Indus Valley Civilization

The Indus Valley Civilization: Indus civilization, also called Indus valley civilization or Harappan civilization, the earliest known urban culture of the Indian subcontinent. The nuclear dates of the civilization appear to be about 2500–1700 BCE, though the southern sites may have lasted later into the 2nd millennium BCE.

The Chalcolithic age was followed by the Bronze Age. In the Bronze Age people started using bronze- an alloy or mixture of copper and tin. About 4700 years ago, the largest Bronze Age civilization in the world emerged in the north-western part of the Indian subcontinent. Since this culture was born in the valley of the Indus River, it came to be known as the Indus valley civilization. The Harappan culture (as the Indus civilization was also known) was the largest of the ancient civilizations. It was spread over 650,000sq km, which is more than twice the area of the Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilizations. More than 1400 Indus civilization sites have been discovered to date, and more continue to be discovered. of these the more important ones include Mohenjodaro, Harappa and Mehrgarh (all three in Pakistan), Dholavira and lothal in Gujarat, Rakhigarhi and Banawali in Haryana, Ropar in Punjab, Kalimantan in Rajasthan, and Alamgirpur in Uttar Pradesh.

Excavations at sites like Mehrgarh ,in Pakistan ,show that this civilization evolved gradually from village communities around 7000 to 5000 BCE. It reached a highly developed phase from 2600 to 1900 BCE. The cities of Mohenjodaro,Harappa and Dholavira flourished during this phase.

House, drains and streets: Generally, houses were either one or two storey’s high, with rooms built around a courtyard. Most houses had a separate bathing area, and some had wells to supply water. Many of these cities had covered drains. These were laid our straight lines. Each drain had a gentle slope so that water could flow through it. Very often, drains in houses were connected to those on the streets and smaller drains led into bigger ones. As the drains were covered, inspection holes were provided at intervals to clean them. All three- houses, drains and streets- were probably planned and built at the same time.

What did they eat and wear

A Number of crops were cultivated -cereals like wheat and barely ,pulses,oil seeds like mustard and sesame,and millets like bajra,ragi and jowar. Remains of these crops have been found from the excavated sites ,we do not find much evidence of the cultivated of rice . Fish ,milk,date and fruit were also a part of the diet.

Archaeologists have found evidence of cotton and woven cloth,spindles made of clay have been found in many sites.Men wore flowing lengths of cloth ,while the women wore skirts,as can be seen from various figurines found in the sites.Both the men and the women seem to have draed a shawl over their shoulders.

Both men and women wore ornaments made of gold,silver,faience and beads of semi-precious stones like jade,lapis lazuli, cornelian and agate. Bangles,earrings and necklaces seem to have been popular.

The women used Kajal for their eyes and painted their lips,as they do even today.

Did they know to write? The people of the Indus civilization had developed a form of writing. This was one of the world's earliest known scripts.Writing was in the form of brief inscriptions found mainly on seals of different materials like clay,baked clay and steatite(i.e., soap,stone). Archaeologists reveal that the writing is usually from right to left.

Metallurgy: The Indus people alloyed copper and tin to make bronze,which was more malleable and stronger than copper.Knives,axes and chisel were made of stone.Copper tools like razors,hooks,sickles and axes were also made,and so were smaller copper tools like nails and needles.

Pottery: Besides agriculture,probably the most popular occupation was pot making.A variety of pots,both plain and decorated,have been found.Many pots were painted red,with design in black suggesting geometric pattern.

Religion and Trad: Seals representing a male figure sitting in the form of a yogi,a figure like a mother goddess and pipal trees tell us a little about the faith of the people.They may have worshipped Pasupati ,an early form of Shiva,and mother goddesses.Evidence of burial practices has been found at cemeteries at Harappa,lothal and a few other sites.The dead were buried wearing ornaments and with a few pots.

The people of the Indus Civilization had established a flourishing system of trade-both by land and by sea. The two large structures at Harappa and Mohenjodaro, identified as granaries,suggest the stroge of grains.The grains probably came from villages.The villages may have traded the grain for some of the goods produced in the cities.Besides roads,the Indus river system must have been used for trade.Ornaments made in the Indus valley have been found by archaeologist in Mesopotamia,which suggest that there were was a trade between the two civilization.

The End of Indus Civilization: This advanced civilization appears to have declined suddenly after 2000 BCE. There are some reason of declined are as follows: