were built to control trade and also to stop the city from being flooded.Recent Excavations at Rakhigarhi (2014)The discovery of two mounds at the Harappan site of Rakhigarhi in Hisar district (Haryana), has led to archaeological establishing it as the biggest Harappan civilisation site. The total area of the Rakhigarhi site will be 350 hectares. The artefacts found at Rakhigarhi include seals, potsherds painted with concentric circles, fish-net designs, wavy pattern, floral design and geometric designs, terracotta animal figurines, cakes and shell bangles all belonging to the Mature Harappan Phase of civilisation. Also the excavations in Haryana have revealed at least five Harappan sites, such as Kunal, Bhirrana,Farmana, Girawad and Mitathal, which are indicating early Harappan phase to go back to 5000 BC.
THE GRANARIES OF HARAPPA
There were two rows of six granaries at Harappa with the combined floor space. These granaries had same area as the Great Granary at Mohenjo-daro. It is a brick structure that was built on a massive foundation over 45 metres North-South and 45 metres East-West.
MOHENJO-DARO (SINDH)
It is the largest site of the Harappan Civilisation,discovered by RD Banerjee in 1922. In Sindhi language, the word Mohenjo-daro means Mound of the Dead. The Great Bath of Mohenjo-daro is the most important public place, measuring 39 feet in length, 23 feet wide and 8 feet deep. Located at the centre of the citadel, it is remarkable for it's beautiful brickwork. Its floor is made of burnt bricks set in gypsum and mortars. The Great Granary, so found was the largest building,measuring 150 feet in length and 50 feet wide. It is located within the citadel. Other buildings include an oblong multipillared assembly hall and a big rectangular building, which was served for administrative purpose.
THE GREAT BATH OF MOHENJO-DARO
The Great Bath is the most important public-place of Mohenjo-daro. It comprises of a tank situated in the citadel mound. It is an example of beautiful brick work and is perceived to have been used for religious bathing. Steps at either end leads to the surface. There were side rooms for changing clothes. The floor of the bath was made of burnt bricks.
THE GREAT GRANARY OF MOHENJO-DARO
It was the largest building of Mohenjo-daro, consisting of 27 blocks of brick work criss-crossed by ventilation channels. The granary was supposed to be used for storing grains.
IMPORTANT HARAPPAN SITES
CHANHUDARO (SINDH)
It is known as the Lancashire of India and is the only Indus city without a citadel. Chanhudaro was perhaps a great centre of bead manufacture.
KALlBANGAN (RAJASTHAN)
Literal meaning of Kalibangan is black bangle. Kalibangan has the largest concentration of Harappan settlements and yields evidence of early Harappan period. Many houses had their own wells. Three different cultural layers, those of Indus, Jhukar and Jhangar can be seen here.
ROPAR/RUPAR (PUNJAB)
First site to be excavated after independence.Buildings were made of stone and soil. Ropar has yielded a sequence of six cultural periods or phases with some break from Harappa.PGW, NBP, Kushana, Gupta, meheval to the present day.
LOTHAL (GUJARAT)
The most unique feature of Lothal was it's dockyard, the world's first tidal port, which served as a main sea-port for the Indus people, baked bricks with lime plaster were used in the dockyards of Lothal. Lothal not only served long distance trade, but also supplied the cities on the Indus with raw materials such as cotton from Gujarat and copper from Rajasthan.
Lothal has been perceived by the historians to
be an outpost for sea-trade with contemporary
West Asian Societies, particularly Oman. It is
known as the Manchester of Harappan
Civilisation for its cotton trade.
RAKH IGARH I (HARYANA)
Situated in Hisar district of Haryana, it is
termed as the Provincial Capital of the
Harappan Civilisation. Two distinct cultures,
i.e. Early Harappan and Mature Harappan,
can be seen here.
SURKOTADA (GUJARAT)
Both citadel and the lower town were fortified
with a stone wall. It provides the first actual
remains of horse bones.
BANAWALI (HARYANA)
Both Pre-Harappan and Harappan phases are
found here. It is the only city with oval shaped
settlements, radial streets and lack of
systematic drainage pattern.
DHOLAVIRA (GUJARAT)
It is the latest Indus city discovered and one
of the two largest Harappan settlements in
India, the other being Rakhigarhi in Haryana.
The most unique featqre of the site is its
division into three sections. Two of these
parts were protected by strong rectangular
fortifications, with entrances through
gateways. It is the warehousing settlement
of Harappan Civilisation. Dholavira also
witnessed a large open area in the settlement
where public ceremonies could be held. A yet
another crucial discovery was a sort of a public
inscription with 10 large sized signs of the
Harappan scripts, besides water reservoirs.
SUTKAGEN-DOR (AFGHANISTAN)
The town at Sutkagen-Dor had a citadel surrounded by a stone wall built for
defence. The site, in all probability, made up for the need of a sea port for
trading purposes.
BHIRRANA (HARYANA)
Recently excavated Harappan site, which as per Archaeological Survey of
India report, located in Fatehabad district, state of Haryana dating back to
7570-6200 BC. This is even older than the Mehrgarh site in Pakistan
belonging to a bracket of 6400-7000 BC.
MAJOR CHARACTERISTICS OF
HARAPPAN SITES
TOWN PIANNING
The Harappan culture was distinguished by its system of Town Planning. The towns were divided into two parts: The Upper part or the citadel and the lower part. Harappa and Mohenjo-daro both had their 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, possibly inhabited by the common people.The remarkable thing about the arrangement of the houses in the cities is that they followed the grid system. The rectangular town planning was a unique feature, in which the roads cut across one another almost at right angles.
The city was divided into many blocks. The houses were of varied sizes, pointing towards the existence of economic groups in the settlements. While the parallel rows of two room cottages so unearthed at Mohenjo-daro and Harappa might have been for the poorer, the big houses with large square courtyards and a number of rooms, were probably meant for the rich.The use of burnt bricks in the Harappan cities is remarkable, because in the contemporary buildings of Egypt, mainly
dried bricks were used and in contemporary
Mesopotamia, baked bricks were utilised.
This usage of burnt bricks of standard size
shows that brick making might have been a
large scale industry.
DRAINAGE SYSTEM
The drainage system was very impressive.
In almost all cities, every big or small house
had its own courtyard, well and bathroom.
Water flowed from the houses to the streets
which had drains.
Sometimes these drains were covered with
bricks or with stone slabs. The street drains
were equipped with manholes. The quality
of domestic bathrooms and drains was
remarkable. No other Bronze Age Civilis-
ation gave so much attention to health and
cleanliness, as the Harappans did.
HARAPPAN STREETS
They are wide, they run in straight lines
and cross one another at right angles. The
'First Street' of Mohenjo-daro was 10.5
metres wide and capable of accommodating
seven lanes of wheeled traffic.
USE OF BRICKS
Major Harappan towns extensively used
bricks, which were both burnt and unburnt.
Predominantly brick size was 7 x 14 x 28
i.e. in a ratio of 1 : 2 : 4.
BUILDING STRUCTURES
Harappan building structure included
dwelling houses, large buildings, public
bath and granaries. Houses had entrance
from street side with due consideration to
privacy. The courtyard was' paved with
bricks and surrounded by chambers.
HARAPPAN GATEWAYS
The location of Harappa has led several authors
to conclude that it was a Gateway City.
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