MEHEK WADHWANI

ROLL NO: 2019/BALLB/62

ECONOMIC ASPECTS
(3300 BCE to 1300 BCE- INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION)

In order to study the economy of Haryana during the time period from 3300 bce-1300 BCE we need to study the
economy of the Indus Valley Civilization.

The Indus civilization evolved from one being representative of pastoral and arable farming to a highly urbanized
one which boasted of rich art and culture, and vibrant trade relations with regions as far as Mesopotamia. This
prosperous phase was then followed by de-urbanization and decline.

Pre/Early Harappan 3500-2600 B.C.

EARLY HARAPPAN PHASE IN HARYANA (SOTHI-SISWAL CULTURE)

The Early Harappan Culture was the product of the gradual development of those early farming communities
which were emerged in greater Indus-Sarasvati plain and piedmont areas, across the border of India and Pakistan.
Early farming communities transformed as the Sothi-Siswal culture, through gradual developments. Such kind of
gradual developments and uninterrupted occupation between the early farming communities and Sothi-Siswal
have been noticed at many sites under the jurisdictions of Haryana and Rajasthan. Mitathal, Siswal, Balu, Kunal,
Rakhigarhi, Bhirrana, Farmana, etc are the Early Harrapan sites found in Haryana.

The economy of The Early Harappan phase is mainly based on the agriculture, animal husbandry but we can
observe some significant development in internal and external trade activities.

 AGRICULTURE :-

The Early Harappans were familiar with the cultivation of rice, barely, dwarf wheat, jawar, millet, lentil, field
pea, gram, and date. The remains of fruit cultivation were found during the excavations at Balu and Kunal in
Haryana. The remains of watermelon present the first example of its cultivation during the Early Harappan at Balu
. Above said remains shows that a big part of Sothi-Siswal economy came from agriculture. During Early-
Harappan phase the copper and bronze agriculture implements like – axe, adze, celt, sickle etc. were used. With
the help of these implements, people started producing surplus food grains. These type of implements which were
used presumably for an agricultural purpose, like clearing the forest, Harvesting, tilling the land etc.
ANIMAL HUSBANDARY :-
Animal Husbandry was one of the prominent components of Sothi-Siswal economy .Kalibnagan, Siswal, Kunal Bhirrana,
Rakhigarhi Farmana, Balu and other the Early Harappan sites presented the remains of domestic animals as the fragments
of bones and skeletons. Apart from this several terracotta figurines of animals like bull, goat, sheep, dog, and others also
indicate the animal husbandry position during the Sothi-Siswal cultural which was recovered from Sothi-Siswal sites.

TRADE :-

Both types of trade activities (Internal trade and External trade) have been noticed during the excavations and
explorations. Due to the Sarasvati and Drishadvati rivers, Sothi-Siswal patch was covered by very fertile and
arable soil as a result of which the region produced a good quantity of food grains . The surplus production most
likely was used for the regional trade through the barter system.

CRAFT INDUSTRY :-
Excavations at Mitathal, Siswal, Balu, Kunal, Rakhigarhi, Bhirrana, Farmana and other sites yielded several
examples of terracotta Cakes and Bangles from the Early Harappan occupations in Haryana. Sandstone, Chert,
Chalcedony, Agate, and Jasper were used for making ornaments. They also used the shell, bone and ivory objects.
Bhirrana excavation yielded a button seal, made of shell. Fishhooks have been discovered from Rakhigarhi,
Ganeshwar, Banawali, Kunal and Girawar etc. These are made of copper wire which is turned backwards to from
an eye at the top, and curved in a semi-circle at the lower end. Early-Harappan people used it for fishing.

Many copper objects were recovered during the archaeological investigation from the Early Harappan sites like
fish hook, axe, chisel, arrowhead, copper plate, copper bar, copper spearhead, copper needle, bangles, rings, wires,
lumps, etc

The weapons found from these sites include arrowhead, spearhead, dagger, macehead, parasu, sling ball etc. The
arrowheads were made up of copper, chert and bone. On the basis of typology it can be deduced that the arrowhead
found from Haryana are similar to those of other Harappan sites. Generally, they used these weapons to hunt down
the animals and birds.

Early Harappan communities turned to large urban centers by 2600 BCE, from where the Mature Harappan phase
started. The latest research shows that Indus Valley people migrated from villages to cities. The final stages of the
Early Harappan period are characterized by the building of large walled settlements, the expansion of trade
networks, and the increasing integration of regional communities into a "relatively uniform" material culture.
 MATURE HARRAPAN PHASE IN HARYANA(2600 BCE-1900 BCE)

Haryana is well furnished with Mature Harappan settlements. These emerged prominently from Sothi-Siswal
cultural complex (Early Harappan). Population growth, strong agriculture base, developed trade and growth of
specialized skilled craftsmen favored the growth of towns and cities in the entire Harappan domain. Out of the
several sites yielding Mature Harappan relics in Haryana; Mitathal, Rakhigarhi, Banawali and Balu stand out as
the most prominent. Rakhigarhi is considered as the biggest city of Indus- Sarasvati civilization.

In the Mature Harappan phase there was a great progress in all spheres of economic activity such as agriculture,
industry and crafts and trade (internal and external).Animal husbandry and Agriculture got maturity and saw the
increased production of raw materials. Specialized groups of artisans include goldsmiths, brick makers, stone
cutters, weavers, boat-builders and terracotta manufacturers were present. Trade was raised due to increase in
production through the towns and cities.

 AGRICULTURE :-
For all practical purposes, agriculture was the principal means of sustenance for the Harappan people. The
agriculture depended on rain-fed water. The floods in the Indus inundated the fields and left a fertile silt-cover on
the fields after the flood water receded. This fertile silt would yield a bumper harvest during following agricultural
seasons. Surplus food grains were stored in the granaries or exported to the contemporary cities or civilization.

Harappans grew wheat and barley on a large scale. The other crops grown by them were pulses, cereals, cotton,
dates, melons, pea, sesamum and mustard.The Harappans were the earliest people to produce cotton .The Greeks
called it sindon, which is derived from sindh. A good quantity of barley has been discovered at Banwali. Fruits
such as jujube, almond, and pistachio were gathered. It has been suggested that wild plants were collected
particularly when cultivated crops were unable to supply the full needs of the community, either because of bad
harvests or because of population increase in the region. The plant remains found in Balu, haryana include a garlic
specimen, recognised as the earliest evidence of garlic cloves in south & south-east Asia, and it dates to the Mature
Harappan period.Seeds of Lemon have also been found from Early Harappan Kunal. Indus populations were the
earliest people to use complex multi-cropping strategies across both seasons, growing foods during summer (rice,
millets and beans) and winter (wheat, barley and pulses), which required different watering regimes.
Archaeobotanical remains from Sarasvati-Drishadvati Divide sites like Kunal ,Balu, Bhirrana and Kalibangan
have revealed a two crop pattern.
Archaeological remains of the various sites at Haryana reveal a variety of agricultural equipment’s used by them.
Axe, Sickle, Plough share, hoe, seed drill, plough (terracotta) were the chief Agricultural implements. These were
made up of copper and bronze and used in agricultural works, like tilling the land, harvesting, clearing the forest
etc.A large number of axes are reported from Balu, Rakhigarhi, Bhirrana,Farmana, Daksh Khera (Haryana).There
is no evidence of metal plough found from different Harappan sites. But Banawali has a terracotta plough.

 ANIMAL HUSBANDARY :-
Subsistence economy like agriculture was supplanted with domestic animals which provided meat, milk, hides,
wool and raw material for other related industries . The animals of the domestic category viz. zebu , buffalo ,
sheep , goat , pig , ass ,elephant and fowl have been exploited as some of these were used in term of food economy,
some for transport and other for traction.

Raising livestock was a useful investment against crop failure. In good monsoon years, when crops yields were
high, grazing would also be good and the number of animals that were kept could be increased. In the drought
years agricultural activities tend to decrease and grazing activities shall increase and animal products shall also
increase. In lean years, when grazing was limited, the additional animal could be killed for food.Another important
source of food for the Harappan was fish. The copper fishhooks have been recovered from Mohenjodaro, Harappa,
Rakhigarhi, Lothal, and Chanhudaro etc.

Specialist pastoralists had an elaborate pattern of traditionally established or negotiated relationships with settled
farmers whereby milk, dung, and other animal products were exchanged for grain, access to grazing. Settled
farmers may have made arrangements with pastoralists whereby the latter took charge of some of the farmers’
livestock during the period when the animals needed to be taken to seasonal pastures away from the settlement.
The pastoral practices have been identified from the faunal remains in the early Harappan phase from several
sites.

 HUNTING:-
Hunting was an important subsistence pattern to the Harappan people which is clearly evident from the hunting
tools and implements made by both bone, stone and copper or bronze. The arrow head and spear head made by
the same materials are reported from all the Harappan sites, even from Rakhigarhi The hunting equipment found
from various excavated sites throw light not only on the economy of the Harappan but also on the social life. The
Harappan weapons include arrowhead, spearhead, parasu, sling ball, dagger, lancehead, mace head, sword, etc.
Copper and Gold-Silver Metallurgy :-
The Harappan people knew about metals and minerals. They also developed the technique of metal smelting.
Some evidence of copper metallurgy has come forth in course of excavations. Harappans evolved some new
techniques in metallurgy and produced copper, bronze, lead, and tin. In haryana ,evidences of furnaces have been
reported at Balu ,Rakhigarhi, Banawali. They imported ores from different places in order to make weapons and
implements. In the age of Harappan civilization alloy metal had been discovered.

At Banawali some bangles of copper as well as beads of gold have been recovered. A house-complex was also
discovered with several hearths, ovens and fire-pits in the room. It was suggested that it was workshop, plausibly
of a metal smith. In Late Harappan,some bhattis (Kilns) with a drain was discovered at Balu. Perhaps these kilns
were used in metallurgical purpose

The metal objects found at Rakhigarhi are essentially made of copper. In Mature Harappan period arrow-head,
knife, chisel, nails and balance-bar and stylus are found. Ornaments like bangles, ring, antimony-rod, pin etc. are
found. Gold fillet and beads, silver bangles are also reported from the excavations but they are very few in
number. A touchstone bearing gold streaks was found in Banawali, which was probably used for testing the purity
of gold (such a technique is still used in some parts of India).

The metal objects lead us to interpret that a group specialist classes were there in the Harappan population which
were engaged in the identification of the area, where ore are is available, extractors of the ores, metal extractors
and the craftsman who made their tools. These metal smiths enjoyed a higher status in the society than the ordinary
crafts men.

CRAFTS & INDUSTRIES :-

Other than metallurgy other craft activity was an important part of this area. The cities had small craft centers
and workshops to manufacture the more sophisticated items, in special sectors reserved for such activity.
Industries, which required larger space and a caused pollution, were located in the outskirts of the cities. The
smaller towns had segregated areas for residential purposes and craft activities. In these towns, majority of the
population earned its livelihood from these industries. The third category of industrial estates was small townships
and villages meant exclusively for craft activities. The industrial activity (or small scale industries or cottage
Industries) was perhaps practiced in personal houses of specialists. The increasing population creating demand of
furniture and other daily use commodities or items used in the construction of buildings.
Weaving and dyeing was practiced by harrapans. Weavers made clothes of wool and cotton. Leather was also
known to them but no evidence of silk has been found. Pottery was an important industry. The Harappans also
practised boat-making, seal-making and terracotta manufacturing. The rural areas supplied the towns various
items of food and raw materials for the craft industries in exchange for manufactured items like storage vessel,
textiles, tools and implements and ornaments. Items of jewellery from the Harappan Civilisation served as an important
component of trade, within the limits of civilisation as well as with distant and foreign countries. The jewellery items were
in various mediums like gold, copper, stones and minerals, faience, terracotta and stoneware. The Harappan culture
belongs to the Bronze Age, as the people were very well acquainted with the manufacture and use of bronze. They
manufactured not only images and utensils but also various tools and weapons such as axes, saws, knives and spears.

The lapidary industry was an important part of the economy of this period.They imported raw material and
exported the finished beads to other areas . The important material used for making beads included steatite,
terracotta, turquoise, faience, agate, plain and decorated carnelian, lapis lazuli, copper, bronze, gold, silver, shells,
ivory and bones. Among the items exported from the Indus Valley, the important ones are long barrel cylindrical
beads and etched carnelian beads. The long barrel cylindrical beads are reported from sites like Ur,
Kish(Mesopotamia) and Susa, Jalalabad, Marlik from Iran

At Rakhigarhi, a well established bead manufacturing factory having thousand of bead roughouts, waste flakes
and cores, tools and implements and beads polishers was found. All these things were placed on a mud brick floor
in a very specific manner. It indicates that bead makers of Rakhigarhi possesed highly advanced skill and
craftsmanship. Agate stones used for making carnelian beads were not locally available, so the lapidaries imported
this stone from Gujarat region. Steatite was the most popular material at Rakhigarhi for making beads. Mitathal
was another important bead manufacturing centre in Mature Harappan times. The lapidaries of mitathal imported
agate stone from Rajasthan for the making of beads as well as beautiful carnelian and precious lapis-lazuli from
Afghanistan. The discovery of an unfinished bead and unworked nodule of agate suggests that the beads were
manufactured locally. From Banawali, beads of different material like steatite, shell,carnelian, agates, lapis-lazuli
have been excavated.

A large number of implements like adze, chisel, saw, awl, drill, borer, gouge, bead-tool, spindle whorls ,plumb-
bob, chopper were found during excavation from the sites like Mitathal, Bhirrana, Balu, Banawali, Rakhigarhi,
Girawar and Farmana in Haryana.These are likely to have been used by craftsmen like carpenter, coppersmith,
cobbler, weaver etc.

 TRADE :-
A developed base of industry prompted the Harappan people to naturally look for trade and commerce. The seals
they used, the stone slabs they used for weight and measure purposes and articles of merchandise for import and
export are strong pointers to their trade and commerce. Surplus goods and articles were exported. They conducted
their trade by both land and sea routes. The raw materials of different regions were also transported to other parts
of the Indus realms.

Their main trading partner was Mesopotamia. Timber and precious woods, ivory, lapis lazuli, gold, and luxury
goods such as carnelian and glazed stone beads, pearls from the Persian Gulf, and shell and bone inlays, were
among the goods sent to Mesopotamia in exchange for silver, tin, woolen textiles, perhaps oil and grains and other
foods. Bitumen, which occurred naturally in Mesopotamia, may have been exchanged for cotton textiles, major
products of the Indus region that are not native to Mesopotamia. Mesopotamian cylindrical seal found from
Mohenjo-Daro, Kalibnaga and Rakhigarhi demonstrate the trade contact between Mature Harappans and West
Asia.Meluhha was the Sumerian name for the Indus Valley Civilization.

The Gulf region (Oman) may have been found as a convenient base in their trade with their contemporaries in the
Persian Gulf, Mesopotamia and Egypt. It is quite possible that the merchants from these four regions traveled to
places alike Ras al Junayz in Oman for carrying out business transaction and exchange of goods.

The main sources of copper exploited by the Harappans are believed to be Baluchistan and Afghanistan, in the
region west of Indus. This area has also yielded the earliest evidence of copper processing. The other potential
region is the mountain range of Oman with which the Harappan civilization, especially the coastal region had
close trade relations. The region around Oman has been identified with ancient Magan which was known for rich
copper deposits. The third resource zone was the region east of Indus is the Aravalli range. The copper of this
belt is rich in arsenic . The site of Jodhpura-Ganeshwar in Rajasthan is understood to be an important source of
copper tools or ingots to the Harappans. In the Mature Harappan period,Rakhigarhi, Mitathal, and Banawali to
the northwest of Ganeshwar may also have been involved in the importing of copper.

Barley and wheat were supplied by the Punjab and Haryana region to Gujarat which supplied bajra, jowar and
cotton. Sind and East Punjab were involved in a trade which included raw materials is evident from the presence
of artifacts of shell at Banawali, Ropar, Kotla Nihang Khan and Dher Majra, and Chert at Balu, Rakhigarhi,
Mitathal and Banawali, both of which could have been from Sind. Flint or chert mined in the Rohri Hills of Sindh
was transported to Indus settlements across South Asia.

There were some big or important cities which were on strategic locations and so they play a crucial role in internal
or external trade. For example in Haryana Banawali was comparable to that of a frontier settlement for this region.
Banawali lies on the time honored Northern Highway, connecting the Ganga plains, the Himalayan regions and
central India with the passes of the northeastern hills and the Arabian sea located across the Indus plains. So it
is certain that Banawali was an important town along the Saraswati during the Harappan times.

WEIGHTS & MEASURES :-

The cubical chert weights were conspicuous items from any Harappan site. The weights were based on a binary
system. The weights were found in various materials like chert, chalcedony, ivory, shell, copper and terracotta.
Other weighing systems were also found from the Harappan sites. The presence of different weighing patterns
from the same sites indicated that the Harappans might have adopted two or more weighing standards, for both
inland as well as export trading.

TRANSPORTATION :-
Terra-cotta models provide a clear picture of the wooden carts with solid wooden wheels that were widely used
for land transport over short distances. These carts were drawn by oxen or bullocks. Land transport over long
distances generally employed pack animals, though small valuable commodities could be carried by people on
foot. Seasonal movement was an important part of the pastoral economy in Harappan times, and it seems highly
probable that people taking their animals through different parts of the Indus realms would have acted as carriers,
moving goods from source to consumer and participating in a complex network of connections among pastoral
groups from different regions, enabling the produce of one region to be transported to others. Most of the major
settlements were linked by a network of waterways that were navigable for at least part of the year.

THE BARTER SYSTEM :-

Barter system played a very important part in commercial transactions among the people living in rural
settlements. The basic requirements of food for this very large segment of the population was met through direct
exchange of different commodities between farmers producing different agricultural items. Another common
application of the barter system was the direct exchange of non-perishable items of farm produce like wheat and
cotton with items produced in urban craft workshops . In some of the above transactions indirect barter system
may also have been employed. For example a farmer supplying milk to a sales outlet for a tools workshop, may
receive in exchange wheat from the sales outlet, as the farmer does not require the tools normally offered for
exchange by the outlet. For such a transaction, the sales outlet for tools would be keeping sufficient stock of grains
in addition to the tools. The same principles would apply to interregional trade within the Harappan civilization
and trade with other regions outside the civilization.

SEALS :-
Seals were used for both internal and external trade. A number of Indus seals have been found in ancient
Mesopotamia. Impressions of seals ("sealings") were made on ceramics and "tags" used to seal bundles of trade
goods.Thousands of steatite seals have been recovered, and their physical character is fairly consistent. The seals
might have served as an important trade symbol facilitating approval and passing of commercial items.

Many seals are found in excavations at various urban sites such as Rakhigarhi, Banawali ,Bhirrana and Farmana
. Both Kalibangan and Banawali have a large number of motifs of various animals as well as unicorn. Seals are
found not only within the geographical extent of the Harappan Civilization, but also from a number of sites in
Mesopotamia, the Persian Gulf regions, the Iranian Plateau as well as Turkmenistan .One of the seals found at
Rakhigarhi is a cylindrical seal, which indicates contact with contemporary urban centers in Iraq.
 LATE HARRAPAN PHASE IN HARYANA 1900–1300 BCE

Around 1900 BCE signs of a gradual decline began to emerge, and by around 1700 BCE most of the cities had
been abandoned. The late Harappan phase is one of a breakdown of urban networks and an expansion of rural
ones. Multiple regional cultures emerged within the area of the Indus civilisation. The Cemetery H culture was in
Punjab, Haryana, and Western Uttar Pradesh.

The deteriorating climatic condition had adverse consequences. There was a general decrease of long-distance
trade. It was one of the major causes of the prosperity and after the drying of their international trade, the pace of
the decline of the Harappans hastened. The economic decline affected overall Harappan life-style, which is
reflected in their material culture. Urban amenities such as drains and the public bath were no longer maintained,
and newer buildings were "poorly constructed". There are some circular stamp seals with geometric designs, but
lacking the Indus script which characterised the mature phase of the civilisation.

The evidences from some important sites such as Mitathal, Balu and Banawali etc. shows a general decline in the
urban life of the region during Late Harappan phase. The sub period of Mitathal II-B is characterized by a
progressive degeneration in their architecture. The people lived in house of mud and mud-bricks. Except the
cardinal direction followed at Banwali, no evidences of any planned layout of the settlements is noticed on any of
the excavated sites. Bhagwanpura is a notable site for showing an overlap between the late Harappan and Painted
Grey Ware cultures. Painted Grey Ware is generally associated with the Vedic people, so this area can be said as
the junction of two great civilizations of India.

The material culture of this phase evidently points out the transformation of urbanized civilization from an urban
to the rural stage.
 CONCLUSION

The Early Harappan Culture was the product of the gradual development of the early farming communities which
were emerged in greater Indus-Sarasvati plain .Early farming communities transformed as the Sothi-Siswal
culture, through gradual developments as seen in the of Haryana. The economy of The Early Harappan phase
was based on the agriculture and animal husbandry .We also observe some significant development in internal
and external trade activities. Mitathal,Siswal, Balu, Kunal, Rakhigarhi, Bhirrana, Farmana, etc were represent the
early Harrapan period in Haryana .

Mitathal, Rakhigarhi, Banawali and Balu stand out as the most prominent in Haryana that were a part of the
Mature Harrapan period. There was great progress in all spheres of economic activity such as agriculture, industry
and crafts and trade (internal and external).

The late Harappan phase is one of a breakdown of urban networks and an expansion of rural ones. Multiple
regional cultures emerged within the area of the Indus civilization like the Cemetery H culture in Punjab,
Haryana, and Western Uttar Pradesh.The earliest Late Harappan deposits in Haryana were found at Mitathal. Balu
also yielded the Late Harappan deposit with continuity and change of Mature Harappan while Banawali
represented the short gap between Mature Harappan and Late Harappan. Daulatpur and Bhagwanpura yielded the
direct Late Harappan occupation. As a result of deteriorating climatic condition agriculture was not able to
generate enough. As a result there was a general decrease trade. This hastened the pace of the decline of the
Harappans. The economic decline affected was reflected in their material culture.

Thus , the Indus civilization evolved from one being representative of pastoral and arable farming to a highly
urbanized one which boasted of rich art and culture, and vibrant trade relations with regions as far as Mesopotamia.
This prosperous phase was then followed by de-urbanization and decline.