Indus Valley Revealed: Urban Planning, Trade, and the Enigma of Harappan Decline

The Harappan Civilisation

The Harappan or Indus Valley Civilisation was older than the Chalcolithic cultures of peninsular India, and far more developed. It arose in the north-western part of the Indian subcontinent and is called Harappan because it was first discovered in 1921 at the modern site of Harappa in the province of West Punjab (now Pakistan).

It belongs to the Bronze Age - the Harappans used bronze (by mixing tin with copper), unlike the Chalcolithic communities who used only copper. This Bronze Age foundation enabled urbanisation at a scale unmatched in the ancient world for its era.

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• Covered parts of Punjab, Sindh, Baluchistan, Gujarat, Rajasthan and fringes of western Uttar Pradesh.
• Extended from Jammu in the north to the Narmada estuary in the south.
• Extended from the Makran coast of Baluchistan in the west to Meerut in the north-east.
• The area formed a triangle accounting for approximately 1,299,600 square kilometres - larger than Pakistan and bigger than ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia combined.
• No other cultural zone in the third and second millennium BC in the world was as large.

The Six Major Cities

Although over 250 Harappan sites are known, only six can be regarded as cities:

• The mature Harappan phase is also found at coastal cities Sutkagendor and Surkotada (each marked by a citadel).
• Later Harappan phase: Rangpur and Rojdi in the Kathiawar peninsula, Gujarat.
• Harappa and Mohenjo-daro were 483 km apart, linked by the Indus.

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The most defining feature of the Harappan culture was its systematic town planning.

The Grid System

• Houses followed a grid system - roads cut across each other at right angles, dividing the city into blocks.
• This is true of almost all Indus settlements regardless of size.

Citadel and Lower Town

• Each city had two distinct parts:
  • Citadel (Acropolis): Elevated; possibly occupied by the ruling class.
  • Lower town: Contained brick houses inhabited by common people.

The Great Bath (Mohenjo-daro)

• The most important public place at Mohenjo-daro.
• Located in the citadel mound.
• Dimensions: 11.88 x 7.01 metres, 2.43 metres deep.
• Flights of steps at either end; side rooms for changing clothes.
• Floor made of burnt bricks; water drawn from a large well in an adjacent room.
• Served ritual bathing - vital to religious ceremony in India.

Granaries

• Mohenjo-daro: Largest building is a granary - 45.71 metres long and 15.23 metres wide.
• Harappa: Six granaries in two rows of three each; each measuring 15.23 x 6.09 metres; combined floor space ~838,125 sq metres.
• South of Harappa's granaries: working floors with circular brick platforms for threshing grain (wheat and barley found in crevices).
• Harappa: Two-roomed barracks possibly for labourers.
• Kalibangan: Brick platforms in the southern part possibly used as granaries.
• Cereals likely received as taxes from peasants and stored for wages (analogy with Mesopotamian cities).

Burnt Bricks

• Use of burnt bricks in the Harappan cities is remarkable - contemporary Egypt used mainly dried bricks; Mesopotamia used baked bricks only to a limited extent.
• Harappans used baked bricks on a far larger scale.

Drainage System

• Almost every house had its own courtyard and bathroom.
• In Kalibangan, many houses had their own wells.
• Water flowed from house to street drains; drains sometimes covered with bricks or stone slabs; equipped with manholes.
• Drainage system of Mohenjo-daro is almost unique - perhaps no other civilisation gave so much attention to health and cleanliness.
• Drainage remains also found at Banwali.

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• The Indus region was fertile in ancient times - annual Nile-like inundation by the Indus deposited alluvial soil on flood plains.
• Indus people sowed seeds in November (after flood water receded) and reaped harvests in April.
• No hoe or ploughshare has been discovered, but furrows at pre-Harappan Kalibangan show fields were ploughed; Harappans probably used wooden ploughshares.
• Gabarbands or nalas enclosed crops; dams for storing water found in parts of Baluchistan and Afghanistan; channel/canal irrigation appears absent.
• Crops produced: wheat, barley, rai, peas, sesamum, mustard. Two types of wheat and barley; good quantity of barley at Banwali.
• Lothal: Rice husks found - people of Lothal used rice as early as 1800 BC.
• Indus people were the earliest to produce cotton - Greeks called it sindon, derived from Sindh.
• Villages near flood plains produced sufficient foodgrains for both village and town populations.

Domestication of Animals

• Oxen, buffaloes, goats, sheep, pigs domesticated; humped bulls favoured.
• Dogs and cats kept as pets from the very beginning.
• Asses and camels possibly used as beasts of burden.
• Horse: Evidence from a superficial level at Mohenjo-daro and a doubtful terracotta at Lothal; horse remains reported from Surkotada (Gujarat, c. 2000 BC) - but the animal was not in regular use in Harappan times.
• Elephants well known to Harappans; Gujarat people domesticated elephants and rhinoceros were also known.
• Gujarat Harappans produced rice and domesticated elephants - unlike Mesopotamian cities.

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• Harappan culture belongs to the Bronze Age - bronze made by mixing tin with copper. Since neither metal was easily available, bronze tools are not prolific.
• Copper was obtained from the Khetri copper mines of Rajasthan and possibly from Baluchistan.
• Tin's old workings found in Hazaribagh, Bihar; also possibly brought from Afghanistan.
• Bronze goods produced: images, utensils, axes, saws, knives, spears.
• Bronzesmiths constituted an important artisan group.
• Brick-laying was also an important craft.
• Harappans practised boat-making, seal-making, terracotta manufacture.
• Goldsmiths made jewellery of silver, gold, and precious stones - silver and gold possibly from Afghanistan; precious stones from south India.
• Harappans were experts in beadmaking.
• Potter's wheel in full use; pottery made glossy and shining.
• Woven cotton: A piece of woven cotton recovered from Mohenjo-daro; textile impressions on several objects; spindle whorls used for spinning. Weavers wove cloth of wool and cotton.
• Harappans did not use metallic money; trade was likely through barter.
• Harappans knew the use of wheel; carts with solid wheels used in Harappa.
• They practised navigation on the Arabian Sea coast; some kind of modern ekka used.

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• Harappan cities lacked necessary raw materials locally and procured them from neighbouring areas via bullock-carts and boats.
• Commercial links: Rajasthan, Afghanistan, Iran.
• Cities also traded with those in the land of the Tigris and Euphrates.
• Many Harappan seals discovered in Mesopotamia.
• Harappans imitated some cosmetics used by urban people of Mesopotamia.
• Mesopotamian records from about 2350 BC refer to trade relations with Meluha - the ancient name for the Indus region.
• Mesopotamian texts speak of two intermediate trading stations: Dilmun (probably Bahrain on the Persian Gulf) and Makan, lying between Mesopotamia and Meluha.

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• No clear idea about the political organisation of the Harappans.
• In sharp contrast to Egypt and Mesopotamia, no temples have been found at any Harappan site.
• The Great Bath may have been used for ablutions - so it would be wrong to think priests ruled as in Lower Mesopotamia.
• Some indications of fire cult at Lothal (Gujarat) in the later phase, but no temples used for this purpose.
• Perhaps Harappan rulers were more concerned with commerce than conquests.
• Harappa was possibly ruled by a class of merchants.

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Mother Goddess

• Numerous terracotta figurines of women found at Harappa.
• One figurine shows a plant growing from the embryo of a woman -> image of the goddess of earth connected with origin and growth of plants.
• Harappans regarded the earth as a fertility goddess, worshipped as the Egyptians worshipped the Nile goddess Isis.
• Harappans may or may not have been matriarchal - we do not know the nature of inheritance.
• Worship of supreme goddess developed in Hinduism only from the sixth century AD (Durga, Amba, Kali, Chandi in Puranas and Tantra literature).

Male Deity - Proto-Shiva

• Male deity represented on a seal: three heads, horns, seated in yogi posture with one foot on the other.
• Surrounded by an elephant, tiger, rhinoceros, and has a buffalo below his throne; two deer at his feet.
• Recalls the image of Pasupati Mahadeva (lord of animals).
• Evidence of phallus worship - numerous phallus and female sex organ symbols in stone found at Harappa, connected with Shiva worship.
• Rig Veda speaks of non-Aryan people as phallus worshippers; phallus worship from Harappan times became a respectable form of worship in Hindu society.

Tree and Animal Worship

• People of the Indus region worshipped trees - a god represented in the midst of pipal tree branches (still worshipped today).
• Animals worshipped; humped bull most important - still held sacred in India.
• Gods worshipped in the form of trees, animals, and human beings - but NOT placed in temples (unlike Egypt and Mesopotamia).
• Amulets found in large numbers - Harappans believed in ghosts and evil forces; the Atharva Veda (considered a non-Aryan work) contains many charms against evil forces, connecting with this tradition.

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• Harappans invented the art of writing like ancient Mesopotamians.
• Earliest specimen of Harappan script noticed in 1853; complete script discovered by 1923.
• Has not been deciphered so far.
• Some connect it with Dravidian or proto-Dravidian language; others with Sanskrit; others with Sumerian - none satisfactory.
• The script is not alphabetical but mainly pictographic - each letter stands for some sound, idea, or object.
• Total: approximately 250 to 400 pictographs.
• An indigenous product of the Indus region - no connection with scripts of Western Asia.
• Unlike Egyptians and Mesopotamians, Harappans did not write long inscriptions; most inscriptions on seals contain only a few words.
• Because the script is undeciphered, we cannot judge Harappan contribution to literature or their ideas and beliefs.

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• Urban people of the Indus used weights and measures for trade and transactions.
• Weighing mostly by 16 or its multiples: 16, 64, 160, 320, 640.
• The tradition of 16 continued in India till modern times - 16 annas = one rupee.
• Harappans also knew the art of measurement - sticks inscribed with measure marks found; one made of bronze.

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Pottery

• Harappans were great experts in the use of the potter's wheel.
• Numerous pots painted in various colours; generally decorated with designs of trees and circles; images of men also found on pottery fragments.
• Pottery made glossy and shining.

Seals

• The greatest artistic creations of the Harappan culture are the seals.
• About 2000 seals found; great majority carry short inscriptions with pictures of the one-horned bull, buffalo, tiger, rhinoceros, goat, and elephant.
• Seals used by propertied people to mark and identify private property.

Images and Sculpture

• Harappan artisans made beautiful images of metal - best specimen: a woman dancer made of bronze (naked except for a necklace).
• Stone sculptures: one steatite statue with ornamental robe over the left shoulder.
• Terracotta figurines: fire-baked earthen clay; birds, dogs, sheep, cattle, monkeys; men and women; used as toys or worship objects.
• Seals and images manufactured with great skill - used by upper classes; terracotta pieces (unsophisticated) used by common people.
• Harappan culture is poor in artistic works made of stone - no massive stone sculpture as in Egypt or Mesopotamia.

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Chronology

• Harappan culture existed between 2500 BC and 1750 BC.
• Mature phase: 2200 BC to 2000 BC.
• Around 1750 BC, the two most important cities (Harappa and Mohenjo-daro) disappeared; culture faded out in outlying areas of Gujarat, Rajasthan, and western UP.

Origin

• Difficult to explain - several pre-Harappan settlements found in Baluchistan and Kalibangan (Rajasthan).
• Connection with mature Harappan culture not clear; the culture may have evolved out of indigenous settlements.
• No clear proof of outside influence; Mesopotamian contact may have provided some stimulus.
• Certain elements make the Harappan culture distinctly Indian: chess-board town planning, streets, drainage pipes, cesspit systems. The Harappan culture is notably different from Western Asian cities - this confirms its Indianness.

The End - Causes

Various theories have been proposed:

1. Decreasing fertility: Increasing salinity of soil caused by expansion of the neighbouring desert.
2. Sudden subsidence or uplift of land causing floods.
3. Destroyed by the Aryans (still others).

Signs of decline in the later phase of Mohenjo-daro: hoards of jewellery buried; skulls huddled together; new types of axes, daggers, knives with mid-ribs and flat tangs in upper levels -> may betray some foreign influence.

New peoples: Traces of new peoples in a cemetery of the late phase of Harappa; new pottery in Harappan sites of Baluchistan.

Painted Grey Ware generally associated with Vedic people found in conjunction with some late Harappan pottery at several sites in Punjab and Haryana.

The Rig Vedic Aryans settled in the land of the Seven Rivers (where Harappan culture flourished), but no evidence of mass-scale confrontation between Harappans and Aryans.

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• The largest Bronze Age cultural zone in the ancient world - larger than Egypt and Mesopotamia.
• The only civilisation to develop an excellent drainage system - perhaps only Knossos (Crete) comes close.
• Invented a unique script - indigenous and distinct from all other ancient scripts.
• Structures of Harappa cover 5 km in circuit - largest of their type in the Bronze Age.
• The Indus people were the earliest producers of cotton in the world.
• Harappan religious elements - phallus worship, tree worship, animal worship, mother goddess - directly link to later Hinduism.
• The system of weights using multiples of 16 persisted in India till the metric system replaced it.

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• GS Paper I - Art and Culture: Harappan seals, pottery, dance, and religious iconography are direct predecessors of many Hindu traditions - connecting prehistoric and classical India.
• Urban Planning and Governance: The grid system, drainage, granaries, and citadel-lower town division represent early experiments in town administration - relevant to themes of governance and urban history.
• Trade and Economy: Barter-based long-distance trade with Mesopotamia demonstrates India's early integration into global trade networks - a theme of continuity in Indian economic history.
• Indus <-> Vedic Transition: The debate on Aryan invasion/migration and whether Aryans destroyed the Harappan culture is one of the most contested historiographical questions in Indian history.
• Ecology and Civilisation: The role of the Indus floods in creating fertility and the eventual ecological degradation (deforestation for brick-burning, overgrazing) that may have contributed to decline - connects to environment-history themes.
• Continuity of Religious Practice: Phallus worship, mother goddess cult, tree and animal worship, use of amulets - all link the Harappan civilisation with later Hindu society, demonstrating remarkable cultural continuity.

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1. Harappan script has NOT been deciphered: A very common error. The complete script was discovered in 1923 but remains undeciphered. Do not confuse 'discovered' with 'deciphered'.

2. Lothal is in Gujarat, NOT Sindh or Rajasthan: Lothal is at the head of the Gulf of Cambay in Gujarat - a port city. Kalibangan is in Rajasthan. Chanhu-daro is in Sindh.

3. Banwali is in Haryana, NOT Rajasthan: Banwali is in Hissar district of Haryana. Kalibangan is in northern Rajasthan. Students frequently swap these.

4. The Great Bath is at Mohenjo-daro, NOT Harappa: The largest building at Mohenjo-daro is the Great Bath/Granary. Harappa has six granaries. These are separate structures at separate sites.

5. Horse was NOT a regular feature of Harappan culture: Evidence is ambiguous and from superficial levels or doubtful contexts. The horse became prominent only with the Vedic people. Surkotada horse remains are debated.

6. Harappans did NOT use metallic money: All exchanges were through barter. There is no evidence of any currency.

7. Harappan script is pictographic, NOT alphabetical: Each symbol represents a sound, idea, or object - not an alphabet. There are 250-400 pictographs.

8. No temples found at any Harappan site: Unlike Egypt and Mesopotamia, Harappan cities had no temple structures. The Great Bath served ritual purposes. This rules out priestly rule similar to Lower Mesopotamia.

9. Cotton was first produced by the Indus people, NOT Egypt or China: The Greeks called it from Sindh - a UPSC-favourite fact.

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• Harappan civilisation: 2500-1750 BC; mature phase 2200-2000 BC
• Discovered: 1921 at Harappa, West Punjab (Pakistan)
• Area: ~1,299,600 sq km - largest Bronze Age cultural zone in the world
• Six cities: Harappa, Mohenjo-daro, Chanhu-daro, Lothal, Kalibangan, Banwali
• Great Bath: Mohenjo-daro - 11.88 x 7.01 m, 2.43 m deep
• Largest granary: Mohenjo-daro - 45.71 x 15.23 m
• Grid system: roads at right angles; citadel + lower town structure
• Cotton: first produced by Indus people (Greeks called it sindon)
• Rice: found at Lothal as early as 1800 BC
• Script: 250-400 pictographs; NOT deciphered; NOT alphabetical; indigenous
• Weights: multiples of 16 (16, 64, 160, 320, 640)
• Trade: barter; links with Mesopotamia; Meluha = Indus region
• Horse: NOT in regular use; evidence from Surkotada debated
• Political organisation: possibly merchant class; NO temples; NO priestly rule
• Religion: mother goddess, proto-Shiva (Pasupati), phallus worship, tree and animal worship, amulets
• No metallic money; no alphabetical script; no massive stone sculpture
• Decline c. 1750 BC; causes debated - ecological degradation, floods, possible foreign incursion
• No evidence of mass confrontation between Harappans and Aryans