1 2 3 4 | MAIN

The Ancient Indus

Civilization

Introduction
The greater Indus region was home to the largest of the four
ancient urban civilizations of Egypt, Mesopotamia, South
Asia and China. It was not discovered until the 1920's. Most
of its ruins, even its major cities, remain to be excavated. The
ancient Indus Civilization script has not been deciphered.

Many questions about the Indus people who created this

highly complex culture remain unanswered, but other aspects
of their society can be answered through various types of
archaeological studies.

Harappa was a city in the Indus civilization that flourished

around 2600 to 1700 BCE in the western part of South Asia.

Cities and Context

The Harappans used the same size bricks and standardized weights as
were used in other Indus cities such as Mohenjo Daro and Dholavira.
These cities were well planned with wide streets, public and private wells,
drains, bathing platforms and reservoirs. One of its most well-known
structures is the Great Bath of Mohenjo Daro .

There were other highly developed cultures in adjacent regions of

Baluchistan, Central Asia and peninsular India.
Material culture and the skeletons from the Harappa cemetery and other sites testify to a
continual intermingling of communities from both the west and the east. Harappa was settled
before what we call the ancient Indus civilization flourished, and it remains a living town
today.

The Saraswati River

In fact, there seems to have been another large river
which ran parallel and west of the Indus in the third and
fourth millenium BCE. This was the ancient Saraswati-
Ghaggar-Hakra River (which some scholars associate
with the Saraswati River of the Rg Veda).

Its lost banks are slowly being traced by researchers.

Along its now dry bed, archaeologists are discovering a
whole new set of ancient towns and cities.

Meluhha
Ancient Mesopotamian texts speak of trading with at least two seafaring civilizations -
Magan and Meluhha - in the neighborhood of South Asia in the third millennium B.C. This
trade was conducted with real financial sophistication in amounts that could involve tons of
copper. The Mesopotamians speak of Meluhha as a land of exotic commodities. A wide
variety of objects produced in the Indus region have been found at sites in Mesopotamia.

This site tells the story of the ancient Indus Civilization through the words and photographs of
the world's leading scholars in the US, Europe, India and Pakistan. It starts with the re-
discovery of Harappa in the early 19th century by the explorer Charles Masson and later
Alexander Burnes, and formally by the archaeologist Sir Alexander Cunningham in the
1870's. This work led to the the first excavations in the early 20th century at Harappa by Rai
Bahadur Daya Ram Sahni, and by R.D. Banerji at another Indus Civilization city, Mohenjo
Daro .

HARP and Indian excavations

Since 1986, the joint Pakistani American Harappa Archaeological Research Project (HARP)
has been carrying out the first major excavations at the site since before independence in 1946.
These excavations have the shown Harappa to have been far larger than once thought, perhaps
supporting a population of 50,000 at certain periods. These continuing excavations are
rewriting assumptions about the Indus Civilization, as is recent work by archaeologists in
neighboring India. New facts, objects and examples of writing are being discovered every year
in India and Pakistan.

Harappa.com
Almost 600 slides from HARP photographed by Dr. Jonathan Mark Kenoyer [University of
Wisconsin, Madison] and Richard H. Meadow [Harvard University] appear on this Website,
including the 90 Slide Introduction to the Ancient Indus Civilization. A detailed look at the
discoveries from 1995-1998 at the actual site in Punjab describes the comprehensive evidence
for a Early Harappan Ravi Phase dating to 3300 BCE. Another 90 slide section covers
excavations in 2000-2001. It includes an essay on the early development of Indus arts and
technologies. Another section explores the mysterious so-called granary and circular platforms
at Harappa. A fifth 90 slide section covers further evidence for the Ravi and Kot Diji phases at
the site. A 72 slide series by Sharri Clark [Harvard University] looks at ancient Indus figurines
discovered in Harappa. There is also a 103 introduction and image series on Mohenjo Daro,
the best known ancient Indus site in Sindh, southern Pakistan.

Another 600 slides and essays by a number of other leading scholars of the ancient Indus
civilization in India, Pakistan, Europe and America are part of this Website. Many more new
facts and theories will be published here in the coming years, for we are only at the beginning
of what are likely to be a long series of exciting future discoveries in the Indus and Saraswati
river basin.

Indus Civilization
Geography
The Largest Bronze Age Urban Civilization
Indus civilization remnants have been discovered from as far south as Mumbai [Bombay],
in Maharashtra State, India, and as far north as the Himalayas and northern Afghanistan.

The westernmost sites are on the Arabian sea coast in Baluchistan, Pakistan, right next to
the Iranian border.

A thousand miles to the east in India, Harappan settlements have been found beyond
India's capital, New Delhi in Uttar Pradesh State. Discoveries in Lothal and Gola Dhoro and
Dholavira in Gujarat State suggest a southern coastal network spanning hundreds of miles.
Cultural Development
Indus culture seems to have gradually spread from
west to east, with sites towards central and
southern India flourishing after Harappa and
Mohenjo Daro had declined. The drying up of the
ancient Saraswati or Ghaggar-Hakra River, east of
and parallel to the Indus, may also have affected
the civilization. There are numerous Indus sites
along that river bed.

Earlier scholars thought that Indo-Aryan invaders

destroyed the Indus cities and pushed the remnant
populations into southern India.
This model is no longer supported, but the decline of the Indus people and the language
that they spoke is still a subject of study. It is unclear whether the ancient Harappans would
have spoken an Indo-Aryan or Dravidian language, or possibly have spoken even other
languages such as Mundari.

The existence of the Brahui tribe in Baluchistan, to the west of the Indus, who speak a
Dravidian language like Tamil spoken in southeast India, suggests that some migration of
people or culture did occur. However, the date for these migrations is not confirmed. The
possible endurance of certain Indus signs like the arrow sign is suggestive of some
continuity, but this too needs to be studied further.

There also seems to be much greater cultural continuity between ancient Indus times and
the era after 1700 BCE until today than earlier archaeologists have tended to recognize. An
archaeological look at a contemporary Baluchi fishing village by William Belcher is one
such example.

New Research and Writing

From a look at the mysterious ancient flint mines in the Rohri Hills which date to
thousands of years before the greater Indus Civilization (2300 BCE) by Dr. Paolo Biagi
[University of Venice] to a tour of new discoveries in Baluchistan by Dr. Ute Franke-Vogt
[Aachen University], this site covers some of the exciting discoveries in the larger
geographical and cultural stratum that gave birth to the Indus and later Indian civilizations.

This site also covers the continuing attempts to decipher the ancient Indus signs and what
most scholars regard as one of the world's oldest written languages [for exceptions see
Steve Farmer, Richard Sproat [University of Illinois], and Michael Witzel [Harvard
University], The Collapse of the Indus-Script Thesis: The Myth of a Literate Harappan
Civilization] .

This
includes
publishing in
2006 the
essay Study of
the Indus
Script
recent paper by
Dr. Asko
Parpola
[University of Helsinki], the dean of Indus script research. In 2006 we published his
response to Farmer, et. al. In May 2006 we published India's script expert, Iravatham
Mahadevan's report on the possible find of a stone axe in Tamil Nadu, south India, with
ancient Indus signs on it. There is much more work by both these scholars, as well as
Pakistan's Ahmad Hasan Dani, who disagrees with the Indus and Dravidian language link.
Geoffrey Cooke has an essay which looks at a single unicorn seal find in Mohenjo Daro.

This site also reported the first early Indus script find dating to 3300 BCE in Harappa in
1999, which puts the origin of Indus signs as early as those of ancient Egypt and
Mesopotamia.

Much new research is being undertaken on the ground in India and Pakistan, as well as in
Oman and Afghanistan. Radiocarbon chronologies are proving very useful. Satellite
imaging is exposing old trade routes. Answers to questions about "Aryan invaders" and the
drying up of river beds are likely to be answered in the coming years.

Harappan Civilization
ca. 3000-1500 BC

 
One of the most fascinating yet mysterious cultures of the ancient world is the Harappan civilization.
This culture existed along the Indus River in present day Pakistan.  It was named after the city of
Harappa which it was centered around.  Harappa and the city of Mohenjo-Daro were the greatest
achievements of the Indus valley civilization. These cities are well known for their impressive,
organized and regular layout. Over one hundred other towns and villages also existed in this region.
The Harappan people were literate and used the Dravidian language. Only part of this language has
been deciphered today, leaving numerous questions about this civilization unanswered.

Back to "Indus Valley Civilization" Chronology

Artifacts and clues discovered at Mohenjo-Daro have allowed archaeologists to reconstruct this
civilization. The similarities in plan and construction between Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa indicate
that they were part of a unified government with extreme organization. Both cities were constructed of
the same type and shape of bricks. The two cities may have existed simultaneously and their sizes
suggest that they served as capitals of their provinces. In contrast to other civilizations, burials found
from these cities are not magnificent; they are more simplistic and contain few material goods. This
evidence suggests that this civilization did not have social classes. Remains of palaces or temples in
the cities have not been found. No hard evidence exists indicating military activity; it is likely that the
Harappans were a peaceful civilization. The cities did contain fortifications and the people used
copper and bronze knives, spears, and arrowheads.

The Harappan civilization was mainly urban and mercantile. Inhabitants of the Indus valley traded
with Mesopotamia, southern India, Afghanistan, and Persia for gold, silver, copper, and turquoise.
The Mesopotamian model of irrigated agriculture was used to take advantage of the fertile grounds
along the Indus River. Earthlinks were built to control the river's annual flooding. Crops grown
included wheat, barley, peas, melons, and sesame. This civilization was the first to cultivate cotton for
the production of cloth. Several animals were domesticated including the elephant which was used for
its ivory.

Most of the artwork from this civilization was small and used as personal possessions. The first
objects unearthed from Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro were small stone seals.  These seals were
inscribed with elegant portrayals of real and imagined animals and were marked with the Indus script
writing.  The seals suggest a symbolic or religious intent. Stone sculptures carved in steatite,
limestone, or alabaster depict a male figure who may have represented a god. Pottery figures were
shaped into humans and animals. Very few bronze figures
have been recovered.

The Harappan civilization experienced its height around 2500

BC and began to decline about 2000 BC. The causes of its
downfall are not certain. One theory suggests that the Aryan
people migrated into this area. Aryan religious texts and
human remains in Mohenjo-Daro suggest that the Aryans
may have violently entered the area, killing its inhabitants and
burning the cities.
However, another theory supported by more recent evidence suggests that this civilization may have
begun to decline before the Aryans arrived. The inhabitants of the Indus valley dispersed before the
Aryans slowly entered the area as a nomadic people. The Aryans were then able to take over this
area since most of the inhabitants had previously left. One cause of the dispersal of the Harappans
could have been a result of agricultural problems. Topsoil erosion, depletion of nutrients from the soil,
or a change in the course of the Indus River may have forced these people to leave their towns and
move northeastward in search of more fertile land.

:
Seal -12, Harappan Civilization, C- 2700-
2000 BC
Seals appear in the Indus Valley around 2600 B.C. with the rise of the cities and associated
administrators. Square and rectangular seals were made from fired steatite. The soft soapstone
was carved, polished, and then fired in a kiln to whiten and harden the surface. Seals made of
metal are extremely rare, but copper and silver examples are known. The square seals usually
have a line of script along the top and a carved animal in the central portion. The animals
depicted on the seals, usually males, include domestic and wild animals as well as mythical
creatures, such as the unicorn. A small feeding trough or mysterious offering stand is often
placed below the head of the animal. Some seals contain more complex scenes that represent
mythological or religious events. On the reverse side is a carved knob, or boss, with a perforation
for holding a thick cord. These knobs must have been easily broken and are missing from most
seals. The unicorn is by far the most common motif found impressed on clay tags originally
attached to knots or binding on a bundle of goods. This suggests that the unicorn seal owners
were mostly involved in trade and commerce but does not mean that they were the most
powerful group. The less widely distributed seals with the bull, elephant, rhinoceros, and tiger
motifs may have represented the most powerful clans or offices that actually ruled the cities.
Other types of seals found in the Indus Valley, such as compartmented seals, reflect connections
with regions where these types of seal were in use.

Artifacts from the Indus Valley Civilization gallery of National Museum, New Delhi India.

The Indus Valley Civilization (IVC) was a Bronze Age civilization (3300–1300 BCE; mature
period 2600–1900 BCE) that was located in the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent,
consisting of what is now mainly present-day Pakistan and northwest India.[4]Flourishing
around the Indus River basin, the civilization extended east into the Ghaggar-Hakra River valley
and the upper reachesGanges-Yamuna Doab; it extended west to the Makran coast of
Balochistan, north to northeastern Afghanistan and south to Daimabadin Maharashtra. The
civilization was spread over some 1,260,000 km², making it the largest ancient civilization.
The Indus Valley is one of the world's earliest urban civilizations, along with its contemporaries,
Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt. At its peak, the Indus Civilization may have had a population
of well over five million. Inhabitants of the ancient Indus river valley developed new techniques
in handicraft (carnelian products, seal carving) and metallurgy (copper, bronze, lead, and tin).
The civilization is noted for its cities built of brick, roadside drainage system, and multistoried
houses.
The Indus Valley Civilization is also known as the Harappan Civilization, as the first of its cities
to be unearthed was located at Harappa, excavated in the 1920s in what was at the time the
Punjab province of British India (now in Pakistan). Excavation of Harappan sites has been
ongoing since 1920, with important breakthroughs occurring as recently as 1999. There were
earlier and later cultures, often called Early Harappan and Late Harappan, in the same area of the
Harappan Civilization. The Harappan civilisation is sometimes called the Mature Harappan
culture to distinguish it from these cultures. Up to 1,999, over 1,056 cities and settlements have
been found, out of which 96 have been excavated, mainly in the general region of the Indus and
Ghaggar-Hakra river and its tributaries. Among the settlements were the major urban centres of
Harappa, Lothal, Mohenjo-daro (UNESCO World Heritage Site), Dholavira, Kalibanga, and
Rakhigarhi.