harappa civilization india

7/28/2019 Harappa Civilization India

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INDUS VALLEYCIVILIZATION


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INTRODUCTIONThe I ndus Valley Civil ization was one

of the world's fi rst great urban

civil izations. I t f lour ished in the vast

r iver plains and adjacent r egions in

what are now Pakistan and western

India.

The earl iest 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. I t was only in the 1920's that the bur ied cities

andvil lages of the I ndus valley were recognized by

archaeologists as representing an undiscovered

civilization.
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Discovery of Indus valley Civilization South Asia's f irst cities were established around 2600

B.C. in what is now Pakistan and western I ndia .Thepeople who bui lt and ruled these cities belong to whatarchaeologists refer to as the Harappan Cul ture orI ndus Civil ization. This civil ization developed atapproximately the same time as the early city states of

Egypt and Mesopotamia

Unti l 1922 A.D. i t was believed that I ndia did not have apast of any special signi f icance.I t was only in places likeEgypt and Mesopotamia that great ancient civil izationshad flour ished and died.

Archaeologists l ike Sir Alexander Cunningham(1814 -1893) found strange unidenti f ied seals in Harappa.However, he missed the impor tance of Harappa and i tmerely remained a place of interest unti l the discovery of

Mohen-jo-daro.
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The greatest tr iumph of the archaeological survey of I ndia under Sir

John Marshalls(1876-1958),directorship was the discovery of the

I ndus Civil ization which existed between 2500 B.C to 1500 B.C However, in 1922 A.D, Rakhaldas Baner jee , an off icer of the

Archaeological Sur vey of I ndia , discovered several layers whi le

excavating the ruins of a Buddhist stupa of second centur y A.D at a

place called Mohen-jo-daro in the Larkana distr ict of Sind (now in

Pakistan) Banerjee had stumbled upon the remains of the I ndus valley

civilization , this discovery took back Indias known history by almost

2000 years,taking i t to 3000 years before Chr ist.

At Ur , Kish and other sites in M esopotamia and I ran , some seals of

the Harappa type have been found in contexts which suggest the timeof 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 beginningof the thir d millennium B.C.


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Time - lineI ndus Tradition

Early Food Producing Era

ca. 6500 - 5000 B.C.

Regional ization Era

ca. 5000 - 2600 B.C.

I ndus Civil ization - Harappan Culture I ntegration Era

2600 - 1900 B.C.

Late Harappan Period

1900 - 1300 or 1000 B.C.

Post-I ndus Tradition

Painted Grey Ware

+1200 - 800 B.C.

Northern Black Poli shed Ware

+ 700 - 300 B.C.

Ear ly Historic Period

ca. 600 B.C.


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Nature and Extent ofHarappan cultureI ndus Valley remnants have been discovered from as farsouth as Mumbai [Bombay], in Maharashtra State, I ndia,and up north until the H imalayas and northernAfghanistan. The westernmost sites are on the Arabian

sea coast inBaluchistan, Pakistan, r ight next to theI ranian border. A thousand miles to the east in I ndia,Harappan settlements have been found beyond Delhi inUttar Pradesh State. Discover ies inLothalorGola Dhoroin Gujarat State suggest a southern coastal networkspanning hundreds of miles.

I ndus Valley cul ture seems to have moved from west to east, wi th sites towards cent

and southern I ndia flourishing afterHarappaandMohenjo-darohad declined. Th

drying up of the ancient Sarasvati or Ghaggar-Hakra ri ver, east

of and paral lel to the I ndus, may also have aff ected the civi l ization.
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Factors that favored the Induscivilization

The climate was very moist and humid (unl ike the present dry, desert

condi tions). This favored dense forests which provided timber for

brick ki lns and for buildings boats.

The rivers provided an abundant supply of water which couldsupport large settlements.

Annual f looding of the I ndus made the land ferti le.

The rivers also provided abundant f ish.

The rivers were a means of cheap and easy transport.


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Physical Map


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The Indus cities Over 250 sites of the I ndus Civil ization have been so far located. Some sites

are large enough to be call ed cities. These included :

MOHENJODARO:(meaning mound of the dead in Sindhi) : It isthe largest site and is located in the Larkana distr ict of upper Sind ,480 km nor th of Karachi . I t l ies on the right bank of I ndus , some 400km north f rom its mouth. Excavations indicate that this city was bui lt

over 5000 years ago .I t was destroyed and rebui lt at least seven times. HARAPPA:I t is located on the left bank of the river Ravi inMontgomery distr ict of Punjab.Both Harappa and Mohen-jo-darowere more than 4.8 km in cir cuit.

KALIBANGAN: I t is in Ganganagar distri ct of Rajasthan is the thir dimportant site. I t l ies on the left bank of the r iver Ghaggar in northernRajasthan.

LOTHAL :I t is a settlement near a tr ibutary of the Saabarmation thewest side of the Gul f of Cambay in Gujarat.An interesting f ind here isa great basin measur ing 290m by 30m with brick walls of 4.5 m inheight.Scholar believe that this was a dock for ships Lothal was a port

or a trading station


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The Indus cities GANWERIWALA:This town is almost the same size as Mohen-jo-

daro.

Other important sites are:

RUPAR in Punjab ALAMGIRPUR in Uttar Pradesh

BANWALI in H ISSAR district of H aryana

SUTGAGEN-DOR on the eastern coast of south Baluchistan

CHAN-HU-DARO in Sind

SURKOTADA, DHOLAWIRA, RANGPUR, DAIMABAD, AMRI etcare the cities which have yielded character istic elements of thiscivil ization which extends from Rupar in the north below the Simlahi l ls to Lothal in Gujarat , more than 1280 km towards the south.


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Way of LifeFOOD

I t would appear they were very good farmers. They grew barley, peas,melons, wheat, and dates. Farms raised cotton and kept herds ofsheep, pigs, zebus (a kind of cow), and water buf falo. F ish werecaught in the r iver wi th f ish hooks! Each town had a large central

storage bui lding for grain. Crops were grown, and the harvest storedcentrally, for al l in the town to enjoy.

The food of the people consisted of beef, muttons, pork, poultry,tur tles and tortoises. But wheat was their principle staple food.Bar ley and palm- date were also famil iar.

Fish was commonly used. Milk was used and vegetables and f rui tsseem to have been known, though there is no positive evidence.

Dinner might have been warm tasty wheat bread served with barleyor r ice .


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Way of LifeDress and Ornaments

Dress was simple ; men used a shawl which was drawn over the leftshoulder and under the r ight arm, so as to leave the right arm free,and in the sitting posture came down to the feet. I t formed the uppergarment. The lower garment was like a modern dhoti

Men kept short beards and whiskers and sometimes the upper lip wasshaved. Their hair was combed backwards and was either cut shortor coiled in a knot on the top of head.

Ornaments were worn by both men and women of all classes.Necklaces, fi l lets, armlets, finger- r ings and bangles were worn by

both men and women, and girdles, nose- studs, earr ings and ankletsby women alone.

The rich made ornaments of gold, silver, ivory, faience ( f ine potterydecorated with colorful glazes) and other semi- precious stones. Theornaments of the poor were made of copper, bone, shell and terra-cotta. People knew the art of toi let and cosmetics.


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Way of LifeToys and Amusements

People enjoyed games and other form of entertainment. They playedmarbles and another game with a marker board and dice. They alsoenjoyed dancing to the accompaniment of a drum. Some of the toysfound were small carts, whistles shaped l ike birds, and toy monkeyswhich could slide down a str ing!

Hunting and fishing also formed a favorite sport. Childrens toys werevarious, interesting and ingenious. Usual ly they were crude clay-models of bir ds, animals, whistles, rattles, men and women. There werewheeled carts and chairs.

A beauti ful small bronze statue of a dancer was found, which tel ls usthat they enjoyed dance and had great ski l l working with metals. I n the

ancient city of Mohenjo-daro, scienti sts have found the remains of alarge central pool, with steps leading down at both ends. This couldhave been a publ ic swimming pool, or perhaps have been used forreligious ceremonies. Around this large central pool were smallerrooms, that might have dressing rooms, and smaller pools that mighthave been pr ivate baths.


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Way of LifeHousehold Articles

The metals known to the people of the I ndus Vall ey were

gold, si lver, copper, tin, lead and bronze.

The earthenware vessels of r ich var iety were made with the

potters wheel and were either plain or painted with a slip of

red ochre. Vessels of copper, bronze, si lver and porcelain

were known, though very rarely used.

Among other ar ticles of domestic use may be mentioned

spindles and spindle-whorls made of baked earth, porcelain

and shell; needles and combs made of bone or i vory; axes,

chisels, saws, knives, sickles, f ish-hooks and razors made of

copper and bronze.


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Way of LifeTrade and Commerce

The smal l- sized seals found there, were most probably used inconnection wi th trade. The people traded with other parts of I ndia aswell as with countr ies of Asia, Egypt an Crete.

There is evidence of a flour ishing trade between the HarappaCul ture and the Sumerian cultur e- both, by land across the I ranian

Plateau and by sea from a port near the mouth of the Indus. Inexchange they secured tin, copper and precious stones. Hugging thedangerous coastl ine to reach the Persian Gulf , Indian crews used acompass bird- a crow which would fl y, when released, towards thenearest 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 apictographic script, which has not as yet been deciphered, werefound at the I ndus Vall ey sites. Simi lar seals were found inMesopotamia, which seems to indicate possible trade between thesetwo civil izations.


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Way of lifeWeights

Cubical weights in graduated sizes. These weights conform to the

standard Harappan binary weight system that was used in al l of

the settlements. The smal lest weight in this ser ies is 0.856 grams

and the most common weight is approximately 13.7 grams, which

is in the 16th ratio. I n 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

contr oll ing trade and possibly for collecting taxes


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Way of LifeArt, Craft and Sculpture

This ancient civil ization must have had marvelous industr ial classes

like the potter , the carpenter, the mason, the blacksmith, the

goldsmith, the jeweller , the ivory- worker and the stone- cutter .

People possessed artistic ski l ls of a high order. A few stone images

found at Harappa recall the fini sh 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 f inish and excellence

of Greek statues .

The seals are considered as among the f inest examples of ancient ar t

in the world .the short horned bull and the figure of a buf falo with

upl i f ted head are superb.

The discovery of statues and f igur ines in terracotta, stone and metal

show a high degree of development in the art of sculptur e.


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A Sculpture in metal

Copper and bronze were the principal metals used for making toolsand implements. Artists had perfected the technique of casting metal

images by the process called cire perdue(lost wax). Mostimpressive is a unique metal sculpture of a dancing gir l .

B Sculpture in stone

A very f ine 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 f igur ine interracotta found at Mohen-jo- daro

is an exquisite piece of sculpture.

Figurines


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No temples or shrines have been uncovered.I t appears

that rel igious 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 f igur ines of this mother goddess on pottery , seals

and amulets have come to l ight. The range and cult of Mother

Goddess at one time extended without break, from the I ndus 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.

Way of liferel igious beliefs


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a. Worship of pashupati

Lord Shi va was considered the Lord of beasts (Pashupati). The seals depictf igures sur rounded by wil d animals and sitt ing in an erect meditativeposture

a. Worship of animismPeople worshipped stones, trees and animals in the bel ief that these are abodes

of spir i ts, good or evil .

a. Worship of tr ees

The seals and painted pottery of Indus valley show the figures of the pipal andacacia tr ees . They were celestial plants and were supposed to beinhabited by divine spir its.

a. Faith in magic, charm and sacrif ices

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

a. Burial r ites

Var ious bur ial r ites seem to have been used by dif ferent tr ibes. General ly, therewere three methods of bur ials- complete bur ial , fractional bur ial and postcremation. The ashes were sometimes placed in urns, at other timesunburnt bones were coll ected and buried in jars. Such urns contain inghuman bones and ashes have been found at many sites in Baluchistan.


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The Indus Seals

A seal is an engraved gem or other hard substance used to form animpression upon soft clay, wax, etc.

The I ndus seals, which can be grouped under animal seal, uni corn seal

(depicts mythical animal) and Shiva PASUPATI SEAL. A few seals in

Mohen-jo-daro had the simil ari ties with the Harappan seals.

More than 2000 seals have been discovered in Mohengodaro i tself . 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 handl ing and suspension. They have f ine engravings of animals

li ke the bull , uni corn, elephant, antelope or the like on one side. The

absence of the cow or the horse is signi f icant.

A sort of pictori al writi ng is inscribed over i t which indicates that thepeople were famil iar wi th a pictographic system of wr iting , each sign

standing for a particular word or object.

The seals were probably used by Harappa merchants as a kind of

trademark.


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Moulded Tablet

Material: Terracotta

Dimension: 4.6cm length,1.2 by

1.5cm width

Unicorn seal

Material:White fired

glazed steatite

Dimension:5.08 by

5.08cm

:

Unicorn seal(Silver seal)

Dimension:5.08 by

5.08cm


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Bison seal Bull seal

Scorpio seal


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Architectural AspectsTown Planning

Both Mohenjodaro and Harappa have the distinction of being the worlds

f i rst cities where a scheme of systematic planning existed.

In both these cities there was a citadel, a strongly fortified place, on the

western side. I t was based upon an arti f icial hil l which rose from 6.212 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 l ines either from

nor th to south or from east to west (gr id pattern), and is some places the

main roads were thirty feet wide so that carts could pass without dif f icul ty.

The fronts of the houses were careful ly lined up and could not be projectedbeyond the bui lding l ine.

Each street had a small water- course, covered with stone, for drainage

purpose.


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Closed Drainage System Almost every house had a well, drains and comfortable bathr ooms,

for which pottery drain pipes and receptacles were laid down,

connecting them with the street drain or gutter .

Drains from bathr ooms, cour tyards and other parts of the houses

were placed on the street side of the bui lding for the convenient

disposal of wastes.

The walls of the bathr oom were lined with fine quali ty bri cks to

prevent leakage of water.

The main drains were provided with manholes, at regular intervals

for regular inspection and clearance.


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Narrow s treets

and drains.

The streets and al leyways wind throughthe neighborhood and are oriented

along a str ict gri d plan.
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Buildings

The buildings can be classif ied into three categories, viz, dwell inghouses, larger building and publi c baths.

A. Dwel ling Houses

The dwelling houses were many and they var ied in size from asmall bui lding with two rooms to a palatial structure. The outerwall s were 1- 1.5 m thick.

The houses were bui l t strongly of well burnt red bricks, cementedtogether with dried mud.

The houses were plain wi th narrow doors,flat roofs,noornamentation and no windows.the big houses had two or morestoreys and were fur ni shed with paved floors, cour tyards ki tchenswith raised platforms, excellent doors,windows and narrowstairways.

Some bui ldings had large pil lared hal ls.they were supposed tohave been palaces , temples or public assembly hal ls.


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Large Courtyard with mud brick fillingThis large room or cour tyard was fi l led with a solid mud br ick platform that was

almost entirely excavated to investigate the under lying room. A section of the

platform has been preserved beneath the tin roof on the left and part of the

platform is sti l l visible in the foreground and in the top right hand section


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B. Larger Bui ldingsGREAT GRANARY AT HARAPPA

The great granary is the most remarkable and the largest

bui lding discovered at Harappa.

The granary measures 51.5m from nor th 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 bui lt with

suf f icient natural venti lation to prevent the grain from becoming

mildewed.

Grain was brought in boats along the r iver and stored in the granary

GREAT GRANARY AT HARAPPA


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Buil t on top of a tapered br ick platform, this building had a solid br ick

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 r unning north

south. A section of the nor thern foundation had hollow sockets for wooden

beams used to suppor t a stairway or wooden structur e. Later wells and

wall s are seen in the foreground

GREAT GRANARY AT HARAPPA


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a. Public bathsThe great bath at Mohen-jo-daro The most imposing structure in the city was the great bath

I ts located within the citadel and measures 54.8 m from north tosouth and 32.9 m from east to west.i ts outer walls are 2 to 2.5 mthick at the base.

I t consisted of a large paved quadrangle in the centre withgaller ies and rooms on all sides.

I n the centre of the quadrangle was a large swimming enclosure,12 m long, 7 m wide n about 2.5 m deep.

I t had a flight of steps running down the centre at eitherend.precaution was taken to make the bath water tight by lining itwith f inely dressed bricks laid in gypsum mortar

The solidar ity of the construction is borne out by the fact that ithas successful ly withstood the ravages of time for f ive thousandyears.

The special attention paid by the people of harappa to cleanl inessindicates that i t was precursors to pur if icatory ri te of H indus.


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The Great Bath is situated along a nor th-south street with a drain

covered with limestone blocks. I n the background is the so-called

Granary, while in the foreground are the wall s of several domesticstructures.

The great bath


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The great bath sur rounded by a brick colonnade, measures approximately

12 meters nor th-south and 7 meters wide, with a maximum depth of 2.4

meters. I n the background is a massive bri ck structure with narrow

passages that was first identif ied as a hammam or hot-air bath, and later

as the state granary.


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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 fi tted bricks laid on edge with


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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

actual ly stepping into the pool itself.

Small sockets at the edges of the

stai rs could have held wooden

planks or tr eads


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The side wall s of the tank were constructed with f inely fi tted br icks and a

thick layer of bi tumen (natural tar) was laid along the sides of the tank to

keep water from seeping through the walls and up into the superstructure.


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Characteristics of the Induscivilization

Standardization , an ordered society and ten centur ies of relatively stablecondi tions are among the surprising featur es revealed by the

excavations of these two urban centersMOHEN-JO-DARO andHARAPPA.

Both made use of vast quanti ties of bricks , presupposing theexistence of forests to provide f ir ing fuel.

The ground-plans of both were not only similar but also retained acommon pr inciple , with a raised citadel on the west , main street laid

out in gr id iron fashion , a network of lanes within each block (thebetter houses concealed in courtyard)

The great size of granar ies indicates a strong centralized authority.

The water supply and drainage systems were extremely thorough.


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Destruction of Indus valleycivilization

1.Natural calamities: Either a flood of the Indus or its gradual drifting

away from the city might have made the place unferti le.

2.Invasion by nomadic tr ibes: The conquer ing Aryans or some other

tr ibes from outside I ndia might have sacked Mohen-jo-daro and

destriyedits civilization.


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


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


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Toilets would have been an essentialfeature in Mohenjo-daro, but the earlyexcavators identified most toilets as post-cremation burial urns or sump pots. Thisbrick structure had a hole in the top thatwas connected to a small drain leading outof the base into a rectangular basin

Many large covered drains were constructed withcorbelled arches. These drains ran beneath streetsand lanes and were large enough for workmen toenter and clear any obstructions.


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Empty spaces and alleyways in Mohenjo-Daro were used to dispose of trash andoccasional unwanted bodies. This blockedlane had a human skeleton dumpedunceremoniously at the juncture between thetwo buildings.

The ground floor drain of the bathing platform emptiesout into the street next to tapered chute from a roofdrain or a second storey bathing area.


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

This unique well and associated bathing platformwas discovered in the course of building acatchment drain around the site


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This bathing platform is located next to thestreet, and is made with bricks laid flat. A smalldrain running along one side of the bathing floorchannels dirty water out to the street. A brick onedge with a notch was placed across the drainhole to keep objects from flowing out with the

Oxcarts could not reach many ofthe urban neighborhoods. Packanimals and pedestrians could

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