Indus valley civilization [harappa and mohejodaro] short summary in nutshell

Indus valley civilization [harappa and mohejodaro] 

Almost a thousand years ago,  early human beings started to move towards the Indus Valley and slowly they settled there and built a civilization that is called Indus Valley Civilization according to the anthropologists. They assumed the name " India" also derived from the river Indus. Besides many old literary evidence and scriptures proved that Aryan at first started to settle around the bank of river Indus, hence they called Indus, the Sindhu from there the source of India maybe.

Indus valley Civilization Discovery Period;

Indus Valley Civilization was discovered around the 20th century that flourished in the land of the Indian subcontinent. Almost 1400 plus settlements brought to light belonging to Indus Valley Civilization.

Location of Indus Valley Civilization:

The Indus Valley Civilization mainly lies north to south direction almost 1400 km of Indian subcontinent & east to west 1600 km that lies India & Pakistan also. Indus Valley Civilization settlements mainly lie in the Valley of Saraswati River drainage system that today almost extinct. River Saraswati is also known as different names in different geographical areas like " Ghaggar" in Punjab & " Chakara" in the Baluchistan district of Pakistan. Indus Valley Civilization is older compared to the Chalcolithic culture of the Stone age. It was also a larger Civilization than Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia respectively. It stretched in north direction from Manda of Kambu and Kashmir to southernmost site Daimabad of Maharastra state of India. Indus Valley Civilization extended from westernmost site Sutkagen Dor of Pakisthan to easternmost site  Alamgirpur of Uttar Pradesh of India.

Important sites of Indus Valley Civilization:
Mhenjodaro;
 Mahenjodaro the word denotes itself " Mould of the dead".Mohenjodaro, a major site found in Indus Valley Civilization located in Sindh of Pakistan. It is the largest site of Indus Valley Civilization discovered in 1922 by Bengali Anthropologist Rakhaldas Banerjee who belongs to the West Bengal state of India. Great bath most important relic of Mohenjodaro used for the public for religious bath found in Mohenjodaro.It measured 8 feet deep, 23 feet breadth,39  feet length. Other important pieces of evidence found in Mohenjodaro is multi pillared assembly hall & big rectangular-shaped building for administrative purposes, Pashupati seal, a statue of the dancing girl made of Bronze, steatite idol of bearded man, mother Goddess made of clay, granary, and Yogi image.

Other Important sites of Indus Valley Civilization:

Harappa;
At present Harappa, another site of Indus Valley Civilization discovered with the help of Daya Ram Sahani in 1921 beside the bank of river Ravi. The vast hillocks & Mound at Harappa were discovered by Masson & later there visited Alexander Cunningham in 1853 & 1873 respectively. Many granaries have found here which was mainly used by the people of Indus Valley Civilization for storing grain and cereals. The Inhabitants of the Indus Valley People used mainly two types of typical building R 37 and " H" type. They used different types of building for people engaged in different social activities. Other important relics found in Harappa are a nude dancing female figure, lingam, Yoni, virgin Goddess, nude male Torso shows traces of Jainism, Vanity box, dice, and mirror. They also cultivated many crops like barley and wheat.

Other Major Harappan sites and year of Excavation of Indus Valley Civilization:

Indus valley civilization [harappa and mohejodaro] 

1. Kot Diji discovered by Fazal Khan in 1955 on the left bank of Indus.

2. Ropar discovered by YD Sharma in 1953 located on the bank of Sutlej.

3. Alamgirpur discovered bu YD Sharma in 1958 located on the bank of the Hindon river of Meerut of India.

4. Lothal discovered by SR Rao in 1955 in Gujrat near the Gulf of Cambay. It was the main dockyard of Indus Valley Civilization.

5. Kalibangan discovered by A Ghosh in 1955 in Rajasthan on the bank of Ghaggar which is also known to Saraswati.

6. Bhansali discovered by RS Bisht in 1974 in Haryana.

7.Balakot discovered in 1973 by George F Dales.

8.Surkotada in 1964 discovered by JP Joshi located in Bhuj district of Gujrat

Major import goods of Indus Valley Civilization:

1. Gold imported from Persia, Karnataka, and Afghanistan.

2. Lead imported from Rajasthan and south India.

3.Lapis lazuli imported from Kashmir.

4. Carnelian imported from Saurashtra.

5.Tin from Afganisthan.

6.Copper from Rajasthan.

7.silver from Afganisthan.

Language and script and language used by Indus Valley Civilization People.

Mainly the people of Indus Valley Civilization people used Pictographic script which undeciphered even now. There is widespread use of fish symbols in the script of Indus Valley people. They usually formed their writing at first from right to left and next vice versa. The writing style used by them is called Boustrophedon.

The social and political life of Indus Valley people:

They formed an urban way of life. Middle-class people mainly were much compared to other classes of people. There were many classes of people like merchants, craftsmen, farmers, workers, and priests also. women knew the art of wall painting and they used different types of ornaments and jewelry like bracelets and necklaces. The male person of Indus Valley Civilization used cotton garments that were formed in two parts. these are no clear evidence of the political life of Indus Valley Civilization people. They did not know the use of arms and weapons.

The religious life of Indus Valley people.

They worshipped trees, animals, birds, and stone also which may be included  Dove, pigeon, and bull. Pipal tree was holy to them. They did not practice any temple or idolatry. They used to wear amulets as protection from evil forces, like ghosts, demon, etc. They also worshipped phallus( lingam) female sex organ ( yoni) made of stone. Pashupati Shiva( proto Shiva) was the main male deity worshipped by them. It sat on a low thorn in yogi posture and having three faces and two horns surrounded by an elephant, a tiger, rhino, and buffalo, and two deer remain at its feet.

The economic life of Indus Valley Civilization people:

Economic life principally based o  agriculture, farming, animal domestication, and trading both external & internal. The soil of Indus valley was fertile due to flood and inundation alluvial soil sediment layered both sides of the river basin. As a result of agriculture was the main occupation of the people. It was also the backbone of the people. They produced mainly barley, wheat, date, peas, sesame, millet, mustard? jawar, bajra & ragi. There also found some evidence that proves they learned to produce paddy also. Cotton was the first crop produced by the people of Indus people. But they did not know how to grow sugarcane. People mainly dealt with the product from agriculture, forest, and industry. They practiced the barter system. They did not use the coin in the exchange of goods.limestone and steatite was used to measure the goods. They practiced the linear system as there found vast use of 16 several sticks. People of Indus Valley traded with Afganisthan and Turmenisthan and Bahrain. For the first time, they used the seal for commerce which found in Mesopotamia. They formed a humped bull shaped seal and cylindrical seal also. They also exported Indigo to Egypt for the first time. They also domesticated different types of cattle like ass, goats, pig, elephant, dogs, cat, buffalo, sheep and oxen.

The drainage system of Indus valley Civilization people:

They used a unique system of drainage. It was interesting. Each house of the city had a bathroom and courtyard.water from the house flows to the street were had a drain. Street drain mainly made of mortar, gypsum, and lime which reflects the sense of health as well as sanitation. Drains were principally made of brunt bricks.

The town planning of Indus Valley Civilization People.

Houses were multi-stories no window faced to street, used mainly brunt bricks, no use of stone found and pillars were not around one. Town planning was grading system .street cut across one another into a right angle. Street divided the town into a rectangular shaped. Town had two parts upper and lower parts. Upper was for the ruling class and lower was for common people.

Reason of decline of Indus Valley Civilization 

Indus valley civilization [harappa and mohejodaro] 

1. Climate Change according to RL Stein, AN Ghosh.

2. The sudden decline was the main reason viewed by Wheeler.

3. External Aggression according to Piggot, Wheeler, Gordan Childe.

4. Epidemic according to KVR Kennedy.

5. Inundation & flooding according to MR Sahani.

6.Flood by  Marshal, SR Rao

7.Change of Course of River Ghaggar which is also known to Swaraswati by GF Holes.

8.Deforestation by Walter and Fairservis.

9.Techtonic disturbance by Raikes and Marshal.