Indus Vally Civilization In India

Indus vally Civilization In India

Ancient Civilizations in India

• The Indus Valley Civilization was an ancient civilization thriving along the Indus River and the Ghaggar-Hakra River in what is now Pakistan and north-western India. Among other names for this civilization is the Harappan Civilization, in reference to its first excavated city of Harappa.

• An alternative term for the culture is Saraswati-Sindhu Civilization, based on the fact that most of the Indus Valley sites have been found at the Halkra-Ghaggar River.

• R.B. Dayaram Sahni first discovered Harappa (on Ravi) in 1921. R.D. Banerjee discovered Mohenjodaro or ‘Mound of the Dead’ (on Indus) in 1922. Sir John Marshal played a crucial role in both these.

• Harappan Civilization forms part of the proto history of India and belongs to the Bronze Age.

• Mediterranean, Proto-Australoid, Mongoloids and Alpines formed the bulk of the population, though the first two were more numerous.

• More than 100 sites belonging to this civilization have been excavated.

• According to radio-carbon dating, it spread from the year 2500 – 1750 BC.

• Copper, bronze, silver,gold were known but not iron

 

Geographical Extent

 Covered parts of Punjab, Sindh, Baluchistan, Gujarat, Rajasthan and some parts of Western UP. It extended from Manda in Jammu in the north to Daimabad in the south and from Alamgirpur in W. UP to Sutkagendor inBaluchistan in the west.

• Major sites in Pakistan are Harappa (on Ravi in W Punjab), Mohenjodaro (on Indus), Chanhu-Daro (Sindh), etc.

    In India, major sites are Lothal, Rangpur and Surkotda (Gujarat), Kalibangan (Rajasthan), Banwali (Hissar), andAlamgirpur (Western UP.

• Largest and the latest site in India is Dholavira in Gujarat. Dr. J.R Joshi and Dr. R.S. Bisht were involved in it.

Indus Valley Civilization Town Planning 

 

• Elaborate town-planning.        It followed the Grid System. Roads were well cut, dividing the town into largerectangular or square blocks. Lamp posts at intervals indicate the existence of street lightning. Flanking the

streets, lanes and by-lanes were well-planned houses.

• Used burnt bricks of good quality as the building material. Elsewhere in the contemporary world, mud-bricks wereused.

• Houses, often of two or more storey, varied in size, but were quite monotonous a square courtyard, around whichwere a number of rooms. No window faced the streets. The houses had tiled bathrooms.

• Good drainage system.      Drains were made of mortar, lime and gypsum and covered with large brick slabs for easycleaning. Shows developed sense of health and sanitation

• The towns were divided into 2 parts:     Upper part or Citadel and Lower Part. The Citadel was an oblong artificial platform some 30-50 feet high and about 400-200 yards in area It was enclosed by a thick (13 m at Harappa) crenelated mud-brick wall. In Citadel public buildings, granaries, important workshops and religious buildings were

there. In lower part people used to live.

• In Mohanjodaro, a big public bath (Great Bath) measuring 12 m by 7 m and 2.4 m deep, has been found. Steps led from either end to the surface, with changing rooms alongside. It was probably used ritual bathing

Indus Valley Civilization Agriculture

• The Indus people sowed seeds in the flood plains in November, when the flood water receded, and reaped their harvests of wheat and barley in Apr, before the advent of the next flood.

 • Grew wheat, barley, rai, peas, sesamum, mustard, rice (in   Lothal),cotton, dates, melon, etc. The Indus peoplewere the first to     produce cotton.

• In Kalibangan, fields were ploughed with wooden ploughs.

• Domesticated animals on large scale. Besides the cattle, cats and dogs were domesticated. Horse wasn’t inregular use but elephant was. Remains of horse at Surkotda and dogs with men in grave at Ropar have beendiscovered.

• Produced sufficient to feed themselves.

• Food grains were stored in granaries.ent of the next flood.

 

The Indus Valley Civilization Religious Life

 

• Main object of worship was the Mother Goddess. But the upper classes preferred a god, nude with two horns,much similar to Pasupati Siva. Represented on the seal is a figure with three horned heads in a yogic posture. Heis surrounded by an elephant, a tiger and a rhinoceros, and below his throne is a buffalo. Near his feet are two deer. Pashupatinath represented male deity.

• Phallus (lingam) and yoni worship was also prevalent.

• Many trees (pipal), animals (bull), birds (dove, pigeon) and stones were worshipped. Unicorn was also worshipped. However, no temple has been found, though idolatry was practiced.

• At Kalibangan and Lothal fire altars have been found.

• Although no definite proof is available with regard to the disposal of the dead, a broad view is that probably there were three methods of disposing the dead – complete burial, burial after exposure of the body to birds and beasts, and cremation followed by burial of the ashes.

• The discovery of cinerary urns and jars, goblets or vessels with ashes, bones and charcoal may, however, suggest that during the flourishing period of the Indus Valley culture the third method was generally practiced. In Harappa, there is one place where evidence of coffin burial is there. The people probably believed in ghosts andevil spirits, as amulets were worn.

• Dead bodies were placed in the north-south orientation.

Excavations & Excavators 

Chanhudaro	On indus	1913	M.G Majumdar
Sutkogendor	(on Dasak)	1927	Sir Aurel Stein
Kotdip	(on Indus)	1955	Fazl Ahmed Khan
Ropar	(on Satluj)	1953	Y.D. Sharma

Banwaii	(on Saraswati)	1973	R.S.Bisht
Loth	(on Bhogwa)	1954	S.R.Rao
Rangpur al	(on Mahar)	1931-53	M.S.Vats, B.B. Lal, S.R. Rao
Amri	(on Indus)	1929	N.G. Majumdar
Kalibangan	(on Ghaggar)	1961	B.B.Lai
Sorkotda	--	1964	J. Joshi
Alamgirpur	(on Hindon)	1958	Y.D. Sharma

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