Unit 2: Beginning of Historical Age

Topic: The Indus Valley Civilization (Harappan Civilization)

1. Introduction and Overview

The Indus Valley Civilization (IVC) represents the Bronze Age civilization (3300–1300 BCE; mature period 2600–1900 BCE) in the northwestern regions of South Asia. It is often classified as "Proto-historic" because while the civilization possessed a script, it remains undeciphered to this day.

• Geographical Extent: Covered parts of Punjab, Sindh, Baluchistan, Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Western Uttar Pradesh. It extended from Sutkagendor (Baluchistan) in the West to Alamgirpur (UP) in the East; and from Manda (Jammu) in the North to Daimabad (Maharashtra) in the South.
• Nomenclature: Originally called the Harappan Civilization (after the first discovered site, Harappa, in 1921), and later the Indus Valley Civilization (as sites were concentrated along the Indus river system).

2. Society and Culture

The Harappan society was highly organized, urban, and cosmopolitan. Unlike contemporary civilizations (Mesopotamia, Egypt), the IVC shows less evidence of a glorification of warfare or supreme monarchy.

A. Social Stratification

While there is no evidence of a caste system, a clear class hierarchy existed based on the layout of the cities.

• The Ruling Elite: Likely lived in the Citadel (the raised upper part of the city). This class comprised administrators and priests who managed trade, granaries, and urban planning.
• The Middle/Working Class: Merchants, artisans, and craftsmen lived in the Lower Town.
• Laborers: Workmen’s quarters (barrack-like habitations) found at Harappa suggest a class of manual laborers.

B. Food and Diet

The Harappans were an agricultural society supplemented by animal husbandry.

• Crops: Wheat (two varieties), barley, rai, peas, sesame, and mustard. Rice husks have been found at Lothal and Rangpur (rare).
• Cotton: The Harappans were the earliest people to produce cotton (called Sindon by the Greeks).
• Animal Products: Mutton, beef, poultry, pork, and fish.

C. Attire, Ornaments, and Beauty

• Clothing: Use of cotton and wool. Representations show men wearing a shawl (upper garment) under the right arm and over the left shoulder (like the Priest-King statue) and a dhoti-like lower garment.
• Ornaments: Worn by both men and women. Made of gold, silver, copper, bronze, and semi-precious stones.
  • Bead Industry: Chanhudaro and Lothal were famous for bead-making factories (carnelian, lapis lazuli, steatite).
  • Cosmetics: Discovery of cinnabar, collyrium (eyeliner), face paint, and oval bronze mirrors indicates a high degree of beauty consciousness.

D. Burial Practices

Belief in the afterlife is evidenced by grave goods.

• Extended Inhumation: The most common method; the body was laid in a north-south direction.
• Pot Burials: Bodies placed inside large urns.
• Joint Burials: Evidence of male and female buried together found at Lothal.
• Dog with Master: A unique burial found at Ropar.

3. Art and Architecture

The IVC is less famous for monumental artistic grandeur (like Pyramids) and more for utilitarian, standardized, and sophisticated civic engineering.

A. Town Planning and Architecture

The most striking feature of Harappan culture is its uniformity in planning.

• Grid System: Streets cut each other at right angles (90 degrees), dividing the city into rectangular blocks.
• The Bricks: Extensive use of burnt bricks in a standardized ratio of 1:2:4 (thickness:width:length). Contemporary civilizations mostly used dried mud bricks.
• City Division:
  • Citadel (West): Built on a high mud-brick platform; contained public structures (Granaries, Great Bath, Assembly Halls).
  • Lower Town (East): Residential areas for common citizens.
• Drainage System: An engineering marvel. Drains were covered with manholes for cleaning. Every house was connected to the street drain via a soak pit.
• Key Structures:
  • The Great Bath (Mohenjo-Daro): A tank used for ritual bathing, lined with bitumen to prevent leakage.
  • Granaries: Found at Harappa (two rows of six) and Mohenjo-Daro, indicating centralized storage of surplus grains.

B. Sculpture

Harappan art is realistic and highlights a high degree of workmanship.

1. Stone Sculptures:

   • Bearded Priest-King (Mohenjo-Daro): Made of Steatite. Depicts a man with a trimmed beard, wearing a fillet on the head and a trefoil-patterned shawl.
   • Male Torso (Harappa): Made of Red Sandstone. Features socket holes for attaching limbs, showing advanced anatomical understanding.

2. Bronze Casting:

   • Used the "Lost Wax" (Cire Perdue) technique.
   • Dancing Girl (Mohenjo-Daro): A masterpiece depicting a nude girl in a tribhanga (tri-bent) posture, wearing a necklace and bangles covering her left arm.

3. Terracotta:

   • Mostly hand-modeled (cruder than stone/bronze).
   • Includes the Mother Goddess, toy carts, whistles, and animals (bulls, monkeys, dogs).

C. Seals

• Thousands of seals have been found, mostly made of Steatite (soft stone).
• Shape: Square or rectangular.
• Purpose: Primarily commercial (to mark ownership of goods), though some may have been used as amulets.
• Imagery: Animals (Unicorn, Humped Bull, Rhino, Tiger, Elephant) and the Harappan script.

D. Pottery

• Red and Black Ware: The pottery was wheel-made, painted red, and decorated with black designs.
• Motifs: Geometric patterns, intersecting circles, pipal leaves, peacocks, and fish scales.

4. Religious Practices

No temples or clear idolatry structures have been found. Religion is reconstructed based on material evidence (seals, figurines).

A. Worship of Deities

1. The Mother Goddess: Terracotta figurines of semi-nude women with elaborate headgears and girdles suggest a fertility cult. This was likely the most popular folk religion.
2. Proto-Shiva (Pashupati Mahadeva):
   • Found on a seal at Mohenjo-Daro.
   • A three-faced male deity sitting in a yogic posture (Padmasana).
   • Surrounded by four animals: Elephant, Tiger, Rhinoceros, and Buffalo. Two deer appear at his feet.
   • Interpreted as the precursor to the Vedic Rudra or Puranic Shiva.

B. Animal and Nature Worship

• Animism: Animals were revered. The Unicorn (mythical) and the Humped Bull are the most frequently depicted animals on seals.
• Tree Worship: The Pipal tree is depicted on many seals, often with a "spirit" or deity standing inside the branches.
• Water Worship: The Great Bath suggests that water was used for purification rituals (similar to the concept of Pushkarinis in later Hinduism).

C. Fire Worship and Cults

• Fire Altars: Evidence of fire altars has been found at Kalibangan and Lothal, suggesting ritualistic fire sacrifice (Yajna-like practices).
• Lingam and Yoni: Conical stone objects (Lingams) and ring stones (Yonis) suggest the worship of phallic symbols and fertility power.

5. Script and Language

The Harappan script remains the greatest enigma of the civilization.

A. Characteristics of the Script

• Undeciphered: Despite numerous attempts, the script has not been successfully read.
• Pictographic/Logo-syllabic: The signs likely represent words, ideas, or syllables rather than just alphabets.
• Number of Signs: Approximately 400 to 600 distinctive signs.
• Writing Style:
  • Boustrophedon: Written from right to left in the first line, and left to right in the second line.
• Inscriptions: Found on seals, copper tablets, rims of jars, and terracotta bangles. The longest inscription contains only about 26 signs.
• Dholavira Signboard: A unique discovery of ten large-sized signs made of gypsum paste inlaid in wood, resembling a civic signboard.

B. Theories on Language

Since the script is unread, scholars speculate on the underlying language family:

1. Dravidian Hypothesis: Scholars like Father Heras and Asko Parpola suggest the language was Proto-Dravidian (ancestor to Tamil, Telugu, etc.). This is currently the most widely accepted theory.
   • Evidence: The presence of the Brahui language (Dravidian family) in Baluchistan today.
2. Indo-Aryan Hypothesis: Scholars like S.R. Rao argue the language relates to Vedic Sanskrit.
3. Munda Hypothesis: Some suggest an Austro-Asiatic influence.

Summary Table: Key Sites and Discoveries