INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION

Indus Valley Civilization  3300 to 1700 BC

seal from Harappa

The history of India is the story of a civilization that, despite many inner changes and frequent invasions, has retained its identity for 5,000 years . The earliest inhabitants of the country probably spoke the Munda or Kolarian languages and were related to the Mon-Khmer group of languages prevalent in southeast Asia . They apparently once covered a very large area, since place names throughout India show traces of their presence . Later, a darker people, speaking languages belonging to the Dravidian language group spread over India and drove the original inhabitants into lands farther east, or into the mountains and jungles of central and eastern India.

Around 2600 BC there seems to have been a dramatic change in many major Indus Valley cities and destruction by fire (yet no sign of invasion, suggesting internal disturbance ) from 2600 to 2500 BC. In this transitional phase 2600 -1900 BC there are new styles of pottery,bronze technology was introduced and bead making advanced and greater urbanism. There seems a great change in society in a very short period of time .

The History of India begins with the Indus Valley Civilization, which flourished in the north-western part of the Indian subcontinent from 3300 to 1700 BC. This Bronze Age civilization was followed by the Iron Age Vedic period, which witnessed the rise of major kingdoms known as the Mahajanapadas. In two of these, in the 6th century BCE, Mahavira and Gautama Buddha were born.

 The Indus Valley Civilization which flourished from about 2600 BCE to 1900 BC, and included urban centers such as Harappa and Mohenjo-daro (in Pakistan), marked the beginning of the urban civilization on the subcontinent. It was centred on the Indus River and its tributaries, and extended into the Ghaggar-Hakra River valley, the Ganges-Yamuna Doab,Gujarat, and northern Afghanistan.The ruins of Harappa were first described in 1842 by Charles Masson in his Narrative of Various Journeys in Baluchistan, Afghanistan and the Panjab. It was more than half a century later, in 1912, that Harappan seals?with the then unknown symbols?were discovered by J. Fleet, prompting an excavation campaign under Sir John Hubert Marshall in 1921/22, and resulting in the discovery of the hitherto unknown civilization at Harappa by Sir John Marshall

The civilization is noted for its cities built of brick, road-side drainage system and multi-storied houses. The streets of major cities such as Mohenjo-daro or Harappa were laid out in perfect grid patterns. The houses were protected from noise, odors, and thieves and included the world's first urban sanitation systems. The ancient Indus systems of sewerage and drainage that were developed and used in cities throughout the Indus region were far more advanced than any found in contemporary urban sites in the Middle East and even more efficient than those in some areas of Pakistan and India today. The advanced architecture of the Harappans is shown by their impressive dockyards, granaries, warehouses, brick platforms and protective walls. The massive citadels of Indus cities, which protected the Harappans from floods and attackers, were larger than most Mesopotamian ziggurats.

Example of Indus Valley art :The Dancing girl of Mohenjo-daro

The people of the Indus Civilization achieved great accuracy in measuring length, mass and time. They were among the first to develop a system of uniform weights and measures. Their measurements were extremely precise. Their smallest division, which is marked on an ivory scale found in Lothal, was approximately 1.704 mm, the smallest division ever recorded on a scale of the Bronze Age. Harappan engineers followed the decimal division of measurement for all practical purposes, including the measurement of mass as revealed by their hexahedron weights. Unique Harappan inventions include an instrument which was used to measure whole sections of the horizon and the tidal dock. In addition, Harappans evolved new techniques in metallurgy and produced copper, bronze, lead and tin. The engineering skill of the Harappans was remarkable, especially in building docks after a careful study of tides, waves and currents.

The Indus civilization's economy appears to have depended significantly on trade, which was facilitated by major advances in transport technology. These advances included bullock carts that are identical to those seen throughout South Asia today, as well as boats. Most of these boats were probably small, flat-bottomed craft, perhaps driven by sail, similar to those one can see on the Indus River today; however, there is secondary evidence of sea-going craft. Archaeologists have discovered a massive, dredged canal and docking facility at the coastal city of Lothal.

During 4300 - 3200 BC of the chalcolithic period (copper age), the Indus Valley Civilization area shows ceramic similarities with southern Turkmenistan and northern Iran which suggest considerable mobility and trade. During the Early Harappan period (about 3200?2600 BC), similarities in pottery, seals, figurines, ornaments etc. document intensive caravan trade with Central Asia and the Iranian plateau.^[36]

Judging from the dispersal of Indus civilisation artifacts, the trade networks, economically, integrated a huge area, including portions of Afghanistan, the coastal regions of Persia, northern and central India, and Mesopotamia.

There was an extensive maritime trade network operating between the Harappan and Mesopotamian civilisations as early as the middle Harappan Phase, with much commerce being handled by "middlemen merchants from Dilmun" (modern Bahrain and Failaka located in the Persian Gulf). Such long-distance sea-trade became feasible with the innovative development of plank-built watercraft, equipped with a single central mast supporting a sail of woven rushes or cloth.

Indus script

example of Indus Script

In spite of many attempts at decipherments and claims, it is as yet undeciphered. The script generally refers to that used in the mature Harappan phase, which perhaps evolved from a few signs found in early Harappa after 3500 BC, and was followed by the mature Harappan script. A few Harappan signs appear until around 1100 BC. The Harappan signs are most commonly associated with flat, rectangular stone tablets called seals, but they are also found on at least a dozen other materials. Over 4000 symbol-bearing objects have been discovered, some as far afield as Mesopotamia. The script is written from right to left .

Religion of the Indus Valley Civilization

In view of the large number of figurines found in the Indus valley, it has been suggested that the Harappan people worshipped a Mother goddess symbolizing fertility; however, this interpretation is not unanimously accepted.

Decline of the Indus Valley Civilization

Among the settlements were the major urban centres of Harappa and Mohenjo-daro, as well as Dholavira, Ganweriwala, Lothal, Kalibanga and Rakhigarhi. It is thought by some that geological disturbances and climate change, leading to a gradual deforestation may ultimately have contributed to the civilization's downfall. Around 1800 BC, signs of a gradual decline began to emerge, and by around 1700 BC, most of the cities were abandoned. However, the Indus Valley Civilization did not disappear suddenly, and many elements of the Indus Civilization can be found in later cultures. Current archaeological data suggests that material culture classified as Late Harappan may have persisted until at least c. 1000-900 BC .A possible natural reason for the IVC's decline is connected with climate change: The Indus valley climate grew significantly cooler and drier from about 1800 BC, linked to a general weaking of the monsoon at that time. Alternatively, a crucial factor may have been the disappearance of substantial portions of the Ghaggar Hakra river system. A tectonic event may have diverted the system's sources toward the Ganges PlainThe decline of the Indus Valley Civilization also included a break down of urban society in India and of the use of distinctively urban traits such as the use of writing and seals.