Ancient History 10 - Daily Class Notes - Indus Valley Civilization PDF

DAILY CLASS NOTES NCERT: Ancient History Lecture -10 Indus Valley Civilisation  2 Indus Valley Civilisation ❖ Introduction to Indus Valley Civilization ❖ Discovery of I...

DAILY CLASS NOTES NCERT: Ancient History Lecture -10 Indus Valley Civilisation  2 Indus Valley Civilisation ❖ Introduction to Indus Valley Civilization ❖ Discovery of Indus Valley Civilization ❖ Important Sites of the Indus Valley Civilization ❖ Phases of Indus Valley Civilization ❖ Begining of developments in Indus Valley Civilization ❖ Distinctive features of Mohenjodaro ❖ Social Differences in Indus Valley Civilization Topics to be covered in Indus Valley Civilization: Introduction to Indus Valley Civilisation: ❖ Indus is the name of a river which runs across India’s border shared with Pakistan. Presently, the water from the Indus is entirely used by Pakistan.  3 The region across the Indus river bank is a valley where a civilization developed which came to be known as the Indus Valley civilization. A civilization describes the way of life that came about as humans developed themselves and brought about developments. ❖ We must try to understand the difference between culture (For example: Chalcolithic culture) and civilization (For example: Indus Valley Civilisation). Culture means the way of life that is determined by one’s clothing, language, dietary patterns, and religious and cultural practices. Whereas, civilization pertains to development, aiming to bring about positive change (gradual transition in stone tools from the Paleolithic to Neolithic period). Change is an element of civilization, unlike culture. This positive change brings about improvement in the quality of life. Indus Valley civilization is called civilization as people of that phase began to reside in urban areas, unlike earlier times when people used to live in villages. Discovery of Indus Valley Civilization: ❖ Around 1850, the British engineers from the railway board were laying down railway lines in Punjab. The soil was loose and so they needed hard objects to fix it. The engineers found several ready-made burnt bricks of high quality from a nearby ruin of an old building. They used those bricks for laying the railway lines. ❖ Later on the archaeologists started excavating the place from where the bricks were found. Initially, it was conceived that the bricks belonged from the Mauryan times as archeologists excavated ample amount of usage of burnt bricks from that phase. No one imagined that the bricks could have gone back to the proto-historic period. ❖ Finally in 1921, the remains of the civilization like seals and baked bricks were first discovered during an excavation campaign at Harappa by Rai Bahadur Daya Ram Sahni. In 1922, R.D. Banerjee discovered the ruins of Mohanjodaro and excavated similar artifacts like seals and baked bricks. It was understood that all the excavated items belonged to the same period and did not really date back to Mauryan times. ❖ Focusing on this aspect, the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) was established in 1924 and the members opined that the artifacts excavated all belonged to the same period.  4 John Marshall who was the director general of ASI then proclaimed that the oldest civilization of the world was found in India. Several names were given to this civilization. It was called Indus Valley Civilisation because of its proximity to the Indus River. It was also called the Harappan civilization because Harappa was the first site to have been discovered. The civilization is also known as the Bronze Age civilization because people of that period were aware of mixing copper with tin and producing bronze out of it which they used in their daily lives. ❖ The Mesopotamian civilization also gives us evidence of Harappan civilization in their inscriptions (thoroughly interpreted) and the latter has been mentioned as Meluha in their records. Important Sites of the Indus Valley Civilization (IVC): ❖ Harappa: The site of Harappa is near river Ravi and is a part of Pakistan ❖ Mohanjodaro: Mohanjodaro is located across the Indus River which is also in present- day Pakistan. Mohenjodaro is the largest urban settlement of IVC. ❖ Lothal: The site Lothal is located in the state of Gujarat. It is a dockyard and it is presumed that inhabitants of the IVC carried out their trading relations through this port city. Suktagendor is also a port city. ❖ Rakhigarhi: Rakhigarhi is the largest site of IVC which is also located in Haryana, India. ❖ Kalibangan and Dholavira: The famous sites of Kalibangan in Rajasthan and Dholavira in Gujarat are also located in India. ❖ IVC also has its evidence in Manda located in Jammu and Kashmir and it also stretches to Adamgarh in Maharashtra.  5 Phases of Indus Valley Civilization: ❖ Indus Valley Civilization has three Phases: Early Harappan Phase: ✓ The Early Harappan Phase dates from 3350 to 2600 BCE. ✓ It is also known as the Regionalisation Era. ✓ Small IVC regions developed gradually during this era. ✓ Agriculture, craft, metal works, etc developed during this era but no big cities developed during this phase. Mature Harappan Phase: ✓ The Mature Harappan Phase dates from 2600 to 1900 BCE. ✓ It is also known as the Integration Era. ✓ During this era, small regions came together or got integrated and formed larger cities. ✓ There were large-scale urbanization and technological advancements. Late Harappan Phase: ✓ The Late Harappan Phase dates from 1900 to 1500 BCE. ✓ It is also known as the Localisation Era. ✓ During this era, the civilization declined and the cities disintegrated into several small villages (post-urban character). ✓ Craftsmanship, metal works, and other practices declined but on the other hand, Jhukar (Late Harappan culture in Sindh) and Rangpur (present-day Gulf of Khambat and Gulf of Kutch in the Saurashtra Peninsula of Gujarat) cultures developed. Beginning of developments in Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC): ❖ During the Neolithic period, people started residing in Mehrgarh which is located very close to the Indus River. It is believed that the Indus Valley civilization (IVC) began from Mehrgarh itself.  6 ❖ Subsistence pattern: During the Mature Phase of Harappan civilization, the subsistence pattern was different from earlier times. The people during this era consumed plants, animals, wheat, barley, chickpeas, lentils, and sesame seeds. There is also evidence of millets (jowar and bajra) from Gujarat. There isn’t much evidence of rice cultivation. In terms of animal husbandry, cattle, sheep, goats, buffalo, and pigs were kept. Fish and fowl too were a part of their diet. ❖ Agriculture: IVC has given us evidence of bullock carts made out of clay. This shows that people kept bulls and were known to the idea of using them in agricultural practices. There is also evidence of ploughs made of terracotta from Banawali, Haryana, and Cholistan in Pakistan. The famous site of Kaibangan also has given us evidence of ploughed fields. ❖ Irrigational practices: Shortughai in Afghanistan has given us evidence of a network of canals but no such networks have been found in Punjab or Sindh. Maybe wells were used as an important source of water there because they didn’t need canals. It could also be possible that the region received ample amounts of rainfall to which no excessive water support was not needed. Most importantly, a water tank was excavated from Dholavira. Distinctive Features of Mohenjodrao: ❖ Citadel and Lower City: It was the largest urban settlement of the Indus Valley Civilization located across the Indus. The city was divided into parts. The upper part was termed as Citadel and the lower part was termed as ‘Lower City’. The lower city was located across the river because of which they were more prone to flooding. The citadel was fortified, unlike the lower city. This boundary wall was built to keep a check on the people entering and leaving the city. The citadel was beautifully planned.  7 The bricks that were used had a standard size (Ratio= Length: Breadth: Height→ 1:2: 4). The citadel also gives us evidence of the warehouse where they used to store grains. ❖ Great Bath: It must have been an ancient swimming pool that had stairs from two sides and also had rooms on two sides. These rooms must have been used as a changing room. A well was located near the Great Bath which must have supplied water to the Bath. The ground of the bath was prepared using gypsum mortar to avoid any form of leakage. However, there is no surety as to for what reason the Great Bath was used. It could have been used for religious purposes or could have been just a general swimming pool. So, the purpose remains unknown. ❖ Road networks: The roads had a well-connected network and cut each other at 90 degrees. This shows the roads had a grid pattern. ❖ Drainage pattern: The drainage pattern was highly developed. Drains were charted out early and then the cities were built. The drains which were big in size were made across the roads. Proper health and sanitation measures were also undertaken. This can be derived through the evidence of potholes. Small drains were connected with larger drains. The domestic wastewater was discharged into the street drains. ❖ Housing pattern: The doors of every house were opened on the hindsight of the building. This was done to do away with the issue of blocking the front main road. ❖ Domestic Architecture: A proper residential structure was evidenced in the lower town. Most of the households had a courtyard in the center surrounded by several rooms. The walls on the ground floor had no windows and every household had their private bathrooms.  8 Mohenjodaro gives us evidence of about 700 wells. Wells were both private and public. Both single-story and multi-story houses were found. Social Differences in Indus Valley Civilization: ❖ Burial pattern: There were differences in the way burial pits were made. These pits were loaded with jewelry other precious ornaments, stones, copper mirrors, potteries, etc along with the dead. This shows their belief in the concept of life after death and the prevalence of social stratification as only the rich could have afforded to bury the dead along with such precious items. ❖ Luxury items: Items like pots made of faience which required skill-scale technological advancements for development, hoards of gold jewelry, perfume bottles, etc were only excavated from large settlements like Harappa and Mohenjodaro. ❖ Craft production: Crafts produced were used for decorative purposes which had several beautiful paintings and incisions of them, The red color of carnelian beads was used to color other objects. Specialized drills have been found in Chandhudaro, Lothala, and also Dholavira. Nageshwar and Balakot have given us abundant evidence of shell objects from which bangles and other crafts were made. Several finished products like beads have also been excavated from Chandhudaro and Lothal. These sites were urban centers too.  9 Terracotta models of bullock carts tell us about the prevalence of transportation facilities for both goods and people. Materials Used: ❖ Lapis Lazuli was sourced from Afghanistan which was highly valued. ❖ Carnelian beads and shells were also used. ❖ Copper was brought from Oman. 