INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION

The Indus Valley Civilization is one of the oldest civilization of the world along with the
Mesopotamia Civilization in Iraq and Ancient Egypt Civilization.
The Indus Valley Civilization is also known as the Harappan Civilization as Harappa was the
first and the most important site if the Indus Valley Civilization.
The Indus Valley Civilization was spread in 12, 60,000 sq.kms which includes whole Pakistan
some parts of India, Afghanistan and Iran (Persia).
The materials which were found during the excavations and on the basis of the radio-carbon
dating it is believed that Indus Valley Civilization was spread from the year 2500-1750 B.C.
The first site which was discovered was Harappa which discovered by Dr. D.R. Sahani in the
year 1921 on the banks of the river Ravi and Mohanjodaro in the year 1922 by R.D. Banerjee
on the banks of the river Indus. Sir John Marshall played important role in both the
excavations.
Indus Valley Civilization forms the part of the Proto History of India and belongs to the Bronze
Age.
The population of the Indus Valley Civilization consists of the Mediterranean, Proto-
Australoid, and Mongoloids.
The use of Gold, Silver, Copper and Bronze was there but the use of Iron was completely
unknown.

Important Sites of Indus Valley Civilization

Harappa- Daya Ram Sahani 1921

Mohanjodaro- R.D. Banerjee-1922
Amri- M.G. Majumdar-1929
Chanhudaro- M.G.Majumdar-1931
Kalibanga- Amlanand Ghosh-1953
Lothal- S.R. Rao-1957
Banwali- R.S. Bisht-1973
Surkotada- Jagat Pal Joshi-1964
Dholavira- Jagat Pal Joshi- 1967
Ropar- Y.D.Sharma- 1953
Rangpur- M.S. Vats- 1931

Important Sites of Indus Valley Civilization

Harappa

It was founded in the year 1921 by Mr. Dayaram Sahani. It is situated near the Sahiwal district
of Pakistan on the banks of the river Ravi.
The Great Granary was found here measuring 169 feet X 35 feet. A naked sandstone torso
was found which also gives the traces of the Jainism.
Stone symbols of female genitals
Single room barrack

Mohenjo-Daro

It was founded in the year 1922 by Mr. R.D. Banerjee. It is situated in the Larkana district of
Pakistan on the banks of river Indus.
It is derived from the Sindhi word which means the “Mound of the Dead”
The Great Bath was found here.
Multi pillared assembly hall
A piece of woven cloth
Stamp/Seal with the image of the Pashupati Mahadev
Statue of the bearded man
Evidence of direct trade relations with the Mesopotamia Civilization
Mohenjodaro was the most advanced city of the Indus Valley Civilization the roads were wide
and straight and were 33 feet wide. The roads run in the North- South direction and the other
roads run in the East- West direction and they both cut each other at right angles.

Kalibanga
It was founded in the year 1953 by Mr. Amlanana Ghosh
It was situated near the Hanumangarh district of Rajasthan on the banks of the river Ghaggar.
The word Kalibanga means the Black Bangles
The ploughed field at Kalibanga is the most important discovery of that time.
Wooden wheel was found here which also gives the proof that the people of Kalibanga use
the bullock carts
Bones of camels are found here
The tiled floor was found here which has the design of intersecting of circles
Human head with long oval eyes and thick lower lips
Two types of burial was found here
Burials in the circular grave
Burials in the rectangular grave

Chanhu-Daro
It was founded in the year 1931 by M.G.Majumdar
Chahudaro was situated on the eastern side of river Indus in the Sindh province of Pakistan
Chanudharo has three different cultural layers Indus Culture, Jhukar Culture and Jhangar
Culture.
It was the only site in the Indus Valley Civilization without the Citadel.
During the excavations a small pot, bullock carts and ekkas, foot prints of the elephant and
the dog chasing the cat.

Lothal
It was founded in the year 1957 by S.R. Rao
It is situated near the Gulf of Khambatt in Gujarat.
An artificial dockyard was found here. It was the most important port city of the Indus Valley
Civilization
Boat made up of Terracotta was found here which gives the traces that they have the trade
relations with the other civilizations of the world.
Evidence of rice was found here as the rice granary was found at Rangpur near Ahemadabad
in Gujarat
A terracotta statue of horse was found here
Seal which has the design of the ship
A printed jar which resembles the story of the cunning fox which is also mentioned in the
Panchtnatra
A compass like measuring instrument was found which can measure the angles of 180 0, 900
and 450
Evidence of double burial was found i.e. male and female were found in the single grave which
also gives the traces of Sati practice.
Evidence of chess like game
Ropar
Founded in the year 1953 by Y.D.Sharma
It is situated in the state of Punjab in India
The excavations at the Ropar includes pottery, ornaments, copper axes, seal etc
A strange burial was found here i.e. the dead body of dog was found along with the dead body
of the human being

Banwali
Founded in the year 1973 by R.S. Bisht
It is situated near the Hissar district of Haryana
Huge quantity of Barley and Mustard was found here
A terracotta plough was also found here which the most remarkable discovery

Surkotada
Founded in the year 1964 by Jagat Pal Joshi
It is situated in the Kutch district of Gujarat
During the excavations the first remains of the horse bones was found here.

Dholavira
It was founded in the year 1967 by Prof Jagat Pal Joshi and it is situated in the state of Gujarat
in India
In the Dholavira the major discovery was the Rain Water Harvesting

Economic Life of the Indus Valley Civilization

Agriculture
The Indus plains were made fertile by the annual inundation of the river Indus. This river
carried far more alluvial soil than many other contemporary rivers like the Nile in Egypt. The
farmers sowed their seeds in November when the flood waters receded and reaped their
harvests in April before the next floods. They must have produced enough to provide for the
people in villages and cities. They produced wheat, barley, rice, sesamum, mustard etc. They
also produced significant quantities of cotton.

Technology, arts & crafts

The people of the Indus Valley Civilization well know the technique of mining the best
example of this can be seen from the nearby mines of Khetri in Rajasthan which is famous for
its copper. Tin was probably brought from mines in Bihar or from Afghanistan. The amount of
artifacts left behind by the Indus Valley Civilization suggests that there were a large group of
bronze smiths who not only made utensils but also made various kinds of tools as well. There
is evidence which suggests that they may also have practiced weaving, possibly using spindle
whorls. Whatever buildings have been excavated seems to have been made of brick which
indicates that brick-laying must also have been an important occupation. Besides the above,
people of the Indus Valley Civilization must also have followed the occupations of seal-
making, goldsmiths, pottery, bead making etc.

Trade
The discovery of the artificial brick dockyard at Lothal and the seals having the pictures of the
boat gives the traces that the people of the Indus Valley Civilization has the trade relation
with the other civilizations of the world such as the Mesopotamia civilization.
There was also the internal trading as they used the bullock carts for the transportation.
The unit of measurement was 16 (16, 64, and 160,320)

Religious Life & Culture

The main gods of worship for the people of Indus Valley Civilization was Puhupati Mahadev
(Lord Shiva)
The people of the Indus Valley Civilization also worship the Phallus (lingam) and yoni
Animal worshipped- Unicorn and Bull
Tree worshipped- Pipal
Bird worshipped- Dove & Pigeon
When any person dies in the Indus Valley Civilization they lay them in North- South direction
with the head in North and the legs in South direction. There was the practice of burying the
dead body in the rectangular or the oval pits.

Script and Language

The script of the Indus Valley Civilization is pictographic in nature which has around 600
pictographs. The writing style of the of the Indus Valley Civilization is known as
“Boustrophedon” i.e. they write the first line from right to left and the second line from left
to right. The language of the Indus Valley Civilization is still unknown.
Causes of Decline
The definite cause of decline for the Indus Valley Civilization is still elusive since there are no
written records of the period and there are various speculations from the historians.
There are four main reasons behind the decline of Indus Valley Civilization as concluded by
the historians
1. Due to decrease of the soil fertility
2. Due to increase of salinity in the water from the neighboring deserts
3. Due to natural calamity such as Earthquake, Flood, Famine etc
4. Aryans when they came to India they destroyed the Indus Valley
Civilization