ANCIENT HISTORY - THE INDUS VALLEY CIVILISATION
• The Indus valley civilisation is firstly called as the Harappan civilisation, because earliest excavations in the Indus valley were done at Harappa in the West Punjab and Mohenjodaro in Sindh. Both places are located in Pakistan now.
• The Harappan culture matured in Sind and Punjab. It spread from there to Southwards and Eastwards. The total spread of this civilisation was bigger than Egypt and Mesopotamia.
• But this civilisation was later named as the Indus civilisation due to the discovery of more and more sites far from the Indus valley.
• Among the many other sites excavated during the Harappan civilisation, the most important are Kot Dizi in Sindh, Kalibangan in Rajasthan, Ropar in Punjab, Banawali in Haryana, Lothal, Surkotada and Dholavira in Gujarat.
• Mohenjodaro is the largest of all the Indus valley cities and it is estimated to have spread over an area of 200 hectares.
Town Planning
• The Indus civilisation was distinguished by its system of town planning on the lines of the grid system (streets and lanes cutting across one another almost at right angles).
• Harappa, Mohenjodaro and Kalibangan each had its own citadel built on a high podium of mud brick.
• Below the citadel, a lower township were built, containing brick houses for common people.
• The underground drainage system connecting all houses to the street drains which were covered by stone slabs or bricks.
Economic Life
There was a great progress in all spheres of economic activity such as agriculture, industry and crafts and trade during the Indus civilisation. They practised barter system for exchange.
• Wheat and barley were the main crops grown besides sesame, mustard and cotton. Surplus grain was stored in granaries.
• Pottery remains plain and in some places red and black painted pottery is found. Beads were manufactured from a wide variety of semi-precious stones.
• Painted pottery is of better quality. The pictorial motifs consisted of geometrical patterns like horizontal lines, circles, leaves, plants and trees. On some pottery pieces we find figures of fish or peacock.
• The seals and the terracotta models of the Indus valley reveal the use of bullock carts and oxen for land transport and boats and ships for river and sea transport.
• The Harappan crafts display an impressive level of standardisation. Kenoyer has suggested that state control may have been responsible for such a high level of standardisation in craft.
Religion
The chief male deity was Pashupati (Proto-Shiva), represented in seals as sitting in a yogic posture with three faces and two horns. He is surrounded by elephant, tiger, rhino and buffalo, all facing a different direction and two deers appear on his feet.
• The chief female deity was the Mother Goddess represented in terracotta figurines.
• There are evidences of phallus and yoni worship for the fertility.
• Evidence of fire worship was also found at Lothal, Kalibangan and Harappa.
• Animal (Unicorn Bull) and tree worship (Pipal) was also found there.
• They believe in super natural powers and also believed in evil-powers and might have used amulets as protection against them.
Burial Practice
• Complete burial and post-cremation burial were popular at Mohenjodaro. At lothal, the burial pit was lined with burnt bricks, indicating the use of coffins. Practice of pot burials also prevailed, with pairs of bodies.
• Wooden coffins were also found at Harappa. However, there is no clear evidence for the practice of Sati.
Seals
Most of the seals are made of steatite i.e., a soft stone as the majority of the seals have an animal engraved on it with a short inscription. Shape of seals are square, rolled and triangular.
• Most frequently founded animal is unicorn bull.
• The technique of cutting and polishing these seals with white luster was a unique invention of the Indus valley civilisation.
Decline of the Civilisation
The Harappan culture flourished upto 1800 BC, then it began to decline. There is no unanimity about the reason of the decline of this civilisation. Epidemic, flood, climate change, war are the main reasons given by many scholars.
