Indus Valley Civilization (Based on NCERT)

Indus Valley Civilization

The Indus Valley Civilization is called the Indus Valley Civilization or Indus Civilization due to its settlement around the Indus River, as well as it is also known by the names of Harappan Civilization and Harappan Civilization etc. Many scholars are of the opinion that it is more appropriate to call the Indus civilization as the Harappan civilization because Harappa is the main center of this civilization, then some are of the opinion that because Harappa was the first to be discovered, hence it should be called Harappan civilization. Indus Valley Civilization is known as Indus Valley Civilization in English language.

Indus civilization was the most modern and well developed civilization of its time. The people of the Harappan civilization lived in well-planned and well-developed towns and cities. Where big buildings, auditoriums, baths, prisons, houses made of raw and pucca bricks, wide roads etc. were located. Also, the people of this civilization knew how to make weapons, jewellery, idols and utensils, copper, silver and bronze etc. were used in their manufacture.

Determination of Indus Civilization (Harappan Civilization) –

H. Heras (on constellation basis) – 6000 BC,
Madhoswarup Vatsa – 3500-2700 BC,
John Marshall – 3250-2750 BC,
Ernest Mackay – 2800-2500 BC,
Martimer Wheeler According to – 2500-1500 BCE, According to
radio carbon method – 2350-1750 BCE,

Major sites of Indus Valley Civilization

• Mohenjodaro - It was excavated in the year 1922 by Rakhaldas Banerjee. Mohenjodaro means "Mound of the Dead". It is situated on the banks of Indus river. It is present in Larkana district of Sindh (Pakistan).
  Evidences received – Parts of cotton cloth, bathhouse, priest's residence, auditorium, nude statue of dancer made of bronze, copper pile, evidence of Pashupati Shiva, horse teeth, weight made of rock, chimney, statue of monk etc.

• Kalibanga – It was excavated in the year 1953 by Amalanand Ghosh and by B. Of. Thapar in 1960. Kalibanga means "black bangles". This site is situated on the banks of river Ghaggar in Ganganagar district of Rajasthan.
  Evidence obtained - raw bricks and ornate bricks, cylindrical seals (like Mesopotamia), evidence of cultivation - plowed fields where mustard crop was sown far away from Kalibanga and gram crop was sown nearby. Wooden pipes etc.

• Harappa - It was excavated in the year 1921 by Dayaram Sahni and assistant Madhoswaroop Vatsa. It is situated on the banks of Ravi river in Montgomery district of Punjab.
  Evidences received – Seals, graveyards, utensils marked with a picture of a fisherman, two idols made of sandstone, an idol wearing a dhoti, a bronze coin, a bull made of conch shells, grain storage rooms from where barley and wheat have been obtained. Queue labor houses etc.

• Chanhudaro – It was discovered in the year 1931 by N.G. Majumdar, which was carried forward by the archaeologist Mackay in the year 1935. This site is located in Sindh (Pakistan).
  Evidence received - Curved bricks - This is the only site from where curved bricks have been found, evidence of a dog chasing a cat, lipstick was used for decoration, bead factory etc.

• Banwali – It was discovered in the year 1973 by R.S. By Bisht. This site is located in Hisar district of Haryana.
  Evidence received – copper axes and axes, plow-shaped toys, stone and brick houses, improved barley, bullock cart marks on the roads, etc.

• Lothal – It was discovered in the year 1957 by Ranganatha Rao. This site is situated on the banks of Bhogwa river in Ahmedabad district of Gujarat.
  Evidence found – Agnivedika, a sample of a boat made of slag, a shipbuilding site, rice grains, a Persian seal, an ivory scale, a miniature terracotta of a horse, a mummy, a mill (for grinding grain), a crafty fox Evidence of the story etc.

• Alamgirpur - It was excavated in the year 1958 by Yagyadutt Sharma. This site is situated on the banks of Hindon river in Meerut district of Uttar Pradesh.

• Ropar - It was excavated in the year 1953 by Yagyadutt Sharma. The site is situated on the banks of the Sutlej River in the state of Punjab.
  Evidence found - copper ax, a graveyard of man and dog etc.

• Surkotada - It was excavated in the year 1964 by Jagpati Joshi. This place is located at a place called Kutch in the state of Gujarat.
  Evidence found – Horse bones, unique type of cemetery.

• Sutkogender - It was excavated in the year 1927 by Aurel Stein. The site is located on the banks of the Dashak River in Balochistan.
  Evidence obtained - bangles made of clay, pots full of ash, copper axes, human bones.

• Dholavira – It was discovered in the year 1967 by Jagpati Joshi, but its extensive excavation was done by Ravindra Singh Bisht. This place is situated between Manhar and Mansar river in Kutch district of Gujarat state. This is the first such city which was divided into three parts – the fortification, the middle part and the lower town.
  Evidence obtained - the remains of a grand building in the middle of the fortification and the central part, the staircase structure and the notice board made for the seating of the spectators all around. Different types of reservoirs.

• Rakhigarhi - It was excavated in the year 1997 by Amarendra Nath. This place is situated near the Saraswati and Duhadvati rivers in Hisar district of Haryana state. After Dholavira, Rakhigarhi is the largest city of the Indus civilization located in India.

• Kotdiji – It was excavated in the year 1955 by F.A. Made by Khan. This place is located near Mohenjodaro.
  Evidence received - Evidence of the first use of silver, specimen of reindeer.

• Alahdin - It was excavated by the Fair Service. This site is situated near the confluence of the Indus River and the Arabian Sea.

• Kunal – This place is located in Haryana.
  Evidence received - Two silver crowns have been received from here.

• Alimurad – This place is located in Sindh (Pakistan).
  Evidence obtained - ax made of brass (bronze), small figurines of bell.

• Rangpur - It was excavated in the year 1953 by Ranganatha Rao.
  Evidence received – Fort made of raw bricks, paddy husk.

Devotion and Worship in Indus Civilization –

People of this civilization worshiped Shiva in the form of Kirat (hunter), dancer, archer and snake. Mother Goddess (worship of the gentle and fierce form of the Goddess). Prithvi (In one of the idols a plant is shown growing out of the womb of a woman, which is definitely the form of the earth). Worship of the fertility power (linga). They also worshiped trees (Peepal and Babul), animals (humped bull and Vrishabha), serpent  and  fire .

Instruments of measurement used in Indus Civilization –

In Lothal, a scale made of ivory has been found, from Mohenjodaro , instruments made of oyster and oyster weights etc. - Were familiar.

Metals used in Indus Civilization –

The people of this civilization used metals like copper, gold, silver, lead, tin etc. It is believed by some archaeologists that silver was first used in the Indus Civilization itself . Most of the time, copper was used.

Transport system in Indus Civilization –

On the basis of the evidence obtained, it can be said that bullock carts and boats were used by the people of Indus civilization for transportation. Bronze bullock carts have been found from Harappa and Chanhudaro and traces of bullock cart wheels have been found on the roads in Banawali, from which it can be assumed that the people of this civilization must have used bullock carts for transportation. The use of a boat or a boat in the seals obtained from Lothal and Mohenjodaro proves that boats or ships were used on the water route, the evidence of which is the major port cities situated on the banks of rivers Lothal, Rangpur, Balakot, Sutkakoh etc. are also.

Decline of Indus Civilization

There is no single reason for the decline of the Indus civilization, many reasons are believed to be behind the decline of this civilization, because this civilization was spread over a very wide area, so it is not possible to reduce it due to any one reason or disaster. Therefore, there could possibly be different factors behind the destruction of different cities.

There are many theories about the decline of this civilization, many archaeologists are of the opinion that some sites of this civilization may have collapsed due to the severe floods. At the same time, some scholars are of the opinion that the collapse of some places may have happened due to earthquake. While some are of the opinion that due to external invasion and climate change, drought or floods may have led to the destruction of this civilization.

 

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