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INDUS VALLEY
CIVILIZATION

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Indus Valley Civilization

I N T H I S C A P S UL E
INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION................................................................................................................... 2

FEATURES OF INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION.................................................................................................. 3

INDUS VALLEY SITES AND SPECIALTIES ........................................................................................................ 3

DECLINE OF INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION .................................................................................................... 5

VEDIC AGE ..................................................................................................................................................... 6

CLASSIFICATION OF VEDIC PERIOD .............................................................................................................. 6

THE VEDAS ................................................................................................................................................... 6

THE UPANISHADS......................................................................................................................................... 6

THE BRAHMINS ............................................................................................................................................ 6

THE ARANYAKAS .......................................................................................................................................... 6

THE PURANAS .............................................................................................................................................. 7

MAHABHARATA ........................................................................................................................................... 7

RAMAYANA .................................................................................................................................................. 7

• Indus Valley Civilization was the first major civilization in south Asia, which
spread across a vast area of land in present day India and Pakistan
(around 12 lakh sq.km).
• The approximate age of the Indus Valley Civilization through
Radiocarbon dating method is estimated between BC. 2350 - BC. 1750

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Features of Indus Valley Civilization

Town Planning:
• Indus Valley Civilization had a very Planned way of constructing
their cities following a grid pattern.
• Main roads were in North-south Direction while the alleys were
in the East-west direction.
• Doors opened in alleys and not on the main roads.
• Underground covered drains were present with manholes.
• Houses were:
1 to 2 storey high.
Made of burnt bricks.
size of brick was in ratio 1:2:4.

Agriculture and Domestication:

• Main food crop/staple food crop: Wheat and Barley
• Rice husk found in Lothal and Rangpur which proves growth of Rice as well.
• 1st people in the world to grow cotton.
• Sheep, goats, buffaloes, oxen, dogs were domesticated.
• No remains of cows and lions were found.

Religious Beliefs:
• Chief male god: Pashupati (believed to be Shiva).
• Chief female god: Mother Goddess
(a plant growing from woman’s womb).

Trade and Measurements:

• Tin and precious stones: imported from Iran and Afghanistan.
• Gold imported from Karnataka.
• Copper from Rajasthan and Oman.
• Cubical stone weights were used in the multiple of 16
(Concept of annas).

Indus Valley Sites and Specialties

Harappa:
• Seals out of stones.
• Citadel outside on banks of river Ravi.

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Mohenjodaro:
• Term means “Mount of the dead”.
• On the bank of River Indus.
• Great Bath, Great Granary, Dancing Girl, Man with Beard, Cotton,
Assembly hall are some major remains.
• Believed to have been destroyed by flood or invasion
(destruction was not gradual).

Chanhudaro:
• Bank of Indus river.
• Discovered by Gopal Majumdar and Mackey in 1931.
• Pre-harappan culture – Jhangar Culture and Jhukar Culture.
• Only cite without citadel.

Kalibangan:
• At Rajastan on the banks of river Ghaggar, discovered by A.Ghosh (1953).
• Fire Altars
• Bones of camels.
• Evidence of furrows.
• Horse remains (even though Indus valley people didn’t use horses).
• Known as third capital of Indus Empire.

Lothal
• At Gujarat near Bhogava river
• Discovered by S.R. Rao (1957)
• Fire Altars
• Beside the tributary of Sabarmati
• Store house
• Dockyard and earliest port
• Double burial
• Rice husk
• House had front entrance (exception).

Ropar
• Punjab, on the banks of river Sutlej.
• Discovered by Y.D Sharma (1955).
• Dog buried with humans.

Banawali

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• Haryana
• On banks of lost river Saraswathi
• Barley Cultivation.

Dholavira
• Biggest site in India, until the discovery of Rakhigarhi.
• Located in KhadirBeyt, Rann of Kutch, Gujarat.
• Discovered by J.P Joshi/Rabindra Singh (1990).
• 3 parts + large open area for ceremonies
• Large letters of the Harappan script (sign boards).

Decline of Indus Valley Civilization

• Scholars have put forward number of theories to explain the decline
and the final collapse of the Indus Valley Civilization.
• Some of these theories highlight the natural causes whereas
others mention human causes for the decline.

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Vedic Age
• The Vedic Civilization was the culture and traditions of the society
prevalent during the Vedic age (1500 - 600 BCE).

Classification of Vedic Period

The period of Vedic Civilization (1500-500 BCE) is divided into two broad parts:
• Early Vedic Period (1500-1000 BC), also known as Rig Vedic Period.
• Later Vedic Period (1000- 600 BC).

The Vedas
• The word Veda comes from the root "vidi" signifying knowledge.
• They are four in all - Rig Veda, Sama Veda, Yajur Veda and Athrava Veda.

Rig Veda
• Oldest religious text in the world.
• Contains 1,028 hymns and is divided into 10 mandalas.

Sama Veda
• Derived from the root Saman i.e "melody".
• It is a collection of melodies.

Yajur Veda

• Deals with the procedure for the performance of sacrifices.

Atharva Veda
• Mostly dealing with magic (along with personal problems of people).

The Upanishads
• Together called the Vedanata.
• They are the main source of Indian Philosophy.
• They are 108 in numbers.

The Brahmins
• They explain the meaning of sacrifices and also the methods of performing them.
• Shatpath Brahmin on Yajur Veda is the largest among brahmins.

The Aranyakas
• These Granths were studied in the forest.
• These are the books of instructions.

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The Puranas
• Puranas are 18 in number.
• It was written during Gupta Age in AD 4th Century.
• Matasya Purana is the oldest Purana.

Mahabharata
• It was written in Sanskrit by VedVyas.
• It describes about a war between Kauravas and Pandavas of 950 BC in Kurukshetra.
• Translation of "Mahabharat" in persian is called Rajmnama done by Badauni.

Ramayana
• It was written by Valmiki in Sanskrit.
• It has 24000 shloks, also known as Aadi-kavya.
• Its persian translation is done by Badauni and Tamil translation by Kamban.
• Ramcharitmanas is written by Tulsidas.