Indus Valley

The 15 Most Important Facts About Indus Valley Civilization (Part 2)

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8. Planning of the Cities

The Indus Valley Civilization is famous for its city planning. Major cities like Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro are the best examples of Indus Valley city planning. Both of the cities had multi-storeyed houses made of evenly sized bricks. The people of the civilization used gypsum and mud to set the bricks to build their houses. This technique made the houses durable. Each of the houses had direct access to the drainage system and there were wells to provide water. The roads were wide enough to let two carriages pass side by side. The roads of Mohenjo-Daro were about 30 feet wide.

The cities were fortified and divided into two parts. The main part of the city was the citadel and the second was the lower part of the city. Archaeologists believe that the high-class people used to live in the citadel and the lower class people lived in the lower parts of the city. However, in both parts of the city houses were built on high platforms. The buildings had connections to the drainage system. According to historians, there were 2000-3000 buildings and 700 wells in Mohenjo-Daro.

9.The Great Bath and the Great Granary

Mohenjo-Daro is mostly famous for having a huge bathhouse known as ‘The Great Bath’. It was the largest public building in the city. This public bath had an area of 900 square feet. There was a deep well on the east side of the bath. The well provided the necessary water and there was also a drainage system to carry away the water. The bath was made of watertight bricks and it was ornamented beautifully. Some historians have speculated that the bath might have been a huge baptismal pool. Later on, this might have influenced the Indian caste system and ritual of purity.

“The Great Bath” By bennylin0724 is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0

A little west of the Great bath there was a granary that covered an area of 1350 square meters. Different kinds of grains were collected from the villages and stored in the granary. Many buildings with the same structures were also seen in other cities of the Indus Valley. So, it seems the cities followed each other to plan the cities.

10 Trade and Commerce of Indus Valley Civilization

The Indus Valley people not only traded among themselves but also exchanged with the outsiders. Archaeologists found seals of Indus Valley in Mesopotamia. This proves that these seals were traded during business exchanges. Also, the bronze found in Indus Valley was not native to that region. So, they actually traded among different cities and foreign countries. A city is known as “Meluha” was mentioned in an ancient text of Mesopotamia. Archaeologists believe this Melhua is probably one of the cities of the Indus Valley Civilization. They also found some glass items of 1700 BCE in Harappa. These glass items might be the first items made of glass in history. So, glass Items, cotton cloths, and different kinds of grains were traded inside and outside of the Indus Valley. Hence, merchants and traders of the Indus Valley travelled far to maintain their business.

People of different professions such as priests, farmers, fishermen, potters, blacksmiths, herdsmen, and hunters lived in the Indus Valley. The people had their measurement system. Cube-shaped weight stones were used to measure products and seals were attached to describe the item and its quantity. The seals probably contained the name of the traders. But then again, not much is known about the Indus Script. So, it is not clear what was the function of the seals.

11. Language of the Indus Valley People

The language and writing system of the Indus Valley Civilization is still a mystery. The earliest form of Indus Valley script was possibly invented during the early Harappa period (c. 3500-2700 BCE). There were signs attested on Ravi and Kot Diji poetry excavated at Harappa. The Indus Valley script was fully developed during the urban period. During the 2500 BCE, the script was widely used. However, after 1800 BCE, the writing system gradually disappeared. About 4000 samples of inscriptions have been found from Mohenjo-Daro and other cities of the Indus Valley. Unfortunately, they are impossible to decipher. There are many different opinions about the source of the writing system. Some archaeologists believe it came from Sumerian scripts and some say Egyptians. There is also strong support claiming that it originated from the Proto-Elamite script.

12. Seals of Indus Valley

The greatest examples of the Indus Valley civilization are the thousands of seals and clay tablets. Most of these seals and tablets have small inscriptions carved on them. Archaeologists discovered various types of seals. They are rectangular or square seals having symbols and pictures. They contain images of sacred animals such as cow, bull, unicorn, and elephants. Moreover, images of deities are also engraved on the seals and tablets. A seal depicts a man standing between a wild bull and a tiger. Another seal shows a fisherman catching fish with a net. Thus, the seals and tablets helped to understand this civilization and its people.

13. Art, Culture and Religion of the Indus Valley People

Like the language, the religious belief of the Harappa civilization is also a mystery. Unlike Mesopotamia and Egypt, The Indus Valley had no enormous sculptures or monuments. This means the rulers or priests did not influence the people to build magnificent sculptures or monuments in the name of religion or state. Thus, there are no ruins of noteworthy temples or halls for religious rituals. However, archaeologists collected small and medium sculptures of men, women, and animals have from the sites.

The discoveries show the religious involvement of the Indus people. Several bronze statues and figures of a dancing woman are examples of the aesthetic thinking of the people. There is another statue of a woman that has a plant coming out of her belly. The Indus people probably worshiped a mother goddess. The seals and tablets also give us a hint of the religion and culture of civilization. Among the 1524 seals, there are 1150 seals of unicorns. Besides, the unicorns there are pictures of bison, elephant, bull, tiger, and hare. These animal symbols were representations of gods and goddesses. The people used these seals to protect themselves from any kind of harm.

Bronze “Dancing Girl,” Mohenjo-daro, c. 2500 BC By Gary Todd.

An exceptional seal from Mohenjo-Daro illustrates a human deity sitting with a rhinoceros. There is a water buffalo on one side, and an elephant and a tiger on the other side. Many historians and archaeologists think that the deity is the ancient form of Lord Shiva as Pashupati, ‘the lord of beasts’ or ‘the protector of cattle’. Another group of scholars criticized the claim. They argued that Hindu beliefs came thousands of years later in India. So, whether the Indus Valley people had only one religion or not is not clear. They might have different religious beliefs and cast systems. Hence, historians are still looking for answers.

14. Crafts of The Indus Civilization

The time of the Indus Valley Civilization was truly the Bronze Age of India. Back in the days, Indus Valley people used modern techniques in metallurgy. They could produce elements like copper, bronze, tin, and lead. They could make different sculptures, potteries, jewelry, seals, buttons, human and animal figures. Undoubtedly, the Indus people were great craftsmen. Archaeologists found two miniature figures of male torsos from Harappa. These figures were carved from stone and they were anatomically perfect. The stone figures appear to be more lifelike than the Greek archaic period which started thousands of years later than the Indus Valley Civilization. The people of Indus Valley could even forge tools and weapons with stones, copper, and bronze. Thus, they made sharp knives, axes, chisels, razors, hooks, sickles, and saws.

15. The End of The Indus Valley Civilization

The decline of civilization is still a mystery. There are theories about the end of the Indus Valley Civilization. The Indus people did not morph into the current population of the area of Pakistan and India. The people now living in that area probably came from the Caucasus. From 1750 BCE the civilization declined and gradually faded away. Historians have a few theories about the end of this great civilization.

First, the Caucasus might have defeated them in a war and replaced them. Archaeologists did not have many weapons for defence and attack in sites of the Indus valley. There are also signs that they might have fought with each other. This is because the Indus people were peace-loving people and did not make many weapons for war. It turned out to be a wrong idea, and foreign invaders defeated them

Secondly, the weather might have changed because of pollution and cutting down the forest lands. Famine and lack of food became severe. And so, the people had to leave the area.

Thirdly, Natural disasters like the earthquake might have occurred. A massive earthquake changed the course of the river. As a result, many tributaries dried up and affected the water supply of the cities. The cities failed to sustain the vast population. Eventually, the people left for a better place and opportunity.

Harappa Indus Valley

The 15 Most Important Facts About Indus Valley Civilization (Part 1)

Reading Time: 6 minutes

Table Of Contents

Ancient Indus Valley
1. Discovery of the Civilization
2. Chronology
3. Extent and Geography
4. Nearby Rivers
5. The Population of Indus Valley
6. The Early Settlers of Indus Valley
7. Agriculture and Animals of Indus Valley Civilization

Ancient Indus Valley

The Indus Valley Civilization is one of the most ancient civilizations in the world. There are many facts about The Indus Valley Civilization that can amaze us. The civilization was established during 3300 BCE. Archaeologists named the civilization after the Indus River region as they discovered the civilization on the banks of the river. The Indus Valley Civilization is also known as the Harappan Civilization because Harappa was the first city to be discovered in that region. The archaeologists are still working to know the full extent of this civilization. So, a lot about this technologically advanced civilization is still unknown.

Harappan (Indus Valley) Bronze Chariot, Diamabad, c. 2000 BC By Gary Lee Todd, Ph.D. is marked with CC0 1.0

Here are the 15 most important facts about Indus Valley Civilization which you should know about:

1. Discovery of the Civilization

The discovery of the Indus Valley Civilization is fascinating. In 1856, the East Indian Railway Company planned to set up a rail line between Lahore and Multan. The British engineer John Brunton required some bricks to complete the rail line. The locals told him that he could collect the necessary materials from the ruins of an ancient city in Brahmanabad. The villagers themselves used the bricks from that city to build their houses. As advised, Brunton collected the required bricks from the ancient city. Then, he used them to build the rail line.

“Cut brick, Indus Valley Tradition, Harappan Phase, Chanhu Daro, Pakistan, c. 2500-1900 BC – Royal Ontario Museum – DSC09716.JPG” by Daderot is marked with CC0 1.0

After a few months, William Brunton, John’s brother who was also an engineer, found the ruins of another ancient city. He found the city a little north from the rail line construction site. According to William’s statement, the East Indian Railway Company built 150 kilometers of Karachi to Lahore railway with the materials of the ancient cities. After learning about the ruins, archaeologist Alexander Cunningham came to Harappa. Archaeological Survey of India was established in 1861. The survey appointed Cunningham as the first Director-General. Between 1872 and 1875 Cunningham revealed a seal from Indus Valley civilization for the first time. By 1912, more seals and stamps were collected from the ruins. These discoveries hinted the existence of an ancient civilization in that area.

In 1922, R. D. Banerji, an officer of the Archaeological Survey of India, discovered the ancient city of Mohenjo-Daro in the Larkana district of Sindh. He found the remains of the city near the banks of Indus River. ASI Director John Marshall named the newly discovered civilization as Indus Valley Civilization. This discovery led to major excavations from 1922 to 1923. Since then, it has been clear that there was an ancient civilization that was about to change history. Since then, archaeologists have discovered over 1050 sites. However, only 96 sites have been excavated until now.

2. Chronology

All that we know about the Indus Valley Civilization comes from archaeological evidence. The historians may argue about the time of the rise and fall of this civilization. However, the timeline can be divided into roughly three periods. The Early Harappan Phase lasted from 3300 to 2600 BCE. The Mature Harappan Phase was from 2600 to 1900 BCE and finally, the Late Harappan Phase prevailed from 1900 to 1300 BCE.

3. Extent and Geography

The total size of the Indus Civilization is about 1,300,000 sq. km which makes it the largest ancient civilization ever discovered in history. This civilization flourished throughout North-Western India. The civilization was not limited to the Sindh province of Pakistan. It also extended to North and South Balochistan. This civilization was almost 20 times greater than the ancient Egyptian civilization and 12 times larger than the combined area of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. According to historians, the Indus Valley civilization spread from the Himalayas in the north to the Cambay Gulf, the Arabian Sea, and the west from the Iran-Pakistan border to the north of India. Harappa, Mohenjo-Daro, Chhangarro, Sutkajendor, Lothal, and Kalibangal were the major cities of Indus Valley Civilization. Moreover, the archaeologists measured some of the cities. Mohenjo-Daro was about 200 hector and Harappa was 150 hector.

4. Nearby Rivers

Indus Valley Civilization grew and thrived in the basins of two major rivers. One is the Indus River which is one of the longest rivers in Asia and another one is the Ghaggar-Hakra River. Many scholars believe that the Ghaggar-Hakra River is the dried up form of the Sarasvati River. The early settler of the Indus Valley started living near the rivers because the rivers kept the lands fertile for producing crops. They were the first farmers who lived together and built a village. Eventually, they established huge cities like Harappa, Mohenjo-Daro, Lothal, and so on. The people used the river water for numerous purposes like drinking, washing, and irrigating crop fields. The rivers were also a place for religious rituals like purification.

“Indus river delta” by Michael Foley Photography is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

5. The Population of Indus Valley

Based on the extent of the Indus Valley Civilization, we can easily estimate that there was a vast population. Among the cities, about 85,000 people lived in Mohenjo-Daro and 65,000 people lived in Harappa. Evidently, at least 250,000 people lived in the cities. Besides, it is only the number of people living in the cities. The archaeologists estimate that the number of people in the villages was 15 times more than the people living in the cities. So, the population was at least 4-6 million.

6. The Early Settlers of Indus Valley

A civilization does not grow over a night or two. Similarly, Indus Civilization has a beginning. The Neolithic Revolution took place in South Asia around 9000-6000 BCE. The earliest evidence of a sedentary lifestyle in that region has been at Mehrgarh, in the slopes of the Brahui Hills. The settlement established during 7000 BCE. The people were early farmers. They grew wheat and reared different kinds of cattle. The people used wheels to create pottery around 4500 BCE, and they knew how to weave clothes. According to some evidence, people of Mehrgarh used burned bricks to build houses that archaeologists discovered later in Indus Valley Civilization.

The inhabitants of Mehrgarh left Balochistan when the climate changed in their favour. Eventually, they migrated to the fertile lands of the Indus river valley. The farming communities continued to spread further east to other parts of Balochistan and Lower Sind (Pakistan). They formed small villages and had strong communication with each other. Later, the villages extended to Upper Sindh, Punjab, and the western parts of India. The people of Mehrgarh possibly started the civilization of Indus Valley. Their technique of pottery making, use of burned bricks and rituals are present in Indus Valley culture.

7. Agriculture and Animals of Indus Valley Civilization

According to scientists, monsoon rain drove the rivers flowing through this area about 4,500 years ago. This means when it rained the rivers would overflow and caused a flood. Thus, it affected agriculture. The soil was rich and fertile. So, people could grow wheat, barley, chickpea, lentils, mustard, sesame, and corn. The people cultivated cotton during the summer. Agriculture in the Indus valley flourished not only for the favourable conditions but also for the use of advanced cultivation tools. Using ploughs during the Early Indus civilization was common. The discovery of a clay model of ploughs from Banawali and Jawaiwala supports the claim. It confirms that the people used carts dragged by animals.

The excavators have found many fossils from Indus Valley cities. There is evidence that both humped and hump-less cattle, buffaloes, goats, sheep, pigs, asses, and fowls were common animals in The Indus Valley. Bones of dogs and cats were also found during the excavations. This are evidence that the Indus people domesticated many animals for their use. The seals of the Indus Valley also support the idea. Another seal shows a hunter hunting a water buffalo and some buffalo bones were also found. Elephants were likely used and hunted for ivory. Cattle were used for cultivation and providing meat for the huge population. Horses were not depicted in any seals. But bones of wild asses were found in some places.