Meaning of the word culture: -
Archaeologists use the term 'culture' to refer to a group of antiquities that are of a particular style and are usually found together, belonging to a particular period of time and geographical area.
Harappan Civilization / Indus Valley Civilization :-
The first civilization of ancient India is the Harappan civilization. This culture was first discovered at a place called Harappa, hence this culture is named after him. Harappa is located on the left bank of the Ravi river in Montgomery district in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It has been dated to between about 2600 and 1900 BC. This civilization is also called Indus Valley Civilization.
The expansion of this civilization was initially fixed at 12 lakh 99 thousand 600 sq. KM . Which is now possible around 15 – 20 lakh sq. KM . The name suggested for the Indus civilization is the Indus Saraswati culture and the apt name for the Indus civilization is the Harappan civilization.
On the basis of research done by Mahadevan and Vishwanath in the Indus Civilization, 2467 inscriptions/recorded evidence have been found. Whose number has now increased to around 3000 .
Harappan Culture Period / Indus Valley Civilization :-
2600 to 1900 BCE
Parts / Stages of Harappan Culture:
- (i) Early Harappan Culture
- (ii) Developed Harappan culture
- (iii) Later Harappan Culture
B.C. (Before Christ) - BC
A.D. (Anno Dominy) – year of birth of Jesus Christ
B.P. (Before Present) – Before today
Discovery of Harappan Civilization :-
Note: - Harappan civilization was discovered in 1921-22 under the leadership of Daya Ram Sahni, Rakhaldas Banerjee and Sir John Marshall.
When the first railway line was being constructed between Karachi and Lahore in 1856, a Harappan site was suddenly discovered during excavation work. This place is in modern day Pakistan. Those workers mistook it for ruins and took away thousands of bricks from here and the bricks were used in laying the railway line but they could not know that there was any civilization here.
At that time both John Wroughton and William Wurton indicated to be an important civilization but still no excavation was done.
In 1920-21, Harappa was excavated for the first time by Madhoswarup Vatsa and Dayaram Sahni.
In 1922 Rakhal Das Banerjee excavated a place called Mohenjodaro which is situated on the right bank of the river Indus in Larkana district in Sindh region of Pakistan. Rakhal Das Banerjee was excavating the Kushan era Buddhist stupa on top of this mound.
Note :- The literal meaning of Mohenjodaro is :- i) Mound of the Dead ii) Mound of the Dead iii) Mound of Preto iv) Garden of Sindh v) Sindh Na Nakalsthan.
After both these excavations, in 1924, the Director General of the Archaeological Survey of India, Sir John Marshall, announced the discovery of a new civilization in front of the whole world. Sir John Marshall named it Indus Civilization in the journal London Weekly.
Why is the Harappan civilization called the Indus Valley Civilization? ,
This civilization is called the Indus Valley Civilization because this civilization was spread around the Indus river valley. This area was fertile, Harappans used to cultivate here.
Script of Indus Civilization :-
The first attempt to read the Indus script was made by Wendell in 1925 and the latest by Natwar Jha, Ghanpat Singh Dhanya, Rajaram. But still the Indus script cannot be read with evidence.
Most of the letters of the script have been found from Mohenjodaro and the second number from Harappa. The largest letters of the script have been found from Dholavira. Which have been considered as the symbol of the notice board .
The Indus script is metaphorical. That is, to express feelings through pictures. The Indus script is written on both sides, hence it is called Bustrophedan.
It is worth mentioning from the point of view of knowing the different aspects of the Indus Civilization: Various shapes and types of pieces made of hard rock and clay, in which rectangular and square are prominent.
Only articles are found on the rectangle, whereas on the square both articles and pictures are found. 5 cylindrical pieces of Mesopotamia have been found from Mohenjodaro and marble pieces made of Persia have been found from Lothal.
Creator of Indus Civilization :-
The main 4 types of Asti Panjars have been found in the excavation under the Indus Civilization.
- (1) Proto – Australoid
- (2) Mediterranean
- ( 3 ) Alpine
- (4) Mongolian
On this basis this possibility has been accepted. In its construction, people of friendly species had a place, although their founder Dravida has been considered. who later migrated to South India.
Salient features of Indus Civilization :-
There was a bronze age civilization.
The symbol of the first urban revolution in Indian history, which is confirmed by the remains of many important cities found from the excavation.
Importance in trade and commerce activities.
Pacifist attitude towards life (neither weapons, tools nor defensive weapons like shields, armor etc. in excavation.)
Collectivist attitude towards life (this is confirmed by the huge bathhouse of Mohenjodaro, the stadium obtained from Dholavira and Junikaran, the meeting hall received from Junikaran and Mohenjodaro)
The people of Sandhav were not familiar with iron, it is worth mentioning that the oldest evidence of iron has been found from Atranjikheda, Etah district of Uttar Pradesh. Whose time has been accepted around 1050 BC.
Indus people were not even familiar with brass.
Major sources of information about Harappan Civilization :-
- (i) Accommodation
- (ii) pottery
- ( iii ) Jewelry
- (iv) tools and
- (v) Seals
- (vi) Buildings and excavation coins.
Major sites of Harappan Civilization :-
Some sites of Harappan civilization are presently in Pakistan and the rest are in India :-
- Nageshwar (Gujarat)
- Balakot (Pakistan)
- Chanhudaro (Pakistan)
- Kotdiji (Pakistan)
- Dholavira (Gujarat)
- Lothal (Gujarat)
- Kalibangan (Rajasthan)
- Banawali (Haryana)
- Rakhigarhi (Haryana)
Town Planning and Architecture in the Harappan Civilization
- (1) town planning
- (2) Building construction
- (3) Public buildings
- ( 4 ) spacious bathroom
- (5) granary
- ( 6) Drainage System
Town plan (settlements) of Harappan Civilization :-
The settlements of the Harappan civilization were divided into two parts
(i) Fort: - It was built on the platform of raw bricks. The fort was surrounded by walls. The structures built on the fort were probably used for a specific public use.
(ii) Lower city:- Lower city gives examples of residential buildings. The lower city was also surrounded by a wall. Apart from this, many buildings were built on high platforms which served as the foundation.
Characteristics of the roads and streets of Harappan Civilization :-
Straight roads intersecting each other at right angles, due to which the entire city area has been divided into different imports and sections. Which is called trap method, oxfort method, chess board method.
Roads were made of mud.
Note: - In Banawali, the wheel marks of the vehicle have been found on the roads. Evidence of attempts to pave the road has also been found from Kalibanga.
Drains were made on the side of the road for draining water / there was an arrangement to cover the drains. The drains were covered with the floor. There would have been absorbent wells at a distance in the drains or in which the dirt used to stop. Cooked bricks were used in large quantities.
Building construction in Harappan Civilization :-
In the Harappan Civilization, the planning of Makanos was based on Agan. In which apart from toilet, bathroom, kitchen, bedroom etc. other rooms have also been found.
The foundation was built for strength. Houses were built on the side of the roads, from which there was complete arrangement of air, cleanliness and light.
Houses were built at a height above the ground. The doors of the houses were open towards the roads. The entrance doors of the houses were open towards the street as compared to the main road. Due to which it will be safe from outside movement, noise and pollution.
Drains were made on the side of the roads to drain the water. Arrangements were made to cover the drains.
The drains were covered with the floor. Absorbent wells used to be installed at some distance in the drains. In which the dirt used to stay. Cooked bricks were used in large quantities.
Public buildings in Harappan Civilization :-
The Indus Valley Civilization was divided into two parts. In the upper part of which there were public buildings and in the lower part there were private residences.
The remains of public or state buildings have been found in the excavation. A relic has been found from Mohenjodaro. Which is 70 meters long and 24 meters wide . This Ismark is a sign of the prosperity of that period. Here only the remains of a square room 71 meters long and so wide have been found. Which has 20 columns .
According to an estimate, this building would have been used for mutual discussions, religious events, social events.
Huge Baths in Harappan Civilization :-
The bathing reservoir was located in the fort. 11.88 meters long, 7.01 meters wide, 2.43 meters deep, there is a staircase at its bottom. This video is made from solid bricks
Bathrooms have been built around the pool and the barounds have also been made. A well is built near the room of the bathing pool. Due to which the water used to come into the pool and the dirty water of the pool was drained through another door (gate). The dirty water would then flow out of the city through large drains.
In the construction of the walls of the bath, davar or tar was used to avoid dampness. There were 6 entrances to the whole bath . There was also a provision of hot water in the bathroom.
Note: - Amest Mackay says about this bathhouse that this bath was used for the bath of Prohit.
Grain Store: -
In the excavation of Harappa city, 6-6 rows of food grains have been found in the highway of the fort here. The length of the granary is 18 m width + 7 m length (18 x 7) Its main gate opens towards the river or because whatever goods came through the water route was collected in the granary.
Drainage system in Harappan Civilization :-
The Harappan culture was urban. The standard of living of these people was high. The dirty water of the houses used to go outside the city from the drains built on the side of the roads. Pucca bricks were used in these drains. They were pilastered. So that there is no damage to the drains, clay, gypsum were used for pilaster.
Note: - Professor Ramcharan Sharma believes that no other civilization of the Kansh era gave as much importance to cleanliness and health as the people of Harappa gave.
Note: - Plenty of solid bricks were used, mainly four types of bricks were used.
Rectangle = 4:2:1
L type of bricks = These bricks were used in the corner.
Notched bricks = They are used in wells.
T type bricks = They were used in stairs.
The floor made of ornate bricks is found from Kalibanga.
A dog's claw mark was found on Eto while chasing a cat. It is found from the Chanhudaro civilization.
Social Life in the Harappan Civilization
- social organization
- Meal
- Clothes
- Jewelery & Beauty Show
- entertainment
- Technology
- dead deeds
- medical science
Social Organization in Harappan Civilization :-
Historian Garner Child has divided society into four parts:-
Educated class :- Prohit, Medicine, Magician, Jotis
Warriors / Soldiers: - These have been confirmed by the remains of presence in the forts.
Merchant and signature and : - Weaver, Kumar, Suvarnakar
Workers and farmers :- Basket makers, Fishermen
Food in Harappan Civilization :-
Wheat, rice, barley, oil, peas, vegetables, he was also a non-vegetarian. They used to eat meat of tortoise, gadiyal, sheep, goat, pig and fish etc.
During this period, fruits of dates, pomegranate, watermelon, lemon, coconut etc. were depicted in the paintings. He used these fruits as food
Thus the Harappans were both non-vegetarian and vegetarian.
Clothing in Harappan Civilization :-
He used to wear different clothes in different seasons. There was a difference in the clothes of men and women.
Men wore sari in dhoti, turban, dashale (kurta), and women in ghagra.
Note:- Turban has been found in the idol received from Chanhudar.
Jewelery and Cosmetics in Harappan Civilization :-
Both men and women used to wear jewellery. And both used to use cosmetics ingredients. Rings, earrings, bangles, armbands, necklaces, rich people used to wear precious metal ornaments like gold in their hands. Whereas the common people used to wear ornaments made of copper, bronze and bone.
Recreation in Harappan Civilization :-
His favorite pastime was fishing, hunting. Animal races, rattlesnakes, whistles and games of chess were their means of entertainment.
Apart from this, they used to play games with stones and oyster bullets. In the excavation, the statue of animals, bell carts, two wheeled copper chariot have been found. The idol of Natyagana has also been found. In which it is known that the Harappans also used to dance and sing.
Technology :-
They used to manufacture metal works. Used to separate metals from ores. They were also used to manufacture alloys. They used to make bronze by mixing silver and tin in copper. Ashyak was supplied from Khedi (Jhunjhunu) of Rajasthan province and Hazaribagh of Bihar province. Used to make flint bots and corrugated bombs.
In the Harappan Civilization, the death rituals (Antimashti ceremony) :-
The remains of shamans have been found in Harappan cities (Mohenjodaro, Banawali, Harappa, Kalibanga, etc.).
According to Sir John Marshall it is divided into three parts.
- 1) Complete burial / cremation
- 2) Partial burial / burial
- 3) Cremation / Tribulation Cremation
Complete burial:
The body was buried from north to south.
Note: - A grave has been found in Harappa which has been buried from south to north. And all are kept in the coffin. It has been identified with a special grave.
Note: - The remains of burial from east to west have been found in Lothal. And the dead bodies are in the form of turns.
Note: - Couple bodies (female, male) have been found from Lothal itself. This shows that the practice of Sati was prevalent at that time.
The largest graveyard has been found from Harappa, which has been named as R37 .
Another cemetery has been found in the Harappan culture, which has been given the name of H graveyard.
Partial burial:
Burying the remains after the carcass is eaten by animals and birds.
Tribulation Cremation / Cremation :-
After the cremation, the remaining remains should be buried in an urn or Manjusha (pot).
Medical Science in Harappan Civilization :-
Herbs, fruits, leaves of trees, flowers of specific species of trees, juices were consumed. Powder was made from the horns of deer. Medicines were also made from sea froth (zhang). Shilajit was also found.
Economic Life in the Harappan Civilization
- 1 ) Agriculture
- 2) Animal Husbandry
- 3 ) Business
- 4) Cottage Industry
- 5) Measure by weight
Agriculture :-
Crops like barley, wheat, peas, dates, cotton, watermelon, sesame, rye, mustard were grown. Their production was not found with a shovel. But the remains of the plow have been found from Kalibanga. The margin was used to cut the stone.
A two wheeler cart was used to wash grains. The bull was the most important animal of the Indus civilization.
Animal Husbandry :-
Goats, sheep, pigs, buffaloes, bulls were reared, bull was the main animal in the form of bull. Apart from this, elephants were also reared. But he was not familiar with the horse. He used to keep dogs and cats. Along with this, pictures of parrot, peacock, coral, bear, cheetah, rabbit, duck, deer etc. are inscribed in the paintings of his sculptures. But there is no residue.
Business :-
The Harappans gave more importance to trade.
A glass track was used for measurement.
A factory using a wat of stones obtained from excavation has been found in Chanhudaro.
Lived for many business classes in the society. Whose work was done only by trade or business. Among them Kumar, Carpenter, Goldsmith etc. were prominent.
Apart from economic trade, they had trade relations with Iran, Afghanistan, Mesopotamia, Iraq.
Additional trade goods through William whose external trade was done through seals. In distant countries, ships used to use queens.
Cottage Industry :-
In addition to clay sculptures, toys, utensils made of chalk by Kumaro, the manufacture of bricks was also done on a large scale.
During this period, various ornaments of ivory, shell and metal were made.
Measure balance: -
Scales and watts were included for the weighing. Wat was made from smooth stone (chert) The wat was constructed from stone. The largest Watt weighed 375 grams and the smallest weighed 0.87 grams .
Religious Life in the Harappan Civilization
- Worship of Goddess only.
- Worship of Shiva or the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
- Tree and animal worship.
- Linga worship.
Worship or worship of Goddess only :-
There was a lack of temples in the Harappan culture. No such building was found in the excavation which can be named as Devalaya. In this period, many nude women's idols made of clay and metal have been found.
Only many pictures of the goddess are inscribed in amulets, in pottery and in seals. In this it is revealed that only Goddess is worshiped here.
Note: - Prof RS Tripathi believes that the highest prestige in the field of worship was only of power. Whose worship was from ancient times in all the countries from Iran to the Indian Sea.
Only the contribution of Goddess in the origin of Goddess Shrishti and the spread of vegetation has been accepted.
At this time, the practice of sacrifice was in vogue just to please the goddess. Worship, worship, dance, music were sacrificed. Remains of temples have not been found in this period.
Worship of Shiva or Param - Purusha :-
In the excavation, Ernest Mackay found such a posture on which the figure of a man has horns on both sides of the head. This yogi has three faces. In a calm and serious posture. On its left side there is a wild buffalo and a rhino, while on the right is a lion and an elephant. There is a deer in front, five words are written on the head of this meditative yogi. which have not yet been read. (Worship of Pashupati Shiva as the Supreme Person)
Tree and Animal Worship:
In many Mohoros there is a marking of pictures of Peepal and its leaves. In which it seems that those people used to worship Peepal under tree worship, even today Peepal tree is worshiped. Apart from these, bulls and bulls are depicted on many Mohoros.
At present, the worship of bull (Nandi) along with Lord Shiva is performed in many parts of India.
Linga Puja :-
In the excavation, Linga of Linga worship stone (stone) has been found, from this it is estimated that the practice of Linga worship was in the Harappan culture. Some of these lingo's top rounded shape is notched, some lingas of one or two inches and some even four feet have been found. The Swastik sign, the cross and the pilus are the sacred symbols of the Harappan period. Which are still considered sacred today.
Political life in Harappan Civilization :-
Very little information about political life and political system is available here. Historian Hunter believes that the governance system in Mohenjodaro was democratic, it was not monarchical.
Historian Wheeler believes that the administration of Mohenjodaro was in the hands of priests and religious leaders.
They ruled through the representatives of the people. Looking at the city construction and building construction, it seems that there must have been a municipality there.
Development of Art in Harappan Civilization
- sculpture
- Metallurgy
- textile making
- painting
- character making art
- music and music
- currency art
- copper making
- writing art
Sculpture :-
The stone sculptures found in the excavation, bronze sculptures have been shown in it. The idol of a dancer is very beautiful and attractive, in these idols the cheekbones are very beautiful and attractive, the eyes are oblique and thin, the neck is short and thin.
Metallurgy: -
Jewelry of gold, silver, copper, etc. has been found.
Textile making art:
The spinning wheel has been found in the excavation. Which shows that the people there were skilled in the work of cutting yarn. They used to wear cotton, wool and silk clothes.
Painting :-
Pictures of bulls, pictures of buffaloes, pictures of trees on Mohoro means they were skilled in painting.
Character - Creation Art :-
In making earthen pots, various types of pitchers to fill water, many types of small containers to keep grains, clay toys, it means that they were skilled in pot-making art.
Dance and Music Arts :-
An idol of a dancer has been found, pictures of soles and dholak are found on the characters.
currency art:
In the excavation, 600 pieces of different types of stones, metals and ivory and clay have been found. On which pictures of animals have been found on one side and articles on the other side.
The art of copper making :-
Many copper sheets have been found in the excavation which are of square and rectangular shape. There are pictures of animals and humans. In animals, pictures of yogis have been found in humans like bull, buffalo, rhinoceros, bull, elephant, lion etc.
Writing Art :-
No written inscription or copper plate has been found in the excavation. But still there is difference of scholars (about the script in this script was pictorial. And it was written on both sides from right to left and from left to right.
Ways of Subsistence (Agriculture, Craftsmanship, Trade) :-
Millet grains have been found from Gujarat. Rice grains are less available.
Clay plow toys have been found from Banawali (Haryana).
Evidence of a shoe farm has been found from the civilization named Kalibanga. In this field, plow lines are shown intersecting each other at right angles. This shows that two judgments were produced simultaneously.
Most of the Harappan sites were located in semi-arid regions. Where irrigation is required.
The Harappans also used cotton. The remains of pieces of cloth have been found from Mohenjodaro.
Pursuit of luxury
Small vessels of fayans (a substance made by cooking a mixture of crushed sand, or sand and paint and sticky material) were probably valuable. Because it was difficult to make them.
Small pots made in the form of aromatic substances have been found from Mohenjodaro and Harappa.
Gold was also rare and possibly as valuable as it is today. All the gold ornaments found from Harappan sites have been obtained from accumulations.
Exchange of Pieces :-
The seals of the Indus civilization have been found from Ur, Sumer, Krish, Ummah, Telusmar, Bahrain, etc.
Pieces of Mesopotamia have been found from Mohenjodaro and Persia from Lothal. (confirmed item exchange)
John Marshall has found a seal from Mohenjodaro which depicts a man fighting a tiger.
According to John Marshall, this idea is taken from the Babylonian epic, Gilgamesh.
The ship's picture and the name of the earthen vessel on the seal were the remains of Godibara found from Lothal.
Pottery: -
The pottery here is mainly made of thick sandy clay. Which is painted in black color. Mainly Geometrical Illustrations
One such pot has been found from Lothal, on which the equation of the picture depicted has been done with the fox driving the story of Panchatantra.
A picture of a human and a child has been found on a pottery found from Harappa. Designer pottery has also been found. In which different colors have also been used. They were used for decoration.
Artistic Relics:
- Statue of dancer made of black stone obtained from Harappa in the posture of Nataraja dance.
- Statue of Sivihini human also found from Harappa.
- Headless human statue found from Mohenjodaro.
- Bronze dancer obtained from Mohenjodaro.
Features of Harappan script:
- This script was written from right to left.
- This script was pictorial script.
- There were 375 – 400 symbols in this script.
- no one understands this script till date
- This is a mysterious script.
- Due to this, we could not get much information about the Harappan civilization because till date scholars could not understand the script of Harappa.
Crafts in Harappan Civilization: -
- Craft work means doing work related to craft like :-
- Bead making.
- Harvesting shellfish.
- Metal working.
- Making seals
- To make from
- Chanhudaro was such a place where the people used to do almost entirely the work of craft production.
- Some such things have been found in Chanhudaro, which shows that craft production was done on a large scale here.
- Harappan pieces have been found in abundance.
- The Harappans used bronze.
- Bronze is an alloy made by mixing copper and tin.
How were beads made in the Harappan civilization?
- Beads were made from a stone called Selkhadi.
- Beads were also made from a stone called carnelian.
- Beads like salt were also made from stone.
- Beads were also made of copper.
- Beads were also made of gold.
- Beads were also made of bronze.
- These beads were used in garlands and were very beautiful.
- Beads are one of the main civilizations of the Harappan civilization.
Cunningham :-
Cunningham was the first Director General of the Archaeological Survey of India. Alexander Cunningham is also called the father of Indian archaeology.
Cunningham began archaeological mining in the middle of the 19th century. He preferred to use written sources.
Cunningham's illusion:
- Cunningham also wrote and translated the collection of records found during his survey.
- Harappan objects were found sometime in the 19th century and even reached Cunningham.
- An Englishman gave Cunningham a seal found in Harappa.
- When Alexander Cunningham was shown the Harappan seal by an English officer, Cunningham could not understand how old that seal was.
- Cunningham linked that seal to a period of which he knew
- They could not understand its importance, how ancient that seal was.
- Cunningham thought that this seal dates back to the first cities to flourish in the Ganges valley, while the seal dates back to earlier cities in the Ganges valley.
Reasons for the decline of Harappan Civilization:-
- Climate change .
- natural calamity .
- Earthquake .
- famine.
- Epidemic .
- External invasion (invasion of Aryan race).
- Deforestation.
- Drying of rivers
- Changing the course of rivers.
- Coming of floods (Damodar, Kosi, Mahanadi) Famous river of flood.
Note: - Invasion of Pingat and Wheeler Aryan race, there is a mention of the destruction of Hariushiya by the Aryans in the Rigveda (the oldest Veda).
- Harappa is called Hariushiya in Vedic literature.
- According to Sir John Marshall, Ernest Markey, SR Rao, the estimates of floods in the rivers.
- Climate change according to Almanand Ghosh, DP Agarwal.
