1.

The Harappan Civilisation

Civilisation is defined as an advanced stage of human cultural development. It implies the
use of superior technology and complex economic relationships. There are a number of traits
which mark civilization. Some of these are: -Evolution of cities,Surplus food,Division of
labour,System of writing, Public buildings, Development of technology.
Importance of Metal: It is more durable than stone and could be used for makinga variety
of tools, implements and weapons.
The first metal to be discovered was copper. When man used both stone and copped tools is
known as the Chalcolithic Period.
Bronze Age Civilizations
Man leant the art of mixing copper with tin or zinc to produce the alloy called Bronze.
Bronze is hard and more ductile than copper and is therefore more suitable for the
manufacture of tools and weapons. Because of the importance of bronze in the growth of the
first civilizations, these are known as the Bronze Age Civilisations.
" The Harappan Civilization on the banks of river Sindu
"The Mesopotoamian Civilisation on the banks of river Euphrates and tigris
" The Chinese Civilisation on the banks of rivers Hwang Ho and Yuangtze
"The Egyptian Civilisation on the banks of river Nile.
The Harappan Civilisation
The discovery of Indus Valley Civilization by 2500 BCE the evidences of Harappan
civilization were obtained in Harappa, the first site to be discovered in 1921 at the modern
site of Harappa situated in the province of West in Punjab in Pakistan. Thus it is also called
as the Harappan Civilisation.
Sources
The Great Bath - Its architectural features
It is one of the largest public buildings at Mohenjo-daro.
It has a large rectangular tank in a courtyard surrounded by a corridor on all 4 sides.
- There are 2 flights of steps one in north and the other in the south leading into the tank.
To make the pool watertight, burnt bricks and mortar lines with bitumen and gypsum were
used for construction.
The water for bath was provided by a well in an adjacent room.
"Surrounding the bath, were porticos and sets of rooms, and a stairway which led to an upper
storey.
Its importance
" Its construction indicates that the art of buildings had reached a high degree of perfection at
that time.
It points out that there might have existed a ruling class that mobilize labour, collect taxes
and build such a huge structure for the public.
" It might have been used for religious purposes like ceremonial bathing in sacred tarnks
Its designs portray the efficient planning in the structural features relating to water supply
and sewage disposal.
The Citadel
"The raised are of each city was called the Citadel.
It had the houses ofthe ruling class and important buildings like the Great Bath, the granary,
the assembly hall and the workshops.
It indicates some sort of social classification.
 Seals
The seals were used by traders to stamp their goods
Material used in making the seals comprises terracotta, steatite, agate, etc.
" Most of the seals are rectangular or square but some of them are circular in shape.
. It provides useful information about the script, trade, religion and beliefs of the Harappans.
About 2000 seals have been discovered
It shows a three-faced deity wearing a buffalo-horned head dress, seated cross-legged on a
throne surrounded by one-horned bull, buffalo, tiger, goat, elephant and rhinoceros, with two
deer at his feet.
This deity has been identified as Pashupati Mahadeva.
o The unicorn seal shows their mythical beliefs.
Bearded Man
" The stone sculpture of a man with a beard was discovered from Mohenjo-dara.
It has a shawl worn over the left shoulder and the eyes are half closed.
Therefore, some scholars believe that this is the statue of a yogi.
Itpoints out the existence of skilled artisans at that time.
Dancing Girl
It was a statue made of Bronze found at Mohenjo-daro.
" It shows a high degree of development in the art of sculpture.
It shows vigour, variety and ingenuity.
The right arm of the dancing girl rests on the hip and the left arm is heavily bangled.
It holds a small bowl against her left leg.
Dockyard
oArectangular dockyard was discovered at Lothal in Gujarat.
" It was surrounded by a massive brick wall, probably as a protection against floods.
" Itwas made of baked bricks.
"Lohal was an important trading andmanufacturing centre of the Indus Valley Civilisations.
" It was used for carrying out overseas trade.
Script
It is regarded as pictographic as its signs represent birds, fish and varieties of human form.
" The no. of signs were between 375 and 400.
. It is found inscribed on a number of seals, copper tools, rims of jars, copper and terracotta
tablets, jewellary and on an ancient signboard.
" The Indus script has not been deciphered.
Origin of the Civilisation - Foreign Origin
. Some scholars believe that this civilization came into existence as a result ofa sudden
migration of people with an urban civilization to the Indus basin.Some scholars had the
opinion that the Mesopotamians and Harappans had the trade contacts.
o This theory was rejected as no evidence was found
Indigenous Origin
The recent researches show that roots of the Harappan Civilisation lie deep in the Indian soil.
According to some historians, the urban Harappan culture was only an outgrowth of the
extensive local village cultures with the external stimulus provided by trade contacts with
" Mesopotamia.Some historians concluded that the Harappan civilization evolved from these
agricultural communities.
Extent
The entire area of the Harappan civilization is triangular in shape.
 Its area was about 1.3 million sq.km.
It was the largest amongst the ancient civilizations.
It extended from Sutkagendor in the west, to Alamgirpur in the east and from Manda in the
north to Bhagatrav in the south.
The Harappan culture covered parts of Pun jab, Haryana, Sindh, Baluchistan, Gujarat,
" Rajasthan and the fringes of western UP.
Extensions in Gujarat and Punjab have been discovered.
Common Elements between Mohenjodaro and Harappa
Both are located on river banks
" Both measured around5.0 km in circuit
Ground plans including layout of streets, blocks of houses were common to both the cities.
o Water supply, drainage, granaries were common.
Indoor plumbing, paved bathrooms, brick drainpipes, a network of brick lined sewage
channel is seen common.
Features of Urban Planning
Each city was divided into two parts -the raised area, called the 'citadel' and the lower
town'
The main streets followed a grid pattern running from north to south or from east to west.
The houses at street corners were rounded to allow carts.
Houses drains emptied all waste water into the street drains.
The streets crossed the main road at right angles, dividing the city into square or rectangular
blocks.
Houses
The residential buildings were built on a high mound in order to protect them from floods.
The houses were equipped with spacious rooms, wells, bathrooms with covered drains
connected with street drains.
The kitchen was placed in a sheltered corner of the courtyard and the ground floor contained
storerooms and well chambers.
The houses were made of brick and wood. Each house had doors, windows and ventilators.
Doors and windows opened on the side of the streets andnot on the main roads.
Trade
The Harappans carried on trade in stone, metal, shell, etc.
Barter systemalso existed.
Mohenjodaro, Harappa and Lothal - Metallurgy centre producing tools, weapons as well as
kitchenware.
Lothal and Surkotada -Cotton providing centres
Balakot and Chanhudaro - Bangle Making centres
Lothal and Chanhudaro beads manufacturing centres
Harappans had trade contacts with their western neighbours.
The Mesopotamian records says that they had trade contacts with Meluha, old name of Indus
region.Two intermediate trading stations were Dilmun and Makan
Weights and Measures
" The Harappans used sets of cubical stone weights.
The basic unit was l6 equal to modern 14 grams
The larger weights were multiples of 16 and smaller ones were all fractions of 26.
Transport
A terracotta model of a ship was discovered from Lothal, pointing to the use of ships.
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