Indus Valley Civilization: Unraveling the History, Architecture, Art, and Culture of Harappan Civilization for UPSC Aspirants
The Indus Valley Civilization or IVC, Also known as Harappan Civilization is one of the four ancient civilizations of the old world. With its well-planned architecture, scientific innovations, and art, it surely was on par with other contemporary civilizations. Starting from Mehrgarh at around 7000 BCE, its history reflects one of the first instances of urbanization in the Indian Subcontinent.
The prehistory of Harappan culture starts with Bhirrana, Haryana, an Indus Valley civilization site from 7500 BCE. Mehrgarh, a Neolithic site in present-day Pakistan is of much significance too. With one of the earliest instances of agriculture in the sub-continent, Mehrgarh was populated since 7000 BCE.
Indus Valley civilization was spread across the western area of the subcontinent. It encompassed an area from Baluchistan in the west to western Uttar Pradesh in the east and from upper reaches of the tributaries of the Indus, that is, parts of Afghanistan in the north to Gujarat and northern Maharashtra in the South.
Although the archaeological site of Shortugai, Afghanistan seems to be much influenced by the Indus Valley civilization as well.
Sites such as Bhirrana, Mehrgarh, and Banawali represent early Harappan or pre-Harappan settlements.
Indus Valley script found from 3000 BCE.
Urban planning suggests centralised authority.
Flourishing trade with other contemporary civilisations from the old world.
However, some evidence shows that Harappan culture persisted until 1000- 900 BCE
Harappa Civilization is known for its extensive urban planning and well-planned architecture. Here are the key features of it:-
Grid system, Straight roads city divided into sectors, sub-sectors, etc.
Cities were neatly arranged into sectors like the citadel and the lower quarters. Places of public importance and houses of wealthy elites are found in the citadel.
Lower quarters usually had only houses, which belonged to commoners and artisans.
There are various other divisions of the cities found at different sites.
Huge fortifications and boundary walls around the whole city have also been found in some places like Sutkagan Dor and Dholavira.
Gateways are found in some places. These are of two types, for ceremonial purposes, and for actual usage.
The divisions within the cities are more prominently found in urban metropolitan settlements like Harappa and Mohenjo Daro. It’s less prominent in rural settlements.
The use of burnt bricks is remarkable since contemporary Egyptian civilization used dried bricks.
Excellent water management systems. Indus Valley people were excellent in hydraulic engineering. Rainwater harvesting is evident in some sites. Brick wells are found at some sites.
Well-planned, well-built, and closed drainage system. Private drains were connected to small drains, which were connected to large drains. These larger drains carried the water from the whole city to some outside location or a pond. Drains were sometimes covered with stones or bricks. Toilets have also been found in homes at some sites.
Large structures like the great bath of Mohenjo Daro were constructed. It is evident that the Indus Valley people valued water. The great bath of Mohenjo Daro was probably used for ceremonial and religious purposes. It is one of the first manmade ponds of such a large scale.
There are evidences of dams at sites. Shortugai also has some canals. It was significant for the agricultural activities conducted by the people.
The dockyard at Lothal, Gujarat, one of the first such structures, is an engineering Marvel and is a testimonial of the glorious architectural abilities of the civilization. Its purpose was to host the ships.
Rainwater harvesting and storage are also seen at some sites. The slope of the ground was effectively utilized in the man-made waterways.
Houses are single-storeyed or in some cases, double to triple-storeyed.
Houses were made out of baked bricks, a significant achievement. However, in some places like Dholavira, they’re made up of stones.
Houses were built for utilitarian purposes instead of aesthetic elements.
There are private wells found in some houses, otherwise, people used communal wells.
Toilets with sewers have been found in houses at some sites.
The houses in the same sector are often identical in nature, given that the cities were planned beforehand.
The houses found in the citadel are found to be larger than those found in the lower quarters.
Houses usually opened only to inner courtyards and small lanes rather than big roads.
Granaries were made to store the food grains. The granary at Mohenjo Daro is well-built.
Baths and water tanks, also wells have been found. Water tanks may have been used for ceremonial and religious purposes.
Dockyards have been found at trading centers.
It is important to note that there are no big temples or any religious architectural structures to be found. Possibly the Indus Valley people worshipped nature.
Fire altars have been discovered.
Gateways for cities have been found.
Not much evidence is found regarding social discrimination in Indus Valley settlements. Though there is a presence of Citadel in metropolitan cities, the houses in lower quarters are more or less homogeneously made. This suggests the equal status of the residents of the city.
There is no evidence found suggesting monarchy. There is a possibility that the cities were ruled by merchant guilds rather than having a single ruler. Other theories, such as the cities being ruled by priest-kings have also been formulated.
The language spoken by the Indus Valley people remains unknown. Various theories regarding the language have been proposed. One theory suggests a Dravidian language was been spoken in the culture, while another theory suggests a lost language. Identifications with a para Munda or Austroasiatic or indo european language have been proposed.
Various symbols have been found on seals, copper plates, pottery, weapons, etc. These inscriptions present us with what is thought of as Harappan script. However, these inscriptions are undeciphered. It is unknown whether these symbols were part of a writing system or not. We can gain more information about the civilization and its language if the Harappan script is deciphered.
What seems to be the world’s first signboard was found at Dholavira.
Harappans traded with other civilisations like Mesopotamian, Egypt, and possibly ancient China. Mentions of the Harappan people are found in Ancient texts from the Sumerians, Indus Valley people are supposedly referred to as ‘Meluha’.
Various things related to trade such as an ivory scale with marked units, the smallest standardized division marked being 1.704 mm, and the smallest marked division for the bronze age. Standardized weights have also been discovered. Harappan engineers probably followed a decimal system.
Indus Valley people may have traded in agricultural goods, beads made out of precious stones and carnelian and steatite, jewellery, sea shell inlays, cotton cloth, ivory, metals like copper, pearls, precious stones etc.
They may have imported precious stones and metals from other contemporary civilisations.
Harappan beads have been recovered from the archaeological sites in Central Asia and West Asia. A full jewellery set, thought to have Harappan origins, has also been found. The dockyard at Lothal points to maritime trade. Several depictions of boats on the seals support that. Also, models of bullock carts suggest land trade too.