HISTORY 2

Assignment 3 - The Indus Valley

Civilization

INDEX
1. the beginnings of the Indus Valley civilization.
2. the town planning and architecture of the Indus Valley
civilization.
3. the sculpture ( stone, ivory, terracotta) of the Indus
Valley civilization.
4. the steatite seals of the Indus Valley civilization.
5. the pottery of the Indus Valley civilization.
6. the toys and jewelry of the Indus Valley civilization.
1. Describe the beginnings of the Indus Valley civilization.

 The Indus Valley Civilization was a Bronze Age urban civilization that existed
from 3300–1300 BCE and covered most of present-day Pakistan and
northwest India.
 Situated around the Indus River and the Ghaggar-Hakra River, the Indus
Valley civilization is also known as the Harappan civilization, named after
Harappa, the first city to be excavated in the 1920s.
 The Indus civilization apparently evolved from the villages of neighbours or
predecessors, using the Mesopotamian model of irrigated agriculture with
sufficient skill to reap the advantages of the spacious and fertile Indus
River valley while controlling the formidable annual flood that
simultaneously fertilizes and destroys.
 Having obtained a secure foothold on the plain and mastered its more
immediate problems, the new civilization, doubtless with a well-nourished
and increasing population, would find expansion along the flanks of the great
waterways an inevitable sequel.
 The civilization subsisted primarily by farming, supplemented by an
appreciable but often elusive commerce. Wheat and six-row barley were
grown; field peas, mustard, sesame, and a few date stones have also been
found, as well as some of the earliest known traces of cotton.
 Domesticated animals included dogs and cats, humped and shorthorn cattle,
domestic fowl, and possibly pigs, camels, and buffalo. The Asian elephant
probably was also domesticated, and its ivory tusks were freely used.
 The Indus Basin and its environs were well-endowed with mineral resources,
including flint in the Rohri Hills in Sindh, agate and carnelian in Gujarat, gold
dust on the upper Indus, and steatite, copper, and perhaps tin in nearby
Rajasthan, as well as the stone and metal ores available in the Indo-Iranian
borderlands.
 Allowing about five hundred years for the development of this civilization,
the great period of the Indus Valley culture occurred in the later centuries of
the third millennium B.C., and may be described as an urban concentration
or assimilation of isolated and primitive village centers existing in Baluchistan
and Sind as early as 3500 or even 4000 B.C. The trade relations that linked
these settlements with early dynastic Sumer and the culture of Iran
apparently continued as late as the period of Mohenjo-daro and Harappa.

2. Describe the town planning and architecture of the Indus

Valley civilization.
 Harappa architecture is
the architecture of the Indus Valley
Civilization, an ancient society of
people who lived during circa 2500
BCE to 1700 BCE in the Indus
Valley of modern-day India and
Pakistan.
 The civilization's cities were noted
for their urban planning, baked brick
 houses, elaborate drainage systems, water supply systems, clusters of large
non-residential buildings, and new techniques in handicraft
(carnelian products, seal carving) and metallurgy (copper, bronze, lead, and
tin).

Town planning
 Mohenjo-daro had a planned layout with rectilinear buildings arranged on
a grid plan.
 Most were built of fired and mortared brick; some incorporated sun-
dried mud-brick and wooden superstructures.
 Sites were often raised, or built on man made hills. This could be to combat
flooding in the nearby areas. Another aspect of the architecture is they often
built walls around their entire cities.
 The city could be split into two different sections: an upper "acropolis" and a
"lower town". The lower town consisted of lower valued residential building
located on the eastern side of the city, while the upper acropolis would be on
the western side of the city which contained the higher value buildings and
public buildings.
 The acropolis was a “parallelogram that was 400–500 yards north-south and
200–300 yards east-west”. It was also thought that the acropolis area would
be built on the highest part of the mound in the city showing the importance
and status of the area was much higher than the rest of the area. Another
feature which suggests the acropolis is of higher importance is that the
fortifications around the area where bigger and stronger than those around
the rest of the city.

The architecture of Indus Valley Civilization features:

 Urban Cities: Remarkable town
planning, and an excellent system of
drainage and sanitation
 Large cities divided into two
parts: The ‘Citadel’ mound built on the
high podium of mud-brick to the west.
 The town to the east was the main hub of the residential area, which was
also surrounded by a massive brick wall
 Streets: The streets were straight and cut each other at right angles. They
were 13 to 34 feet wide and were well lined. The streets and roads divided
the city into rectangular blocks. Archaeologists have discovered the lamp
posts at intervals. This suggests the existence of street lights. Dustbins were
also provided on the streets. These prove the presence of good municipal
administration.
 Building Materials: No stone-built house in the Indus cities and the staircases
of big buildings were solid; the roofs were flat and were made of wood.
 Material used:
1. Burnt bricks
2. Sun-dried bricks

 Drainage System
 Advanced drainage and sanitation system. Each house had horizontal and
vertical drains and the house drains were connected with road drains. There
were underground drains for the streets and there drains were shielded by
stone slabs. Bricks were used to make the soak pits.
 Each house had its own drainage and soak pit which was connected to the
public drainage. Brick laid channels flowed through every street. They were
covered and had manholes at intervals for cleaning and clearing purposes.
 Large brick culverts with corbelled roofs were constructed on the outskirts of
the city to carry excess water.
 Great Granary
 Great granary at Harappa measuring 169 fit x 135 fit. Attached to the granary
were two-roomed tenements with a common courtyard.
 Great Bath
 The overall dimension of the Great
Public Bath is 180 feet by 108 feet.
The bathing pool measured about 39
feet by 23 feet with 8 feet depth.
There is a device to fill and empty the
water of the bathing pool and the
bathing pools were encircled with
galleries and rooms.
 It consists of a large quadrangle. In
the centre, there is a huge swimming pool (approximately 39 ft long, 23 ft
wide and 8ft deep) with the remains of galleries and rooms on all four sides.
It has a flight of steps at either end and is fed by a well, situated in one of the
adjoining rooms. The water was discharged by a huge drain with corbelled
roof more than 6 ft in depth. The Great bath had 8 ft thick outer walls.

3. Describe the sculpture ( stone, ivory, terracotta) of the

Indus Valley civilization.

 The forms of art found from various sites of the civilisation include
sculptures, seals, pottery, jewellery, terracotta figures, etc. The artists of that
time surely had fine artistic sensibilities and a vivid imagination. Their
delineation of human and animal figures was highly realistic in nature, since
the anatomical details included in them were unique, and, in the case of
terracotta art, the modelling of animal figures was done in an extremely
careful manner.
Stone Statues:
 Stone statues found in Indus valley sites are excellent examples of handling
the 3D volume.
 Two major stone statues are:
1. Bearded Man (Priest Man, Priest-King):-
 Found in Mohenjo-Daro.
 Bearded man’s figure made of Steatite.
 The figure interpreted as a priest and is
draped in a shawl coming under the right
arm and covering the left shoulder.
 The shawl is decorated with trefoil pattern.
 The eyes are elongated and half closed as in
a meditative concentration.
 Nose is well formed and medium size.
 Short cut moustache and a short beard and
whiskers.
 Hair is parted in the middle and a plain
woven fillet is passed round the head.
 An armlet on the right hand and holes around neck suggest necklace.
 A slight touch of the Greek style of statues can be seen overall.
2. Male Torso :-
 Found in Harappa (only major art element found in
Harappa).
 Made of Red Sandstone.
 There are socket holes in the neck and shoulders for
the attachment of head and arms.
 Legs are broken.
 The shoulders are well baked and the abdomen
slightly prominent.
 One of the well carved and finished work.
Bronze Casting:
 Bronze casting was practiced in wide scale in almost all major sites of the
civilization.
 The technique used for Bronze Casting was Lost Wax Technique.
 [Initially, the figure needed is made of wax and covered it with clay. After
allowed to dry the clay, the whole thing is heated so that the wax inside
the clay will be melted. The molten wax was then drained out through a
tiny hole made in the clay part. The hollow mold of clay thus created was
filled with molten metal. Once it cooled, the clay cover was completely
removed].
 Human as well as animal figures are present in the Bronze casting.
 Amongst animal figures the buffalo with its uplifted head, back and
sweeping horns and the goat are artistic merits.
 Copper dog and bird of Lothal and the Bronze figure of a bull from
Kalibangan shows that Bronze casting was popular at all centers of Indus
valley civilization.
 Metal casting continued even after the Indus
valley civilization through late Harappan,
Chalcolithic people, etc.
 Examples of Bronze casting are:
1. Dancing Girl
 Found from Mohenjo-Daro.
 Made up of Bronze.
 One of the best-known artifacts from Indus valley.
 Approximately 4-inch high figure of a dancing girl.
 This exquisite casting depicts a girl whose long
hair is tied in the bun and bangles cover her left
arm.
 Cowry shell necklace is seen around her neck.
 Her right hand is on her hip and her left hand is
clasped in a traditional Indian dance gesture.
 She has large eyes and flat nose.
 2. Bull from Mohenjo-Daro
 Bronze figure of the bull found in
Mohenjo-Daro.
 The massiveness of the bull and
the fury of the charge are eloquently expressed.
 The animal is shown standing with his head turned to the right.
 There is a cord around the neck.

Terracotta:
 Terracotta figures are more realistic in Gujarat sites and Kalibangan.
 In terracotta, we find a few figurines of bearded males with coiled hairs,
their posture rigidly upright, legs slightly apart, and the arms parallel to
the sides of the body. The repetition of this figure in exactly the same
position would suggest that he was a deity.
 A terracotta mask of a horned deity has also been found.
 Toy carts with wheels, whistles, rattles, bird and animals, gamesmen, and
discs were also rendered in terracotta.
 The most important terracotta figures are those represent Mother
Goddess.
1. Mother Goddess
 Mainly found in Mohenjo-Daro.
 These figures are usually crude standing figures.
 Adorned with necklaces hanging over the
prominent breast and wearing a loin cloth and a
grid.
 The fan-shaped headdress with a cup like
projection on each side is a distinct decorative
feature of the mother goddess.
 The pellet eyes and beaked nose of the figure
are very crude (constructed in a rudimentary
way).
 Mouth is indicated by a narrow opening.
 4. Describe the steatite seals of the Indus Valley civilization.
 Thousands of seals were discovered from the sites, usually made of
steatite, and occasionally of agate, chert, copper, faience and terracotta,
with beautiful figures of animals such as unicorn bull, rhinoceros, tiger,
elephant, bison, goat, buffalo, etc.
 The purpose was mainly commercial.
 They were also used as amulets, carried on the persons of their owners,
perhaps as modern identity cards.
 Standard Harappan seal was 2 x 2 square inches.
 Every seal is engraved in a pictographic script which is yet to be
deciphered.
 Some seals were also been found in Gold and Ivory.

Seals of Pashupati Mahadeva

 Found in Mohenjo-Daro.
 The seal depicts a human figure seated cross
legged.
 An elephant and a tiger are depicted to the right
side of the figure, while on the left a rhinoceros
and a buffalo are seen.
 Two antelopes (deer) are shown below the seat
(nearby his feet).
 The figure has a three horned head.
 The seal is carved in steatite and measures
3.56 cm by 3.53 cm, with a thickness of 0.76 cm. It has a human figure at
the centre seated on a platform and facing forward. The legs of the figure
are bent at the knees with the heels touching and the toes pointing
downwards. The arms extend outwards and rest lightly on the knees, with
the thumbs facing away from the body. Eight small and three large
bangles cover the arms. The chest is covered with what appear to be
necklaces, and a double band wraps around the waist. The figure wears a
tall and elaborate headdress with a central fan-shaped structure flanked
 by two large striated horns. The human figure is surrounded by four wild
animals: an elephant and a tiger to its one side, and a water
buffalo (bubalus arnee) and an Indian rhinoceros on the other. Under the
dais are two deer or ibexes looking backwards, so that their curved horns
almost meet in the centre. At the top of the seal are seven Indus
script symbols, with the last apparently displaced downwards for lack of
horizontal space.

5. Describe the pottery of the Indus Valley civilization.

 Indus Valley Civilization

consists chiefly of wheel
made wares (although
potters' wheels, being
made of wood, have not
survived) both plain and
painted while the plain
pottery (usually of red
clay with or without a fine
red slip) is more common
than the painted ware (of
red and black colours).

Characteristics of Indus Valley Civilisation Pottery

 The painted decorations consist of horizontal lines of varied thickness,
scales, chequers, leaf patterns, lattice work, palm and pipal trees.
Additionally, Birds, fishes and animals are also shown.
 Among the notable shapes found in the Harappan pottery are pedestal,
dishes, goblets, cylindrical vessels perforated all over and various kinds of
bowls.
 The uniformity in the forms and paintings on the pottery is difficult to
explain and normally the explanation of this uniformity is the fact that the
 local potters made the pottery. However, it is still unclear how such a
large area exhibited a uniform pottery tradition.
 Although the Indus pottery is mostly represented by the plain bases but
few ring bases discovered were on handmade pottery, which was
supposed to be baked at home.
 Pottery made on potter's wheel and burnt in kilns, has shown marks of
stamp which might indicate that a few varieties of vessels were traded
also.

Types of Pottery
 Different types of pottery such as
glazed(earliest example of its kind in the
ancient world), incised, polychrome,
perforated and knobbed were used by
Harappan people.
 Polychrome pottery (created when 3 or
more mineral colors are used to
decorate a hand built ceramic) was rare
and mainly comprised small vases
decorated with geometric patterns
mostly in red, black and green and less frequently in white and yellow
simultaneously incised ware is also rare and the incised decoration was
confined to the bases of the pans.
 Perforated pottery was probably used for straining liquor since it has
small holes all over the wall and a large hole at the bottom.
 The decoration on the outside with knobs is a special feature of Knobbed
pottery.
 The Harappan pottery includes goblets, basins, flasks, dishes, cylindrical
bottles, tumblers (flat-bottomed), narrow necked vases, spouted vases,
corn measures and a special type of dish on a stand which was a offering
stand or incense holder.
6. Describe the toys and jewelry of the Indus Valley
civilization.
 The Harappan men and women
decorated themselves with a large
variety of ornaments produced
from every conceivable materials
ranging from precious metals and
gemstones to bone and baked
clay.
 White necklaces, fillets, armlets
and finger rings were commonly
worn by both sexes.
 Jewellery found at Mohenjo-Daro and Lothal include necklaces of gold
and semiprecious metal stones, copper bracelets and beads, gold earrings
and head ornaments.
 A cemetery has been found at Farmona in Harappa where dead bodies
were buried with ornaments.
 Well developed bead industries were present at Chauhudaro and Lothal.
 Some beads were made of two or more stones cemented together.
 Also made models of animals, especially monkeys and squirrels, used as
pin head and beads.
 Spinning of cotton and wool was very common (both rich and poor
practiced spinning).
 Men and women wore two separate pieces of attire similar to dhoti and
shawl.
 Shawl covered the left shoulder passing below right arm.
 The excavations yielded a rich collection of objects in stone, bronze and
terracotta as these were the most popularly used materials to make
jewelry. One of the most known figurines is perhaps the Dancing girl of
Mohenjodaro (in bronze) wearing a necklace and a series of bangles
almost covering one arm, her hair dressed in a complicated coiffure,
 standing in a provocative posture, with one arm on her hip and one lanky
leg half bent.
 By 1,500 BC the population of the Indus Valley was creating molds for
metal and terracotta ornaments. Gold jewelry from these civilizations also
consisted of bracelets, necklaces, bangles, ear ornaments, rings, head
ornaments, brooches, girdles etc. Here, the bead trade was in a full swing
and they were made using simple techniques. Although women wore
jewelry the most, some men in the Indus Valley wore beads. Small beads
were often crafted to be placed in men and women's hair. The beads
were so small that they usually measured in at only 1 mm in diameter.
 Both men and women adorned themselves with ornaments. While
necklaces, fillets, armlets and finger-rings were common to both genders;
predominantly, females wore numerous clay or shell bracelets on their
wrists. They were often shaped like doughnuts and painted black. Over
the time, clay bangles were discarded for more durable ones made out of
precious metals.