BIRTH of EARTH

FIRE BALL
INITIATING LIFE
OUR EARTH
 The Origin and Evolution of Life:
A Product of Cosmic, Planetary, and Biological Processes
THE JOURNEY
MAN ON EARTH
Evolution in mythology
CLAIMES
• Rarh region (Bengali:
রাঢ়, Rāṛh) is a toponym
for an area in the Indian
subcontinent that lies
between the Chota
Nagpur Plateau on the
West and the Ganges
Delta on the East.
Although the boundaries
of the region have been
defined differently
according to various
sources throughout
history, today it is mainly
coextensive with the
state of West Bengal
also comprising some
portions of the state of
Jharkand and Bihar in
India
 Cradle of Civilzation

The Indus Valley Civilization (IVC) was a Bronze Age civilization (3300–
1300 BCE; mature period 2600–1900 BCE) in the northwestern region of the
Indian subcontinentconsisting mainly of what is now Pakistan, and parts of
India, Afghanistan and Iran
• The ruins of Harrappa were first described in 1842 by
Charles Masson in his Narrative of Various Journeys in
Balochistan, Afghanistan, and the Punjab,

chambers

sopan

Excavated ruins of Mohenjo-daro, with the Great Bath

• Date rangePhaseEra7000–5500 BCEMehrgarh I (aceramic Neolithic)
• Early Food Producing Era5500–3300Mehrgarh II-VI (ceramic
Neolithic)Regionalisation Era
5500-26003300–2600
• Early Harappan3300–2800Harappan 1 (Ravi Phase)
• 2800–2600Harappan 2 (Kot Diji Phase, Nausharo I, Mehrgarh VII)2600–
1900
• Mature Harappan (Indus Valley Civilization)Integration Era2600–
2450Harappan 3A (Nausharo II)2450–2200
• Harappan 3B2200–1900
• Harappan 3C1900–1300
• Late Harappan (Cemetery H); Ochre Coloured Pottery
• Localisation Era1900–1700
• Harappan 41700–1300
• Harappan 51300–300Painted Gray Ware, Northern Black Polished Ware
(Iron Age)Indo-Gangetic Tradition
• The Early Harappan Ravi Phase, named after the nearby
Ravi River, lasted from circa 3300 BCE until 2800 BCE. It is
related to the Hakra Phase, identified in the Ghaggar-Hakra
River Valley to the west, and predates the Kot Diji Phase (2800-
2600 BCE, Harappan 2), named after a site in northern Sindh,
Pakistan, near Mohenjo Daro. The earliest examples of the
Indus script date from around 3000 BCE.[39]
 computer-aided reconstruction of
coastal Harappan settlement at Sokhta Koh
near Pasni, Pakistan

• By 2600 BCE, the Early Harappan communities had been turned

into large urban centres. Such urban centres include Harappa,
Ganeriwala, Mohenjo-Daro in modern day Pakistan, and Dholavira,
Kalibangan, Rakhigarhi, Rupar, and Lothal in modern day India. In
total, more than 1,052 cities and settlements have been found,
mainly in the general region of the Indus Rivers and their tributaries.
• A special feature of the
cities of the Indus
Valley Civilization was
the large granary that
existed. As a structure
it is particularly
impressive, running
150 feet long, 75 feet
wide and 15 feet high.
This gave the granary
an astounding 168,750
cubic feet of space.
The granary was
divided into 27
compartment in three
rows. The granary was
well ventilated and it
was possible to fill
grain in from outside.
The large size of the
granary probably
indicates a highly
developed agricultural
civilization.
• Great Bath
• The city of Mohenjo-Daro possessed an amazing structure
known as the Great Bath. The entire structure is about 179 feet
long and 107 feet wide. The complex has a large quadrangle in
the center with galleries and rooms on all sides. In the center
of this quadrangle there is a large swimming enclosure that is
39 feet long, 23 feet wide and 8 feet deep. The entire complex
is connected to an elaborate water supply and sewer system.
The Great Bath was probably used for religious or ritualistic
purposes.
• The people of the Indus Valley Civilization had achieved some
spectacular standards when it came to building their cities.
Each city was carefully planned and at the peak of the
civilization housed almost 40,000 people. A typical city would
be divided into two sections, each fortified separately. One
section, known as the acropolis, was located on an artificially
raised mound while the other level was on level ground. The
acropolis contained the important buildings of the city, like the
assembly halls, religious structures, granaries and in the case
of Mohenjo-Daro the famous Great Bath. The lower section of
the city was where the housing for the inhabitants was located.
It was here where some truly amazing features have been
discovered. The city was well connected with broad roads
about 30 meters long which met at right angles. The houses
were located in the rectangular squares thus formed. Houses
were built with standardized baked bricks (which had a ratio of
length to width to thickness at 4:2:1) and many had spacious
courtyards. Some of the bigger houses even had multiple
stories (levels) and paved floors. What is noteworthy is that
almost every house had its own wells, drains and bathrooms.
Each house was connected directly to an excellent
underground sewer system that ran throughout the city. The
inhabitants of Indus Valley Civilization cities enjoyed to a
degree unknown in the ancient world not only sanitary
conveniences, but also a highly developed municipal life. What
is absolutely astounding is that these cities existed close to five
thousand years
• Indus Valley Civilization had achieved some spectacular standards when it came to building their cities. Each city
was carefully planned and at the peak of the civilization housed almost 40,000 people. A typical city would be
divided into two sections, each fortified separately. One section, known as the acropolis, was located on an
artificially raised mound while the other level was on level ground. The acropolis contained the important buildings
of the city, like the assembly halls, religious structures, granaries and in the case of Mohenjo-Daro the famous
Great Bath. The lower section of the city was where the housing for the inhabitants was located. It was here
where some truly amazing features have been discovered. The city was well connected with broad roads about
30 meters long which met at right angles. The houses were located in the rectangular squares thus formed.
Houses were built with standardized baked bricks (which had a ratio of length to width to thickness at 4:2:1) and
many had spacious courtyards. Some of the bigger houses even had multiple stories (levels) and paved floors.
What is noteworthy is that almost every house had its own wells, drains and bathrooms. Each house was
connected directly to an excellent underground sewer system that ran throughout the city. The inhabitants of
Indus Valley Civilization cities enjoyed to a degree unknown in the ancient world not only sanitary conveniences,
but also a highly developed municipal life. What is absolutely astounding is that these cities existed close to five
thousand years ago.
 City walls
• Harappan architecture is the architecture of the
Harappans, an ancient people who lived in the
Indus Valley from about 3300 BCE to 1600 BCE. The
Harappans were advanced for their time, especially in
architecture. City walls[edit]
• Each city in the Indus Valley was surrounded by
massive walls and gateways. The walls were built to
control trade and also to stop the city from being
flooded. Each part of the city was made up of walled
sections. Each section included different buildings
such as: Public buildings, houses, markets, craft
workshops, etc.
• Streets[edit]
• The Harappans were excellent city planners. They
based their city streets on a grid system. Streets were
oriented east to west. Each street had a well
organized drain system. If the drains were not
cleaned, the water ran into the houses and silt built
up. Then the Harappans would build another storey
on top of it. This raised the level of the city over the
years, and today archaeologists call these high
structures "mounds".
Wells

• ]
• An old well in Lothal, a town near
Harappa. The building styles of the two
cities were fairly similar.
• Although not every Harappan house
had a well, they are quite common and
comprise one of the most recognizable
features of Harappan urbanism. Over
the years, the level of streets and
houses were raised owing to the
accumulation of debris (see above)
which necessitated raising the height
of the wells. This is the reason why
very tall wells are often seen at
Harappa and in surrounding areas.
 Houses and bricks
• Houses and other buildings were made of
sun-dried or kiln-fired mud brick. These
bricks were so strong, they have stood up to
thousands of years of wear. Each house had
an indoor and outdoor kitchen. The outdoor
kitchen would be used when it was warmer
(so that the oven wouldn’t heat up the
house), and the indoor kitchen for use when
it was colder. In present day, village houses
in this region (e.g. in Kachchh) still have two
kitchens. Indoor kitchens are used mostly as
store houses and are only used for cooking
when it rains. Otherwise, residents prefer to
use the outdoor kitchens because the dry
shrub and cow dung used as cooking fuel
are very smoky, making indoor cooking
difficult. Tools[edit]
• The Harappans used chisels, pickaxes, and
saws. The saws they used had undulated
edges so that dust escaped from the cut that
they were sawing. These tools were most
likely made of copper, as copper tools and
weapons have been found at Harappan
sites.
BATHROOMS
 Temples
• Lack of temples
• So far, no unequivocal examples of temples have been
found at sites belonging to the Indus Valley Civilization.
Archaeologists do not know yet what religion was
practiced in the Indus Valley Civilization. Community
water pools (swimming or bathing) do exist, which may
be linked with religion practice. Water plays an important
role in Hindu sacred places, and pilgrimage to such
places often involves sacred bathing (apart from the
Ganges). The architecture of water pools used by Hindu
pilgrimage and in Harappan cities are similar, although
scholars disagree whether such similarities are
functional, or cultural, in nature.
Indus Valley seals, British Museum
• The people of the Indus Civilization achieved great accuracy in measuring length, mass, and
time. They were among the first to develop a system of uniform weights and measures. A
comparison of available objects indicates large scale variation across the Indus territories. Their
smallest division, which is marked on an ivory scale found in Lothal, was approximately
1.704 mm, the smallest division ever recorded on a scale of the Bronze Age. Harappan
engineers followed the decimal division of measurement for all practical purposes, including the
measurement of mass as revealed by their hexahedron weights.[43]
• These chert weights were in a ratio of 5:2:1 with weights of 0.05, 0.1, 0.2, 0.5, 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50,
100, 200, and 500 units, with each unit weighing approximately 28 grams, similar to the English
Imperial ounce or Greek uncia, and smaller objects were weighed in similar ratios with the units
of 0.871. However, as in other cultures, actual weights were not uniform throughout the area. The
weights and measures later used in Kautilya's Arthashastra (4th century BCE) are the same as
those used in Lothal.[44]
• Harappans evolved some new techniques in metallurgy and produced copper, bronze, lead, and
tin. The engineering skill of the Harappans was remarkable, especially in building docks.
• In 2001, archaeologists studying the remains of two men from Mehrgarh, Pakistan, made the
discovery that the people of the Indus Valley Civilization, from the early Harappan periods, had
knowledge of proto-dentistry. Later, in April 2006, it was announced in the scientific journal
Nature that the oldest (and first early Neolithic) evidence for the drilling of human teeth in vivo
(i.e., in a living person) was found in Mehrgarh. Eleven drilled molar crowns from nine adults were
discovered in a Neolithic graveyard in Mehrgarh that dates from 7,500-9,000 years ago.
According to the authors, their discoveries point to a tradition of proto-dentistry in the early
farming cultures of that region.[45]
So-called "Priest King" statue, Mohenjo-Daro, late Mature Harappan period,
National Museum, Karachi, Pakistan
• Sir John Marshall is known to have reacted with surprise when he
saw the famous Indus bronze statuette of a slender-limbed dancing
girl in Mohenjo-Daro:
• When I first saw them I found it difficult to believe that they were
prehistoric; they seemed to completely upset all established ideas
about early art, and culture. Modeling such as this was unknown in
the ancient world up to the Hellenistic age of Greece, and I thought,
therefore, that some mistake must surely have been made; that
these figures had found their way into levels some 3000 years older
than those to which they properly belonged .... Now, in these
statuettes, it is just this anatomical truth which is so startling; that
makes us wonder whether, in this all-important matter, Greek
artistry could possibly have been anticipated by the sculptors of a
far-off age on the banks of the Indus.
The "dancing girl of Mohenjo Daro"
 Chanhudaro. Fragment of Large Deep Vessel,
circa 2500 B.C.E. Red pottery with red and black slip-painted decoration,
415/16×6⅛ in. (12.5×15.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum
Jewelry
• Dateline: (Circa 3000 BC to 1200 BC)
• The Indus Valley Civilization was a
phenomenal and somewhat mysterious
civilization that existed in and around the
River Indus sometime between 3000 BC
to 1200BC. A bustling urban civilization
that had reached a remarkable level of
advancement for its time. The Indus
Valley Civilization joins the ancient
civilizations of Egypt and Mesopotamia in
having contributed to the most ancient
phase of human CIVLIZATION that we
are aware of. The Indus Valley
Civilization was however far ahead of its
contemporaries in many areas, especially
its famed town planning skills. The great
cities of Harappa and Mohenjo- Daro are
fine examples of thoughtful and skilful city
building. The quality of construction is
amply proved by the fact that they have
withstood the ravages of time for over
five thousand years. The Indus Valley
Civilization comes from a period for which
we do not have any written records . Our
main sources of evidence are largely
archaeological and hence a lot about this
particular civilization is unknown, leaving
us to speculate on the possible answers
to
• Dateline: (Circa 3000 BC to 1200 BC)
• The Indus Valley Civilization was a phenomenal
and somewhat mysterious civilization that existed in
and around the River Indus sometime between
3000 BC to 1200BC. A bustling urban civilization
that had reached a remarkable level of
advancement for its time. The Indus Valley
Civilization joins the ancient civilizations of Egypt
and Mesopotamia in having contributed to the most
ancient phase of human CIVLIZATION that we are
aware of. The Indus Valley Civilization was
however far ahead of its contemporaries in many
areas, especially its famed town planning skills. The
great cities of Harappa and Mohenjo- Daro are fine
examples of thoughtful and skilful city building. The
quality of construction is amply proved by the fact
that they have withstood the ravages of time for
over five thousand years. The Indus Valley
Civilization comes from a period for which we do
not have any written records . Our main sources of
evidence are largely archaeological and hence a lot
about this particular civilization is unknown, leaving
us to speculate on the possible answers to puzzling
questions.
 The docks of ancient Lothal as they are today
Further information: Lothal and Meluhha

During 4300–3200 BCE of the chalcolithic period (copper age), the Indus Valley Civilization area
shows ceramic similarities with southern Turkmenistan and northern Iran which suggest
considerable mobility and trade. During the Early Harappan period (about 3200–2600 BCE),
similarities in pottery, seals, figurines, ornaments, etc. document intensive caravan trade with
Central Asia and the Iranian plateau
• Writing system
• Main article: Indus script
• Between 400 and as many as 600 distinct Indus symbols[57] have
been found on seals, small tablets, ceramic pots and more than a
dozen other materials, including a "signboard" that apparently once
hung over the gate of the inner citadel of the Indus city of Dholavira.
• Ten Indus Scripts, dubbed "Signboard", Dholavira
• Typical Indus inscriptions are no more than four or five characters in
length, most of which (aside from the Dholavira "signboard") are
tiny; the longest on a single surface, which is less than 1 inch
(2.54 cm) square, is 17 signs long; the longest on any object (found
on three different faces of a mass-produced object) has a length of
26 symbols
• Religion
• The so-called Shiva Pashupati seal
• Further information: Prehistoric religion, History of Hinduism, and History of Jainism
• Some Indus valley seals show swastikas, which are found in other religions worldwide,
especially in Indian religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. The earliest
evidence for elements of Hinduism are alleged to have been present before and during
the early Harappan period.[64] Phallic symbols interpreted as the much later Hindu
Shiva lingam have been found in the Harappan remains.[65][66]

• Swastika Seals from the Indus Valley Civilization preserved at the British Museum
• Many Indus valley seals show animals. One motif shows a horned figure seated in a
posture reminiscent of the Lotus position and surrounded by animals was named by
early excavators Pashupati (lord of cattle), an epithet of the later Hindu gods Shiva and
Rudra.[67][68][69] According to Iravatham Mahadevan symbols 47 and 48 of his Indus
script glossary The Indus Script: Texts, Concordance and Tables (1977), representing
seated human-like figures, could describe Hindu deity Murugan.[70]
• Agriculture-The Indus plains were made fertile by the annual
inundation of the river Indus. This river carried far more alluvial soil
than many other contemporary rivers like the Nile in Egypt.
• They produced wheat, barley, rice, sesamum, mustard etc. They
also produced significant quantities of cotton, in fact the Greek word
for cotton is sindon, a word derived from Sind which is a part of the
Indus Valley Civilization region.
• Trade- In the absence of any scriptural evidence it can only be
presumed that the Indus Valley Civilization had trade relations with
places as far as Mesopotamia. Excavated materials in Mesopotamia
suggest that they might have had trade relations with Indus Valley
Civilization by a sea route since some of the seals have pictures of
boats.
• Our knowledge of the people of the Indus
Valley Civilization is largely based on articles
that were found in the cities. The people
were essentially employed in agriculture,
animal rearing, trade, metal industry and
construction. Cotton fabrics were popular
and wool was used for warmer garments.
Both men and women wore ornaments like
necklaces, armlets, finger-rings and bangles.
Ornaments like nose rings, ear-rings and
anklets were however worn only by women.
The ornaments were made of gold, silver,
ivory, copper and precious and semi-
precious stones. Their household goods
were vessels made of earthenware, metal
and in some rare cases porcelain. Articles
like spindles, axes, fishhooks, razors and
combs etc. have also been found. The
children played with carved toys like small
wheeled carts and chairs, and a dice
indicating the possibility of board games. The
people had domesticated animals like the
humped bull, the buffalo, sheep, elephant
and camel. There are some doubts however
on the existence of the horse but the
presence of the horse in the carved toys for
the children indicates that they were familiar
with the animal. Interestingly the weapons of
war are essentially offensive in nature, like
axes, spears, daggers. No defensive
equipment like shields or armor have been
found.
 `Decline of the Indus Valley
Civilization
• A definite reason for the sudden decline of the Indus Valley Civilization is still elusive, since there
are no reliable records for the period, historians can only speculate. All excavations however do
prove that the decline occurred suddenly between 1800 BC and 1700 BC. It has been suggested
that perhaps the people of the Indus Valley Civilization were destroyed by invading barbaric
tribes. It has also been suggested that the Aryans who were the next settlers, may have attacked
and destroyed the Indus Valley Civilization, since their epics talk about their conquest of great
cities. Such theories of a violent end, have been partly proved by the discovery in Mohenjo-Daro
of human remains that indicated a violent cause of death. However such evidence was not
consistent as most other cities showed an absence of a massacre. The possibility of the Aryans
being involved in such a conflict seems unlikely, especially since recent excavations have shown
that the Aryans arrived almost 500 years after the decline of the major Indus Valley Civilization's
cities. The theory of climatic factors causing the decline has been gaining credibility, in the light of
the recent research. Around 2000 BC major ecological changes began taking place in the Indus
Valley, tectonic changes caused the creation of a dam in the lower Indus, thus flooding the plains
and cities. Evidence to prove this hypothesis has been found. Many Indus Valley Civilization
cities show signs of having been abandoned and then rebuilt, indicating they were continuously
flooded. Eventually this began to take its toll, and what archaeologists call the squatters period
set in. Cities were no longer built with the care they were earlier, broken bricks were used for
construction and no attention was paid to a proper sewage system. Also the average rainfall in
the area began decreasing as the area slowly began turning into the desert it is today. For a
civilization that was highly dependant on agriculture, such major climatic changes had a
devastating effect. The influence the big cities had on the rest of the region was based largely on
the amount of grain they stocked in their granaries. Once agricultural production declined the
influence of the cities declined and eventually the region went into a state of anarchy.