Harappan Civilization in India: Historians Have Found Amazing Specimens From The Excavations Of Harappa. Which Match Indian Culture. History Of Harappa Civilization, Ancient Culture Of The World And India.

Table Of Contents { I.W.D. }

1 Introduction to Harappan Civilization in India

Indus Valley Civilization is also known as Harappan Civilization. Harappan Civilization in India was the main center of Indus Valley Civilization at that time. The first site of Indus Valley Civilization to be discovered is “Harappan Civilization”. Even before Harappa developed in this region, many cultures existed. Which is the third and largest civilization in the world. To differentiate Harappan Civilization from these cultures, sometimes it is also called “Developed Harappan Culture”. Its first discoverers were “Dayaram Sahni” and “Madho Swaroop Vats”. Who first carried out the excavation work here. They discovered many remains of Harappan Civilization in India.

Who were sent by John Marshall in 1921–22. Who carried out the search here in the initial stages. Indus Valley Civilization was named Harappa by John Marshall. In 1826 AD, Charles Mason gave information about the ruins of the sites named Harappa. Which proved to be from the Bronze Age.

2 Installation

Historians are not unanimous about the period of Harappan Civilization in India. The earliest period of Harappan Civilization is considered to be 8000 BC. The latest period is considered to be 1300 BC. On the basis of radio carbon method, the period of Harappan Civilization is considered to be between 2500 to 1500 BC.

Harappan Civilization in India is located on the banks of the river Ravi in District Montgomery in Punjab province of Pakistan. Harappan Civilization in India is related to the proto-historic period.

3 Description of the remains, people

The main source of information about the Harappan civilization in India is the excavations (help) of the Archaeological Survey of India.

During the excavation work, some seals were found from the Harappan civilization in India. The most distinctive antiquity of Harappa is a stone called alabaster. The seals of which have pictures of horned animals etc., in which bull is an example. Apart from this, a pictorial type of script was found. These people were familiar with this script. Which is very difficult to read in the present time. In the context of Harappan culture, evidence of rock-cut architecture was found from Dholavira. Mohenjodaro from where a huge bathhouse was discovered. And these cultures were related to their distinctive pottery style.

After this, in the Harappan civilization in India, in the process of preparing food, machines for grinding grains and utensils for mixing, blending and cooking them were required. All these were made from red stone, metal and clay. From here we also get evidence of agriculture, animal husbandry and some craftsmanship. These people also used to eat meat. Whose main crops were wheat and barley. The people of Harappan civilization in India used to consume many types of products obtained from plants and animals, fish etc. From the discovery of burnt grains and seeds here, archaeologists have been successful in obtaining information about food habits.

John Marshall had said that the residents of Harappan civilization in India used to worship Lord Shiva. Which includes worshipping nature etc. Excavation here revealed that the people of Harappan civilization in India used to bury the dead bodies.

Animal bones found from Harappan sites include bones of cattle, sheep, goat, buffalo and pig. Studies done by zoologist or bioarchaeologists indicate that all these animals were domesticated. Bones of wild species like boar (pig), deer and crocodile have also been found. However, we are unable to know this. The people of Harappan civilization in India used to hunt these animals themselves or get their meat from other hunter communities. Bones of fish and birds have also been found here.

3.1 Business

In India, the people of the Harappan civilization imported copper from Khetri in Rajasthan and Baluchistan. However, alabaster was imported from Baluchistan, Rajasthan and Gujarat. The Balakot site of Harappa was a special center for the manufacture of copper objects.

4 Construction and Architecture

The first city to be discovered in the Harappan civilization in India was Harappa city. Which is considered to be the second largest city in terms of area. The cities of Harappans are based on the grid style system. Where the settlements were usually small. In which large-sized structures were almost negligible. Where we get to see the drainage system. In the same construction process (houses), they used baked bricks. Whose ratio used to be 4: 2: 1:.

The roads of Harappan civilization in India are cut at right angles. The western high part of which is also called fort. Where the people of the (rich) class lived. Whose main work was to handle the fort, administration, etc. The lower part is located in the east. Where the common people (public) used to live.

In terms of time, the lowest layer of the city of Harappan civilization in India is considered to be of 3300 BC. And the newest layer is considered to be of 1300 BC. The areas here used to be triangular in shape.

5 Decline of Harappan Civilization in India

The main information about the decline of Harappan civilization in India and around the world is beyond the understanding of historians. However, historians from around the world have presented their arguments.

There is evidence from the Harappan civilization in India that by about 1800 BC, most of the developed Harappan sites in areas like Cholistan were abandoned. Apart from this, the population started increasing in new settlements in Gujarat, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh.

However, it seems that the post-Harappan areas of the Harappan civilization in India continued to exist even after 1900 BC. There was a change in the material culture of some selected Harappan sites. Such as the disappearance of the characteristic artifacts of the civilization, coins, seals and special beads. Writing, long distance trade and craft specialization also ended. Generally, only a few materials were used for the manufacture of few objects. There was a decline in housing construction techniques. And the construction of large public structures now stopped. Overall, the artifacts and settlements point to a rural lifestyle in these cultures. These cultures of the Harappan civilization in India were called “post-Harappan” or “successor culture”.

Several explanations have been put forward as to how these changes occurred. These include climate change, deforestation, excessive flooding, drying up or shifting of rivers, and overuse of land. Some of these causes may be true for some settlements, but do not explain the decline of the entire civilization.

It appears that the one strong unifying element of the Harappan civilization in India, possibly the Harappan state, came to an end. Changes such as the disappearance of seals, script, distinctive beads and pottery, the use of local weights in place of a standardized weight system, the decline and abandonment of cities, support this argument. The subcontinent had to wait more than a millennium for new cities to develop in a completely different region.

How did the Harappan civilization end in India? No one can give a direct answer to this because historians do not have the same opinion. Historians present different arguments.

1 John Marshall and Ravindra Singh Bisht have said that the Harappan civilization ended due to floods.

2 Aurel Stein and Amalananda Ghosh have said that the Harappan civilization in India ended due to climate change.

3 M. R. Sahni, George Dales and R. L. Raikes have said that the Harappan civilization ended due to earthquake.

4 American historian Kennedy said that the Harappan civilization in India ended due to malaria epidemic.

5 M. Dmitriyev, who was a Russian historian, says that the Harappan civilization in India ended due to lightning.

6 Garden Child, Mackay, Piggot and Mortimer Wheeler have said that the Harappan civilization in India was ended by the king of Aryans, Indra. Because in Rigveda Indra is called Purandar. Which simply means the destroyer of homes and cities.

7. Even Robert Eric Mortimer Wheeler had propounded the theory of Aryan invasion.

6 History

6.1 Discovery of Harappan Civilization

So far we have analysed various aspects of the Harappan Civilization in India in the context of how archaeologists have pieced together disparate pieces of a fascinating history through evidence from physical remains. But there is another story, too: how archaeologists discovered the Harappan Civilization in India.

When the Harappan cities in India were destroyed, people gradually forgot all about them. When people began to live in the region millennia later, they did not understand what to make of the unfamiliar artefacts that occasionally surfaced on the surface of the earth, whether due to floods or soil erosion or while ploughing fields or while digging for treasure.

6.2 Ancient Harappa Empire

The Harappan civilization in India shows signs of decision making and implementation in society. Take for example the extraordinary uniformity in Harappan objects, as is evident from pottery, seals, coins and bricks. The important thing is that the production of bricks was clearly not concentrated at any one centre. It was of equal proportion from Jammu to Gujarat.

We have also seen that the Harappan settlements in India were established at specific places as per the need for different reasons. Apart from this, labour was organised for making bricks and building huge walls and platforms.

6.3 Palace and Rulers

Archaeological accounts do not give us any immediate answers about the power centres or ruling people of the Harappan Civilization in India. Archaeologists have called a huge building found in Mohenjo Daro a Prasad Palace. But no grand objects have been found in connection with it. A stone statue was called a “Priest King” and this name is still in use. This is because archaeologists were familiar with the history of Mesopotamia and its “Priest Kings”. They found similarities in the Indus region as well.

But as we will see, the ritual practices of the Harappan Civilization in India have not yet been properly understood. Nor are there any means available to know whether the people who performed these rituals had political power.

Some archaeologists are of the opinion that there were no rulers in the Harappan society in India and everyone had the same social status. Other archaeologists believe that there was not just one ruler but many rulers. For example, Mohenjodaro, Harappa etc. had different kings. Some others argue that it was one and the same king as is evident from the similarities in the artefacts, evidence of planned settlements, definite proportions in the size of bricks and the settlements being located near sources of raw material.

The last hypothesis seems to be the most plausible in the present case of Harappan Civilization in India as it is perhaps unlikely that such complex decisions would have been taken and implemented by entire communities together.

6.4 Agricultural Technology of Harappan Civilization in India

In India, the grains of the Harappan Civilization indicate agriculture here. But it is difficult to get clear information about the actual agricultural methods. Were the seeds sprinkled in the ploughed fields? However, the drawings made on the seals and clay figurines indicate that there was knowledge about the bull. And on this basis, archaeologists believe that bulls were used for ploughing the fields. Also, clay models have been found in many sites of Cholistan and Banavali (Haryana).

Apart from this, the archaeologists of the Harappan Civilization in India have found evidence of a ploughed field at a place called Kalibangan (Rajasthan), which is related to the early Harappan levels. In this field, two groups of plough lines were present, cutting each other at right angles. Which shows that two different crops were grown simultaneously.

In India, the archaeologists of the Harappan Civilization also tried to identify the tools used for harvesting the crops. Did the people of Harappan Civilization use stone blades placed on wooden hammers? Or did they use metal tools?

Most of the Harappan sites in India are located in arid regions where irrigation was probably required for agriculture. Some remains of canals have been found from a Harappan site called Shortughai in Afghanistan, but not in Punjab and Sindh. It is possible that the ancient canals were filled with silt long ago. It is also possible that water obtained from wells was used for irrigation. Apart from this, remains of Harappan Civilization were found in Dholavira (Gujarat) in India. Reservoirs were probably used for water storage for agriculture.

6.5 “Concave Mills” (Remains) of Harappan Civilization in India

Concave grinding mills have been found in large numbers in the Harappan civilization in India. And it seems that this was the only means used for grinding grains. Generally, these grinding mills were made of hard, pebbly, igneous or sandstone. Generally, these indicate excessive use. Since the bottom of these grinding mills is generally convex, they must have been kept in the ground or soil. So that they could be prevented from moving.

Also, two main types of grinding mills have been found in the Harappan civilization in India. One is that on which another small stone was moved back and forth. Due to which the lower stone had become hollow. And the second grinding mill is that which was probably used only for making curry or gravy. For grinding herbs and spices. These second type of stones found in the Harappan civilization in India have been named curry stones by our workers. And a cook used this stone in the kitchen. I have asked for it on loan from the museum.

6.6 Bhirrana

This is a big town of Harappan Civilization in Fatehabad district of Haryana in India. In December 2014, a research was done here by the Archaeological Survey of India. From which it was found that it is the oldest city of Harappan Civilization discovered till date in India. This town is believed to be of around 7500 BC.

7 Related Features

Alexander Cunningham, the first archaeologist to excavate Harappa, did not understand its importance.

In 1856, while laying the railway line between Lahore and Karachi, British officials gave detailed information about it to the government. After this, Alexander Cunningham, the founder of the Archaeological Survey of India, got the ruins of a site called Harappa surveyed.

On the basis of the objects found in Harappa and Mohenjodaro in India, John Marshall presented the first official report on the Harappa civilization in 1931–32.

The Indus Valley Civilization is also known as the Harappan Civilization. The Indus Valley Civilization was located near the archaeological site called Harappa and was discovered in 1921 AD.

The availability of silver in India is also related to the Harappan culture.

The contemporary civilization of the Harappa civilization in India is located in Rangpur, Saurashtra.

Harappa remains a subject of mystery even in the present times.

Harappan site called Amri is located in Sindh province.

Harappans did not have knowledge of iron.

You Can Aalso Rread These

Conclusion

If you have gained some new knowledge from this Article of India World Discovery, then definitely share it with your friends, relatives on Facebook, Instagram etc.

If you are still feeling any deficiency. Then do not forget to tell us by commenting. You will definitely be helped.

Please subscribe to us. And take advantage of our best services.

1 huge Harappan Civilization in India: History describes