Indus Valley Civilization UPSC notes: In Ancient india Indus Vally Civilizations which is also known as the Harappan civilization is one of the four earliest civilizations of the world along with the civilizations of Mesopotamia (Tigris and The Euphrates), Egypt (Nile), and China (Hwang Ho).
- The IVC Civilisation forms a part of the proto-history of India and belongs to the Bronze age.
In its mature form, the civilization lasted between 2600-1750 BC.
Dayaram Sahni first discovered Harappa in 1921. - RD Bannerjee discovered Mohenjodaro or ‘Mound of the Dead’ in
1922.
- It can be divided into the following sub-parts
- Early Phase – 3500-2600 BC
- Middle (mature) Phase – 2600-1900 BC
- Later Phase – 1900-1400 BC
NOMENCLATURE
- Indus Valley Civilisation, coined by John Marshall, as it flourished along the Indus river.
- Harappan Civilisation named after the first discovered site, Harappa.
- Saraswati-Sindhu Civilisation, as most of the sites have been found along the Indus-Saraswati river.
Indus Cities At a Glance
| City | Province | River | Year of discovery | Archeologist |
| Harappa | Pakistani Punjab | Ravi | 1921 | DR Sahni |
| Mohenjodaro | Sind | Indus | 1922 | RD Bannerjee |
| Chanhudaro | Sind | Indus | 1931 | MG Majumdar |
| Sutkagendor | Baluchistan | Dasht | 1931 | Aurel Stein |
| Rangpur | Gujrat | Meedar | 1931 | MS Vats |
| Ropar | Indian Punjab | Sutlaj | 1953 | YD Sharma |
| Lothal | Gujrat | Bhogava | 1953 | SR Rao |
| Kalibangan | Rajasthan | Ghaggar | 1951 | A Ghosh |
| Dholavira | Kachchh (Gujarat) | Luni | 1967-68 | JP Joshi |
| Banawali | Haryana | Ghaggar | 1973 | RS Bisht |
| Alamgirpur | Uttar Pradesh | Hindon | 1974 | YD Sharma |
| Rakhigarhi | Haryana | Ghaggar | 1997 | Amrendra Nath |
TOWN-PLANNING
- A common feature was the grid system i.e. streets cutting across one another at right angles, dividing the town into large rectangular blocks.
- The towns were divided into two parts: the Upper part or Citadel and the Lower part.
- Underground drainage system connected all houses to the street drains, made up of mortar, lime and gypsum. They were covered with either brick or stone slabs and equipped with manholes. This shows a developed sense of health and sanitation.
- The Great Bath (Mohenjodaro) It was used for religious bathing. Steps at either end lead to the surface. There were changing rooms alongside.
- The Granaries (Harappa) 6 granaries in a row were found in the Citadel at Harappa.
- Houses were made up of burnt bricks.
- Lamp-posts were erected at regular intervals. It indicates the existence of street lighting.
AGRICULTURE
- Agriculture was the backbone of the civilisation. The soil was fertile due to inundation in the river Indus.
- They used wooden ploughshare (ploughed field from Kalibangan) and stone sickles for harvesting.
- Crops produced were wheat, barley, dates, peas, sesamum, mustard, millet, ragi, bajra and jowar. At Lothal and Rangpur, rice husks were found.
- Sugarcane was not known to the Indus people.
- They were first to produce cotton in the world, which Greeks called as Sindon. A fragment of woven cotton cloth was found at Mohenjodaro.
DOMESTICATION OF ANIMALS
- They domesticated buffaloes, oxens, sheep, asses, goats, pigs, elephants, dogs, cats etc.
- Camel’s bones are reported at Kalibangan and remains of horse are discovered from Surkotada. Remains of Rhinoceros are found from Amri.
ART AND CRAFT
- Harappans used tools made of stone and bronze. However iron was not known to them. Bronze was made by mixing copper (from Khetri) with tin.
- Boat making, jewellery of gold, silver precious stone and bead making was practised. Cotton fabrics were used in summer and woollens in winter.
- Pottery Both plain and painted (red and black) pottery was made. Pots were decorated with human figures, plants, animals and geometrical patterns.
- Metal Images Bronze image of a dancing girl (identified as devdasi) and stone steatite image of a bearded man were both obtained from Mohenjodaro.
- Terracotta Figurines Terracotta means the fire baked clay. It was used to make toys, objects of worship, animals, toy-carts, etc.
| Imports | From |
| Gold | Kolar (Karnataka), Afghanistan, Persia (Iran) |
| Silver | Afghanistan, Persia (Iran), South India |
| Copper | Khetri (Rajasthan) Baluchistan, Arabia |
| Tin | Afghanistan, Central Asia |
| Lapis Lazuli and Sapphire | Badak-Shan (Afghanistan) |
| Jade | Central Asia |
| Steatite | Shahr-i-Sokhta, Kirthar Hills |
| Amethyst | Maharashtra |
TRADE
- Agriculture, industry and forest provided the basis for internal and external trade.
- Trade was based on barter system. Coins are not evident. Bullock carts and boats were used for transportation.
- Weights and measures were made of limestone, steatite etc. Generally in weighing mostly 16 or its multiples were used.
- Foreign trade flourished with Mesopotamia or Sumeria (Iraq), Central Asia, Persia, Afghanistan and Bahrain.
Towns and Trade
Daimabad Bronze industry.
Lothal Factory for stone tools and metallic finished goods.
Balakot Pearl finished goods, bangle and shell industry.
Chanhudaro Beads and Bangles factory. It was the only city without a citadel.
RELIGIOUS PRACTICES
- Chief Female Diety A terracotta figurine, where a plant is shown growing out of the embryo of a woman and represents the mother Goddess (Goddess of Earth).
- Chief Male Diety Pashupati Mahadeva (Proto-Siva), represented in seals, sitting in a yogic posture on a throne and having three faces and two horns. He is surrounded by an elephant, a tiger, a rhino and a buffalo, and two deers appear at his feet.
- Indus people believed in ghosts and evil forces and used amulets for protection against them. Fire altars are found at Lothal and Kalibangan.
- No temples have been found at any Harappan sites.
- Swastika symbol was originated here.
Read about the Prehistoric period: ANCIENT INDIA : PREHISTORIC PERIOD NOTES
SCRIPT
- It was pictographic in nature. Fish symbol is the most represented. It was written from right to left in the first line. The style is called Boustrophedon.
DECLINE OF THE CIVILISATION
The Harappan culture flourished upto 1800 BC, then it began to decline. There is no unanimity among historians regarding the reason for decline of this urban civilisation. There are many different theories by the thinkers, that shows the decline of the Indus culture.
| Views | Thinkers |
| External Aggression | Wheeler, Piggot and Gordon-Childe |
| Inundation | M R Sahani |
| Epidemic | KVR Kennedy |
| Tectonic Disturbances (e.g. Dholavira) | Marshall and Raikes |
| Sudden Decline | Wheelar |
| Climate Change | Aurel Stein and AN Ghosh |
| Deforestation, Scarcity of Resources, Ecological Imbalances | Fairservis |
| Flood (e.g. Mohenjodaro) | Marshall, SR Rao, Maickey |
| The Destruction due to Change in course of River Ghaggar | GF Holes |
Important Harappan Sites
| Site | Archaeological Finds |
| Harappa (Gateway city) | Two rows of six granaries with brick platform, work men’s quarter, stone symbol of lingam and yoni, virgin-Goddess (seal), clay figures of mother Goddess, wheat and barley in wooden mortar, copper scale and mirror, vanity box, dice. Sculpture of dog chasing a deer (bronze) nude male and nude dancing female (stone), sand stone male torso. |
| Mohenjodaro (Mound of the Dead) | The great bath, the great granary (largest building), multipillared assembly hall, college, proto-Shiva seal, clay figures of mother Goddess, dice. Sculpture Bronze dancing girl, steatite image of bearded man. |
| Kalibangan (Black Bangle) | Decorated bricks, bangle factory, wheels of a toy cart, wells from every ploughed field house. Bones of camel, 7-fire altars. |
| Chanhudaro (Lancashire of India) | Inkpot, lipstick, imprint of dog’s paw on a brick, only city without citadel, bronze toy cart, Terracotta bullock cart. |
| Daimabad | Bronze images of Charioteer with chariot ox; elephants and rhinoceros. |
| Amri | Actual remains of rhinoceros. |
| Alamgirpur | Impression of cloth on a trough. |
| Lothal | Rice husk, fire altars, dockyard, grinding machine, tusks of elephant, terracotta figure of horse, dying vat, painted jar (bird and fox), teracotta ship, impressions of cloth on some seals, modern day chess, instrument for measuring angles. |
| Ropar | Buildings made of stone and soil. Dog buried with human, oval pit burials. |
| Banawali | Oval shaped settlement, only city with radial streets, lack of systematic drainage pattern. Toy plough, largest number of barley grains. |
| Surkotda | Both Citadel and Lower Town fortified with stone wall, First actual remains of horse bones, pot burials. |
| Dholavira | Only site to be divided into 3 parts. Giant water reservoir; unique water harnessing system; dams and embankments; a stadium; rock-cut architecture. |
| Rakhigarhi | largest Indus valley site. |