ART AND CRAFTS
The Harappan culture belongs to the Bronze Age. The people of Harappa used many tools and implements of stone, but they were well-acquainted with the manufacture and use of bronze. However, bronze tools are not prolific in Harappa. For making bronze, copper was obtained from the Khetri copper mines at Rajasthan and from Baluchistan, and tin from Afghanistan. The bronze-smiths produced not only images and utensils but also various tools and weapons such as axes, saws, knives and spears.
A piece of woven cotton has been recovered from Mohenjo-daro, and textile impressions have been found on several objects. Spindle whorls and needles have also been discovered. Weavers wove cloth of wool and cotton. Boatmaking was practised. seal-making and terracotta manufacture were also important crafts. The goldsmiths made jewellery of silver, gold, copper, bronze and precious stones. Silver and gold may have been obtained from Afghanistan and precious stones from South India. The Harappans were expert bead-makers. The potter's wheel was in full use.
The Harappans were not on the whole extravagant in their art. The inner walls of their houses were coated with mud plaster without paintings. The outer walls facing the streets were apparently of plain brick. Architecture was austerely utilitarian. Their most notable artistic achievement was perhaps in their seal engravings, especially those of animals, e.g., the great urns bull with its many dewlaps, the rhinoceros with knobbly armoured hide, the tiger roaring fiercely, etc.
The red sandstone torso of a man is particularly impressive for its realism. The bust of another male figure, in steatite, seems to show an attempt at portraiture. However, the most striking of the figurines is perhaps the bronze 'dancing girl, found in Mohenjo-daro. Naked but for a necklace and a series of bangles almost covering one arm, her hair dressed in a complicated coiffure, she stands in a provocative posture, with one arm on her hip and one lanky leg half-bent.
The Harappans made brilliantly naturalistic models of animals, specially charming being the tiny monkeys and squirrels used as pinheads and beads. For their children, they made cattle-toys with movable heads, model monkeys which would slide down a string, little toy-carts, and whistles shaped like birds, all of terracotta. They also made rough terra cotta statuettes of women, usually naked or nearly naked, but with elaborate headdresses; these are probably icons of the Mother Goddess.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
IMPORTANT FINDINGS AT THE HARAPPAN SITES
IMPORTANT FINDINGS AT THE HARAPPAN SITES
Harappa The site was discovered by D.R. Sahni in 1921.
Excavations at the site have led to following specific findings:
(i) two rows of six granaries with brick platforms; 12 granaries together had the same area as the Great Granary at Mohenjo-daro;
(ii) evidences of coffin burial and cemetry 'H' culture (two antelopes and the hunter on a potsherd from a cemetry have been
discovered;
(iii) single-room barrack;
(iv) evidence of direct trade interaction with Mesopotamia; (v) a red sandstone male torso;
(vi) stone symbols of female genitals.
Mohenjo-daro It was the most important Harappan city.
Some of the specific findings during the excavations of Mohenjo
daro include:
(i) a college, a multi-pillared assembly hall;
(ii) ~he Great Bath.(the most important public place of the
city);
(iii) a large granary (the largest building of Mohenjo-daro); (iv) a piece of woven cotton along with spindle whorls and
needles;
(v) superficial evidence of horse;
(vi) a pot-stone fragment of Mesopotamian origin;
(vii) evidence of direct trade contact with Mesopotamia; (viii)a bronze dancing girl;
(ix) evidence of violent death of some of the inhabitants
(discovery of human skeletons put together);
(x) a seal representing Mother Goddess with a plant growing from her w°Ir\Y' and a woman to be sacrificed by a man with a knife in his hand;
(xi) a bearded man; and
(xii) a seal with a picture suggesting Pashupati Mahadev.
Kalibangan Kalibangan was an important Harappan city.
The word 'Kalibangan' means 'black bangles'. A ploughed field was the most important discovery of the early excavations. Later excavations at Kalibangan made the following specific discoveries:
(i) a wooden furrow;
(ii) seven 'fire-alters' in a row on a platform, suggesting the
practice of the cult of sacrifice;
(iii) remains of massive brick walls around both the citadel and the lower town (the second Harappan site after Lothal to
have the lower town also walled);
(iv) bones of camel;
(v) a tiled floor which bears ir}tersecting design of circles; (vi) a human head with long oval eyes, thick lower lips,
receding forehead and straight pointed nose; and
(vii) evidences of two types of burials: (a) burials in a
circular grave and (b) burials in a rectangular grave.
Lothal Lothal was an important trade centre of the Harappan culture. The town planning in Lothal was different from that of Harappa and Mohenjo-daro. The city was divided into six sections. Each section was built on a wide platform of unripe bricks. Each platform was separated by a road with width ranging from 12 feet to 20 feet. Excavations at Lothalled to some specific discoveries which include:
(i) remains of rice husk (the only other Harappan city where
the rice husk has been found is Rangpur, near Ahmedabad);
(ii) an artificial dockyard;
(iii) evidence of horse from a doubtful terrac~tta figurine;
(iv) impressions of cloth on some of the seals;
(v) evidences of direct trade contact with Mesopotamia; (vi) houses with entrances on the main street (the houses
of all other Harappan cities had side entries);
(vii) a ship designed on a seal;
(viii) a terracotta ship;
(ix) a painting on a jar resembling the story of the cunning
fox narrated in the Panchatantra;
(x) evidence of double burial (burying a male and a female
in a single grave);
(xi) evidence of a game similar to modem day chess; and
(xii) an instrument for measuring 180", 90" and 45" angles
(the instrument points to modem day compass).
Chanhu-daro Excavations at Chanhu-daro have revealed three different cultural layers from lowest to the top being Indus culture, the }hukar culture and the }hangar culture. The site is specially important for providing evidences about different Harappan factories. These factories produced seals, toys and bone implements. It was the only Harappan city without a citadel Some remarkable findings at Chanhu-daro include bronze figures of bullock cart and ekkas; a small pot suggesting an inkwell, footprints of an elephant and a dog chasing a cat.
Alamgirpur Alamgirpur is considered the eastern boundary of the Indus culture. Although the wares found here resemble those at other Harappan sites, other findings suggest that Alamgirpur developed during late-Harappan culture. The site is remarkable for providing the impression of cloth on a trough.
Kot-Diji Kot Diji is known more as a pre-Harappan site. It gives the impression of a pre-Harappan fortified settlement. Houses were made of stone. The remains of Kot-Diji suggest that the city existed in the first half of the third millennium Be Excavations at the site suggest that the city was destructed by force.
Amri Amri also gives evidences of a pre-Harappan settlement. However, it lacks the fortification plan of the pre-Harappan phase. A spectacular feature of Amri is that it gives the impression of existence of a transitional culture between pre- and postHarappan culture. Important findings at Amri include the actual remains of rhinoceros; traces of }hangar culture in late or declining Harappan phase and fire altars.
Ropar Ropar (modern Roop Nagar) is a Harappan site fromwhere remains of pre-Harappan and Harappan cultures have been found. Buildings at Ropar were made mainly of stone and soil. Important findings at the site include pottery, ornaments, copper axes, chert blades, terracotta blades, one inscribed steatite seal with typical Indus pictographs, several burials, interred in oval pits, and a rectangular mud-brick chamber. There is also an evidence of burying a dog below the human burial (Though the practice was prevalent in Burzhom in Kashmir, it was rare in the Harappan context).
Banwali Situated in Hissar district of Haryana, Banwali has provided two phases of culture during its excavations: the preHarappan (Phase I) and the Harappan (Phase II). Though phase Il belonged to the Harappan period, chess-board or grid pattern of town planning was not always followed as in other Harappan sites. The roads were neither always straight, nor did they cut at right angles. It also lacked another remarkable feature of the Harappan civilisation-a systematic drainage system. A high quality barley has been found in excavations. Other important material remains include ceramics, steatite seals and a few terracotta ~alings with typical Indus script.
Harappa The site was discovered by D.R. Sahni in 1921.
Excavations at the site have led to following specific findings:
(i) two rows of six granaries with brick platforms; 12 granaries together had the same area as the Great Granary at Mohenjo-daro;
(ii) evidences of coffin burial and cemetry 'H' culture (two antelopes and the hunter on a potsherd from a cemetry have been
discovered;
(iii) single-room barrack;
(iv) evidence of direct trade interaction with Mesopotamia; (v) a red sandstone male torso;
(vi) stone symbols of female genitals.
Mohenjo-daro It was the most important Harappan city.
Some of the specific findings during the excavations of Mohenjo
daro include:
(i) a college, a multi-pillared assembly hall;
(ii) ~he Great Bath.(the most important public place of the
city);
(iii) a large granary (the largest building of Mohenjo-daro); (iv) a piece of woven cotton along with spindle whorls and
needles;
(v) superficial evidence of horse;
(vi) a pot-stone fragment of Mesopotamian origin;
(vii) evidence of direct trade contact with Mesopotamia; (viii)a bronze dancing girl;
(ix) evidence of violent death of some of the inhabitants
(discovery of human skeletons put together);
(x) a seal representing Mother Goddess with a plant growing from her w°Ir\Y' and a woman to be sacrificed by a man with a knife in his hand;
(xi) a bearded man; and
(xii) a seal with a picture suggesting Pashupati Mahadev.
Kalibangan Kalibangan was an important Harappan city.
The word 'Kalibangan' means 'black bangles'. A ploughed field was the most important discovery of the early excavations. Later excavations at Kalibangan made the following specific discoveries:
(i) a wooden furrow;
(ii) seven 'fire-alters' in a row on a platform, suggesting the
practice of the cult of sacrifice;
(iii) remains of massive brick walls around both the citadel and the lower town (the second Harappan site after Lothal to
have the lower town also walled);
(iv) bones of camel;
(v) a tiled floor which bears ir}tersecting design of circles; (vi) a human head with long oval eyes, thick lower lips,
receding forehead and straight pointed nose; and
(vii) evidences of two types of burials: (a) burials in a
circular grave and (b) burials in a rectangular grave.
Lothal Lothal was an important trade centre of the Harappan culture. The town planning in Lothal was different from that of Harappa and Mohenjo-daro. The city was divided into six sections. Each section was built on a wide platform of unripe bricks. Each platform was separated by a road with width ranging from 12 feet to 20 feet. Excavations at Lothalled to some specific discoveries which include:
(i) remains of rice husk (the only other Harappan city where
the rice husk has been found is Rangpur, near Ahmedabad);
(ii) an artificial dockyard;
(iii) evidence of horse from a doubtful terrac~tta figurine;
(iv) impressions of cloth on some of the seals;
(v) evidences of direct trade contact with Mesopotamia; (vi) houses with entrances on the main street (the houses
of all other Harappan cities had side entries);
(vii) a ship designed on a seal;
(viii) a terracotta ship;
(ix) a painting on a jar resembling the story of the cunning
fox narrated in the Panchatantra;
(x) evidence of double burial (burying a male and a female
in a single grave);
(xi) evidence of a game similar to modem day chess; and
(xii) an instrument for measuring 180", 90" and 45" angles
(the instrument points to modem day compass).
Chanhu-daro Excavations at Chanhu-daro have revealed three different cultural layers from lowest to the top being Indus culture, the }hukar culture and the }hangar culture. The site is specially important for providing evidences about different Harappan factories. These factories produced seals, toys and bone implements. It was the only Harappan city without a citadel Some remarkable findings at Chanhu-daro include bronze figures of bullock cart and ekkas; a small pot suggesting an inkwell, footprints of an elephant and a dog chasing a cat.
Alamgirpur Alamgirpur is considered the eastern boundary of the Indus culture. Although the wares found here resemble those at other Harappan sites, other findings suggest that Alamgirpur developed during late-Harappan culture. The site is remarkable for providing the impression of cloth on a trough.
Kot-Diji Kot Diji is known more as a pre-Harappan site. It gives the impression of a pre-Harappan fortified settlement. Houses were made of stone. The remains of Kot-Diji suggest that the city existed in the first half of the third millennium Be Excavations at the site suggest that the city was destructed by force.
Amri Amri also gives evidences of a pre-Harappan settlement. However, it lacks the fortification plan of the pre-Harappan phase. A spectacular feature of Amri is that it gives the impression of existence of a transitional culture between pre- and postHarappan culture. Important findings at Amri include the actual remains of rhinoceros; traces of }hangar culture in late or declining Harappan phase and fire altars.
Ropar Ropar (modern Roop Nagar) is a Harappan site fromwhere remains of pre-Harappan and Harappan cultures have been found. Buildings at Ropar were made mainly of stone and soil. Important findings at the site include pottery, ornaments, copper axes, chert blades, terracotta blades, one inscribed steatite seal with typical Indus pictographs, several burials, interred in oval pits, and a rectangular mud-brick chamber. There is also an evidence of burying a dog below the human burial (Though the practice was prevalent in Burzhom in Kashmir, it was rare in the Harappan context).
Banwali Situated in Hissar district of Haryana, Banwali has provided two phases of culture during its excavations: the preHarappan (Phase I) and the Harappan (Phase II). Though phase Il belonged to the Harappan period, chess-board or grid pattern of town planning was not always followed as in other Harappan sites. The roads were neither always straight, nor did they cut at right angles. It also lacked another remarkable feature of the Harappan civilisation-a systematic drainage system. A high quality barley has been found in excavations. Other important material remains include ceramics, steatite seals and a few terracotta ~alings with typical Indus script.
ECONOMY
ECONOMYThe Indus Valley Civilisation clearly had a well-developed economy.
AGRICULTURE The Indus people sowed seeds in the flood plains in November, when the flood water receded, and reaped their harvests of wheat and barley in April, before the advent of the next flood. No hoe or ploughshare has been discovered, but the furrows discovered in the preHarappan phase at Kalibangan show that the fields were ploughed in Rajasthan. The chief crops were wheat, barley, rai, peas, sesamum, mustard, etc. Probably the people of Lothal used rice. The Indus people were the earliest people to produce cotton. To the diet were added melons, bananas, fish, fowl, mutton, beef and pork. Besides the cattle, both humped and humpless, cats, dogs and probably elephants were domesticated. The evidence regarding horse and camel is inconclusive.
TRADE AND COMMERCE Flourishing trade is attested to not only by the granaries but also by the presence of numerous seals, uniform script and regulated weights and measures in a wide area. The Harappans carried on considerable trade in stone, metal, shell, etc. within the Harappan cultural zone. They might have carried on all exchanges through barter.
The Harappans had commercial links with Rajasthan, Afghanistan and Iran. They had set up a trading colony in Northern Afghanistan which evidently facilitated trade with Central Asia. The Mesopotamian records from about 2350 BC onwards refer to trade relations with Meluha, the ancient name of the Indus region. The Mesopotamian texts speak of two intermediate trading stations called Dilmun (Bahrain?) and Makan between Mesopotamia and Meluha. Imports could have been matched by exports as revealed by bales of cloth from Umma in Mesopotamia bearing the imprint of an Indus seal. The finding of seals of Indus style at Ur,Lagash, Susa, Tel A5mar and other places suggests thatperhaps some Indian traders were living in Mesopotamia. That this trade was at least partly sea-borne is proved by the discovery of an ancient dockyard at Lothal, connected through the Bhogavar river with the Gulf of Cambay. One can visualise Indian ships, depicted on a seal and a potsherd from Mohenjo-daro, cruising up and down the Arabian Sea.
AGRICULTURE The Indus people sowed seeds in the flood plains in November, when the flood water receded, and reaped their harvests of wheat and barley in April, before the advent of the next flood. No hoe or ploughshare has been discovered, but the furrows discovered in the preHarappan phase at Kalibangan show that the fields were ploughed in Rajasthan. The chief crops were wheat, barley, rai, peas, sesamum, mustard, etc. Probably the people of Lothal used rice. The Indus people were the earliest people to produce cotton. To the diet were added melons, bananas, fish, fowl, mutton, beef and pork. Besides the cattle, both humped and humpless, cats, dogs and probably elephants were domesticated. The evidence regarding horse and camel is inconclusive.
TRADE AND COMMERCE Flourishing trade is attested to not only by the granaries but also by the presence of numerous seals, uniform script and regulated weights and measures in a wide area. The Harappans carried on considerable trade in stone, metal, shell, etc. within the Harappan cultural zone. They might have carried on all exchanges through barter.
The Harappans had commercial links with Rajasthan, Afghanistan and Iran. They had set up a trading colony in Northern Afghanistan which evidently facilitated trade with Central Asia. The Mesopotamian records from about 2350 BC onwards refer to trade relations with Meluha, the ancient name of the Indus region. The Mesopotamian texts speak of two intermediate trading stations called Dilmun (Bahrain?) and Makan between Mesopotamia and Meluha. Imports could have been matched by exports as revealed by bales of cloth from Umma in Mesopotamia bearing the imprint of an Indus seal. The finding of seals of Indus style at Ur,Lagash, Susa, Tel A5mar and other places suggests thatperhaps some Indian traders were living in Mesopotamia. That this trade was at least partly sea-borne is proved by the discovery of an ancient dockyard at Lothal, connected through the Bhogavar river with the Gulf of Cambay. One can visualise Indian ships, depicted on a seal and a potsherd from Mohenjo-daro, cruising up and down the Arabian Sea.
TOWN PLANNING
TOWN PLANNING
The town-planning of the Indus civilisation followed the grid system, Le., the roads oriented north-south and eastwest cut across one another almost at right angles, and the city was divided into a number of rectangular or square blocks. The main roads (streets), some as much as 30 feet wide, were quite straight. Lamp posts at intervals indicate the existence of street lighting. Flanking the streets, lanes and bylanes were well-planned houses.
In none of the major cities has any stone building been found; standardised burnt brick of good quality was the usual building material for dwelling houses and public buildings alike. Elsewhere in the contemporary world, mud-bricks and wattle-and-daub were the usual building materials, and burnt-bricks were altogether unknown. The houses, often of two or more storeys, varied in size, but were all based on much the same plan-a square courtyard, around which were a number of rooms. The entrances were usually in wide alleys, and no windows faced the streets.
The houses had tiled bathrooms, the design of which shows that the people preferred to take their bath by pouring pitchers of water over the head and shoulders.
The bathrooms were provided with drains, which flowed into sewers under the main streets, leading to soakpits. The sewers were covered throughout their length by large brick slabs. No other civilisation until that of the Romans had so efficient a system of drains. In Kalibangan many houses show the presence of wells.
The towns were generally divided into the citadel (acropolis) and the lower town. The citadel was an oblong artificial platform some 30-50 feet high and about 400x200 yards in area. It was enclosed by a thick (13 II)eters at Harappa) crenelated mud-brick wall, externally rivetted with burnt bricks, corner towers and occasional bastions built along the length. Although no separate fortified mound has been found at Lothal, the conception of an acropolis seems to have existed. On the citadel were erected the public buildings, while the lower town was the town proper, in any case at least a square-mile in area.
At Mohenjo-daro (mound of the dead), there lay in the citadel a 'college', a multi-pillared 'assembly hall', a public bath (the Great Bath) and a large granary consisting of a podium of square blocks of burnt-bricks with a wooden superstructure. Such blocks in mud-brick have also been found on the citadel-mound at Kalibangan and on the acropolis at Lothal. But in the citadel of Harappa, we come across a series of brick platforms which formed the basis for two rows of six granaries. At Harappa, to the south of the granary lay working floors, probably for pounding grain, and two rows of workmen's quarters The Great Bath, measuring 12 metres by 7 metres and 2.4 metres deep, had a floor of burnt bricks. Steps led from either end to the surface, while there were rooms alongside for changing cloths. A large well in an adjacent !oom was the source of water, and an outlet in a comer of the Bath drained it. The Bath was probably used for ritual bathing. ECONOMY
The Indus Valley Civilisation clearly had a well-developed economy.
The town-planning of the Indus civilisation followed the grid system, Le., the roads oriented north-south and eastwest cut across one another almost at right angles, and the city was divided into a number of rectangular or square blocks. The main roads (streets), some as much as 30 feet wide, were quite straight. Lamp posts at intervals indicate the existence of street lighting. Flanking the streets, lanes and bylanes were well-planned houses.
In none of the major cities has any stone building been found; standardised burnt brick of good quality was the usual building material for dwelling houses and public buildings alike. Elsewhere in the contemporary world, mud-bricks and wattle-and-daub were the usual building materials, and burnt-bricks were altogether unknown. The houses, often of two or more storeys, varied in size, but were all based on much the same plan-a square courtyard, around which were a number of rooms. The entrances were usually in wide alleys, and no windows faced the streets.
The houses had tiled bathrooms, the design of which shows that the people preferred to take their bath by pouring pitchers of water over the head and shoulders.
The bathrooms were provided with drains, which flowed into sewers under the main streets, leading to soakpits. The sewers were covered throughout their length by large brick slabs. No other civilisation until that of the Romans had so efficient a system of drains. In Kalibangan many houses show the presence of wells.
The towns were generally divided into the citadel (acropolis) and the lower town. The citadel was an oblong artificial platform some 30-50 feet high and about 400x200 yards in area. It was enclosed by a thick (13 II)eters at Harappa) crenelated mud-brick wall, externally rivetted with burnt bricks, corner towers and occasional bastions built along the length. Although no separate fortified mound has been found at Lothal, the conception of an acropolis seems to have existed. On the citadel were erected the public buildings, while the lower town was the town proper, in any case at least a square-mile in area.
At Mohenjo-daro (mound of the dead), there lay in the citadel a 'college', a multi-pillared 'assembly hall', a public bath (the Great Bath) and a large granary consisting of a podium of square blocks of burnt-bricks with a wooden superstructure. Such blocks in mud-brick have also been found on the citadel-mound at Kalibangan and on the acropolis at Lothal. But in the citadel of Harappa, we come across a series of brick platforms which formed the basis for two rows of six granaries. At Harappa, to the south of the granary lay working floors, probably for pounding grain, and two rows of workmen's quarters The Great Bath, measuring 12 metres by 7 metres and 2.4 metres deep, had a floor of burnt bricks. Steps led from either end to the surface, while there were rooms alongside for changing cloths. A large well in an adjacent !oom was the source of water, and an outlet in a comer of the Bath drained it. The Bath was probably used for ritual bathing. ECONOMY
The Indus Valley Civilisation clearly had a well-developed economy.
GEOGRAPHICAL SPREAD
GEOGRAPHICAL SPREAD
The Harappa, Ghaggar and Mohenjo-daro axis, historian: believe, represents the heartland of the Harappan civilisation Most of the Harappan settlements are located in this regior which is a flat stretch of land having similar subsistencE pattern. Sites like Nowsharo, Judeierjo-daro and Ali-Murac have been reported from the inhospitable and dry Kachh plains to the west of the Indus system. The settlements oj Sutka-Koh and Sutkagendor on the Makran coast are thE known western boundaries of the Harappans. The HarappaIl settlements at Shortughai in north-eastern AfghanistaIl appear to have been isolated colonies of the Harappans.
The eastern border land of the Harappan civilisation are represented by Bargaon, Manpur and Alamgirpur in the Meerut district of Uttar Pradesh, located in the GangaYamuna Doab. Manda in Jammu and Ropar in Punjab represent the northern extremities of the Harappans in India. The settlements of Daimabad in Maharashtra and Bhagatrau in Gujarat might have formed the southern frontier of the Harappans. The Harappan civilisation covered a very large area, larger than the Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilisations. Except in the Ghaggar-Hakra region, the settlements were very thinly spread' out. According to scholars, the largest Harappan city, viz, Mohenjo-daro had a population of 35,000 or so.
Major sites in Pakistan are Mohenjo-daro, Harappa, Kot Diji, Ali Murad, Sutkagendor, etc. In India, major sites are at Rupar (Punjab), Banwali (Haryana), Lothal, Rangpur and Surkotada (Gujarat), Kalibangan (Rajasthan), and Alamgirpur (western D.P.).
It is worth mentioning that Dholavira in the Bhachan taluka of Kutch district in Gujarat is the latest and one of the largest Harappan settlements to be discovered in India. Dr. J.P. Joshi and Dr. R.S. Bisht of the Archaeological Survey of India were involved in the excavation.. Dholavira, unlike other sites, has three principal divisions.
The Harappa, Ghaggar and Mohenjo-daro axis, historian: believe, represents the heartland of the Harappan civilisation Most of the Harappan settlements are located in this regior which is a flat stretch of land having similar subsistencE pattern. Sites like Nowsharo, Judeierjo-daro and Ali-Murac have been reported from the inhospitable and dry Kachh plains to the west of the Indus system. The settlements oj Sutka-Koh and Sutkagendor on the Makran coast are thE known western boundaries of the Harappans. The HarappaIl settlements at Shortughai in north-eastern AfghanistaIl appear to have been isolated colonies of the Harappans.
The eastern border land of the Harappan civilisation are represented by Bargaon, Manpur and Alamgirpur in the Meerut district of Uttar Pradesh, located in the GangaYamuna Doab. Manda in Jammu and Ropar in Punjab represent the northern extremities of the Harappans in India. The settlements of Daimabad in Maharashtra and Bhagatrau in Gujarat might have formed the southern frontier of the Harappans. The Harappan civilisation covered a very large area, larger than the Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilisations. Except in the Ghaggar-Hakra region, the settlements were very thinly spread' out. According to scholars, the largest Harappan city, viz, Mohenjo-daro had a population of 35,000 or so.
Major sites in Pakistan are Mohenjo-daro, Harappa, Kot Diji, Ali Murad, Sutkagendor, etc. In India, major sites are at Rupar (Punjab), Banwali (Haryana), Lothal, Rangpur and Surkotada (Gujarat), Kalibangan (Rajasthan), and Alamgirpur (western D.P.).
It is worth mentioning that Dholavira in the Bhachan taluka of Kutch district in Gujarat is the latest and one of the largest Harappan settlements to be discovered in India. Dr. J.P. Joshi and Dr. R.S. Bisht of the Archaeological Survey of India were involved in the excavation.. Dholavira, unlike other sites, has three principal divisions.
PRE-HARAPPAN AND HARAPPAN CULTURES
5500 BC to 3500 BC (Neolithic) In Baluchistan and the Indus plains, settlements like Mehrgarh and Kili Ghul Muhammad came up. Beginning with pastoralism with limited cultivation and seasonal occupation of the villages, permanent villages gradually emerged. Knowledge of wheat, barley, dates, cotton, sheep, goat and cattle existed, and there are evidences of mud houses, pottery and craft-production.
3500 BC to 2600 BC (Early Harappan Period) Many more settlements established in the hills and the plains. Largest numbers of villages occur in this period. Use of copper, wheel and plough. Extraordinary range of pottery forms showing beginning of many regional traditions. Evidence of granary, defensive walls, and long distance trade. Emergence of uniformities in the pottery tradition throughout the Indus Valley. Also, the origins of such motifs as pipal, humped bulls, cobras, homed deity etc.
2600 BC to 1800 BC (Mature Harappan Period) Emergence of large cities, uniform types of bricks, weights, seals, beads and pottery. Planned township and long distance trade.
1800 BC onwards (Late Harappan Period) Many Harappan sites abandoned. Continuation of Harappan crafts and pottery tradition. The village cultures of Punjab, Sutlej-Jamuna divide. Gujarat imbibes the Harappan crafts and pottery tradition.
3500 BC to 2600 BC (Early Harappan Period) Many more settlements established in the hills and the plains. Largest numbers of villages occur in this period. Use of copper, wheel and plough. Extraordinary range of pottery forms showing beginning of many regional traditions. Evidence of granary, defensive walls, and long distance trade. Emergence of uniformities in the pottery tradition throughout the Indus Valley. Also, the origins of such motifs as pipal, humped bulls, cobras, homed deity etc.
2600 BC to 1800 BC (Mature Harappan Period) Emergence of large cities, uniform types of bricks, weights, seals, beads and pottery. Planned township and long distance trade.
1800 BC onwards (Late Harappan Period) Many Harappan sites abandoned. Continuation of Harappan crafts and pottery tradition. The village cultures of Punjab, Sutlej-Jamuna divide. Gujarat imbibes the Harappan crafts and pottery tradition.
CHRONOLOGY
CHRONOLOGY
Scholars call the period 3500-2600 BC as the early Harappan period because they believe that this was the formative epoch of the Harappan civilisation when certain trends of cultural unification were in evidence.
Mundigak in Southern Afghanistan, apparently located on a trade route, grew into a large township. A palace, a temple, a variety of pottery, the use of naturalistic decoration, terracotta female figurines and semi-precious stones as Lapis Lazuli and Steatite have been found. At Damb Sadaat in Quetta valley, large houses having brick walls belonging to the beginning of the third millennium Be have been discovered. People of the central and southern Baluchistan sites like Anjira, Togou, Nindowari and Balakot were using similar kinds of pottery showing distinct influ~ ences from both the Persian-Gulf towns and the Indus Valley towns.
By the middle of the fourth millennium Be, the Indus alluvial plains became the focal point of change. The banks of the Indus and Ghaggar-Hakra saw the emergence of many settlements. People of Amri in the Sind province lived in houses of stone and mud brick, constructed a granary of sorts, and painted animal motifs as the humped Indian bull on their f0ttery which was wheel-made. People of Kot Diji, opposite Mohenjo-daro, had a massive defensive wall built around their settlement. They also used a wheelthrown pottery having decorations of plain bands of dark brownish paint, a variety found along the entire stretch of River Indus, where Harappan settlements have been reported. At Rahman Dheri, an Early Indus township has
. been excavated. Oblong in shape, with houses, streets and lanes laid out in a planned fashion, it is protected by a massive wall. Beads of turquoise and lapis lazuli point totheir contact with Central Asia.
At Kalibangan, in north Rajasthan, a remarkable find was that of a ploughed field surface, suggesting that even at this stage the cultivators knew about the plough. People lived in houses of standard mud bricks, which had' a rampart around a settlement.
Thus over a period of nearly three thousand years, cultivators colonised the alluvial plains of the Indus using tools of copper, bronze and stone, as well as the plouj and wheeled transport. These people reared cattle, we shipped terracotta mother goddesses and the homed dei some even surrounding their settlements with defensi' walls. All these developments were taking place in tI context of a much larger network of relationships with tI civilisations of Persian Gulf and Mesopotamia. It was in tI backdrop of these processes of technological and ideologic unification that the Harappan civilisation emerged.
The increasingly efficient technology and the exploit tion of the fertile plains of the Indus must have dramatical improved grain production. This would have led to a larg\ surplus and an increase in population. At the same tim trading links with distant communities must have beE established by the richer section of society seeking t possess rare goods. The larger surpluses would also perm the elaboration of non-farming specialisation in metallurg pottery and priesthood. The existence of many agricultur. groups and pastoral nomadic communities in close conta. with each other must have led to conflict among them. . appears that among the various competing communities i the Indus region, one set of people established their POWI over the others. This signalled the beginning of the 'Matw Harappan' phase, a phase that was to dominate the nortl west for the next 700 to 800 years.
It is called the Harappan Civilisation after a conventio in archaeology that when an ancient culture is describec it is named after the modem name of the site which fin revealed the existence of this culture. However, since th term gives the erroneous impression that the civilisatiol began in Harappa, not everyone has accepted it. Th discovery of sites away from the river valley promptec archaeologists to use the term 'Indus Civilisation', since th. other areas were also in the parallel systems of the rive]
Scholars call the period 3500-2600 BC as the early Harappan period because they believe that this was the formative epoch of the Harappan civilisation when certain trends of cultural unification were in evidence.
Mundigak in Southern Afghanistan, apparently located on a trade route, grew into a large township. A palace, a temple, a variety of pottery, the use of naturalistic decoration, terracotta female figurines and semi-precious stones as Lapis Lazuli and Steatite have been found. At Damb Sadaat in Quetta valley, large houses having brick walls belonging to the beginning of the third millennium Be have been discovered. People of the central and southern Baluchistan sites like Anjira, Togou, Nindowari and Balakot were using similar kinds of pottery showing distinct influ~ ences from both the Persian-Gulf towns and the Indus Valley towns.
By the middle of the fourth millennium Be, the Indus alluvial plains became the focal point of change. The banks of the Indus and Ghaggar-Hakra saw the emergence of many settlements. People of Amri in the Sind province lived in houses of stone and mud brick, constructed a granary of sorts, and painted animal motifs as the humped Indian bull on their f0ttery which was wheel-made. People of Kot Diji, opposite Mohenjo-daro, had a massive defensive wall built around their settlement. They also used a wheelthrown pottery having decorations of plain bands of dark brownish paint, a variety found along the entire stretch of River Indus, where Harappan settlements have been reported. At Rahman Dheri, an Early Indus township has
. been excavated. Oblong in shape, with houses, streets and lanes laid out in a planned fashion, it is protected by a massive wall. Beads of turquoise and lapis lazuli point totheir contact with Central Asia.
At Kalibangan, in north Rajasthan, a remarkable find was that of a ploughed field surface, suggesting that even at this stage the cultivators knew about the plough. People lived in houses of standard mud bricks, which had' a rampart around a settlement.
Thus over a period of nearly three thousand years, cultivators colonised the alluvial plains of the Indus using tools of copper, bronze and stone, as well as the plouj and wheeled transport. These people reared cattle, we shipped terracotta mother goddesses and the homed dei some even surrounding their settlements with defensi' walls. All these developments were taking place in tI context of a much larger network of relationships with tI civilisations of Persian Gulf and Mesopotamia. It was in tI backdrop of these processes of technological and ideologic unification that the Harappan civilisation emerged.
The increasingly efficient technology and the exploit tion of the fertile plains of the Indus must have dramatical improved grain production. This would have led to a larg\ surplus and an increase in population. At the same tim trading links with distant communities must have beE established by the richer section of society seeking t possess rare goods. The larger surpluses would also perm the elaboration of non-farming specialisation in metallurg pottery and priesthood. The existence of many agricultur. groups and pastoral nomadic communities in close conta. with each other must have led to conflict among them. . appears that among the various competing communities i the Indus region, one set of people established their POWI over the others. This signalled the beginning of the 'Matw Harappan' phase, a phase that was to dominate the nortl west for the next 700 to 800 years.
It is called the Harappan Civilisation after a conventio in archaeology that when an ancient culture is describec it is named after the modem name of the site which fin revealed the existence of this culture. However, since th term gives the erroneous impression that the civilisatiol began in Harappa, not everyone has accepted it. Th discovery of sites away from the river valley promptec archaeologists to use the term 'Indus Civilisation', since th. other areas were also in the parallel systems of the rive]
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