Introduction to Harappan Civilization PDF

HS 201 World Civilizations and Cultures Lecture 002 Introduction to Harappan Civilization V.N. Prabhakar, IIT Gandhinagar  The Beginnings: pre-identification phase Earliest recorded visit to the mound...

HS 201 World Civilizations and Cultures Lecture 002 Introduction to Harappan Civilization V.N. Prabhakar, IIT Gandhinagar  The Beginnings: pre-identification phase Earliest recorded visit to the mound at Harappa – by Charles Mason, an antiquarian, in 1829 – identified it with Sangla, an ancient city visited by Alexander the Great. Lt. Col. James Todd noted the site of Kalibangan, as “Kali-Bang” in 1829. Sir Alexander Burnes, a British Lieutenant in 1831 visited the site of Amri and described it as an archaeological site. Burnes also visited Harappa, 4 years after Mason. Although many remains were found by him, he could not fix any chronology to them.  The Beginnings: pre-identification phase Alexander Cunningham, the first Director General of Archaeological Survey visited Harappa on 3 occasions, in 1853, 1856 and 1875 The first known Indus seal; drawing by A. Cunningham (1875); the impression is modern Reports the site as 4 km in circumference, 12 – 18 m in height, noted with regret that many of the features noted during his earlier visits removed to form ballast for the railway Ballast for nearly 100 km of Lahore-Multan railway was laid with the bricks from Harappa Carried out a small excavation, prepared the first site plan, christened principal divisions at Harappa as A-B, C, D and E, still used today  At least five seals of Harappan civilization were The Beginnings: pre-identification phase published prior to the identification, but their significance not understood. Two more seals, from the private collections, known; one was purchased in Cairo in 1912, but probably from Damascus or from nearby region (Bissing 1927). Dabarkot Other important sites reported are: Sutkagen-dor (1875 & 1876); Dabarkot (1898); Periano Ghundai (1897); Rana Ghundai (1898). Mughal Ghundai Sir John Marshall, who was appointed as DG of ASI in 1902 was attracted towards the publication of three Harappan seals, being studied them at British Museum. Sutkagendor Periano Ghundai  The Beginnings: pre-identification phase Two assessments of Harappa were made; one in 1909 by Pandit Hira Nanda Sastri and the other in 1914 by Harold Hargreaves. The latter eventually led to its excavation in 1920. Kalibangan was visited in 1917 by Luigi Pio Tessitori, an Italian scholar, who carried out a small excavation in 1918. Excavation at Harappa started in 1920-21. The huge site of Mohenjo-daro was discovered by D.R. Bhandarkar in 1911-12. R.D. Banerji later excavated Mohenjodaro from 1923-24 onwards and brought to light the significance of the site.  The Beginnings: pre-identification phase R.D. Banerji noted the relationship between the finds from Harappa and Mohenjo-daro. In 1924, Marshall compared the finds from both the sites, published an account in the Illustrated London News. Immediately after that news, Prof. Sayce pointed the close similarity of the finds with some Sumerian antiquities from Southern Mesopotamia.  Later, Gadd and Sidney gave similarity of pictographic and other antiquities found in the two countries. E. Mackay working at Kish, also noted similarity of some ceramic wares at Mohenjo-daro and at Kish and seal found in the debris beneath a temple of Hammurabi’s time  The Beginnings: pre-identification phase Appearance of seals, some with script, from Mesopotamian sites like Ur, Kish, etc., established the contacts between the two great civilizations. A general chronology of the Harappan civilization emerged based on the dates available from Mesopotamia. Chanhudaro These discoveries led to several explorations, of particular interest was in Sindh. Several sites were discovered by N.G. Majumdar during 1929-30 and 1930-31: Chanhudaro, Amri, Ghazi Shah, Lohumjo-daro, Ali Murad, Pandi Wahi, etc. The excavation at Harappa continued up to 1940-41; at Mohenjodaro ended in 1938. In 1937, the large Harappan period cemetery was discovered at Harappa, known famously as Cemetery R-37. Amri  New Horizons ❖ After Independence of India in 1947, there were only a few sites of Harappan origin. ❖ Prolonged explorations carried out in various parts of the country – dry bed of Rivers Ghaggar (generally identified with River Sarasvati), Drisadvati; Saurashtra and Kutch in Gujarat brought to light a large number of sites. ❖ This includes two of the five largest Harappan sites in the Indian sub- continent – Dholavira and Rakhigarhi. ❖ Other prominent sites that were excavated include Kalibangan, Banawali, Lothal, Surkotada, Alamgirpur, Hulas, Kunal, Farmana, Bhirrana, to name only a few…. ❖ These excavations brought to light the early, mature and late Harappan phases. Harappan sites in 1947 Present status Geographical Settings Diverse geographical settings Most of the sites located on the River Indus and Ghaggar-Sarasvati-Hakra river systems Western Tributaries Rivers Gomal, Kabul and Bolan Major Eastern Tributaries linked to sites Rivers Beas, Ravi and Sutlej Tributaries of River Sarasvati Rivers Markanda, Drishadvati Mountainous ranges of Himalayas on the west, north and northeast Aravalli ranges on the east and southeast, having excellent sources of lead, silver and copper Kachchh and Saurashtra, separate zones Climatic Settings Broad Findings Carriee Morrill et al (2003) based on 36 studies indicates three major climatic changes in the past corresponding to c. 9500 BCE, 3000-2500 BCE and 1300 BCE. Studies from the lake Kotla Dahar indicate two prominent shifts in the rainfall distribution in and pattern during the mid- Holocene corresponding to c. 4400-3760 BCE and c. 2200-2000 BCE respectively. The second change corresponds to the terminal phase of the Harappan civilization and tallies with shift in monsoonal data of around 300+100 years from Oman Palaeolithic Sites Early Food Producing Sites Regionalization Era Sites  Mehrgarh, Pakistan - 9000 BCE (7000 to 6500 BCE) seasonal settlement at the base of the Bolan pass Early food producing era: beginnings of the long-term processes that provide the stable foundation of a state level society  Mehrgarh wild animals Relied heavily during the initial periods Mehrgarh domesticated animals Most importantly, humped Zebu (Bos indicus) unique to Indian sub- continent Mehrgarh, Pakistan Mud brick houses, burials with ornaments traded from great distances, Domesticated plants and animals, including barley, wheat, cattle (zebu - Bos indicus), sheep and goats Newly developed skills of animal husbandry animal husbandry, led to dependence on wild plants and animals  Subsistence economy: hunting gathering, supplemented by agriculture and animal husbandry Wheat (einkorn and emmer); Barley (two-row hulled, six-row hulled and six-rowed naked ‘shot’ barley) Barley impressions Cropping season in mud brick Sowing done in November after monsoon recedes Wheat impressions in Harvesting (rabi) done in March- mud brick April Wild fruit (jujube), a small nutritious plum like fruit, was also harvested Jujube is eaten now fresh, or dried and preserved as a chutney  Sickle with chert blades set in bitumen - the wood handle is not preserved Evidence of summer crop: Impressions of date seeds and actual date seeds Domestic goat remains Wild animal bones of gazelle, deer, pig, sheep, goat, and larger animals like cattle, nilgai, water buffalo and onager Large tusks of elephant also found indicating either scavenging or trapping them and hunted Mehrgarh house types Zebu and later domesticated water buffalo along with wheat and barley – basic stables, which also formed the basic diet for later Indus cities Most significant is now the settlers have become less and less mobile Rectangular houses, subdivided into four or more internal compartments, some could have been storage spaces; later houses increasing number of internal compartments Mehrgarh - ground stone adzes, mortar and pestle with red ochre Stone blade tools Mehrgarh - Drilling in teeth that is interpreted as relating to early dentistry. Total of eleven drilled molars from nine adult burials that date to around 7000-5500 BCE. This is very painful unless you are taking some kind of anesthetic or drug like opium? Photos Courtesy of L. Bondioli (Museum L. Pigorini, Rome) & R. Macchiarelli (Univ. of Poitiers).  No evidence of pottery in earliest levels; some foods might have been cooked in skins or baskets with hot rocks indicated by numerous ash layers with fire cracked rocks Familiar with plastic properties of clay: small clay figurines and unfired clay containers Subsistence economy: hunting gathering, supplemented by agriculture and animal husbandry Wheat (einkorn and emmer); Barley (two-row hulled, six-row hulled and six-rowed naked ‘shot’ barley) Mehrgarh burial, with young goats, and ornaments of exotic materials - marine shell, turquoise, lapis lazuli, steatite Terracotta figurine from Period I  Marine shell bangles and other marine shell beads from different coastal areas indicate two different trade networks Turbinella pyrum, from Karachi coast (500 km to the south) Mother of Pearl from Oman Engina mendicaria - Makran  1500 km 1150 km 500 km 1000 km 650 km 1500 km Jewellery from the burial: shell, steatite, agate, lapis lazuli, turquoise, carnelian