The Harappan Civilization
The Harrapan Civilization or the Indus Valley Civilization originated in Harappa near the
Indus river. It has been estimated that the civilization belong from 2500 BCE to 1750 BCE by
Radio Carbon Method. Earlier estimations of origin of Harappan Civilization were off by
many hundred years.
The Indus Valley Civilization originated in the same time period when the Mesopotamian
and the Egyptian Civilizations prospered.
Extent
The Harrapan Civilization had extended from Ropar in the north to the valleys of
Narmada and Tapi in the south and from Meerut in the Upper Ganga-Yamuna Doab in
the east to the Suktagendor on the Makran Coast of South Baluchistan in the west.
Of the important sites of the civilization, some note-worthy ones are: Mohenjodaro,
Harappa, Chanhudaro Lothal, etc.
NOTE: Mohenjodaro and Harappa were the chief cities and probably the capital.
Main Features of the Harappan Civilization
Urban Planning / Town Planning
The Town Planning of the Harappan Civilization was the most striking feature of the entire
civilization.
The Indus cities followed a grid pattern.
The city was divided into two parts, namely:
The citadel, built on a high platform where public buildings, religious structures and
granaries were built. The priests and the royal family including nobleman lived in
the citadel.
The other was the town proper or lower town where the common men had made
their homes.
The houses had quite the diversity, they ranged from houses with single rooms to
houses with up to TWELVE rooms. The streets crossed one another at right angles.
The houses were made from burnt bricks and mud mortar.
A visitor to the ruins at Mohenjodaro is struck by the remarkable skill in town planning.
The city was the creation of careful forethought and planning.
Dr. A.D. Paluskar
The Drainage System
Each house had its own small drains which were directly connected with the street drain
which ran under the main street and below many lanes. Each house had its own soak-pit
and warer flowed from the sink into the underground sewers in the streets.
The drains consisted of mortar, lime and gypsum.
They were covered with bricks and stones.
There were manholes at regular intervals for inspection.
A striking feature of this was that people refused to throw ash and other wastage in the
drains (unlike today's modern society in India...).
Civic Organisation
It is quite clearly evident that there must have been some kind of Civic Organisation in the
Harappan period which overpowered the people and controlled them otherwise such a
beautiful drainage system would not have been possible.
The Civic Organisation also had inns for travellers, the system of watch and ward at night
might have also existed and nobody could build potter kilns in the city.
Arts and Crafts of the Harappan Period
The Indus valley people were proficient in Arts and Crafts and possessed extreme artistic
skill evident by the structures like The Granaries, The Great Bath, The arts of sculpture, The
arts of carving, The arts of pottery, The arts of painting, The seals.
We have also not been able to decodee The Harappan Script. It is a pictographic script
which underlies many of the secrets that will be discovered when the script gets decoded. In
many of the seals, there are 250-400 pictographic letters.
Religion
Stone images, figurines and engravings on the seals help us to know the religious ideas
and beliefs of the people. A sculpture representing the Mother Goddess has been
discovered.
The seal of Shiva-Pashupati is also of great help when trying to uncover the religious ideas
of the people.
Trade or Commercial Relations with the outside world
The people of the Indus Valley maintained close economic relations with the outside world.
They established connections with southern India, eastern India and Kashmir, as well
with Central Asian and West Asian countries.
The seals have shown evidence of the Indus Valley people having relations with the
Sumerians, Egyptians, Crete
Fall of Indus Valley Civilization
1. It might have been destroyed by regular floods.
2. An epidemic or some terrible disease might have killed the people.
3. The climate also began to change and the region became more and more dry or spread
of desert.
4. Perhaps the Aryans attacked their cities and destroyed them.
5. It is also possible that the earthquakes might have been responsible for the destruction
of the Indus Valley Civilization.
Lothal, the southernmost city of the Indus Valley Civilization had the world's earliest
known dockyard.
