Indus Valley Civilization

Lecture: 7
 Harappa
• Location: Harappa was an Indus civilization urban center. It lies in Punjab Province,
Pakistan, on an old bank / bed of the River Ravi. The latest researches have revealed that
the city was have been surrounded by extensive walls.
Important Findings:
• Harappa was the first site of the civilization to be excavated in 1921. The excavation
team was led by Daya Ram Sahni.
• Harappa was a gateway city and a meeting point of several routes. The material remains
found at Harappa are typical Indus character which include the pottery, chert blades,
copper or bronze implements, terracotta figurines, seals and sealing, weights, etc.
• Two rows of six granaries with brick platforms (total 12) have been found in Harappa.
There have been evidences of coffin burial have been found. Citadel outside on banks of
river Ravi have also been found. Terracotta Figurines are also found.
 Mohenjo-Daro

• The meaning of Mohenjo-Daro is “Mound of the dead” and Mohenjo-Daro is

the best known Indus site. It is located in Sindh, Pakistan, next to the Indus.
• At Mohenjo-Daro the most unicorn seals have been found. Due to a rising
water table, most of the site remains unexcavated, and its earliest levels
have not been reached. The Mohenjo-Daro also has two mounds.
• The western mound is lower which was a citadel with 200 m X 400 m and
eastern is a bigger which was having the relics of a buried city of size
400×800 meters.
 Mohenjo-Daro
Great bath:
• length 11.88 m , width 7.01 m and
depth 2.042 m.
• Stairs were made to come down
• The floor was made waterproof
• Water drawn from large wells
• Drains were made to drain the water.
• Rooms were built around the bath
for changing clothes
• May be a religious place or religious
rituals performed here
• But no clear cut information about its
utility
Mohenjo-Daro: Great Bath
 Mohenjodaro
• A tall building near the great bath.
• The building was 230 feet long and 78
feet wide.
• It appears to be the residence of a
superior officer or any ruler or priest

Granary
 Biggest architecture at Mohenjodaro.
 This granary is divided into 27 rooms of
different size and shape
 Harappa also has this type of granary, but
the granary of Harappa has been made in
two queues in the number of six.
 Mohenjodaro
• Assembly Hall: A square pillared hall with 90X90 ft is another important building found
at Mohenjo-Daro. The scholars agree that this pillared hall was a site for social
gatherings. All houses have a courtyard, kitchen and a well. AD houses at Mohenjo-
Daro have proper arrangements of light air and drainage.
• Mohenjo-Daro has shown an extensive usage of bricks.
The Evidences at Mohenio-Daro:
1. A piece of woven cotton along with needles has been found.
2. A bronze figurine of a dancing girl has been found.
3. A seal representing the Mother Goddess a plant growing from her womb has been
found.
4. A figurine of a bearded man has been found at Mohenjo-Daro
5. A seal with a picture suggesting Pashupati Mahadev has been found at Mohenjo-Daro.
6. A seal which shows a woman to be sacrificed by a man with a knife in hand has been
found at Mohenjo-Daro.
 Observations about other sites
• Third important centre of the civilization is Dholavira in the Rann of Kutch area. The site is relatively
newly discovered and here the historians found a tantalizing signboard with Indus script.
• Dholavira is different from Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro on the account that its drainage system is
much more elaborated then these two cities. While the two cities had two mounds each, leading to
conclusion that there were two citadels, Dholavira had three citadels. Each of these three citadels of
Dholavira was improved than Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro and had an inner enclosure as well.
• The largest is Indus site is Rakhigarhi near Hissar in Haryana. Near Hissar, there is another site called
Banawali where Barley was a common crop in Indus valley times.
• The westernmost site Suktagendor is located near present borders of Iran and it was an important
coastal / port town.
• Another important port town was Lothal. One more coastal city was Balakot, which is located near
Karachi in Pakistan.
• The presence of horse has been doubtful in Indus Valley Civilization. The site where the historians
were able to collect some bones of Horse is Surkotada in Bhuj area of Gujarat.
 Observations about other sites
• The Kalibangan site in the Hanumangarh district of Rajasthan has given evidence of both Pre-
harappan and harappan civilization. Here the historians have found a ploughed field and bones of
camel.
• The peculiar type of circular and rectangular graves is another feature of Kalibangan. In terms of
town planning, Kalibangan was not as developed as Harappa, Mohenjo-Daro and Dholavira
because here we neither find use of baked bricks nor a drainage system.
• A different kind of town planning we found at Lothal; this city was divided into 6 sections and each
section had a wide platform of earthen bricks. Lothal and Rangpur are two sites where historians
found rice husk.
• The magnum opus of Lothal is an artificial dock. Lothal's dock—the world s earliest known,
connected the city to an ancient course of the Sabarmati river on the trade route between
Harappan cities in Sindh and the peninsula of Saurashtra when the surrounding Kutch desert of
today was a part of the Arabian Sea.
• lt was a vital and thriving trade centre in ancient times, with its trade of beads, gems and valuable
ornaments reaching the far corners of West Asia and Africa.
 Observations about other sites
• A bead making factory has also been found in Lothal. A seal from Iran has
been found which indicates its link with overseas countries.
• Then, Lothal is different from other sites of Indus Valley Civilization in
terms of town planning that it has entry to the houses on the main street
while in other sites have shown lateral entry.
• The only city in the Indus Valley civilization which does not have a citadel
was Chanhu Daro, located some 130 kilometers south of Mohenjo-Daro.
• Alamagirpur was the eastern boundary of the Indus Valley Civilization. The
evidences say that this site developed in mature Harappan phase. Kot Diji
and Amri were pre-harappan sites.
 Observations about other sites
The above information has been summarized here:
• Dholavira : Signboard, 3 citadels with improved inner enclosure
• Suktagendor, Lothal and Balakot: Coastal Cities and Port Towns
• Surkotda : Horse Bones
• Kalibangan: Ploughed Field, Bones of Camel, Circular and Rectangular
Graves, Neither Baked Bricks nor a Drainage system.
• Lothal: 6 sections in city, Artificial dockyard, Entry from the main street
instead of lateral entry that was common, The vase (फू लदान) depicting a
thirsty crow as been found at Lothal.
• Lothal and Rangpur: Rice Husk
Brick Houses
 Economy

A bright blue
 Afghanistan
Colour stone
Important city and Rivers
 Economy
• Harappa civilisation has trade relations with Mesopotamia, Persian Gulf,
Afganistan, South India and Sumerians.
• Amount of sea trade was more than land trade
• Dilmun and Makan were two station B/W Harappa and Mesopotamia
• Raw material is not available at local level and Harappan people had good
agriculture base and had demand for luxuries goods. This led to emergence of
intra and inter regional & foreign trade
• Harappa had surplus of balance of trade
• Trade items- Precious stones( Lapis Lazuli, Agate, Zasper), metal(gold, copper,
tin, silver) pottery, cloths, grains, tools etc are the trading goods
 Economy
• No currency only barter system
• Internal trade- Rajasthan &
Karnataka ( metals, foods and
raw materials)
• External trade- Iran, Egypt,
Mesopotamia ( luxurious items)
• Bead making factories at
Kalinbanga, Chanhudaro &
Lothal
• Uniform weights & measures
were used
 Social life
• Sculpture and seals are the sources to shed
some light on social life
• Society was divided into two on the basis of
Citadel and Lower city
• On the basis on seals & idols, society may be
matriarchal but not this fact remain inclusive.
• Egalitarian society
• People believe in worldly life more than
spiritual life
• No signs of gender discrimination
• Food habits has regional variations like wheat in
Indus Valley & millet in Rajasthan
 Sign Board

• Dholavira - A large inscription type signboard was found

 Craft and Technology

• Dancing girl shows level of metallurgy &

aesthetic culture
• Sculptures made of bronze & copper
Lost wax technique was used
• Boat making, seal making, brick making,
Terracotta, pottery making, weaver
• Bead making, jewellary ( silver, gold,
copper)
• Town planner,
• Knives, axes, saws, spears etc found
Toys, Pots
Dancing girl and Unicorn seals of Mohenjo-daro
 Granaires of Harappa

1. Granary at Harappa
2. It seems a type of political
control or tax collection
system
3. Might be for market storage
4. But there is doubt as weather
it was a collective or
administrative task

Granaires of Harrapa
water conservation at Dhaulavira Water Supply and Drainage

Water Supply and Drainage

 Agriculture

1. It was fertile land due to Indus river basin (alluvial soil) and sufficient rainfall.
2. use of plow= tillage farm of Kalibangan
3. Plow pulled by oxen
4. Crops- Wheat, barley, seasamum (तिल), mustard, Rice (lothal), cotton ragi,
dates & peas etc
5. It was base of Harappan economy and imp component for trade
6. Most important occupation
• Animals were also domesticated like sheep, goats & pigs, Oxen, Humped bulls,
dogs, cats, buffaloes , elephant
• Rearing of horse is debatable issue but horse like evidence was found from
Sutkotada
 Seals

1. A large number of seals have been

discovered more than 2000 seals have been
found.
2. Animals generally depicted
3. Used in trade activities
4. Made of terracota and metal
5. Greatest artistic creation
6. Iron was unknown so no iron seal

Seals of Mohenjo daro

Seals
 Pashupati Seal
• The Pashupati Seal is a steatite
(Soapstone) seal that was discovered at
the Mohenjo-daro archaeological site of the Indus
Valley Civilization.
• The seal depicts a seated figure that is
possibly tricephalic (having three heads).
• The man has a horned headdress and is
surrounded by animals. He may represent
a horned deity.
• It is purported to be one of the earliest depictions
of the Hindu god Shiva ("Pashupati", meaning
"lord of animals", is one of Shiva's epithets).
• Surrounded by elephant, tiger, and rhinoceros &
has a buffalo below his throne.
 Sculpture

• Dancing Girl from Mohenjodaro: bronze

sculpture made in the lost-wax process about c. 2300-
1750 BCE.
• The statue is 10.5 centimeters (4.1 in) tall, and
depicts a naked young woman or girl with stylized
proportions standing in a confident, naturalistic
pose. 
• The statuette was discovered by British
archaeologist Ernest Mackay in Mohenjo-daro in 1926,
prior to the Partition of India.
• It is held by the National Museum, New Delhi, and Dancing Girl of
ownership is disputed by Pakistan. Mohenjodaro
 Sculpture

• This steatite figure of the bearded man interpreted as

a priest or priest king is draped in a shawl coming
under the right arm and covering the left shoulder.
• His shawl is decorated with trefoil patterns. His eyes
are a little elongated, and half-closed as in
meditation.
• The Male torso is a red sandstone figure, which has
socket holes in the neck and shoulders for the
attachment of head and arms. The frontal posture of
 Sculpture

• The Male torso is a red sandstone figure,

which has socket holes in the neck and
shoulders for the attachment of head and
arms. The shoulders are well carved and the
abdomen looks slightly prominent.
• This nude male torso is considered to be a
remarkable object that in its balanced lines
stands somewhat equal to the beautiful art
of Gandhara two thousand years later.
• Note: Male Torso was found in Harappa
(only major art element found in Harappa)
and made from Red Sandstone.
 Sculpture
• Mother Goddess The most important terracotta figure in the
Indus Valley Civilization is the figure of Mother Goddess.
• This figure is crude standing female adorned with necklaces
hanging over prominent breasts and wearing a loin cloth and a
girdle.
• The most distinct feature of the mother goddess figurines is a
fan-shaped head-dress with a cup-like projection on each side.
Rest of the facial igures are very crude and distant from being
realistic.
• Discovered by John Marshall in 1931. These figures were not
categorized correctly, according to Marshall, meaning that
where they were recovered from the site is not actually clear.
One of said figures, pictured below, is 18.7 cm tall and is
currently on display at the National Museum of Pakistan, in
Karachi.
Only IAS Nothing Else