UPSC Class 6th NCERT Chapter 3: In The Earliest Cities - History PDF

# UPSC Class 6th NCERT Chapter 3: In The Earliest Cities (History) ## By: Mohammed Aasim ### **Topics to Be Covered:** - Features of Harappan Civilization - Raw Materials - Food - Dholavira and Lothal - Decline of Harappa - Egypt scenario ### **Where Did People Live?** - **2500 Years Ago:**...

# UPSC Class 6th NCERT Chapter 3: In The Earliest Cities (History) ## By: Mohammed Aasim ### **Topics to Be Covered:** - Features of Harappan Civilization - Raw Materials - Food - Dholavira and Lothal - Decline of Harappa - Egypt scenario ### **Where Did People Live?** - **2500 Years Ago:** - People lived in the Magadha Kingdom near tributaries of the Ganga river. - **4700 Years Ago:** - People in Indus Valley Civilization lived near tributaries of the Indus river. - **8000 Years Ago:** - People lived in villages of the Sulaiman and Kirthan near the northwest region. ### **Background** - The Harappan Civilization was a result of climatic change. - The climate change encouraged people in the region to start living a settled life, which began with the transition from hunter-gatherers to farmers and herders. - The settled life gave rise to food cultivation and animal rearing, which further led to the flourishing of cities and the Indus Valley Civilization. - The Indus Valley Civilization was the **Earliest Cities.** ### **Earliest Cities** - In **150 Years Ago**, a railway line was being built in Punjab. - Engineers stumbled upon a mound of high-quality bricks. - These bricks were used to build the railway line. - **80 Years Ago**, an archaeologist realized that the mound was one of the oldest cities in the subcontinent. - This city was **Harappa**, the first city to be discovered. - Other sites with similar buildings and other things were found and termed **Harappan Sites.** - The civilization found at these sites is known as the **Harappan civilization.** ### **Harappan Civilization** - **Features of Cities:** - **Outlay of Cities:** - Cities consisted of a **small, high citadel** and a **lower, large town**. - **Kalibangan and Lothal** had fire altars. - **Mohenjodaro** had an elaborate store house and the Great Bath. - **Houses, Drains, Streets:** - The Harappan houses were built along courtyards and consisted of one or two storeys. - Every house had a separate bathroom. - The houses were connected by drains, which were laid in straight lines. - The streets were connected by smaller drains. ### **Life in the City** - **People:** - Rulers - Rulers determined the rules of the city. - They were responsible for sending people on expeditions to get metals, stones, and other valuable things from distant places. - The rulers of the city kept valuable things such as gold, silver, and beads with themselves. - **Scribes:** - Scribes knew how to write and helped in writing seals - **Craftspersons:** - Men and women were involved in making various things. - Their skills were highly important, with their products including: - Ornaments and Vessels: gold, silver, bronze, and copper - Tools and Weapons: stone, metal, and shells (chert) - Pots: black design - Terracotta: spindle whorls and faience to spin thread - **Traveling:** - People traveled to distant places to carry raw materials. - **Children:** - Children played with terracotta toys ### **Raw Materials & Food** - **Raw Materials:** - Raw materials used by the Harappan civilization came from both locally available sources and sources in distant places. - Harappan Civilization used the following raw materials: - **Copper:** from present-day Rajasthan and West Asia (Oman) - **Tin:** from present-day Afghanistan and Iran - **Gold:** from Karnataka - **Precious Stones:** from Afghanistan, Iran, and Gujarat - **Silver** from distant places - **Food:** - Food production relied on farmers and herders. - Farmers: grew wheat, barley, rice, and peas. - Herders: reared sheep, goats, and cattle. - The Harappan civilization relied on irrigation since the area had low rainfall. ### **Dholavira and Lothal** - **Dholavira:** - Situated in the Rann of Kutch (Khadir Beyt) - Large open area for public ceremonies in the city. - **Dholavira had a unique script** written in large, bold characters, which was often inscribed on smaller objects like seals. - It had three gated entrances with massive walls surrounding each part of the city. - **Lothal:** - Situated near the Gulf of Khambat in Gujarat. - Lothal’s importance comes from its dockyard and location beside a tributary of the Sabarmati river (the Sabarmati being the modern river that flows into the Gulf of Khambat). - Lothal was a major trading center, and was used for making objects out of stone, shell, and metal. - Lothal has been described as an important center for the manufacture and redistribution of goods. - Storehouses with seals and sealing objects were found here. ### **Decline of Harappa** - Decline of Harappa occurred around 3900 years ago. - Many changes occurred at this time including: - **People stopped living in many cities.** - **The drainage system broke down** - **Garbage piled up in the city of Mohenjodaro.** - Less-impressive houses were built - **The use of raw materials from distant places stopped.** - They were no longer used for making weights, seals, and stones. ### **Why Such Changes?** - The changes could have occurred for many reasons, including: - **Rivers dried up:** due to deforestation. - **Grazing by large herds:** This destroyed the green cover of land and may have contributed to soil erosion. - **Floods:** Floods could have damaged the infrastructure of the cities. - **Rulers lost control**: This might have led to a lack of maintenance and investment in infrastructure and resulted in the decline of the civilization ### **Impact** - The decline of the Harappan civilization had a significant impact. - Many sites were abandoned, including sites in Sind and West Punjab (Present-day Pakistan) - People moved towards new settlements, mostly to the east and south. - **The new cities merged around 1400 years ago.** ### **Egypt Scenario** - The Egypt scenario has a dry, desert environment, with the exception of the Nile River. - Around 5000 years ago, the **Kingdom of Egypt** existed, ruled by a King. - The Egyptians were known for: - Sending people to distant places. - Building pyramids and tombs for the Kings, in which they buried "Mummies" along with food, drink, clothes, utensils, weapons, and servants, and garments. # Thank You!