Life in the Indus Valley

By: Joyce & David Mollet

IntroductionIn the Stone Age, people hunted animals and gathered wild plants to eat. Because of the abundance of resources, Rivers were good places for humans to look for food. Eventually, the first farmers also liked to live near rivers in small villages; many people settled in the Indus Valley a formed cities like Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro. It was believed that riverside farming began in Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro about 5,000 years ago.

Today, the Indus Valley is a barren desert, broken only by the winding River Indus. A long time ago, when the land was first settled, the Indus Valley was a lush and fertile jungle. It was the home of all manner of wild beasts.

Indus Valley Then Indus Valley Now

This story tells of that time, many years ago, when the Indus Valley was fertile and prosperous. Indatri, had been born and raised in the town of Mohenjo-Daro. When she was 12 her father, who was a trader, moved his family to the coastal city of Balakot. Balakot was a port on the main trade route. Boats arrived there daily. They brought goods to the city from far afield. Once unloaded the boats would be quickly filled with a new cargo and were ready to continue their journey.

A New BeginningIndatri awoke and opened her eyes. For a moment she didn't know where she was. She then remembered, she was in her new bed, in her new room. Her first thought was that she was glad the long journey was over. It was several weeks since she and her family had said good-bye to their home town of Mohenjo-Daro. Together they had started the 250 mile journey down to the coast. It had been a slow journey for they had with them everything they owned. Their possessions were packed into bullock carts, and they could travel only as fast as the slowest cart.

The Decision Explained

Although a beautiful new house awaited them in the coastal town of Balakot, Indatri could not shake off the sadness of leaving her friends and everything that was familiar. She did not blame her father for moving. It had all made perfect sense when he had talked to them some months ago.

"Your grandfather has become too old to oversee the coastal trade route,” Avara explained to Indatri. "I must move to the coast and take over that part of the family business."

"Your brother, Datri, will stay here in Mohenjo-Daro to take care of the land routes, and your uncle will stay in Harappa to deal with the inland trade."

Thoughts of HomeTrade was very important in the Indus Valley. It was second only to the farming that thrived around Mohenjo-Daro. Indatri would often escape with her pet dog into the fields around her home. She had to keep him close to her because he loved to nip the camels' ankles or chase the cattle into the wheat fields.

Fields of wheat and barley stretched as far as the eye could see, and melons, sesame, field-peas and dates grew in abundance. "Will I ever stop longing for my homeland,” lndatri thought to herself. Just then she heard the heavy rumbling of bullock carts passing the house. “This is a very early hour for street traffic...” she said to herself.

Houses in the ValleyIndatri could not peer out of a window to check on what was happening, for the house had no windows facing onto the street. Her new house was much the same as the one she had left in Mohenjo-Daro and similar to her uncle's house in Harappa. It was quite large, and in the center was an open courtyard. Stairs led up to a flat roof. With a bucket and long rope the family brought up water from a well in the courtyard and in the bathroom there was a drain into an underground sewers system.

Running through the silent house in her bare feet, Indatri made her way up to the flat roof. She peered over the low wall to the street below. She thought to herself this new city was much busier than Mohenjo-Daro, and she has a feeling it's going to take a lot of getting used to.

Mohenjo-DaroAt that moment she felt an overwhelming urge to be back in her home city. In her imagination she was there, climbing the thirty foot mound to the great citadel. She remembered the first time her father had taken her to the public buildings and they had looked down on the huge, surrounding, brick wall. The citadel was the center of religion and government for Mohenjo-Daro's 35,000 people. In the middle of the citadel was the Great Bath. It was a huge, deep bath with steps leading into it. The people used it for religious purposes because they believed water to be a great purifier.

Indatri remembered the great granary in Mohenjo-Daro where the grain was stored. It was a huge building made of thousands of fired bricks and could hold enough food to feed the entire -city for a longtime. Closing her eyes, Indatri could see herself running through the wide main streets of Mohenjo-Daro. The main streets ran from north to south. There were smaller streets that ran from east to west and even narrower lanes that divided the houses.

A Common Plan"All our cities are alike, Indatri, "her father had once told her. "Our valley has a strong central government that rules all the cities. When the cities were first built, they were all planned by the same people," he explained.“Could it be then, that Balakot will be familiar?" she wondered.

Her house, like nearly every building in the cities of the Valley, was made of baked clay bricks with strong wooden beams to support the flat roof. It was a familiar sight. It could almost have been her old home. She had a feeling that it wasn't going to take very long for her new house to feel comforting.

Beautiful Possessions

Yamuru, her mother, began unpacking as soon as they got settled. She insisted that Indatri come and help her unpack. Yamuru was safely storing her most precious possessions. She was carefully unpacking her best pottery. She was so pleased that the fine pots with their beautiful designs had not been broken on the journey. Arranged on a colorful cotton cloth were all sorts of bright and beautiful beads and a beautiful necklace made of turquoise and lapis lazuli. She would pack these into little wooden boxes.

All the women wore jingling bangles, sparkling earrings, and brightly beaded necklaces. Yamuru would often wear her hair in braids, or, if it was a special occasion, she would put it up in a fancy headdress and look as beautiful as the richest lady.

After seeing all of their possession resurface again, it made the family laugh and smile because it reminded them of old happy memories. They soon realized that no matter where they go, as long as they have each other and the fond memories of their lives together, they can be happy anywhere, even if it isn't Mohenjo-Daro.