Harappan civilization

• The Harappan Civilisation


  • First civilisation that arose in the north-western regions of the Indian subcontinent
  • Also known as the Indus Valley Civilisation
• Four bronze age civilisations emerged

  2500-BC
• Four bronze age civilisations

  • Harappan Civilisation in northern and western parts of India and Pakistan
  • Mesopotamian Civilisation on the banks of river Euphrates and Tigris in modern Iraq
  • Chinese Civilisation in the valley of Hwang Ho and Yangtze rivers
  • Egyptian Civilisation on the banks of Nile river in Egypt
• Harappan Civilisation

  • First major site discovered was Harappa in 1921 in the province of West Punjab in Pakistan
  • Pushed back the history of India by at least a thousand years
• Harappan Culture


  Term used by archaeologists for a group of objects distinctive in style, that are usually found together within a specific geographical area and period of time
• Sources of information about the Harappan Civilisation

  • Archaeological remains such as buildings, pottery, sculpture, seals and cemeteries
  • No adequate written records available
• The Great Bath


  • One of the largest public buildings at Mohenjo-daro
  • Has a large rectangular tank in a courtyard surrounded by a corridor on all four sides
  • Used burnt bricks and mortar lined with bitumen and gypsum for construction
  • Water provided by a well in an adjacent room
  • Surrounding the bath were porticos and sets of rooms, and a stairway which led to an upper storey
• Most scholars agree the Great Bath might have been used for religious purposes
• The Great Bath indicates the importance attached to ceremonial bathing in sacred tanks, pools and rivers since time immemorial
• The construction of the Great Bath indicates the art of building had reached a high degree of perfection at that time
• The massive structure of the Great Bath points out that there might have existed a ruling class that could mobilise labour, collect taxes and build such a huge structure for the public
• The design of the Great Bath portrays efficient planning in the structural features relating to water supply and sewage disposal
• The Citadel


  • Raised area of each city
  • Owed its height to the buildings constructed on mud brick platforms
  • Had the houses of the ruling class and important buildings like the Great Bath, the granary, the assembly hall and the workshops
• The Citadel points to the elaborate planning that went into the development of cities and justifies that the Harappan civilisation was an urban civilisation
• The presence of specific buildings and houses of the ruling class on the Citadel indicate some sort of political organisation and social classification
• Harappan Seals


  • Show artistic skills
  • Comprise short inscriptions with pictures of the one-horned bull, buffalo, tiger, goat, elephant and rhinoceros
  • Made of materials like terracotta, steatite, agate, etc
  • Rectangular, square or circular in shape
• Pashupati Seal


  Shows people believed in Shiva, depicted as a three-faced deity wearing a buffalo-horned head-dress, seated cross-legged on a throne and surrounded by an elephant, a tiger, a buffalo and a rhinoceros, with two deer at his feet
• Unicorn Seal


  Shows mythical beliefs
• Seals were produced mainly for commercial purpose, used by traders to stamp their goods
• Seals were also used as amulets, carried on the persons of their owners, like modern-day identity cards
• Bearded Man Sculpture


  • Stone sculpture of a man with a beard, wearing a shawl over the left shoulder, with half-closed eyes as if in a state of meditation
  • Indicates existence of skilled artisans in the Harappan Civilisation
• Dancing Girl Sculpture


  • Bronze statue showing vigour, variety and ingenuity
  • Right arm rests on the hip and the left arm is heavily bangled, holding a small bowl against her left leg
• Lothal Dockyard


  • Rectangular dockyard believed to be one of the oldest dockyards in the world
  • Surrounded by a massive brick wall, probably as a protection against floods
  • Made of baked bricks, connected by channels to the Gulf of Cambay
  • Remains of stone anchors, marine shells and seals found, indicating it was a port with a dockyard
• Town planners at Lothal had studied tides in detail to leverage connecting rivers at high tide for ships to come into the port
• The dockyard at Lothal was most scientifically designed to withstand the flow of water and its current
• The dockyard at Lothal indicates the existence of trade both internal and external, and testifies the hydraulic knowledge of the Harappans
• Harappan Script


  • Considered as pictographic, with signs representing birds, fish and various forms of the human body
  • Number of signs known to be between 375 and 400
  • Found inscribed on a number of copper tools, rims of jars, copper and terracotta tablets, jewellery and on an ancient signboard
• Dockyard

  Scientifically designed to withstand the flow of water and its current. It also had a water locking to keep the water in.
• Archaeologists have suggested that a coastal route existed linking Lothal and Dholavira to Sutkagendor on the Makran Coast.
• Lothal


  A manufacturing centre of the Indus civilisation and was used for overseas trade
• Dockyard at Lothal


  • Indicates the existence of trade between internal and external regions
  • Testifies the hydraulic knowledge of the Harappans as the boats could dock at Lothal
• Harappan script


  Pictographic script with signs representing birds, fish and various forms of the human body
• The number of signs in the Harappan script is known to be between 375 and 400
• The Harappan script was written from right to left, as evident from a seal which shows more space on the right than the left
• The availability of the script on a variety of objects indicates that probably many people were literate
• Theories about the origin of the Harappan Civilisation

  • Foreign Origin
  • Indigenous Origin
• Excavations at various Harappan sites have indicated striking differences between the Harappan and the Mesopotamian Civilisations
• No evidence of trade with Mesopotamia during the early Harappan period has been found
• The recent researches show that the roots of the Harappan Civilisation lie deep in the Indian soil
• The urban Harappan culture was an outgrowth of the extensive local village cultures and not of foreign origin