INDUS VALLEY

CIVILIZATION
E s h a M e m on
Ro ll N o. 22AR 006
S u b je c t: H is tor y o f A rc h ite c tu re - I
S u b m itte d To : M a’ a m Ir u m
Click to add photo

INTRODUCTION:
The history of India begins with the birth of the Indus Valley
Civilization (IVC), also known as Harappan Civilization. It flourished
around 2,500 BC, in the western part of South Asia, in contemporary
Pakistan and Western India. The Indus Valley was home to the
largest of the four ancient urban civilizations of Egypt, Mesopotamia,
India and China. In 1920s, the Archaeological Department of India
carried out excavations in the Indus valley wherein the ruins of the
two old cities, viz. Mohenjodaro and Harappa were unearthed. In
1924, John Marshall, Director-General of the ASI, announced the
discovery of a new civilisation in the Indus valley to the world.
 HISTORICAL TIMELINE OF IVC:

The Indus Valley Civilisation consists of three phases:

1. The Early Harappan (3300BCE-2600BCE),
2. Mature Harappan(2600BCE-1900BCE)
3. Late Harappan (1900BCE-1300BCE).
The civilization originated from migration to Mehrgarh, a Neolithic site along the Indus
river in Kacchi plain in Pakistan.
It is one of the most valuable sites belonging to the Pre-Harappan period marked by
agricultural development.
The Early Harappan which originated in 3300BCE also known for the earliest known
evidence of the Indus script. They had a centralized authoritarian system with trade
networks profiting from raw materials and crops. Animal domestication of water buffalo
and cultivation of crops such as cotton and dates begun during this time. Many started
migrating from villages to more developed cities in hopes of better living.
The Mature Harappan period marks the inception of flood-supported farming by taming
the tributaries of the Indus river. The people not equipped with irrigation facilities and
relied on the seasonal monsoon.
 DISTRIBUTION OF MAJOR CITIES AT INDUS
VALLEY CIVILIZIZATION WITH MAJOR FINDING
:

There are seven important cities in the Indus valley

civilization:
1.Mohanjodaro
2.Harappa
3.Kalibangan
4.Lothal
5.Chanhudaru
6.Dholavira
7.Banawali
 Excavated Major
Site Location
by findings

•Piece of Pottery with Indus Script

•Cubical Limestone Weight
•Faience Slag
Sahiwal District, •Sandstone statues of Human anatomy
Harappa Punjab in the Daya Ram Sahni •Copper Bullock cart
banks of Ravi •Granaries
•Coffin burials (Only founded in
Harrapa)
•Terracotta Figurines

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 •Great bath
•Granary
•Unicorn Seals (Most
numbers of it in here)
•Bronze dancing girl
statue
Larkana District Of Sind •Seal of a man with
Mohenjo-Daro R. D Banerjee
on the bank of Indus deers, elephants, tiger
and rhinos around-
Considered to be
Pashupati Seal)
•Steatite statue of beard
man
•Bronze buffalo

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 •Trade point between
Harappa and
Babylon
•Flint Blades
•Stone Vessels
•Stone Arrowheads
Baluchistan on Dast
Sutkagendor Stein •Shell Beads
river
•Pottery
•Bactria-Margiana
Archaeological
Complex (BMAC)
associated Copper-
Bronze Disc

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 •Bangle Factory
•InkPot
•Bead makers
shop
Mullan Sandha, •The footprint of a
Chanhudaro Sind on the Indus N G Majumdar dog chasing a cat
river •Cart with a
seated driver
Note: It is the
only city without
a citadel

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 Close to •Antelope
Balochistan, on evidence
Amri N G Majumdar
the bank of •Rhinoceros’
Indus river evidence

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 •Lower
fortified town
•Wooden
drainage
•Copper Ox
•Evidence of
Hanumangar
earthquake
h District,
Amlanand •Wooden
Kalibangan Rajasthan on
Ghose plough
the bank of
•Camel’s
Ghaggar river
bone
•Fire alters
•Camel’s
bones
•Furrowed
land

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 •Port Town
•Graveyard
•Ivory weight
balance
Gujarat on •Copper dog
Bhogva river •First
Lothal near the Gulf R. Rao manmade
of port
Cambay •Dockyard
•Rice husk
•Fire alters
•Chess-
playing

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 1. Harappan Art: Stone Statues
Excellent examples of handling the 3D volume are the stone statues discovered in
the Indus valley sites.
2. Harappan Art: Bronze Casting
Nearly all of the civilization’s key locations employed bronze casting on a large scale.
Bronze casting was done using the lost wax process. There are both human and
animal figures in the bronze casting. The buffalo, with its raised head, back, and
sweeping horns, as well as the goat, are creative standouts among animal
representations.
The bronze bull sculpture at Kalibangan and the copper dogs and birds from Lothal
demonstrate the popularity of bronze casting throughout the Indus Valley. Even after
the Indus Valley Civilization, metal casting was still practised by late Harappan,
Chalcolithic, etc. populations

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3. Harappan Art: Terracotta
In Gujarati sites and Kalibangan, the terracotta sculptures are more lifelike. A few terracotta
statues of bearded men with coiling hair may be seen standing firmly erect with their legs
slightly apart and their arms parallel to their sides. This person’s recurrence in the exact
same place would imply that he was a deity.
Additionally, a terracotta mask of a god with horns was discovered. Terracotta was also
used to create toys such wheeled carts, whistles, rattles, birds, animals, game players, and
discs. The terracotta statues that depict Mother Goddess are the most significant.

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 4. Harappan Art: Seals
Numerous seals were found at the sites; they were typically made of steatite, though
they were also occasionally made of agate, chert, copper, faience, and terracotta.
The seals featured beautiful representations of various animals, including a unicorn
bull, rhinoceros, tiger, elephant, bison, goat, and buffalo.
The main goal was commercial in nature. They served as amulets as well, being worn
by their owners like possibly current ID cards. A 2 x 2 square inch seal was the typical
Harappan size. Each seal is written on in a pictographic script that hasn’t been
decoded. Additionally, some seals were discovered in Gold and Ivory.

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 5. Harappan Art: Pottery
Very few of the extremely beautiful wheel-made items
produced by the Indus Valley pottery are handcrafted. More
people use plain pottery than painted pottery. Red clay is
typically used for plain ceramics, either with or without a fine
red or grey slip. The glossy black paint used to decorate the
black painted pottery is applied in geometric and animal
patterns over a fine layer of red slip.

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 6. Harappan Art: Beads and Ornaments
The Harappan men and women adorned themselves with a wide array of jewellery
made from every imaginable material, including bone and baked clay in addition to
precious metals and gemstones. Both sexes frequently wore white armlets, finger
rings, fillets, and necklaces.
Necklaces made of gold and semiprecious metal stones, bracelets and beads made of
copper, gold earrings, and headdresses were among the jewels discovered at
Mohenjo-Daro and Lothal. At Farmona in Harappa, a cemetery has been discovered
where the dead were interred with ornaments.

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Harappan/Indus Valley Civilization Architecture
•The ancient Indus towns were renowned for their urban planning, baked brick homes, intricate water supply and drainage systems, groups of
enormous non-residential structures, and handicraft and metallurgical methods.
•The populations of Mohenjo-daro and Harappa most likely increased to between 30,000 and 60,000 people, and the civilization may have had
between one and five million people during its peak.

•The first impetus for the region’s urbanization may have been a progressive drying up of the area during the third millennium BCE.
•In the end, it also diminished the water supply to the point where it led to the collapse of the civilization and the dispersal of its population to the
east.

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