👉 Indus Valley Civilization

• The Harappan Civilization, also known as the Indus Valley Civilization (IVC), flourished
around 2600 BCE along the Indus River .
• It was the largest of the four ancient urban civilizations alongside Egypt, Mesopotamia, and China.
• Also known as Bronze-age civilization.
• Sir John Marshall, DG of ASI, was responsible for the excavations that led to the discovery
of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro sites of IVC.

• Phases:

• Early phase (3200 BCE to 2600 BCE) - associated with the Hakra Phase, which was discovered in
the Ghaggar-Hakra River Valley.
• Transitional phase
• Mature period (2600 BCE to 1900 BCE): By 2600 BC, the IVC had reached a mature stage.
• Late phase (1900 BCE to 1500 BCE)
👉 Features of IVC -

□ Town Planning

• notable for its advanced town planning with cities designed in the grid-like system.
• Both Harappa and Mohenjodaro featured a citadel or acropolis, likely occupied by the ruling
class.
• Below these citadels lay the lower towns, consisting of brick houses inhabited by common
people.
• Granaries of large size were used to store grains, and there was widespread use of burnt
bricks.
• Mohenjodaro had an impressive drainage system.
• The drains were made of mortar, lime & gypsum were slightly sloped and had manholes at
regular intervals for cleaning purposes
• In Kalibangan, many homes even had private wells.
• Houses were often of two or more storeys
• Chanhudaro was the only Indus Valley city without a citadel.
• Also, roads had cut across each other at right angles.
👉 Agriculture:

• Harappan villages, primarily located near floodplains, were highly productive, yielding crops
such as wheat, barley, peas, sesame, lentils, chickpeas, rai, and mustard.
• Millets were also cultivated, particularly in Gujarat, though rice was rare.
• The Indus people were among the first to produce cotton (Greeks called it “Sindon”).
• In addition to farming, animal husbandry was widespread.
• Wooden plough found in Kalibangan (Rajasthan), Granary found in Mohenjodaro
(Pakistan) & evidence of growing Barley found in Banawali (Rajasthan) all indicate the
presence of agriculture.
• Traces of canals have been found at the Harappan site of Shortughai in Afghanistan, but not
in Punjab or Sindh.
👉 Domestication of Animals

• Archaeological evidence indicates the Indus Valley Civilization had domesticated sheep,
goats, cattle, dogs, camels, and elephants.
• There are some doubts whether the horse was domesticated by the Indus Valley people or
not.
👉 Economy:

• Trade played a vital role in Harappan life, evident from the widespread use of seals, a
uniform script, and standardised weights and measures.
• Major trade items included stone, metal, and shell.
• The barter system was used, as metal currency did not exist.
• A trading colony in northern Afghanistan facilitated commerce with Central Asia.
• Long-distance trade in lapis lazuli (blue semi precious stone).
• Evidence is provided in the Mesopotamian records which indicate trade relations with
‘Meluha’ (An ancient name given to the Indus region) and also the presence of trading ports
called ‘Dilmun’ and ‘Makan’.
👉 Art & Crafts:

• Harappans were skilled in bronze manufacturing, using copper from Rajasthan (Khetri
mines) and tin possibly from Afghanistan.
• Textile impressions on objects suggest a knowledge of weaving.
• Goldsmiths crafted jewellery from gold, silver, and precious stones.
• The potter's wheel was widely used.

• Garments in Indus Valley Civilization were made from various materials like cotton, silk, wool,
etc.
• Also, the presence of woven cloth at Mohenjodaro indicates that the IVC inhabitants were
well acquainted with spinning and weaving.
• IVC inhabitants also practised boat-making, bead-making & seal-making.
• Bead-making shops have been excavated from Chanhudaro & Lothal.
• IVC seals were mainly made of steatite which is a kind of soft stone.
👉 Religion:

• Numerous terracotta figurines of women suggest worship of a fertility goddess, similar to the
Egyptian goddess Isis.
• Proto-Shiva or Pashupati Figurine appears to be the only male deity as depicted on the
IVC Seals.
• Pashupati Figurine is surrounded by 4 wild animals, viz., elephant, tiger, buffalo & rhinoceros.
• Symbols of the phallus (male sex organ) and yoni (female sex organs) indicate fertility
worship.
• The Harappans worshipped animals and trees, with the unicorn (possibly a rhinoceros).
• Amulets were commonly found.
👉 Weights and Measures
👉 Seals

• Seals are one of the greatest artistic creations of the Indus Valley Civilization.
• About 2000 seals have been discovered and they carry short inscriptions with pictures of
one-horned bull, buffalo, tiger, rhinoceros, goat, elephant, etc(excluding horse).
• In Mohenjo-Daro, three cylindrical seals of the Mesopotamian type have been found which
depict their trading relations.
👉 Burial Practises of the Civilization

• Three forms of burial have been found at Mohenjo-Daro:

• Complete burial: It means the burial of the whole body.
• Fractional burial: It means the collection of some bones after the exposure of the body to
wild beasts and bird
• Post cremation burial: Cremation followed by burial of ashes.
• Coffins Burial have been found in Harappa.
• At Lothal, a pair of male and female skeletons have been discovered together.
👉 Scientific & Technological Achievements

• IVC can be called the ‘womb of mathematics’ from where both the concepts of numbers &
numerical systems originated.
• Harappan Numerical System is decimal-based & additive multiplicative in usage.
▪ The numerical system which was first used by the Harappan later found its way into other
ancient civilizations.
👉 Language and Script of the Indus Valley Civilization

• the Harappan Languages & Scripts haven’t been deciphered yet.

• The style of Harappan Script was that of Boustrophedon, which is written from right to left.
• The language was mainly pictographic.
👉 Decline of the Indus Valley Civilization - This civilization declined around 1800 BCE but
the actual reasons behind its demise are still debated.

□ Various Theories

• Aryan Invasion Theory

• Epidemic Theory
• Natural Disasters Theory
• Less Rainfall leading to Draughts
• Change in the course of the river