Indus Valley Civilization: Geography and Characteristic Features

INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION: GEOGRAPHY AND CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES

INTRODUCTION
Harappan civilization , also referred to as the Indus Valley civilization, is the first civilization of
Indian subcontinent. Harappan civilization belonged to the Proto-historic period, and is a Bronze
Age civilisation. It was one of the four earliest civilisations of the world, along with Civilisation of
Mesopotamia between Tigris and Euphrates River, Shang/Chinese Civilisation on River Hwang Ho,
Egyptian Civilisation on River Nile.

Why is it called Harappan Culture?

Initially, most of the sites of this civilization like Harappa and Mohenjodaro were discovered in the
Indus Valley alone. Hence, historians called this as Indus Valley Civilisation. Later, a large number of
sites belonging to this civilization have been found in areas far away from the Indus Valley. For
example, Kalibangan and Lothal. Therefore, historians felt that the name Indus Valley Civilization is
not appropriate. Further, most of these sites have many similarities to the urbanised culture of the
people of Harappa, the first site of this culture to be discovered in 1921. Therefore, this
civilization is now called the Harappan Culture

DISCOVERY
● Though excavated in 1921, Harappa had attracted the attention of a British traveller, Charles
Merson as early as in 1826. He found old bricks in Harappa in large number.
● Harappan sites were noticed by Colonel Burns when he went to meet Maharaja Ranjit Singh in
1831.
● Alexander Cunningham , the first Director-General of the Archaeological Survey of. India (ASI)
and often called the father of Indian archaeology, .inspected Harappan site in 1853 and 1857.
● In 1856, Harappan ruins were excavated to meet the demand for bricks to lay railway line
between Karachi and Lahore. It was during this digging process that existence of an old
civilisation was unravelled. But unfortunately, no serious efforts were made to bring that
civilisation to light.
● It was in 1921, Daya Ram Sahni got the site excavated at Harappa in the Montgomery district of
Punjab (now in Pakistan) on the left bank of River Ravi.
● In 1922, Rakhal Das Banerji discovered the remains of civilization at Mohenjodaro in the
Larkana district of Sindh (now in Pakistan).
● The two excavations(Harappa and Mohenjedaro) prepared the foundation of a new chapter in
the history which is studied under the name of Indus Valley Civilization.
○ John Marshall was the first to use the term Indus Valley Civilisation.
Note:
● Excavations at these sites have been a continuous process and usually involve many excavators
at different period of times. For the convenience of students, only main excavators and their
year of excavation are mentioned.

TIME PERIOD AND PHASES

● Based on the archaeological findings the Harappan civilization has been dated between 2600
B.C–1900 BC.
○ There were earlier and later cultures, often called Early Harappan and Late Harappan ,in the
same area. The Harappan civilisation is sometimes called the Mature Harappan civilisation
to distinguish it from these cultures.

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 Indus Valley Civilization: Geography and Characteristic Features

Three Phases of Harappan Civilisation

Phase Time Period Description Important Sites
Early 3500 BC–2600 BC This phase was marked by Amri, Kotdiji, Sothi, Rehman
Harappan some town-planning in the Dheri, Bhirrana, Rakhigarhi and
phase form of mud structures, Banwali
elementary trade, arts, and
crafts, etc.
Mature 2600 BC–1900 BC This was the period in which Mohenjadaro, Harappa,
Harappan we noticed well developed Ganeriwala, Chanhudaro,
phase towns with burnt brick Dholavira, Kalibangan,
structures, inland and foreignRakhigarhi, Lothal, Ropar,
trade, crafts of various types,
Banwali and Surkatoda.
etc. Note: All mature Harappan
sites were urban centers.
Late 1900 BC–1400 BC This was the phase of decline Rangapur, Lothal, Alamgirpur,
Harappan during which many cities were Hulas, and Daimabad .
phase abandoned, and the trade
disappeared leading to the
gradual decay of the
significant urban traits.

• A general time range is specified as there is a great deal of variation in the dates for different
phases.
• A site can belong to more than one phases as the phases of Harappan civilisation existed in the
same place in different time periods.

ORIGIN OF THE HARAPPAN CIVILISATION

About the origin of the Harappan Civilisation, many scholars have presented different thoughts:
• E.J.H. Mackay has considered that the origin of the Harappan Civilisation was due to the
migration of people from Sumer (Southern Mesopotamia).
• D.H. Gordon and Martin Wheeler considered that the Harappan Civilisation was the result of
migration from Western Asia.
• Amalananda Ghosh has considered that pre-Harappan culture matured to Harappan Civilisation.
• M.F. Rafique Mughal considered that the development of Harappan Civilisation occured in the
region of Ravi river around Harappa refuting the earlier belief that Harappan Civilisation was
inspired by Mesopotamian Civilisation.

EXTENT OF HARAPPAN CIVILISATION

• Harappan civilisation was spread over a vast area which included not only the present day states
of India such as Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Western Uttar Pradesh but
also Pakistan and some parts of Afghanistan.

Boundaries of Harappan civilisation

• Westernmost Site: Sutkagen dor ( Makran Coast of Pakistan)
• Easternmost Site : Alamgirpur (Uttar Pradesh)
• Northernmost Site: Manda Akhnoor (Jammu)
• Southernmost Site: Daimabad (Maharashtra)

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 Indus Valley Civilization: Geography and Characteristic Features

• The area under Harappan civilisation forms a triangle and accounts for about 1299600 square
kms, which is larger than Pakistan and certainly larger than ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. No
other cultural zone in the third and second millennium B.C. in the world was as large as the
Harappan zone.
Note:
• The location of settlements suggests that the Harappa, Kalibangan (On River GhaggarHakra
generally associated with the lost river Saraswati), Mohenjodaro axis was the heartland of this
civilization and most of the settlements are located in this region.
• This area had certain uniform features in terms of the soil type, climate and subsistence pattern.
The land was flat and depended on the monsoons and the Himalayan rivers for the supply of
water. Due to its distinct geographical feature, agro-pastoral economy was the dominant feature
in this region.

Region/State Major Archaeological Sites

Afghanistan Shortughai, Mundigak
Baluchistan Mehargarh, Kili ghul Muhammad, Rana Ghundi, Dabarkot, Balakot, Nindo
(Pakistan) Bari, Anjira, Sutkagendor
Punjab (Pakistan) Harappa, Jalilpur, Sanghanwala, Derawar, Ghaneriwal, Saraikhola
Sindh Mohanjodaro, Amari, Kotdizi, Rehman Dheri, Sukur, Alhadino, Chanhudaro,
Alimurad, Jbukar, Jhangar
Jammu Kashmir Manda
Haryana Banawali, Rakhigarhi, Bhagawanpura
Rajastan Kalibangan, Ganeshwar. Shishawal, Bara, Hanumangarh, Mithal, Chhupas
Uttar Pradesh Alamghirpur, Manpur, Bargaon, Hulas, Sanauli
Gujarat Dholavira, Lothal, Surkotda, Bhagatrao, Rangpur, Rozdi, Desalpur,
Prabhashpattan
Maharashtra Daimabad

KEY FEATURES OF INDUS VALLEY CIVILISATION

TOWN PLANNING AND STRUCTURES

The most interesting urban feature of Harappan civilization is its town-planning. It is marked by
considerable uniformity, though one can notice some regional variations as well. The uniformity is
noticed in the lay-out of the towns, streets, structures, brick size, drains etc.

City-Layout
• Each city was divided into two parts viz., acropolis (upper town/Citadel) on higher mound on the
western side and town proper (lower town) on the eastern side of the settlement.
• The citadel contain large structures which might have functioned as administrative or ritual
centres.
o The Citadel owes its height to the fact that buildings were constructed on mud brick
platforms.
o It was walled, which meant that it was physically separated from the Lower Town.
• The residential buildings are built in the lower town.
• The remarkable thing about the arrangement of the houses in the cities is that they followed
the grid system. This is true of almost all Indus settlements regardless of size. Roads cross one
another almost at right angles and the city was divided into so many blocks.

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 Indus Valley Civilization: Geography and Characteristic Features

Exceptions and Deviations from basic City-Layout

• Lothal: The citadel was not walled off , but was built at a height. No clear internal division of
the town into citadel and lower towns was present in Lothal. Rather, a quadrangular fortified
lay-out i.e., town dividing into six sections, each built on wide platform of mud bricks
separated by roads was excavated.
• Dholavira:It was divided into three divisions viz., upper, middle and lower towns.
• Chanhudaro:No citadel was found in Chanhudaro.
• Kalibangan and Surkatoda:Lower towns were also fortified in these sites.
• Banwali: This site lacked grid pattern of planning and systematic drainage system. Here roads
are neither always straight nor do they cut each other at right angles.

Note:The entire settlement was fortified in Dholavira and Lothal and sections with the town were
separated by walls.

Drainage System
• The drainage system of the Harappans was elaborate and well laid out.
• Every house had drains, which opened into the street drains.
• These drains were covered with manholes; bricks or stone slabs (which could be removed for
cleaning).

Houses
• The houses were largely built of burnt bricks.
Do you Know?
Harappans’ bricks, whether sun-dried or baked, were of a standardised ratio, where the length and
breadth were four times and twice the height respectively (1:2:4 ratio). Such bricks were used at
all Harappan settlements.

• The houses differed in size from a single-room house in Harappa to bigger structures.
• The bigger houses had many rooms surrounding a square courtyard and were provided with
private wells, kitchens and bathing platforms.
• What is also interesting is an apparent concern for privacy: there are no windows in the walls
along the ground level.
o Besides, the main entrance does not give a direct view of the interior or the courtyard.
• Some houses had staircases to reach a second storey or the roof.

The Great Bath of Mohenjodaro

The most important public place of Mohenjodaro seems to be the great bath, comprising the tank
which is situated in the citadel mound. It is an example of beautiful brickwork which measures
11.88 *7.01 mts and 2.43 mts deep.
• The Great Bath was a large rectangular tank in a courtyard surrounded by a corridor on all four
sides.
• There were two flights of steps on the north and south leading into the tank, which was made
watertight by setting bricks on edge and using a mortar of gypsum.
• There were rooms on three sides, in one of which was a large well.
• Water from the tank flowed into a huge drain.
• Across a lane to the north lay a smaller building with eight bathrooms, four on each side of a
corridor, with drains from each bathroom connecting to a drain that ran along the corridor.
The uniqueness of the structure, as well as the context in which it was found (the Citadel, with

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 Indus Valley Civilization: Geography and Characteristic Features

several distinctive buildings), has led scholars to suggest that it was meant for some kind of a
special ritual bath.

Granaries
It appears that granaries constituted an important part of the Harappan cities.
• In Mohenjodaro the largest building is a granary, which is 45.71 mts long and 15.23 mts wide.
• In the citadel of Harappa as many as two rows of six granaries are found.
o Each granary measured 15.23 mts * 6.09 mts and lay within a few meters of the river’s bank.
The combined floor space of the twelve units would be about 8381025 square metres.
Approximately it had the same area as the Great Granary at Mohenjodaro.
• At Kalibangan , brick platforms are noticed in the southern part , which may have been used for
granaries.

ART
Harappans produced statues/images made up of stone, terracotta and bronze.
• Terracotta-They made terracotta images include mother goddess, figurines of bearded males,
Toy carts with wheels, whistles, rattles, birds and animals, gamesmen and discs etc.
• Stone- The most famous examples are two male figures— one is a torso in red sandstone and
the other is a bust of a bearded man in steatite.
• Bronze-Their bronze statues were made using the ‘lost wax’ technique.One famous example is
the four-inch-high copper figure of a dancing girl found in Mohenjo Daro.

POTTERY
• The Harappan pottery consists chiefly of very fine wheelmade wares, very few being hand-
made.
• Plain pottery is more common than painted ware.
o Plain pottery is generally of red clay, with or without a fine red or grey slip.
o The black painted ware has a fine coating of red slip on which geometric and animal designs
are executed in glossy black paint.
• Polychrome pottery is rare and mainly comprises small vases decorated with geometric patterns
in red, black, and green, rarely white and yellow.
• Harappan pots were generally decorated with the designs of trees and circles. The images of
men are also found on some pottery fragments.

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