Harappan Civilization | Discover | Location, Chronology, Religious Life, Conclusion

Harappan Civilization Harappan Civilization Introduction About four and a half thousand years ago, an ancient civilization emerged in the In...

Harappan Civilization

Harappan Civilization Introduction

About four and a half thousand years ago, an ancient civilization emerged in the Indus basin region of the Indian subcontinent, known in history as the Harappan or Indus civilization. In originality, innovation, and excellence, this civilization is comparable to any ancient civilization in the world. Ancient Chinese, Egyptian, and A contemporary of the Sumerian civilization was the Harappan or Indus civilization.

Discovery Of Harappan Civilization

Under the supervision of the then Director of Archeology Department, the Harappan civilization was discovered by Sir John Marshall, Dayaram Sahni found an advanced urban civilization on the banks of the Irrawaddy (Ravi) river in the Montgomery district of Punjab (1921 AD). Later, Rakhaldas Bandyopadhyay discovered an advanced urban civilization at Mahen-jo-Daro in the Larkana district of Sindh on the west bank of the Indus (1922 AD). Earlier this civilization was called 'Indus Civilization' as it was first discovered on the banks of the river Indus. More recently, about 1500 centers of this civilization have been discovered across the Indus in large and small areas in India and outside India. For this reason, it is no longer called the Indus Civilization but the Harappan Civilization or Culture after the name of the first discovered place.

Location Of Harappan Civilization

The Harappan civilization is located in the Montgomery district of West Punjab in the present-day state of Pakistan. The Harappan civilization spread not only across the Indus Valley but also over a vast region of Punjab, Baluchistan, Gujarat, Rajputana, Saurashtra, and the Narmada Valley. From Sutkazendor on the Makran coast in the west to Alamgirpur near Delhi in the east and from Manda near Jammu in the north to Daimabad in the Godavari valley in the south, the Harappan civilization spanned 12,500,000 square kilometers according to modern opinion. Harappan civilization map

Harappan Civilization Chronology

An accurate chronology of the Indus or Harappan civilization is not possible even today due to a lack of written information. However, archaeologists and anthropologists from different countries have tried to date the rise and fall of this civilization based on the evidence obtained from excavations. According to Sir John Marshall, the Harappan civilization dates back to 3250-2750 BC. C. J. According to Gadd, the Harappan culture flourished between 2350-1770 BC. According to Stuart Piggott and Mortimer Wheeler, the Harappan culture dates back to 2500-1500 BC. W. A. Fairservice has dated the Indus culture to 2000-1500 BC using radiocarbon methods. According to the Allchin couple, "The Harappan civilization was dated to 2100-1700 BC."

Harappan Civilization Town Planning

1. Urban Areas: The cities of the Indus region were divided into two parts: the eastern lowlands and the western high forts.

2. Houses: Houses in the Harappan civilization were made of burnt bricks. Each house had a bedroom, kitchen, bath, and well. In Harappan society, there were two-three-story big houses, as well as medium and very small houses.

3. Roads: In the Harappan civilization, roads 9 to 34 feet wide ran north-south and east-west of the city, with street lights on both sides.

4. Sewerage: Covered drains i.e. underground sewerage were provided on both sides of the highways.

5. Granaries: The two granaries discovered at Harappa, Mohenjo-Daro, were the food stores of the two cities. The barns had ventilation shafts to keep the grain fresh. Professor Bysam compared the barn to a national bank.

Harappan Civilization Social Life

1. Hierarchy: The Harappan society consisted of four castes namely- Educated, Warriors, Traders, and Labourers. The educated included physicians, priests, astrologers, magicians, etc. Soldiers belonged to the warrior class. Goldsmiths, jewelers, sculptors, potters, etc. belong to the tradesmen and farmers,

Tanners, fishermen, and others belonged to the working class. 2. Food: The main food of the Harappans was wheat, barley, curries, milk, dates, curry, fish, eggs, meat, etc. 3. Clothes: Both men and women wore cotton and woolen clothes in Harappa. They wore different clothes for the upper body and lower body. 4. Leisure entertainment: The means of leisure entertainment of the Harappans were dancing and singing, animal and bird hunting, chariot racing, dice games, etc.

Harappan Civilization Economic Life

1. Agriculture: Most of the Harappans were agriculturists. Their important agricultural crops were paddy, wheat, barley, rye, sesame, cotton, mustard, etc.

2. Animal husbandry: Many of the Harappans also adopted animal husbandry for their livelihood. Notable among their domestic animals were humped bulls, oxen, buffaloes, sheep, pigs, goats, donkeys, camels, dogs, etc.

3. Industrial: Metallurgy and pottery were prevalent in the Indus Valley region. The people of Sindh did not believe in this policy of 'Art for Art's sake. They were also well versed in the cottage industry.

4. Trade: Indus people were engaged in trade within and outside the country by land and water. Among the imported goods were gold, silver, lead, tin, precious stones, cedar wood, etc. Notable among the exports were cotton, cotton, copper, and ivory.

Harappan Civilization Religious Life

The religious beliefs of the Harappans can be found from seals, stones, and clay statues found in Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa. According to archaeological evidence found in the Indus region, the inhabitants of the Harappan civilization practiced totem worship i.e. worshiped animals or inanimate objects as deities.

1. Prevalence of Mother Worship: Historians speculate that mother goddess worship was very popular here as numerous female figurines have been discovered from the centers of the Harappan civilization.

2. Worship of Siva-like Deities: Adishi (Proto Siva) was very popular among the deities of that time. His three-faced, three-horned head—the seal carvings of this deity show him surrounded by animals and seated on the Padmasana. Temples or temples are believed to have had no place in the religion of the Harappans.

3. Supernatural Beliefs: Burials have been found at Harappa, Mohenjo-Daro, Lothal, Kalibangan, etc. The dead body was kept in a coffin-like receptacle with the head on the north side of the burial ground and various ornaments, vases, and pottery were kept along with it. Like the ancient Egyptians

The Harappans also believed in life after death.

4. Linga and Yoni Worship: As some stone objects with the shape of linga and vagina have been discovered here, some historians speculate that the inhabitants of the Harappan civilization worshiped Linga and Yoni.

5. Worship of other objects: Other objects that were worshiped by deities included water, fire, trees, stones, various animals, and possibly the sun. Apart from this, swastika symbols, chakra symbols, etc. were considered sacred. A few Harappa seals inscribed with swastikas (卐) and chakras are thought to be symbols of the sun god. According to Professor Narendranath Bhattacharya, "The religious tradition of this period is comparable to the primitive Tantric tradition."

Harappan Civilization Trade

Trade was one of the main aspects of Harappan economic life. (i) Dr. According to Ranveer Chakraborty, most of the metals recovered from the Harappan ruins were commercially imported from outside India. For example, copper came from Balochistan, precious stones from West Asia, etc. (ii) Harappans also participated in long-distance sea trade. Bridget Allchin and Raymond Allchin suggest that the Harappans traded over a wide area to ensure a supply of metals. (iii) J. C. Gad discovered twenty-four seals of the Harappan civilization from the Ur region of Mesopotamia (1923 AD). From this, it is assumed that the Indus Valley had commercial relations with the Tigris and Euphrates valleys. Historians such as Wheeler, Allchin, and others also believe that there were trade relations between Mesopotamia and Harappa. (iv) Ruins of a port were found at Lothal in Gujarat. It is of Harappan culture. Bears evidence of maritime trade during the period. The small button-like seals found at Lothal were probably used as a medium of trade. Scholars believe that these came to Lothal from the Persian Gulf region. (v) Probably the Harappan civilization imported gold, silver, copper, precious stones, ivory combs, bird figurines, etc. from abroad. On the other hand, barley, flour, oil, and woolen products were the major exports.

Caused the destruction of Harappan civilization

Natural Disasters : (i) Floods: Historians speculate that floods caused the downfall of the Indus or Harappan civilization. Lothal, Budhathakkar, Deshalpar, and Rangpur areas were devastated by the raging floods. In this context MR. "The flood washed away the Indus culture," says Sahani. (ii) Earthquakes: Many historians consider earthquakes to be the reason for the fall of Mohenjo-Daro. Research has also suggested the existence of a monstrous epicenter near Mohenjo-Daro in the distant past. (iii) Change in the course of the Indus and other rivers: According to some historians, the change in the course of the Indus, Shatdru, and the Yamuna and the drying up of the Gharghara, Drishdvati, and Saraswati rivers due to lack of water affected agriculture and trade. Hence areas like Mohen-Jodaro and Kalibangan were destroyed. (iv) Climate change: Indiscriminate felling of trees significantly reduces rainfall, leading to the expansion of deserts and an increase in soil salinity. (v) External Invasion: Many believe that the Indus civilization fell due to the invasion of the external enemy Arya. This can be inferred from the evidence of heavy impact on the skeletons of the bodies recovered from the ruins here.

Relation Harappan Civilization And Mesopotamian Civilization

There is no doubt about the close contact of the Harappan civilization with the civilizations of other regions of the ancient world. A strange resemblance between the Harappan civilization can be observed with the Sumerian and Mesopotamian civilizations. Many call the Harappan civilization the 'Indo-Sumerian Civilization' because of this similarity. did Wheeler believe that the Harappan culture originated in Sumer or Mesopotamia and that Harappa was a colony of the Sumerian civilization? According to Prof. Gordon Child, Harappan merchants used to take their goods to markets along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Colonies of Indian traders have been traced to Akkad in West Asia. Ancient Sumerian documents mention a place called Meluka. This place could be reached by water from Sumer. According to many, this place is the Indus Valley. Several seals from the Indus Valley have been found in Sumer and some from Sumer also in the Indus Valley. A striking similarity can be seen in the seals, pottery, and metal vessels found in these regions.

Improved lifestyle and urban life, use of different metals, pottery wheels, pictographs, mother goddess worship, hairstyles, agriculture, irrigation systems, and the location of products in these regions prove the existence of close contact between them. Wheeler states that the migration of the Sumerian civilization led to the development of a mature civilization in Harappa. But it is unfair and unreasonable to call the Harappan civilization a mere imitation of the Sumerian civilization. The Harappan civilization was a completely indigenous civilization and there are considerable differences between the two civilizations in terms of script, pottery, brick and seal shapes, tools, etc. Although there is no direct evidence of contact between the Harappan civilization and the Egyptian civilization, Egyptian imitation tools, lamps, mother figures with children, etc. have been found in the Indus Valley.

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Harappan Civilization Conclusion

The ancient Indian Indus Civilization, which emerged about 8,500 years ago, was resplendent in excellence, originality, and innovation of its own. These features of the Indus or Harappan civilization helped form the background of many later civilizations. The Indus or Harappan civilization was literally an advanced urban civilization. The huge baths, barns, many large houses, and well-developed sewage system found at Mohen-jo-Daro prove that the Harappans lived a sophisticated city life. According to Sir John Marshall, "The Harappan culture was far superior to the contemporary Sumerian and Egyptian civilizations."