Name: Mohammod Hossain Chowdhury.

ID: 1931328042
Discovery of Indus Valley Civilisation:
In 1856, British colonial officials in India were busy overseeing a railway linking Lahore and
Karachi's towns along the Indus River valley in modern-day Pakistan. Some of the laborers
noticed several fire-baked bricks stuck in the dry terrain as they went to work. Hundreds of
thousands of reasonably standardized bricks, which seemed very ancient, were there. They soon
found objects made of soapstone among the bricks, displaying intricate artistic markings. The
Indus River Valley Civilization people made many significant advancements in technology,
including great precision in their systems and length and mass measurement instruments. In
building baths and sewage structures, fire-baked bricks, which were uniform in size and
moisture-resistant, were essential and proved that Harappans were among the first to create a
system of standardized weights and measures. Harappa, Mohenjo-Daro show the world's first
documented urban sanitation systems and the recently partially excavated Rakhigarhi. The
ancient sewage and drainage Indus systems built and used in the Indus region cities have been
much more advanced than those found in contemporary urban sites in the Middle East and much
more useful than in many Pakistan and India today. Individual homes drew water from wells,
while on the main streets, wastewater was diverted to covered drains. Houses opened only to
inner courtyards and narrower streets. The scheme was presumed to have been related to even
the smallest homes on the city's outskirts, further supporting the conclusion that cleanliness was
a matter of great importance.
The Civilization of the Indus River Valley is considered a culture of the Bronze Age; residents of
the ancient Indus River Valley learned new metallurgical techniques, the science of working with
copper, bronze, lead, and tin. Harappans have used items made of the semi-precious gemstone
Carnelian to perform intricate handicrafts.
Evidence suggests that Harappans took part in a sizeable maritime-sea-trade network stretching
to the Middle East from Central Asia. The economy of civilization seems to have relied heavily
on trade, which was encouraged by significant transport technology developments. The
Harappan Civilization, in the form of oxcarts that are similar to those seen today across South
Asia, may have been the first to use wheeled transport.

Major Sites: The Indus Valley Civilization covered parts of Sind, Baluchistan, Afganistan,
West Punjab, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, and
Maharashtra. Over 1000 Indus Valley Civilization sites have been discovered. Among them,
some significant areas are: 
Harappa
1. Cemetery H & R37.
2. Coffin burial.
3. Granary outside the fort.
4. Phallus worship.
5. Graveyard.
6. Mother goddess.
Mohenjo-Daro
 1. Prepared Garments.
2. Temple-like Palace.
3. Pashupati seal.
4. Statue of a dancing girl.
5. Ivory weight balance.
6. The Great Bath.
7. The Great Granary.
8. Priest-king statue.
Kalibangan
1. Lower fortified town.
2. Fire Altar.
3. Boustrophedon style.
4. Wooden drainage.
5. Copper Ox.
6. Evidence of earthquake.
7. Wooden plough.
8. Camel’s bone.
Lothal
1. Port Town.
2. Evidence of Rice.
3. Fire Altar.
4. Graveyard.
5. Ivory weight balance.
6. Copper dog.
Rangpur
1. Evidence of Rice.
Surkotada
1. Horse bone.
2. Stone covered grave.
Malavan
1. Canals.
Chanhudaro
1. Bangle factory.
2. Inkpot.
3. The only city without citadel.
4. Carts with a seated driver.
Balakot
1. Bangle factory.
Daimabad
1. Bronze Buffalo.
Amri
1. Actual remains of Rhinoceros.
Alamgirpur
1. The impression of cloth on a trough.
Ropar
1. Buildings made of stone and soil.
2. The dog buried with humans.
3. One inscribed steatite seal with typical Indus pictographs.
4. Oval pit burials.
Banawali
1. Oval shaped settlement.
2. The only city with radial streets.
3. Toy plough.
4. The largest number of barley grains.
Dholavira
1. Only site to be divided into three parts.
2. Giant water reservoir.
3. Unique water harnessing system.
4. Dams.
5. Embankments.
6. A stadium.
7. Rock-cut architecture.

Indus Town Planning :

Town planning is a unique characteristic of the civilization of the Indus valley. Their urban
planning shows that they lived a life that was highly civilized and established. The first to create
planned towns with a scientific drainage system were the Indus people. The Indus towns have
been founded on a standardized design.
Streets: The streets were parallel and cut at right angles from each other. They ranged between
13 and 34 feet tall and lined up nicely. The city was divided by streets and roads into rectangular
blocks. The lamp posts were found at intervals by archaeologists. This shows the presence of
lights on the roads. The streets were also provided with dustbins. These show that good
municipal administration is present.
Drainage System: One of the most remarkable features of the Indus valley civilization is that
an excellent closed drainage system was built for the region. Each house had drainage and soak
pit of its own that was linked to the public drainage. The channels Brick had laid flowed through
every lane. For washing and cleaning purposes, they were enclosed and had maintenance holes at
intervals. On the city's outskirts, large brick culverts with corbelled roofs were built to carry
excess water. Indus people thus had a complete system of underground drainage. No other
contemporary culture has given cleanliness so much importance.
The Grate Bath: In Mohenjodaro, the most striking feature is the Great Bath. It's composed
of a vast quadrangle. There is a large swimming pool in the center (about 39 ft long, 23 ft wide,
and 8 ft deep) with galleries and rooms remaining on all four sides. At either end, it has a flight
of steps and is fed by a well situated in one of the adjoining rooms. A wide drain with a corbelled
roof more than 6 ft deep was discharged from the water. The Great Bath had exterior walls that
were 8 ft high. For 5000 years, this sturdy building has successfully withstood natural ravages.
Hot water bath facilities have been arranged in several rooms.
Buildings: In the Indus valley civilization, people designed houses and other structures on the
side of roads. Terraced houses were constructed out of burnt bricks. There were two or more
rooms in every building. More than one-storied place also existed. The buildings were built
around an inner courtyard with pillared halls, toilets, paved streets, kitchens, walls, etc. Elaborate
structures have also been found in addition to residential quarters. The biggest hall, measuring 80
ft long and 80 ft wide, is one of these buildings. It may have been a palace for holding meetings
or a temple or hall. There are also working men's quarters. There was an exemplary water supply
scheme. By the side of the streets, there were public wells. Each big house had a well of its own.
At Lothal, they also established a dockyard.

Indus Arts:
From the prehistoric era art, one moves through to the Bronze age of the Indian subcontinent
from about 3300 BC to about 1300 BC. There are classifications like the Early Harappan age,
Mature Harappan age, Indus Valley Civilisation, and the Late Harappan age. The Indus Valley
Civilisation, which took off in the northwest part of the country, stands out like a beacon in the
historical map of India, with its definitive colonization, regional identity, social hierarchies, a
script, proof of written communications, hence an advanced language structure, vast architectural
advances from burnt bricks to proper channels of cities, towns, water distribution systems,
sewage systems, drainage systems, phenomenal pottery and jewelry and the immense advanced
techniques in metallurgy in those times. In terms of art, various seals, bronze vessels, ceramics,
and gold jewelry were uncovered. Along with it were the metal bronze, steatite, and terracotta
figurines from many excavation sites. Many small figures and sculptures of women in a dancing
pose hinted at the presence of dance forms, along with the music. Of this era, the ‘Dancing girl’
bronze figurine from Mohenjo-Daro is very famous. The ornaments that adorn the dancing girl
statue hint at jewelry-making methods and a certain aesthetic standard towards life and art. Some
terracotta statues and figurines depict religious purposes, like the priest's bust found in Mohenjo-
Daro and the remains of a fertility goddess figure in the Harappan age 2400BC to 1900BC.
The seals have been intricately illustrated with animals like the elephant and other hybrid human
and animal forms. Fragments of pottery indicate the intense sense of design in these objects'
decorating and utility, typical for that era. The town planning structures indicate the possibility of
trade routes and channels from various places. Today over 500 excavation sites have revealed
that the cities spread beyond Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro to areas as far east as Uttar Pradesh in
the East to Maharashtra in the South and stand as proof of the urban culture of those times.
While discoveries come up regularly from these archaeological expeditions, one often wonders
what impact the Indus Valley Civilisation has had on the generations to come. There has been
very little evidence to support the art of painting, for example, from this era. Though there are
remnants of vessels with pigments and colors found all over the sites, the purposes of these are
yet to be determined. While it seems that metallurgy found a stronghold in the Indus Valley
Civilisation, the evidence of sculptures, figurines, jewelry, and carvings seem to have been the
precursors to the aesthetic art and artistic expressions in a 3D format. This was, of course, apart
from the enormous contribution towards architecture and town planning, water supply and
drainage systems, along with the culture of trade or barter.
Indus Scripts: The Indus Script is the writing system developed by the Indus
Valley Civilization, and it is the earliest form of writing known in the Indian subcontinent. This
script's origin is poorly understood: this writing system remains undeciphered, there is no
agreement on the language it represents, no bilingual texts have been found thus far, and its
connection with Indian writing systems proper (e.g., Brahmi, Devanagari, and Bengali script) is
uncertain. This is the main reason why the Indus Valley Civilization is one of the least known of
the important early civilizations of antiquity.
During the early Harappan phase (c. 3500-2700 BCE), we find the earliest known examples of
the Indus Script signs, attested on Ravi and Kot Diji pottery excavated at Harappa. Because only
one symbol is displayed on the pottery surface, these examples represent an early stage in the
Indus Script development. Its full story was reached during the Urban period (c. 2600-1900
BCE) when longer inscriptions are recorded. Thousands of notes are known from some 60
excavation sites: most of them are short, the average length is five signs, and none is longer than
26 signs.
Examples of Indus writing have been found on seals and seal impressions, pottery, bronze tools,
stoneware bangles, bones, shells, ladles, ivory, and small tablets made of steatite, bronze, and
copper. Square stamp seals are the dominant form of Indus writing media; they are usually an
inch square (2.54 centimeters), displaying the script itself on the top and an animal motif at the
center. They are chiefly made of steatite, some of them include a layer of a smooth glassy-
looking material, but there are also examples of seals made of silver, faience, and calcite. The
seals were pressed on a pliable surface (e.g., clay) to replicate its image. Slightly over 400 basic
signs have been identified as part of the Indus Script. Only 31 of these signs occur over 100
times, while the rest were not used regularly. This leads researchers to believe that many of the
Indus Script were written on perishable materials, such as palm leaves or birch, which did not
survive time destruction. This is hardly surprising considering that palm leaves, birch, and
bamboo tubes were widely used as writing surfaces in southeast Asia. Some researchers have
argued that the roughly 400 symbols can be reduced to 39 elementary signs, the rest being
merely variations of styles and differences between scribes.

Aryan Epics : Ramayana, Mahabharata and the

Upanishads:
Eventually, Hindus followed the impulse that had appeared among the Sumerians: they wrote
poetic stories that focused on the gods' power. These stories were written to create ideals for
people to follow. The better known of these are poems called the Ramayana and
the Mahabharata.
Ramayana: Ramayana translates as the Story of Rama. It is believed to have been written
by a Brahmin named Valmiki, a man whose poetry style was new and a manner to be copied
after that. It is said to have appeared between 400 and 200 BCE. The story takes place centuries
earlier. When Aryans were expanding their influence over Dravidians in southern India, the
Aryans engaged in missionary endeavors supported by military power and a divide and conquer
strategy. In its seven books and 24,000 verses, Ramayana praises the heroism and virtues of
Aryan warrior-princes: the Kshatriyas. The Ramayana has its main hero, Rama, whose life
the Ramayana describes from birth to death. Rama and his brothers are depicted as embodying
the ideals of Aryan culture: men of loyalty and honor, faithful and dutiful sons, affectionate
brothers and loving husbands, men who speak the truth, who are stern, who persevere but are
ready and willing to make sacrifices for the sake of virtue against the evils of greed, lust, and
deceit.
Lord Rama, with brother, wife, and devotee.
Mahabharata: The Mahabharata, meaning Great India, has been written by a Brahmin
named Vyasa between 400 and 100 BCE, but no one knows. Across centuries, priestly writers
and editors with different attitudes in different centuries were to add to the work, and
the Mahabharata emerged three times its original size. The Mahabharata was divided into
eighteen books of verses interspersed with passages of prose. It attempted to describe how Aryan
tribes in northern India were uniting into kingdoms and when these petty kingdoms were fighting
to create an empire. The work tried to be an encyclopedia about points of morality. One of its
heroes is Krishna, described as a royal personage descended from the gods – an eighth
incarnation of the god Vishnu. The Mahabharata's heroes are portrayed as yearning for power
but, like the Ramayana heroes, devoted to truth and having a strong sense of duty and affection
for their parents.

Upanishads: The Upanishads are the philosophical-religious texts of Hinduism (also known
as Sanatan Dharma meaning “Eternal Order” or “Eternal Path”) which develop and explain the
fundamental tenets of the religion. The name is translated as “sit down closely” as one would
listen attentively to instruction by a teacher or other authority figure. Still, Upanishad has also
been interpreted to mean “secret teaching” or “revealing underlying truth.” The truths addressed
are the concepts expressed in the religious texts known as the Vedas, which orthodox Hindus
consider the revealed knowledge of creation and the universe's operation.
Veda's word means “knowledge,” and the four Vedas are thought to express human existence's
fundamental knowledge. These works are considered Shruti in Hinduism, meaning “what is
heard” as they are supposed to have emanated from the vibrations of the universe and heard by
the sages who composed them orally before they were written down between c. 1500 - c. 500
BCE. The Upanishads are considered the “end of the Vedas” (Vedanta). They expand upon,
explain, and develop the Vedic concepts through narrative dialogues and, in so doing, encourage
one to engage with said concepts on a personal, spiritual level. 
There are between 180-200 Upanishads, but the best known are the 13 which are embedded in
the four Vedas known as:
 Rig Veda
 Sama Veda
 Yajur Veda
 Atharva Veda

Aryan Caste System :

Through which social status was inherited, caste systems developed independently in ancient
societies worldwide, including the Middle East, Asia, and Africa. In ancient India, the caste
system was used to establish separate classes of inhabitants based upon their social positions and
employment functions in the community. These roles and their importance, including the levels
of power and significance based on patriarchy, were influenced by the gods' stories in the Rig-
Veda epic.
Origins
The caste system in India may have several origins, possibly starting with the well-defined social
orders of the Indo-Aryans in the Vedic Period, c. 1750-500 BCE. The Vedas were ancient
scriptures written in the Sanskrit language, which contained hymns, philosophies, and rituals
handed down to the Vedic religion's priests. One of these four sacred canonical texts, the Rig
Veda, described the world's origins and points to the gods based on the caste system.
The castes were a form of social stratification in Aryan India characterized by the hereditary
transmission of lifestyle, occupation, ritual status, and social status. These social distinctions may
have been more fluid in ancient Aryan civilizations than in modern India, where castes still exist.
Still, sociologists are observing inter-caste marriages and interactions becoming more fluid and
less rigid.

Structure
The classes, known as varnas, enforced divisions in the populations that still affect this area of
the world today. By around 1000 BCE, the Indo-Aryans developed four main caste distinctions:
Brahmin, consisting of priests, scholars, and teachers; Kshatriyas, the kings, governors, and
warriors; Vaishyas, comprising agriculturists, artisans, and merchants; and Sudras, the service
providers, and artisans who were originally non-Aryans but were admitted to Vedic society.
Each varna was divided into jatis, or sub-castes, which identified the individual’s occupation and
imposed marriage restrictions. Marriage was only possible between members of the same jati or
two that were very close. Both varnas and jatis determined a person’s purity level. Members of
higher varnas or jatis had higher purity levels, and if contaminated by members of lower social
groups, even by touch, they would have to undergo extensive cleansing rites.

Development Of Patriarchy
Society during the Vedic Period (c.1750-500 BCE) was patriarchal and patrilineal, meaning to
trace ancestral heritage through the male line. Marriage and childbearing were significant to
maintain male lineage. The institution of marriage was necessary, and different types of
weddings—monogamy, polygyny, and polyandry—are mentioned in the Rig Veda. All priests,
warriors, and tribal chiefs were men, and the descent was always through the male line.
In other parts of society, women had no public authority; they only could influence affairs within
their own homes. Women were to remain subject to males' guidance in their lives, beginning
with their father, then-husband, and lastly, their sons. Male gods were considered more important
than female gods. These distinct gender roles may have contributed to the social stratification of
the caste system.