SSC CGL 2015:- HISTORY

The Indus Valley Civilization

(2350-1750 BC)

Introduction

·         Indus valley civilization is also called as Harappan civilization because Harappa was the first site to be excavated in 1921 under the supervision of Daya Ram Sahni.

·         The known extent of this civilization in the west is upto Sutkagendor in Baluchistan; Alamgirpur (UP) in the east; Daimabad (Maharashtra) in South; and Manda ( J&K) in the north.

·         This civilization belongs to Bronge Age/Chalcolithic Age. Hence, it is also called Bronze Age civilization.

·         Contemporary civilization of Harappan civilization are Mesopotamian or Sumerian civilization, Egyptian civilization and Chinese civilization.

Important Sites of Harappan Civilization

Site	Location	River Bank
Harappa	Montegomari, Punjab (Pakistan)	Ravi
Mohenjodaro	Larkana, Sindh (Pakistan)	Indus
Sutkagendor	Baluchistan (Pakistan)	Dashta
Chanhudaro	Sindh (Pakistan)	Indus
Rangpur	Ahmedabad (India)	Meedar
Ropar	Punjab (India)
Kalibangan	Ganganagar (Rajasthan)	Ghaggar
Kotdiji	Sindh (Pakistan)	Indus
Lothal	Ahmedabad	Sabarmati & Bhogva
Alamgirpur	Meerut (UP)	Hindon
Banawali	Hissar (Haryana)	Saraswati
Ø  Note: The largest numbers of sites are found in Gujarat.

General Facts About Some Sites

1.Harappa

·         Working floors consisting of rows of circular brick platforms which were meant for threshing grain have been found here.

·         Six granaries and sixteen agnikundas (firepits) have been found here

·         People of Harappa knew the process of making tarcoal.

·         Main gate for the entry in the houses of Harappa was in the north direction.

·         R-37 cemetery have been found here.

·         Tarracotta figurine of Mother Goddess have been found here.

2. Mohenjodaro

·         The literal meaning of mohenjodaro in sindhi language is mound of the dead.

·         The Great Bath, a granary , big halls, a bronze statue of a dancing girl, idol of a yogi and numerous seals have been found here.

·         The evidences of a assembly hall and proper planned houses with a kitchen and courtyard have been found at Mohenjodaro.

·         Mohenjodaro was discovered in 1922 under the supervision of R.D. Bannerji.

·         Seven layers of Mohenjodaro city directs that the city was destroyed and rebuilt seven times.

 3. Lothal

·         A dockyard have been found at Lothal.

·         In 1957, Lothal was discovered by S.R. Rao in Gulf of Cambay in Gujarat.

·         Red & black clay pots, copper tools, brick built tank like structure, a bead making factory and a seal from Iran have been found at Lothal.

·         Linear scales of bronze have been found here.

4. Kalibangan

·         It was not as well planned or organized as Mohenjodaro was.

·         It did not have a drainage system.

·         A number of firepits agnikundas (firepits) have been found here.

·         Kalibangan was discovered in 1953. It is located in upper Rajasthan.

·         It saw two culture phases viz. pre-Harappan and Harappan.

·         A ploughed field have been found here.

5. Dhaulavira

·         Dhaulavira in Gujarat was discovered in 1992 by J.P. Joshi.

·         Dhaulavira shows all the three phases of Harappan civilization.

·         A script consists of big alphabets has been found on a gate in Dhaulavira.

Important Feature of Indus Valley Civilization

·         Town planning was the most distinguishable feature of the Harappan civilization. Hence, this civilization is also called first urbanization.

·         Towns were divided into parts viz. citadel and lower town. Citadels were occupied by members of ruling class and lower town was inhabited by the common people.

·         Dhaulavira is an exception because it existed in three parts.

·         Harappan cities were developed in Block Pattern/ Chess Board Pattern because roads of these cities used to cut each other at right angles.

·         Most peculiar feature of town planning was their drainage system. Drains were built of burnt bricks and covered by stone lids and manholes for cleaning. It shown that Harappan people were very conscious of hygiene.

·         Banawali and kalibangan shows two phases, viz. pre-Harappan and Harappan.

·         Chanhudaro was the only city without a citadel.

·         The Harappans knew the art of measurement as some sticks inscribed with measure marks have been found at some sites.

·         Rojadi, Desalpur and Surkotada faced all the three stages of Harappan civilization viz. pre-Harappan, Harappan and post-Harappan.

·         Complete burial was the most common method of the disposal of the dead.

Economy of Harappan civilization

Agriculture & Animal husbandry

·         They grew wheat and barley on large scale. The other crops grown were pulses, cereals, cotton, dates, melons, pea, sesamum and mustard.

·         No clear evidence of rice has been found, except from Rangpur and Lothal where some grains of rice were found, but they may be of later period.

·         Harappan people were mostly peasants and thus the Harappan civilizations was an agro commercial civilization.

·         Evidences of hoe and plough have been found in kalibangan and Banawali.

·         Harappans domesticated sheep, goat, buffalo and pig. They also knew about tiger, camel, elephant, tortoise, deer, various birds, etc. However, they did not know about lion.

·         Humpless bull or unicorn was the most important animal.

·         They did not know about the horse, except a jaw bone of horse which has been recovered from Surkotada in Gujarat in upper layers of excavation.

·         The Harappans were the earliest person to produce cotton was first produced in this area. The Greeks called it sindon, which is derived from sindh.

2. Crafts

·         The Harappan culture belongs to the Bronze Age, as the people were very well acquainted with the manufacture and use of bronze.

·         They manufacture not only images and utensils but also various tools and weapons such as axes, saws knives and spears.

·         Weavers wove clothes of wool and cotton. Leather was also known to them but no evidence of silk has been found.

·         Harappans used to make seals, stone statues, terracotta figurines, etc.

Seals Ø  Their most important artistic work is seal. Ø  Seals are made of steatite. Ø  They are square in shape. Ø  The most depicted animal is bull. Ø  Ram, elephant, tigers, rhinoceros are also depicted. Ø  Cow, lion and horse are not found on them. Ø  Seals were meant for marking goods and perhaps owned by traders. Ø  About 2000 seals have been recovered from Harappan sites. Ø  Some seals have been found in Mesopotamia also.

 

·         Huge brick structure made up of burnt bricks and mud bricks suggest that brick laying was an important craft.

·         Harappans did not know about Iron.

·         The potters wheel was used to produce their characteristic pottery which was made glossy and shining.

·         They knew boat making also, as it is evident from their seals.

·         The goldsmiths made jewellery of gold, silver and precious stones.

·         Bangle making and shell ornaments making was also practiced which is evident from the findings of Chanhudaro, Balakot and Lothal.

3.  Trade

·         Land and sea trade was in vogue.

·         A dockyard has been found at Lothal which is the longest building of the Harappan civilization.

·         Most important trading partner was Mesopotamia.

·         It is evident from the inscriptions of Mesopotamia. Other trading partners were Afghanistan, Persia central Asia and Various parts of India.

·         The Mesopotamian inscriptions refer to trade relations with Meluha which was the ancient name given to Indus region.

·         Two intermediate trading stations called Dilmun and Makan are identified with Bahrain and Makran coast (Pakistan) respectively.

·         The mode of trade was barter system.

Religion of Harappans

·         Pashupati seal has been found from Mohenjodaro in which a yogi figure has been depicted.

·         The yogi on the seal is surrounded by buffalo, tiger, elephant, rhinoceros and deer. Hence, the yogi is said to be proto-Shiva.

·         Signs of phallic worship have been found.

·         Harappans worshipped Mother Goddess. It is evident from the terracotta figurine recovered from Harappa.

·         A building called Great Bath have been found at Mohenjodaro which was meant for ritual bathing.

·         They were superstitious as they wore amulets.

·         Harappans worshipped papal tree.

·         No evidences of temple have been found in this civilization.

Script of Harappans

·         The Harappans knew the art of writing. There are nearly 4,000 specimens of Harappan writing on stone seals and other objects.

·         The Harappan script is not alphabetical but mainly pictographic.

·         The Harappan script has not been deciphered so far.

·         Script was consisted of about 400 symbols, out of which 75 were original and remaining were their variants.

Decline of Harappan civilization

·         There are different viewpoints of the historians on the decline of Harappan civilization.

·         According to Wheeler Aryan attack was the cause of decline of Harappan civilization.

·         As per G.F. Dales and Marshall, Aryans were not responsible for the decline of Harappan civilization.

·         James Marshall stated that natural calamities were responsible for the decline of Harappan civilization. This theory is widely accepted for the decline of Harappan civilization.

Important items of Import

Sl	Items	Imported from
1	Gold	South India (Kolar mines); Afghanistan
2	Copper	Rajasthan (Khetri mines); Baluchistan
3	Tin	Bihar; Afghanistan
4	Steatite	Persia
5	Lapis Lazuli	Afghanistan;Central Asia
6	Turquoise	Persia