Indus Valley Civilization (IVC) or Harappan Civilization
Agriculture → Settle Life
→ Community
→ Ultimately led to the emergence of civilization
Neolithic Phase → Agriculture → Surplus of Agriculture → Trade → Which ultimately led to the development of Trading centre → which developed into urban centre → Civilization
Indus Valley Civilization (IVC) - It is also known as Harappan Civilization (2600-1800 BC)
- The information of an underlying civilization in the area of Punjab was available from 1870s when railway lines were laid down in between Lahore and Karanchi.
- In 1920, when JH Marshall became the head of Archeological survey of India, he gave the task of excavation to two Indians, as such in 1921, Daya Ram Sahani excavated site of Harappa and in 1922, RD Banerhjee excavated site of Mohenjodaro.
- By this time, it was firmly established that IVC was the most advanced civilization of the world. As compared to Egyptian civilization, it didn't have any monumental buildings like Pyramids but IVC was unique in the sense for its urban planning and the usage of burnt bricks of same shape and size.
Urban Planning of IVC - Generally Indus towns were divided into two parts, i.e., Upper town and Lower town (Dholvira - divided into 3 Parts). Upper town is known as citadel created on an upraised platform. In this part of the town administrative buildings were created. Generally, in this area Granary and Common bath was created. Granary was meant for storage of grains, it was created in scientific manner so that grains must not get spoiled even when they are stored for longer duration (strategic pores were created in granary so that exchange of gases took place to avoid fermentation of grains). Common bath was a stepped water tank meant for ritual bathing. The best example of the common bath is 'Great bath of Mohenjodaro'. Stairs were created in North and South direction and they were made from bricks.
As compared to the Upper town lower towns was quite big in size and meant for habitation of commoners. Lower town was based on sectoral planning which means it was divided into many sectors. There was very good network of roads in the lower town and roads used to cut each other at right angle. On both the sides of the roads, drains were created in scientific manner. The drains were covered with stone slabs or brick slabs. Inside the drains manholes were created which was plastered with gypsum, it helped in filtering the waste water and recharging the ground water.
Inside the sectors there were instances of single-story, double-story or triple- story buildings. All the houses were made from burnt bricks of same shape and size (4:2:1). Inside the house bathrooms, courtyards, separate kitchen and separate washroom were created. All the houses were connected with main drain for waste disposal. IVC people were concerned about their privacy that's why they did not create the main gate of their houses facing the main roads.
It seems that there was a good system of measurement in IVC and it indicates towards their usage of decimal system.
Polity during IVC - Looking at the town planning of IVC, it can be inferred that Indus Valley had a central authority (as administrative buildings were believed to be in Citadel area). According to majority of historians, it is believed that Indus towns were administered by rich traders and merchants instead of a monarchy. We have not come across of any instance of standing army in Indus valley.
Economy during IVC - Agriculture was the most important economic activities during the IVC. They cultivated crops like wheat, cotton, barley, pea, sesamum, mustard, rye, millets, etc. (Rice was not their staple food but it was grown at Lothal and Rangpur).
The outsiders often referred cotton as 'Sindon' which means that the plant which originated in Sindu valley.
The economic activity also included textile industry at Harappa and Mohenjodaro, bead industry at Chanudaro, bangle industry at Kalibanga and ship-making industry at Lothal, Allahdino, etc.
Artisanal industry was also well established where by pottery, different types of sculptures, seals, etc were created.
Indus valley people established trade relations with the following areas - Afghanistan, Mesopotamia, Sumer, Dilmon (Bahrain), Oman, Magan (Persian gulf coast), etc.
Indus valley people had the knowledge of metals like copper, tin, bronze, gold, silver and they were also using some semi-precious stones like Amethyst, Carnelian and Lapis-Lazuli.
Society during IVC - As far as the Indus society is concerned, majority of historians believed that it is a Matriarchal society. These historians cited the examples of mother goddess which is the most abundant image found from all the Indus towns.
Looking at the towns of Indus valley, it seems that though the income inequality was there but society was not discriminatory in nature (as there were single-story, double-story and triple-story buildings present in one sector). It seems that the society was open and there was mobilization in the society.
Indus valley people were quite aware about their aesthetic look and they used variety of ornaments like necklace, waist band, bangles, finger rings, etc. They were also aware about soaps, lipsticks and sindoor (soaps and lipsticks were made from Cinnabar).
For healing the wounds they used tincture.
Religious practices during IVC - The religious practices of IVC people can be largely traced with the help of seals and sculptures found from Indus town.
Seals - geometrical shaped artefacts mainly made from soft river stone, steatite. It was pictographic in nature.
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| Peepal leaf seal |
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| Pashupati seal |
One of the very famous example of seal found from Indus town is Pashupati seal in which a deity 'Proto-Shiva' has been depicted along with many animals. In one another seal of Peepal leaf was depicted which indicates nature worship.
The most abundant religious image in the Indus town was the sculpture of Mother goddess.
Moreover, Shamanism was also practiced where by Indus people were using amulets to ward of evils.
Burial practices- There was no uniformity in the burial practices of IVC. They followed fractional burial, pot burial, full cremation, double burial, etc. At many places, the daily objects used by the person were also buried with him. It seems that they had belief in other worldly things and afterlife and they must have thought that the dead person will be using these thing at the other place.
Decline of IVC - There was a divisionary debate among the historians regarding the decline of IVC. Some historians claimed that Aryans invasion was the possible reason behind the decline of Indus valley but this theory was rejected. As per the scientific evidences, it is conformed that the decline of Indus valley happened due to inundation and frequent flooding. By 1800 BC, IVC completely disappeared from Indian sub-continent.
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Note - This is my Vision IAS Notes (Vision IAS Class Notes) and Ashutosh Pandey Sir's Public Administration Class notes. I've also added some of the information on my own.
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