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John Marshall, The First Scholar To Use The Term "Indus Valley Civilization". The

The Indus Valley Civilization flourished between 2500 BC-1750 BC along the Indus River valley. Major cities included Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro, which featured grid street patterns, drainage systems, and granaries. The civilization engaged in agriculture of crops like cotton and rice and domesticated cattle. Crafts included bronze tools and pottery decorated with designs. Trade was important as evidenced by standardized weights and seals depicting animals. The script remains undeciphered. Decline may have been due to environmental changes and invading groups.

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106 views

John Marshall, The First Scholar To Use The Term "Indus Valley Civilization". The

The Indus Valley Civilization flourished between 2500 BC-1750 BC along the Indus River valley. Major cities included Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro, which featured grid street patterns, drainage systems, and granaries. The civilization engaged in agriculture of crops like cotton and rice and domesticated cattle. Crafts included bronze tools and pottery decorated with designs. Trade was important as evidenced by standardized weights and seals depicting animals. The script remains undeciphered. Decline may have been due to environmental changes and invading groups.

Uploaded by

Monika
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION


John Marshall, the first scholar to use the term “Indus valley civilization”. The
civilization flourished between 2500 BC-1750 BC.

Geographical Extent of IVC


1. Extent: The Indus valley civilization extended from Sutkagandor (in
Baluchistan) in the West to Alamgirpur (Western UP) in the East; and from
Mandu (Jammu) in the North to Daimabad (Ahmednagar, Maharashtra) in the
South.

Image source: NCERT


2. Important cities
City River Archaeological Importance
A row of 6 Granaries, Mother goddess
Harappa (Pakistan) Ravi
figurines
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Great Granary, Great bath, Image of


Mohenjodaro Pashupati Mahadeva, Image of
Indus
(Pakistan) Bearded man and Bronze image of a
woman dancer
Port city, Double burial, Terracotta
Lothal (Gujarat) Bhogava
horse figurines.
Chanhudaro
Indus The city without a citadel
(Pakistan)
Dholavira (Gujarat) Indus City divided into 3 parts.
Kalibangan
Ghaggar Ploughed field
(Rajasthan)
Banawali (Haryana) Ghaggar -
Rakhigarhi (Haryana) - -

Ropar (Haryana)

Mitathal (Haryana) - -
Bhagatrav (Gujarat) - -
Rangpur (Gujarat) - -
Sutkagandor
- -
(Pakistan)

Sukotada (Gujarat) - -

Kot Diji (Pakistan)

Town planning and Structure of IVC

• Grid system(Chess-board) of town planning


• Rectangular houses with brick-lined bathrooms and wells together with
stairways are found
• Use of Burnt bricks
• Underground drainage system
• Fortified citadel

Agriculture of Indus Valley Civilisation

• Hindon – Cotton – Major trade good – earliest people to produce Cotton.


• Proofs of Rice husk found
• Wheat and Barley were majorly cultivated
• Use of wooden ploughshare. They had no idea about Iron implements.
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Domestication of animals

• Ox, Buffalo, Goats, Sheep and Pigs were domesticated


• Asses and camels were used as Beasts of Burden
• Elephants and Rhino were known
• Remains of horse found in Surkotada and evidence of horse in
Mohenjodaro and Lothal are also found. But the civilization was not horse-
centred.

Technology and crafts

• Bronze (Copper + tin) tools widely used


• Stone implements were still in vogue
• Potter’s wheel was put to full use
• Bronzesmiths, Goldsmiths, Boat-Making, Brick-laying etc were other
occupations commonly found

Trade of Indus Valley Civilisation

• Presence of granaries, weights and measures, seals and uniform script


signifies the importance of trade
• The barter system was widely prevalent
• Lothal, Sutkagendor were port cities used for conducting trade
• Trade destinations – Afghanistan, Iran and Central Asia. Contacts with
Mesopotamia civilization are also seen

The political organization of IVC

• Cultural homogeneity achieved through a strong central authority


• No temples or religious structures found. Harappa was possibly ruled by
Merchants class.
• Weapons are rarely found.

Religious practices of IVC

• Terracotta figure of Mother Goddess.


• Phallu and Yoni worship.
• Pashupati Mahadev seal found with the elephant, tiger, rhino and a bull
surrounding him with two deer near his feet.

Tree and animal worship of IVC

• Pipal tree worship was found.


• One-horned Unicorn recognized as Rhino and the humped bull was
commonly worshipped.
• Use of Amulets to ward off ghosts and evil spirits.
• The lion was not known in Harappan culture.
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The Harappan script

• Harappan script Pictographic in nature but not deciphered so far.


• They are recorded on seals and contains only a few words
• Harappan Script is the oldest script in Indian Sub-continent

Weights and Measures

• Use of standardized weights and measures to keep accounts of private


property, to indulge in trade and commerce etc.
• Weights are found in multiples of 16.

Harappan Pottery of IVC

• Well-developed Pottery techniques with elaborate designs of trees and


circles.
• Redware pottery painted with black designs.

Seals of Indus Valley Civilisation

• Seals were used for the purpose of trade or worship. Images of animals
such as Buffalo, bull, tiger etc were found inscribed in the seals

Statue of IVC

• Discovery of Bronze statue of a naked woman and bearded man steatite


statue

Terracotta figurines of IVC

• Terracotta – Fire baked earthen clay


• Used as toys or objects of worship
• Massive stone works were not found in Harappa which shows the poorly
developed artistic works made of stone

Origin, maturity and end of IVC

• Pre-Harappan Settlements – Lower Sindh, Baluchistan and Kalibangan.


• Mature Harappa – 1900BC – 2550BC.
• Causes for the Decline of Civilization.
• Decreasing fertility due to increasing salinity on the account of the
expansion of the nearby desert.
• Sudden subsidence of uplift of land causing floods.
• Earthquakes caused changes in the course of Indus.
• Harappan culture destroyed by invading Aryans.
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Post-urban Phase (1900BC – 1200BC)

• Sub-Indus Culture
• Primarily chalcolithic
• Development of Ahar Culture, Malwa Culture and Jorwe Culture at various
phases in post-Harappan Civilization.

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