Indus Valley Civilization

The Indus Valley Civilization was a Bronze Age Civilization. It is one of the oldest civilizations in the Indian subcontinent and it started around 3200 BCE, got its full maturity around 2500 BCE and decline after 2000 BCE. It was located in the North-Western region of the Indian subcontinent. Over one thousand sites discovered so far (including Harappa and Mohenjodaro), huge area of 1500 * 1200 km in Punjab, Sindh, Baluchistan, Rajasthan and other areas in both Pakistan and India.

Flourishing around the Indus river basin, the civilization primarily centered along the Indus and the Punjab region extending into the Ghaggar-Hakra river valley and Ganges-Yamuna Doab, encompassing most of what is now Pakistan, the western states (Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan) of modern day India as well as extending into south-eastern Afghanistan and the easternmost part of Baluchistan, Iran.

Cities
A sophisticated and technologically advanced urban culture is evident in the Indus Valley civilization. The quality of municipal town planning suggests knowledge of urban planning and efficient municipal governments. The cities of Indus Valley civilization, Harappa, Mohenjodaro and recently partially excavated Ralahigarhi included the worlds first known urban population systems. There were also a room aside of bathing and covered drains were lined the major streets. Houses opened only to inner the count yards and smaller lanes. The styles of building houses in same small village still remind us the house building of the
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Harappans. The sewerage and drainage system that was developed and used in cities throughout the Indus region were far more advanced than any found in contemporary urban cities in the middle east and even more efficient than those in many areas of Pakistan and India today. Most city dwellers appear to have been traders or artisans who lived with others pursuing the same occupation in well-defined neighborhoods. Although some houses were larger than others, Indus civilization cities were remarkable for their apparent. All the houses had access to water and drainage facilities. So, Indus Valley civilization had a thought of low wealth concentration nut clear social leveling is seen in personal adornments.

Town Planning
The excavation undertaken in various places gives a clear indication that the people of Indus valley civilization were primarily urban people. There were evidence found in the ruins which shows the usage of sophisticated technology and quality of municipal town planning. There was immaculate town planning having two divisions. 1. Citadel for the rulers 2. Lower town for the common people

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Citadel: Citadel was the place for the upper class people. Citadel was built of mud
and mud brick. It was raised on a platform which was 7-14 meters high. It included important public buildings and residences of administrations, the Great Bath, Granary, High priests residence, assembly hall. The houses were protected from noise, odors and thieves. There were protective walls for protection from flood and attackers. These structures were defensive.

Lower Town: The lower town was also well planned. It was enclosed by walls.
Broad, straight roads were dividing the town into blocks. The entire block was almost of equal size and also there were walls which were privately or publicly owned. It also included bathrooms and toilets. This urban plan included the worlds first urban sanitation system. Other characteristics of the town planning: 1. Careful planning of town 2. Fine drainage system which were made of gypsum, lime and cement. They were covered and covers were portable. Main drains were 2 feet to 5 feet broad. The small drains were connected with the main drains. 3. Well arranged water supply system proves that all possible steps were taken to make the town comfortable for the citizens. 4. The street light system and watch and ward arrangement at right to outwit the lawbreakers. 5. Specific places to through rubbish and waste materials. 6. Public wells on street and wells in every house. 7. The streets were intersected in right angles and so arranged that the prevailing winds could work as a sort of suction pump and thereby clean the atmosphere automatically. 8. The owners of the pottery kilns were allowed to build the furnaces within the town to save it from air pollution.
9. The extensive drainage system adopted by the people of Indus Valley Civilization

unhesitatingly proves that the people of that time had developed a high sense of health and sanitation.
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Art
The people of the Indus Valley civilization were very much skilled in art, craft and sculpture. Various sculptures, seals, pottery, gold jewelry and anatomically detailed figurines in terracotta, bronze and steatite have been found at excavation sites. A number of terracotta and stone figurines of girls in dancing poses reveal the presence of dance from that time. The statue of healthy bull, a strong watch-dog, a shawl-wearing yogi proves that the people were highly proficient. Greek artistry could possibly have been anticipated by the sculptors of a far-off age on the bank of the Indus. The people were also expert in making different colored and glazed potteries and paintings. The paintings contained the figures of human beings, animals and other objects of nature.

Many crafts such as shell working, ceramics and glazed bead making were used to make necklaces, bangles and other ornaments. Still these are practiced in the subcontinent today. Terracotta female figurines were found in Harappa. Harappans also made toys and games. The cubical dice including six holes were found in Mohenjo-daro. Seals were also found there. In the art of writing, people used to follow the art of pictographic. In fine, it is clear that people of Indus Valley civilization were very much expert in arts and were great lovers of beauty and fashion.

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Science
The people of Indus Valley civilization achieved great accuracy in measuring length, mass and time. Their smallest division which is marked on an ivory scale of the Bronze Age found in Lothal was approximately 1.704 mm. Engineers followed the decimal division of measurement for all practical purposes. These chart weights were in a perfect ratio of 5:2:1. The weights and measures found in Kautiliyas Arthoshastra (4th century BCE) are the same as those used in Lothal. Unique Harappan inventions include an instrument which was used to measure. They also used some new techniques in metallurgy and produced copper, bronze, lead and tin. Their skills were remarkable. The function of the so-called dock at Lothal however is disputed. They were also skilled in dentistry. According to the authors, their discoveries point to a tradition of proto-dentistry in the early farming cultures. A touchstone bearing gold streaks was found in Banawali which was probably used for testing the purity of gold.

Indus Script
The Indus Script is not yet deciphered. Well over 400 distinct Indus symbols have been found on seals, small tablets or ceramic pots and over a dozen other materials including a sign board that apparently once hung over the gate of the Inner citadel of the Indus city of Dholavira. Typical Indus inscriptions are more than 4 or 5 characters in length. While the society is generally characterized as a literate one, the description has been challenged on linguistic and archeological grounds. Some believe that the Indus system did not encode language but was instead similar to a variety of non-linguistic sign systems used extensively in the Near East and other societies. Others have claimed that, the symbols were exclusively used for transactions. The scripts were quite similar to the Hieroglyphic script.

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Religion
Indus Valley civilization is the goddess centered religious system of the urban civilization that emerged in the Indus Valley of western India around 2500 BCE and declined into a series of successor posturban village cultures after 1750 BCE. The antecedents of this religion lie in the village cultures of Baluchistan and Afghanistan which were part of a larger regional cultural system in western Asia that also included the village cultures of southern Turkmenistan and the Elamite culture of southwestern Iran. Common religious patterns within this larger region continued into the early stages of urbanization in Elam, Turkmenistan and the Indus Valley, after which the unification of the local regions and subsequent historical changes led to separation. Elam was drawn into the orbit of Sumerian and Akkadian culture. Turkmenistan was settled by new groups from the northern steppes and Indus settlement shifted eastward into the Ganges-Yamuna valley in the North and Gujarat and the Deccan Plateau in the South as the original cities in the Indus valley were abandoned. After the entry of Aryan tribes into northern India around 1500 BCE, the continuity of Indus valley religion is found mainly in the Dravidian cultures of south India, although various elements were also preserved in the village cultures of north India and in the synthesis of Aryan and non-Aryan cultures that marked late Vedic and post-Vedic developments in the Ganges-Yamuna valley.

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The Harappan religion was polytheistic. Scholars are unable to draw a conclusion regarding the religion of Indus people. However, some historians are of the opinion that Harappan people were Hindus. No temple however has yet been discovered. Evidence suggests that many of the features of modern Indian cults are derived from very ancient sources. In the Indus civilization, worship of the Shakti, Lord Shiva and his consorts, worship of the animals like the tiger, bull, goat, snake and also the worship of Peepal tree and Neem tree. The unicorn God probably represented Ma while the cattle God probably represented Goddess Kali or Uma as the mother Goddess. It has been suggested that fourarmed deities are anticipated to be Gods like Lord Brahma and Lord Vishnu while the standing deities suggest Jain Yogis in the posture of Yoga known as Kayot-sarga.

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Society
In Indus Valley civilization, the society was divided into three distinct social groups. One group ruled and administered the city and the other group included the merchants who were associated with trade and other business activities in the city. The third group was that of the laborers who worked in the city. Farmers are also included into this group who cultivated wheat and barley as their man crops. For transport of men and goods double ox carts must have been in use. Excepting the camel, the usual beasts of burden were known. The horse was also known by the beginning of the first millennium BC. Terracotta cart frames and wheels with and without hubs have been found. Jewellery was hugely worn by both men and women of Indus Valley civilization. The pieces of ornaments were primarily made of gold, copper and silver. Necklaces, armlets and rings were common jewelleries for men. On the other hand, women decked themselves up with earrings, necklaces, anklets, bangles, girdles, bracelets and others. Ivory products like combs were also popular among the people of this civilization. Besides, these people enjoyed playing with dice and marbles. Gambling was a favorite past time of the elder members of the society.

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Agriculture
In Indus civilization, agriculture was their main occupation. They used to cultivate wheat, barley, vegetables, cotton cultivate was widely practiced. The discovery of spindle and spinning wheels shows that the people of the age possessed good of spinning. The people were both vegetarian and non-vegetarian in Indus Valley civilization. There were two crops in a year. Melon and dates were their two common fruits.

Trade and Industry

Trade commerce substantially added to the prosperity of the people of Indus Valley. Internal trade was carried on land route and distance was generally covered by bullock carts. For external trade, water route was followed. It is apparent that trade link continued with Egypt, Sumeria, Babylonia, and Mesopotamia.

Causes of Disappearances of the Indus Valley Civilization

Some scholars told that change of climate conditions was the root-causes of decay of such a rich civilization. On the other hand, according to one school of scholars, rain fall gradually declined in the area and eventually turned the Sindh into a desert. Another group feels that natural calamity like flood, cyclone, earthquake etc was responsible for a destruction of such a rich civilization. Broadly speaking, in absence of any concrete material at the stage, we have to depend on the guess- work and wait for fresh materials if discovered in coming days.
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