Harappan culture

Ages in History
Palaeolithic Age:

 Old Stone age dates from 500 millennium B.C. to 8th millennium B.C.
 Lower or Early Palaeolithic Age
 Middle Palaeolithic Age
 Upper Palaeolithic Age
Mesolithic Age

Also known as the Late Stone Age. It is intermediate or transitional stage between the
Palaeolithic and Neolithic Ages and covers the period from 8th millennium to 4th
millennium B.C.
Neolithic Age

The New Stone Age covers the period from 4000 B.C. onwards. This Age was marked by the
use of polished stone tools.

Chalcolithic Age

The Stone- Copper Age covers the period from 1800 B.C. to 1000 or 800 B.C. In this age,
apart from stone, copper was also used.
 Periods in History
Pleistocene Period:
These are geographical periods. Pleistocene is known as Ice Age, it ended around the 8 th
millennium B.C. The Palaeolithic Age, in fact began in this period and came to an end
along with this.

Holocene Period:
The Holocene period came immediately after Pleistocene period and continues till today.
Old
Old World
World Civilizations
Civilizations
Comparative Timeline
Comparative Timeline
 Discovery
1. The discovery of the Indus Valley civilization was first recorded in the 1800's by the
British. The first recorded note was by a British army deserter, James Lewis, who was
posing as an American engineer in 1826. He noticed the presence of mounded ruins at a
small town in Punjab called Harappa.

2. Charles Masson Expedition: Narrative of Various Journeys in Balochistan, Afghanistan and

The Panjab (London, Richard Bentley,1842).

3. Alexander Cunningham, who headed the Archaeological Survey of India, visited this site in
1853 and 1856 while looking for the cities that had been visited by Chinese pilgrims in the
Buddhist period. The presence of an ancient city was confirmed in the following 50 years,
but no one had any idea of its age or importance

4. The Expedition of Alexander Burnes, and the archaeologist Sir Alexander Cunningham in
the 1870's.

5. The excavation of Rai Bahadur Daya Ram Sahni, and by R.D. Banerji in 1920s.
 Extent of the civilization
Manda(North)

Sutkagendor(West) Alamgirpur(East)

Daimabad(South)
 Major cities
1. Mohenjodaro

2. Harappa

3. Chanhudaro

4. Kalibangan

5. Lothal

6. Banawali

7. Surkotada

8. Dholavira
Major Cities: Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa
The similarities in plan and construction between Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa
indicate that they were part of a unified government with extreme organization.

● The cities are well known for their impressive, organized and regular layout.
● They have well laid plumbing and drainage system, including indoor toilets.
● Over one thousand other towns and villages also existed in this region.
● Both cities were constructed of the same type and shape of bricks.
● The two cities may have existed simultaneously and their sizes suggest that they
served as capitals of their provinces.
● In contrast to other civilizations, burials found from these cities are not elaborate;
they are more simplistic and contain few material goods.
● Remains of palaces or temples in the cities have not been found.
● No hard evidence exists indicating military activity, though the cities did contain
fortifications and artifacts such as copper and bronze knives, spears, and
arrowheads were recovered.
 Mohenjodaro:

 Largest of all cities.

 Great Bath
 Great Granary
 Multi-pillared Assembly Hall
 The Great Bath

● The "great bath" is the earliest public water tank.

● The tank measures approximately 12 meters north-south and 7
meters wide, with a maximum depth of 2.4 meters.
● Two staircases lead down into the tank from the north and
south and small sockets at the edges of the stairs are thought to
have held wooden planks or treads.
● At the foot of the stairs is a small ledge with a brick edging that
extends the entire width of the pool.
Great Bath
 Private Bathing Area
● Almost every house unit at Mohenjo-daro was equipped with a private bathing
area with drains to take the dirty water out into a larger drain that emptied into a
sewage drain. Many of these bathing areas had water tight floors to keep moisture
from seeping into the other rooms nearby or below.
 Wells
● Private wells were
rebuilt over many
generations for
large households
and neighborhoods.
● This well at
Mohenjo-daro
stands like a
chimney because
all of the
surrounding earth
has been removed
by excavation.
 Streets
● At Mohenjo-Daro
narrow streets and
alleyways are off
of the major
streets, leading
into more private
neighborhoods.
● Many of the brick
houses were two
stories high, with
thick walls and
high ceilings to
keep the rooms
cool in the hot
summer months.
 Harappa:
 First Indus site to be discovered.
 Granaries located outside acropolis.
 Working Floors.
 Barracks of single room tenements.
 Granary

● The "granary" of Harappa is found on Mound F.

● It is a brick structure that was built on a massive brick foundation over 45 meters north-south and 45 meters
east-west.
● Two rows of six rooms that appear to be foundations are arranged along a central passageway that is about 7
meters wide and partly paved with baked bricks.
● Each room measures 15.2 by 6.1 meters and has three sleeper walls with air space between them.
 Well

● A large public well and public bathing platforms were found in the southern
part at Harappa.
● These public bathing areas may also have been used for washing clothes as is
common in many traditional cities in Pakistan and India today.
 Workshops:

● Inside the city is an area that has been identified as a crafts quarter.
● Large quantities of manufacturing debris have been found in this area
indicating the presence of workshops for making stone beads, shell
ornaments, glazed faience ornaments, stone tools and possibly even gold
working.
Harappan Gateway Artists Conception
by Chris Sloan, courtesy of JM Kenoyer
 Chanhudaro:

Only Indus City 

without an Acropolis.
Here metal workers’ Shell ornaments makers’ bead
makers’ shops are discovered.
 Kalibangan:

 Traces of the remains of massive brick walls around both the Citadel and Lower
town have been discovered here.
 Archaeologists discovered two platforms with fire altars suggesting the practice of
the cult of sacrifice.
● Lothal:

 Artificial Brick Dockyard.

● Dholavira:

 Division into three sections.

 Houses
● Houses were one or two stories
high, made of thick, baked brick
walls, with flat roofs, and high
ceilings to keep the rooms cool
during the hot summers.
● Each was built around a
courtyard, with windows
overlooking the courtyard. The
outside walls had no windows.
● The dwelling places in the cities
indicate a large degree of social
stratification, but nearly all
houses had indoor plumbing with
showers and toilets.
 Water / Irrigation Systems

● “Sometime in the third millennium B.C., the Harappan

civilization of the Indus Valley built water systems that in many
ways would rival and surpass any other water system, except
that of the Romans, until the middle of the 19th century.”
(Carter)
● It was the Harappan civilization that gave us the plumber and
the first indoor plumbing. The mains that carried wastewater to
a cesspit were tall enough for people to walk through. “Even
today, nothing like this exists for nearly half of the world's
population." (Carter)
 Earliest Form of Sanitary
Engineering
● 1st known toilets and running
water in residential buildings in
the world.
● By 2500BC, highly developed
drainage system where
wastewater from each house
flowed into the main drain.
● The ancient Indus systems of
sewage and drainage that were
developed and used in cities
throughout the Indus Empire
were far more advanced than any
found in contemporary urban
sites in the Middle East and even
more efficient than those in some
areas of modern Pakistan and
India today.
 First Urban Sanitation System

● The people had water borne toilets

in each house. The houses were
lined with drains covered with burnt
clay bricks (burning makes clay
harder, more dense). The system
had manhole covers, chambers, etc.,
to facilitate maintenance. It was the
first form of sanitary engineering.
● From a room that appears to have
been set aside for bathing, waste
water was directed to covered
drains, which lined the major
streets.
 Houses and Running Water

● Each home had its own

private drinking well and
its own private bathroom.
● Clay pipes led from the
bathrooms to sewers
located under the streets.
● These sewers drained
into nearly rivers and
streams.
 Religion
1. The chief male deity was the Pasupati Mahadeva represented in seals as sitting in Yogic
posture. The chief female deity was Mother Goddess. Indus people also worshipped Gods
in the form of trees (Pipal) and animals. Further they believed in ghosts and evil forces and
used amulets as protection against them.
 Language

● The Indus (or Harappan) people used a pictographic script.

● Some 3500 specimens of this script survive in stamp seals carved in stone, in
molded terracotta and faience amulets, in fragments of pottery, and in a few
other categories of inscribed objects.
● In addition to the pictographic signs, the seals and amulets often contain
iconographic motifs, mostly realistic pictures of animals apparently
worshipped as sacred, and a few cultic scenes, including anthropomorphic
deities and worshippers.
● This material is important to the investigation of the Harappan language and
religion, which continue to be major issues.
 The origins of Indus writing

● The origins of Indus writing can now be traced to the Ravi Phase (c. 3300-
2800 BC) at Harappa.
● Some inscriptions were made on the bottom of the pottery before firing.
● This inscription (c. 3300 BC) appears to be three plant symbols.
Ancient Indus
 SEALS
● The seals of the ancient Harappan's were probably used in much the same way
they are today, to sign letters or for commercial transactions.
 Economy-Trade
● The Harappan civilization was mainly urban and mercantile.
● Inhabitants of the Indus valley traded with Mesopotamia, southern India,
Afghanistan, and Persia for gold, silver, copper, and turquoise.

The central ornament

worn on the forehead
of the famous "priest-
king" sculpture from
Mohenjo-daro
appears to represent
an eye bead, possibly
made of gold with
steatite inlay in the
center.
 Economy-Agriculture

● The Mesopotamian model of irrigated agriculture was used to take advantage of

the fertile grounds along the Indus River.
● Earthen walls were built to control the river's annual flooding. Crops grown
included wheat, barley, peas, melons, and sesame.
● This civilization was the first to cultivate cotton for the production of cloth.
Several animals were domesticated including the elephant which was used for its
ivory.
 Economy

● Cubical weights in graduated sizes.

● These weights conform to the standard Harappan binary weight system that
was used in all of the settlements.
● The smallest weight in this series is 0.856 grams and the most common
weight is approximately 13.7 grams, which is in the 16th ratio.
● These weights were found in recent excavations at Harappa and may have
been used for controlling trade and possibly for collecting taxes.
 Harappan Astronomy
● Although the translation of the Harappan script is still not complete,
there are numerous indications that Harappans were well versed in
astronomy.
● Like other urban civilizations, it undoubtedly needed a calendar that
adjusted to the lunar and solar transitions.
● The unicorn seal was also discovered during the late 1927-31
excavations at Mohenjo-Daro.
● One theory holds that the bull actually has two horns, but that these
have been stylized to one because of the complexity of depicting three
dimensions.
● However the manufacturing and design process behind seals was so
sophisticated that the depiction of three dimensions might not
necessarily have been a problem.
Famous Unicorn Seal
 Artifacts
● These egg shaped whistles may have been used for music, a tradition that is still
present in rural areas of Pakistan and India.
Clay Sculpture
Ceramics
 Ornaments

● This collection of gold and agate ornaments (see next slide)

includes objects found at both Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa.
● At the top are fillets of hammered gold that would have been
worn around the forehead.
● The other ornaments include bangles, chokers, long pendant
necklaces, rings, earrings, conical hair ornaments, and broaches.
● These ornaments were never buried with the dead, but were
passed on from one generation to the next.
● These ornaments were hidden under the floors in the homes of
wealthy merchants or goldsmiths.
Ornaments and Beads
 Necklace
● Necklace from
Mohenjo-Daro made
from gold, agate, jasper,
steatite and green stone.
● The gold beads are
hollow and the pendant
agate and jasper beads
are attached with thick
gold wire.
● Steatite beads with gold
caps serve to separate
each of the pendant
beads.
 Burial
● The body was placed inside a wooden coffin (which later decayed)
and entombed in a rectangular pit surrounded with burial offerings in
pottery vessels.
● The man was buried wearing a necklace of 340 graduated steatite
beads and three separate pendant beads made of natural stone and
three gold beads. A single copper bead was found at his waist.
 Burial

● Burial of woman and infant, Harappa.

● This burial was disturbed in antiquity, possibly by ancient Harappan grave robbers.
● Besides the fact that the body is flipped and the pottery disturbed, the left arm of the
woman is broken and shell bangles that would normally be found on the left arm are
missing.
● The infant was buried in a small pit beneath the legs of the mother.
 Four Theories of Collapse

● Archaeologists have offered four explanations for the collapse of

the Harappan “Civilization”.

● Three are based on ecological factors: intense flooding,

epidemics and the dessication of the Sarasvati River.

● The fourth hypothesis is that of the Aryan Invasion, proposed by

Sir R. E. Mortimer Wheeler and Stuart Piggott.
Salient Features
 Similarities in plan and construction between Mohenjo-Daro and
Harappa indicate that they were part of a unified government with
extreme organization
 Same type and shape of bricks.
 Twin capitals
 No palaces or temples remnants
 No hard evidence exists indicating military activity
 Cities were fortified
 Used copper and bronze knives, spears, and arrowheads.
 The Harappan civilization was mainly urban and mercantile.
 Inhabitants of the Indus valley traded with Mesopotamia, southern
India, Afghanistan, and Persia for gold, silver, copper, and turquoise.
 Earthlinks were built to control the river's annual flooding
 The city was laid out in a grid-like pattern with the orientation of
streets and buildings according to the cardinal directions
 The city had many drinking water wells, and a highly sophisticated
system of waste removal.
 All Harappan houses were equipped with bathing houses, and
sewage drains which emptied into larger mains and eventually
deposited the fertile sludge on surrounding agricultural fields.
 Site layouts and artifact styles throughout the Indus region are very
similar
 Standard brick size
 They were the first to cultivate Cotton
 The weights that have been recovered have shown a remarkable
accuracy. They follow a binary decimal system: 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, up
to 12,800 units, where one unit weighs approximately 0.85 grams
 No monuments erected to glorify
 Matriarchal Lineage.
 Worshipped Mother Goddess.
 & Pashupati Nath
Thank you