THE HARAPPAN CIVILISATION [c.2600-1900 BCE]
 The earliest excavations in the Indus Valley done at Harappa and
Mohenjodaro brought to light the Indus Valley Civilization. In later times,
this began to be called as Indus Civilization as many sites were discovered
far away from Indus Valley.
 This is also called as Harappan Civilization, named after Harappa, the first
discovered site.
 The most well known site - Mohenjodaro
 Sometimes, it is also called as the Mature Harappan culture to differentiate
from Early and Late Harappan cultures found in the same area.
 Excavations at Indus Valley were carried out by Sir John Marshall.
Agriculture
 Grains Found: Wheat, barley, lentil, chickpea and sesame.
Barley
Banawali [Haryana]
Rice
Lothal, Rangpur
Terracotta models of plough
Banawali [Haryana]
Ploughed field
Kalibangan [Rajasthan]
Traces of canals for irrigation
Shortughai [Afghanistan]
Water Reservoir
Dholavira [Gujarat]
Town Planning
 The distinguishing feature of the Harappan civilization was grid system
 Grid System: Streets and lanes cut across one another almost at right
angles dividing the city into several rectangular blocks.
 Material used: Brick [sun dried/burnt]
 The urban settlements were divided into: 1. Citadel 2. Lower Town
CITADEL
LOWER TOWN
Smaller but higher
Larger but lower
Granary, Town hall were present
Residential area for
common people
Walled
It was also walled
 The lower town comprised of residential houses. These houses had a
central courtyard meant for cooking, weaving, etc. and was surrounded by
rooms. The main entrance does not give a direct view of the interior. Each
house has a bathroom paved with bricks, with drains connected through
the wall to the street drains.
 Another remarkable feature was the underground drainage system
connecting all houses to the street drains which were covered by stone
slabs/bricks.
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Great Bath: This was the most important structure in Mohenjodaro,
measuring 39 feet length, 23 feet breadth and 8 feet depth. The floor of the
bath had five layers and was made of burnt bricks. Water was drawn from a
large well in an adjacent room, and an outlet from one corner of the bath
led to a drain. It was so watertight that even today it holds water. There
were changing rooms. People probably used it during festivals and religious
ceremonies.
Burial Methods
 At Mohenjodaro, complete burial and post-cremation burial were popular.
 At Lothal, the burial pit was lined with burnt bricks indicating the use of
coffins. Also, pot burials, double burials with a pair of skeletons, multiple
burials were found in Lothal.
 At Harappa, wooden coffins were found. Cemetery R-37 and Cemetery H
were burial sites in Harappa. Cemetery R-37 excavations showed skeletons
of women indicating the existence of some form of social hierarchy.
 At Ropar, a man was buried along with a dog.
 Ornaments were also found in burials.
Material Procurement
Material
Source
Copper
Khetri [Rajasthan]
Gold
South India
Steatite
South Rajasthan and North Gujarat
Carnelian
Lothal [Gujarat]
Lapis Lazuli
Badakshan [Afghanistan]
Tin
Afghanistan
Religion
 Indus people worshipped Mother Goddess and Pasupati Mahadeva.
 Numerous female figurines in terracotta have been found, which are
believed to represent the Mother Goddess.
 Pasupati Mahadeva was also represented on seals as horned god with three
heads and horns.
 Phallic worship is also seen.
 Pipal tree was sacred.
Script
 Pictographic
 The Harappan script has still to be deciphered.
 Writing Style: Boustrophedon – Writing in reversed direction in alternative
lines.
 Though the script hasn’t been fully deciphered, majority of Iravatham
Mahadevan’s views are accepted. He recently demonstrated that Indus
script was an early form of the Dravidian script. Many scholars gave equally
competing theories.
Decline
 There is no unanimous view regarding the decline of Harappan civilization.
 Some scholars suggest that reduction in soil fertility due to expansion of the
neighbouring desert is responsible for decline of the Harappan civilization.
 Other scholars consider floods as the main cause. Mohenjodaro itself was
flooded seven times!
 Aryan invasions are also considered as other cause for decline.
Other notable points
 Indus people had close ties with Mesopotamia [present day Iraq].
 The Harappan Civilization was predominantly urban.
 Animal bones found in excavations: Cattle, sheep, goat, buffalo, and pig
[These were domesticated]. Bones of gharial, fish, fowls, deer, and wild
boar were also found. The Humped bull was an important domesticated
animal.
 In Rig Veda, Harappa was referred to as Hathiyupaya and Mohenjodaro was
referred as Vyvaswantha.
 It is believed by many scholars that priests ruled Indus cities.
Important Harappan sites:
Harappa, Mohenjodaro, Ganeriwala in Pakistan and Dholavira, Rakhigarhi in India
are considered as five biggest Indus cities.
Harappa
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First discovered Indus site.
Discovered by Dayaram Sahni in 1921.
Located in Montgomery district of West Punjab region of Pakistan.
Highest number of granaries – 6 is found here.
 So far 891 seals have been discovered here. 40% of total Indus seals are
found only in Harappa.
 A red sandstone naked male torso has been found.
Mohenjodaro
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The best known Indus city.
Discovered by Rakhl Das Banerjee in 1922.
Located in Larkhana district of Sind region of Pakistan.
Literally Mohenjodaro means ‘Mound of the dead’ in Sindhi language.
Great Bath is found here.
Dancing girl, a bronze statuette is found here. ‘Priest King’ is also found
here.
 The largest structure in Mohenjodaro – a granary
Lothal
 Located in Gujarat.
 Discovered by S.R. Rao.
 Artificial brick dockyard is the important thing located here. It is the
greatest maritime architecture from the ancient world.
 It served as major port city.
 Fire altars indicating a probable fire cult are found.
Dholavira
 Located in Gujarat.
 Discovered by J.P. Joshi.
Kalibangan
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Located in Rajasthan.
Literally means ‘Black Bangles’
The most significant discovery – ploughed field.
Bones of camel were found here.
Rakhigarhi
 Located in Haryana.
 Excavated by Shri Amarendra Nath.
 The largest Indus city in India. Recent discoveries are leading that it might
be the largest of all Indus cities.
Banawali
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Located in Haryana.
Discovered by R.S. Bisht
‘Barley’ traces were found.
The most significant discovery – terracotta models of plough
Surkotada
 Located in Gujarat
 The only Indus city where remains of a horse were found.
Ropar
 Located in Punjab [India]
 Dog buried along with master was found here.
Chanhudaro
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Located south of Mohenjodaro, Pakistan.
Discovered by N.G. Majumdar.
Only Indus city without a citadel.
Center for craft production, including bead-making, shell-cutting, metalworking, seal-making and weight-making.