INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION

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CIVILIZATION DEFINED

• The stage of human social development and organization which is considered most advanced.DEFINITION

• The society, culture and lifestyle of people in a particular area. OR SIMPLY

INTRODUCTION

• A bronze age civilization- Also known as Mature harappan

civilization (2600-1900 BC)

• Thrived in the basins of Indus river profiting from the fertility

of the land

• Had a population of 5 million at its peak

• People were mostly tradesmen or artisans

• Known for

― futuristic urban planning

― astonishing architecture

― remarkable handicrafts

― work in the field of metallurgy

REGIONAL SPREAD

• Sites cover most of the modern Pakistan and northwestern India

• Area covered is about 1.3 million square miles• The largest among the old world civilizations• Over 1050 sites; scattered across the area• There are many mountains, valleys and plains near and in

the Indus River Valley Civilization which is actually a very dry plateau. The Himalaya Mountains are in the north which helped to protect the civilization.

This civilization extended from Sutkagan Dor in Western Baluchistan to Lothal in Gujarat.

SETTLEMENTS

Inland settlements

Dholavira Rupar Ganeriwala Cholistan Rakhigarhi

Coastal settlements

Lothal Sutkagan Dor MandaGomal river

valleyJammu Alamgirpur

ROOTS & EVOLUTION OF INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION

• Earliest civilizations in Indus Valley was discovered in 1856 by a railroad crew.

• Harappa

• Mohenjo-Daro or “Mound of the Dead”

• Both cities shared urban design and architectural features.

• 3 miles in circumference with populations of 40,000

• Roots of Indus Valley began as early as 7000 B.C.E.

• Possibly began as herders who moved into the river valley during colder months.

• Over time, they may have decided to farm – river-watered lands of the valley.

• They began trading by boat along the Indus down into the Arabian Sea, into the Persian Gulf, and up the Tigris and Euphrates into Mesopotamia

NAURAL RESOURCES

• The Indus Valley contained numerous natural resources that were an important part of Harappancivilization.

• Resources included:

• Fresh water and timber.

• Materials such as gold, silver, semi-precious stones.

• Marine resources.

• Nanga Parbat and numerous other mountains of the Himalaya, Karakorum and Hindu Kush provide a continuous source of water for the Indus and its tributaries.

• These mountain ranges also provided important timber, animal products, and minerals, gold, silver, tin and semiprecious stones that were traded throughout the Indus Valley.

VALLEYS

• Cedar in Chitral valley is still used to make houses and coffins, following a tradition that dates back to the first Indus cities.

• This was mined during the Indus period and traded throughout the Indus Valley and to far Mesopotamia and Egypt.

COAST

• The coast of Sindh and Makran have bays and ancient Harappan sites have been located along the coast to the border of modern Iran.

• These coastal settlements were involved in fishing and trading, using the monsoon winds to travel back and forth to Oman and the Persian Gulf region.

MAJOR CITIES: MOHENJO-DARO AND HARAPPA

• The cities are well known for their impressive, organized and regular layout.

• They had well laid plumbing and drainage systems, including indoor toilets.

• Over one thousand other towns and villages also existed in this region.

INDUS VALLEY-INTEGRATION ERA

EXISTING EXAMPLE:In South East Asia, the Angkor Watis very famous. It is located in Cambodia.

• like Egypt and Mesopotamia

• agriculture and flood-control

• significant industry and trade.

CULTURE AND SOCIETY

advanced agriculture

surplus production

textiles: wool and cotton

domesticated animals and fish

• It was in the mid 4th millennium BC that the first major civilizations began to arise along major river systems such as the Nile and the Tigris Euphrates. Though not so well known the Indus Valley or Harappan culture was one of the greatest of these early civilizations. It arose along the Indus Valley in what is now Pakistan around 3500 BC and reached its peak from 2900 - 1900 BC. The capital seems to have been near the small modern town of Harappa whence its name but there were other large cities at Mohenjo Daro, Mehrgarh and elsewhere. At its peak it was a vast empire of cities, towns and public works that stretched from Afghanistan to the Indian ocean. But by c. 1300 the Harappan civilization had vanished likely due to prolonged failure of the monsoon rains. In contrast to cuneiform and hieroglyphics the writing system of the Indus culture has still not been deciphered.

UNICORN:SEAL+WRITING

This unicorn seal was also discovered during the late 1927-31 excavations at Mohenjo-Daro. One theory holds that the bull actually has two horns, but that these have been stylized to one because of the complexity of depicting three dimensions. However the manufacturing and design process behind seals was so sophisticated that the depiction of three dimensions might not necessarily have been a problem.

• The Harappan civilization was mainly urban and mercantile.

• Inhabitants of the Indus valley traded with Mesopotamia, southern India, Afghanistan, and Persia for gold, silver, copper, and turquoise.

ANCIENT INDUS

TRADE AND TRAVEL

Indus Valley cities lived by trade. Farmers brought food into the cities. Traders brought the materials workers needed. Trade goods included terracotta pots, beads, gold and silver, coloured gem stones such as turquoise and lapis lazuli, metals, flints (for making stone tools), seashells and pearls.

NECKLACE

• Necklace from Mohenjo-Daro made from gold, agate, jasper, steatite and green stone.

• The gold beads are hollow and the pendant agate and jasper beads are attached with thick gold wire.

• Steatite beads with gold caps serve to separate each of the pendant beads.

• This collection of gold and agate ornaments (see next slide) includes objects found at both Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa.

• At the top are fillets of hammered gold that would have been worn around the forehead.• The other ornaments include bangles, chokers, long pendant necklaces, rings, earrings, conical hair

ornaments, and broaches. • These ornaments were never buried with the dead, but were passed on from one generation to the next. • These ornaments were hidden under the floors in the homes of wealthy merchants or goldsmiths.

ARTIFACTS

• These egg shaped whistles may have been used for music, a tradition

that is still present in rural areas of Pakistan and India.

The central ornament worn on the forehead of the famous "priest-king" sculpture from Mohenjo-daroappears to represent an eye bead, possibly made of gold with steatite inlay in the center.

CLAY SCULPTURE FIGURINES

CERAMICS AND COPPER

ECONOMY-AGRICULTURE

• The Mesopotamian model of irrigated agriculture was used to take advantage of the fertile grounds along the Indus River.

• Earthen walls were built to control the river's annual flooding. Crops grown included wheat, barley, peas, melons, and sesame.

• This civilization was the first to cultivate cotton for the production of cloth. Several animals were domesticated including the elephant which was used for its ivory.

ECONOMY• Cubical weights in graduated sizes. • These weights conform to the standard Harappan binary weight system that was used in all of the

settlements. • The smallest weight in this series is 0.856 grams and the most common weight is approximately 13.7

grams, which is in the 16th ratio. • These weights were found in recent excavations at Harappa and may have been used for controlling trade

and possibly for collecting taxes.

LANGUAGE

• The Indus (or Harappan) people used a pictographic script.

• Some 3500 specimens of this script survive in stamp seals carved in stone, in molded terracotta and faience amulets, in fragments of pottery, and in a few other categories of inscribed objects.

• In addition to the pictographic signs, the seals and amulets often contain iconographic motifs, mostly realistic pictures of animals apparently worshipped as sacred, and a few cultic scenes, including anthropomorphic deities and worshippers.

• This material is important to the investigation of the Harappan language and religion, which continue to be major issues.

SEALS

Silver Seal Clay Seals

GAMESPeople in the Indus Valley played board games like this, moving pieces between squares.

Maze puzzles and dice games were enjoyed by children and adults.

POLITICS

• It can be assumed that such progress and maintenance of order would have been possible with the presence of a political system.

• Indoor Kitchen (Colder)

• Outdoor Kitchen (Warmer)

(In present houses of Kutchh)

• Shows division based on various social class.

• Rich lived in Multi-roomed houses.

• Public buildings located on streets along with big houses.

• Small houses along lanes .

• Technology is a broad concept that deals with usage & knowledge of tools & crafts & how it affects.

• Ability to control & adopt its environment``

• Drainage and Sanitation system are remarkable.

• City was heart of civilization.

• Main street

• (N-S)

• (E-W)

• Intersect at 90 degree.

• Size of streets (9-34 feets)

• Footpaths (Public Welt) and

• Street Lamps.

HOUSES

Buildings

Dwelling houses Large buildings Great baths

• Smaller houses- 2 rooms

• Larger houses –multiple rooms

• Big buildings –courtyards

• Concentrated on –utility , comfortable , simple

• Wooden flat roofs

• Doors and Windows – fixed on side walls ( entry through lanes)

• Building material used is burnt

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POLITICAL STRUCTURE

• Rulers within the cities of the Indus Valley governed through the control of trade and religion rather than military strength.

• Archaeological records provide no immediate answers for a center of power or for depictions of people in power in Harappan society.

• But, there are indications of complex decisions being taken and implemented.

• There was a single state, given the similarity in artifacts, the evidence for planned settlements, the standardised ratio of brick size, and the establishment of settlements near sources of raw material.

• Harappan society had no rulers, and everybody enjoyed equal status.

• the nature of the political system that might have existed from around 25DQ BC. Under the assumption that the cities of Indus valley were colonies of Mesopotamia, it was supposed that the mode of government was the same.

• political system of the Indus valley as composed of several competing classes of elites who maintained different levels of control over the vast regions of the Indus and Ghaggar-Hakra valleys.

• .This political integration was possible because of certain far reaching developments during the period 2600-2500 BC labeled as 'century of change'.

• This included the creation of a script, the introduction of new concept of planning and monumental architecture.

DRAINAGE SYSTEM• No civilization before Romans had such advanced

Drainage System.

• Each house had vertical and horizontal drainage

• Underground drains for streets (stone slab)

• House drains are connected with road drains

• Soak pit.

• Drains if not cleaned, water usually ran into houses.

• Surrounded by massive walls & gateways.

• Control trade.

• Avoid or stop floods.

• Grid Systems.

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