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    Harappa Civilization

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    abhishekchauhan14479

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    Harappa Civilization

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    Harappa Civilization

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    abhishekchauhan14479

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    2600B.C-1900B.C
    INTRODUCTION
    Around five thousand year ago an important
    civilization developed on the bank of river
    Indus,which latter came to be known as Indus
    valley civilization.
    THEORIES REGARDING ORIGIN OF
    HARAPPAN CIVILIZATION

     1] The Aryan theory of origin.


     2] Theory of Dravidian origin.
     3] Theory of Sumerian origin.
     4] Theory of Indigenous origin.
     5]The archaeological studies classify the process into
    three broad phases-they are-
     a]Pre-Harappan.
     b]Early-Harappan.
     c] Mature-Harappan.
    Extent of Harappan civilization
    Chief Characteristics Of Indus Valley.

    A. Town Planning.
    B. Trade And Commerce.
    C. Use of Bronze technology.
    D. Art and Architecture.
    E. Religious life of people.
    F. Tools And Implements.
    G. Pottery.
    H. Science And Technology.
    TOWN PLANNING
    MAIN Points about Town planning
    1. The most remarkable feature of Harappan civilization
    was its town planning.
    2. Historians like Stuart Piggott and Wheeler believed
    that the Harappan town had a remarkable unity of
    conception.
    3. The Harappan towns were divided into two parts, the
    upper citadel and the lower town.
    4. The upper citadel was inhabited by the ruling class,
    and was fortified, while the lower town was occupied
    by the common people.
    5. The areas of Harappa,Mohenjodaro and kalibanga
    show certain uniformities in their planning.
    Town Planning
     The streets ran from north to south in the lower city and
    cut each other at right angle.
     The Harappan used baked and unbaked bricks of standard
    size.
     This shows that it was not the individuals house owner
    who made their own bricks, but bricks making was the
    organized on a large scale.
     SANITATION –There were execellent arrangement for
    sanitation, the waste water from houses would pass
    through small drains which joined the margin of the
    streets.
     This again indicates the presence of a civic administration
    which took decision for the sanitary requirements of the
    towns.
    ECONOMIC LIFE

     The Harappan had established an extensive network of


    inter and intra regional trade.
     They had trade relations with the contemporary west Asian
    civilization .
     FOREIGN TRADE OF HARAPPA –Archaeological
    evidences like presence of two dozen seals, belonging to
    Harappa and Persian gulf have been discovered from Susa
    and Mesopotamia clearly indicate the presence of trade
    contact between the two.
     The Mesopotamian merchants,mostly centered at Ur
    carried on trade with contemporary civilization areas from
    the time of sargon of Akkad.
    Economic life

     The three zones which gets the most frequent reference in


    the contemporary texts are dilmun,makan and meluha.
     The identification of dilmun with Baharain,Makan with
    Oman and the third place Meluha with the region of the
    Indus valley.
     The import from Meluha were timber,black wood,copper,gold
    etc.
    Internal Trade
     The Harappan carried out inter regional trade in metal
    and stone from different parts of Indian sub-continents
    like-gold from karnataka, silver from Afghanistan,
    copper from Rajasthan,etc.
     They used weights and measures of different types to
    assure the quality and quantity of goods.
     The Harappan used weight of binary digits.
     Thus the Harappan had an extensive network of trade
    which formed backbone of the economy
    RELIGIOUS LIFE

     The harappan people had many features of latter


    hinduism, such as worship of mother goddess,
    Pashupati shiva, animal worship, tree worship etc.
     The chief female deity was mother goddess, who was
    representative of fertility.
     Many of harappan rituals like wo1rship of phallus,
    female deities ,animals and trees are followed in India
    till date.
    RELIGIOUS LIFE
    ARCHITECTURE

     GREAT BATH –In harappa,mohenjodaro and


    kalibanga, the citadel area contain monumental
    structure which is know as the GREAT BATH.
     This brick build structure measures 12m by 7m and 3m
    deep.The bed of the bath is made water tight by use of
    bitumen. water is supplied from a large well situated
    in an adjacent room.
     The bath is surrounded by porticoes and set of rooms.
    Scholars generally believe that the place was used for
    ritual bathing of kings or priests.
    The great granary

     Another important structure discovered in the citadel


    mound of Mohenjo-Daro is the GREAT GRANARY.
     It consists of 27 blocks of bricks criss-crossed by
    ventilation channels.
     Below the granary were the brick loading bays from
    which grains were raised into the citadel for storage.
     Apart from mohenjodaro ,there is a great granary at
    Harappa as well. It consists of a series of brick platform
    forming the base of two rows of 6 granaries.
     To the south of granary were found rows of circular
    brick platforms,used for threshing grains.
    Other important buildings

     Another important building was an assembly hall.It had


    four rows of five bricks plinth upon which wooden columns
    were erected.
     To the west of it, was found a seated male statue.
     Another significant discovery was the large no of fire altars
    found at kalibanga.
     There was a series of brick platforms,on one of them was
    found a row of seven fire altars as well as a pit containing
    animals bones .
    ART AND CRAFTS
     POTTERY-
     Among the remains discovered in Harappa settlements
    pottery forms an important category.
     It represents the blending of the ceramic tradition of
    Baluchistan and the cultures east of the Indus system.
     Most of harappan potteries are plane, but a substantial parts
    are treated with a red slip and black painted decoration.
    ART
    ART
    DECLINE OF HARAPPAN
    CIVILIZATION
     There are various theories regarding the decline of Indus
    civilization. Some of them are –
    1. It was destroyed by massive flood.
    2. The decline took place because of the shift in the course
    of rivers and the gradual drying up of Ghaggar-Hakra.
    3. Barbarian invaders destroyed the cities.
    4. The growing demands of the centers like Harappa,etc
    disturbed the ecology of the region and the agricultural
    produce was not sufficient to support the people.
    5. Recent research done by students of IIT suggestes that
    prolonged drought was the main cause of the
    decline.This theory ws supported by Nature Magazine
    too.

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