Indus Valley Civilization - Study

Materials

INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION: The famous cities of the mature Indus Valley
Civilization were discovered accidentally in the mid-
nineteenth century during the construction of a railroad
The Indus Valley Civilisation was one of the
by British engineers John and William Brunton.
first great civilisations having a writing system, urban
Although it was correctly surmised at the time that
centres and a diversified social and economic system.
antiquities from Harappa predated the historical
It appeared nearly 2500 BC along the Indus River
period, true archaeological excavations did not begin
Valley in Punjab and Sindh. An Indian historian such
until the 1920s. Nothing was known about the Indus
as D. P. Aggrawal, however, is of the view that the
Valley Civilization till 1922—1923. When the
Indus Valley Civilisation dates back to 2300 BC. He
Archaeological Department of India carried out
declares this on the basis of his calculations using C-14
excavations at Mohenjodaro on the banks of the River
dating technique. It appears that the civilisation
Indus (Larkana district of Sindh in Pakistan), Harappa
flourished until 1800 BC. Thereafter, each urban phase
(Montgomery district of Punjab on the banks of the
characterised by systematic town planning, widespread
River Ravi, also in Pakistan) and Lothal (near
brick work, art of writing, use of bronze tools and red
Ahmedahad) in India. During that decade, the so-
ware pottery painted with black designs gradually
called twin capitals of the Indus Civilization,
disappeared.
Mohenjodaro and Harappa, were excavated under the
direction of Sir John Hubert Marshall; other important
AREA AND JURISDICTION
settlements were surveyed by Sir Aurcl Stein and N.
This was the earliest civilization that
G. Majumdar. These excavations revealed that some
flourished in India on the banks of the .River Indus,
5,000 years ago, before the emergence of the Aryans in
from its frontiers extending from Manda on the
India, the Indus Valley was the cradle of a highly
Chenab near Jammu, in the north, to Daimabad on the
developed civilization that flourished during the same
Godavari in Ahmednagar in the south embracing 200
period as the ancient civilizations of Egypt. Babylonia
sites in the Kutch-Saurashtra region of Gujarat. It
and Assyria. The existence of a great civilization
covered more than 12, 99,600 km2, from the borders
roughly contemporaneous with that of Sumer and of
of Baluchistan to the deserts of Rajasthan, from the
ancient Egypt was soon confirmed. Hundreds of
Himalayan foot hills to the southern tip of Gujarat.
smaller settlements have since been discovered. Recent
archaeological investigation has concentrated on
DISCOVERY OF THE INDUS VALLEY
documenting the beginnings of urban life in the area,
CIVILIZATION and a variety of different types of sites have been
excavated, including fishing villages, trading outposts
and what may have been a port.

MAP 1.3 Map of Pre – Harappan Settlements of the Indus System and Baluchistan

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Hariyupiyah clear that most of the sites were important commercial

centres. They are mostly situated near rivers. A
If is mentioned in chapter XXVII, section 5, 'Indra number of specialised manufacturing facilities
destroyed the seed of Varasikha. At Hariyupiyah, he discovered indicate that these towns were involved in
smote the vanguard of the Vrcivans, and the rear trade not only with each other, but also the regions far
fled frightened. The question rise if thy Hariyupiyah away.
mentioned in this hymn from the Rig Veda is in
fact, the Harappa of the Indus Valley. The oldest
recorded, history ok the Indian subcontinent is
traced in (he Vedas. It is traditionaly estimated that
the gap between the decline of Harappa and Vedic
history has been around 1,000 years. However,
some fresh researches suggest that the Vedas could
have been written much earlier. We cannot say with
conviction that Hariyupiyah refers to Harappa.
There has been no mention of the place in the Vedas
again. Some historian’s feet that it may be the name
of some river. There is also no mention of Varasikha
and the Vrcivans again. However, we get much
relevant information about the Indus Valley from
the Rig Veda which helps us in our understanding of MAP1.4Sites of Indus Valley Civilization
the region. Many other ancient texts from
Mesopotamia, China and Greece also provide Mohenjodaro
information about what happened to the Harappans. One of the most important centres of the Indus
Civilization was Mohenjodaro, situated along the west
MAJOR CENTRES bank of the Indus River, approximately 320 km (200
miles) north of Karachi, in Pakistan. Mohenjodaro is
Theremnants of two major cities—
probably the best known Indus Valley site. It is located
Mohenjodaro and Harappa—reveal remarkable
by the Indus in Sindh, Pakistan, Here, the Great Bath,
engineering feats of uniform urban planning and
uniform buildings and weights, hidden drains and other
carefully executed layouts for water supply and
hallmarks of the civilization were discovered in the
drainage. Excavations at these sites and later
1920s. Owing to the rising water table, most of the site
archaeological digs at approximately seventy other
remains unexcavated and its earliest levels have not
locations in India and Pakistan provide a composite
been reached. Like most cities of the Indus
picture of what is now generally known as Harappan
Civilization, it consisted of two major areas of
culture (3000—1800 BC). In India, important sites
occupation: a high citadel to the west and a lower city
connected with the Indus Valley Civilization are
of domestic dwellings to the east. Careful urban
Lothal near Ahmedabad in Gujarat, Kalibangan in
planning is evident in the neat arrangement of the
Rajasthan, Banwali in Hissar district of Haryana and
major buildings contained in the citadel, including the
Ropar near Chandigarh in Punjab. These sites were
placement of a large granary and water tank or bath at
flourishing centres between 3000 and 2000 BC.
right angles to one another. The lower city, which was
Perhaps, there are many more significant Indus Valley
tightly packed with residential units, was also
sites which are still unknown. Some of those may have
constructed on a grid pattern consisting of a number of
been lost by shifting courses of rivers. Some others
blocks separated by major cross streets. Baked-brick
may be replaced by modem towns. One thing is very

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houses faced the street, and domestic life was centred Hakra, more cities were discovered especially towards
on an enclosed courtyard. Sanitation was provided the south-west of Kalibangan.
through an extensive system of covered drains running
the length of the main streets and connected with most Dholavira
residences by chutes.
The remains of MohenjOdaro are a UNESCO It is situated on Khadir Beit, which is an island
World Heritage Site. Mohcnjodaro is also spelled in the Rann of Kutch in the Indian state of Gujarat. The
‘Moenjodaro’ the spelling used by the UNESCO first excavation at Dholavira started in 1990 It is as
World Heritage Organization. large as and Mohenjodaro. The architecture found here
is preserved. An obscure signboard in Indus script has
Harappa also been found.
Harappa was an Indus Valley urban centre.
However, in spite of its essentially urban culture, the Lothal
city was supported by extensive agricultural
Lothal is located on the top of the Gulf of
production and commerce, which included trade with
Cambay in the Indian state of Gujarat, on the banks of
Sumer in southern Mesopotamia (modem Iraq). It is
the River Sabarmati near the Arabian Sea. Lothal is a
located on the old river bed of Ravi nearly 640 km
very important site on the sea coast, so it is one of the
towards north cast of Mohenjodaro in the Punjab,
most extensively researched site. Archaeologists have
Pakistan. The nearby but smaller site of Kalibangan is
found a bead factory and Mesopotamian seal from this
situated farther east, in India, along the banks of the
site.
now extinct Ghagar-Hakra. Both, Mohenjodaro and the
Harappa sites follow the familiar plan of a small, high
Rakhigarhi
citadel to the west and at lower city to the east, with
the streets arranged in a rectilinear grid pattern. Archaeologists have very recently discovered
Immediately north of the heavily fortified citadel at this site in Haryana, India. It is still an unexcavated
Harappa, two sets of barrack-like dwelling for site. The city of Rakhigarhi was as large as Harappa
labourers were excavated alongside enormous and Mohenjodaro.
granaries for the city's food supply. There is a structure
which was earlier considered a granary, but now it is Ganeriwala
believed that it was a palace having ventilated air
ducts. At Harappa, we find the first indications of the This site is located in Punjab, Pakistan,
ancient Indus Valley Civilization, also known as the adjoining the Indian border. It was found in the 1970s.
Harappan Civilization. Nearly five mounds have been Its area is 80 hectares is almost equal to the area of
discovered at Harappa in the latest research. Two of Mohenjodaro. It is situated adjoining a dry bed of the
these mounds have large walls around them. These Ghaggar or Sarasvati River. It lies almost at an equal
walls were perhaps erected for trade regulation as distance from two important Indus towns of Harappa
defence. and Mohenjodaro. It may have been the \ urban centre
of a third Indus Valley region, expanding over copper-
Kalibangan rich Rajasthan.

The height of the Indus Valley multiple Daimabad

regional centres could have been built as per standard
plan. The Kalibangan site shows settlement underwent It is located in the state of Maharashtra, near
drastic changes as it got incorporated in to expanding Mumbai. It was discovered in 1958. Some of the
Indus civilization. Along the river-bed of Ghaggar- archaeologists suggest that the artefacts found here
indicate its association with the Harappan Civilization,

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while others believe that the evidence is not enough. A researchers. Along its bed, a whole new set of
unique catche of exquisite bronze chariots and animals ancient towns and cities have been discovered.
which may or may not belong to the Indus Valley was According to ancient Mesopotamian texts
also discovered at this site. there were two important sea faring civilizations in
India's, neighbourhood in the third millennium BC.
Chanudarho These civilizations' were Makkan and Meluha.
They conducted trade with red financial
It lies almost 80 miles south of Mohenjodaro sophistication in amounts involving tonnes of
in Pakistan. It is suggested that it was an important copper. According to the Mesopotamians, Meluha
manufacturing centre.Different type of tools, shell, was an aquatic culture, where water and bathing
bone and seal-making facilities were traced at this site. played a pivotal role. Many Indus Valley objects
It seems that Chanudarho was hastily abandoned. have been discovered buried with the
Sutkagendor Mesopotamians.
It is situated in Baluchistan, Pakistan near the Since 1986, the joint Pakistani American
border of Iran. It is the westernmost known Indus Harappa Archaeological Research Project (HARP)
Valley Civilization site. It is believed that it was once has been carrying out the first major excavations at
situated on a navigable inlet of the Arabian Sea. The the site in 40 years. These excavations have shown
site also has the usual citadel and a town with 30 feet Harappa to have been far larger than once, thought,
wide defensive walls. Sutkagendor was situated on the perhaps supporting a population of 50,000 at certain
trade route from Lothal in Gujarat to Mesopotamia. periods.
The remains of the Indus Valley have been
Indus valley Civilizations found from Mumbai in the''" southern part of India,
to the Himalayas in the north and northern
The Indus Valley Civilization flourished
Afghanistan. In the west, it expands on the Arabian
approximately 2500 BC in the western part of South
Sea coast in Baluchistan, Pakistan, up to the Iranian
Asia, in what today is Pakistan and Western India. It
border. In the east, it expands up to Uttar Pradesh in
is often referred to as the Harappan Civilization
India. Excavations in Gujarat show a southern
after its first discovered city, Harappa. The Indus
coastal network expanding hundreds of miles. It
Valley was home to the largest of the four ancient
seems that the civilization moved on from the west
urban civilizations of Egypt, Mesopotamia, India
towards the east. It also appears that the settlements
and China. It was not discovered until the 1920s.
in the central and southern India flourished after he
Most of its ruins. Including major cities, remain to
decline of Harappa and Mohenjodaro The drying up
be excavated. Its script has not been deciphered.
of the ancient Sarasvati or Ghaggar-Hakra River
Basic questions about the people who created this
may also have adversely affected the civilization.
highly complex culture remain unanswered.
There were a number of Harappan sites along that
The Harappans used same sized bricks and
river bed. The Rig Veda provides many accounts of
standard weights for thousand miles. There were
the Aryan people driving the indigenous Dravidian
other highly developed cultures in the area. Some
people into South India. There is a tribe known the
are thousands of years older. Harappa was settled
Brahui tribe in Baluchistan, to the west of the
before the Harappans of the Indus Valley and they
Indus. The tribe speaks Dravidian language similar
were replaced by other still anonymous people.
to Tamil spoken in South India. It suggests that
There seems to have been another large
there was a migration of people to South India. If is
river which ran parallel and west of the Indus in the
still not clear that the ancient Harappans were
third and fourth millennium BC. This was the
Aryans or Dravidians
ancient Ghaggra Hakra River or Sarasvati of the Rig
Many new studies are being conducted on
Veda. Its lost banks are slowly being laid out by,
ground in Indio and Pakistan. There is a possibility
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that in future, we snal get answers to questions ASPECTS OF INDUS CULTURE

about them and the drying up of river beds The first
encouraging script interpretations have been done. Harappan had a conservative outlook and their
Radiocarbon chronologies are becoming helpful Old culture remained almost unchanged for centuries. They
trade routes are being discovered through satellite always followed the same construction pattern of their
imaging. cities devastated in floods. Harappans are known for
their stability, regularity and conservatism, it could not
Art and Crafts be ascertained who wielded authority−whether an
aristocratic, priestly or commercial minority. However,
The most wonderful but most obscure little bit of regional variation within the Indus Valley
Harappan artefacts discovered till now are the steatite Civilization can be traced because of its vas
seals. These have been found in abundance at geographical expanse for instance, baked bricks were
Mohenjodaro. We get the most clear and, accurate commonly used for construction at Mohenjadaro and
picture of Harappan life from these small, flat and at Harappa because stone is rare there, while limestone
mostly square objects with human or animal motifs. was more commonly used at Dholavira.
(They also have inscriptions believed to be inscribed in
the Harappan script. However, it has eluded scholarly Agricultural
attempts at deciphering. There are debates on, if the
script represents numbers or alphabets, if it is proto- The Indus people supported themselves by
Dravidian or proto-Sanskrit. irrigation-based agriculture. They grew rice, wheat and
Three seals found at Mohenjodaro depict a barley, and they may have cultivated dates and cotton
seated horned deity. He is surrounded by wild animals. as well. They were among the first people in the world
The image is believed to be the portrayal of the Hindu who were known to have kept chicken; they also had
God Shiva or Pashupati, the Lord of Beasts. The dogs, buffaloes and humped cattle. They may have
apparent cult of the bull and the stress on washing and also had domesticated pigs, horses, camels and
ablutions, prove by these remains, bring out the possibly elephants. Mehrgarh is the earliest known
unanswerable question of the influence of this early fanning settlement in south Asia (established circa
pre-Aryan civilization on Hindu practices in ancient 7000 BC), the first of several villages to appear among
India. the hills of Baluchistan along the western edge of the
Indus plain. Stone sickles found at Mehrgarh provide
Architectural Layout definite evidence of wheat cultivation. The people
cultivated wheat and barley and raised sheep, goats
Mohenjodaro was a well-fortified city. The town did and cattle, all traditions that paved the way to
not have city walls. Though, it had towers to the civilization. Soon after, they began making painted
west of the main settlement, and defensive pottery, ornaments and terracotta figurines
fortifications to the south. If we consider these representing both humans and animals. The early
fortification arrangements, we are faced with the agricultural society that developed wheat cultivation in
question if Mohenjodaro was an administrative South Asia had not yet discovered metal tools. Instead,
centre. The architectural layout of both Harappa and these early farmers used sickles made of small stone
Mohenjodaro is almost same These towns were not blades, inserted diagonally into wooden sticks for
as heavily fortified as the other Indus Valley towns. harvesting cereals. These composite tools were
The identical layout of the cities in the Indus Valley reusable as the original blades could be replaced with
suggests that there was some kind of political or new ones when the old ones were broken. Sickles used
central administration. for reaping wheat still have traces of silica from
ancient wheat stems on their blades, which produce a
sheen that is, visible to the naked eye. Stone

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arrowheads were also used and some of the Religious

arrowheads were decorated; with artwork. Asphalt or
bitumen was used to help secure these stone tools They worshipped the Mother Goddess,
(blades and arrowheads) to the wooden components of Pashupatinath, stones, trees and animals. There seems
composite tools and weapons. to have been some veneration of horns and pipal leaves
throughout Baluchistan and the Indus valley, even
Political centuries before the establishment of the Indus Valley
Civilization. At that early stage, the motif of a human
There was a central government. Weapons of head with horns decorated with flowers or pipal leaves
war like axes, spears, daggers, bows and arrows were appeared for the first time, probably representing the
made of stone. Leadership is said to have been vested beginning of an ideology involving a priestly figure or
with merchants and traders. a deity. The stone sculpture of the Priest King from the
Indus Valley Civilization may have originally had a
Socio-Economic horned head dress affixed to the back of its head. The
people of the Indus Valley Civilization apparently
The Indus Valley Civilization people sowed
regarded buffalo horns and pipal trees as sacred.
seeds in the flood plains in November, when the flood
Depictions of men wearing horned head dresses
water receded and reaped their harvest of wheat and
decorated with pipal leaves of some seals and tablets
barley in April before the advent of the next flood,
may have represented religious as well as secular
rice, barley, milk, dates, fish, eggs and animal flesh
leaders. Perhaps, these men wore the unique ornaments
formed their staple food. Cotton was first produced by
made of gold and semi-precious stones found at Indus
the Indus Valley people. Spun and woven cotton and
sites. Of these ornaments, carnelian beads with
wool dresses were also used by them. Agriculture,
bleached (etched) white designs treated with alkaline
hunting, fishing and rearing of animal/birds was their
solution were an Indus speciality, exported as far as the
main source of livelihood.
Persian Gulf and Mesopotamia.
Social
Town Planning
The people had a highly developed artistic
Archaeologists have long commented on the
sense, which is reflected in their pottery and paintings
uniformity and standardization of the material remains
on vases. Their pottery was generally wheel-made-and
of the Indus Valley Civilization, Except in the outposts
was painted red and black. Some of it was also
along the Makran coast and in its most remote
inscribed, polychromed and glazed. More than 2,000
colonies, Indus cities were a built of baked-brick
inscribed seals with pictorial scripts have been
blocks with standardproportions of length to width to
discovered: these were used as amulets, exchange
thickness of 4:2:1. Great buildings, double-storeyed
medium for family symbols. The society, in general,
dwellings and a drainage system were in existence.
was literati artistic and was fairly egalitarian in spite of
There were planned cities and roads. Mortar and baked
the practice of slave labour.
bricks were used for the construction of dwellings. The
People made tools and weapons using copper
major cities contained a few large buildings, including
and bronze but not iron. Cotton was woven and dyed
a citadel, a large bath—perhaps for personal and
for clothing; Wheat, nee and a variety of vegetables
communal ablution—differentiated living quarters,
and fruits were cultivated. A number of animals,
flat-roofed brick houses and forti lied administrative or
including the humped bulk were domesticated.
religious centres enclosing meeting halls and granaries.
Ritual bathing may have been carried out at the Great
Bath as part of rituals for such concerns as a plentiful
harvest and peace in society. Crops may have been

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brought for storage in the granary and later distributed manufactured in two ways: (i) by casting (pouring
to craftsmen such as potters, jewellers and merchants molten metal info moulds) and (ii) by heating and
who resided in the city. Mohenjodaro, one of the hammering the metal into shape. Spears, knives and
largest cities of the Indus Valley Civilization, covers other objects of copper and bronze have been found,
an area of approximately 12 km. Mohenjodaro and but most are of rather poor quality. Ornaments of
some other Indus cities consist of two sectors, a silver, gold, ivory, copper and precious stones were
western Citadel and an eastern Lower City. Size and used. They carried on considerable amount of trade in
layout are typical criteria for differentiating cities from stones, metals, shell, etc. within their cultural zone.
villages. They were goods traders and might have carried on all
exchanges through barter. They knew the use of
The ‘Lower Town’ was divided into a number wheels and solid wooden wheels were fixed on bullock
of blocks by a grid of straight streets running north- carts and boats, used as means of road and river
south and east-west, and each block was further transportation.
divided by small lanes. Some houses had rooms with Sculptures and Carvings
wells, bathing rooms (paved with baked bricks) and The most developed craft appears to have been
even toilets.Waste water was drained out, of the houses the carving and drilling of square stamp seals that
through drain chutes built into the side walls that fed depict various domestic animals such as humped bulls,
into a system of drains built alongside the lanes and rhinoceroses and elephants. These seals numbering in
streets. the thousands are the major source of the pictographic
Indus script. Attempts to decipher these symbols have
Animals in Daily Life so Far been unsuccessful largely because ho major
Cattle, water buffalo, sheep, dogs, elephants, inscriptions have been discovered. This lack of
rhinoceroses, monkeys, birds and many other animals evidence has forced some scholars to conclude that the
are represented in the figurines of the Indus Valley characters do not represent writing in the same sense
Civilization Some of the animals depicted in figurines asSumerian cuneiform or Egyptian hieroglyphics;
are familiar to us today, hut others are no longer instead, they may symbolise elaborate heraldic devices
common or may have been mythical creatures, or standards that served to identify families and their
caricatures or representations of humorous characters properties from others.
in stories, ignificance of these animals and the
affection of people towards some of them are clear, Three seals from Mohenjodaro show a seated
despite their relative simple features. homed deity surrounded by wild animals, an image
that may foreshadow the portrayal of the Hindu God
Shiva in his aspect of Pashupati, the Lord of Beasts.
Pottery
The apparent cult of the bull and the emphasis on
Potteryforms and designs were also
washing and ablutions, suggested by these material
remarkably similar throughout the vast area
remains, raise the fascinating if unanswerable question
encompassed by the Indus Valley a Civilization Few
of the influence of this early pre-Aryan civilization on
large works of art or pieces of statuary have been
Hindu practices in ancient India. A round seal, found
discovered from Mohenjodaro and Harappa.
at the Harappan mound of Rangpur, has perforations
that run through its sides to make a ring. It measures
Tools and Ornamental Objects 35 mm diameter, is approximately 4 mm thick, and
bears engraved motifs on both sides. It was probably
Copper and bronze implements included worn around the neck. It is believed that the people of
farming implements and tools, fish hooks, weapons, Rangpur had trade relations with Egypt between 2000
ornaments and vessels. These metal implements may and 1500 BC and such seals came from Egypt. The
have served as status symbols. They were illustration on the seal, of the figure of a unicorn,

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shows delicate intaglio carving. When stamped in wet then set into baked brick walls. Windows may have
clay, the seal creates a raised image of itself in the been covered with cloth curtains or carved screens.
clay. The limestone torso of a god is believed to The house depicted in the model may have originally
represent a friendly god. The rhythmic repetition of the had two storeys because part of an upper threshold is
curving lines of the torso shows a love for linear preserved.
rhythm, Indus sculptors also stressed on harmonised
forms, as shown in the way the torso is unified by its Transport Vehicles
softly swelling curves. The sculptor has carefully
rounded these curves, particularly the abdomen. This Bullock or ox carts with a curved frame
emphasis on harmonised forms appeared later as a probably had wooden components for attaching wheels
dominant characteristic of the Indian sculpture. The and for protecting and containing the load. People may
well-known bronze statuette of a girl may represent a have even used these can to peddle pottery or other
dancer who has paused between movements. The goods. The coloured patterns on some of the wheels
dynamic quality of this sleek figure is partly because may indicate that the wheels were made from joined
of the rhythmic, angular thrust of her arms, legs and wooden planks, like some carts still found in parts of
torso. The sculptor has also indicated movement by Pakistan. Other designs painted on wheels may have
contrasting the linear rhythms of the torso and legs represented spokes. Terracotta models of yokes that
against the triangular right arm and the forward left would have been used to hitch animals to these carts
leg. A similar linearity and dynamism is characterised (or to ploughs) have also been found at Nausharo.
much later in the Indian sculpture. Most figurines were hand-made, but in a few cases
where intricate detail was desired, moulds were used.

Terracotta Objects Trade

Trade supplied the Indus valley people with
Triangular terracotta cakes were common at essential foods and with basic raw materials such as
most Indus sites. Earlier, some scholars proposed that timber, raw cotton dyes, metal and glass.
they were used as toilet paper. However, as many of Archaeologists have also found a large quantity of
them have been found inside kilns and hearths, H is well-made pottery, replicas of bullock carts, status
more likely that they were used for retaining heat showing the human face, bronze objects (including a
during pottery firing and/or cooking. A few triangular beautiful female statuette) and glass These findings
cakes are incised with human figures, which have led prove that the people of Harappa practised industrial
some scholars to interpret them as objects used in fire crafts such as ceramics, sculpture, metalwork glass
rituals. Terracotta cakes were either triangular or making. There is a strong similarity between the Indus
round/oval and sometimes had a finger impression in Valley Civilization and the ancient civilization of
the centre. The model of a terracotta plough, in almost Mesopotamia in the Middle East. Scholars believe that
perfect condition, was recovered from the site of see trade may have existed between north-western
Banawali. It is S-shaped with a sharp edge near the India and the Persian Gulf.
point and a hole at the end of the central component to
fasten it to a yoke. The shape of the plough is exactly DECAY OF INDUS VALLEY
like those used even now in South Asian villages. The
CIVILIZATION
terracotta model of a house and some other terracotta
objects with carved designs have provided rare The Indus Valley Civilization began to decay
examples of architectural features such aswindows or between 2000 and 1750 BC. Changing river patterns
doorways, and perhaps even the general structure of may have disrupted the agriculture and economy of the
houses of the Indus Valley Civilization. Thresholds region. Overuse of the land along the riverbanks may
and window frames were probably made of wood and
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also have damaged the territory. By approximately Brick chamber grave: Kalibangan
1700BC, the Indus Valley Civilization had disappeared. Slone button seal: Mundiak (S.E. Afghanistan)
Some historians consider invaders from central and Limestone male head: Mundigak
western Asia to have been the destroyers of Harappan Humpless bull seals (common): Harappa
cities, but this View is open to reinterpretation. More Sun dried bricks (common): Kalibagan
plausible explanations are recurrent floods caused by Rhinoceros on seal: Amri.
tectonic movement, soil salinity and desertification.
Cities such as Mohenjodaro, Harappa and Kalibangan
Important Findings and Their Sites had a gradual decline in urban planning and
Cemelry H: Harappa construction of houses made of old dilapidated bricks;
Cemelry R 37: Harappa shoddy houses encroached upon the road and streets.
Coffin burial: Harappa Later on, some of the settlements like Mohenjodaro,
Two rows cl six granaries: Harappa Harappa were abandoned. However, in most other
Stone dancing Naraja: Harappa sites, people continued to live. Some important
Figure of youth whose legs, hands and head are features associated with the Harappan Civilization
missing: Harappa such as writing, uniform weights, pottery and
Urn burial: Harappa architectural style disappeared. These evidences have
Person wearing Dhoti: Harappa been interpreted by scholars as indicative of the
Nine-hundred seals: Harappa decline of Harappan Civilization. Earlier, the scholars
Human anatomy figure; Harappa believed that there was a dramatic collapse of the
Vanity box: Harappa Indus Valley Civilization. As such, they were looking
Copper model of carts: Harappa and Chanhudaro for some calamity of catastrophic proportions which
Great bath; Mohenjodaro wiped out the urban communities. The search for the
Great granary: Mohenjodaro cause of decline of the Harappan Civilization has
Naked bronze dancing girl: (Proto-Australoid) moved to two directions: (i) That some natural
Mohenjodaro calamity led to the collapse of the civilization and (ii)
Bearded man: Mohenjodaro (Mongoloid) That it was a barbarian invasion that destroyed it.
Seven layers of towns: Mohenjodaro Scholars have used the evidence of flooding from
Ship on seal and terracoto amulet: Mohenjodaro and Mohenjodaro to justify the first point.
Lothal Mohenjodaro habitations show at least three
Seals with figures of composite animals: instances of deep flooding. There is evidence of
Mohenjodaro One thousand and five hundred seals: deposits of silty clay and layers of collapsed building
Mohenjodaro Woven cotton cloth: Mohenjodaro material mixed with clay which indicates the flooding
Cylindrical seals of Mesopotamia: Mohenjodaro of the city. Some scholars carried the argument further
Ink-well: Chanhudaro and related periodic flooding to tectonic uplift of the
Persian Gulf seal: Lothal region. Earthquakes might have raised the flood plains
Double burial: Lothal and Rangpur of the lower, Indus River that led to prolonged
Terracota horse figure: Lothal submergence of cities like Mohenjodaro. It is pointed
Horse bone Surkolada out that findings at sites like Sutkagendor in the
Dockyard: Lothal Makran coast indicate that they were sea ports.
Bead making factory: Lothal and Chanhudaro However, at present, they are located away from the
Fire altars: Lothal and phendan Kalibangan sea coast. It is known that geomorphologically, the
Bustrophendan writing style: Kalibangan Indus River area is a disturbed seismic zone. It is
Houses opening on the main street; lothal believed that the upliftment of the coastal areas caused
Scale: Lothal destruction of the Indus cities and disruption of
Bun shaped copper Ingots: Lothal commercial life based on river and coastal
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communication. Some others suggest that changes in regional perspective, the period succeeding the urban
the course of the Indus led to the decline of phase can be treated as one of the flourishing
Mohenjodaro. agricultural communities. That is why scholars now
Writers like Mortimer Wheeler believed that talk about cultural change, regional migration and
Indus Valley Civilization was destroyed by Aryan modification of integrated system of settlements and
invaders. It has been pointed out that in the late phases subsistence. After all, no one talks about the end of the
of Mohenjodaro, there are evidences of massacre. ancient Indian civilization in early Medieval India
Human skeletons have been found lying on the streets. when most of the cities of the Gangetic Valley
However, it has been pointed out that Mohenjodaro declined.
was abandoned by approximately 1800 BC. Aryans, on
the other hand, came to India approximately 1500 BC. Comparing Mesopotamia and Indus
Also, Mohenjodaro was in a dilapidated condition. valley civilization: I
Therefore, the presence of a few disorderly placed
skeletons in the late levels cannot explain the decline Mesepotomia and the Indus Valley are considered
which had already taken place. Writers like Water as culturally disparate, with separate philosophical
Fairservis have tried to explain the decay of the foundations. Distinctive world views and
Harappan Civilization in terms of the problems of philosophies characterise the people of distinct
ecology. He believesthat theHarappan townsmen regions. The Indus culture is seen as non-violent end
degraded their delicate environment. A growing non-materialistic with a common good behavioural
population of men and animals confronted by falling orientation. Animistic views influenced the cultural
resources wore out the landscape. With forest and course taken by the Indus Valley Civilization. Most
grass cover removed, there were floods and droughts. people lived in small villages. Central organization,
These stresses in the end, led to the collapse of the planning and construction of large regional centres
urban culture. The enduring fertility of the soil of the are evidenced in the Indus Valley. In Mohenjodaro,
Indian subcontinent over the subsequent millennia the largest Indus city, an enormous investment in
disproves this hypothesis. The urban phase involved a human energy is manifest in the two massive mud-
delicate balance of relation between the cities, town, brick platform mounds, the Citadel and the lower
villager, farmer communities and nomadic people. It Town The north-south grid system demonstrates
also meant a fragile but important relationship with the large-scale planning and coordination.
neighbouring groups of people in possession of various Comparing Mesopotamia and Indus
minerals crucial for trade. Similarly, it meant the
valley civilization: II
maintenance of link with contemporary civilization.
Any breakdown in these chains of the relationship Earlier settlement, patterns in Mesopotamia include
could lead to the decline of cities. elaborate public architecture at the centre of each
The scholars working on the Indus Valley settlement. By the time of Indus settlement, some
Civilization no longer look, for the causes of its economies seem to have evolved related to
decline. That is because; they believe that it is a wrong monument occurrence and the scale and extent of
question. Archaeologically, all that seems to have central organization. Successful earlier
happened was that some of the sites were abandoned developments in organization are apparently refined
and the tradition of literacy Seals and sealing were lost. and streamlined. Indus Valley evidence suggests
It simply meant the end of the urban phase, .Many more efficient states regulating larger, more
smaller sites continued to exist. The archaeological egalitarian and possibly more democratic polities. In
findings show a stylistic continuity from the Harappan the earlier Mesopotamian sequence, rural
phase. In fact, in the areas of Rajasthan, Haryana and abandonment and population concentration in
Gujarat vibrant agriculture communities emerged in walled urban precincts is suggestive of
larger numbers in the succeeding periods. Thus, from a
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circumscription, competition and intra-regional Indus Valley Civilization contributed the rise of the
warfare. In the later Indus Valley sequence, the Hindu religion and laid the foundation for all the
walled city scenario was avoided. Geographic size subsequent civilizations in South asia.Thus many of
may have been difference. The Indus area is far the traditions of South Asia have survived for
larger. Cultural traits were certainly a factor. millennia and continue to this day.
Perhaps, the very stable political structure at the
Indus village in combination with social- Kot Diji
behavioural factors enabled greater stability, longer
continuity and more expansive regional integration. The site of Kot Diji is located at the foot of a
range of limestone hills in northen Sindh on the eastern
THE SUCCESSORS bank of the Indus River, some 60 kilometers north-east
of Mohenjodaro. Excavated in 1955 by F. A. Khan, it
Most of the cities of the Indus Valley is the type-site of the Kot Diji Culture, which
Civilization were abandoned by circa 1800 BC; represents the first evidence of habitation at the site
however, a number of village cultures continuing some this culture is characterised by the use of the red-
aspects of the Indus tradition later developed in these slipped globular jar with a short neck painted with a
regions. By at least 1500 BC, Indo- Aryans had entered black band. Briefly co-existing with the Indus Valley
South Asia, and by circa 700 BC, they had established Civilization the Harappan Culture), the Kot Diji
new cities along the Ganges River. Culture eventually gave way to the blossoming Indus
From approximately 2000 BC, new regional Valley Civilization. During the peak of the KotDiji
cultures were gradually emerged. Among these were Culture, the site was divided into a citadel and a lower
the Cemetery H Culture of the Punjab, which was town Standardised bricks; terracotta cakes fish-scale
strongly influenced by the preceding Indus Valley and intersecting-circle designs on pottery and other
Civilization and the cultures represented by Pirak in traits found in the Indus Valley Civilization were
Sindh, the Quetta Hoard and the Gandhara Grave already in use at the site. On the basis of this evidence
Culture, All exhibit some central Asian influence. and the fact that similar artefacts were found over
Further eastward, in what is now northern India, the much of the vast area of the later Indus (or Harappan)
Copper Hoard Culture and the Painted Grey Ware Civilization, Dr. M. R. Mughal suggested calling the
Culture, both of which are believed to have been early stage at Kot Diji and at other sites the Early
associated with the Indo-Aryan speakers, developed. Harappan Culture.
Evidence of new traditions such as urns containing
cremated bones and ashes appear, particularly' in the Civilizations that: Developed After the
Cemetery II Culture and the Gandhara Grave Culture. Indus Valley Civilization
Domesticated horses and camels were also fully used
for the first time in South Asia during this period. Cementry H Culture (circa 1900-300 BC) This
culture, which developed in and around Punjab
Continuing Traditions following the peak of the Indus Valley Civilization,
was named after the cemetery found in Area H at
The use of baked bricks in architecture, which Harapoa. Some of the burials in Cemetery H wore
began even before the Indus Valley Civilization, secondary burials of urns containing human
continues to be the most common type of construction remains. The pottery was generally decorated
in South Asia today Traditions involving the worship withered slip, painted with antelopes, peacocks and
of nature and possibly even the ‘Mother Goddess’ other motifs in black, and was sometimes polished.
were integrated into the traditions of the Indo-Aryan A pot that was excavated at Dadheri may represent a
speakers in the form of a reverence for cows, pipal local variation of this culture.
trees, rivers and water The traditions and beliefs of the Finds from Pirak (circa 1800 to eighth century

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BC) Contemporaneous with the decline of the Indus Lakker mines in the Chotta Nagpur range. The size
Valley Civilization, the Pirak Culture with its and weight of those artefacts would have made
characteristic geometric polychrome pottery arose thorn unsuitable for daily use. In addition, the
on the Kachi plain where the site of Mahrgarh had absence of use-wear and the context of the findings
also prospered. Here, horses and camels were suggest that they were ritual objects. Some of the
domesticated or the first time in South Asia, and the axes are similar in shape to those form the Indus
riding of horses is clearly tested. Another major Valley Civilization, which may suggest some
transition occurred as summer crops namely cultural interaction. Archaeologists only recently
sorghum and rice, were added to the existing winter have discovered some of the habitation sites of the
crop assemblage, which was dominated by wheat. A people who left behind these hoards, Utilitarian and
saw-toothed stone sickle was probably used to decorative artefacts such ds stone tools, bangles and
harvest these cereals. beads made of precious stones have now been
The Quetta Hoard (the beginning of second recovered as well.
millennium BC) This well-known group of vessels Painted Grey Ware (PGW) Culture (circa 1200
and ornaments made of precious metals and stones to sixth century BC) Painted Grey Ware (PGW)
was discovered by chance in the modern city of pottery was made of well levigated clay on a wheel.
Quetta. The gold pendants shaped like cattle, the It is typically grey in colour, thin in section, and
gold cups decorated with lions and other figures in painted with black or red geometric patterns. The
relief, the gold necklaces and cornelian and limited range of shapes includes a flat based, convex
chalcedony pendants rimmed with gold are all sided dish; a small hemispherical bowl; medium and
beautifully crafted. These objects, all reportedly large flat-based, bawd, straight-sided bowls; and a
found in tombs, are excellent examples of the vase (late) with a straight-sided body, sharp at the
combination of cultural influences from shoulder and a straight neck. PGW represents
Baluchistan, northern Iran and Turkmenistan that deluxe ware in a mixed ceramic assemblage of
began during the period following the decline of the various fabrics und manufacture. These ceramic
Indus Valley Civilization. assemblages have been found in the Ghaggar and
Gandhara Grave Culture (circa 1600-200 BC) Indo-Gangetic regions and belong to the Early Iron
The Gandhara Grave Culture developed from circa Age in India.
1600 to 200BC in the regions of Swat, Gandhara and
Taxila. The culture is characterised by artefacts Amri:
found primarily in graves and pottery that is
somewhat similar to some of the pottery from Amri is located in Sind (pakistan) on the
northern Iran. The terracotta figurines burled with western bank of the Indus River, approximately (50
the pottery are simply made and other ornaments ate kilometres south of Mohenjodaro. The site was
also simply decorated with dot designs, because excavated by N. G. Majumdar in 1929 and by J. M.
horse remains were found in at least one burial, it Casalbetween 1959 and 1962. The site reached its
has been suggested that those people may have boon maximum extent of more than six hectares under the
Indo-Aryans who were presumably in the area by influence ofthe Baluchistan Culture. A number of
this time. structures identified as granaries were constructed,
Copper Hoard Culture (circa 1500to 1000 BC) which suggests that there were farm surpluses and
Hoards of copper implements such as cells, population growth. Pottery from the early period at this
harpoons, anthropomorphs, double axes, antennae site is similar to the Nal pottery of southern
swords and rings have been found at several sites, Baluchistan and is thus, sometimes referred to as
mostly in northern India. In some cases, they are Amri-Nal pottery. During the transitional phase with
associated with OCR. The high degree of purity of the Harappan Culture (or Indus Valley Civilization), a
copper may indicate that the people exploited the wall encircled the site and a platform made of sun-
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dried bricks was constructed inside. A thick layer of

ash over parts of the site suggests an incident with fire,
after which the site exhibits the exclusive influence of
the Harappan Culture.

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