The Indus Valley Civilization is one of the oldest civilizations in the world. It is a Bronze Age civilization under the Proto-historic period. It was contemporary with Mesopotamia civilization on the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates, Egyptian civilization on the banks of the Nile and Chinese civilization on the banks of Hwanghou.
Discovery of Indus Valley Civilization
◈The major credit for the discovery of the Indus Valley Civilization goes to Sir John Marshall, Chairman of the Archaeological Department of India. Under his direction and guidance, several excavation works were carried out successfully.
◈In 1921, Rai Bahadur Dayaram Sahni first discovered this civilization by excavating a site called Harappa under the leadership of Sir John Marshall, the then director of the Archaeological Department of India. Harappa site was discovered in Punjab region of Pakistan on the banks of river Rabi.
◈The Indus Civilization is often called the Harappan Civilization because the first important discovery of the Indus Civilization was done in Harappa.
◈In 1922, Rakhaldas Banerjee excavated and discovered another important site of Indus Valley Civilization on the banks of river Indus in Sindh region of Pakistan called Mohenjo-Daro. The literal meaning of Mohenjo-Daro is 'Mount of the Dead'.
◈During the excavation of Mohenjodaro site, Rakhaldas Banerjee saw the remains and superstructure similar to Harappa. Later, it was confirmed that both Harappa and Mohenjodaro were part of same civilization due to the resemblances in seals and town planning.
◈After this, the excavation of various sites in the vast area of northwestern India revealed the developed Indus civilization.
◈The area of the Harappan civilization is spread over an area of about 12,99,600 sq km. This civilization extended from Manda in Kashmir in the north to Daimabad in Maharashtra in the south and from Sutkagen Dor of Balochistan in the west to Alamgirpur in western Uttar Pradesh in the east.
◈Its remains spread to India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Harappan civilization sites have been discovered in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab of India.
Time Period of Indus Valley Civilization
Several views are prevalent concerning the period of existence of this civilization. However, the preference is given to the Radioactive Carbon (C-14) Dating which is the most popular method of an estimation of timescale. According to this method, the common period of Harappan civilization is considered to be 2350 BC to 1750 BC which is universal. The date of Indus period determined on the basis of excavations varies with historians or archaeologists.
There are differences of opinion among historians regarding the period of development of the Harappan civilization, such as -
~ John Marshall ➡ 3250 - 2750 BC.
~ Mortimer Wheeler ➡ 2500 - 1500 BC.
~ Madhoswaroop Vats ➡ 3500 - 2700 BC.
~ Ernest Mackay ➡ 2800 - 2500 BC.
~ Fair Service ➡ 2000 - 1500 BC.
~ G.C. Gad ➡ 2350 - 1750 BC.
~ D.P. Agarwal ➡ 2300 - 1750 BC.
~ Radioactive C-14 Dating ➡ 2350 - 1750 BC
Important Sites of Indus Valley Civilization
👉 Afghanistan - Shortagohi, Gah of Mande
👉 Punjab (Pakistan) - Mohenjo-Daro, Amri, Lakhan-jo-Daro,
👉Sindh(Pakistan) - Harappa, Chanhudaro,
👉 Baluchistan - Mehrgarh, Sokhta Koh, Balakot, Pathan Damb, Sutkagan Dor, Pirak, Nausharo
👉 Punjab (India) - Ropar,
👉 Maharastra - Daimabad
👉 Uttar Pradesh - Alamgirpur
👉 Rajasthan - Kalibangan
👉 Gujarat - Lothal, Dholavira, Rangpur, Surkotda,
👉 Haryana - Banawali, Rakhigarhi
Social Life of Indus Valley Civilization
The life of the Harappan people was comfortable and opulent. The family was the mainstay of the social system. The people living here were mainly of Mediterranean and Dravidian origin.
The society of the Harappan civilization was matriarchal. The worship of the Mother Goddess and the paintings inscribed on the seals indicate that the Harappan society was probably matriarchal. A bronze figure of a dancer has been recovered from Mohenjodaro.
The society is divided into four parts on the basis of occupation as scholars (priests), warriors, traders and workers (craftsmen). The people were both vegetarian and non-vegetarian. Wheat, barley, sesame, pulses were the main food grains. Evidence of rice was also found.
Men and women are attracted towards jewelery made of precious metals. Jewelry made of gold, silver, ivory, copper and shells were prevalent. Bead necklaces were in common practice. The bead making workshop (factory) was located at Chanhudaro. Remnants of cosmetics have also been recovered from here.
No temple remains have been found in the cities of the Indus Valley. Fishing and hunting were the daily activities of the inhabitants of the Harappan civilization. A game like chess was prevalent here. The residents here were fun-loving.
Red color was commonly used on Harappan pottery. In addition to pottery, copper and bronze utensils were also used by the Harappans.
Religious Life of Indus Valley Civilization
Religious customs and rituals were given importance. Apart from the idols and amulets, the paintings depicted on the seals reveal the tendency of animal worship, tree worship etc.
The people of the Indus Valley believed in mother power. The idols and figures of Mother Goddess and Pashupati Shiva show their tendency to worship. A seal found at Mohenjodaro has an idol of Pashupati Shiva, with two deer sitting under the seat, a cheetah and an elephant on the right and a rhinoceros and a buffalo on the left. Two deer are sitting under the seat. There is a trident-like ornament on the head. This shows the practice of worshiping Pashupati Shiva.
The humpbacked bull and the horned animal were sacred animals. Gender worship was prevalent and people believed in superstition and witchcraft.
Swastika (卐) is a gift of harappan civilization. It is the pious and auspicious symbol for Hindus denoting well-being and good luck. Swastik sign has special significance in Indian culture.
Evidences of fire pit (agni kund) has been obtained from Kalibangan.
Three methods of funeral were prevalent which includes - Complete burial, Partial burial and Cremation. The method of complete burial was more prevalent. Evidence of burial has been found from Harappa and Mohenjodaro.
A large number of female sculptures of Harappan clay have been found. One of the idols depicts a plant growing out of a woman's womb.
Economic Life of Indus Valley Civilization
Along with agriculture and animal husbandry, industry and trade were the mainstays of the economy. The people of Harappan civilization were engaged in internal and external trade. Internal trade was conducted through bullock carts. In Mesopotamian evidence, the word Meluha is used for Harappan sites. The trade of harappan sites was also carried across the Gulf of Persia, Mesopotamia, Afghanistan and Turkmenistan.
Nine crops grown in the Harappan civilization have been identified so far. Apart from wheat, barley, cotton, watermelon and peas were also grown. Cotton is called Sindon by the Greeks because the first information about its production is received from the Indus Civilization.
In agriculture, the plow was used to plough the fields. Evidence of systematic irrigation has not been found but evidence of construction of dams for storage of water has been obtained from Dholavira.
The people of Harappan civilization knew about metallurgy. They knew the method of making bronze by mixing copper and tin. Objects were made from metals by closed casting and the vanishing wax process.
Barter system was prevalent in the Harappan civilization. The unit of weight was probably in the ratio of 16.
Standardization of measurement and weighing was established. People were aware of foot and cubic. The evidence of decimal system for measurement and bifurcation system for weight has been obtained from various sites. Ivory scale has been found in Lothal.
There are designs of ships depicted on the seals. The evidence of dockyards from Lothal, Persian seals indicate external trade. Mesopotamian cylindrical seals have also been found from Kalibangan.
In addition to agriculture and trade, other commercial methods like carpentry, craft work, jewelry making, pottery on chalk were also prevalent in Harappan civilization sites.
Town Planning
Remnants of urbanization have been found in sites obtained after excavation in Harappan civilization areas. Uniformity in the construction of buildings is observed.
The urban remains found from the Harappan Civilization site are usually divided into two parts - upper and lower parts. The upper part is fortified in which state buildings, food store houses etc. have been built while in the lower part evidence of small buildings have been found.
All the buildings are built in the same area. They are built on a base along the roads and the doors of the buildings open towards the streets. The residents of this civilization have adopted the grid method for the arrangement of cities and houses.
Each road intersects each other at right angles. Permanent drains are built on both sides of the road and street. The windows of the houses did not open towards the main road and open to the back street. Lothal is an exception to this. The width of the main road was 10 meters and it was called Rajpath.
The buildings are made up of solid bricks. The drainage system in the Harappan civilization is a major feature of its urbanization, which was absent in its contemporary Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilizations. Bathrooms were built in all the buildings and pipes were made to drain the water from them.
Evidence of a Great Bath has been found from Mohenjodaro. The bathing pool situated at the centre of Great Bath is 11.80 meters long, 7.01 meters wide and 2.43 meters deep. It was probably used for ceremonial activities.
Dholavira located in Gujarat is a broad site of Harappan civilization. Like other sites, this urban site is not divided into two parts but into three parts. The two parts of Dholavira are fortified. An entrance gate composed of stone and a polished white stone block have also been found here.
The forts and cities of Lothal and Surkotada are surrounded by a single defense wall.
Script and Writing Art
Indus seals gives information about script and religion. The Indus script (the script prevalent in the Harappan civilization) is the pictorial script in which an attempt has been made to communicate through pictures. Till now, the success has not been achieved in reading this script.
The Indus script has 64 basic symbols and 250 to 400 pictographs. They have been marked on the rectangular seals of the talc, the copper pellets etc.
The handwriting is usually from right to left. It is also called Bostrofedan script. The most commonly used in the script is the U-shaped and the most popular symbol is that of the fish.
The oldest specimen of the Harappan script was found in 1853 and by 1923 the entire script came to light but it has not been read out and recognised yet.
Decline of Indus/Harappan Civilization
The Harappan civilization disintegrated around 1800 BCE. Scholars have given several reasons for its decline.
👉 Invasion of the Aryans - Wheeler, Stuart Piggett, Garden Child
👉 Flood - Marshall, Ernest McKay, Surendra Rangnath Rao
👉 Inundation - M. R. Sawhney
👉 Climate change - Arel Stein, Alma Nand Ghosh
👉 Physical change - Dayaram Sahni
👉Epidemic/Infectious disease - K.U.R. Kennedy
👉 Ecological Imbalance - Fair Service
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