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Indus Valley Civilization

Introduction

Indus valley civilization was one of the three early civilizations of the world. John Marshall was
the first scholar to use the term “Indus valley civilization”. The civilization came to be known as
the Harappan civilization because the first site which was discovered was Harappa. Civilization
flourished between 2500 BC-1750 BCE (most accepted).

Geographical Extent of IVC

1. Extent: The Indus valley civilization extended from Sutkagandor (in Baluchistan on the
bank of river dask) in the West to Alamgirpur (Western UP on the bank of river Hindan) in
the East; and from Manda (Jammu Kashmir on the bank of river Chenab) in the North to
Daimabad (Ahmednagar, Maharashtra on the bank of river Pravera) in the South.
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Important cities

City River Archaeological Importance

A row of 6 Granaries, Mother
Harappa (Pakistan) Ravi
goddess figurines
Great Granary, Great bath, Image of
Pashupati Mahadeva, Image of
Mohenjo-Daro (Pakistan) Indus
Bearded man and Bronze image of a
woman dancer
Port city, Double burial, Terracotta
Lothal (Gujarat) Bhogava
horse figurines.
Chanhudaro (Pakistan) Indus City without a citadel
Dholavira (Gujarat) Indus City divided into three parts.
Kalibangan (Rajasthan) Ghaggar Ploughed field
Banawali (Haryana) Ghaggar Clay Harrow
Sutkagandor (Pakistan) Dask Port like
Surkotda (Gujarat) - -

Discovery of Harappa

Harrapan civilization was first excavated by Sir John Marshall in 1921. It was a bronze-age
civilization that existed in South Asia. Indus valley civilization flourished in the basins of Indus
River. The Civilization was spread over a vast area, including not only the Indus plains but also
the Northern Rajasthan and the region of Kathiawar in Western India.

Features of Indus Valley Civilization

Following are some of the features of Indus Valley Civilization:

1. One of the most important features of Indus Valley Civilization was systematic town planning
based on the grid system which divided the city into several rectangular blocks.

2. Most Harappan cities were divided into 2 major parts - on the west ‘citadel’ (used for public
gathering) and the other was a lower town (consists of residential areas).

3. The Civilization used bricks on a large scale in building and the use of stone was extensively
found only at Dholavira.

4. The underground drainage system was found in all the houses which were connected to the
streets.
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5. Houses were present on both sides of the streets and these houses had one side entrance
with no windows facing the main street.

6. Street also had the arrangement of street lighting.

7. The houses had kitchens and bathrooms, 4 to 6 living rooms, large houses even had 30 rooms
and a staircase.

Major Cities of Indus Valley Civilization

Some of the major cities of Indus Valley Civilization:

1. Mohenjo-Daro (Sind, Pakistan)

It was one of the largest cities of the Indus valley situated on the right bank of the Indus valley.
Great bath was situated, and people used to take a spiritual bath there. Granary was the largest
building, multi-pillar assembly hall and big rectangular building used for administrative
purposes.

2. Kalibangan (Rajasthan)

Kalibangan means “black bangles” and this site is situated on the southern bank of the Ghaggar
rivers in the Ganganagar district, Rajasthan. The city had pre-Harappan and Harappan cultural
phases. Pre-Harrapan phase discovered the parallelogram citadel.

3. Lothal and Dholavira (Gujarat)

Lothal is located beside a tributary of Sabarmati, in Gujarat, close to the Gulf of Khambhat and
Dholavira is situated at Kutch district. At Lothal, evidence of the use of rice, fire altars, seals and
granary were found.

4. Harappa

Located on the left bank of river Ravi and it was the first Indus site to be excavated in 1921.

Life in the Harappan city

Houses, Drains, and Street

• Houses were two-storeyed, rooms built around a courtyard, water overflowed from the
houses drained on the streets which had an underground drainage system.
• Drains were made up of mortar, lime, gypsum, etc.
• Drains were covered with bricks which shows their sense of hygiene.
• The grid system was a common feature.
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Industry in Harappan Civilization:

People of Harappa were engaged in cutting stone, polishing beads, carving seals, metallurgy,
ivory work, and craftwork, evidence of ship industry.

Agriculture:

• Agriculture was the backbone of this society.

• People used a wooden plough, stone stickles for harvesting.
• Cotton was the major trade good. Proofs of Rice husk was found.
• Wheat and Barley were majorly cultivated.
• They had no idea about Iron implements.
• People grew wheat, barley, dates, peas, sesame, mustard, ragi, bajra, and jowar.

Domestication of animals

• Oxen’s, Buffalo, Goats, Sheep and Pigs were domesticated.

• Asses and camels were used as Beasts of Burden.
• Elephants and Rhino were known.
• No evidence of Horse.

Religious life in Harappa

• Peoples worshipped Pasupathi Mahadeva and a terra cotta figure of mother goddess
was excavated.
• It shows a plant is growing out of the embryo of a woman.
• No temples were found.
• Pipal, bull, dove, the pigeon was worshipped.
• They also believed in evil spirit.

Technology and crafts

• Bronze (Copper + tin) tools widely used
• Stone implements were still in vogue
• Potter’s wheel was put to full use
• Bronze smiths, Goldsmiths, Boat-Making, Brick-laying etc. were other occupations
commonly found

Trade of Indus Valley Civilisation

• Presence of granaries, weights and measures, seals and uniform script signifies the
importance of trade.
• The barter system was widely prevalent.
• Lothal, Sutkagendor were port cities used for conducting trade.
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• Trade destinations – Afghanistan, Iran and Central Asia. Contacts with Mesopotamia
civilization are also seen.

Political organization of IVC

• Cultural homogeneity achieved through a strong central authority

• No temples or religious structures found. Harappa was possibly ruled by Merchants class.
• Weapons are rarely found.

Religious practices of IVC

● Terracotta figure of Mother Goddess.
● Phallus and Yoni worship.
● Pasupathi Mahadev seal found with the elephant, tiger, rhino and a bull surrounding him
with two deer near his feet.

Tree and animal worship of IVC

● Pipal tree worship was found.
● One horned Unicorn recognized as Rhino and the humped bull was commonly
worshipped.
● Use of Amulets to ward off ghosts and evil spirits.
● The lion was not known in Harappan culture.

The Harappan script

● Harappan script Pictographic in nature but not deciphered so far.
● They are recorded on seals and contains only a few words.
● Harappan Script is the oldest script in Indian Subcontinent.

Weights and Measures

● Use of standardized weights and measures to keep accounts of private property, to
indulge in trade and commerce etc.
● Weights are found in multiples of 16.

Harappan Pottery of IVC

● Well-developed Pottery techniques with elaborate designs of trees and circles.
● Red ware pottery painted with black designs.

Seals of Indus Valley Civilisation

● Seals were used for the purpose of trade or worship.
● Images of animals such as Buffalo, bull, tiger etc. were found inscribed in the seals
Statue of IVC
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● Discovery of Bronze statue of a naked woman and bearded man steatite statue

Terracotta figurines of IVC

● Terracotta – Fire baked earthen clay
● Used as toys or objects of worship
● Massive stone works were not found in Harappa which shows the poorly developed
artistic works made of stone

Decline of the Harappan Civilization

Harappan Civilization ended around 3900 years ago. Nothing concrete is known about the causes
of the decline of the civilization, but archaeologists and scholars suggest multiple possibilities
which include
➢ The drying up of rivers, deforestation. The main cause of the deforestation was the
use of firewood for banking bricks and smelting of copper ores and overgrazing of
green cover by cattle.
➢ Decreasing fertility due to increasing salinity on the account of the expansion of
nearby desert.
➢ Sudden subsidence of uplift of land causing floods.
➢ Earthquakes caused changes in the course of Indus.
➢ Harappan culture destroyed by invading Aryans.

Quick Review
Indus Valley Civilization (2600 BC-1900 BC)

➢ It belongs to the proto historic period.

➢ It is a Bronze Age Civilization.

➢ it is called the period of first urbanization

Geographical Extent

1) northernmost site- Manda in Kashmir

2) southernmost site -Daimabad in Maharashtra

3) easternmost site- alamgirpur near Meerut in UP

4) westernmost site -Sutkagendor in Balochistan

Important cities
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1)Harappa –

➢ it is in Punjab in Pakistan on the banks of Ravi river

➢ it is the first Indus city to be excavated. so Indus valley civilization is also called
Harappan civilization

➢ it was excavated by Daya Ram Sahni.

➢ one room houses have been found in Harappa

➢ cemmetry H and cemetry R 37 are graveyards found in Harappa.

➢ six granaries have been found in Harappa

2)Mohenjodaro-

➢ it is in Sindh in Pakistan on the banks of Indus river.

➢ the word mohenjodaro means mound of the dead

➢ it was excavated by rakhal Das Banerjee.

➢ the great granary is located in mohenjodaro.

➢ the great bath is located in mohenjo Daro

➢ the statue of the dancing girl has been found at mohenjodaro

➢ cotton cloth has been found at mohenjo Daro.

➢ one room houses have been found at mohenjo Daro

3)Lothal-

➢ lothal is on the mouth of gulf of cambay near the bhogava river in Gujarat.

➢ the word lothal means mound of the dead.

➢ lothal was a sea port of Indus valley civilization.

➢ model of ship has been found at lothal

➢ a brick dockyard has been found at lothal

➢ there were bead making factories at lothal and Chanhudaro

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➢ evidence for rice cultivation has been found at lothal and Rangpur

➢ lothal was excavated by S R Rao

4) Kalibangan-It is in Rajasthan near the ghaggar- hakra river. according to one view ghaggar-
hakra river is the Saraswati river which changed its course .

➢ the word Kalibangan means’ black bangles’

➢ furrows have been found at kalibangan.

➢ remains of camel have been found at kalibangan

5)Dholavira –

➢ it is in Gujarat in the run of Kutch.

➢ it was excavated by RS bisht.

➢ it is the only city which has three parts—upper town, middle town and lower town

➢ in dholavira stone has also been used for construction

6)Chanhudaro-

➢ it is the it is in Pakistan in Sindh on the banks of Indus river

➢ it is the only Indus city which has no citadel

➢ inkpot has been found here

7)Surkotada-

➢ it is in Gujarat.

➢ it is said that remains of horse have been found here but the evidence is not clear

8) banawali-

➢ it is in Haryana on the banks of Saraswati river

➢ Terracotta plough has been found at banawali

Town Planning
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➢ Indus cities had two areas. in one area was the the high mound surrounded by walls. it is
called a citadel area or upper town. in this area the official buildings and the houses of
important people were there/

➢ The second part of the city was lower town. in this areas roads cut across each other at
almost 90 degrees. so a grid like pattern was created. so Indus town planning is called
grid planning

➢ Chanhudaro is the only city which has no citadel. dholavira is the only city which has
three parts- upper town, middle town ,and lower town

➢ The highest standardization was in bricks. the dimensions of bricks where 1:2:3 and
1:2:4

➢ cities had granaries

➢ both mud bricks and burnt bricks were used .a special feature of Indus valley civilization
is that burnt bricks have been used on a larger scale

➢ in the mortar limestone and gypsum was also used to join bricks

Economy

➢ the main occupation was agriculture

➢ the main crop was wheat and Barley

➢ evidence of rice cultivation from lothal and rangpur

➢ sugarcane was not grown. for sweetness honey was used.

➢ Plough was used for agriculture.

➢ Cotton was grown. perhaps Indus valley civilization was the first to grow cotton in the
world

➢ Apart from agriculture trade was also carried out

➢ there was both internal trade and external trade

➢ internal trade was in things within India

➢ external trade relations where with Afghanistan ,Central Asia and Iraq. in Iraq there was
the mesopotamian civilization. Indus people had trade relations with Mesopotamia. one
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evidence for this is that Indus seals have been found in Mesopotamia. mesopotamians
called Indus valley civilization by the name of meluha.

➢ Mesopotamian sources mention that between Indus valley civilization and mesopotamia
there we are intermediate stations called dilman (Bahrain) and Makan (makran coast)

➢ Apart from agriculture and trade there were various types of crafts like weavers,
metalsmiths, brick makers, bead makers

➢ apart from agriculture, trade and crafts Indus valley people reared animals also

➢ There was no currency. Exchanges were carried out through the barter system.

Religion

➢ There was a mother goddess

➢ there was a male God who has been called Pashupati Mahadev this God later developed
into Shiva so Pashupati Mahadev is also called proto-Shiva.

➢ linga and yoni where worshipped

➢ pipal tree was worshipped

➢ the swastika symbol was worshipped

➢ Indus people believed in ghosts and spirits and so they wore amulets.

➢ dead were buried as well as cremated. Burial was more common

Miscellaneous

➢ Indus people did not know about iron

➢ they did not know about horse

➢ there were no temples in Indus valley civilization

➢ Indus valley civilization was a literate civilization. they had their own script. Indus script
was pictographic. it has not been deciphered yet. sometimes it was boustrophedon. that
means written from left to right and then right to left.

➢ in Indus valley civilization seals were used. Seals were used to Mark property and trade
goods. most of the seals were made of steatite.
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➢ Indus valley people took lot of interest in games. there was a game similar to chess. So
we say that chess was started by Indus valley civilization. There were toys for children.
Indus people played dice also

➢ There was lot of standardization in Indus valley civilization. there was same type of
pottery, uniform type of script, bricks, and same type of town planning but after
sometime Indus valley declined. many reasons have been given to explain its decline.

1) floods

2) earthquake

3) climatic changes

4) ecological imbalance

5) Aryan invasion is not considered a cause of decline of Indus valley civilization. Aryans
came to India in waves. they didn't invade. moreover Aryans came to India after the decline
of the Indus valley civilization as evidence suggests.