Contents

Indus Valley Civilization: Date and Extent .......................................................................................................................3

Harappan Civilization : Naming ...................................................................................................................................3
The Chronology of Pre-Harappan and Harappan Cultures .........................................................................................4
Early Harappan Period.............................................................................................................................................5
Kot Diji .....................................................................................................................................................................5
Sothi-Siswal .............................................................................................................................................................6
Amri-Nal Culture .....................................................................................................................................................6
Specific features of Early Harappan Settlements ....................................................................................................7
2600 B.C. to 1900 B.C.: Mature Harapan Period.........................................................................................................7
Late Harappan Period..............................................................................................................................................8
Geographical spread and Geographical features........................................................................................................9
Regions of Indus ........................................................................................................................................................ 10
Lower Indus basin: ................................................................................................................................................10
Upper Sind and Baluchistan: ................................................................................................................................. 10
Northeast of Sind .................................................................................................................................................. 11
South of the Sutlej .................................................................................................................................................11
East of the Sutlej and Ghaggar-Hakra beds........................................................................................................... 11
Rann of Kutch, Gulf of Cambay and Kathiawad .................................................................................................... 11
Excavation ................................................................................................................................................................. 11
Important centres ..................................................................................................................................................... 11
Harappa ................................................................................................................................................................. 11
Mohenjodaro......................................................................................................................................................... 12
Kalibangan .............................................................................................................................................................13
Lothal ..................................................................................................................................................................... 13
Sutkagen-Dor .........................................................................................................................................................14
Recent changing perspectives ................................................................................................................................... 15
Indus Valley Civilisation: Origin ................................................................................................................................. 16
Aryan Theory ......................................................................................................................................................... 18
Deffussionist theory ..............................................................................................................................................18
Indigenous origin theory ....................................................................................................................................... 18
Origin of agriculture and settled villages .................................................................................................................. 19
Sites and Regions...................................................................................................................................................19
Southern Afghanistan............................................................................................................................................ 19
Quetta Valley:........................................................................................................................................................20
Central and Southern Baluchistan......................................................................................................................... 20
The Indus Area: ..................................................................................................................................................... 20
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Evolution of these pre-Harappan sites into mature Harappan sites ........................................................................ 22
Indus Valley Civilization: characteristics and significance ......................................................................................... 24
The People .............................................................................................................................................................24
Terracotta toys ...................................................................................................................................................... 24
Harappan society...................................................................................................................................................25
Food Habits ...........................................................................................................................................................25
Warfare ................................................................................................................................................................. 26
Arts and Crafts ....................................................................................................................................................... 26
Tools and Implements ........................................................................................................................................... 27
Pottery ................................................................................................................................................................... 27
Terracotta .............................................................................................................................................................. 29
Stone work ............................................................................................................................................................ 29
Copper and bronze objects ................................................................................................................................... 29
Jewellery:............................................................................................................................................................... 30
Sculpture in stone and metal ................................................................................................................................ 30
Seal ........................................................................................................................................................................ 31
Beads and Shell Work............................................................................................................................................ 32
Textile .................................................................................................................................................................... 33
Weights and measure ...........................................................................................................................................33
Misc Art .................................................................................................................................................................34
The General Features of Harappan Settlements....................................................................................................... 34
Town-Planning........................................................................................................................................................... 34
Unity of conception: ..............................................................................................................................................34
Drainage System:................................................................................................................................................... 37
Harappan Subsistence ...............................................................................................................................................39
Agriculture and Animal Husbandry ....................................................................................................................... 39
Religion and Burials ................................................................................................................................................... 40
Harappan Burials ...................................................................................................................................................43
Harappan Trade......................................................................................................................................................... 44
Assessments of Harappan–Mesopotamian trade ..................................................................................................... 50
Exchange System ....................................................................................................................................................... 51
Location of harappan sites based on agriculture and trade ................................................................................. 51
Harappan Political System......................................................................................................................................... 52
Harappan Political System..................................................................................................................................... 53
Conclusion .............................................................................................................................................................54
Harappan Script ......................................................................................................................................................... 55
Harappan seals and sealings as a source of history .................................................................................................. 56

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 Decline and survival of Indus Valley Civilisation ....................................................................................................... 57
Theories Of Sudden Decline .................................................................................................................................. 58
Theory of Aryan invasions ..................................................................................................................................... 58
Natural disaster ..................................................................................................................................................... 59
Shifting away of the Indus .....................................................................................................................................60
Ecological imbalance .............................................................................................................................................60
Climate change ...................................................................................................................................................... 61
Monsoon Link Theory ............................................................................................................................................ 62
IIT Kharagpur study ...............................................................................................................................................62
Study of under-sea fossil evidence........................................................................................................................ 62
Decline in the lapis lazuli ....................................................................................................................................... 63
Late Harappa: The tradition survives ........................................................................................................................ 63
Sind ........................................................................................................................................................................64
Indo Iranian Borderlands ....................................................................................................................................... 64
Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan ............................................................................................................................64
Ganga–Yamuna doab ............................................................................................................................................ 64
Kutch and Saurashtra: ........................................................................................................................................... 64
Transmission of Harappan tradition ......................................................................................................................... 66

Indus Valley Civilization: Date and Extent

The Indus valley civilisation is also called the Harappan culture. Archaeologists use the term “culture” for a group of
objects, distinctive in style, that are usually found together within a specific geographical area and period of time. In
the case of the Harappan culture, these distinctive objects include seals, beads, weights, stone blades and even baked
bricks. These objects were found from areas as far apart as Afghanistan, Jammu, Baluchistan (Pakistan) and Gujarat

Harappan Civilization : Naming

Initially historians called this civilization the Indus Valley Civilization. But of late historians prefer to call it the
Harappan Culture. Can you think of reasons -for this change? Most of the sites of this civilization discovered earlier
Were in the Indus Valley only. The sites included Harappa and Mohenjodaro. But in recent years, a large number of
sites belonging to this civilization have been found in areas far away from the Indus Valley. For example, the sites at
Kalibangan and Lothal revealed features similar to those of the Indus Valley. Therefore, historians feel that the name
Indus Valley Civilization is not appropriate. Further, most of these sites have many similarities to the urbanised
culture of the people of Harappa, the first site of this culture to be discovered in 1921. Therefore, this civilization is
called the Harappan Culture. Archaeologists however prefer to call it the ‘Harappan Civilization‘. This is because in
archaeology there is a convention that when an ancient culture is described, it is named after the modern name of
the site which first revealed the existence of this culture. Thus, we call them Harappans after the modern place
Harappa where the evidence of this forgotten civilization was first unearthed.

The area covered by the Harappan culture zone is huge. Sites have been found in Afghanistan; in the Punjab, Sindh,
Baluchistan, and North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan; in Jammu, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, and
western Uttar Pradesh in India. The western-most site is Sutkagen-dor on the Makran coast of Pakistan, and the
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easternmost is Alamgirpur in the Saharanpur district of Uttar Pradesh. There is an isolated site at Shortughai in
Afghanistan. The vast geographical extent of the civilization should make the objection to the terms ‘Indus valley’
civilization obvious.

The terms ‘Indus–Sarasvati’ or ‘Sindhu–Sarasvati’ civilization are also used by some scholars.

This is because a large number of sites are located on the banks of the Ghaggar-Hakra river, which is identified by
some scholars with the ancient Sarasvati mentioned in the Rig Veda. However, the sort of objection to the terms
‘Indus valley’ civilization can also be applied to the terms ‘Indus–Saraswati’ or ‘Sindhu–Saraswati’ civilization. Since
the civilization was not confined to the valleys of the Indus or Ghaggar-Hakra, the best option is to use the term
‘Harappan ’ civilization. The use of the term Harappan civilization does not imply that all other sites are identical to
Harappa or that the culture developed first in this place.

The Chronology of Pre-Harappan and Harappan Cultures

The Harappan Culture existed between 2500 B.C and 1800 B.C. Its mature phase lay between 2200 B.C and 2000 B.C.
The Harappan culture was actually a long and complex cultural process consisting of at least three phases—the early
Harappan, mature Harappan, and late Harappan. The Harappan Culture itself is a bronze age civilization. Copper and
bronze tools were used extensively during that period.

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The civilization can be dated between 3300 BCE to 1300 BCE with the help of Radio carbon dating. However the dates
of individual sites may vary. This entire timeline can be divided into three phases, depending upon the level of
development. These are Early Harappan, Mature Harappan and Late Harappan. A Transitional stage can be placed
between the Early Harappan and Mature Harappan. The characteristic of each phase and its rough chronology are
summarized below The Early Harappan, Mature Harappan, and Late Harappan phases are also called the
Regionalisation, Integration, and Localisation eras, respectively, with the Regionalization era reaching back to the
Neolithic Mehrgarh II period. Collating the calibrated radiocarbon dates from various sites, scholars accept the
following chronology for the pre-Harappan and Harappan cultures.

Early Harappan Period

Many scholars call early period 'The Early Harappan' period because they believe that this was the formative epoch
of the Harappan civilization when certain trends of cultural unification are in evidence. '. Around 3200 BCE, there was
a transformation taking place which can be seen in the appearance of four cultures, together covering the entire
Indus basin and parts of Baluchistan. These are identified by their distinctive potteries and named after the type site.

1) The Kot Dijian culture occupying the largest area embracing NWFP, Pakistan’s Punjab and northern Sindh.
2) Sothi-Siswal culture with settlements in northern Rajasthan, Indian Punjab and Haryana.
3) The Amri-Nal culture found in Baluchistan and Central and Southern Sindh with extensions in Gujarat.
4) The Damb Sadaat phase of Central Baluchistan.

The development of farming communities ultimately led to the formation of larger settlements from the later 4th
millennium. Indus valley civilization was composite product of different races who lived and worked together in a
particular environment. Mohenjo daro had easy land and water communication; it was the meeting ground of people
for different parts of Asia. Farmers had, by this time, domesticated numerous crops, including peas, sesame seeds,
dates and cotton, as well as a wide range of domestic animals, including the water buffalo.

Kot Diji

Kot Diji culture is the most significant of the Early Harappan cultures. It was first identified at Kot Diji in Sindh in
1955 by F.A. Khan. The site was occupied
during both Early Harappan and Mature
Harappan phase. The Early Harappan level
dates back to 3300 BCE. In this phase itself,
the site was fortified with the settlement
being divided into an upper citadel and a
lower town. The fortification was made of
mud bricks and stone and was provided with
bastions. From inside the settlement were
recovered microlithic tools and objects like
beads, terracotta toys, cattle figurines,
beads, bangles and pottery. The pottery
consists of ‘well-fired red and buff wares’
with common motifs like horned deity, pipal
leaves and fish scales executed in black. The
Kot Diji culture was subsequently recovered
from several other sites. A major
concentration of sites is in Cholistan, while a
few sites were discovered from Punjab. In
Baluchistan, sites like Mehrgarh and
Nausharo have shown some influence of Kot Diji, but their material culture closely resembles Damb Sadaat. According
to Possehl, nearly 111 sites of the culture are known with average size of the site being 6.31 ha.

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  In Cholistan, The Kot Diji culture here succeeded the Hakra phase. Most of the sites are located near the
dried river bed of Ghaggar-Hakra. The largest of these is Jalwali (22.5 ha.) and Gamanwala (27.3 ha.).
Unfortunately, none of these are excavated.
 In Punjab, the sites where Early Harappan culture is featured is Jalilpur and Harappa. The Harappa site is a
successor of Ravi Hakra Phase. The site is about 20 ha. in size surrounded by a mud-brick wall. The settlement
is divided into two sectors, with streets oriented north-south, east-west. The houses are built of bricks in
the ratio 1:2:4. In crafts, the site is an important production centre for beads as the presence of stone drills
and flakes of raw material has shown. Popular materials include carnelian, agate, jasper, lapis lazuli,
amazonite with beads of agate being used for exchange. Other goods discovered include stone and bone
tools, spindlewhorls and ornaments like necklaces and bangles made of shell and terracotta. Among other
designs the motifs on the pottery included designs like fish scales, pipal leaf, which also occurs in the Mature
period. The most important discovery was an early form of Indus script inscribed on a pottery and square
seal. Besides, we also discovered a cubical limestone weight

Sothi-Siswal

The two sites- Sothi in Rajasthan and Siswal in Haryana were excavated in 1955 and 1970 respectively. Both of them
revealed identical pottery. In the 1960’s, A. Ghosh noted its similarities with the Kot Diji pottery. There are similarities
in the motifs but certain important differences exist in shape and surface features. As a result, the Sothi-Siswal culture
has been identified as a subculture of KotDiji. According to Possehl, around 165 sites of this culture have been
identified. These are mainly located in Rajasthan and Haryana with some unexcavated sites like Rohira and Mahorana
located in Indian Punjab.

 In Rajasthan, Kalibangan is the most important site. This site has given two phases of occupation. Phase I has
Sothi-Siswal phase. In this phase, the site was surrounded by a fortification wall. Within the wall, mudbrick
houses with a central courtyard were discovered. These were provided with ovens, and lime plastered
storage pits. The other antiquities discovered include copper objects, microliths, bangles of terracotta, shell,
beads of gold and semi-precious stones. On some of the sherds, some of the signs resemble the Indus script.
Towards the south, was discovered a cultivated field with furrow marks. This entire phase is dated to
2900/2800 BCE.
 Haryana is rich in Sothi-Siswal culture. Besides Siswal, this phase has been observed at Kunal, Balu, Banawali,
Rakhigarhi, and Bhirrana. Almost all these sites have given evidence for mud brick structures in the early
Harappan level. At Kunal, the proportion was 1:2:3 and 1:2:4 and Bhiranna 1:2:3. In Kunal, the early Harappan
site is about 1 ha. in area. Here we have two early Harappan cultures IB and IC. Period IB is classified as Early
Harappan due to the presence of Sothi ware in it. But this period did not have any brick made structures.
Instead the people lived in wattle-and-daub structures. The brick houses made their appearance in the next
phase IC with bricks being in proportion of 1:2:4 or 1:2:3. The houses were also provided with refuse bins
and soakage jars. An important discovery in this phase was the collection of silver and gold ornaments in a
red ware pot. Also discovered were a large hoard of lapis lazuli micro-beads, 92 agate beads, and faience and
carnelian beads. Some data for metallurgy also exists as we discovered a terracotta crucible with molten
metal. Other important finds include fish-hooks, arrowheads and spearheads, and flat axes. Rakhigarhi has
given data for planned settlement and mud brick structures. Other important artefacts include uninscribed
seals, pottery with graffiti, terracotta wheels, carts, rattles, bull figurines, chert blades, weights, a bone point
and a muller. The site has given abundant data for cattle bones, which implies importance of animal
husbandry

Amri-Nal Culture

Another culture designated as Early Harappan is the Amri-Nal culture. The sites of this culture have given a mixed
assemblage of two potteries – one discovered at Amri and another at Nal. The sites are found in both Sindh and
Baluchistan, with sites in Baluchistan having more of Nal pottery, and sites in Sindh giving us more Amri pottery. The
Amri pottery may be described as pottery fired to light red or buff colour and then covered with red or buff slip and
6
painted black. The motifs consist of geometric and curvilinear designs filled with red colour. The Nal pottery, on the
other hand, was fired to buff or pink colour, then covered with light buff or red slip, enriching its colour. The designs
on the pottery were filled with different colours, making it one of the most beautiful potteries discovered from the
subcontinent. The people of this culture seem essentially to be pastoralists migrating to the highlands in summer,
and to Indus valley in winter

Specific features of Early Harappan Settlements

1) Fortified settlements and planned arrangement of houses made of standardized bricks.

2) Evidence of grid planning and the division of the settlement in two fortified sectors
3) Partly standardized repertoire of pottery shapes and designs some of which were carried into the Mature
Harappan phase. These occur in varying proportion at all the relevant archaeological sites
4) Miscellaneous artefacts like terracotta cakes and painted motifs like fish scale, pipal leaf, which continued in
the Mature Harappan phase.
5) Several signs of the Mature Harappan script at a few places.
6) Presence of button seals with geometric motifs at some sites.
7) Consolidation and expansion of agricultural life based on the plough all over the Indus Hakra plains. This was
combined with the establishment of basic crop types which continued to be cultivated in the Mature
Harappan phase.
8) Wide transport and exchange of raw materials.
9) Ritual beliefs embodied in a wide range of terracotta cattle and female figurines.
10) A diversified and well established metallurgical tradition which continued uninterrupted in the succeeding
phase.
11) Presence of Indus weights in this level.
12) Finally the unvarying stratigraphical precedence of this level over the Mature Harappan one

2600 B.C. to 1900 B.C.: Mature Harapan Period

The fact that the Harappan civilization was
urban does not mean that all or even most
of its settlements had an urban character. A
majority were in fact villages. The cities
depended on villages for food and perhaps
also labour, and various kinds of goods
produced in cities found their way into the
villages. As a result of the brisk urban–rural
interaction, the typical range of Harappan
artefacts reached even small village sites.
Mature Harappan sites varied a great deal
in size and function, from large cities to
small pastoral camps. The largest
settlements include Mohenjodaro (over 200
ha), Harappa (over 150 ha), Ganweriwala
(over 81.5 ha), Rakhigarhi (over 80 ha), and
Dholavira (about 100 ha). Lurewala in
Cholistan, with an estimated population of
about 35,000, seems to have been as large as Mohenjodaro.

Though evidence of transition from the Early Harappan to Mature Harappan is available at some sites, there is an
element of abruptness in the appearance of the Mature form especially in terms of writing, multiplicity of art forms
and general scale of things. A civilization goes through qualitative changes; however the precise span and process of

7
this transformation needs to be worked out. It is indeed without doubt that a transformation was taking place in the
sequence related to the emergence of the Indus civilization. This is clear at three sites: Harappa, Kunal and Dholavira .

 At Harappa, in the upper levels of the Early Harappan phase the transition to Mature phase is indicated by
the construction of the habitation area along a grid of north-south and east-west streets.
 At Kunal, period IC shows even mud bricks in the classic Harappan ratio of 1:2:4, a well planned drainage
system based on soakage pits in the streets, square though uninscribed and knobbed steatite and shell seals,
typical classic Harappan copper arrow heads, a number of semi-precious stone beads and gold and silver
ornaments containing silver tiaras, armlets and disc shaped beads associated with the Indus civilisation.
 At Dholavira, Period IV represents classic Indus civilization. However by stage IIIB the basic layout of the
settlement was achieved with Harappan elements such as stamp seals, script, weights and many typical
pottery forms as well as decorative motifs

How can the transition be explained? The variable identified by scholars is the increasing level of craft specialization
in the transitional phase. This is evidenced in the manufacture of pottery on a commercial scale, the presence of
bangles of Turbinella pyrum type of shell, blades made of chert sourced from the Sukkur-Rohri hills of upper Sindh in
the relevant context at Harappa. Copper metallurgy also developed along the Aravallis (the locale of this tradition
comprises the copper bearing areas of north east Rajasthan and its extensions in the Narnaul area of Haryana and
tin bearing hills of Tosam area of Haryana). Another variable is emergence of organized irrigation system at this point.
Settlements increased in number in the Indus-Hakra plain. This could have been possible only with expansion of an
irrigation network. This along with craft specialization and socio-institutional changes, no matter how uncertain,
point to the emergence of the Mature phase. For instance, the gold and silver jewellery obtained from Kunal suggests
the emergence of an elite class and how at Dholavira multiple divisions of urban space crystallized, point to the
possibility that water management and irrigation may have been a socially controlled affair. Thus the emergence of
a controlling or ruling nucleus on this basis becomes clear

Late Harappan Period

Around 1900 BCE signs of a gradual decline began to emerge, and by around 1700 BCE most of the cities had been
abandoned. Recent examination of human skeletons from the site of Harappa has demonstrated that the end of the
Indus civilisation saw an increase in inter-personal violence and in infectious diseases. According to historian Upinder
Singh, "the general picture presented by the late Harappan phase is one of a breakdown of urban networks and an
expansion of rural ones."

During the period of approximately 1900 to 1700 BCE, multiple regional cultures emerged within the area of the
Indus civilisation. The Cemetery H culture was in Punjab, Haryana, and Western Uttar Pradesh, the Jhukar-culture
was in Sindh, and the Rangpur culture (characterised by Lustrous Red Ware pottery) was in Gujarat. Other sites
associated with the Late phase of the Harappan culture are Pirak in Balochistan, Pakistan, and Daimabad
in Maharashtra, India.

The largest Late Harappan sites are Kudwala in Cholistan, Bet Dwarka in Gujarat, and Daimabad in Maharashtra,
which can be considered as urban, but they are smaller and few in number compared with the Mature Harappan
cities. Bet Dwarka was fortified and continued to have contacts with the Persian Gulf region, but there was a general
decrease of long-distance trade. On the other hand, the period also saw a diversification of the agricultural base, with
a diversity of crops and the advent of double-cropping, as well as a shift of rural settlement towards the east and the
south. The pottery of the Late Harappan period is described as "showing some continuity with mature Harappan
pottery traditions," but also distinctive differences.

Harappan pottery traditions," but also distinctive differences. Many sites continued to be occupied for some
centuries, although their urban features declined and disappeared. Formerly typical artifacts such as stone weights
and female figurines became rare. There are some circular stamp seals with geometric designs, but lacking the Indus
script which characterised the mature phase of the civilisation. Script is rare and confined to potsherd inscriptions.
There was also a decline in long-distance trade, although the local cultures show new innovations in faience and glass
8
making, and carving of stone beads. Urban amenities such as drains and the public bath were no longer maintained,
and newer buildings were "poorly constructed". Stone sculptures were deliberately vandalised, valuables were
sometimes concealed in hoards, suggesting unrest, and the corpses of animals and even humans were left unburied
in the streets and in abandoned buildings.

Geographical spread and Geographical features

Indus settlements are spread over a wide area which includes India’s north-west and Pakistan. Geographically the
civilization included more than the Indus zone. It was a combination of riverine lowlands that stretched towards the
east and southeast into UP and Rajasthan, the highland and
coastal areas of Baluchistan, and the coastal belt of Gujarat It
flourished in the basins of the Indus River and the now dried up
Sarasvati River, which once coursed through northwest India and
eastern Pakistan together with its tributaries flowed along a
channel, presently identified as that of the Ghaggar-Hakra River.
The course of the Indus river in the third millennium BC was
more southeasterly and it flowed into the Arabian sea in the
vicinity of the Rann of Kutch.

Scholars generally believe that the Harappa, Ghaggar,

Mohenjodaro axis represents the heartland of the Harappan
Civilization. Most of the Harappan settlements are located in
this region. The areas of present day Pakistan and North-
Western India formed the core region of the Harappan
civilization.

The entire Harappan zone is a flat stretch of land having similar

subsistence pattern. The huge Indus river system waters a rich agricultural landscape. The Indus plain is surrounded
by high mountains, desert and ocean, and at that time there were
dense forests and swamps to the east. These areas are now
characterised by dry weather and scanty rainfall. Snow-melt from the
Himalayas and the monsoon rains define its flooding pattern. This
would create similar kinds of possibilities for agriculture and
pastoralism.

However, there are some important variations among these areas.

Whereas the areas of Punjab and Sind are dominated by the alluvial
plains of the Indus river system, the areas of Baluchistan are
characterised by steep craggy hills.

In North-Eastern Baluchistan the valley floors might provide some

possibilities of agriculture. This area has been inhabited by another
set of people also, namely pastoral nomads. These pastoral nomads
with their herds of sheep, goat and cattle kept shifting from uplands
to low lands in search of pastures for their herd.

The areas of these border lands which cut out into the Indus plains are a continuation of the eastern Iranian Plateau.
These hilly regions are fractured by many passes, like those of Khyber, Gomal and Bolan. These have acted as
highways of traffic for nomads, merchants, warriors and various groups of people. The interaction among the
population of the uplands of Baluchistan and plains of the Indus on the one hand and the communities of Iran on the
other seems to be related to this geographical feature. The similarities in the climate and landscape of the Harappan
civilization and those of Iran, Iraq borderlands had led scholars to hypothesize that agricultural communities must
have emerged in these areas in roughly the same period. In Iran and Iraq agriculture began around eight thousand
B.C.
9
The settlements of Sutka-koh and Sutkagen-Dor on the Makran coast represent the driest part of the hilly Baluchisran
region. They are the known western boundaries of the Harappans. The Harappan settlements at Shortughai in north-
eastern Afghanistan seems to have been isolated colonies of the Harappans. The eastern borderlands of the
Harappan Civilization are represented by such settlements as Bargaon, Manpur and Alamgirpur in U.P.

The subsistence system of these sites located in the Ganga-Yamuna doab was in conformity to their geographical
location. This area had higher rainfall and denser forests. It falls outside the zone of pastoral nomadism and falls in
the wheat producing area. Therefore, it would pose different kinds of problems of settlement. This is why some
scholars believe that this area represents an independent cultural province receiving stimulus from the Harappans.

Manda in Jammu-and Ropar in Punjab represent the northern extremities of the Harappans in India. The settlements
of Daimabad in Maharashtra and Bhagatrav in Gujarat might have formed the southern frontier of the Harappans. In
Gujarat, too, the settlement pattern was not uniform. There were small dissected plateaus and scraplands in Kutch
and Kathiawad. On the other hand this area had a large seacoast in the Gulf of Cambay and the Rann of Kutch. The
Harappans in Gujarat were familiar with rice and millet.

The Harappan Civilization seems to have covered a very large area. Its area was larger than those of the
contemporary Civilizations of Mesopotamia and Egypt. In Mesopotamia settlements were spread out all across the
riverine plains in dense clusters.

However, except in the Ghaggar-Hakra region the Harappan settlements were very thinly spread out. Sites in
Rajasthan and Gujarat could be divided by hundreds of kilometers of deserts and marshes. The nearest Harappan
neighbour of Shortughai would be about 300 km. away. These vacant spaces might have been inhabited by primitive
communities who were still surviving by hunting-gathering or by pastoral nomadism. In the Harappan period the
fastest means of transport was bullock-cart, iron was unknown and the use of plough was considered a revolutionary
discovery. With such primitve technology, a civilization which managed to bring together far flung areas in a complex
web of socio-economic relationship was a stunning achievement in those days.

Regions of Indus
Lower Indus basin:

In the lower Indus basin, Mohenjodaro dominated the flood plain, agriculturally the richest part of Sind. Lower Indus
basin is also marked by lake depressions, such as the Manchhar, where fishing settlements existed. Towards the west,
there were clusters of sites in the foothills of the Kirthar mountain range and the Kohistan. There, agriculture must
have depended on spring water and rains. Routes linking up with Baluchistan also passed through this area.

Upper Sind and Baluchistan:

In upper Sind, the Sukkur-Rorhi hills saw settlements of workmen in and around flint quarries, the raw material from
which Harappan blades were manufactured. As one moves west, Baluchistan is reached where Harappan
settlements are found in a variety of terrain– across the northern mountain rim, on the flat Kacchi plain, towards the
south and along the coastal area known as the Makran. In Makran, the fortified sites of Sutkagendor and Sotka-koh
were important in terms of the Indus civilization’s sea trade with the Persian Gulf and Mesopotamia. From these
points, convenient routes linked up with the interior. In other parts of Baluchistan, Indus sites are found in areas that
are still agriculturally viable and lie on arterial routes.

Pathani Damb, for instance, was near the Mula pass, from where a route went across the Kirthar range while
Naushahro was in the general vicinity of the Bolan, through which a major route led to Afghanistan. Such routes were
important because through them, Baluchistan’s metalliferrous ores (copper and lead) and semi-precious stone (lapis
lazuli and turquoise) could be procured by the resource-poor Indus valley. The northernmost site of the Indus
civilization, Shortughai, (on the Oxus River) is in northeast Afghanistan. Shortughai provided access to Badakshan’s
lapis lazuli and possibly to the tin and gold resources of Central Asia.

10
Northeast of Sind

To the northeast of Sind is the Pakistan province of Punjab. A large part of the province is comprised of doabs or
tracts lying between two rivers. Of these, the Bari doab (or land between the Ravi and an old bed of the Beas) sites
has the sprawling city of Harappa.

South of the Sutlej

South of the Sutlej river, is Bahawalpur. Part of it is made up of the desert trace of Cholistan, through which the Hakra
river flowed. The largest cluster of Indus settlements is found here. Geographically, this tract connects the Indus
plains with Rajasthan, which was vast copper deposits. There were several exclusive, industrial sites in Cholistan,
marked by kilns, devoted to large-scale craft production that included the melting and smelting of copper.

East of the Sutlej and Ghaggar-Hakra beds

East of the Sutlej is the alluvial terrain of the Indo-Gangetic divide, a transitional area between the Indus and the
Ganga river systems, made up of the Indian states of Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and Ghaggar river course in Rajasthan.
A large part of the riverine and stream drainage from the Siwalik ridge between the Sutlej and Yamuna used to
converge into the Ghaggar, the Indian name for the river known as the Hakra in Pakistan. There were several
provincial urban centres in this region such as Kalibangan and Banawali although Rakhigarhi (in the Hissar district of
Haryana) was the largest city.

Sites along the Ghaggar-Hakra beds are: Rupar, Rakhigarhi (Largest Harappan Site), Sothi, Kalibangan, Bhiranna
(Oldest Harappan Site), Ganwariwala

Rann of Kutch, Gulf of Cambay and Kathiawad

The spread of the Indus civilization included the quadrilateral between the Rann of Kutch and the Gulf of Cambay.
Dholavira was the city of the Rann, with its vast expanse of tidal mud flats. Further east, Kathiawad, now known as
Saurashtra, is formed of Deccan lava and on its eastern edge flourished the port town of Lothal. The mainland of
Gujarat is alluvial, formed by the Sabarmati, Mahi and minor parallel streams, actively prograding into the Gulf of
Cambay. Here, Bhagatrav, on the estuary of the Kim river, forms Gujarat’s southernmost extension of the Indus
civilization.

Indus Valley sites have been found most often on rivers, but also on the ancient seacoast, for example, Balakot, and
on islands, for example, Dholavira. An Indus Valley site has been found in Gomal River valley in northwestern
Pakistan, Manda, Jammu on the Beas River near Jammu, and Alamgirpur on the Hindon River, 28 km from Delhi.

Excavation
The first modern accounts of the ruins of the Indus civilisation are those of Charles Masson, a deserter from the East
India Company's army.

In 1861, three years after the dissolution of the East India Company and the establishment of Crown rule in India,
archaeology on the subcontinent became more formally organised with the founding of the Archaeological Survey
of India (ASI). Alexander Cunningham, the Survey's first director-general, who had visited Harappa in 1853 and had
noted the imposing brick walls, visited again to carry out a survey, but this time of a site whose entire upper layer
had been stripped in the interim

Important centres
One might ask why the Harappans tried to occupy such faraway places as Shortughai in Afghanistan or Surkotada in
Gujarat.

Harappa

11
Harappa site takes its name from a modern village located near the former course of the Ravi River which now runs
8 km (5.0 mi) to the north. It was the first Indus site to be discovered and excavated in 1921 by Daya Ram Sahni. The
site has two large and imposing ruined mounds located some 25 kms. South-west of Montgomery district of Punjab
(Pakistan) on the left bank of river Ravi.From the 1920s onwards archaeologists like Dayaram Sahni, M.S. Vats and
Mortimer Wheeler carried out excavations at Harappa. It is located on the bank of the Ravi in Western Punjab.
In terms of its size and the variety of objects discovered, it ranks as the premier city of the Harappan Civilization.
There are no clusters of sites around Harappa. In Harappa a substantial section of the population was engaged in
activities other than food production. These activities could relate to administration, trade, craft work or religion.
Since these people were not producing for themselves someone else would have to do it for them.

Productivity was low and transportation was quite difficult. Thus, for maintaining these non-food producers the
community would have to mobilise a very large number of people for procuring and transporting food from the food
producing areas. However, these areas would not have been very far from the city because transportation of grains
was done by bullock carts and boats. Some scholars have suggested that the surrounding villages might have been
engaged in shifting cultivation in the meander flood plains of the rivers. Villages had to keep shifting according to
the changes in the flood plains of the rivers. The location of Harappa in isolation can be explained by the fact that it
was located in the midst of some important trade routes which are still in use. These routes connected Harappa with
Central Asia, Afghanistan and Jammu.

Harappa’s pre-eminent position was linked to its ability to procure exotic items from faraway lands.

a) The western mound of Harappa, smaller in size represented the citadel, parallelogram in plan and fortified.
b) Outside the citadel was the unfortified town having some important structures identified with workmen’s
quarters, working floors and granaries. The workmen’s quarters, 10 in number were of uniform size and
space (17×7.5 m). Close to these quarters were 16 furnaces, pear- shaped on plan with cow-dung ash and
charcoal.
c) 12 Granary building of 15.24×6.10 m each, arranged systematically in 2 rows (6 in each row) with central
passage 7 m. wide
d) The material remains discovered at Harappa are of the typical Indus character, prominent being.
e) 891 seals which form 36.32 per cent of the total writing material of the Indus civilisation ,
f) Two very important stone figurines (not available at any other site) which include one red stone torso of a
naked male figure (the prototype of the Jina or Yaksha Figure) and a female figure in dancing pose.
g) A crucible used for smelting bronze was also found at a slightly higher level.
h) Dog attacking deer on a pin
a. Evidence of the disposal of the dead has been found to the south of the citadel area named as cemetery R-
37. Excavations have also yielded 57 burials of different types. The skeletons were disposed of in the graves
along with the grave-goods.

Mohenjodaro

The site of Mohenjo-Daro (or the Mound of the Dead) situated in the Larkana district of Sind (Pakistan) and 540 km.
south of Harappa is situated on the right bank of the river Indus. It also has two mounds, the western being the
citadel or acropolis and the eastern extensive mound was enshrining the relics of the buried lower city. The mounds
were excavated first by Sir John Marshall. The citadel was fortified with big buildings extremely rich in structures.

Mohenjodaro, located in the Larkana district of Sind on the bank of the river Indus is one of the largest sites of the
Harappan Civilization. Most of the information regarding the town planning, housing, seals and sealings of this
Civilization comes from Mohejodaro. Excavations began at this site in 1922, with R.D. Banerjee and Sir John Marshal
taking up the work. Excavations show that people lived here for a very long time and went on building and rebuilding
houses at the same location.

a. The most important public place of Mohenjo-Daro seems to be the Great Bath, with a bed made water tight
by the use of bitumen and a system of supplying and draining away water. This tank which is situated in the
12
 citadel mound is an example of beautiful brick-work measuring 11.88×7.01 meters and 2.43 meters deep.
Flight of steps at either end lead to the surface. There are side rooms for changing clothes. This tank seems
to have been used for ritual bathing.
b. In Mohenjo-Daro, the largest building is the great granary which is 45.71 meters long and 15.23 meters wide
and lies to the west of the great bath.
c. To the north-east of the great bath is a long collegiate building, perhaps meant for the residence of a very
high official, possibly the high priest himself, or a college of priests.
d. The lower unfortified city displayed all the elements of a planned city. The remarkable thing about the
arrangement of the houses in the city is that they followed the grid system with the main streets running
north-south and east-west dividing the city into many blocks.
a. This is true of almost all Indus settlements regardless of size. The main streets in the lower city are about
9.14 metre wide. The drainage system of Mohenjo-Daro was very impressive. These drains were covered
with bricks and sometimes with stone slabs. The street drains were equipped with manholes. Houses were
made of kiln-burnt bricks as in Harappa.
e. Material remains of Mohenjo-Daro with its richness confirms that it was a great city of the Indus civilisation.
About 1398 seals representing 56.67 percent of the total writing material of the Indus cities throws light on
Harappan religion.
b. Important stone images found here includes the torso of a priest made of steatite (19 cm), lime stone male
head (14 cm), the seated male of alabaster (29.5 cm), the seated male with the hands placed on knees (21
cm) and a composite animal figure made up of limestone. The bronze dancing girl from Mohenjo-Daro,
considered a masterpiece (14 cm) is made by cast wax technique.

Kalibangan

Situated in Ganganagar district of Rajasthan on the southern bank of the Ghaggar river this site was excavated by
B.B. Lai and B.K. Thapar (1961-69). This site also has two mounds yielding the remains of a citadel and lower city
respectively. Excavations have revealed evidence of pre-Harappan and Harappan culture.

Kalibangan has yielded evidence for the existence of Pre-Harappan and Harappan habitations. It shows significant
variation from Harappan in the sphere of religious beliefs. Some scholars have suggested that Kalibangan might have
been part of the ‘Eastern Domain’ of the Harappan Civilization. In the areas of present day Haryana, East Punjab and
Western U.P. Harappan sites like Bara, Siswal and Alamgirpur have been distovered. They give evidence of the
presence of distinct local traditions in pottery along with the Harappan pottery. Kalibangan might have been a
mediator between the Harappan cultural zone and the eastern provinces.

a. The citadel and the lower city both were fortified.

b. The citadel had mud-brick platforms having seven fire-altars in a row.
c. The lower fortified town had two gateways.
d. The people of Kalibangan used mud-bricks for the construction of houses, the use of burnt bricks has been
found only in wells, drains and pavements.
1. f .The cylindrical seals found at Kalibangan had an analogy in the Mesopotamian counterpart. The discovery
of inscribed sherds clearly suggests that Indus script was written from right to left.
2. g. Excavations at Kalibangan revealed the evidence of the ploughed field.

Lothal

It was an important trading centre of the Indus civilisation and situated near the bed of the Bhogavo River at the
head of the Gulf of Cambay in Gujarat. Lothal was excavated by S R. Rao which brought to light five period sequences
of cultures. It was one rectangular settlement surrounded by a brick wall. Along the eastern side of the town was a
brick basin, which has been identified as a dockyard by its excavator. In Gujarat settlements such as Rangapur,
Surkotada and Lothal have been discovered.

13
a) The house of a wealthy merchant yielded gold beads with axial tubes and sherds of Reserved Slip Ware related to
the Sumerian origin indicating that the merchants were engaged in foreign trade.

b) Metal-workers, shell ornament makers and bead-makers shops have been discovered here.

c) The discovery of the Persian Gulf seal and the Reserved Slip Ware suggests that Lothal was engaged in the maritime
activities.

Sutkagen-Dor

Situated at a distance of 500 kms to the west of Karachi on the Makran coast it functioned as a trading post of the
Harappans. It was originally a port of Harappan according to archaeologist Dales but later cut off from the sea due to
coastal uplift. Excavation at the site revealed the two-fold division of the township into ‘citadel’ and ‘Lower city’.

Sutkagen-Dor is located near the Makran coast which is close to the Pakistan-Iran border. At present the settlement
is land-locked in dry inhospitable plains. The town had a citadel surrounded by a stone wall built for defence. Its
location in an inhospitable area can only be explained by the need of sea-port for trading.

Name of Year of Excavators Region/River Features

Sites Excavation
Harappa 1921 Daya Ram Sahni Montgomery district City followed grid planning
of Punjab (Now in Row of six granaries
Pak) on the left bank Only place having evidences of coffin
of Ravi burial
Evidence of fractional burial and
coffin burial
Cemetery-H of alien people.
Mohenjo- 1922 R.D.Banarjee Larkana district in Sind City followed grid planning
daro on the right bank of A large granary and Great Bath, a
Indus(Now in Pak) college
Human skeletons showing invasion
and massacre.
Evidence of Horse come from
superficial level.
A piece of woven cotton along with
spindle whorls and needles
Town was flooded more then seven
times.
Chanhu-daro 1931 N. Gopal Situtated in Sind on The city has no citadal
Majumdar, the bank of Indus Famous for bead makers shop
Mackey A small pot, possibly an inkpot
Foot prints of a dog chasing a cat
Three different cultural layers,
Indus,Jhukar and Jhangar
Kalibangan 1953 A. Ghosh Situated in Rajasthan Shows both Pre Harappan and
on the Bank of Harappan phase
Ghaggar Evidence of furrowed land
Evidence of seven fire altars and
camel bones
Many houses had their own well
Kalibangan stand for black bangles
Evidence of wooden furrow
Lothal 1953 S.R. Rao Situated in Gujarat on A titled floor which bears intersecting
Bhogava river near design of circles
Gulf of Cambay Remains of rice husk
14
 Evidence of horse from a terracotta
figurine
A ship designed on a seal
Beads & trade ports
An instrument for measuring
angles,pointing to modern day
compass
Banwali 1974 R.S. Bisht Situated in Hissar Shows both Pre-Harappan and
district of Haryana Harppan phase
Good quantity of barley found here
Surkotada 1964 J.P. Joshi Situated in Kutch Bones of horses, Bead making shops
(Bhuj) district of
Gujarat
Sutkagendor 1927 Stein, R.L. Situated in Trade point between Harappa and
Baluchistan on Dast Babylon, belong to mature phase
River Evidence of horse
Amri 1935 N.G. Majumdar Situated in Sind on the Evidence of antelope
bank of Indus
Dholavira 1985-90 R.S. Bisht Situated in Gujarat in Seven cultural stages
Rann of Kutch Three party of city
Unique water management
Rangpur 1953 M.S. Vats, B.B. Lal Situated on the bank Rice was cultivated
& S.R. Rao of Mahar in Gujarat
Kot Diji 1953 Fazal Ahmed Situated on the bank Wheel made painted pottery
of Indus Traces of defensive wall and well
aligned streets
Knowledge of metallurgy, artistic toys
etc
Ropar 1953 Y.D. Sharma Situated in Punjab of Evidence of burying a dog below the
the banks of Sutlej human burial
One example of rectangular mudbrick
chamber was noticed
Five fold cultures – Harappan, PGW,
NBP, Kushana – Gupta and Medieval
Balakot 1963-76 George F Dales Situated on the Remain of pre Harappan and
Arabian Sea Harappan civilisation
The mounds rise to the height of
about 9.7mts and are spread 2.8 sq
hectare of area
Alamgirpur 1958 Y.D. Sharma Situated on Hindon in The impression of cloth on a trough is
Ghaziabad discovered
Usually considered to be the eastern
boundary of the Indus culture
Recent changing perspectives
In the initial years after its discovery, the Mesopotamian links were crucial for dating the Harappan civilization, and
some archaeologists tended to compare the two (Shaffer, 1982a). This led to many questionable theories about
Harappan origins and the nature of the Harappan economy and polity. In recent decades, scholars have become very
conscious of the earlier bias and acknowledge the need to view the Harappan civilization independently rather than
through a Mesopotamian lens. Another feature of the early decades of Harappan studies was an emphasis on urban
settlements, especially Mohenjodaro and Harappa.

Another feature of the early decades of Harappan studies was an emphasis on urban settlements, especially
Mohenjodaro and Harappa. Apart from being the first sites of the culture to be excavated, these two cities seemed
15
to stand out by virtue of their size and architectural features. However, several other sites are now known to be as
large or even larger than them, e.g., Lurewala and Ganweriwala in Cholistan, Rakhigarhi in Haryana, and Dholavira in
Gujarat. Scholars have increasingly directed attention to the smaller, less imposing sites, including towns and villages.
These include the site of Allahdino (near Karachi), a village settlement that measures only about 5 ha, but which
reveals all the main features of the Harappan civilization. Another recently excavated site is Balu in Haryana, a small
fortified rural settlement that has yielded a rich variety of plant remains. Profiles of different kinds of Harappan
settlements are now available, and the understanding of the networks that connected cities, towns, and villages is
slowly growing.

Although Harappan sites share certain common features, there are also significant regional and inter-site differences.
These are visible, for instance, in the layout of settlements and in the crops that people grew and consumed. There
are also differences in the types, range, and frequency of artefacts. For instance, at Allahdino, the typical black-on-
red Harappan pottery formed only 1 per cent of the total pottery finds. The mud-brick platforms in the southern part
of the citadel complex at Kalibangan, which have been interpreted as ‘fire altars’, do not occur at most other sites.
There are also differences in the frequency of various funerary practices across sites. For instance, post-cremation
burials were much more numerous at Harappa than at Mohenjodaro. All this suggests a variety of subsistence
strategies, food habits, craft traditions, religious beliefs, cultic practices, and social customs.

The nature and function of certain structures have also been re-considered in recent years. For instance, there is
good reason to question whether the ‘great granaries’ at Mohenjodaro and Harappa were granaries at all (Fentress,
1984). Less acceptable is Leshnik’s suggestion (1968) that the dockyard at Lothal was not a dockyard but an irrigation
reservoir. The re-interpretation of structures has important implications for the understanding of the Harappan social
and political systems. For instance, the so-called ‘granaries’ used to be cited to support the theory of a strong,
centralized state.

Recent excavations at Harappan sites reflect the changes in approaches, goals, and techniques within the discipline
of archaeology. A good example are the recent excavations at Harappa, conducted by a joint American and Pakistani
team. Compared to earlier excavations at the site, these have been marked by much more careful analysis of the
cultural sequence and details of various parts of the residential areas. There has also been greater use of scientific
techniques, including the analysis of bone and teeth remains, which provide very specific information about the diet
and health of the Harappans.

The debates about various aspects of the Harappan civilization reflect both the potential of archaeology as a window
into the ancient past and the important role of interpretation in this discipline. There are many different theories
about almost every aspect of the Harappan civilization. Not all are equally acceptable; each has to be carefully
examined. Conclusions can be reached on certain issues, while in other cases, it is necessary to acknowledge the
current limits of our knowledge.

Indus Valley Civilisation: Origin

The Indus Valley Civilization (IVC) was a Bronze Age civilization (3300–1300 BCE; mature period 2600–1900 BCE).
Inhabitants of the Indus river valley civilization developed new techniques in handicraft (carnelian products, seal
carving) and metallurgy (copper, bronze, lead, and tin). The Indus cities are noted for their urban planning, baked
brick houses, elaborate drainage systems, water supply systems, and clusters of large non-residential buildings.

The discovery of India’s first and earliest civilisation posed a historical puzzle as it seemed to have suddenly appeared
on the stage of history, full grown and fully equipped. The Harappan civilisation till recently showed no definite signs
of birth and growth. The puzzle could largely be solved after the extensive excavation work conducted at Mehrgarh
near the Bolan Pass between 1973 and 1980 by two French archaeologists Richard H. Meadow and Jean Francoise
Jarrige. According to them, Mehrgarh gives us an archaeological record with a sequence of occupations.
Archaeological research over the past decades has established a continuous sequence of strata, showing the gradual
development to the high standard of the full-fledged Indus civilisation.

16
These strata have been named pre-Harappan, early Harappan, mature Harappan and late Harappan phases or stages.
By reviewing the main elements of the rural cultures of the Indian sub-continent the origin of the Indus civilisation
can be traced. Any Pre-Harappan culture claiming ancestry to the Indus civilisation must satisfy two conditions. The
first condition is that it must not only precede but also overlap the Indus culture.

The second is that the essential elements of the Indus culture must have been anticipated by the Proto-Harappan
(Indus) culture in its material aspects, viz, the rudiments of town planning, provision of minimum sanitary facilities,
knowledge of pictographic writing, the introduction of trade mechanisms, the knowledge of metallurgy and the
prevalence of ceramic traditions.

The different stages of the indigenous evolution of the Indus can be documented by an analysis of four sites which
reflect the sequence of the four important stages or phases in the pre-history and proto-history of the Indus valley
region.

The sequence begins with the transition of nomadic herdsmen to settled agricultural communities as per the
evidence found at the first site i.e. Mehrgarh near the Bolan Pass. It continues with the growth of large villages and
the rise of towns in the second stage exemplified at Amri.

The Amri people did not possess any knowledge of town-planning or of writing. The third stage in the sequence leads
to the emergence of the great cities as in Kalibangan and finally ends with their decline, which is the fourth stage and
exemplified by Lothal. Amri, Kot-Dijian and Kalibangan cultures are stratigraphically found to be pre-Harappan.

The pre-Harappan culture of Kalibangan in Rajasthan is termed as Sothi culture by Amalananda Ghosh, its excavator.
The Harappan were owed certain elements such as the fish scale and pipal leaf to the Sothi ware.

The four Baluchi cultures, viz, Zhob, Quetta, Nal and Kulli, undoubtedly pre-Harappan, also have some minor common
features with the Indus civilisation, and cannot be considered as full-fledged proto-Harappan cultures.

The culture of Northern Baluchistan is termed as ‘Zhob’ culture after the sites in the Zhob valley, the chief among
them being Rana Ghundai. This culture is characterised by black and red ware and terracotta female figurines. Nal
culture is characterised by the use of white-clipped ware with attractive polychrome paintings and the observance
of fractional burial.

The characteristic pottery of the Quetta culture is the buff-ware, painted in black pigment and decorated with
geometrical designs. Apart from the painted motifs such as the pipal leaf and sacred brazier, some pottery shapes
are common to the Harappan and Kulli cultures. All these pre-Harappan habitations preceding the phase of the
Harappan civilization shows evidences of people living in houses of stone and mud-brick.

Similarities were found in the cultural traditions of the diverse agricultural communities living in the Indus region in
the ‘early Indus period’. During the urban phase these little traditions were fused into one great tradition.

However, even in the ‘early Indus period’, use of similar kinds of pottery terracotta mother goddess, representation
of the horned deity in many sites show the way to the emergence of a homogenous tradition in the entire area.

The people of Baluchistan had already established trading relations with the towns of the Persian Gulf and Central
Asia. Kulli, situated on the southern foothills of the Baluchi mountains near the Makran coast, occupies an important
position on the trade route between the Persian Gulf and the Indus Valley.

Thus, the available evidence suggests that the Harappan culture had its origin in the Indus valley. And even within
the Indus valley, several cultures seem to have contributed to evolve the urban civilisation. There is no evidence to
suggest that the Indus people borrowed anything substantial from the Sumerians. It is thus difficult to accept Sir
Mortimer Wheeler’s assumption that “the idea of civilization came to the Indus valley from Mesopotamia”.

The origin of Indus Valley Civilisation had been a matter of intense debate among historians.

 John Marshall asserted that the Indus civilization must have had a long antecedent history on the soil of India.

17
  The first comprehensive analysis of the evidence from pre-Harappan sites in the greater Indus valley and
north Baluchistan was made by M. R. Mughal.

Mughal compared the whole range of evidence (pottery, stone tools, metal artefacts, architecture, etc.) from pre-
Harappan and mature Harappan levels, and explored the relationship between the two stages.

Aryan Theory

Representitive historians are SR Roy, TR Ramachandran, KV Shastri They say that IVC was developed by Aryan, same
Aryan associated with Vedic Culture. This theory is refuted because of great contrast between IVC and Vedic culture
(give some examples).

Deffussionist theory

Issues of origins are always complex and often contentious. In his report on Mohenjodaro, John Marshall asserted
that the Indus civilization must have had a long antecedent history on the soil of India (see Chakrabarti, 1984 for a
summary of the various theories). However, there were others who put forward diffusionist explanations. According
to E. J. H. Mackay, a migration of people from Sumer (southern Mesopotamia) may have led to the Harappan
civilization; other proponents of the migration theory included D.H. Gordon and S. N. Kramer. Mortimer Wheeler
argued for a migration of ideas, not people—the idea of civilization was in the air of West Asia in the 3rd millennium
BCE and the founders of the Harappan civilization had a model of civilization before them.

In a diffusionist argument, the first thing to do is to figure out in which part of the world the change first occurred.
This is identified as the point of origin, from where the change is presented as having diffused or spread to other
areas. The process of diffusion is variously described as the result of a migration of people, some other form of
contact (e.g., trade, invasion) or a more abstract cultural stimulus. They say that people came from outside (i.e.
Mesopotamia, Sumeria) and developed IVC. That is the city dwellers of civilisation like Mesopotamia came and
developed it. Wheeler says that there was migration of ideas and not people from those outside places. The idea of
civilization was in the air of West Asia in the 3rd millennium BCE and the founders of the Harappan civilization had a
model of civilization before them.

The fact that city life emerged in Mesopotamia a few centuries before it appeared in the Egyptian and Harappan
contexts does not mean that the latter were derived from the former in a direct or indirect way. Difficulties in
accepting this view because there are several fundamental differences between Mesopotamian civilisation and IVC.
Though both represent civilisation both were urban, both shows similar kind of development in technology, writing,
agriculture know-how:

There were differences in scipts. Script of Mesopotamia had been read but this is not so in IVC.

 Town planning: IVC grid pattern was absent in Mesopotamia,

 Canal system: Large scale canal system of Mesopotamia was absent in IVC,
 There was much greater use of bronze in Mesopotamia,
 There were differences in shape and size of seals,
 Religious structures of Mesopotamia was absent in IVC

Indigenous origin theory

Some of the proudners of this theory are Fairservis, M R Mughal and A Ghosh. According to this theory, IVC had
precedence. there were settled farming cultures which gradually evolved and finally resulted in rise of civilisation.
The story of origins of Harappan Civilization can be traced to the emergence of settled farming communities in
Baluchistan in the 7th millennium BCE.

Its more immediate prelude was the cultural phase that used to be known as pre-Harappan or early Harappan phase.
Pre-Harappan sites (e.g. Mehergarh, Kili Gul Muhammad) with fewer settlement, mud houses, cultuvation of crops
18
like wheat, barley, cotton etc. Amalananda Ghosh was the first archaeologist to identify similarities between a pre-
Harappan culture and the mature Harappan culture.

 He focused on the pre-Harappan Sothi culture of Rajasthan.

 He asserted that there were similarities between Sothi pottery and the pottery of Harappa.

In view of these similarities, he argued that the Sothi culture should be described as proto-Harappan.

A limitation of this hypothesis was that it was based exclusively on a comparison of pottery, and did not consider
other material traits. And in emphasizing ceramic similarities, Ghosh had ignored the many differences between the
Sothi and Harappan cultures. The result was an overemphasis on the Sothi element in the account of the emergence
of the Harappan civilization. This theory is the most acceptable theory among the historians.

There are several mature Harappan sites where there is no early Harappan level, e.g., Lothal, Desalpur, Chanhudaro,
Mitathal, Alamgirpur, and Ropar. There are several Early Harappan sites in the Potwar plateau which do not have
mature Harappan levels. Further, there are no early Harappan sites in the active Indus plain. And at sites where there
are both early Harappan and mature Harappan levels, the transition from one to the other is not always smooth.

 At Kot Diji and Gumla, a burnt deposit between the two suggests a major fire.
 Evidence of burning was also found at Amri and Nausharo.
 At Kalibangan, the break in occupation may have been due to an earthquake.

Origin of agriculture and settled villages

The earliest evidence for the emergence of agricultural communities comes from a place called Mehrgarh, near the
Bolan pass in the Baluchistan province of Pakistan. Beginning as a seasonal camp the place turned into a settled
village in the 5th millennium B.C. itself. People in this place were growing wheat, barley. cotton and dates and tending
sheep, goat and cattle. Mehrgarh is located at the place where the alluvial plains of the Indus join the uneven hilly
plateau , of the Indo-Iranian border land. People of Mehrgarh lived in mud houses which could sometimes have five
to six rooms

By the middle of the 3rd millennium B.C. many small and large villages had sprung up around the Indus, Baluchistan
and Afghanistan area. The better-known settlements among them are Kili Ghul Muhammad in r Baluchistan and
Mundigak in Afghanistan. In the Indus flood plains villages like Jalilpur near Harappa had come into existence. Once
these agriculturists learnt to exploit the highly fertile flood plains of the Indus there was a sudden expansion in the
size and numbers of villages. These agriculturists gradually learnt to exploit the Indus plains and to contro! the
flooding of the Indus. Richer returns per acre planted resulted in larger surpluses. This led to an increase in the
number of settlements in Sindh, Rajasthan, Baluchistan and other areas. They also managed to exploit stone quarries
and mines useful to them. There are indications of the existence of pastoral nomadic communities in this period in
the form of seasonal settlements.

The interactions with these groups seem to have helped agriculturists exploit resources from other regions as the
pastoral nomads are known to engage in trading activities over the areas they cover during the'ir travels. All this led
to the development of small towns. The period of this new development is called 'the Early Harappan' because of
certain uniformities found all over the Indus.

Sites and Regions

We shall review the conditions of some of the settlements just before the emergence of the Harappan civilization.
Many scholars call this period 'The Early Harappan' period because they believe that this was the formative epoch of
the Harappan civilization when certain trends of cultural unification are in evidence. '

Southern Afghanistan

19
In Southern Afghanistan there is a place called Mundigak: It seems to have been located on a trade route. That is why
in the early Indus period, the inhabitants of this place were using artifacts which show affinities with some Iranian
towns on the one hand and some Baluchistan towns on the other. Making a humble beginning as the camping site
of some nomadic groups, the place grew into a township of impressive proportions. There is evidence of a defensive
wall with square bastions of sun-dried bricks. A large building with rows of pillars has been identified as a palace.
Another large structure looks like a temple. A variety of potteries have also been discovered at this place. They were
using naturalistic decorations showing birds, ibex, bull and Pipal trees. Terracotta female figurines similar to those
found in contemporary sites in Baluchistan have also been found. They were also using bronze shaft hole azes and
adzes. Such semi precious stones zs lapis-lazuli and steatite show their contacts with Iran and central Asia since these
stones are not available locally.

Quetta Valley:

To the South east of Mundigak is the Quetta valley. Here, in a place called Damb Sadaat, large houses having brick
walls belonging to the beginning of the 3rd millennium B.C. have been discovered. Varieties of painted potteries
similar to those of Mundigak have also been found. These people were using clay seals and copper objects also. These
discoveries indicate the presence of a prosperous community which had solved its food problem and established
trading contacts with regions faraway. Similarly, from the surrounding areas there are reports of distinct art and
pottery traditions. In a place called Rana Ghundai people were using finely made painted pottery with friezes of
humped bulls in black. The pottery showed distinct parallels with those of the Quetta valley. Another excavated site
Periano Ghundai has yielded female figurines of a distinctive type.

Central and Southern Baluchistan

In the central and southern Baluchistan sites like Anjira, Togau, Nindowari and Balakot give us some idea of the early
Harappan societies. These small villages and townships seem to fan out in conformity with the valley systems. In
Balakot remains of large buildings have been discovered. Many of the sites in this area show evidences of contact
with Persian Gulf. In Balakot the people who first inhabited the place were using potteries similar to those used in
other contemporary villages in Baluchistan. However, in course of time they started using potteries similar to the
ones used in the Indus alluvial plain. What is important to us is that the people of the entire Baluchistan province
were using similar kinds of pottery. They show distinct influences from the Persian Gulf towns on the one hand and
from the Indus valley towns on the other. They were using motifs on their pottery like the.humped bull and Pipal
which continued into the Mature Harappan phase.

The Indus Area:

By the middle of the 4th millennium B.C. the Indus alluvial plains become the focal point of change. Many small and
large settlements came into existence on the banks of the Indus and Ghaggar-Hakra. This area became the core
region of the Harappan civilization. In the present discussion we shall try to show how these developments anticipate
many of the characteristics of the Harappan civilization.

Amri:
The Sind province corresponding to the lower Indus plains showed interesting development. At the site of Amri the
habitations show people living in houses of stone and mud brick. They had constructed some kind of a granary also.
They painted such animal motifs as the humped Indian bulls on their pottery. This motif was very popular during
the 'Mature Harappan' phase. They were using wheel-made pottery. Similar finds have been reported in places like
Tharro and Kohtras Buthi. They had fortified their settlements before the coming of the Harappan civilization.

Kot Diji:
Opposite Mohenjo-Daro on the left bank of the river Indus is the site of Kot Diji. The people living here in the 'Early
Harappan' period had a massive defensive wall built around their settlement. The most interesting finds are their
pottery. They were using a wheel-thrown pottery having decorations of plain bands of dark brownish paint. This kind

20
of pottery has been reported from the pre-Harappan habitations in far flung places like Kalibangan in Rajasthan and
Mehrgarh in Baluchistan. The Kot-Diji variety of pottery has been found along the entire stretch of the river Indus
where settlements belonging to the pre-urban and urban phase of the Harappan civilization have been reported: -
This movement towards similar methods of decorating pottery indicates greater communication among the people
of the Indus plains. It also anticipates the process of the convergence of cultures seen in the Harappan Civilization.
Many of the designs on the pottery were carried over to the urban phase. At the same time certain other earthen
vessels showed similarity with those of Mundigak. This shows the enlarged interaction sphere of the early Harappan
sites. In Mohenjodaro itself archaeologists have discovered occupation deposits to a depth of 39 feet below the
modern level of the plain. Similarly, at the site of Chanhu-daro, 'Early Harappan' habitation has been reported. At
Mohenjodaro the early levels could not be excavated but many archaeologists believe that these occupation levels
represented an 'Early Harappan' culture, probably similar to that of Kot Diji.

Mehrgarh:
Earlier we talked about the site of Mehrgarh. In the period preceding the Harappan urbanisation, the people of
Mehrgarh had established a prosperous township. They used to make various kinds of beads of stone. Lapis-lazuli,
one of the precious stones used by them is found only in the Badakshan region of Central Asia. Many seals and
sealings have been reported. Seals are used as a mark of authority in situations of interpersonal exchange. The
Mehrgarh seals were probably used by merchants for guaranteeing the quality of goods that were being sent to
faraway lands. Similarities in the designs of potteries, terracotta figurines and objects of copper and stone indicate
that these people were in close contact with the neighbouring towns of Iran. However, most of the pottery used by
the people of Mehrgarh was similar to the ones used in the neighbouring settlements of Damb Sadaat and the Quetta
Valley. Similarly, a large number of female terracotta figurines are also found. They arc very similar to the ones found
in Zhob Valley. These parallels indicate a close interaction among the surrounding communities.

Rahman Dheri:
If we follow the river lndus northwards we come across some more settlements which give us an idea of how people
lived in 'Early Harappan' times. At a place called Rahman Dheri an 'Early Indus' township has been excavated. Oblong
in shape with houses, streets and lanes laid out in a planned fashion, it is protected by a massive wall. Here too,
beads of turquoise and lapis lazuli have been found. This shows their contact with Central Asia. A large number of
graffiti found on the pot sherds could be the forerunners of the Harappan script. The independent pottery tradition
in this area was gradually modified and supplemented by a pottery similar to that of Kot Diji. Seals, tools made of
stone, copper and bronze have also been found.

Tarkai Qila:
In the Bannu area, in the north west frontier province the site of Tarkai Qila has also yielded evidence of fortification.
Archaeologists have discovered large samples of grains which included many varieties of wheat and barley, lentils
and field pea. Tools for harvesting have also been found. In the same area, at a site called Levan, a huge factory site
for making stone tools was discovered. The Harappans and their predecessors did not know about iron and copper
was rare. So, most of the people used tools made of stone. That is why in some places where good quality stone was
available tools would be made on a large scale and then, sent to distant towns and villages. The people in Levan were
making ground stone axes, hammers, querns, etc. For this they were importing suitable rocks i from the surrounding
areas too. The presence of lapis lazuli and terracotta figurines indicates links with Central Asia. At the site of Sarai
Khola which is I I located on the northern tip of western Punjab another 'Early Harappan'! settlement has been
discovered. Here too the people were using the pottery of Kot Dijian type

Punjab and Bahawalpur:

In western Punjab, Harappa is well known. During one of the excavations, habitations preceding the urban phase
have been discovered. Unfortunately, they have not been excavated as yet. The pottery found here seems to have
similarities with the Kot Dijian ware. Scholars believe that these habitations represent the 'Early Harappan' phase in
Harappa. In the Bahawalpur area about 40 sites of the 'Early Harappan' period have been located in the dry bed of
the Hakra river. Here too the 'Early Harappan' is characterised by the Kot Dijian type of pottery. A comparative
analysis of the settlement pattern of these sites shows that in the 'Early Harappan' period itself a variety of
21
habitations had come up. Whereas most of the sites were simple villages, some of them were carrying out specialised
industrial activities. That is why we find that most of the sites averaged about five to six hectares in size, Gamanwala
spreads over an area of 27.3 hectares. This means that Gamanwala was larger than the Harappan township of
Kalibangan. These larger townships must have carried administrative and industrial activities apart from agricultural
activities.

Kalibangan:
The site of Kalibangan in north Rajasthan has also yielded evidence of the 'Early Harappan' period. People lived in
houses of mud bricks. The mud bricks had standard sizes. They also had a rampart around the settlement. The pottery
used by them was different in shape and design from that of other areas. However, some of the pottery was similar
to that of Kot Diji. A few varieties of potteries like the 'offering stand' continued to be used during the urban phase.
A remarkable find was that of a ploughed field surface. This proves that even at this stage the cultivators already
knew about the plough. In more primitive situations the farmers either simply broadcast the seeds or used hoes for
digging the fields. With plough one can dig deeper using much less energy. That is why it is considered an advanced
tool of cultivation having potentialities of increasing the food production

In the dry bed of Ghaggar, on the Indian site, several 'Early Harappan' settlements have been found. They seem to
line the now extinct water ways of the region. Sites like Sothi Bara and Siswal have reported ceramic styles similar to
those of Kalibangan. The exploitation of the Khetri copper mines in Rajasthan might have begun in the 'Early
Harappan' period itself. Cultivators colonised the alluvial plains of the Indus during this period.

Beginning with small agricultural settlements the areas of Baluchistan, Sind, Punjab and Rajasthan saw the
emergence of distinct regional traditions. However, the use of similar kinds of potteries (Kot Diji type),
representations of a horned diety and finds of terracotta mother goddesses show the way to the emergence of a
unifying tradition and gradual unification. Some of the communities surrounded themselves with defensive walls. It
could be defense against other communities or it could be simply a bund against flooding. The people of Baluchistan
had already established trading relations with the towns of Persian Gulf and Central Asia. Thus, the ‘Early Harappan’
anticipate many of the achievements of the Harappan civilization.

Evolution of these pre-Harappan sites into mature Harappan sites

Certain factors led to the transition from the proto-urban early Harappan phase to full-fledged city life of mature
Harappan phase: Trade with Mesopotamia has been suggested as a factor, but the importance of this trade has been
exaggerated even in the context of the mature Harappan phase.

According to Chakrabarti, the catalyst for the transition may have been an increasing level of craft specialization,
instigated especially by the development of copper metallurgy in Rajasthan. He suggests that another crucial factor
for the spread of settlements in the active floodplain of the Indus may have been agricultural growth based on an
organized irrigation system, but direct evidence of this is lacking. The answer may lie in the emergence of a new,
decisive political leadership, significant changes in social organization, or perhaps a new ideology. The increasingly
efficient technology and the exploitation of the fertile plains of the Indus must have given richer returns of grain
production. This created the possibilities for larger surpluses. It would also lead to increase in population. The larger
surpluses would also permit the elaboration of non-farming specialisation. That is how the village priest could
become the part of a clan of priests spread over the entire region. Similar processes will occur in the case of
metallurgists, potters and craftsmen. In villages small silos for keeping grains would be transformed into elaborate
granaries.

The existence of many agricultural groups and pastoral nomadic communities in close contact with each other could
lead to conflict among them. Once the agriculturalists had become prosperous they would attract other groups
which might be less fortunate. The pastoral nomads are known to engage in trading and looting, depending on their
own economic conditions. The agricultural communities too could fight with each other for the control of more fertile
tracts of land. Probably that is the reason why some of the communities surrounded themselves-with a defence wall.

22
The answer may also lie in the emergence of a new, decisive political leadership, significant changes in social
organization, or a new ideology. For e.g.: At the time of the emergence of the Harappan civilization many sites like
Kot Diji and Kalibangan were destroyed by fire. They could simply be accidental conflagrations. However, what Seems
more plausible is the fact that among the various competing communities in the Indus region one set of people
established their power over others. This signaled the beginning of the ‘Mature Harappan’ period. Favourable
environmental factors (fertility, fertile plains, rainfall, unavailability of water),

 growth of technology and know-how,

 gradual build up of population and its speed,
 expansion of settlement,
 emergence of regional cultural pattern like Kulli culture, Nal culture, Kot Diji culture etc.
 integration and unification.

In the backdrop of these processes of Technological and ideological unification emerged the Harappan Civilization.
The particular mechanisms of the birth of the civilization are obscure because we have not read their script and a lot
many more excavations need to be carried out. Soma of the general processes have been outlined above.

The agricultural communities too could fight with each other for the control of more fertile tracts of land. Probably
that is the reason why some of the communities surrounding themselves-with a defence wall. We know that at the
time of the emergence of the Harappan civilization many sites like Kot Diji and Kalibangan were destroyed by fire.
We do not know the reasons behind this. They could simply be accidental conflagrations. However, what Seems more
plausible is the fact that among the various competing communities in the Indus region one set of people established
their power over others. This signalled the beginning of the 'Mature Harappan’ period. Thus, the 'Mature Harappan'
period would not begin on one particular date considering the large geographical space covered by the Harappan
Civilization. It is likely that city as the centre of evolution emerged over a long span of time covering hundreds of
years, but the city had arrived and it was there to dominate the entire north-west for the next seven-eight hundred
years.

23
Indus Valley Civilization: characteristics and significance
The People

Around 6500 BCE, agriculture emerged in Balochistan, on the margins of the Indus alluvium. In the following
millennia, settled life made inroads into the Indus plains, setting the stage for the growth of rural and urban human
settlements. The more organized sedentary life, in turn, led to a net increase in the birth rate. The large urban centres
of Mohenjo-daro and Harappa very likely grew to containing between 30,000 and 60,000 individuals, and during the
civilization's florescence, the population of the subcontinent grew to between 4–6 million people. During this period
the death rate increased as well, for close living conditions of humans and domesticated animals led to an increase
in contagious diseases. According to one estimate, the population of the Indus civilization at its peak may have been
between one and five million.

Scholars believe that the largest Harappan city i.e. Mohenjodaro had a population of about 35,000. What did the
Harappan people look like? What sorts of clothes and ornaments did they wear? How did they relax and have fun?
Terracotta, stone, and bronze sculptures, skeletal remains help answer such questions. The human terracottas can
be divided into female and male figurines, those whose sex is not clear, a few that have both female and male
attributes (e.g., a figurine from Harappa which has breasts and a beard), and a few males in feminine dress.

The human terracottas can be divided into female and male figurines, those whose sex is not clear, a few that have
both female and male attributes (e.g., a figurine from Harappa which has breasts and a beard), and a few males in
feminine dress. Going by the figurines, Harappan women wore a short skirt made of cotton or wool. They wore their
hair variously in braids, rolled into a bun at the back or side of the head, arranged in separate locks or ringlets, and
wrapped around the head like a turban, or left loose. What looks like a fan shaped headdress could actually represent
hair stretched over a frame made of bamboo or some other material. At Harappa, it is supplemented by flowers or
flower-shaped ornaments. Such hairstyles or headdresses could indicate women of distinction or deities. Female
figurines wear ornaments such as necklaces, chokers, hair ornaments, bangles, and belts. We can recall the beautiful
jewellery found at many Harappan sites.

Male figurines are usually bare headed, though some are turbaned. Most of them are nude, so it is difficult to say
what sort of clothes men wore. Certain stone sculptures suggest the use of a dhoti-like lower garment and an upper
garment consisting of a shawl or cloak worn over one shoulder and under the other. There are various hairstyles—
braids, buns, and hair hanging loose. Most of the male figurines have beards, in styles ranging from the ‘goatee’ to
the more common combed and spread-out style as in the case of the ‘priest-king’. There is some degree of overlap
in male and female hairstyles and ornaments, but also some differences. For instance, men and women both wear
bangles and necklaces, but men rarely wear multi-strand necklaces made of graduated beads.

Children of all cultures and all times play with toys, and Harappan children were no exception. Terracotta toys of
various kinds have been found at Harappan sites. They include balls, rattles, whistles, gamesmen, carts with
moveable parts, and animals on wheels. There are spinning tops made of terracotta and shell. Some have a shallow
depression, while others have a copper tip to make them spin around a long time. Clay marbles have been found in
courtyards of houses. Miniature terracotta cooking vessels, beds, and other toy furniture have been found, with
which children must have played house. There are figurines of children playing with toys. One of them holds what
seems to be a clay disc. Many clay discs have in fact been found at Harappan sites, and it is possible that these are
remnants of a pithu-like game played with a ball and piled-up pieces of clay or stone. Lots of terracotta figurines of
dogs have been found at Harappan sites, some with collars, suggesting that people kept dogs as pets. Some of the
terracotta figurines of people and animals have a comic appearance, reflecting a sense of humour.

Terracotta toys

Terracotta toys of various kinds have been found at Harappan sites. They include balls, rattles, whistles, gamesmen,
carts with moveable parts, and animals on wheels. There are spinning tops made of terracotta and shell. Clay marbles
have been found in courtyards of houses. Miniature terracotta cooking vessels, beds, and other toy furniture have

24
been found, with which children must have played house. There are figurines of children playing with toys. Lots of
terracotta figurines of dogs have been found at Harappan sites, some with collars, suggesting that people kept dogs
as pets. Some of the terracotta figurines of people and animals have a comic appearance, reflecting a sense of
humour.

While some of the female figurines found at Harappan sites may represent goddesses, many seem to represent
ordinary women. Although such worship of female deities reflects the ability to visualize divinity in feminine form, it
does not necessarily translate into power or a high social position for ordinary women. Terracotta figurines of women
at work are few.

Figurines depicting women grinding or kneading something have been found at Nausharo, Harappa, and
Mohenjodaro, suggesting the association of women with food-processing activities. Some of the fat female terracotta
figurines may represent pregnant women. Harappa have yielded a burial with a woman and baby, perhaps a case of
death in childbirth. Some female figurines found at Harappan sites carry a suckling infant on the left hip; others show
women carrying infants close to their breast. An unusual terracotta figurine found at Nausharo shows a male with
feminine headdress holding an infant. Tiny terracotta figurines of small children have been found at most sites.

Early studies of Harappan skeletons focused on classifying the Harappans into racial types. More recent studies have
abandoned the old, rather arbitrary racial classifications. Kenneth A. R. Kennedy’s study of skeletons found at
Harappan sites shows biological heterogeneity between the different regions, and similarity with the people who live
in these areas today. This means that the Harappans of Punjab resembled the present-day Punjabis in appearance,
while the Harappans of Sindh resembled the modern inhabitants of Sindh. Kennedy also identified the incidence of
malaria among the Harappans.

Harappan society

There is the larger question of the analysis and assessment of the structure of Harappan society. The absence of
deciphered written evidence is a major handicap, and inferences have to be made very carefully on the basis of
archaeological data. The people who lived within the Harappan culture zone comprised villagers and city folk.
Harappan society included occupational groups such as farmers, herders, hunter-gatherers, craftspeople, fisherfolk,
merchants, sailors, rulers, administrative officials, ritual specialists, architects, carpenters, brick masons, well diggers,
boat makers, sailors, sculptors, shopkeepers, sweepers, garbage collectors, and so on. Some farmers may have lived
in the cities and tilled their fields nearby. Terracotta net sinkers and arrow points found at Mohenjodaro and Harappa
suggest that the city population included hunters and fisherfolk. The level of social differentiation may not have been
as great as in Mesopotamia and Egypt, but differences in house sizes and the hoards of jewellery do indicate a
concentration of wealth and differences in social and economic status. The affluent social groups would have
comprised rulers, land owners, and merchants. Class and rank differences based on occupation, wealth, and status
must have existed. However, claims that the caste system existed in Harappan society are highly speculative.

Food Habits

Harappans of Sind and Punjab ate wheat and barley as their staple food. Those who stayed in towns of Rajasthan had
to be content with barley only. The Harappans of Gujarat in places like Rangpur and Surkotdla preferred rice and
millet. They got their supply of fat and oil from sesame seeds, mustard and possibly Ghee. They might have used
honey to sweeten their food. Seeds of jujube and dates bund in the Harappan sites indicate their preference for these
fruits.

It is likely that they also ate bananas, pomegranates, melons, lemons, figs and of course mangoes. They seem to
have consumed a whole range of wild nuts and fruits. They were eating peas too. Apart from this the Harappans
seem to have relished non-vegetarian food. Bones of deer, bears, sheep and goats have been frequently found in the
Harappan settlements. Fish, milk and curd too would be known to them. However, they had neither tea nor potato-
chips.

25
Warfare

Did they play and did they fight? We know that they played dice. But beyond that we again draw a blank. They did
fight-and there is enough evidence for it-possibly because the archeologists who were digging up various Harappan
sites were looking for evidences of war and not of sport. One important indicator of course is that at the time of the
emergence of the Harappan Civilization many ‘Early Harappan’ sites like Kot Diji and Kalibangan were burnt down.

However an accidental fire could destroy large towns, but it is more likely that some of the settlements were burnt
down by victorious human groups. Then there is the evidence of some skeletons lying scattered in the streets of
Mohenjodaro. Human societies from times immemorial have disposed off the bodies of their dead in some ordered
fashion. It is natural that the Harappans would not leave their dead to rot in the streets.

So obviously some extraordinary conflict is indicated when the Harappans did not get an opportunity to bury their
dead. The presence of citadels and fortification around many Harappan towns also indicates a need for protection
against outsiders. Some of the protection walls might have been bunds for protection against floods. But given the
opulence of the Harappan townships in contrast to the surrounding rural communities it is likely that the Harappans
wanted to protect their wealth and life by fortifying their settlements. Some copper and bronze weapons have also
been reported.

Arts and Crafts

Earlier writings tended to contrast the plainness of Harappan artefacts with the opulence of their Egyptian and
Mesopotamian counterparts. Nowadays, the technological sophistication and beauty of some of the Harappan
artefacts are recognized. There is a great variety of standardized, mass-produced craft items at Harappan sites. The
artefacts are far greater in quantity and range, and show greater technical finesse than those found in earlier cultural
phases. While some sites specialized in the production of a single or a few items, others such as Harappa
manufactured a wide range of goods. Craft activity was often localized in a certain part of the settlement.

In pre-modern societies it is difficult to separate arts and crafts. Groups of potters, copper and bronze workers, stone
workers, builders of houses, brick makers and seal-cutters must have lived in Harappan towns. Earlier writings tended
to contrast the plainness of Harappan artefacts with the opulence of their Egyptian and Mesopotamian counterparts.
Nowadays, the technological sophistication and beauty of some of the Harappan artefacts are recognized.

There is a great variety of standardized, mass produced craft items at Harappan sites. While some sites specialized
in the production of a single or a few items, others such as Harappa manufactured a wide range of goods. Craft
activity was often localized in a certain part of the settlement. Various sculptures, seals, pottery, gold jewelry, and
anatomically detailed figurines in terracotta, bronze, and steatite have been found at excavation sites. What is
striking about the wide distribution of craft production is that, in a number of cases, manufacture depended on raw
materials that were not locally available.

At Mohenjodaro, shell artifacts were manufactured from the marine mollusc found along the Sind and Baluchistan
coast. Similarly, there is evidence of manufacture of copper-based craft items at Harappa ranging from furnaces to
slag and unfinished objects, even though the city was located in a minerally poor area. Other striking features of the
Indus craft traditions is that they are not region-specific. Shell objects were manufactured at Nagwada and
Nageshwar in Gujarat and at Chanhundaro and Mohenjodaro in Sind. Similarly, metal artefacts were produced at
Lothal in Gujarat, at Harappa in the Bari doab of Punjab and at Allahadino and Mohenjodaro in Sind.

Some of the crafted objects are quintessentially Indus, in the sense that they are neither found prior to the advent
of the urban civilization nor after its collapse. Indus seals for example, are rarely found in the late Harappan and post-
Harappan contexts. While craft objects were manufactured at many places, the manufacturing technology could be
surprisingly standardized. In the case of shell bangles, at practically all sites they had a uniform width and they were
almost everywhere sawn by a saw that had a blade thickness of between 0.4 mm and 0.6 mm. The Harappan crafts
display an impressive level of standardization. Kenoyer has suggested that state control may have been responsible

26
for the high level of standardization in crafts that were considered to have a value in maintaining the socioeconomic
or ritual order and which used non-local raw materials and highly complex technologies (e.g., the making of seals,
stoneware bangles, and stone weights).

Leaving aside pottery and bricks, crafts using local materials and simple technologies tend to show greater variation.
What is the explanation of the high level of standardization in crafts such as pottery-making and brick making? Does
it imply centralized control by merchants or rulers? Some element of central direction is suggested, but its nature
and degree are far from certain.

If not direct, it may have taken the indirect form of facilitating or controlling the flow of at least some of the raw
materials and finished goods. On the other hand, the level of standardization could also indicate the fanning out of
hereditary craft specialists over large areas, or a well-developed network of internal trade. It is possible that
craftsmen and traders may have been organized in corporate groups similar to guilds, but there is no proof of this.

Tools and Implements

The tools and implements used by the Harappans also show uniformity in designs and in technique of production.
They were using tools made of copper, bronze and stone. The basic tools types were flat axe, chisels, knives, spear
heads and arrowheads for the copper and bronze implements. In the later stages of the Civilization they were also
using daggers, knives and flat tangs. They were familiar with the techniques of casting bronze and copper.

Stone tools were also in common use. They were produced on a large scale in factory sites like Sukkur in Sind and
then sent to various urban centres. Only this could explain the uniformity in the tool types. Unlike the ‘Early
Harappan’ period when there were various tool making traditions the ‘Mature Harappans’ concentrated on making
long regular blades. They indicate a high level of competence and specialisation with little or no concern for beauty
and innovation.

Pottery

Ceramics include all items involving the heating of clay such as bricks, terracotta, and faience. The Harappan pottery
reflects efficient mass-production. Pottery kilns were found at Mohenjodaro, Harappa, Nausharo, and Chanhudaro.
The pots were fired in funnel-shaped up-draft closed kilns, although open-firing kilns may also have been used. There
is a great variety of pottery, including black-on-red, grey, buff, and black-and-red wares. Most pots were wheel
turned. Both fine and coarse fabrics occur and their thickness varies. The typical Harappan pottery is a fine, sturdy,
wheel-made ware with a bright red slip, decorated with painted black designs. Polychrome painting is rare. The red
colour for the slip was made from red ochre (iron oxide, known as geru), while black was made by combining dark
reddish-brown iron oxide with black manganese. Distinctive shapes include the dish-on-stand, vase with s-profile,
small vessel with knobbed decoration, large slender-footed bowl, cylindrical perforated jar, and goblet with pointed
foot. The decorative patterns range from simple horizontal lines to geometric patterns and pictorial motifs. Some of
the designs such as fish scales, pipal leaves, and intersecting circles have their roots in the early Harappan phase.
Human figures are rare and crude. At the earliest levels of Mohenjodaro, a burnished grey ware with a dark purplish
slip and vitreous glaze may represent one of the earliest examples of glazing in the world. Although there is a certain
level of uniformity in pottery styles and techniques across the Harappan culture zone, there are also differences
between regions.

27
The Harappan pottery reflects efficient mass-production. Pottery kilns were found at Mohenjodaro, Harappa,
Nausharo, and Chanhudaro. The pots were fired in funnel-shaped up-draft closed kilns, although open-firing kilns
may also have been used. Pottery represents the blending of the ceramic traditions of Baluchistan and the cultures
east of the Indus system.

There is a great variety of pottery, including black-on-red, grey, buff, and

black-and-red wares. Most pots were wheel turned. Both fine and coarse
fabrics occur and their thickness varies. At the earliest levels of
Mohenjodaro, a burnished grey ware with a dark purplish slip and
vitreous glaze may represent one of the earliest examples of glazing in
the world. Most of Harappan pottery is plain, but a substantial part is also
painted, treated with a bright red slip and black painted decoration. The
red colour for the slip was made from red ochre (iron oxide, known as
geru), while black was made by combining dark reddish-brown iron oxide with black manganese.

Polychrome Pottery: Polychrome pottery is rare and mainly comprised small vases decorated with geometric
patterns mostly in red, black and green and less frequently in white and yellow. Examples of multicoloured pottery
found in Mehrharh. The pottery is decorated with geometric patterns, fish, birds, cows, antelopes, scorpions,
fantastic beasts, griffins, etc. However, instead of a whole pipal tree only as a single leaves are depicted.

Decorations: The painted decorations consist of horizontal lines of

varied thickness, leaf patterns, scales, chequers, lattice work, palm
and pipal trees. The decorative patterns range from simple horizontal
lines to geometric patterns and pictorial motifs. Geometrical
patterns, circles, squares and triangles and figures of animals, birds,
snakes or fish are frequent motifs found in Harappan pottery.

Animals depicted are humped bulls, pumas, birds, etc. Bulls and
pumas symbolized abundance, fecundity and power. Sometimes they
are also depicted facing a tree in a scene that may be interpreted as
receiving life from a sacred tree of life. Another favourite motive was tree pattern. Plants, trees and pipal leaves are
found on pottery. A jar found at Lothal depicts a scene in which two birds are seen perched on a tree each holding a
fish in its beak. Human figures are rare and crude.

Some of the designs such as fish scales, palm and pipal leaves, and intersecting circles have their roots in the early
Harappan phase. In areas like Gujarat and Rajasthan a variety of other kinds of potteries continued to be produced
along with the Harappan pottery. Some of the pottery has shown marks of stamp which might indicate that a few
varieties of vessels were traded also.

Distinctive shapes:

 Thee dish-on-stand,
 vase with s-profile,
 small vessel with knobbed decoration,
 large slender-footed bowl,
 cylindrical perforated jar, and
 goblet with pointed foot.
 Incised ware is rare and the incised decoration was confined to the bases of
the pans.

Although there is a certain level of uniformity in pottery styles and techniques across the Harappan culture zone,
there are also differences between regions.

28
The primary functions of the Harappan pots was that - The large jars may have
been used to store grain or water. The more elaborately painted pots may
have had a ceremonial use or may have belonged to rich people. Small vessels
may have been used as glasses to drink water or other beverages.

The function of the perforated jars: One suggestion is that they may have been
wrapped in cloth and used for brewing fermented alcoholic beverages.
Another possibility is that they may have had a ceremonial or ritualistic use.
Shallow bowls probably held cooked food; flattish dishes were used as plates.
Cooking pots of various sizes have been found. Most of them have a red- or
black-slipped rim and a rounded bottom.

The rims of the cooking pots are strong and project outwards to help pick
them up or move them around. Some of the forms and features of the pots
used by the Harappans can be seen in traditional kitchens even today. Apart
from ceramic vessels, the Harappans also made and used metal ones. Some pots were found with holes punched in
the sides. Pots like this may have been used to create fermented drinks like
beer Chanhudaro. Fragment of Large Deep Vessel, circa 2500 B.C.E. Red
pottery with red and black slip-painted decoration Harappan burnished and
painted clay ovoid Vase, with round carnelian beads

Terracotta

Harappan sites have yielded a profusion of terracottas. There are figurines of

animals such as bulls, buffaloes, monkeys, and dogs. There are toy carts with
solid wheels. Human figurines include male figurines and more numerous
female figurines of various types. The Harappan craftspersons also made
terracotta bangles. Terracotta masks have been found at Mohenjodaro and
Harappa. Faience is a paste made out of crushed quartz and coloured with
various minerals. The Harappans made faience bangles, rings, pendants,
miniature vessels, and figurines (including those of monkeys and squirrels). Another distinctive Harappan craft was
the making of hard, high-fired bangles known as stone ware bangles. These were highly burnished red or grey-black,
with a standard inner diameter of 5.5–6 cm, and usually had tiny letters written on them

Terracotta masks have been found at Mohenjodaro and Harappa. Terracotta figurines have been found in large
numbers from the Harappan settlements. They were used as toys or cult figures. A variety of birds and monkeys,
dogs, sheep and cattle are represented in these forms along with humped and humpless bulls. Human figurines
include male figurines and more numerous female figurines of various types.

Stone work

Stone work was another important craft. Reference was made earlier to the stone masonry and fine polished pillars
at Dholavira. More visible at all Harappan sites were the mass-produced chert blades made by the crested guided
ridge technique. Some of these may have been used as knives for domestic use, others as sickles. Harappan stone
quarries have been identified in the Rohri hills of Sindh. Some of the stone blades may have been obtained from
contemporary hunter-gatherer communities. The fact that stone flakes and cores occur in many houses at
Mohenjodaro suggests that at least some of the tools were made by people in their homes

Copper and bronze objects

The Harappan civilization is marked by a large number of copper objects. Apart from making artefacts out of pure
copper, Harappan craftspersons alloyed copper with arsenic, tin, or nickel. Copper and bronze artefacts included
vessels, spears, knives, short swords, arrowheads, axes, fishhooks, needles, mirrors, rings, and bangles. The axes
29
were flat, without a shaft hole, and were probably hafted in a split and bound handle. The number of pure copper
artefacts was far greater than alloyed bronze ones. Usually, tools like knives, axes, and chisels, which needed
hardened edges, were alloyed. Alloys increased over time—for instance, at Mohenjodaro, bronze tools increased
from 6 per cent to 23 per cent from the lower to the higher levels. The small proportion of alloyed objects compared
to those of pure copper may suggest cultural preference rather than technological backwardness.

Sixteen copper furnaces were found at Harappa, and copper workshops were found at Lothal. A large amount of
copper oxide was discovered in a brick-lined pit at Mohenjodaro. That metal objects were considered precious is
clear from the fact that they were buried in hoards for safekeeping by their owners. One hoard found at Harappa
consisted of a large cooking pot with a bronze cover. Inside were several types of copper tools and weapons, including
various types of axes, daggers, spearheads, arrowheads, chisels, and a bowl. Some of the objects were unused, others
used and worn.

Jewellery:

Beautifully worked gold and silver jewellery including necklaces, bracelets, brooches, pendants, and earrings have
been found at Harappan sites. A hoard of jewellery made of gold, silver, and semiprecious stones was found at the
small village site of Allahdino. The Harappans used silver to emboss conch shells and to make vessels. Lead was used
to make plumb bobs and in copper casting. It may be noted that two metal objects found at Lothal contain 39.1 per
cent and may be noted that two metal objects found at Lothal contain 39.1 per cent and 66.1 per cent iron. The latter
can be called an iron object. What this suggests is that the Harappans (at least those of Gujarat) may have had some
familiarity with iron smelting.

In Mohenjodaro was also discovered a hoard of jewellery consisting of

gold beads, fillets and other ornaments. Small dishes of silver too, have
been found. A touchstone bearing gold streaks was found in Banawali,
which was probably used for testing the purity of gold.

Sculpture in stone and metal

Apart from utilitarian items made of stone and metal, a few pieces of
stone and metal sculpture have been found at Harappan sites. Most of
them are small, but they display fine artistic skills and sensibilities. They
include the stone bust (17.78 cm high) of a male figure found at
Mohenjodaro, which has been labelled the ‘priest-king’

Fillet or ribbon headband with circular inlay ornament on the forehead

and similar but smaller ornament on the right upper arm. The two ends
of the fillet fall along the back and though the hair is carefully combed
towards the back of the head, no bun is present. The flat back of the head
may have held a separately carved bun as is traditional on the other seated figures, or it could have held a more
elaborate horn and plumed headdress.

Two holes beneath the highly stylized ears suggest that a necklace or other head ornament was attached to the
sculpture. The left shoulder is covered with a cloak decorated with trefoil, double circle and single circle designs that
were originally filled with red pigment. Drill holes in the center of each circle indicate they were made with a
specialized drill and then touched up with a chisel. Eyes are deeply incised and may have held inlay. The upper lip is
shaved and a short combed beard frames the face. The large crack in the face is the result of weathering or it may be
due to original firing of this object.

30
Two fine stone torsos of a male figure (about 10 cm high) were found at
Harappa, a seated stone ibex or ram (49 × 27 × 21 cm) at Mohenjodaro, and
a stone lizard at Dholavira. The only large piece of sculpture is that of a
broken, seated male figure from Dholavira.

Two bronze female figurines were found at Mohenjodaro. One of them has
become famous as the ‘dancing girl’. This figurine was found in a small
house in the southwestern quarter of the city (in the HR area) during the
1926–27 excavations. The figure is 10.8 cm high and was made by the
lostwax method.

The Statue represents a very thin woman standing with her right hand on
the back of her hip and left hand resting on her left thigh, just above the
knee. She may have once held some object in this hand. She is naked. She
wears a necklace and has 24–25 of bangles on her left arm and just 4 on her
right arm. Her arms are unnaturally long. Her head is tilted back, and she
has a defiant, nonchalant air about her. Her hair is swept back in a low, loose
bun at the nape of her neck. John Marshall named her the ‘dancing girl’
because he thought she had the air of a semi-impudent ‘nautch girl’, hand
on hip, beating time to the music with her feet. The name has stuck. But the
‘dancing girl’ may not have been dancing at all, and even if she was, she may not represent a professional dancer.

The lost-wax method involves first making a wax model and then covering it with a clay coating,
leaving some holes as passageways. When the claycovered moulds are heated in ovens, the wax
melts out. Molten bronze is then poured in, and takes the place of the wax. When the mould has
cooled, the outer clay envelope is chipped off and the craftsperson can then put the finishing
touches to the solid bronze statue. This technique is still used in certain parts of India.

The bronze figurines of a buffalo and a ram have beautifully caught the stance of the animals. The two little toy carts
of bronze are also fairly well known objects. Although, one was discovered in Harappa and the other at Chanhudaro,
they are identical in design. However, the Harappans do not seem to have used stone or bronze for their artistic
creations on a large scale. The findings of such works are rare.

Seal

Seal making was another important Harappan craft. Most of the seals are square or rectangular. The average size of
the square seals is about 2.54 cm, but there are larger ones, a little
over 6.35 cm. Some have a perforated boss at the back for handling
and suspension. A few cylindrical and round seals have also been
found. Most of the seals are made of steatite, but there are a few
silver, faience, and calcite ones as well. Two fine silver seals with the
unicorn motif were discovered at Mohenjodaro, and some copper and
soapstone ones were found at Lothal. To make the stone seals, the
stone was sawed and shaped with knives, and then carved, using fine
chisels and drills.

The seal was coated with an alkali and heated, giving it a white
lustrous surface. The carving is in intaglio —i.e., it is a sunken
engraving, with the impression appearing in relief. Motifs include the
Figure 1Indus Unicorn Seal elephant, tiger, antelope, crocodile, hare, humped bull, buffalo,
31
rhinoceros, and the one-horned mythical animal referred to as a unicorn. There is often a small feeding trough or
stand in front of the animal. There are also composite animals, human figures, and plants. Most of the seals have a
short inscription. Some rectangular seals have writing, but no motif.

The designs on the seals include a wide range of animals associated with groups of signs in a semi-pictographic script.
Motifs include the elephant, tiger, antelope, crocodile, hare, humped bull, buffalo, rhinoceros, and the one-horned
mythical animal referred to as a unicorn. There is often a small feeding trough or stand in front of the animal.

There are also composite animals and plants. One recurrent

representation of composite animal is that of a face of a man
with trunk and tusks of an elephant, the horns of bull, the
fore-part of a ram and the hind-quarters of a tiger. These
kinds of seals might have been used for religious purpose.

Some seals have only scripts carved on them and some others
bear human and semi-human forms. The seal of a horned
deity sitting in a yoga posture and surrounded by animals has
been identified with the god Pashupati. Some seals show the
use of various kinds of geometric patterns. Most of the seals Figure 2Swastika seals of Indus Valley Civilisation
have a short inscription. Some rectangular seals have writing,
but no motif. Seals could have also been used for exchange of goods between distant cities.

Beads and Shell Work

Bead making was a craft known in earlier cultures, but in the Harappan civilization new materials, styles, and
techniques came into vogue. A new type of cylindrical stone drill was devised and used to perforate beads of
semiprecious stones. Such drills have been found at sites such as Mohenjodaro, Harappa, Chanhudaro, and Dholavira.
The Harappan craftspeople made beads out of steatite, agate, carnelian, lapis
lazuli, shell, terracotta, gold, silver, and copper. The Harappan long barrel
cylinder beads made out of carnelian were so beautiful and valued that they
found their way into royal burials in Mesopotamia. Tiny micro-beads were
made of steatite paste and hardened by heating. Beads were also made of
faience. The Harappans used remarkably beautiful beads made of such
precious and semi-precious stones such as agate, turquoise, carnelian and
steatite. In settlements like Mohenjodaro, Chanhudaro and Lothal a fairly
large number of Harappans were engaged in this work. Bead making factories
with tools, furnaces, and beads in various stages of preparation have been
found at Chanhudaro and Lothal. At Bagasra in Gujarat, there is evidence of
the production of artefacts of shell, faience, and beads of semiprecious stones Figure 3Humped Bull, Harappa
(agate, carnelian, amazonite, lapis lazuli, and steatite). Claylined silos, varying
from 0.30 to 1 m in diameter and 0.15 to 0.30 m in depth, were used to store semiprecious stones. The bead-making
tradition in Gujarat today gives us clues on how the Harappan craftspeople may have made their beads

Beads, bracelets, and decorative inlay work of shell show the existence of craftspersons skilled in shell working.
Bangles were often made from conch shell. Chanhudaro and Balakot were important centres of shell work. Further
evidence of site specialization comes from Gujarat. An intensive surface survey and excavations at Nageshwar (in
Jamnagar district) have shown that this site was exclusively devoted to shell-working and specialized in making
bangles. Evidence of shell working also comes from Kuntasi, Dholavira, Rangpur, Lothal, Nagwada, and Bagasra. This
craft was clearly very important in the Gujarat region of the Harappan culture zone. Bone working was another
specialized craft. Beads, awls, and pins were made out of bone. There are a few examples of ivory carving in the form
of combs, carved cylinders, small sticks, pins, gamesmen, and a carved plaque.

32
The Harappan craftspeople made beads out of steatite, agate, carnelian, lapis lazuli, shell, terracotta, gold, silver,
and copper. While necklaces, fillets, armlets and finger-rings were commonly worn by both sexes, women wore
girdles, earrings and anklets. Hoards of jewellery found at Mohenjodaro and Lothal include necklaces of gold and
semi-precious stones, copper bracelets and beads, gold earrings and head ornaments, faience pendants and buttons,
and beads of steatite and gemstones. All ornaments are well crafted. It may be noted that a cemetery has been found
at Farmana in Haryana where dead bodies were buried with ornaments. The
Harappan people also made brilliantly naturalistic models of animals, especially
monkeys and squirrels, used as pin-heads and beads. The commonest material used
for making beads was steatite. Carnelian beads are also quite common. It is likely
that there were specialised bead makers for each type of stone. It is evident from
the discovery of a large number of spindles and spindle whorls in the houses of the
Indus Valley that spinning of cotton and wool was very common. Spinning is
indicated by finds of whorls made of the expensive faience as also of the cheap
pottery and shell. Men and women wore two separate pieces of attire similar to the
dhoti and shawl. The shawl covered the left shoulder passing below the right shoulder.

From archaeological finds it appears that the people of the Indus Valley were conscious of fashion. Different hairstyles
were in vogue and wearing of a beard was popular among all. Cinnabar was used as a cosmetic and facepaint, lipstick
and collyrium (eyeliner) were also known to them. Many stone structural remains are also found at Dholavira which
show how the Indus Valley people used stone in construction. The artists and craftsmen of the Indus Valley were
extremely skilled in a variety of crafts—metal casting, stone carving, making and painting pottery and making
terracotta images using simplified motifs of animals, plants and birds.

Textile

Harappans made cotton and woollen textiles. The terracotta figurines wearing clothes (shawls, skirts, etc.) reflect the
kinds of clothes people wore. Mesopotamian texts mention cotton as one of the imports from Meluhha (an area
which included the Indus valley). Traces of cotton cloth were found at Mohenjodaro, preserved over the centuries
due to their being in contact with a corroding silver jar. Several examples of cotton thread and cloth were identified
on copper tools.

At Harappa, cotton threads were found wrapped around the handle of a small copper mirror in a burial and also
around the handle of a curved copper razor. Recent excavations at Harappa have given evidence of woven textile
impressions on the inside of faience vessels. The uniform thickness and uniformity of the weave suggest the use of
spinning wheels. Various kinds of spindle whorls for spinning thread have been found at Harappan sites. Weaving
may have been a cottage industry practised in villages, and also to some extent in the cities. Impressions on clay
floors and fired clay lumps suggest traditions of making baskets and mats out of reeds and grasses

Weights and measure

Standardization extended to units of weights and measure. Cubical weights made of chert, chalcedony, black stone,
etc. have been found at all excavated sites, and their accuracy all over the Harappan culture zone is remarkable. The
system is binary in the smaller weights (1:2:8:16:32:64) and decimal in the higher weights (with a ratio of 160, 200,
320, and 640). The largest weight found at Mohenjodaro weighs 10.865 g. A shell scale was found at Mohenjodaro
and an ivory scale at Lothal; a shell object found in Saurashtra was probably used to measure angles. Their smallest
division, which is marked on an ivory scale found in Lothal, was approximately 1.704 mm. These chert weights were
in a ratio of 5:2:1 with weights of 0.05, 0.1, 0.2, 0.5, 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, and 500 units, with each unit weighing
approximately 28 grams, and smaller objects were weighed in similar ratios with the units of 0.871.

What is the explanation of the high level of standardization in crafts such as pottery-making and brick making? Does
it imply centralized control by merchants or rulers? Some element of central direction is suggested, but its nature
and degree are far from certain. If not direct, it may have taken the indirect form of facilitating or controlling the flow

33
of at least some of the raw materials and finished goods. On the other hand, the level of standardization could also
indicate the fanning out of hereditary craft specialists over large areas, or a well-developed network of internal trade.
It is possible that craftsmen and traders may have been organized in corporate groups similar to guilds, but there is
no proof of this.

Misc Art

Some make-up and toiletry items (a special kind of combs, the use of collyrium and a special three-in-one toiletry
gadget) that were found in Harappan contexts still have similar counterparts in modern India. A harp-like instrument
depicted on an Indus seal and two shell objects found at Lothal indicate the use of stringed musical instruments. The
Harappans also made various toys and games, among them cubical dice (with one to six holes on the faces), which
were found in sites like Mohenjo-Daro.The people of the Indus Valley Civilization, from the early Harappan periods,
had knowledge of proto-dentistry. Evidence for the drilling of human teeth in vivo (i.e., in a living person) was found
in Mehrgarh.

Criticism of Harappan artworks: The artworks of the Harappans leave us a little disappointed on two counts: The
finds are very limited in number and they do not seem to have the variety of expression seen in the contemporary
Civilizations of Egypt and Mesopotamia. Stone sculptures was rare and undeveloped compared to those fashioned
by the Egyptians. The terracotta pieces also cannot compare with those of Mesopotamia in quality. It is possible
that the Harappans were using less durable medium like textile designs and paintings for their artistic expression,
which have not survived.

The General Features of Harappan Settlements

The fact that the Harappan civilization was urban does not mean that all or even most of its settlements had an
urban character. A majority were in fact villages. The cities depended on villages for food and perhaps also labour,
and various kinds of goods produced in cities found their way into the villages. As a result of the brisk urban–rural
interaction, the typical range of Harappan artefacts reached even small village sites

It is not easy to estimate the exact size of ancient settlements, as they are often spread over many mounds and
buried under layers of alluvium. Nevertheless, it is clear that the Harappan sites varied a great deal in size and
function, from large cities to small pastoral camps. The largest settlements include Mohenjodaro (over 200 ha),
Harappa (over 150 ha), Ganweriwala (over 81.5 ha), Rakhigarhi (over 80 ha), and Dholavira (about 100 ha).
Lurewala in Cholistan, with an estimated population of about 35,000, seems to have been as large as Mohenjodaro.
Other large sites (about 50 ha) are Nagoor, Tharo Waro Daro, and Lakhueenjo-Daro in Sindh, and Nondowri in
Baluchistan. Recently, some very large Harappan sites have been reported in Punjab—Dhalewan (about 150 ha) in
Mansa district and Gurni Kalan I (144 ha), Hasanpur II (about 100 ha), Lakhmirwala (225 ha), and Baglian Da Theh
(about 100 ha) in Bhatinda district, but details are so far lacking. The second rung of Harappan settlements are
moderate-sized sites ranging between 10 and 50 ha, such as Judeirjodaro and Kalibangan. Then, there are the even
smaller sites of 5–10 ha, such as Amri, Lothal, Chanhudaro, and Rojdi. The many settlements in the 1–5 ha range
include Allahdino, Kot Diji, Rupar, Balakot, Surkotada, Nageshwar, Nausharo, and Ghazi Shah.

Town-Planning:

Unity of conception:

Archaeologists like Mortimer Wheeler and Stuart Piggot believed that the Harappan towns had a remarkable unity
of conception. This was suggested by the division of each town into two parts. In one part was a raised citadel where
the rulers were staying, in the other part of the town lived the ruled and the poor. This unity of planning would also
mean that if you were walking on the streets of Harappa-the houses, the temples, the granaries and the streets
themselves will be almost identical to those of Mohenjodaro or any other Harappan town for that matter.

The entire idea of unity of conception was derived from the notion of a community of foreigners suddenly conquering
the Indus Valley and building new towns. Such towns were designed to separate the natives from the rulers. Thus,
34
the rulers built citadels which kept them in glorious isolation. Such ideas of the sudden emergence of the Harappan
towns and the unity of planning are being increasingly rejected by new scholars

The Harappan towns were located on the flood-plains of rivers, on fringes of deserts or on sea coast. This meant that
people living in these different regions faced different kinds of challenges from nature. Their adaptation to
environment would introduce diversity in their town-planning and life style too. Also many large and seemingly
important buildings were located in the lower city

The settlements of Harappa, Mohenjodaro and Kalibangan show certain uniformities in their planning. These cities
were divided into a citadel on the west side and a lower town'on the eastern side of the settlement. The citadel was
built on a high podium of mud brick. The citadel seems to have contained large structures which might have
functioned as administrative or ritual centres. The lower city contained residential areas.

The site of Lothal in Gujarat also shows a very different layout. It was a rectangular settlement surrounded by a brick
wall. It did not have any internal division into citadel and lower city. Along the eastern side of the town was found a
brick basin which has been identified as a dockyard by its excavator. The site of Surkotada in Cutch was divided into
two equal parts and the building materials were basically mud bricks and lumps of mud. In its most fully developed
phase, Dholavira consisted of not two but three parts—the citadel, middle town, and lower town.

Citadel was built on a high podium of mud brick. The citadel seems to have contained large structures which might
have functioned as administrative or ritual centres. The citadel at Harappa measuring 1400 ft. x 600 ft. on mound 40
ft. high which faced foundation with brick embankment 45 ft. thick. The citadel at Mahenjo-daro
included a very large building that may have been a palace. Lower Town was the
residential area where the common people lived.

City in the Indus Valley was surrounded by massive walls and gateways. The walls
may have been built to control trade, military invasion and also to stop the city
from being flooded. Each part of the city was made up of walled sections. Each
section included different buildings such as: Public buildings, houses, markets,
craft workshops, etc.

In Mohenjodaro and Harappa the citadel was surrounded by a brick wall.

Although the citadels were walled, it is far from clear that these structures were
defensive. They may have been built to divert flood water. At Kalibangan both
the citadel and the lower city were surrounded by a wall. In settlements like Kot Diji and Amri in Sind there was no
fortification of the city. The site of Lothal in Gujarat also shows a very different layout. It was a rectangular settlement
surrounded by a brick wall. It did not have any internal division into citadel and lower city. Along the eastern side of
the town was found a brick basin which has been identified as a dockyard by its excavator. The site of Surkotada in
Cutch was divided into two equal parts and the building materials were basically mud bricks and lumps of mud.

Streets are of the utmost importance in any of the civilization and the layout of the streets can tell us about the
nature of the settlement. During Harappan period too, streets played vital role in the urban planning. The overall
layout of the Harappan settlements is distinguished by the orientation of streets according to cardinal directions. The
prime streets at best were laid out running north-south and east-west cutting at right angles forming a grid pattern
in such a manner that it divided the settlements into square or rectangular blocks. Though, in its stricter sense
Mohen-jo-Daro does not have precise alignment and the widest street measures 9.1 meter, running across the lower
town, from north to south.

There is no strict correlation between the level of planning and the size of a settlement. For example, the relatively
small site of Lothal shows a much higher level of planning than Kalibangan, which is twice its size. The details of the
plans differ. Mohenjodaro, Harappa, and Kalibangan have a similar layout, consisting of a raised citadel complex and
a lower city. At Lothal and Surkotada, the citadel complex is not separate; it is located within the main settlement. In
its most fully developed phase, Dholavira consisted of not two but three parts—the citadel, middle town, and lower
town
35
Each street had a well organized drain system. If the drains were not cleaned, the water ran into the houses and silt
built up. Then the Harappans would build another storey on top of it. This raised the level of the city over the years.
Obviously, this kind of alignment of streets and houses represents conscious town planning. However, the resources
of the town planners in those days would be very limited. Mohenjodaro was not constructed in homogeneous
horizontal units. In fact it was built in different times. The granary was the largest structure in Mohenjodaro, in
Harappa there were about six granaries or storehouses. These were used for storing grain. Large granaries suggest
that the state stored grain for ceremonial purposes and possibly the regulation of grain production and sale.

An important structure discovered in the citadel mound of Mohenjodaro is the granary. It consists of twenty seven
blocks of brickwork crisscrossed by ventilation channels. Below the granary were the brick loading bays from which
grains were raised into the citadel for storage. Though some scholars have questioned the identification of this
structure with a granary but it is certain that this large structure
must have had some important function.

Among the well known buildings of Harappa is the Great Granary. It

consisted of a series of brick platforms forming the base of two rows
of six granaries. To the south of the granary were found rows of
circular brick platforms. That they were used for threshing grains is
clear from the fact that chaffs of wheat and barley were found in the
crevices of the floors. Kalibangan was a smaller city compared to
Mohenjodaro and Harappa. The most significant discoveries here
have been those of fire altars. A series of brick platforms were
discovered. On one of them was found a row of seven 'fire altars' as well as a pit containing animal bones and antlers.

Housing Pattern - The average citizen seems to have lived in the blocks of houses in the lower city. Hem too there
were variations in the sizes of houses. It could be single room tenements meant for slaves like the ones discovered
near the granary in Harappa. There were other houses complete with courtyards and Moving up to twelve rooms.
The bigger houses were provided with private wells and toilets. These houses had much the same plan-a square
courtyard around which were a number of rooms. The entrances to the houses were from the narrow lanes which
cut the streets at right angles. No windows faced the street.

Bigger houses had much the same plan- a square courtyard around which were a number of rooms. The bigger
houses or groups of houses were provided with separate private wells, bathing areas and toilets. Bathing platforms
with drains were often located in rooms next to a well. The floor of the bathing area was usually made of tightly fitted
bricks, frequently set on edge, to make a carefully sloped watertight surface. A small drain led from here, cut through
the house wall, and went out into the street, connecting ultimately with a larger sewage drain.

Small houses attached to large ones may have been the quarters of service groups working for wealthy city dwellers.
Doorways and windows generally faced the side lanes and rarely opened onto the main streets. The entrances to
the houses were from the narrow lanes which cut the streets at right angles. The view from the lane into the
courtyard was blocked off by a wall. Generally, house had an indoor and outdoor kitchen. The outdoor kitchen would
be used when it was warmer (so that the oven wouldn’t heat up the house), and the indoor kitchen for use when it
was colder. In present day, village houses in this region (e.g. in Kachchh) still have two kitchens. There are remains
of staircases that may have led to the roof or a second storey. The fact that some of the houses at Mohenjodaro were
two stories high or more is also suggested by the thickness of their walls.

The doors and windows of houses were made of wood and mats. Clay models of houses show that doors were
sometimes carved or painted with simple designs. Windows had shutters (perhaps made of wood or reeds and
matting), with latticework grills above and below to allow in light and air. A few pieces of carved alabaster and marble
latticework have been found at Harappa and Mohenjodaro; such slabs may have been set into the brickwork. Floors
were usually made of hard-packed earth, often re-plastered or covered with sand. The ceilings were probably over 3
m high. Roofs may have been made of wooden beams covered with reeds and packed clay.

36
Although some people may have used the area outside the city walls to relieve themselves, toilets have been
identified at many sites. They ranged from the simple hole in the ground above a cesspit to more elaborate
arrangements. Recent excavations at Harappa have uncovered toilets in almost every house. The commodes were
made of big pots sunk into the floor, many of them associated with a small lota-type jar, no doubt for washing up.
Most of the pots had a small hole in the base, through which water could seep into the ground.

The waste from the toilets was in some cases discharged though a sloping channel into a jar or drain in the street
outside. Some people must have had the job of cleaning the toilets and drains on a regular basis. The house-building
in some villages in the region still resembles in some respects the house-building of the Harappans.

The common building material at Harappa sites were baked bricks. Baked Bricks of standard size and qualities were
used as the common building material at Harappa sites; which were discovered from the kilns situated at the sites A
major difference between the buildings in large cities and those in smaller towns and villages was in the type and
combination of raw materials used. In villages, houses were made mostly of mud-brick, with the additional use of
mud and reeds; stone was occasionally used for foundations or drains. Buildings in towns and cities were made of
sun-dried and burnt bricks. Sun dried mud bricks and burnt bricks used for raising sculptures. The Bricks were used
in English bond style; which provides extra stability to the walls. In this, bricks were laid together in a sequence of
long side (stretcher) and short side (header), with an alternate arrangement in consecutive rows. This gave the wall
maximum load-bearing strength.

In Harappa and Mohenjodaro baked bricks were used for buildings. In Kalibangan mud bricks were used. In the rocky
areas of Kutch and Saurashtra, however, there was extensive use of stone. The massive fortification walls with a
veneer of dressed stone at Dholavira and the remains of stone pillars in the citadel are very distinctive and are not
found at any other Harappan site. The fact that some house walls at Mohenjodaro survive upto a height of 5 m is a
tribute to the strength of the bricks and the brick-laying skill of the Harappans. A striking feature of Harappan
structures is the uniformity in the average size of the bricks—7 × 14 × 28 cm for houses and 10 × 20 × 40 cm for city
walls. Both these brick sizes have an identical ratio of thickness, width, and length (1:2:4). This ratio first makes its
appearance at a few sites in the early Harappan phase, but in the mature Harappan phase, it is found in all the
settlements. Bricks of standard size shows that it was not the individual house owners who made their own bricks,
but that brick making was organised on a large scale.

Drainage System:

One of the most impressive characteristics of the Harappan

settlements is their drainage system. Sites like Harappa,
Kalibangan, Nausharo, Chanhudaro, Allahdino, Dholavira,
Lothal, Mohenjodaro have given evidence of elaborate
drainage facilities. The specific features of the elaborate
drainage system include management of waste water inside
the houses, intramural drains, vertical drain pipes in the walls,
chutes through walls to the streets, drains from bathing floors
into street drains (Possehl, 2003). The street drains at all sites
were made of baked bricks. The one at Allahdino is of stone.
We also have evidence for the use of gypsum and lime plaster
in the bottom of the drains at Mohenjodaro. In fact, at
Mohenjodaro, drains dated to Early Harappa and the
Transitional phases have been found. Drains were raised with very building period. Most of the drains were covered
with brick or stone. Small settling pools and traps were built into the system of drainage to catch coarse sediment.
This was periodically collected. Baths were commonly constructed in the houses. The slope of the platform, bricks
on the floor, raised rim around the platform, the smooth finish provided to the floors, coating of a plaster of lime and
brick dust all indicate the utmost care taken in fashioning these bathrooms.

37
The drains for collecting rainwater were separate from the sewage chutes and pipes. Drains and water chutes from
the second storey were often built inside the wall, with an exit opening just above the street drain. At Harappa and
Mohenjodaro, terracotta drain pipes directed waste water into open street drains made of baked bricks. These
connected into large drains along the main streets, which emptied their contents into the fields outside the city wall.

The main drains were covered by corbelled arches made of brick or stone slabs. There were rectangular soakpits for
collecting solid waste at regular intervals. These must have been cleaned out regularly, otherwise the drainage
system would have become choked and a health hazard. Excellent arrangements for sanitation indicates the
presence of a civic administration which would take decisions for the sanitary requirements of all the townsmen.

The Harappans made elaborate arrangements for water for drinking

and bathing. The emphasis on providing water for bathing, evident
at several sites, suggests that they were very particular about
personal hygiene. It is possible that frequent bathing also had a
religious or ritualistic aspect. The sources of water were rivers, wells,
and reservoirs or cisterns. MohenjoDaro is noted for its large number
of wells. Harappa had much fewer wells but a depression in the
centre of the city may represent a tank or reservoir that served the
city’s inhabitants.

The Great bath at Mohenjodaro is a unique example. This brick built

structure measures 12 m. x 7 m. and is about 3 m. deep. It is approached
at either end by flights of steps. The bed of the bath was made water tight
by the use of bitumen. Water was supplied by a large well in an adjacent
room. There was corbelled drain for disgorging water too. The bath was
surrounded by porticoes and sets of rooms. Scholars generally believe that
the place was used for ritual bathing of kings, or priests.

Mohenjodaro is noted for its large number of wells. In the city of

Mohenjodaro, there may have been more than 700 wells. Most houses or house blocks had at least one private well.
Many neighbourhoods had public wells along the main street. Harappa had much fewer wells but a depression in the
centre of the city may represent a tank or reservoir that served the city’s inhabitants. There are a few wells at
Dholavira, which is noted more for its impressive water reservoirs
lined with stone. Dholavira had water storing tanks and step wells. A
water well in Lothal

In Allahdino (Near Karachi), the wells had very small diameter to

enable the ground water to rise higher due to hydraulic pressure. It
may have been used to irrigate the nearby fields. The city of Dholavira
had an impressive and unique water harvesting and management
system.

Dholavira’s system of water management was architectural marvel

which was crucial in an area, which is prone to frequent droughts. Rain water in the catchment areas of the two
seasonal streams – Manhar and Mansar – was dammed and diverted to the large reservoirs within the city walls.

38
Several large, deep water cisterns and reservoirs have been found which preserved precious stores of rain water.
Apparently, there were 16 water reservoirs within the city walls,
covering as much as 36 percent of the walled area. Brick masonry walls
protected them, although reservoirs were also made by cutting into the
bedrock.

Dholavira Water Reservoir- Dockyard of Lothal is the most distinctive

feature of the site. It is roughly trapezoidal basin, enclosed by walls of
burnt bricks. The dockyard had provisions for maintaining a regular level
of water by means of a sluice gate and a spill channel.

Harappan Subsistence
The Harappan civilization covered an enormous area within which there was great ecological variety—alluvial plains,
mountains, plateaux, and sea-coasts. The resource potential of this area was rich enough to generate the food
surpluses that are an important aspect of urbanization. The diversity of the subsistence base may also have been an
important sustaining factor—if one food resource failed, people could turn to others. Agriculture was the mainstay,
supplemented by animal husbandry and hunting. Riverine and marine food resources were tapped, where available.
The sources of information on the subsistence patterns of the Harappans consist of plant remains, animal bones,
artefacts, motifs on seals and pottery, and analogies with modern practices.

Subsistence is closely related to environment, and the nature of the Harappan environment is the subject of
continuing debate. Archaeologists such as Mortimer Wheeler and Stuart Piggott suggested a wetter climate in
Harappan times on the basis of the following arguments:

(a) the large number of burnt bricks found at Harappan sites would have required large quantities of
fuel, which would only have been possible with a heavy forest cover, supported by heavier rainfall;
(b) the gabarbands (embankments) constructed in the Baluchistan area suggest heavier rain;
(c) the depiction of animals such as the tiger, elephant, and rhinoceros on seals indicates a forest and
grassland vegetation that could only have been supported by heavier rainfall;
(d) the elaborate drainage system of the cities was geared towards carrying off rain water.

The first and last points can be refuted most easily. It is not easy to estimate just how much wood (and forest) would
have been required to make the burnt bricks, and the Harappan drains were largely part of a system of sewage
disposal. Many scholars hold that climatic conditions in the greater Indus valley have remained more or less constant
since Harappan times. However, some studies suggest otherwise. Gurdip Singh analysed pollen from the three salt
lakes of Sambhar, Didwana, and Lunkaransar, and the freshwater Pushkar lake, and constructed a profile of rainfall
in this part of Rajasthan from c. 8000 BCE to 1500 BCE.

He concluded that there was an increase in rainfall in c. 3000 BCE and a decrease in 1800 BCE. However, a recent
study of the Lunkaransar lake suggests that it had dried up by 3500 BCE and that the climate had become drier long
before the emergence of the Harappan civilization. The issue of the nature of climatic conditions in Harappan times
thus remains unresolved.

Agriculture and Animal Husbandry

Given the area covered by the civilization, naturally there were regional variations in the plants grown by farmers.
Wheat has been found at Mohenjodaro and Harappa; barley at Mohenjodaro, Harappa, and Kalibangan; and
sesamum at Harappa. Harappa has also given evidence of watermelon seeds, peas, and dates. Rice occurs at Harappa,
Kalibangan, Lothal, and Rangpur. Millets have been identified at Harappa, Surkotada, and Shortughai. Grapes were
known, so was henna (mehendi). Cotton may also have been grown. Detailed evidence of the plant economy of the
early and mature Harappan phase is available from Balu (in Haryana) (Saraswat and Pokharia, 2001–02). The crop
remains identified here included various types of barley, wheat, rice, horse gram, green gram, chickpea, field pea,
grass pea, sesamum, melon, watermelon, date, grapes, and the earliest evidence of garlic. Apart from the wide range
39
of cereals, pulses, vegetables, and fruits grown by the Harappans, another striking point is the similarity of the past
and present plant economies in the various regions.

Modern cropping practices provide some clues to protohistoric patterns. Today, in Sindh, rainfall levels are low, but
the Indus brings down flood waters and silt. The fertile land requires no deep ploughing, irrigation or manuring.
Sesamum and cotton were probably sown in June/July and reaped in September/October, as kharif (summer) crops.
Crops such as wheat and barley would have been sown in November and reaped in March/April as rabi (winter) crops.
In Gujarat, rice is a kharif crop, and it must have been so in Harappan times as well

Reference has already been made to the discovery of a ploughed field at early Harappan levels at Kalibangan. The
continuing use of the plough into the mature Harappan phase can be inferred. Terracotta models of ploughs at
Bahawalpur and Banawali give further evidence of the use of this implement. The fact that no actual ploughs have
survived is no doubt because they were made of wood.

Farmers must have built bunds (embankments) of mud or stone to divert river water, as they do today in areas like
Baluchistan. Irrigation canals have been found at Shortughai. Fairservis suggested that a well and associated drains
at Allahdino may represent an irrigation system, but the evidence is far from conclusive. Similarly, Leshnik’s
hypothesis that the dockyard at Lothal is actually an irrigation reservoir is not convincing. Even if the Harappans did
dig canals in the alluvial plains, it would be very difficult to identify them. However, H. P. Francfort (1992) has
identified remains of a small-scale canal network in the Haryana area, and some of the ancient canals traced in the
Ghaggar-Hakra plain may belong to the Harappan phase.

Bones of wild animals have been found at Harappan sites. These include many varieties of deer, pig, boar, sheep,
goat, ass , and pig. Bones of tortoise and fish have also been found. Rhinoceros bones occur only at Amri, although
this animal is depicted on numerous seals and in terracotta figurines. Elephant and camel bones occur in very small
quantities, although the elephant appears on seals. Tigers are represented often in figurines, leopards more rarely.
Rabbits, peacocks, pigeons, ducks, monkeys, and wild fowl are represented in figurines and paintings on pottery.

The Harappans exploited riverine and marine resources where these were available. At coastal sites in Gujarat,
molluscs provided an important protein-rich element in people’s diet. The discovery of marine catfish bones at
Harappa suggests that coastal communities may have traded in dried fish in inland cities.

Harappan sites have also yielded remains of domesticated animals such as humped and humpless cattle, buffalo,
sheep, and goat. Cattle and buffaloes were the most important domesticated animals. They would have been used
for meat, milk, and also as draught animals. Goats and sheep could have been used for meat, wool, milk, and as pack
animals (they are still used to carry loads of salt and grain in some of the Himalayan stretches). Dog figurines suggest
the domestication of this animal. The issue of the horse is controversial and hinges on the stratigraphic context in
which the remains have been found and the identification of the species they belong to. For instance, it is not easy
to ascertain whether the bones in question belong to the half-ass (Equus hemionus khur) or domesticated horse
(Equus caballus). Horse remains have been reported at Harappa, Lothal, Surkotada, Kuntasi, and Kalibangan, and at
superficial levels at Mohenjodaro. Sàndor Bökönyi (1997) examined the equid bone samples from Surkotada and
concluded that at least six of them probably belonged to the true horse. His conclusions were challenged by Meadow
and Patel (1997). Brigadier Ross (1946) reported horse teeth at pre-Harappan levels at Rana Ghundai, but this
identification was questioned by Zeuner (1963). While horse bones may not be completely absent at Harappan sites,
they are not prolific either.

Religion and Burials

One of the most complex issues concerning ancient history is to determine past ways of thought and beliefs,
especially in the case of the Indus civilization where these must be inferred from material remains, since its writing
has not been satisfactorily deciphered.

The basic elements of what can be loosely described as ‘Harappan religion’ were outlined by John Marshall in 1931.
Although some aspects of Marshall’s interpretation can be criticized—especially his tendency to read elements of

40
later Hinduism into the evidence—he did succeed in identifying several important features of Harappan religion.
Hypotheses about this issue are bound to be subjective, especially in view of the fact that the script is undeciphered.
The worship of female goddesses associated with fertility has long been held as one of the major features of
Harappan religion. This conclusion is based on the following factors: (a) the concerns that agricultural societies are
invariably known to have with fertility; (b) cross-cultural parallels with other ancient civilizations; (c) the importance
of goddess worship in later Hinduism; and (d) the discovery of a large number of terracotta female figurines that
were labelled ‘Mother Goddesses’. Certain representations on seals are also relevant. For instance, a seal showing a
nude woman, head downwards, with her legs apart and a plant issuing from her vagina is often interpreted as a
prototype of Shakambhari, the Earth Mother.

Describing all female figurines as representations of a single great ‘Mother Goddess’ associated with fertility and
maternity clearly over-simplifies the situation. The attributes of the figurines and the contexts in which they were
found have to be considered carefully before assigning them a religious or cultic significance. As pointed out in an
earlier chapter, not all female figurines necessarily represented goddesses (let alone a single goddess), and not all
goddesses necessarily had maternal associations. Some of the Harappan female figurines may have had a cultic
significance and may have been part of household rituals. Others may have been toys or decorative items.

A study of the Harappan terracottas by Alexandra Ardeleanu-Jansen (2002) has underlined the great variety in the
form of female figurines. The type which is frequently interpreted as having a religious significance is a slim female
figure with a distinctive fan-shaped headdress, wearing a short skirt. She is heavily ornamented with necklaces,
armlets, bangles, anklets, and earrings. Some of the figurines have cup-like attachments and flowers on either side
of the head. In certain cases, the cup-like attachments have traces of black residue, suggesting that they were used
to burn oil or some sort of essence. Such figurines may have been religious images worshipped in households, votive
offerings made to a deity, or part of the paraphernalia of domestic rituals. It is interesting to note that such figures
do not appear on Harappan seals and tablets or in stone or metal sculpture

John Marshall hypothesized the existence of a cult of Mother Goddess worship based upon excavation of several
female figurines, and thought that this was a precursor of the Hindu sect of Shaktism. However the function of the
female figurines in the life of Indus Valley people remains unclear. Some of stones interpreted by Marshall to be
sacred phallic representations are now thought to have been used as pestles or game counters instead, while the
ring stones that were thought to symbolize yoni were
determined to be architectural features used to stand
pillars, although the possibility of their religious symbolism
cannot be eliminated.

At towns like Kalibangan and Surkotada, female figurines are

practically absent. Even at Mohenjodaro, the fact that only
475 of the total number of terracotta figurines and fragments
represented the female form means that fertility cult was not
as common a practice as it has been made out to be. Several
of the female figurines were utilized as lamps or for the
burning of incense.

Harappans also worshipped a male god represented on a

steatite seal discovered at Mohenjodaro, usually referred to
as the Pashupati seal. The description of the Pashupati seal
includes – A male figure wearing a buffalo-homed head-
dress is shown sitting in a yogic posture. He is flanked by four
animals- an elephant, rhinoceros, water buffalo, and a tiger. Beneath the dais are two antelopes or ibexes.

There exists a striking resemblance between this deity and the Shiva (Rudra) of later Hindu mythology who is
associated with asceticism, yoga, and linga. Hence it is also called proto-Siva. The so-called Pashupati seal, showing
a seated and possibly phallic figure, surrounded by animals. Many critics have argued that the figure does not have
41
three faces, or yogic posture, and that in Vedic literature Rudra was not a protector of wild animals. Some says:
While it would be appropriate to recognize the figure as a deity, its association with the water buffalo, and its posture
as one of ritual discipline, regarding it as a proto-Shiva would be going too far. In another case a deity with horns and
flowing hair is standing nude between the branches of a Pipal tree. Behind the worshipper is a man-faced goat and
below are seven other human figures. They have long pigtails and tall head-dresses. In one seal are shown snakes
accompanying the yogic figure.

Worship of male and female creative energy in the form of stone icons of lingas
and yonis (fertility-related beliefs). Fertility has been evoked not merely in the
context on the ‘Siva-Pasupati’ seal but also with reference to the phallic stones
(found at Mohenjodaro, Harappa and Dholavira) and with regard to a miniature
terracotta phallic emblem set in a ovular shaped from Kalibangan.

The Harappan seals, sealings, amulets, and copper tablets depict a number of
trees, plants, and animals, some of which may have had cultic significance.
The presence of part human-part animal characters on Indus seals and a
human personage on a pipal tree suggest a shamanistic component in
Harappan religion. The Pipal tree appears often and may have been venerated. The tree on this Indus Valley
terracotta tablet is a pipal tree In many cases a figure is shown looking through the branches. Scholars believe that
this represents the tree-spirit. In many cases worshippers are shown standing in front of the tree. A seal found at
Mohenjo-daro shows a row of seven figures with long braids standing in front of a Pipal tree which has a horned
figure standing in it. It is interpreted as the seven rishis or the seven mothers of the later traditions of the Indian
mythology. The horned figure maybe is Siva. Some of the animals depicted on the seals and sealings like the
humped and humpless bull, snake, elephant, rhinoceros, antelope, gharial, and tiger- may have had cultic
significance. The bull, a symbol of male virility, seems to be important. The steatite bull statuettes discovered at
certain sites, including a sophisticated terracotta bull found at Mohenjodaro.

It is possible that some of the terracotta animals on wheels may have been cult images rather than toys. Two
Harappan sealings appear to represent animals being carried in processions; one of them resembles a bull or cow.
The composite animals (tiger-human, bull-elephant, ram-bull-elephant, etc ) and the ”unicorn” depicted on seals and
sealings may also have had some sort of religious or mythological significance. The conception of composite
creatures like ‘Narasimha’ was very much a part of the mythology of the later Indian tradition. ‘Unicorn’ was a
mythical animal, since there is no such real beast. It is likely to have been a cult object. A seal has been reported from
Chanhudaro depicting a bull-bison with erect penis, fecundating a supine human figure. It is possible that the present
day reverence for bulls and cows had its beginnings in the Harappan Civilization.

A few structures reflect a connection between concepts of cleansing through water relation to ritual functions. The
sunken, rectangular basin known as the ‘Great Bath’ at Mohenjodaro is one such instance. The Great bath was
probably the scene of an elite ritual activity involving ceremonial bathing. Such elaborate bathing arrangements were
made in very sacred ritual spots in the subsequent historical phases in India. The cult connection of this water using
structure is evident from its method of construction which had three concentric zones around it, including streets on
all four sides (making it the only free standing structure of the city), for the purpose of a ritual procession leading
into it.

The bathing pavements and well in the vicinity of the offering pits on Kalibangan’s citable also underline this
connection. Some of the terracotta, shell, faience, and metal tablets may have been amulets. Svastika motif found at
terracotta, shell, faience, and metal tablets may have been associated with a protective function or auspiciousness.
Terracotta masks and puppets found at Mohenjodaro and Harappa include those in the form of real and mythical
animals, may have been associated with religious rituals. A triangular cake found at Kalibangan indicates towards the
practice of animal sacrifice. A Cylindrical seal found at Kalibangan indicates towards the practice of human sacrifice.
It shows a woman flanked by two men who hold her with one hand and raise swords over her head with the other.

42
At Kalibangan in the citadel were found a series of raised brick platforms crowned with ‘fire altars’ i.e., a series of
brick-lined pits containing ash and animal bones. This area also had a well and bathing places. This complex seems
to have represented some kind of ritual centre where animal sacrifice, ritual ablution and some sort of fire rituals
were performed. Many houses in the lower town also contained a room having ‘fire altars’.

At Lothal too, fire altars have been found. These evidences are very important because: they show that the
Harappans staying in different geographical areas followed – different religious practices, and the fire ritual was
central to the Vedic religion. The Vedic Aryans are believed to have been a different set of people. The evidence from
Kalibangan might indicate that the Aryans adopted the religious practices of the Harappans when they came and
settled down in these areas.

According to some historians, a number of large buildings in the citadel and the lower town at Mohenjodaro may
have been temples of gods. This view is supported by the fact that most of the large stone sculptures were found in
these buildings. In the lower city at Mohenjodaro a large building has been discovered. This building has a
monumental entrance and a double stairway leading to, a raised platform on which was found a stone sculpture. It
is a seated man with hands on knees. It has a bearded face. Another stone statue was discovered in the same building.
This is why scholars have identified this building with a temple. Near the Great Bath was found another large structure
which has been identified by some historians as the residence of some high priest or college of priests. Similarly, an
oblong assembly hall has also been reported from the citadel area. To the west of this structure was found a complex
of rooms in one of which was discovered a seated male statue. This too has been identified as a part of some religious
structure. These ritual structures provide us with a glimpse of the religious practices of the people in Mohenjodaro.
We can presume that some of the ritual performances took place in the large temple like structure. However, not a
single structure found at any Harappan site can conclusively be identified as a temple.

Harappan Burials

Disposal of the dead has been an important religious activity of the

human groups. This is because the attitude towards the dead is linked up
with the human beliefs regarding this life and life after death. The
Harappan civilization has not yielded any monuments for the dead which
could equal the pyramids of Egypt or the Royal cemetery of the
Mesopotamian city of Ur, in its grandeur. However, we have certain
Evidences about the burial practices of the Harappans.

Burial of adult man, Harappa: The body , with neckless around its nake,
may have been wrapped in a shroud, and was then placed inside a
wooden coffin, which was entombed in a rectangular pit surrounded with burial offerings in pottery vessels.

In Harappa many graves have been discovered. Dead bodies were generally placed in a north-south orientation.
Bodies were laid on their back. A large number of earthen pots were placed in the grave. In some cases the dead
were buried with ornaments like shell bangles, necklace, and an ear ring. In some cases copper mirrors, mother of
pearl shells, antimony sticks etc. were kept in the grave. A number of graves were constructed with bricks. A coffin
burial has been found at Harappa. At Kalibangan some other kinds of burial practices were encountered. Small
circular pits containing large urns and accompanied by pottery have been found. But they did not have any skeletal
remains. Some other burial pits with collected bones have also been found. From Lothal some examples of pairs of
skeletons with a male and a female in each case buried together Grave goods including food, pottery, tools, and
ornaments (like shell bangles, necklace, and an ear ring) were placed along with the body, but they were never too
many or lavish. Clearly, the Harappans preferred to use wealth in life rather than bury it with their dead. A large
number of earthen pots were placed in the grave. In some cases copper mirrors, mother of pearl shells, antimony
sticks etc. were kept in the grave.

43
These practices show that the disposal of the dead among the Harappans was different from the one followed
subsequently. In the historical phases the predominant System seems to have been cremation. At the same time the
careful placement of bodies provided with ornaments and toiletries is indicative of some belief in life after death.
What that belief was is unknown to us.

Coffin burial: Normally, no coffin, structurally or otherwise was used but at Harappa, archaeologists found a woman’s
body in a wooden coffin lined with reed mats.

Symbolic burials: Symbolic burials with grave goods but no skeletons were found at Kalibangan. Small circular pits
containing large urns and accompanied by pottery have been found. But they did not have any skeletal remains.

Fractional burials: Fractional burials (where the body was exposed to the elements and the bones then gathered and
buried) were found at Mohenjodaro and Harappa.

Urn burials: Mohenjodaro and Harappa also gave evidence of urn burials which point towards the existence of
practice of cremation.

Multiple burials: Multiple burials of men and women were discovered at Lothal.

A unique funerary rite involving the simultaneous burial of two persons in the same grave-pit was observed at Lothal.
First anthropologically confirmed joint burial of a couple buried simultaneously has been found in Rakhigarhi. This
could possibly be the practice of sati but it is doubtful. At Ropar cemetery, the body was laid in the grave with head
to the north-west normally but in one case, the orientation was north-south. In Ropar a man was found buried with
a dog. In Rojdi two infants were found buried beneath the floor of a house. In Mohenjo daro, there were a few
bodies that were found scattered throughout the city in disarray. The skeletons seem to be in a state of trauma and
it was as if they had been buried in a state of action with weapons in their hand. The causes of these burials have
been hypothesized due to loss of civic rules and order in the city or an invasion of some kind. The burials at
Kalibangan, the other large burial site are of three types. The bodies were buried in a supine position with skeletal
remains.

Pot burials in circular pits. The pot burials are an interesting and rare type of burial in which the bodies of the
individual are crammed into pots and buried. Large pots which were found interred in rectangular or circular pits
with no skeletal remains. Interestingly Harappan burials show little evidence of social hierarchies, unlike
Mesopotamian or Egyptian where some interments may indicate considerable wealth. But there was some degree
of social hierarchy. For e.g. In Kalibangan, an older male was interred in a old brick chamber with 70 pottery vessels.
The man was also decked in jewelry of expensive nature. Clearly this individual is of high importance in the society.
Thus, it can be concluded that the religious and funerary beliefs and practices of the Harappans show great variety.

A study of the various kinds of objects found in excavations shows that different a regions of the Harappan civilization
followed different kinds of religious practices. Fire worship was prevalent in Kalibangan and Lothal but unknown in
Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro. Ritual bathing evidenced at Mohenjo-Daro might have been absent in Harappa. The
burial practices show wide variation ranging from extended inhumation to double burials and pot burials. Finds in
Kalibangan also show that different kinds of burial practices were being followed in the same settlement. This kind
of diversity of religious beliefs and practices even in the same settlement reflects the complex nature of the urban
centers. Unlike tribal societies where every member of the tribe follows similar kinds of religious practices, the urban
centers are characterized by the presence of people following different kinds of religious practices. This apparently
means that urban centers were formed by the political and economic integration of varied social groups. Also, an
urban center means the presence of traders from different regions with their own religious practices. These groups
retained their social mores and religious customs but lost their political and economic independence.

Harappan Trade
The discovery of the Harappan civilization generated a great deal of interest in Harappan– Mesopotamian trade links.
This is because before the advent of radiocarbon dating, these links gave vital clues for dating the Harappan culture,
and also due to the prevailing interest in cross-cultural comparisons. Over the years, however, many scholars have

44
come to the conclusion that Harappan– Mesopotamian trade may not have been as substantial as earlier held. Other
areas such as the Persian Gulf have been identified as important zones of interaction as far as the long-distance trade
of the Harappans is concerned. However, it is clear that trade networks within the Harappan culture zone and those
linking the culture with other areas in the subcontinent were extremely significant; they are crucial for understanding
the structure of the Harappan civilization as well as its striking level of cultural homogeneity. The importance of such
trade is clear from the very wide range of raw materials and finished goods that found their way to different parts of
the vast Harappan culture zone. This was an age before the advent of coinage, and the vibrant trade of the Harappans
was based on barter.

The discovery of the Harappan civilization generated a great deal of interest in Harappan– Mesopotamian trade links.
This is because before the advent of radiocarbon dating, these links gave vital clues for dating the Harappan culture,
and also due to the prevailing interest in cross-cultural comparisons. Over the years, however, many scholars have
come to the conclusion that Harappan– Mesopotamian trade may not have been as substantial as earlier held. Other
areas such as the Persian Gulf have been identified as important zones of interaction as far as the long-distance trade
of the Harappans is concerned. However, it is clear that trade networks within the Harappan culture zone and those
linking the culture with other areas in the subcontinent were extremely significant; they are crucial for understanding
the structure of the Harappan civilization as well as its striking level of cultural homogeneity. The importance of such
trade is clear from the very wide range of raw materials and finished goods that found their way to different parts of
the vast Harappan culture zone. This was an age before the advent of coinage, and the vibrant trade of the Harappans
was based on barter.

An urban economy is characterised by a vast network of relationships which transcend its physical space. Harappans
were in active interaction with other cities and towns which were Located at a distance of hundred of miles from
Harappa. In urban centres an important part of population were engaged in non-food producing activities like
administrative, religious, trading and manufacturing functions. At the same time if they are not producing their own
food some one else has to do it for them. That is why towns are dependent on the surrounding countryside for food
supplies. The relationship between the city and the village was unequal.

By developing as centres of administration or religion the cities attracted the wealth of the entire country. This
wealth was siphoned off from the hinterland in the form of taxes, tributes, gifts or purchases of goods. In the
Harappan society this wealth was controlled by the most powerful section of the urban society. At the same time
the rich and well off sections in the city led a luxurious life. Their social superiority was reflected in the buildings
constructed by them and the acquisition of luxury items which were not locally available. This indicates that a major
reason for cities establishing contacts with faraway land: was to cater to the needs of the rich and powerful. This may
be one of the factors behind the Harappans attempt to establish links with the faraway lands.

How some Harappan out-posts are found in such far-flung areas as Shortughai in Afghanistan and Bhagatrav in
Gujarat? It may be because of economic inter-dependence and trade network between different regions. Differential
access to basic resources was crucial in linking various regions of Indus Valley. These resources included agricultural
products, minerals, timber, etc. and this could be achieved by establishing trade routes. Emerging in the fertile Indus-
Hakra plains, the rich Harappans wanted possession of more and more luxury items. In quest of this they
strengthened the ties that already existed with central Asia and Afghanistan. They also established settlements in
places like Gujarat and the Gangetic Valley.

The elaborate social structure, standard of living, granaries, numerous seals, uniform script, and regulated weights
and measures in a wide area indicate the existence of a highly developed system of trade in the Harappan civilisation.
A number of stone weights were discovered from the excavations. The Harappans used sets of cubical stone weights
and the basic unit was 16 (equal to modern 14 grams). The larger wights were multiple of 16 like 32, 48. 64 and so
on, The smaller one were fractions of 16. There are evidences that the Harappan traded with parts of India as well as
other parts of world e.g Egypt, Babylon and Afghanistan.

The presence of granaries indicates the attempt of the rulers to possess an assured source of food supply. Presumably
food grains were brought from the surrounding villages and stored here. This in turn would be redistributed to the
45
townsmen. Grains are a bulk commodity which are consumed every day. Vast quantities of grains would have to be
collected and transported in bullock carts and boats. It would be difficult to haul up large quantities of food over a
great distance. That is why it has been found that towns were usually located in the most fertile areas that were
available in the region, and I probably the grains were collected from the surrounding villages. For example,
Mohenjodaro was located in the Larkana district of Sind. Even in modern times this is the most fertile area of Sind.
However, some other settlements sprang up on important trade routes or industrial sites. In such cases the location
was determined not so much by the presence of fertile agricultural tracts as by possibilities of trade and exchange.

The villages supplied the essential food grains and other raw materials to the towns but what were the Harappan
towns giving to the villages in return? We have few clues for an answer. One answer is that the rulers of the towns
used force to collect grainscalling it tax which was to be given in return for administration. However, one important
ingredient of this rural-urban relationship was the ability of the urban centres to collect a whole range of items that
were not available locally and supply them to the rural hinterland.

One item of interest was the stone tools. People in almost all the Harappan towns and villages were using parallel-
sided stone blades. These blades were made out of very good quality stone not found everywhere. It has.been found
that such stone was brought from sites like Sukkur in Sind. This hypothesis is proved by t5e fact that in sites like
Rangapur in Gujarat people were using stone tools brought frofn distant areas during the urban phase of Harappa.
Once the Harappan Civilization declined, the people in these areas started using tools made of local stones. Other
such items would be copper and bronze. Copper is available only in certain pockets. However, almost all the Harappan
sites have yielded copper-bronze tools. These tools also show a uniformity in design and execution in almost all the
Harappan sites. This indicates that their production and distribution must have been handled by centralized decision
making bodies. They could be the merchants or the administrators residing in the towns.

Apart from these items which were strategically important in terms of the economic activities, the Harappan
settlements-big and small-have yielded objects of gold, silver and very many precious and semi-precious stones.
These metals and stones were procured by the merchants and rulers of the cities. With the inception of urbanism
the volume of trade within the Harappan civilization increased in scale an3 variety to an unprecedented scale. Sites
like Mohenjodaro reveal evidence of extensive bead-making. These products filtered down to the rich and powerful
in the small villages and towns.

Functions performed in other cities of the Harappan civilization :

 Balakot on the coast of Baluchistan and Chanhu-daro in Sind were centres for shell-working and bangle
making.
 Lothal and Chanhu-daro were producing beads of carnelian, agate etc.
 Some unfinished beads of lapis lazuli in Chanhu-daro might indicate that the Harappans imported precious
stones from faraway places and then worked them before selling them.
 Mohenjodaro has yielded evidence for the presence of a large number of craft specialists like, stone workers,
potters, copper and bronze workers, brick-makers, seal-cutters and bead-makers, etc.

The Harappans traded in stone, metal, shell, etc., within the Indus culture zone. In some cases, common product has
been found in all the areas, indicating some kind of trade. However, instead of metal money, the Harappan preferred
the exchanges through the barter system.

Excavations at different Harappan sites provide us with a large number of bangles, beads, potteries, various copper,
bronze and stone objects. The range of objects discovered from the Harappan settlements indicates that they were
using many kinds of metals and precious stones which would not be uniformly available in every region. The
interesting thing is that even in very small Harappan sites precious stones and metal tools have been found. This
indicates an intensive exchange network among the Harappans catering to the needs of the rich. What were the
sources of the minerals and metals used by the Harappans?

The discovery of factory sites in the limestone hills of Sukkur and Rohri indicates that chert blades were mass
produced here and sent to various Harappan settlements in Sindh. The Khetri deposits of Rajasthan must have been
46
an important source of copper. There were links between the copper-manufacturing Ganeshwar–Jodhpura culture
and the Harappan civilization.

Lead and zinc probably also came from Rajasthan. Tin is available in the Tosam area of modern Haryana, but other
possible sources are Afghanistan and central Asia. Gold may have come from the Kolar fields of Karnataka, where it
may have been obtained via trade from the neolithic people who lived there. These neolithic herders may also have
been exporters of cattle. (Fine disc beads, probably of steatite paste, found at Piklihal may have been obtained from
the Harappans.) Gold could also have been panned from the sands of the upper Indus. Most varieties of semiprecious
stone used for bead manufacture came from Gujarat. The exception is lapis lazuli, which was probably obtained from
Afghanistan, although it also occurs in the Chagai hills in Baluchistan.

The exception is lapis lazuli, which was obtained from Badakshan in North-East Afghanistan. That the Harappans
exploited this source is confirmed by the discovery of Harappan sites like Shortughai and Altyn-Depe in this area.
Turquoise and Jade could have been obtained from central Asia alone. Cities like Mehenjo-Daro, Harappa and Lothal
were important centres for metallurgy, producing tools, weapons, kitchenware and other objects for wide
distribution. Lead may have come from Kashmir or Rajasthan. or South India. Silver vessels are frequently found in
the Harappan sites. However, there are no known sources for silver in this area. Silver might have been imported
from Afghanistan and Iran. Probably, the Indus merchants also exchanged their goods with the Mesopotamians for
silver. Sea-shells, so very popular with the Harappans, must have come from the sea-coast of Gujarat and western
India. Manda in Jammu is located at a point where the river Chenab becomes navigable. Probably good quality
timber was acquired from the regions further up and sent to Central Indus Valley down the rivers.

Two-wheeled carts were an important mode of transport for people and goods. Bronze and terracotta models of
carts have been found at various sites. No carts survive, but their tracks have been found at several sites, indicating
spans roughly similar to those used today. Traders must also have transported their merchandise across long
distances in caravans of pack animals such as oxen, sheep, goats, and donkeys. Towards the end of the mature
Harappan phase, there is evidence of the use of the camel. The use of the horse seems to have been very minimal.
Boats are depicted on seals and moulded tablets, and clay models have been found at Harappa and Lothal. River
boats had cabins, ladders leading to the roof, and a high seated platform on the stern for navigation. Seafaring boats
had a sharp keel, pointed prow, high flat stern, and mast and ropes for sails.

Many representations of ships have been discovered on seals or as graffiti at Harappa, Mohenjo-Daro etc. A
terracotta model of a ship was also discovered from Lothal, hinting at the use of ships and boats to carry goods from
production centres to cities. At Lothal was also discovered a dockyard. Apart from this site the seashore of the Arabian
sea seems to have been dotted with many sea-ports. Places like Rangapur, Somnath and Balakot would have
functioned as outlets for the Harappans. Even in the inhospitable Makran coast Harappan sites like Sutkagen-Dor and
Sutkakoh have been discovered. The primary reason for their location in those inhospitable tracts was that they
were safe from the dangerous monsoon storms and currents hitting the sea-coast in Western India and Sind. In the
monsoon months they could function as outlets for the Harappans. This kind of extension along the sea-coast would
provide the Harappan ships points of anchorage right upto the Persian Gulf.

Several routes of trade and communication connected the various parts of the Harappan culture zone—Baluchistan,
Sindh, Rajasthan, Cholistan, Punjab, Gujarat, and the upper doab. These routes can be reconstructed by studying the
geographical landscape, settlement patterns, and the distribution of raw materials and finished products. Lahiri
(1992: 112–43) points out that major trade routes connected the following areas: Sindh and south Baluchistan;
coastal Sindh, upper Sindh, and the central Indus plains; the Indus plains and Rajasthan; the regions lying to the north
of the Indus and Harappa; Sindh and east Punjab; east Punjab and Rajasthan; and Sindh and Gujarat. Some of the
routes were already well defined in the early Harappan phase—e.g., the Baluchistan–Sindh route via the Kirthar
mountains, and the route from east Punjab and Rajasthan via the Cholistan tract. The route connecting north
Afghanistan, the Gomal plain, and Multan with a feeder route going to the Taxila valley also continued to be
important. Certain routes that were being used in the earlier period became more important in the mature Harappan
phase—e.g., the routes within Sindh, between Sindh and the central Indus plains, and between Sindh and Baluchistan

47
via Kutch and Kathiawar. It is likely that the Indus saw a certain amount of riverine traffic. There was also a coastal
route linking the Gujarat sites such as Lothal and Dholavira to sites such as Sutkagen-dor on the Makran coast. The
location of some of the important sites can in fact be explained in relation to the trade routes of the time. For
instance, Mohenjodaro lay at the intersection of the water-route of the Indus and the east– west land route that
linked the Quetta valley and the Bolan River to Kot Diji and the western Nara.

Traders must also have been engaged in a brisk trade in grains and other food products, transporting these between
villages and cities. Rice was imported from Gujarat to Punjab. Lothal and Surkotada provided cotton for the
developing townships of Mohenjo-Daro, Harappa, Banawali, etc. Balakot and chanhudaro were centers for shell-
working and bangle-making. Lothal and Chanhudaro were centres for the manufacturing of beads of carnelian etc.
Trading seems to have been more an administrative activity than an exchange activity between traders, since
establishing a colony at a distance of around 500 km would not be possible for a trader. It were the administrators
of Harappa who were trying to bring under direct control resources of distant areas.

Besides internal trade, the Harappans also had commercial contacts with their western neighbours. Lothal Surkotada
and Balakot were some of the important trading coastal towns which connected to Mesopotamia and other west
Asian sites.

The importance of overland routes from the Harappan civilization through Afghanistan is evident from the location
of Harappan sites near each of the passes and routes that led through Baluchistan into Afghanistan. Two main
overland routes connected the Harappan civilization with West Asia. The northern one passed through northern
Afghanistan, north Iran, Turkmenistan, and Mesopotamia.

A southern route passed through Tepe Yahya, Jalalabad and Ur. Sea route in Persian Gulf: From Indus region to
Mesopotamia via Dilmun (Bahrain) and Makan (Oman). The Mesopotamian records from 2350 BC onward refer to
trade relations with Meluha the ancient name given to the Indus region. Mesopotamian texts refer to Meluha as a
land of seafarers which shows trade between Mesopotamia and Indus region was carried by sea.

The depiction of ships and boats on seals also indicate this. Sites such as Sutkagen-dor, Balakot, and Dabarkot were
important points along maritime route to Mesopotamia. Lothal (near the Gulf of Cambay) and Kuntasi, Dholavira (in
the Rann of Kutch), and the sites along the coast of Kutch played an important role in maritime trade. The main
sources of information on long-distance trade include a number of Harappan artefacts found at sites outside the
subcontinent, and foreign objects found at Harappan sites. These are supplemented by textual sources in the case
of Indus–Mesopotamian trade.

A number of Harappan and Harappan-related objects found in south Turkmenistan at sites such as Altyn Depe and
Khapuz. These include ivory dice, metal objects (a spearhead and ladle), an ithyphallic terracotta, perforated ware,
a segmented bead, and a silver seal. The most definite evidence comes from Altyn Depe, in the form of a rectangular
Harappan seal bearing the Harappan script.

Afghanistan: The most important evidence of trade with Afghanistan comes from an isolated Harappan trading
outpost at Shortughai. The Harappans had set up this trading colony in northern Afghanistan which facilitated trade
with central Asia.

Iran: Several sites in Iran which have yielded Harappan and Harappan-related artefacts. The sites in Iran are Hissar,
Shah Tepe, Jalalabad etc. The main evidence consists of seals and carnelian beads (both the etched and long barrel
cylinder types).

Persian Gulf: A round seal with a short-horned bull motif and Harappan writing was found at Failaka (Kuwaiti Island)
in the Persian Gulf. A seal with the bull motif and Harappan script was found at the site of Hajjar. Jar fragments with
Harappan writing have been found at many sites in the Persian Gulf.

48
Bahrain: Harappan and Harappan-related artifacts (including a piece of ivory, a linga-shaped object, a circular mirror,
and seals with Harappan motifs and/or writing) have been found at Ras-al-Qala on the island of Bahrain. Excavations
near Hamad in Bahrain yielded a typical Harappan seal and carnelian beads in burials.

Trade with Oman peninsula: The Harappans were also trading with the Oman peninsula. Carnelian bead of the
Harappan type was found at Umm-an-Nar. There are similarities between certain other types of objects found at
this site (a square steatite seal, fragments of pottery, carnelian beads, a cubical stone weight, etc.) and Harappan
artefacts. Maysar, an excavated copper-smelting site, has yielded evidence (e.g., pottery decorations and motifs on
a seal) that suggests Harappan influence. The major imports from Oman may have included chloride vessels, shell
perhaps mother-of-pearl. Copper has been mentioned as another Omani export to the Harappans. As for Harappan
exports to Oman, the items that survive in the archaeological record include beads, chert weights, and ivory objects.

Trade with Mesopotamia: There is literary as well as archaeological evidence for Harappan trade with Mesopotamia.
Mesopotamian records refer to the famous king Sargon of Akkad (C. 2350 B.C.) in Mesopotamia boasting that the
ships of Dilmun, Magan and Meluhha were moored at his capital. Dilmun can be identified with Bahrain, and Magan
with the Makran coast and Oman. Meluhha may refer to the Indus valley.

The early Mesopotamian literature also refers to a community of merchants from Meluhha living in Mesopotamia.
In another instance written documents from Mesopotamia refer to an official interpreter of the Meluhhan language.
The archaeological evidence for Harappan-Mesopotamian trade: Harappan-related seals and carnelian beads at
Mesopotamian sites such as Kish, Nippur, Lagash and Ur. Carnelian beads were also found in the royal graves at Ur.
Certain motifs such as the bull on Mesopotamian seals have been cited as reflecting Harappan influence. Cylinder
seals (which are common in West Asia) with Harappan-type motifs suggest interaction between merchants of these
two areas. The absence of Mesopotamian seals and sealings in the Harappan context suggests that Mesopotamian
traders were not directly involved in the Harappan–Mesopotamian trade interactions.

Few West Asian artefacts have been found in Harappan contexts: A seal of the Persian Gulf type was found at Lothal.
Also bun shaped copper ingots have been found in Lothal. These are similar to the ones found in the Persian Gulf
islands and Susa. A lapis lazuli bead from Mohenjodaro and a pendant with lapis lazuli inlay found at Cemetery-H
levels at Harappa were possibly imports from West Asia. A cylinder seal (cylinder seals were common in West Asia)
with Indian motifs was found at Kalibangan. In Mohenjodaro three cylinder seals of the Mesopotamian type have
been found. However, they too, seem to have been made in some centre of Harappan Civilization. The absence of
Mesopotamiari goods in Harappa can be explained by the fact that traditionally the Mesopotamians exported items
like garments, wool, perfumed oil and leather products. All these items are perishable and as such they have not left
any trace. Mesopotamian texts mention the following items as imports from Meluhha:

Mesopotamia’s general exports included: fish, grain, raw wool, woolen garments, and silver. Silver might have been
one of the items of export. Silver was not available in any known Harappan source. However, they were using it in
large quantities. This could be an import from Mesopotamia. Given the scarcity of material objects which could show
contacts between the Harappans and the Mesopotamians, some scholars have questioned the notion of direct trade
exchange between these civilizations. It is believed that thy Harappans might have taken their wares to the
settlements in the Persian Gulf. Some of these were further transported to Mesopotamian towns by the merchants
of Persian Gulf ports like Behrain The Harappans had set up a trading colony in northern Afghanistan which facilitated
trade with central Asia.

Carnelian beads were an important Harappan export to West Asia. Textiles and conch shell objects were other
possible exports. Ivory and ivory objects may have been exported by the Harappans to Afghanistan, Turkmenistan,
and perhaps the Persian Gulf. Among the Harappan imports were lapis lazuli was probably an import from
Afghanistan, Jade must have come from Turkmenistan. Tin may have been obtained from Ferghana. Carved chlorite
and green schist vessels from Persian Gulf.

49
Assessments of Harappan–Mesopotamian trade
There is literary as well as archaeological evidence for Harappan trade with Mesopotamia. Mesopotamian records of
the time of king Sargon (2334–2279 BCE) refer to ships from the lands of Dilmun, Magan, and Meluhha tied along
the quay of the capital city, Akkad. Dilmun can be identified with Bahrain, and Magan with the Makran coast and
Oman. Meluhha may have been a generic term for areas lying to the east of Mesopotamia, including the Indus valley,
or it may refer specifically to the Indus valley. The archaeological evidence for Harappan–Mesopotamian trade
consists mainly of a few Harappan or Harappan-related seals and carnelian beads at Mesopotamian sites such as
Kish, Lagash, Nippur, and Ur. Carnelian beads (both the etched type and the long barrel-cylinder type) were also
found in the royal graves at Ur. Certain motifs such as the bull on Mesopotamian seals have been cited as reflecting
Harappan influence. Cylinder seals (which are common in West Asia) with Harappan-type motifs suggest interaction
between merchants of these two areas. The absence of Mesopotamian seals and sealings in the Harappan context
suggests that Mesopotamian traders were not directly involved in the Harappan–Mesopotamian trade interactions.

Carnelian beads were clearly an important Harappan export to West Asia. Textiles and conch shell objects were other
possible exports. Ivory and ivory objects may have been exported by the Harappans to Afghanistan, Turkmenistan,
and perhaps the Persian Gulf. Mesopotamian texts mention the following items as imports from Meluhha: lapiz lazuli,
carnelian, gold, silver, copper, ebony, ivory, tortoiseshell, a chicken-like bird, dog, cat, and monkey. Mesopotamia’s
general exports included fish, grain, raw wool, woollen garments, and silver. It is possible that wool and silver found
their way to Meluhha, but there is no archaeological proof of this.

There are two very different assessments of Harappan–Mesopotamian trade. Ratnagar (1981) highlights the
importance of this trade, especially the trade in lapis lazuli, and even argues that its decline was a reason for the
decline of the Harappan civilization. Notwithstanding the long list of items mentioned in texts, the fact remains that
there are very few Harappan artefacts found in Mesopotamia and even fewer Mesopotamian artefacts found at
Harappan sites. A few Mesopotamian-type stone weights have been reported from Mohenjodaro and Harappa.
Three motifs found on some Harappan seals are seen by some scholars as reflecting Mesopotamian influence—the
whorl design, a man grappling with two animals, and the gatepost motif. The evidence as a whole is not very
substantial. Chakrabarti (1990) and Shaffer (1982b) argue that Harappan trade with Mesopotamia was not direct,
extensive or intensive. This trade does not seem to have been particularly important for the development or
sustenance of the Harappan civilization.

The argument that the quantum of Harappan long-distance trade was not great is persuasive. Unlike the resource-
poor area of Mesopotamia, the Harappan culture zone was rich in a variety of natural resources. Food requirements
and most of the raw materials required by Harappan craftspersons could have been met by resources available within
the Harappan culture zone. The diverse, well-developed craft traditions meant that most of the finished goods
required by the Harappans were likewise available from within this area. A few raw materials and products were
obtained from other parts of the subcontinent and from areas such as Afghanistan and central Asia. Very few
essential items had to be imported from distant places. Harappan trade must have involved highly organized
merchant groups as well as nomadic peddlers in the mountainous stretches. The extent of state control over this
activity is a matter of debate.

Two main overland routes connected the Harappan civilization with West Asia. The northern one passed through
northern Afghanistan, north Iran, Turkmenistan, and Mesopotamia, crossing sites such as Shortughai, Tepe Hissar,
Shah Tepe, and Kish. A southern route passed through Tepe Yahya, Jalalabad, Kalleh Nisar, Susa, and Ur. The maritime
route to Mesopotamia may also have been used. It is likely that sites such as Sutkagen-dor, Balakot, and Dabarkot
(the latter two may at that time have been located at the coast instead of some distance away) were important points
along this route. Lo-thal (10 km away from the Gulf of Cambay) and Kuntasi (on the Phulki river, 4 km from the coast),
Dholavira (in the Rann of Kutch), and the sites along the coast of Kutch no doubt played an important role in maritime
trade.

Harappan trade must have involved highly organized merchant groups as well as nomadic peddlers in the
mountainous stretches. The extent of state control over this activity is a matter of debate.
50
Exchange System
The Harappans had established an extensive network of inter-regional trade inside and outside the Indian sub-
continent. However we do not know what were the actual mechanisms of exchange between the Harappans and the
non-Harappans. Such a large area of interaction would inevitably involve communities having divergent life styles. In
those times large areas of the country were inhabited by hunter-gatherers. Some other areas were occupied by
pastoral nomads. Still others were just beginning cultivation. Compared to them Harappans represented an advanced
stage of civilization. to exploit some mineral sources from the regions inhabited by the hunter-gatherers or some
other communities, In some cases the Harappans established their settlements in those areas.

But this would not be feasible in every case. Probably these non-Harappan communities would be given items which
they considered valuable. In such cases the exchange might not have been a regular affair. Rather it would be
determined by. seasonal migrations and gatherings of these communities. The Harappans would send their
merchants to the spots where such seasonal gatherings took place. The pastoral nomads too could have brought
goods from distant regions, in course of their migrations. These kinds of exchange activities are known from modem
examples in India. However, we know very little about the Harappan exchange system.

The Harappans had made distinct attempts at regulating tradp and exchange amongst themselves. Even the far flung
Harappan sites have yielded uniform systems of weights and measures. The weights followed a binary system in the
lower denominations: 1,2,4,8, to 64, then going to 160 and then in decimal multiples of 16, 320, 640, 1600, 3200 etc.
Made of chert, limestone, steatite, etc. they are,generally cubical in shape. The measures of length were based upon
a unit of foot of 37.6 cm and a unit of cubit of about 51.8 to 53.6 cms. Such uniform system pf&eights and measures
indicates an attempt by the central authorities to regulate exchange among the Harappans themselves and possibly
with the non-Harappans too.

Seals and sealings have been discovered in large numbers in the Harappan settlements. Seals and sealings are marks
of ownership meant to guarantee the quality of the product being sent to faraway lands. That they were used for
trade is confirmed by the fact that many of the sealings bear impressions of cords and matting behind them. This
indicates that the sealings bearing these impressions were originally stuck to bales of merchandise. At Lothal may
sealings were discovered lying among the ashes in the ventilation shafts of warehouses. They must have been
discarded and thrown away after the imported goods had been unpacked. The seals carried intaglio designs of various
animals and a writing which has not been deciphered as yet. However, their use in long distance exchange seems
certain.

Location of harappan sites based on agriculture and trade

Some scholars are of the opinion that Harappa was located at a point which separated the zone of agricultural
settlements to its south and a zone of pastoral nomads to its north-west. This way Harappa could exploit the
resources of both the neighbouring communities. It has also been suggested that although Harappa did not have any
advantage in terms of food production it grew into a large city because of its strategic location as a trading settlement.
If we place Harappa in the centre and draw a circle around it covering an area of about 300 km.

 Harappans would have access to the Hindukush and North-West Frontier. This meant that within a distance
covered by about ten days of travelling Harappans had access to such precious stones as Turquoise and lapis
lazuli which were brought through these routes.
 They could get mineral salt range
 Tin and Copper were accessible to them from Rajasthan
 Probably, they could also exploit the sources of amethyst and gold in Kashmir
 This three hundred km. circle would give them access to the point where all the five rivers of Punjab joined
into a single stream. This means that the Harappans could control the river transport of all the five rivers of
Punjab. River transportation was far easier in those times when concrete roads did not exist.
 This could provide them access to timber from the mountains zones of Kashmir.

51
The settlements at Mohenjodaro and Lothal also had their own logic in terms of location. Some scholars believe that
the apparently religious nature of large structures in Mohenjodaro might indicate that it was a ritual centre. Whether
it was a ritual centre or not, the rich people here were using gold, silver and all kinds of precious articles which were
not locally available. Mohenjodaro was closer to the sea compared to Harappa. This would give them easier access
to the Persian gulf and Mesopotayia which dere probably the chief suppliers of silver. Similarly, Lothal was drawing
resources from Southern Rajasthan and Deccan. They probably helped the Harappans procure gold 'from Karnataka,
where contemporary neolithic sites have been discovered near the gold mides.

The location of villages could be primarily determined by the availability of fertile soil and imgation facilities. The
location of towns will be determined by such additional factors as their I proximity to mining districts or trade routes.

Sometimes the factor of trade became so important that towns were established in inhospitable plains where
agricultural yields were very poor. For example, Sutkagen-Dor on the Makran Coast was one such site. It is located in
an inhospitable area and its prime activity was a trading post belween the Harappans and the Mesopotamians

The functions performed in other cities of the Harappan civilization :

 Balakot on the coast of Baluchistan and Chanhu-daro in Sind were centres for shell-working and bangle
making.
 Lothal and Chanhu-daro were producing beads of carnelian, agate etc.
 Some unfinished beads of lapis lazuli in Chanhu-daro might indicate that the Harappans imported precious
stones from faraway places and then worked them before selling them.
 Mohenjodaro has yielded evidence for the presence of a large number of craft specialists like, stone
workers, potters, copper and bronze workers, brick-makers, seal-cutters and bead-makers, etc.

Harappan Political System

At the top of the pyramid of the Harappan society were three invisible categories of people-the administrators, the
traders and the priests. Their presence can be presumed on the basis of an understanding of the problems oi
organisation. The rise of Civilization is associated with the emergence of a centralized decision-making system
called the State. In the Harappan civilization we can perceive the presence of a decision-making authority for
running the municipal system:

 The construction and maintenance of 'elaborate drainage system and streets would require a municipal
authority in the cities.
 Similarly, the granaries indicate the presence of an authority which would collect food grains from the
surrounding hinterland and redistribute it among the citizens.
 As pointed out earlier, the tools, weapons, bricks etc. show a remarkable uniformity of design. Some of the
tools and weapons seem to have been mass-produced in one place and then distributed to various cities and
settlements. The organisation of production and distribution of these objects over an area covering
thousands of kms. would give tremendous power to those who decided how much to produce and where to
send the products. If these people were to stop the supply of goods to a particular town, that town would
be starved of tools and implements.
 The sheer range and volume of products consumed by the residents of the larger cities indicate that some
kind of a ruling class resided in them. Many of the objects were rarities brought from faraway lands. The
possession of such precious stones or metals would give immense prestige to owners vis-a-vis the rest of the
population.
 Similarly, the larger size of the cities did not simply indicate that a larger number of people lived there but
also the fact that they contained many monumental structures like temples, palaces etc. The people who
lived in these structures exercised political or economic or religious authority. No wonder, the seals which
are considered marks of authority of traders, priests or administrators are found in largest numbers in
Mohenjodaro where the largest number of monumental structures have also been found.

52
However, it is not that that Mohenjodaro functioned may have functioned as the Capital of the Harappan Civilization.
It is possible that the Harappan Civilization consisted of two or even five independent political units. But the city had
emerged as the Centre of politico-economic power. We do not know who the rulers, of the Harappans were. They
may have been kings, priests or traders. However, we know that in many pre-modern societies the economic,
religious and administrative spheres are not clearly demarcated. This means that the same person could be the head
priest, king and the wealthiest merchant. But all these evidences indicate the presence of a ruling authority. What
was the form of this authority is not clear to us yet.

Many scholars have observed that the elements of warfare, conflict, and force in the Harappan civilization seem weak
compared to contemporary Mesopotamia and Egypt. Weapons are not a dominant feature of the artefacts found at
Harappan sites. There are few depictions of conflict between people in the narrative reliefs on terracotta and faience
tablets. However, fortifications, especially the imposing ones at sites such as Dholavira, cannot be overlooked. It is
indeed possible that the element of force in the Harappan culture has been underestimated. Force and conflict could
not have been completely absent in such a large area over such a long period of time. That the Harappan civilization
lasted for some 700 years and its artefacts, traditions, and symbols seem to have continued more or less unchanged
through this long period, suggests a strong element of political stability. There must have been groups of rulers in
the various cities. Just who they were and how they were related to each other remains a mystery. These groups
would have been responsible for the maintenance of the city facilities—walls, roads, drains, public buildings, etc.
Some of the seals may bear names, titles, and symbols of these elites and could throw important light on the
Harappan rulers, if the writing could be read. The debate on nature of Harappan political system has focused largely
on whether or not a state existed and if so, what sort of state it was. Was it a centralized empire, a merchant oligarchy
or a network of city states is yet to be researched?

Harappan Political System

One of the earliest hypotheses regarding the Harappan political structure was put forward by Stuart Piggott and was
supported to some extent by Mortimer Wheeler (for details of the various theories, see Jacobson, 1986). Piggott
suggested that the Harappan state was a highly centralized empire ruled by autocratic priest-kings from the twin
capitals of Mohenjodaro and Harappa. This view was based on a number of features, including the level of uniformity
in material traits, the use of a common script, and standardized weights and measures. Mohenjodaro and Harappa
seemed to clearly stand out in the midst of the other settlements. Urban planning and monumental public works
implied the mobilization of a specialized labour force. The ‘granaries’ at Mohenjodaro and Harappa fitted in with a
view of the Harappan rulers as exercising a high level of control over everything, even maintaining buffer stocks of
grain to tide over times of food scarcity. The apparent lack of internecine warfare between the settlements suggested
that they were united under a single rule.

This view of the Harappan state soon came in for criticism. Walter A. Fairservis (1967) argued that the Harappans
did not have an empire, not even a state. He pointed to the absence of evidence of priest-kings, slaves, standing
armies, or court officials. According to him, Mohenjodaro was a ceremonial centre, not an administrative one. He
argued that the sort of control reflected in the Harappan civilization could have been exercised by an elaborate
village administration. Later, Fairservis modified his views to some extent and agreed that there may have been
some element of centralized control and a class structure. But he still maintained that force did not play a significant
role and that interdependence, religion, and tradition were responsible for regulating social behaviour.

Another view of the Harappan political system came from S. C. Malik (1968), who argued that the lack of imposing
monuments and supreme gods goes against the idea of a strong, centralized state. The Harappan polity, according
to Malik, is an example of what Elman Service described as the chiefdom stage, transitional between a kinship society
and civil state society.

In ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt, rulers are portrayed extensively in stone reliefs and sculptures; their palaces,
tombs, and temples further proclaim their power. The Harappan case is strikingly different. The stone bust of a
male figure found at Mohenjodaro has been given the label ‘priest king’. The figure is that of a man with a close-

53
cropped beard, half-closed eyes, and a fillet with an encrusted diadem around his head. An armlet with a similar but
smaller ornament is tied around his right arm. A robe decorated with a trefoil design passes over his left shoulder
and under his right arm. However, whether he represents a priest or king or both is far from certain. The same is the
case with a large damaged seated figure found at Dholavira. While large houses have been found at Harappan sites,
none of them matches our idea of a palace, although it is possible that certain buildings on the citadels of cities such
as Mohenjo-daro were the functional equivalent of palaces.

Walter A. Fairservis (1967) argued that the Harappans did not have an empire, not even a state. He pointed to the
absence of evidence of priest-kings, slaves, standing armies, or court officials. According to him, Mohenjodaro was
a ceremonial centre, not an administrative one. He argued that the sort of control reflected in the Harappan
civilization could have been exercised by an elaborate village administration. Later, Fairservis modified his views to
some extent and agreed that there may have been some element of centralized control and a class structure. But he
still maintained that force did not play a significant role and that interdependence, religion, and tradition were
responsible for regulating social behaviour.

Jacobson (1986) suggests that the Harappan state was an early state with the following characteristics: a sovereign
or sovereigns closely linked to a mythical character seen as benevolent and; a military component lacking the
dominance characteristic of more mature states; and weakly developed economic stratification. According to
Possehl (2003: 57), Harappan society was highly disciplined and had a strong corporate element; the Harappans
may have been ruled by councils rather than kings. Kenoyer (1998: 100) suggests that the Harappan state must
have comprised many competing classes of urban elites, such as merchants, ritual specialists, and those who
controlled resources such as land and livestock, with different levels and spheres of control.

Kenoyer also suggests that the animals on the square stamp seals represent totemic symbols standing for a specific
clan, perhaps along with some additional information. At least 10 clans or communities are represented by these
animals—the unicorn, humped bull, elephant, water buffalo, rhinoceros, humpless bull with short horns, goat,
antelope, crocodile, and hare. The unicorn motif is found at almost all sites where the seals have been found,
including in Mesopotamia. At Mohenjodaro, over 60 per cent of the seals have this motif, while it occurs on about
46 per cent of the seals at Harappa. The large number of unicorn seals at major cities led Ratnagar to suggest that
the unicorn was the symbol of the Harappan ruling elite. Kenoyer, on the other hand, argues that the ‘unicorn clan’
probably represented the aristocracy or merchants who had an important executive role in the government. It is
in fact the less frequent motifs such as the bull, elephant, rhinoceros, and tiger that may have been symbols of the
most powerful rulers at the apex of the Harappan power structure.

The two trends in recent writings are, paradoxically, a return to the idea of a Harappan empire and a complete
rejection of such an idea. Ratnagar (1991) analysed the archaeological evidence and used cross-cultural parallels
with other early state societies to conclude that we do seem to be looking at a Harappan empire. The strongest
critique of such a view has come from Jim Shaffer (1982). Shaffer questions the level of homogeneity in the
Harappan civilization and suggests that it could have been the result of a well-developed network of internal trade
rather than a strong, centralized government. He underlines the absence of huge royal tombs, palaces, and temples,
and the absence of marked social differentiation of the kind visible in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. At Harappan
sites, artefacts of various types are distributed throughout the occupational levels rather than clustered in elite
residences or structures. All the typical Harappan artefacts (including ornaments of precious metals and semi-
precious stones, seals and sealings, and the script) occur in small village settlements. This suggests an equality of
access to wealth or the symbols of wealth among village and city dwellers, which goes against the idea of a centralized
empire.

Conclusion

The fact that some form of state structure did exist in the Harappan civilization cannot be denied. The absence of
marked social or economic differences and tombs or palaces of the Egyptian or Mesopotamian kind does not mean
that a state did not exist, rather that it was a different sort of state. The communications system, standardization in

54
artefacts, site specialization, mobilization of labour for public works, the establishment of the trading outpost of
Shortughai—all these things indicate a level of economic complexity and the existence of a state. So does the level
of cultural homogeneity and the use of a common system of writing across areas in which many different languages
and dialects must have been spoken. The levels of social differentiation indicate some degree of class stratification.
Some of the buildings on the citadel complex seem to have had an administrative function. Centralized control is
apparent in the Harappan civilization. The questions are: How much and by whom?

Harappan Script
Among the biggest mysteries about the Harappan civilization are the language (or languages) the Harappans spoke
and their writing system. It is likely that people living in various parts of the Harappan culture zone spoke different
languages and dialects. The writing on the seals was probably in the language of the ruling elite. Some scholars
have suggested that this language belonged to the Dravidian family of languages, while others have argued in
favour of the Indo-Aryan family. However, there is so far no consensus on the affiliation of the Harappan language
or on the decipherment of the script.

A total of about 3,700 inscribed objects have been found at Harappan sites (for details, see Mahadevan, 1977,
Parpola, 1994). Most of the writing appears on seals and sealings (seal impressions), some on copper tablets,
copper/bronze implements, pottery, and other miscellaneous objects. About 50 per cent of the inscribed objects
have been found at Mohenjodaro, and the two sites of Mohenjodaro and Harappa together account for about 87 per
cent of all inscribed material. Most of the inscriptions are very short, with an average of five signs. The longest one
has 26 signs. The script seems to have emerged in a fully evolved state and does not show any significant changes
over time. This conclusion may, however, be the result of the inadequacies of earlier excavations, which did not
record the stratigraphic context of all objects, making it difficult to sort out earlier and later samples of writing.

There are 400–450 basic signs and the script is logo-syllabic—i.e., each symbol stood for a word or syllable. It was
generally written and meant to be read from right to left (this is reversed on the seals). This is evident from that
fact that in inscriptions, the letters are cramped on the left side, where space had clearly run out, and from
overlapping letters scratched onto pottery. There are a few instances, however, of writing from left to right. Longer
inscriptions that consisted of more than one line were sometimes written in the boustrophedon style—with
consecutive lines starting in opposite directions.

Writing appears very frequently on the seals. Some of these were impressed onto small moist clay tablets known as
sealings, probably by merchants to authenticate their bales of merchandise. The evidence of textile impressions on
some sealings supports this interpretation. However, more seals than sealings have been found, and the seals are
generally worn at the edges and not inside. This suggests that some of the so-called seals may have had other
functions. They may have been tokens used in the buying and selling of goods. They may also have been worn as
amulets or used as identification markers (like modern identity cards) by well-to-do people like landowners,
merchants, priests, artisans, and rulers. Those no longer in use must have been intentionally broken so that they
could not be misused by anybody. Tablets with narrative scenes may have had a religious or ritualistic function.
The so-called ‘seals’ were thus used for multiple purposes.

Writing also appears on miniature tablets made of steatite, terracotta, and faience. Since these objects were not
used to make impressions, unlike the seals, the writing on them was not reversed. Many of the objects were
discovered at Harappa and other large cities. Rectangular copper tablets with writing and animal motifs were found
at Mohenjodaro, while a few tablets with raised writing were found at Harappa. The limited number of places where
they occur suggests a restricted use. Interestingly, there are many duplicates of both the miniature and copper
tablets.

The evidence of writing on pottery suggests a wider use in craft production and economic transactions. Harappan
potters sometimes inscribed letters onto pots before firing. At other times, inscriptions were made on pots after they
were fired (this is termed ‘graffiti’). Even if the potters who made the marks on their pots were themselves illiterate,
they must have been able to recognize the symbols. Pointed goblets sometimes have seal impressions, which may
have indicated the name or status of the person for whom the pot was made.
55
Items like copper and bronze tools, stoneware bangles, bone pins, and gold jewellery were sometimes inscribed. A
copper vessel found at Mohenjodaro contained a large number of gold objects. These included four ornaments with
tiny inscriptions, all apparently written by the same hand, probably giving the name of the owner. Some of the writing
inscribed or painted on personal possessions such as bangles, tools, beads, and bone rods may have had some sort
of magico-religious or ritualistic significance.

The Dholavira ‘signboard’ may or may not indicate a high level of urban literacy, but it does indicate a civic use of
writing. It is likely that a very small proportion of Harappan written material survives, and that people wrote on
perishable material as well. The evidence of a common script all over the vast Harappan culture zone shows a high
level of cultural integration. The virtual disappearance of the script by c. 1700 BCE suggests both a close connection
of writing with city life and the lack of sufficient downward percolation of writing.

One noticeable thing about their script is that it did not change all through the life of the Harappan Civilization. All
the other ancient scripts have showed distinct changes over a period of time. This indicates that the Harappan script
was not in common use. Perhaps a very small section of privileged scribes had a monopoly over the written word.
About what they learnt and how they learnt-we have no answers. Whether they had some kind of school for teaching
as was the case in contemporary. Mesopotamia is not known to us

Harappan seals and sealings as a source of history

Seal making was another important Harappan craft. Most of the seals are square or rectangular. The average size of
the square seals is about 2.54 cm, but there are larger ones, a little over 6.35 cm. Some have a perforated boss at the
back for handling and suspension. A few cylindrical and round seals have also been found. Most of the seals are made
of steatite, but there are a few silvers, faience, and calcite ones as well.

The sealings with the narrative scenes may have had religious or ritualistic function. A seal showing a nude women,
head downwards, with her legs apart and a plant issuing from her vagina is often intrepreted as a prototype of
Shakambari, the Earth Mother. Harappans also worshipped a male god represented on a steatite seal discovered at
Mohenjodaro, usually referred to as the Pashupati seal. A male figure with a buffalo horn head-dress seated on a
dais with his legs bent double under him, heels together, toes pointed down. He is flanked by four animals- an
elephant, rhinoceros, water buffalo, and a tiger. Beneath the dais are two antelopes or ibexes. There exists a striking
resemblance between this deity and the Shiva of later Hindu mythology. The Harappan seals and sealings depict a
number of trees, plants, and animals, some of which may have cultic significance. The Pipal tree appears often and
may have been venerated. Some of the animals depicted on the seals and sealings like the humped and humpless
bull, snake, elephant, rhinoceros, antelope, gharial, and tiger- may have had cultic significance. The composite
animals (tiger-human, bull-elephant, ram-bull-elephant, etc) and the “unicorn” depicted on seals and sealings may
also have had some sort of religious or mythological significance.

A Kalibangan cylinder seal shows a woman flanked by two men who hold her with one hand and raise swords over
her head with the other, this may represent the prevalence of human sacrifice. Most of the writings appear on the
seals and sealings. The writings on the seals was probably the language of the ruling elite. Most of the inscriptions
are very short, with an average of five signs. Seals provide information about the dresses, ornaments, hair-styles of
people. Seals also exhibit skill of artists and sculptors. Both river boats and seafaring boats are depicted on the seals.
56
They may have been used for both internal and external trade. A number of Harappan seals have been found in
Central Asia, Persian Gulf, Mesopotamian sites which help in reconstruction of the external trade networks of the
Harappans- A silver seal, a rectangular harappan seal bearing the Harappan script at the south Turkeminstan. The
sites in Iran have yielded seals. A round seal with a short-horned bull motif and Harappan writing found in the
Persian gulf. A flat, round seal with the Harappan script also found in the Persian gulf. Seals with Harappan motifs
and writings on the island of Bahrain. Harappan or harappan-related seals at Mesopotamian sites. Certain motifs
such as the bull on the Mesopotamian seals have been cited as reflecting Harappan influence. Cylinder seals with
Harappan-motifs suggest interaction between merchants of these two areas. Some of the writings were impressed
onto small moist clay tablets known as sealings, probably by merchants to authenticate their bales of merchandise.
The evidence of textile impressions on some sealings support this interpretation.

Some of the seals may have been tokens used in the buying and selling of goods. They may also have been worn as
amulets or used as identification markers by the well-to-do people like landowners, merchants, priests, artisans and
rulers. Some of the seals may bear names, titles, and symbols of the ruling elites and could throw important light on
the Harappan rulers, if the writing could be read. Kenoyer also suggests that the animals on the square stamp seals
represent totemic symbols standing for a specific clan, perhaps along with some additional information. At least
10 clans or communities are represented by these animals—the unicorn, humped bull, elephant, water buffalo,
rhinoceros, humpless bull with short horns, goat, antelope, crocodile, and hare. The unicorn motif is found at almost
all sites where the seals have been found, including in Mesopotamia. According to Ratnagar, the large number of
unicorn seals at major cities suggest that the unicorn was the symbol of the Harappan ruling elite. Kenoyer, on the
other hand, argues that the “unicorn clan” probably represented the aristocracy or merchants who had an
important executive role in the government. It is in fact the less frequent motifs such as the bull, elephant,
rhinoceros, and tiger that may have been symbols of the most powerful rulers at the apex of the Harappan power
structure. The seals and sealings can be extremely significant in the reconstruction of socio-economic and religious
life of the Harappan people if they are used along with the other literary and archaeological evidences.

Decline and survival of Indus Valley Civilisation

At some point of time, things started going wrong in the Harappan cities. Decline had set in at Mohenjodaro by 2200
BCE and the settlement had come to an end by 2000 BCE. In some places, the civilization continued till 1800 BCE.
Apart from the dates, the pace of decline also varied. Mohenjodaro and Dholavira give a picture of gradual decline,
while at Kalibangan and Banawali, city life ended all of a sudden (see Lahiri, 2000 for the various theories regarding
Harappan decline)

In the absence of any written material or historical evidence, scholars have made various speculations regarding the
causes for the decline of the Harappan culture. Cities like Mohenjo-Daro, Harappa and Kalibangan saw a gradual
decline in urban planning. Later on some of the settlements like Mohenjo-Daro, Harappa etc. were abandoned.
However, in most other sites people continued to live. Some important features associated with the Harappan
civilization, writing, uniform weights, pottery and architectural style disappeared of. Wheeler believed that the Indus
civilization was destroyed by the Aryan invaders. It has been pointed out that in the late phases of Mohenjo-Daro
there are evidences of a massacre. However, it has been pointed out that Mohenjo-Daro was abandoned by about
1800 B.C., Aryans on the other hand are said to have come to India around 1500 B.C. Thus, this theory of sudden
death cannot explain the decline. The gradual death theory is supported by several scholars.

A detailed study of the architectures of Mohenjodaro shows that many entry points to the 'Great Bath' were blocked.
Sometimes later the 'Great Bath' and the 'Granary' fell into total disuse. At the same time the late levels (i.e. later
habitations) at Mohenjodaro showed a distinct reduction in the-number of sculptures, figurines, beads, bangles and
inlay works. Towards the end, the city of Mohenjodaro shrank to a small settlement of three hectares from the
original .eighty-five hectares. Before its abandonment Harappa seems to have witnessed the arrival of a group of
people about whom we know through their burial practices.

Before its abandonment Harappa seems to have witnessed the amval of a group of people about whom we know
through their burial practices. They were using a pottery which was different from those of the Harappans. Their
57
culture is known as the 'Cemetery H' culture. Processes of decline were in evidence also in places like Kalibangan
and Chanhu-daro. We find that buildings associated with power and ideology were decaying apd goods related to
displays of prestige and splendour were becoming increasingly scarce. Later on, cities like Harappa and Mohenjodaro
were abandoned altogether.

A study of the settlement pattern of the Harappan and Late Harappan sites in the Bahawalpur area also indicates
a trend of decay. Along the banks of the Hakra river the number of settlements came down to 50 in the Late Harappan
period from 174 in the Mature Harappan period. What seems likely is that in the last two-three hundred years of
their life, the settlements in the core region of the Harappan civilization were declining. The population seems to
have either perished or moved away to other areas. Whereas the number of sites in the triangle of Harappa,
Bahawalpur and Mohenjodaro declined, the number of settlements in the outlying areas of Gujarat, East Punjab,
Haryana and upper Doab increased. This indicates a phenomenal increase in the number of people in these areas.
This sudden increase in the population of those regions can be explained by the emigration of people from the
core regions of Harappa.

In the outlying regions of thc Harappan civilization, i.e. the areas of Gujarat, Rajasthan and punjab; people continue
to live. But life had changed for them. Some of the important features associated with the Harappan civilization-
writing, uniform weights, Harappan pottery and architectural style had disappeared. The abandonment of the cities
of the Indus is roughly dated to about 1800 B.C. This date is supported by the fact that the Mesopotamian literature
stops referring to Meluhha by the end of 1900 B.C. However, even now the chronology of the end of Hrriappan cities
remains tentative. We do not as yet know whether the major settlements were abandoned at one and the same or
at different periods. What is certain, however, is the fact the abandonment of the major cities and the de-
urbanisation of other settlements indicates the decline of the Harappan civilization.

Theories Of Sudden Decline

Scholars have given different answers to the question as to why did the civilization end? Some scholars, believing in
a dramatic collapse of the civilization, have looked for evidences of a calamity of catastrophic proportions, which
wiped out the urban communities. Some of the more plausible theories for the decline of the Harappan civilization
are:

a) that it was destroyed by massive floods

b) that the decline took place because of the shift in the course of rivers and the gradual drying up of the
Ghgggar-Hakra river system
c) that barbarian invaders destroyed the cities
d) that the growing demands of the centres disturbed the ecology of the region and the area could not
support them anymore.

Theory of Aryan invasions

The idea that the civilization was destroyed by Aryan invaders was first put forward by Ramaprasad Chanda (1926)—
he later changed his mind—and was elaborated on by Mortimer Wheeler (1947). Wheeler believed that the
Harappan civilization was destroyyd by the Aryan invaders. It has been pointed out that in the late phases of
occupation at Mohenjodaro there are evidences of a massacre. Human skeletons have been found lying on the
streets.

Wheeler argued that references in the Rig Veda to various kinds of forts, attacks on walled cities, and the epithet
puramdara (fort destroyer) given to the god Indra must have a historical basis and reflect an Aryan invasion of the
Harappan cities. The Rig Veda time and again refers to the fortresses of the Dasas and Dasyus. He identified a place
called Hariyupiya in the Rig Veda with Harappa. Wheeler also pointed to certain skeletal remains found at
Mohenjodaro as proof of the Aryan massacre. The Rig Veda time and again refers to the fortresses of the Dasas and
Dasyus. The geographical area of the habitation of the Rig Vedic Aryans included the Punjab and the Ghaggar-Hakra
region. Since there are no remains of other cultural groups having forts in this area in this historical phase, Wheeler
58
believed that it was the Harappan cities that were being described in the Rig Veda. In fact, the Rig Veda mentions a
place called Hariyupiya. This place was located on the bank of the river Ravi. The Aryans fought a battle here. The
name of the place sounds very similar to that of Harappa. These evidences led Wheeler to conclude that it was the
Aryan invaders who destroyed the cities of Harappa.

Wheeler subsequently modified his hypothesis, to the extent that he acknowledged that other factors such as floods,
decline in trade, and over-utilization of natural resources may have had a role to play. But he insisted that the ultimate
blow was given by an Aryan invasion. The Cemetery-H culture, he suggested, represented the culture of the Aryan
invaders.

Criticism
Many scholars such as P. V. Kane (1955), George Dales (1964), and B. B. Lal (1997) have refuted the invasion theory.
The evidence from the Rig Veda, a religious text of uncertain date, is far from conclusive. Moreover, if there had been
an invasion, it should have left some traces in the archaeological record. There is, in fact, no evidence of any kind of
military assault or conflict at any Harappan site. The 37 groups of skeletal remains at Mohenjodaro do not belong to
the same cultural phase and, therefore, cannot be connected to a single event. Not one of these skeletons was found
on the citadel mound, where we would have expected a major battle to have taken place. The fact that there is a
sterile layer between the mature Harappan and Cemetery-H levels goes against Wheeler’s hypothesis that the
latter represents the settlement of the Aryan invaders. Moreover, K. A. R. Kennedy’s analysis (1997) of the skeletal
remains does not show any discontinuity in the skeletal record in the north-west at this point of time, making it
clear that there was no major influx of new settlers with a different physiognomy. The Harappan civilization was
not destroyed by an Indo-Aryan invasion.

Scholars point out that the provisional date for the decline of the Harappan civilization is believed to be 1800 B.C.
The Aryans on the other hand are believed to have arrived here not earlier than a period around 1500 B.C. At the
present state of knowledge, it is difficult to revise either of the dates and so, the Harappans and the Aryans are
unlikely to have met each other. Also, neither Mohenjodaro nor Harappa yield any other evidence of a military
assault. The evidence of the human bodies lying exposed in the streets is important. This, however, could have been
caused by raids by bandits from the surrounding hilly tracts. In any case, the big cities were already in a state of
decay. This cannot be explained by the invasion hypothesis.

Natural disaster

Natural disasters, not necessarily sudden or single, did have a role to play. Several layers of silt at Mohenjodaro give
evidence of the city being affected by repeated episodes of Indus floods.

It appears from the records of the principal excavators that in Mohenjodaro various periods of occupation were
separated by evidences of deep flooding. This can be inferred from the fact that the houses and streets of
Mohenjodaro were covered with silty clay and collapsed building material many times in its long history. This silty
clay seems to have been left by the flood waters which had submerged the streets and houses. The people of
Mohenjodaro again built up houses and streets on top of the debris of the previous buildings, after the floods had
receded. This kind of catastrophic flooding and rebuilding on top of the debris seems to have happened at least
thrice.

Borings in the occupation deposit indicated successive phases of occupation levels spanning a vertical distances of
70 feet which is equivalent to the height of a seven storied building. Many occupation deposits were divided by silt
deposits. Thick silt deposits have been noticed at points as high as 80 feet above the present day ground level. Thus,
many scholars believe that the evidences are indicative of abnormal floods in Mohenjodaro. These floods led to the
temporary desertion and reoccupation of the city throughout its history.

That these floods were catastrophic is shown by silt deposits 80 feet above the present ground level, meaning that
the flood waters rose to such height in this area. The Harappans at Mohenjodaro tired themselves out, trying to out

59
top the recurring floods. A stage came when the impoverished Harappans could not take it any more and they simply
abandoned the settlement.

M. R. Sahni (1956), and later Robert L. Raikes (1964) and George F. Dales (1966), argued that the floods at
Mohenjodaro were the result of tectonic movements. Dales suggested that these may have occurred at a place called
Sehwan, about 90 miles downstream from Mohenjodaro, where there is evidence of rock faulting. The theory is that
tectonic movements led to the creation of a gigantic natural dam that prevented the Indus from flowing towards the
sea, turning the area around Mohenjodaro into a huge lake. The theory of several such episodes of flooding induced
by tectonic movements is not, however, convincing. Neither is H. T. Lambrick’s hypothesis (1967), based on what he
himself describes as purely circumstantial evidence, that the Indus changed its course, moving some 30 miles
eastwards, starving Mohenjodaro and its inhabitants of water.

It has been pointed out that sites like Sutkagedor and Sutka-koh on the Makran Coast and Balakot near Karachi
were seaports of the Harappans. However, at present, they are located far away from the sea-coast. This has
happened because of the upliftment of the land on the sea-coast possibly caused by violent tectonic uplifts. Some
scholars believe that these tectonic uplifts took place somewhere in the second millennium B.C. These violent
earthquakes, damming rivers and burning the towns destroyed the Harappan civilization. This led to the disruption
of the commercial life based on river and coastal communication.

Criticism
This grand theory.of the catastrophic fall of the Harappan civilization is not accepted . by many scholars. H.T. Lambrick
points out that the idea that a river would be dammed in. such a manner even by tectonic uplifts is incorrect due to
two reasons: i) Even if an earthquake artificially raised a bund down stream, the large volume of water from the Indus
would easily breach it. In recent times in Sind, a swell of ground raised by the earthquake of 1819 was breached by
the first flood it faced from one of the smaller streams of the Indus called Nara. ii) Silt deposition would parallel the
rising sueace of water in the hypothetical lake. It wouldtake place along the bottom of the former course of the river.
Thus, the silt of Mohenjodaro might not be the deposition of a flood. Another criticism of this theory is that it fails to
explain the decline of the settlements outside the Indus system.

Shifting away of the Indus

Lambrick has offered his own explanation for the decline. He believes that changes in the course of the river Indus
could be the cause of the destruction of Mohenjodaro. The Indus is an unstable river system which keeps shifting its
bed. Apparently, the river Indus shifted about thirty miles away from Mohenjodaro. The people of the city and the
surrounding food production villages deserted the area because they were starved of water. This kind of thing
happened many times in the history of Mohenjodaro. The silt observed in the city is actually the product of wind
action blowing in lots of sand and silt. This, combined with disintegrating mud, mud brick and baked brick structures,
produced what has been mistaken for silt produced by floods.

Criticism:
This theory too cannot explain the decline of the Harappan civilization in totality. At best, it can explain the desertion
of Mohenjodaro. And if the people of Mohenjodaro were familiar with tho& kinds of shifts in the river course why
could not they themselves shift to some new settlement and establish another city like Mohenjodaro? - Obviously, it
appears that some other factors were at work.

Ecological imbalance

Scholars like Fairservis tried to explain the decay of the Harappan civilization in terms of the problems of ecology. He
computed the population of the Harappan cities and worked out the food requirements of the townsmen. He also
computed that the villagers in these areas consume about 80% of their produce leaving about 20°h for the market.
If similar patterns of agriculture existed in the past, a city like Mohenjodaro, having a population of about 35
thousand, would require very large number of villages producing food. According to Fairservis's calculation the
delicate eoological balance of these semi-arid areas was being disturbed because the human and cattle population
60
in these areas was fast depleting the scanty forests, food and fuel resources. The combined needs of the Harappan
townsmen, peasants and pastoralists exceeded the limited production capacities of these areas. Thus, a growing
population of men and animals confronted by scanty resources wore out the landscape.

With the forests and grass cover gradually disappearing, there were more floods and droughts. This depletion of the
subsistence base caused strain on the entire economy of the civilization. There seems to have been a gradual
movement away to areas which offered better subsistence possibilities. That is why the Harappan communities
moved towards Gujarat and the eastern areas, away from the Indus.

Of all the theories discussed so far Fairservis's theory seems to be the most plausible one. Probably the gradual
deterioration in the town planning and the living standards was a reflection of the depleting subsistence base of the
Harappans. This process of decline was completed by the raids and attacks of the surrounding communities.

Criticism
However, the theory of environmental disaster also has some problems. The enduring fertility of soils of the Indian
sub-continent over the subsequent millennia disproves the hypothesis of soil exhaustion in this area. Also, the
computation of the needs of the Harappan population is based on scanty information and a lot more information
would be needed to make a calculation of the subsistence needs of the Harappans.

The emergence of the Harappan civilization involved a delicate balance of relations between cities, towns and
villages, ruler$, peasants and nomads. It also means a fragile but important relationship with the communities of the
neighbouring areas who were in possession of minerals crucial for trade. Similarly, it meant maintenance of contact
with the contemporary civilizations and cultures. Apart from this, we have to take into account the ecological factor
of relationship with nature. Any breakdown ip these ch'ains of relationships could lead to the depline of the cities

Climate change

D.P. Agarwal and Sood have introduced a new theory for the decline of the Harappan civilization. They believe that
the Harappan civilization declined because of the increasing aridity in this area and the drying up of the river Ghaggar-
Hakra. Basing their conclusions on the studies conducted in the U.S.A., Australia and Rajasthan they have shown that
there was an increase in the arid conditions. by the middle of the second millennium B.C. In semi-arid regions like
those of the Harappa, even a minor reduction in moisture and water availability could spell disaster. It would affect
agricultural production which in turn would put the city economies under stress.

They have discussed the problem of the unstable river systems in western Rajasthan. As stated earlier the Ghaggar-
Hakra area represented one of the core regions of the Harappan civilization. The Ghaggar was a mighty stream
flowing through Punjab, Rajasthan and the inn of Kutch before debouching into the sea. Rivers Sutlej and Yamuna
used to be the tributaries of this river. Because of some tectonic disturbances, the Sutlej stream was captured by
the Indus river and the Yamuna shifted east to join the Ganges. This kind of change in the river regime, which left
the Ghaggar waterless, would have catastrophic implication for the towns located in this area. Apparently, the
ecological disturbances brought by the increased aridity and the shift in the drainage pattern led to the decline of
the Harappan civilization. M. R. Mughal’s (1997) study of settlements in this region shows a drastic reduction in the
number of sites as the river dried up.

Criticism:
Interesting though this theory is, it has some problems. The theory about the onset of arid conditions have not been
fully worked out and one needs more information. Similarly, the drying up of the Ghaggar has not been dated
properly as yet A sudden rise in the Arabian Sea coastline of west Pakistan could have caused floods and a rise in soil
salinity. Such an uplift along the coast and in the lower Indus valley could also have seriously disrupted the coastal
communications and trade of the Harappans.

Reference has already been made to the debate on the nature of the climate, especially rainfall, in protohistoric
times. On the basis of his study of pollen from Rajasthan lakes, Gurdip Singh (1971) suggests a connection between
the onset of a drier climate and the decline of the Harappan civilization. However, a study of the sediments of the
61
Lunkaransar lake indicates that the onset of drier conditions in this area may have happened well before the
emergence of the Harappan civilization. Whether climatic change played a role in the decline of the Harappan
civilization therefore remains unclear

Monsoon Link Theory

Shifting monsoon patterns linked to climate change likely caused the rise and fall of the ancient Indus Valley
Civilisation, according to a study by an Indian-origin scientist which analysed data from North India covering the past
5,700 years. The analysis by Nishant Malik from Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) in the US and already availabl
research presented by Ronojoy Adhikari, Liviu Giosan support this theory

According to this theory, around 4000 BCE there existed extreme monsoon climate which was not favourable for the
rise of civilization but with the weakening of the monsoon, the climate became favourable for the rise of the mighty
harappan civilization and with the further weakening of the monsoon, the climate became again unfavourable which
led to the decline of the civilization. The example of this further weakening is the disappearance of the Saraswati
river which was rainfed not Glacier-fed. This theory is based on the latest archaeological evidence and research and
tries to explain the decline of the Harappan civilization on the basis of the ecological degradation.

Climate change in form of the easterward migration of the monsoons led to the decline of the IVC. According to this
theory, the slow eastward migration of the monsoons across Asia initially allowed the civilization to develop. The
monsoon-supported farming led to large agricultural surpluses, which in turn supported the development of cities.
The IVC residents did not develop irrigation capabilities, relying mainly on the seasonal monsoons. As the monsoons
kept shifting eastward, the water supply for the agricultural activities dried up. The residents then migrated towards
the Ganges basin in the east, where they established smaller villages and isolated farms. The small surplus produced
in these small communities did not allow development of trade, and the cities died out.

IIT Kharagpur study

A recent study conducted by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur reveals that the decline of Harappan
city Dholavira was caused by drying up of river like Saraswati river and Meghalayan drought. ( Source – Economic
Times )

These researchers have for the first time connected the decline of Harappan city Dholavira to the disappearance of
a Himalayan snow-fed river which once flowed in the Rann of Kutch. They have been able to connect the dots
between the growth and decline of the Dholavira, located in the Rann with this river which resembles the Himalayan
river Saraswati.

Prolific mangroves grew around the Rann and distributaries of Indus or other palaeochannels dumped water in the
Rann near southern margin of Thar Desert. This is the first direct evidence of glacial fed rivers quite like the
supposedly mythological Saraswati, in the vicinity of Rann.

Dr. Ravi Bhushan and Navin Juyal from PRL, Ahmedabad dated the carbonates from human bangles, fish otolith and
molluscan shells by accelerator mass spectrometer and found that the site was occupied from pre-Harappan period
to ~3800 years before present i.e. Late Harappan period. The Dholavirans were probably the original inhabitants in
the region, had a fairly advanced level of culture even at its earliest stage. They built spectacular city and survived for
nearly 1700 years by adopting water conservation suggested the researchers.

Study of under-sea fossil evidence

Climate change was the primary factor that drove people of the Indus Valley Civilisation also known as Harappan
Civilisation away from the floodplains of the Indus, a new study has found. The study, conducted by the Woods Hole
Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) used under-sea fossil evidence, marine DNA which allowed researchers to pinpoint
that climate change, in the form of an increase in winter monsoon resulted in the migration of people – leading to
the decline of the ancient civilization.
62
Liviu Giosan, a geologist at WHOI, the lead author of the paper published in the journal Climate of the Past said that
beginning roughly around 2,500 BCE – a shift in temperature and weather patterns over the Indus Valley caused
summer monsoon rains to gradually dry up, which in turn made agriculture difficult or impossible near Harappan
cities. According to Giosan, while fickle summer monsoons made agriculture difficult along the Indus, in the foothills,
moisture and rain would come more routinely

The evidence of the shift in seasonal rainfall – and the resultant switch away from the Indus floods to rains near the
foothills to irrigate crops – is hard to ascertain through soil samples. Which is why, Giosan and his team focused their
efforts on the sediments from the ocean floor of Pakistan’s coast. The seafloor near the mouth of the Indus is a very
low-oxygen environment, so whatever grows and dies in the water is very well preserved in the sediment. During
winter monsoons, strong winds would bring nutrients from the deeper ocean to the surface that fed a surge in plant
and animal life. On the other hand, weaker winds other times of year provide fewer nutrients, causing slightly less
productivity in the waters offshore. Based on this evidence, the team found that as winter monsoons became
stronger and summer monsoons became weaker. The later year of the Harappan civilization resulted in the move
away from cities to villages. While Giosan adds that they can’t say the civilization disappeared entirely due to climate,
at the same time, “it's very likely that the winter monsoon played a role,” Giosan says.

Decline in the lapis lazuli

Shereen Ratnagar (1981) has argued that the decline in the lapis lazuli trade with Mesopotamia was a factor in the
decline of the Harappan civilization. Whether this trade was particularly important for the Harappans is, however,
debatable; consequently, this could not have been a factor responsible for the decline. Archaeological evidence does
not give direct access to the possible social and political dimensions of the decline of the Harappan civilization. What
it does indicate very clearly is that the Harappan culture underwent a gradual process of de-urbanization. The mature
Harappan phase was followed by a post-urban phase, known as the late Harappan phase.

Late Harappa: The tradition survives

Scholars working on the Indus civilization no longer look for the causes of its decline. This is because of the fact that
the scholars who studied the Harappan civilization right up to the 1960s believed that the collapse of the civilization
was sudden. These scholars concentrated their work on the studies of cities, town planning and large structures. Such
problems as the relationship of the Harappan cities with the contemporary villages and the continuity of various
elements of the Harappan civilization were ignored. Thus, the debate about the causes of the decline of the Harappan
civilization became more and more abstract. It was towards the end of the sixties that scholars like Malik and
Possehl focused their attention on various aspects of continuity of the Harappan tradition. These studies have
yielded more exciting result than the debate about the causes for the decline of the Harappan civilization. It is true
that Harappa and Mohenjodaro were abandoned and the urban phase came to an end. However, if we take a
perspective covering the entire geographical spread of the Harappan civilization, quite a few things seem to continue
in the old style.

Archaeologically speaking some changes are observable- some of the Settlements were abandoned but most other
settlements remained in occupation. However, the tradition of uniform writing, seals, weights and pottery was
lost. The objects showing intensive interaction among the far-flung settlements were lost. In other words the
activities associated with city-centred economies were given up. Thus. the changes-that came about simply indicated
the end of the urban phase. Small villages and towns continued to exist and the archaeological finds from these sites
show many elements of the Harappan tradition.

In most of the sites in Sind it is difficult to observe any change in the pottery tradition. In fact in the areas of Gujarat,
Rajasthan and Haryana, vibrant agricultural communities emerged in large numbers in the succeeding period. Thus,
from a regional perspective, the period succeeding the urban phase can be treated as one of flourishing agricultural
villages which outnumber those of the urban phase. That is why scholars now discuss issues like cultural change,
regional migrations and modification in the system of settlement and subsistence. After all no one talks about the

63
end of the ancient Indian Civilization in early medieval India when most of the cities of theGangetic Valley declined.
Let us see what kinds of archaeological remains survive after end of the urban phase.

Sind

In Sind, i.e. at the Harappan towns Amri and Chanhudaro Jhukar, etc., people continued to live as of old. They were
still staying in brick houses but they gave up the planned lay out. 'They were using a slightly different pottery called
the Jhukar pottery. It was a buff-ware with red slip with paintings in black. Recent studies suggested that this pottery
evolved from the 'Mature Harappan' pottery and as such need not be considered something new. In Jhukar certain
distinctive metal objects. have been found which might be indicative of trade links with Iran or what is more likely-
the influx of a migrant population having Iranian or Central Asian influences. A shaft-hole, axes and copper pins with
looped or decorated heads have parallels in Iranian settlements. Circular stamp seals of stone or faience and a bronze
cosmetic jar are also indicative of contacts with the cultures to the west of the Indus.

The areas to the west of the Indus-Baluchistan and the Indo-Iranian border lands also show the presence of people
using copper stamp seals and copper shaft hole axes. Sites like Shahi Tump, Mundigak, Naushahro and Pirak indicate
movements of people and contacts with Iran. Unfortunately the dating of these settlements is still not clearly worked
out.

Indo Iranian Borderlands

The areas to the west of the Indus-Baluchistan and the Indo-Iranian border lands also show the presence of people
using copper stamp seals and copper shaft hole axes. Sites like Shahi Tump, Mundigak, Naushahro and Pirak indicate
movements of people and contacts with Iran. Unfortunately the dating of these settlements is still not clearly worked
out.

Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan

In the areas of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan several settlements have been reported where people continued to
live in the same old way after the decline of the cities. However, the Harappan influences on the pottery tradition
gradually declined and the local pottery traditions which were always present along with the Harappan pottery
pottery replaced the Harappan pottery altogether, Thus, the decline of urbanism was reflected in the reassertion of
regional traditions in these areas. The sites of Mitathal, Bara, Ropar and Siswal are well known. Brick houses have
been reported from Bara and Siswal. In many of these sites Ochre Coloured Pottery has been found. This pottery
underlay many early historical sites in ancient India. As such these village cultures of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan
are linked with the Harappan tradition of the past and anticipate the early Indian tradition. In all about 139 late in
the upper Gangetic valley also many agricultural settlements were established. They show remote late Harappan
influences. This area became the heartland of the subsequent phase of Indian civilization

Ganga–Yamuna doab

In the Ganga–Yamuna doab, compared to the 31 mature Harappan sites, there are 130 late Harappan sites. The
settlements were small, houses were generally made of wattle and daub, but the agricultural base was very diverse

Kutch and Saurashtra:

In Kutch and Saurashtra the end of the urban phase is clearly documented in places like Rangapur and Somnath. Even
during the urban phase they had a local ceramic tradition co-existing with the Harappan pottery. This tradition
continued in later phases. Some sites like Rangapur seem to have become more prosperous in the succeeding period.
They were using potteries called the Lustrous Red Ware. However, the people stopped using the Indus weights, script
and tools imported from distant areas. Now they were using stone tools made of locally available stones.

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In the 'Mature Harappan' phase there were 13 settlements in Gujarat. In the subsequent 'Late Harappan' dated to
about 2100 B.C. phase the number of settlement w&t upto 200 or more. This increase in the number of settlements
indicating an increase in population cannot be explained by biological factors. In pre-modern societies the population
could not increase so much in a space of a few generations that 13 settlements wuld multiply into more than 200 or
more settlements. Thus, there is a distinct possibility that people inhabiting these new settlements came other areas.
Late Harappan settlements have also been reported from Maharas Pm tra where their culture merged into those of
the emerging agricultural communities.

While there was abandonment or severe reduction in population in Sindh and Cholistan, the increase in the number
of settlements in Punjab, Haryana, western Uttar Pradesh, northern Rajasthan, and Gujarat shows that this was not
the case everywhere. In fact, at around the time that people were abandoning Mohenjodaro, the people of Rojdi in
Saurashtra were expanding and rebuilding their settlement. The data suggests an eastward and southward shift of
settlements and people.

The evidence from mature and late Harappan sites shows a complex interplay of elements of continuity and change.
Compared to mature Harappan pottery, the slip of late Harappan pottery is less bright. The pots tend to be thicker
and sturdier. Some of the classic Harappan shapes—e.g., the beaker, goblet, perforated jar, s-shaped jar, and
pyriform (pear-shaped) jar—disappear. Other shapes—e.g., jars of different shapes and the dish-on-stand—continue.
Various elements of Harappan urbanism such as the cities, script, seals, specialized crafts, and long-distance trade
declined in the late Harappan phase, but did not completely disappear. Some of the late Harappan sites such as
Kudwala (38.1 ha) in Cholistan, Bet Dwarka in Gujarat, and Daimabad (20 ha) in the upper Godavari valley can be
described as urban, but they are few and far between. Graffiti on pottery occurs in Saurashtra and northern Gujarat
as well as in the eastern regions. Four potsherds with Harappan letters were found at late Harappan levels at
Daimabad. Some circular seals occur at Daimabad and Jhukar; rectangular seals minus motifs were found at
Dholavira. A rectangular conch shell seal with the motif of a three-headed animal, similar to that found on seals of
the Persian Gulf, was found at Bet Dwarka. This suggests that contact with the Persian Gulf continued in the late
Harappan phase, at least in the Gujarat region. The late Harappan phase at Bhagwanpura shows flourishing
specialized craft activity; there are 2 clay tablets and 19 sherds with graffiti, which could represent a script. In Punjab
and Haryana, there are faience ornaments, beads of semi-precious stones, terracotta cart frames, kilns, and fire altars
There was no cultural cohesion or artefactual uniformity of the kind that was a hallmark of that civilization. Instead
of a civilization, there were cultures, each with its own distinct regional identity. (Localisation Era).

A notable development in the late Harappan phase was the diversification of agriculture. At Pirak in Baluchistan,
there was the beginning of double cropping—wheat and barley were being grown as winter crops and rice (with
irrigation), millet, and sorghum as summer crops. In the Kachi plain, there were fairly large settlements, growing a
variety of crops, supplemented with irrigation. In A notable development in the late Harappan phase was the
diversification of agriculture. At Pirak in Baluchistan, there was the beginning of double cropping—wheat and barley
were being grown as winter crops and rice (with irrigation), millet, and sorghum as summer crops. In the Kachi plain,
there were fairly large settlements, growing a variety of crops, supplemented with irrigation. In Gujarat and
Maharashtra, various kinds of millets were being grown as summer crops. Rice and millets were found at late
Harappan levels at Harappa. Excavations at Hulas gave evidence of diverse plant remains. Grains included rice, barley,
dwarf wheat, bread wheat, club wheat, oats, jowar, and finger millet. Pulses included lentil, field pea, grass pea
(khesari), kulthi, green gram (moong), and chickpea. Almond and walnut shells were found, and a single carbonized
seed of cotton was identified.

The general picture presented by the late Harappan phase is one of a breakdown of urban networks and an expansion
of rural ones. There is an overlap between the late Harappan and Painted Grey Ware (PGW) culture at sites such as
Bhagwanpura and Dadheri in Haryana, and Katpalon and Nagar in Punjab. Also significant is the overlap between late
Harappan and Ochre Coloured Pottery (OCP) levels in western Uttar Pradesh at sites such as Bargaon and Ambakheri.
The evidence from this area, Gujarat, and north Maharashtra suggests an eastward and southward migration of the
Harappans due to a combination of pressures

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Transmission of Harappan tradition
The end of the cities did not mean the end of the Harappan tiradition. It is evident from our discussion that
archaeologically speaking the Harappancommunities merged into the surrounding agricultural groups. However, the
centralised decision-making in the polity and economy had ended. The Harappan communities which continued after
the urban phase would have definitely retained their older traditions. It is likely that the Harappan peasants would
retain their forms of worship. The priests of the Harappan urban centres were part of a highly organised literate
tradition. Even if literacy ended they are likely to have preserved their religious practices. The dominant community
of the subsequent early historic period called itself 'The Aryans'. These people do not seem to have possessed a liter
at^ tradition. Possibly, the priestly groups of the Harappans merged into the ruling groups of the Aryans. As such the
Harappan religious tradition would be transmitted to the historical India. The folk communities also retained the
traditions of craftsmanship as is evident from the pottery and tool making traditions. Once again when literate urban
culture emerged in early India it absorbed elements of the folk cultures. This would provide a more effective channel
of transmission of the Harappan tradition.

The cults of Pasupati (Siva) and of the mother goddess and phallic worship seem to have come down to us from the
Harappan tradition. Similarly, the cult of sacred places, rivers or trees and sacred animals show a distinct continuity
in the subsequent historic civilization of India. The evidence of fire worship and sacrifice in Kalihgan and Lothal is
significant. These were the most significant elements of the Vedic religion. Many aspects of domestic life like the
house plans, disposition of water supply and attention to bathing survived in the settlements of the subsequent
periods.

The traditional weight and currency system of India, based on a ratio of sixteen as the unit, was already present in
the Harapp civilization. It might well have been derived from them. The techniques Bf making potter's wheel in
modern India is similar to those used by the Harappans. Bullock carts and boats used in modem India were 9 already
present in the Harappan cities. As such we can say that many elements of the Harappan civilization survived in the
subsequent historical tradition.

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