INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION

India has a continuous history covering a very long period. Evidence of neolithic habitation dating as far back as 7000 BC has been found in Mehrgarh in Baluchistan. However, the first notable civilization flourished in India around 2700 BC in the north western part of the Indian subcontinent, covering a large area. The civilization is referred to as the Harappan civilization. Most of the sites of this civilization developed on the banks of Indus, Ghaggar and its tributaries. Architecture The excavations at Harappa and Mohenjodaro and several other sites of the Indus Valley Civilisation revealed the existence of a very modern urban civilisation with expert town planning and engineering skills. The very advanced drainage system along with well planned roads and houses show that a sophisticated and highly evolved culture existed in India before the coming of the Aryans. The sites of the Indus Valley Civilization were excavated under the Archaeological Survey of India established by the British. The Harappan people had constructed mainly three types of buildings-dwelling houses, pillared halls and public baths. Main features of Harappan remains are: 1. The settlements could be traced as far back as third millennium BC. 2. Some important settlements were excavated on the banks of the river Indus particularly at the bends that provided water, easy means of transportation of produce and other goods and also some protection by way of natural barriers of the river. 3. All the sites consisted of walled cities which provided security to the people. 4. The cities had a rectangular grid pattern of layout with roads that cut each other at right angles. Page of 2 26 5. The Indus Valley people used standardised burnt mud-bricks as building material. 6. There is evidence of building of big dimensions which perhaps were public buildings, administrative or business centres, pillared halls and courtyards, There is no evidence of temples. 7. Public buildings include granaries which were used to store grains which give an idea of an organised collection and distribution system. 8. Along with large public buildings, there is evidence of small one roomed constructions that appear to be working peoples quarters. 9. The Harappan people were great engineers as is evident from the public bath that was discovered at Mohenjodaro.

South Asia's first civilization known as the Harappan or Indus Civilization was already flourishing by the middle of third millennium B.C. within the vast area of the Greater Indus Valley drained by the Ghaggar-Hakra and Indus river systems of Pakistan. Best known from its extensively excavated two principal urban centres at Harappa on the Ravi River where it was first discovered and recognized, and at Mohenjodaro on the bank of the Indus,' it is marked by many a unique and distinct feature among its contemporaneous civilizations of the Nile and Tigris-Euphrates Valleys. An astonishing aspect of the Indus Civilization is its geographical extent much beyond the core re~ion in the central Indus Valley where Mohenjodaro, Harappa and the third unexcavated urban centre of Ganweriwala are located. It reached as far north as Badakhshan in northern ,Afghanistan and southwards along the Arabian Sea coast of Pakistan and Western India. Such a political domination or cultural expansion over a large territory had not been ever achieved by any other oriental civilization of the ancient world. Equally outstanding feature is the town planning as at Mohenjo-daro which is divided by streets and lanes and lined with public and private buildings with an elaborate drainage system. The long life span of the Harappan cities and towns, their growth and prolification mostly in the flood plain, clearly demonstrate availability of sufficient economic resources and surplus which were mobilized to construct huge fortifications and public buildings on artificially raised platforms of earth, and technology for effective utilization of the riparian environment to support growing numbers of permanently settled human population and inducing the rise and development of interrelated socioeconomic , political and religious institutions. A network of inter-settlement trade of exchange existed within the Greater Indus Valley and with neighbouring regions for the procurement and supply of raw materials and distributions of finished articles. Possessing the essential elements of full urbanization, the Harappan society was sharply stratified as would be evident from the varying size of private houses and differences in their grave furniture and modes of burials. Specialised crafts activities involved manufacturing of shell, faience and terracotta bangles, flint knapping, beads, pottery, seal cuttings and gravings, melting of copper and manufacture of metal utensils. The glyptic and representational arts were well developed and 'numerous cultic objects are indicative of formal role of religion. The mass production of different kinds and their occurrence throughout tire Greater Indus Valley requires a high technological level, an elaborate means of communication and an effective political or administrative system controlling a vast territory which induced a sort of Pan-Indus cultural integration not achieved elsewhere in the ancient world.

South Asia's first civilization known as the Harappan or Indus Civilization was already flourishing by the middle of third millennium B.C. within the vast area of the Greater Indus Valley drained by the Ghaggar-Hakra and Indus river systems of Pakistan. Best known from its extensively excavated two principal urban centres at Harappa on the Ravi River where it was first discovered and recognized, and at Mohenjodaro on the bank of the Indus,' it is marked by many a unique and distinct feature among its contemporaneous civilizations of the Nile and Tigris-Euphrates Valleys. An astonishing aspect of the Indus Civilization is its geographical extent much beyond the core re~ion in the central Indus Valley where Mohenjodaro, Harappa and the third unexcavated urban centre of Ganweriwala are located. It reached as far north as Badakhshan in northern ,Afghanistan and southwards along the Arabian Sea coast of Pakistan and Western India. Such a political domination or cultural expansion over a large territory had not been ever achieved by any other oriental civilization of the ancient world. Equally outstanding feature is the town planning as at Mohenjodaro which is divided by streets and lanes and lined with public and private buildings with an elaborate drainage system. The long life span of the Harappan cities and towns, their growth and prolification mostly in the flood plain, clearly demonstrate availability of sufficient economic resources and surplus which were mobilized to construct huge fortifications and public buildings on artificially raised platforms of earth, and technology for effective utilization of the riparian environment to support growing numbers of permanently settled human population and inducing the rise and development of inter-related socio-economic, political and religious institutions. A net-work of inter-settlement trade of exchange existed within the Greater Indus Valley and with neighbouring regions for the procurement and supply of raw materials and distributions of finished articles. Possessing the essential elements of full urbanization, the Harappan society was sharply stratified as would be evident from the varying size of private houses and differences in their grave furniture and modes of burials. Specialised crafts activities involved manufacturing of shell, faience and terracotta bangles, flint knapping, beads, pottery, seal cuttings and gravings, melting of copper and manufacture of metal utensils. The glyptic and representational arts were well developed and 'numerous cultic objects are indicative of formal role of religion. The mass production of different kinds and their occurrence throughout tire Greater Indus Valley requires a high technological level, an elaborate means of communication and an effective political or administrative system controlling a vast territory which induced a sort of Pan-Indus cultural integration not achieved elsewhere in the ancient world.

What came to be called Hinduism was an amalgamation of beliefs and practices from several sources. This chapter focuses on the first of the two major contributors: the indus Valley Civilization. in subsequent chapters we will focus on the second: the indo-aryans. The discovery of the indus Valley Civilization in the nineteenth century revealed a sophisticated and long-forgotten ancient culture that appears to have contributed to the development of the hindu traditions. in this chapter, we examine the architectural ruins and artifacts left by this civilization and contemplate their import for its inhabitants and for subsequent hindu history. This examination reveals that indus Valley religion focused on maintaining ritual purity and appropriating divine powers to assist in reproduction and the maintenance of life. Finally, we introduce the indo-aryans with a brief discussion of their relationship to the dwellers of the indus Valley.

Preview What came to be called Hinduism was an amalgamation of beliefs and practices from several sources. This chapter focuses on the first of the two major contributors: the indus Valley Civilization. in subsequent chapters we will focus on the second: the indo-aryans. The discovery of the indus Valley Civilization in the nineteenth century revealed a sophisticated and long-forgotten ancient culture that appears to have contributed to the development of the hindu traditions. in this chapter, we examine the architectural ruins and artifacts left by this civilization and contemplate their import for its inhabitants and for subsequent hindu history. This examination reveals that indus Valley religion focused on maintaining ritual purity and appropriating divine powers to assist in reproduction and the maintenance of life. Finally, we introduce the indo-aryans with a brief discussion of their relationship to the dwellers of the indus Valley. 15