The assignment “INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION” it gives us great information about ancient history, the assignment framed accordance with new sources and information prescribed by the historians and university of 1st B.A for the year 2010-11

Features of assignment

New sources with complete information presented by historians.

Captured pictures.High resolution with new technologies. Launching of assignment

site[www.anujaiho.wordpress.com]Photo gallery.Video gallery.Other sources from websites.

Finally I thankfully to my parents, jaiho group, R.C MAJUMDAR [ advance history of India ], websites, prof. B.R parineetha, Prof.Manjunath [dept of history], hitaishi infosystems and technologies [S.Y nagar b’lore58] for guideline to this project

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Archaeologists discovered two 4000 year old cities lying 400 meters away from each other on the bank of the River Indus. Harappa is one of the largest and most important cities of the Indus Civilization. It is one of the best known sites in Pakistan and is located on the bank of the Ravi River in Punjab Province. It is believed that this city was occupied around 3300 and 1500 BC and covers an area of 250 acres. Like Mohenjodaro, several well built structures displaying great architectural skills have been discovered at Harappa. These include the remains of a citadel, a granary and some cemeteries. The people of Harappa lived in strong brick houses that were often up to three stories high and the city also had an excellent drainage system. The entire city plan is proof of the fact that the people who lived here were civilized and lived in a proper societal setup.

The Harappa civilization was basically urban and the society consisted of many traders who traded with southern India and afghanisthan

EXCAVATION OF CIVILIZATION

>In 1856, British engineers John and William Brunton were laying the East Indian Railway Company line connecting the cities of Karachi and Lahore.." They came to know ancient ruined city near the lines, called Brahmin bad. Visiting the city, he found it full of hard well-burnt bricks, and "convinced that there was a grand quarry” A few months later, further north, John's brother William Brunton's "section of the line ran near another ruined city, bricks from which had already been used by villagers in the nearby village of Harappa at the same site. These bricks now provided ballast along 93 miles (150 km) of the railroad track running from Karachi to Lahore."

I>n 1872–75 Alexander Cunningham published the first Harappa seal (with an erroneous identification as Brahmi letters). It was half a century later, in 1912, that more Harappa seals were discovered by J. Fleet, prompting an excavation campaign under Sir John Hubert Marshall in 1921–22 and resulting in the discovery of the civilization at Harappa by Sir John Marshall, Rai Bahadur Daya Ram Sahni and Madho Sarup Vats, and at Mohenjo-daro by Rakhal Das Banerjee, E. J. H. MacKay, and Sir John Marshall. By

1931, much of Mohenjo-Daro had been excavated, but excavations continued, such as that led by Sir Mortimer Wheeler, director of the Archaeological Survey of India in 1944. Among other archaeologists who worked on IVC sites before the partition of the subcontinent in 1947 were Ahmad Hasan Dani, Brij Basi Lal, Gopal Majumdar, and Sir Marc Aurel Stein.

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ALEXANDER CUNNINGHAM

Sir Mortimer Wheeler in 1949, archaeological adviser to the Government of Pakistan. Outposts of the Indus Valley civilization were excavated as far west as Sutkagan Dor in Baluchistan, as far north as at Shortugai on the Amudarya or Oxus River in current Afghanistan.

RAJARAM and JHA

Excavated an Indus Valley “horse” seal as evidence that the Indus people used horses, an animal commonly mentioned in the Vedas, the ancient Indian texts dating to the And millennium BC – over 2,000 years later than the earliest dated Indus Valley seals But no images of horses were found in the Indus Valley excavations, until Rajaram and Jha produced their horse seal. Witzel proved that the horse seal a broken “unicorn bull” seal. The fake horse seal was an imaginary creation to fill the gap between the Harappa and Vedic cultures. The incessant efforts of the archaeologists have contributed to the excavations in more than 150 Harappa sites. Among them the noteworthy site have been manda (1979-80) in Jammu Kashmir; rupar (1955-56) in Punjab; kalibangan

(1961-69) in rajasthan; Alamgirpur in Uttar Pradesh; Lothal; rangpur and dholavira (1990-91) in ahmedabad; surrendranagar and kutch district of Gujarat;

banawali, daulatapur, and miththal in hissar and kurukshetra districts of Haryana; debaskus and surkotda (1972) also in kutch districts diamabad in

ahmedanagar district of maharashtra SOURCRES TO STUDY INDUS CIVILIZATION>no literary sources.

>Indus civilization studying according to archaeological sources.

>historians like Mortimer wheeler, manjundhar, machay, tripati, D.N.jha are gave sources about Indus valley civilization.

>1,400 sites are been found in Indus valley civilization. -980 places in India. -481 places in pakisthan.

>Excavation of houses, granaries, labourers apartments, bullock cart, Great bath, wells, dancing girl , bronze girl, seals etc...

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EXTENT The Indus Valley Civilization encompassed most of Pakistan, extending from Baluchistan to Sindh, and extending into modern day Indian states of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab, with an upward reach to Rupar on the upper Sutlej. The geography of the Indus Valley put the civilizations that arose there in a highly similar situation to those in Egypt and Peru, with rich agricultural lands being surrounded by highlands, desert, and ocean. Indus sites have been discovered in Pakistan's north western Frontier Province as well. Other IVC colonies can be found in Afghanistan while smaller isolated colonies can be found as far away as Turkmenistan and in Gujarat. Coastal settlements extended from Sutkagan Dor in Western Baluchistan to Lothal in Gujarat. An Indus Valley site has been found on the Oxus River at Shortugai in northern Afghanistan, in the Gomel River valley in northwestern Pakistan on the Beas River near Jammu, India, and at Alamgirpur on the Hindon River, only 28 km from Delhi. Indus Valley sites have been found most often on rivers, but also on ancient seacoast

CITIES4

A technologically advanced urban culture is evident in the Indus Valley Civilization making them the first urban centers in the region. The quality of municipal town planning suggests the knowledge of urban planning and efficient municipal governments which placed a high priority alternately, accessibility to the means of religious ritual.

As seen in Harappa, Mohenjo-daro and the recently partially excavated Rakhigarhi, this urban plan included the world's first known urban sanitation systems. Within the city, individual homes or groups of homes obtained water from wells. From a room that appears to have been set aside for bathing, waste water was directed to covered drains, which lined the major streets. Houses opened only to inner courtyards and smaller lanes. The house-building in some villages in the region still resembles in some respects the house-building of the Harappans.

Harappa and Mohenjodaro were the two major sites of Indus valley civilization

>Mohenjodaro-which means “mound of dead” in Sindhi language

Mohenjodaro situated in the larkana district of the sindh (pakisthan) it is in the bank of river Indus.

>Harappa-Harappa is situated on the banks of the river Ravi in Montgomery district of Punjab and nearly 100 miles from Lahore in Pakistan.

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>Lothal-Lothal is situated in the coastal line of Gujarat near south of Ahmedabad.

>kalibangan-it is in rajasthan.

Other sites of Indus valley civilization

Rupar-Punjab Rangpur and dholavira-ahmedabad Banawali and daulatapur-Haryana. Diamabad-maharashtra. Alamgirpur-Uttar Pradesh.

TOWN PLANING

The excavation of the Indus valley sites indicates the urban character of civilization. The Indus valley sites were well planned both Harappa and Mohenjodaro were strongly defended citadels with high towers and fortifications. There were buildings which must have existed over a period of 700 years the chief feature of the Indus valley civilization was the buildings of very well planned towns.

STREETS

All the Indus valley streets run towards north to south because it may be source of sunlight. The streets were 13 ½ feet to nearly 3 ½ feet In breadth. The lanes were only 9 feet in breadth. There was a 11 meters broad road in Mohenjodaro which must been the “royal path” Features of streets-

Construction of well in each end of streets.

We can find a dust bins in every streets.

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They used street lamps in night time on every street. And also a incharger of every streets. They used a commercial

nature in night time. Every street had easy flow of water drainage systems. Every street is made up of baked bricks, terracotta tiles, glazed

ceramic, and semiprecious stones.

BRICKS

Brick sizes were in a perfect ratio of 4:2:1 and the decimal system were used. Weights were based on units of 0.05, 0.1, 0.2, 0.5, 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, and 500, with each unit weighing approximately 280 grams, similar to the English ounce or Greek uncial, and smaller objects were weighed in similar ratios with the units of 0.871 .

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HOUSES

Every houses have a space of 1-2 feet because the problem of floods. To control of dust, Houses are not facing towards streets. We have discovered rich houses and poor houses. In every rich house we can find the well and every houses had a 2-3Bedrooms, kitchen, windows and toilets. They covered roof from woods and every houses constructed from baked bricks.

Granaries

The Indus Valley Civilization was the large granary that existed. As a structure it is particularly impressive, running 150 feet long, 75 feet wide and 15 feet high. This gave the granary an astounding 168,750 cubic feet of space. The granary was divided into 27 compartments in three rows. The granary was well ventilated and it was possible to fill grain in from outside. The large size of the granary

probably indicates a highly developed agricultural civilization

Great Bath

The city of Mohenjo-Daro possessed an amazing structure known as the Great Bath. The entire structure is about 179 feet long and 107 feet wide. The complex has a large quadrangle in the centre with galleries and rooms, ash mounds on all sides. In the centre of this quadrangle there is a large swimming enclosure that is 39 feet long, 23 feet wide and 8 feet deep. The entire complex is connected to an elaborate water supply and sewer system. The Great Bath was probably used for religious or ritualistic purposes.

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Some of the historians gave a theory on great bath some of them are It is the place of entertainment. Indus valley peoples were facing the problem of floods so they

were learning the swimming in this place. Ash mounds were so it is called as spiritual place. Some of the animals skeleton have been found so Indus valley

peoples were used this place to sacrifice of animals.

PUBLIC BUILDINGSAt Harappa, three important groups of structures have been identified. They have been identified as workmen’s quarters. It appears that a lot of planning had gone into the construction of these buildings. Close to the citadel were the workmen’s quarters of Harappa were two rows of small dwellings consisting of totally 16 cottages have been found. Each block was enclosed within a compound occupying an area of 56 ft by 24ft furnaces have also been found but the purpose for which they are constructed unknown. Moreover, 17circular brick platforms about 10 feet in diameter with a heavy wood mortar have been found. It appears to have been used as pestle grind flour, as it is done in Kashmir or some other parts of the country. Moreover fragments of straw and husk have also been found.

DRAINAGE SYSTEM Every house had a drainage system which was constructed on the street side of building in order dispose water easily. The walls of the bathroom closely line of bricks so there is no chance of leakage of water the drainage system in which pottery pipes and stoneware pipes Were also used. These were fitted both vertically and horizontally. The pipes of the drains varied from 9 inches width 12 inches depth and somewhere double in size.

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TRADEThe Indus civilization's economy appears to have depended significantly on trade, which was facilitated by major advances in transport technology. These advances included bullock-driven carts that are identical to those seen throughout South Asia today, as well as boats. Most of these boats were probably small, flat-bottomed craft, perhaps driven by sail, similar to those one can see on the Indus River today; however, there is secondary evidence of sea-going craft. Archaeologists have discovered a massive, dredged canal and docking facility at the coastal city of Lothal.

Judging from the dispersal of Indus civilization artifacts, the trade networks, economically, integrated a huge area, including portions of Afghanistan, the coastal regions of Persia, northern and central India, and Mesopotamia

SEALS

The seals are made up of terracotta. This is an important source we can find 2,500 type’s seals have been found. On every seals Animals, symbols, human figures etc can be found. Some seals give information about religious activities like humped bull and some seals found in Mesopotamia civilization

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DRESS AND ORNAMENTS

Both men and women were fond of dress and ornaments. They used necklaces, finger rings, bangles and armlets. But women alone used nose studs, earrings, anklets, and girdles. The ornaments are made up of precious stone, ivory, copper etc and poor people ornaments made up of bones, shells, and terracotta.

He Indus valley people used cotton and woollen; fabric works dress was very simple. Both men and women oiled their hair in a knot on the head. Hair curlers, hairpins and combs h ave been discovered.

ART AND ARCHITECTURE

Vessels of copper, bronze, silver, and porcelain were known to the people. A large number of bowls, cups, saucers, basins, pans, jars, goblets, vases etc have been found. Iron was unknown to the people. Axes, chisels, knives, sickles, fish hooks and sawn made of copper and bronze and large number of toys carts and figures of men and women Have been found in abundance.

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FOOD

Using both vegetarian and non veg. the most of crops were using like barley, peanuts, vegetables, dry food and fruits.

SOCIAL CONDITION

According historians they are four types of divisions namely-

Priest class-rich people Noble class- security, watching forts etc.. Business class-trade and commercial activities. Labour class.

CAUSES FOR DECLINE The decline of Harappans culture is difficult to explain. During its

late phase between 2000 and 1700 BC 'The Indus Valley Civilization as a distinct entity gradually ceased to exist'. Historians have different opinions regarding the causes of the decay and disappearance of the Harappans culture. Various causes have been ascribed for its weakening and then decay: Increase in rainfall, earthquake, decrease in fertility of soil, floods,

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Aryan invasion, disease etc. Mortimer Wheeler pointed out that the Harappans culture

was destroyed by the Aryans. The Aryans were more skilled at warfare and were powerful than the Harappans. In the last phase of Mohenjodaro, men and women and children were massacred in the streets and houses. But there is very little evidence on this opinion.

Sir John Marshal, Lambrick and E.J.H Mackay suggest that the decline of the Harappans civilization was mainly due to the vagaries of the Indus River. But this theory is partly true. Some of the evidence of the devastation by floods has been found at Mohenjodaro and Lothal but there is no such evidence in respect of other sites like Kalibangan.

Some historians suggest that the first urban civilization came to an end around 1700 BC because its numerous small settlements grew beyond their natural limits leading to the mismanagement of natural resources. Although the theory of ecological factors for the decline of the Harappan civilization is latest yet it does not give us complete answer. Historians are of the view that the decline of the Indus Civilization was not the result of a single event; it was a slow decline and a result of combination of factors.

CONCLUSION Indus valley civilization it is the backbone of Indian history. Harappans were well cultured people when we observe the sources of Harappa it shows the well developed things like drainage systems, baked bricks, priest man etc, Harappans were failed in literary sources but they are well developed in archaeological sources. In the decline of Harappa civilization there is no perfect reason. But historians point out the different reasons, according to me Harappans were failed to face the problem of Indus region like floods, deforestation and other reasons so they moved to other places

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