Indus Valley Civilization

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 IVC between 3000 - 1700 BCE.

  • Early Harappan – 3000 – 2600 BCE.
  • Late Harappan or successor cultures – 2600 – 1900 BCE.
  • Mature Harappan (Prior) – 1900 – 1700 BCE.
Archeologist
  • First visited by Charles Mason in 1826,
  • Amri by Alexander Burnes in 1831.
  • Alexander Cunningham, the first Director-General of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), - father of Indian archaeology.
Origin

  • Harappa (Pakistan) - developed about 4700 years ago (First site discover)
Geographical Extent
  • These cities were found in the Punjab and Sind in Pakistan, and in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana and the Punjab in India.
Urban planing
  • Baked bricks, Interlocking pattern
  • Mohenjodaro – City plan
    • West are smaller but higher – Citadel, East was larger but lower – lower town. Both are walled.
    • Planned drainage system.
    • Road and Street – Grid pattern.
    • one or two storeys high, with rooms built around a courtyard, separate bath area, wells (about 700) to water supply.
    • No windows in walls.
Cities, Towns & Society
  • Harappan
    • People – Scribes (prepare seal), Craft person (Terracotta).
    • Harappans reared cattle, sheep, goat and buffalo. Collect fruits, caught fish, hunting.
    • New tool, the plough & Irrigation used.
  • Mohenjodaro
    • Great Bath (Eight bathrooms, four on each side of a corridor).
    • Bricks coated with plaster, and made water-tight with a layer of natural tar.
    • Stone statue wearing embroidered garment
  • Dholavira (Gujarat)
    • Khadir Beyt (also spelled as Bet) in the Rann of Kutch - fresh water and fertile soil.
    • Water Reservoirs.
    • Stone walls, Public ceremonies, Harappan Scripts.
  • Kalibangan and Lothal
    • fire altars
  • Lothal
    • A tributary of the Sabarmati, in Gujarat, close to the Gulf of Khambat.
    • Important centre for making objects out of stone, shell and metal.
    • Houses - Mud bricks, Drains - Burnt bricks.
    • Dockyard (Good loaded & Unloaded).
    • Source of Carnelian, Steatite & Metal.
  • Chanhudaro
    • Devoted to craft production - bead-making, shell-cutting, metal-working, seal-making and weight-making.
    • Specialised drill.
  • Chanhudaro, Lothal & Dholavira
    • Specialised drills
  • Mehrgarh
    • Cotton grown - 7000 years ago.
  • Cholistan and at Banawali (Haryana)
    • Terracotta models of the plough
  • Shortughai (Afghanistan)
    • Traces of canals
  • Nageshwar and Balakot
    • specialised centres for making shell objects
  • Kalibangan (Rajasthan)
    • Ploughed field
 Arts, Terracotta Figure & Important structures
  • large building found at Mohenjodaro. Stone statue - “priest-king of steatite”.
  • Terracotta figurines of women, heavily jewelled, some with elaborate head-dresses - Mother goddesses.
  • Dancing girl of copper.
  • Toy carts, rattles, wheels, tops, marbles and hop scotches.
Agriculture
  • Used plough.
  • two different crops were grown together.
  • Canal and well irrigation. (water reservoirs found in Dholavira (Gujarat))
Domestication
  • Cattle are called Zebu.
Craft
  • Ornaments, vessels, beads, shell bangle, weights, and blades.
  • Material used
    • Stones - carnelian (of a beautiful red color), jasper, crystal, quartz and steatite.
    • Metals - copper, bronze and gold.
    • Shell – faience (Artificial product - Colour – Blue or sea green) & terracotta (Terracotta toys) or burnt clay.
  • Raw Material bought for craft
    • Copper khetri region of Rajasthan, Oman.
    • Tin - present-day Afghanistan and Iran.
    • Gold - present-day Karnataka, South India.
    • Precious stones - present-day Gujarat, Iran and Afghanistan.
    • Lapis lazuli (Blue stone) - Shortughai,
    • Shell - Nageshwar and Balakot
    • Carnelian - Bharuch in Gujarat
    • Steatite - south Rajasthan and north Gujarat
    • Metal – Rajasthan
Pottery
  • Well-fired pottery.
  • Deep red slip and black paintings.
Trade & Economy
  • Harappans had close trade contacts with the Mesopotamians
    • Mesopotamian texts datable to the third millennium refer to copper coming from BCE a region called Magan (perhaps Oman name).
    • Mesopotamian texts (cuneiform inscriptions) mention region - Dilmun (probably the island of Bahrain), Magan, Meluhha (land of seaferers),
    • Meluhha products: carnelian, lapis lazuli, copper, gold, and varieties of wood.
    • Mesopotamian Myth: “May your bird be the haja-bird, may its call be heard in the royal palace”
    • Harappan jar, seals, weights, dice, beads found in Mesopotamia.
  • There is evidence in the Khetri area for what archaeologists call the Ganeshwar-Jodhpura culture
Political Organisation
  • Central authority during the Harappan times.
Religious practices (Workship)
  • Nature workship (pipal tree)
  • Animal Workship (one-horned animal, often called the “unicorn)
Seals, Scripts & Weights
Seals
  • Animal motifs.
  • One-horned animal, often called the “unicorn.
  • Some seals seated cross-legged in a “yogic” posture, sometimes surrounded by animals, has been regarded as a depiction of Proto-Shiva seal/ Pashupati seal (Hinduism - lingas).
  • “proto-Shiva” seals, Rigveda mentions a god named Rudra. Rudra in Rigveda depicited as Pashupati.
  • Then-unidentified seals were found at excavations at Mesopotamian sites
Script
  • Scripts was written from right to left
  • Weights (made of stone [chert]) - denominations of weights were binary (1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, etc. up to 12,800)
Burials
  • Laid in pit (hollowed-out spaces were lined with bricks).
  • Some Harappan graves contain have pottery, ornaments, jewellery, copper mirrors and beads.
Decline & its Causes
  • Around 3900 years ago – suggest climatic change, Shifting/ Draining up of Rivers, Deforestation, destroy of green cover, flood or Rulers lost control
Miscellaneous
  • Around 5000 years ago – Egypt – Pyramids. Most elaborate Burials.
  • First cities in the Ganga valley
  • Indus Civilisation and Tamil Civilisation
    • IVC - First urbanisation of India
    • Arikamedu, Keezhadi and Uraiyur – Part of Second urbanisation of India
Archeologist
  • Cunningham - first Director-General of the ASI.
  • Daya Ram Sahni - discovered seals at Harappa.
  • Rakhal Das Banerji found similar seals at Mohenjodaro.
  • 1921 - M.S. Vats begins excavations at Harappa
  • 1924 – John Marshall, Director-General of the ASI – Discover new civilization in the Indus valley to the world.
  • 1925 - Excavations begin at Mohenjodaro
  • 1944 - R.E.M. Wheeler, Director- General of the ASI
  • 1946 - R.E.M. Wheeler excavates at Harappa
  • 1955 - S.R. Rao begins excavations at Lothal
  • 1960 - B.B. Lal and B.K. Thapar begin excavations at Kalibangan
  • 1974 - M.R. Mughal begins explorations in Bahawalpur
  • 1980 - A team of German and Italian archaeologists begins surface explorations at Mohenjodaro
  • 1986 - American team begins excavations at Harappa.
  • 1990 - R.S. Bisht begins excavations at Dholavira

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