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Indus Valley Civilization

• Indus Valley Civilization is one of the four earliest civilizations of the world along with the
civilizations of Mesopotamia (Tigers and Euphrates), Egypt (Nile) and China (Hwang Ho).
• It was a Bronze Age civilization in the northwestern regions of South Asia.
• Based on the radio-carbon-14 analysis and new research, the date of this civilization can be
determined from 2500 -1750 BC.

This civilization can be divided into the following sub-parts:

➢ Early Phase 2900-2500 BC
➢ Middle Phase 2500-200 BC
➢ Later Phase 2000-1750 BC

Important Harappan Sites:

SITE NAME REMARKS

• It was discovered by RD Banerjee.
• Huge building for religious bathing
purpose was present in it.
Mohenjodaro • It is also known as Mound of Dead.
• Harappa was discovered by Dayaram
Harappa Sahni.
• Six granaries were found in Harappa.
• It was discovered by SR Rao.
Lothal • It had a developed structure of dockyard.
• It is the only Indus valley site without a
Chanhudaro
Citadel.
• It is the Eastern-most point of the Indus
Alamgirpur
Valley civilization.
• It is the southern-most point of Indus
Daimabad
Valley civilization.
• It is the Western-most point of Indus
Sutkagan Dor
Valley Civilization.
• It is the Northern-most point of Indus
Manda
valley civilization.
• It was discovered by BB Lal and had the
Kalibangan
evidence of bones of camel.
Bhirrana • It is the oldest Harappan site.
Rakhigarhi • It is the largest Indus Valley site in India.

Geographical Spread:

• The Civilization covered parts of Sindh, Baluchistan, Afghanistan, West Punjab, Gujarat,
Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab and Maharashtra.
• Major sites in Pakistan are Harappa (Ravi), Mohenjo-Daro (Indus), Chanhudaro (Sindh).
• In India, Major sites are Lothal, Rangpur, and Surkotda (Gujarat), Kalibangan (Rajasthan),
Banwali (Hisar, Haryana) and Alamgirpur (Meerut, Uttar Pradesh).
• Mundigak and Shortughai are the two sites located in Afghanistan.

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Town Planning:
• Both Harappa and Mohenjodaro had their fortifications in cities where members of the ruling
class lived.
• The towns were divided into two parts:
o Upper Part or Citadel
o Lower Part
• The Great Bath situated in the fort of Mohenjo-daro which is the main public place of
Mohenjo-Daro, probably this huge bath was used for ritual bathing.
• The drainage system of Mohenjo-Daro was better, almost all the cities had bathrooms on
the premises of every small and big house.
• Drains were made of mortar, lime, and gypsum and covered with large brick slabs for easy
cleaning.
• Houses were made up of burnt bricks.

Agriculture:
• Agriculture was the backbone of the Indus Valley Civilization.
• The soil was fertile due to inundation in the river Indus.
• Wheat, barley, dates, peas, mustard, ragi, bajra and jowar were the major crops of this
civilization.
• At Lothal and Rangpur, pieces of rice are found.
• They were the first to produce cotton in the world.
• A fragment of woven cotton cloth was found at Mohenjo-Daro.
• Pets for the people of this civilization were bull, buffalo, sheep, goat, boar, dog, cat, donkey,
camel, elephant and rhinoceros, etc.

Religious Life:
• Most of the information about the religious life of the Harappan civilization has come from
the archaeological sources from Mohenjo-Daro.
o Chief Female Diety: Mother Goddess (Goddess of Earth) was the main female god of this
civilization.
o Chief Male Diety: Pashupati or Shiva was the main male god of this civilization.
• People of this civilization used to wear amulets due to fear of ghosts and also worshiped
‘Yakshas’ and snakes.
• Trees (pipal), animals (bull), birds (pigeon) and stones were also worshipped.

Political Organization:
• There is no clear idea of the political organization of the Indus Valley people.
• They were possibly ruled by a class of merchants.
• There was an organization like a municipal corporation to look after the civic amenities of
the people.

Trade and Commerce:

• Trade was based on the barter system.
• Agriculture, industry, and forest produce provided the basis for internal and external trade.
• Bullock carts, animals and boats were used for transportation.
• The linear system of measurement was in use.
• The peoples of this civilization used to import the following metals from neighboring
countries in exchange for manufactured goods and grains.
➢ Gold: Afghanistan, Persia, Southern India
➢ Silver: Iran, Afghanistan
➢ Copper: Baluchistan, Arab and South India

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• People of Indus valley used several types of weights and measuring instruments both for
commercial and building purposes.
• The people of the Indus civilization used weights based on the decimal system.
• Most weights were 16 or its multiples, such as 16, 32, 64, 160, 320, 640, etc.

Towns Associated with Different Industries

• Daimabad: Bronze industry.
• Lothal: Factory for stone tools and metallic finished goods.
• Balakot: Pearl finished goods, bangle and shell industry.
• Chanhudaro: Bangles factory. It was the only city without a citadel.

Art and Craft

• Harappans used stone tools and was well acquainted with Bronze.
• Copper was obtained from Khetri in Rajasthan and from Baluchistan, and tin from
Afghanistan.
• Pottery, both plain (red) or painted (red and black) pottery was made.
• Seals were made of steatite pictures of one-horned bull, buffalo, tiger, rhinoceros, goat, and
elephant are found on the seals.
• Mesopotamia seals were found from Mohenjo-Daro and Kalibangan; Persian seals were
obtained from Lothal.
• Pashupati seal was the most important seal of this civilization.

Script
• The script of this civilization is not alphabetical but pictographic.
• The script has not been deciphered so far and is in Boustrophedon Style.

The decline of Civilization

• The Harappan culture flourished about till 1800 BC, then it began to decline.
• Many different theories show the decline of the Indus culture.
• Most of the settlements of Indus civilization were abandoned by the native people.
• It is believed that the Indus Valley region suffered several tectonic disturbances that caused
earthquakes.
• But the terrible floods in the Indus River are considered to be the main reason for the end
of this civilization.