HARAPPAN CIVILISATION

BY: AISHALI, AMBAR AND ANSHIKA

 INTRODUCTION
Harappan civilisation is dated between c.2600 and 1900BCE. The first side
Harappa was discovered around the time of 1920s. Soon after the discovery of
cities like Lothal,Dholavira,Mohenjodaro and Kalibangam have also been
discovered and came to be known as Harappan cities or the advent of harappan
civilisation.
harappan civilisation is also known as:-
1. INDUS VALLEY CIVILISATION:- because it is located on the side of
indus river
2. SARASWATI CIVILISATION:-because of geographical point of view
3. BRONZE CIVILISATION :- because it beloned to bronze age
 Beginning
The harppan civilisation was divided into
three parts:-
1. Early harappan(3300 to 2600 BCE,):-
the Early Harappan Culture was the
product of the gradual development of
those early farming communities which
were emerged in greater Indus-Saraswati
plain and piedmont areas, across the
border of India and Pakistan which are
known as the Pre-Harappan phase.
2. Mature harappan (3300 to 2600 BCE):-
it .was associated with distinctive pottery,
evidence of agriculture on pastoralism and
some crafts.
3.Late harappan (1900 to 1300 BCE):-this
phrase is known for the end of the
civilisation
 SUBSISTENCE STRATEGIES

 Both mature and early Harappa had similarities in their strategies for
subsistence
 The harappan ate a wide range of plants and animal products including fish.
 Archaebotanist discovered the following grains :-
 wheat, barley, sesame, chickpea, lentils and millet
 the findings of rice are relatively poor
 AGRICULTURAL TECHNOLOGIES

 Bulls were used for ploughing the land archaeologist stated this because bulls
were represented on seals and terracotta sculptures
 evidence of ploughed field - Kalibangan (Rajesthan)
 Evident of plogh model - cholistan and banawali
 Traces of canal - shortughai (Afghanistan)
 Water reservoir- Dholavira( Gujrat)
 Wells might were used for irrigation
MOHENJODARO

Lower town CITADEL

The lower town is organised in These were the central

a grid system with four areas of the city which
avenues running from north were heavily fortified.
to south (main road) and four
avenues running from east to
west(Allies road).
 BUILDINGS AND HOMES:- Most of the houses were made of baked bricks .The house
generally have several rooms build a courtyard.

The door always open

in front of allies
The staircase evidence show that many
Of the buildings had two storeys.

Many houses had separate room for bathing

The houses were in

the grid pattern
DRAINAGE SYSTEM AND WATER SUPPLY

Mohenjodaro had well planned underground drainage

system
It was made from bricks smoothened and joined together
seriously
The domestic waste from each house flow into the street
drain
All the street and lanes across neighbourhood in
Mohenjodaro ha drains

700 wells were found in mohenjodaro

Wells were build outsisde the houses in such a way that passer
by can also use the well if required
 THE CITADEL
• These were the central area of the city which were heavily
fortified and protected with defensive military structure
• The citadel was seprated from the lower town with the wall
pf mud bricks
• However there is no conclusive evidence of kings armies or
priest
• The citadel within the lothal was not walled nut was built on
a height
• It was thought that the citadel were probably used for
special purposes
• The citadel contain GREAT BATH which was a large
rectangular tank in a courtyard surrounded by a
corridor on all four sides

• The citadel also included a WARE HOUSE, a massive

structure of which the lower brick portion remain, while
upper portion probably of wood decayed long ago.
 SOCIAL DIFFERENCES
Historians and archaeologists track social differences through :

BURIALS

• Differences in burial pits

• Some graves contain pottery and ornaments
• Some graves also contained jewellery made of
semi-precious stones.

AVAILABILITY OF LUXURY GOODS

• Archaeologists assume objects to be luxuries if

they were rare or made from costly, non-local
materials and included complex technologies.
• They noticed – larger settlements like Harappa
and Mohenjodaro had these goods as compared
to others.
 CRAFT PRODUCTION
The Harappans belonged to the the Bronze age.
BEAD MAKING –
1. Materials used- stones like carnelian, crystal,
steatite jasper quartz.
2. Shapes – disc-shaped, cylindrical, spherical etc.
3. PROCESS -

soft metal Can be

STEATITE ; easy to
moulded into
different
work upon shapes

obtained by While making the

CARNELIAN
beads nodules of
firing the the material were
yellowish raw chipped of into
materials rough shapes.
• A piece of woven cloth has also been recovered
icluding textile impressions of some other objects.
• The greatest artistic creation of the harappan
civillisation are the seals. About 2000 seals have
been found.

• The Harappan artisans made beautiful images of

metal.
• Teracotta manufacture was also an
• important craft , they were used for making
• toys or as objects of worship.
STRATEGIES FOR PROCURING MATERIALS

 Teracotta toy models of bullock carts suggest that it was one important means of transport.
 Riverine routes along the Indus and its tributaries, as well as coastal routes were also used
 Harappans procured materials by establishing settlements.
 MATERIALS FROM SUBCONTINENT AND BEYOND- Nageshwar and Balalot were the areas where
shell was available
Shortughai in far off Afghanistan- lapis lazuli
Lothal – carnelian
 Another strategy was was to send expeditions to areas like Khetri region of rajasthan and soth for
gold.
 These expeditions also helped them in establishing communication with the local communities
 CONTACT WITH DISTANT LANDS

1. Copper was probably brought from

Oman, on soth eastern tip of the
Arabian peninsula.
2. A distinctive type of vessels, a large
harappan jar coated with thick layer of
black clay has been found at Omani
sites
3. Mesopotamian texts dated to 3rd
millenium BCE mention Dilmun
(bahrain), Magan and Meluhha
4. The contact with distant places like
Oman, Mesopotamia and Bahrain was
in all likelihood by sea.
 SEALS, SCRIPTS AND WEIGHTS

Seals-
1. Seals are distinctive products of the
Harappan culture. They were square
or rectangle tablets of alloy.
2. The seals generally have a line of
writing at the top , suggesting the
name and title of the owner.
3. They were engraved with figures of
animals such as unicorn,humped
bull, elephant
4. Seals enabled long distance trade
and communication.
An enigmatic script-
1. Harappan script was not alphabetic but pictographic
2. It was written from right to left
3. Not deciphered till date.
 Weights –
1. Exchanges were regulated by a precise system of weights
2. Weights were made of stone called chert, cubical with no
markings.
3. Lower denominations were binary
4. Higher denominations followed decimal system
 ANCIENT AUTHORITY
 A large building was found at Mohenjodaro was labelled as a
palace by archaeologists
 A stone statue was labelled as “priest-king” comparing and
found it parallel to that of mesopotamia.
 Some archaeologists were of opinion that there was no ruler,
and eveybody enjoyed equal status
 Others feel that there was no single ruler but several.
 Others argue that there was a single state considering the
uniformity of artefacts
THE END OF HARAPPAN
CIVILIZATION
1. There is no general agreement regarding the
causes of the breakdown of Harappan urban
society.. Broadly speaking, the principal theories
thus far proposed fall under four headings.
2. The first is gradual environmental change, such as
a shift in climatic patterns and consequent
agricultural disaster, perhaps resulting from
excessive environmental stress caused by
population growth and overexploitation of
resources.
3. Second, some scholars have postulated more-
precipitous environmental changes, such as
tectonic events leading to the flooding of
Mohenjo-daro, the drying up of the Sarawati
River, or other such calamities.
4. Third, it is conceivable that human activities, such
as invasions of tribespeople from the hills to the
west of the Indus valley, perhaps even Indo-
Aryans, contributed to the breakdown of Indus
external trade links or more directly disrupted the
cities.
5. The fourth theory posits the occurrence of an
epidemic or a similar agent of devastation.
DISCOVERING
THE
HARAPPAN
CIVILISATION
Cunnigham's Confusion
 Cunningham’s main interest was in the
archaeology of the Early Historic and later periods.
Cunningham tried to place Harappan seals within
the time-frame with which he was familiar.
 He used the accounts left by Chinese Buddhist
pilgrims who had visited the subcontinent between
the fourth and seventh centuries CE to locate early
settlement.
 Cunningham also collected, documented and
translated inscriptions found during his surveys.
When he excavated sites he tended to recover
artefacts that he thought had cultural value.
 A site like Harappa which was not part of the
itinerary of the Chinese pilgrims, did not fit very
neatly within his framework of investigation.
Cunningham did not realize how old Harappa
artifacts were.
A New Old
Civilisation
1. Seals were found at Harappa by
Daya Ram Sahni.
2. R.D Banerji got the same from
Mohenjodaro.
3. It led to set the similarity of these
sites.
4. John Marshall, in 1924 announced
the discovery of a new civilisation in
Indus Valley.
New Techniques and
question
1. It was R.E.M Wheeler,after he took
over as Director General of the ASI in
1944.
2. Wheeler brought changes. Followed
the stratigraphy of the mound rather
dig scientifically.
3. Since 1980 modern scientific
techniques are being used to
recover traces of
clay,stone,metal,plant and animal
remains.
PROBLEMS OF PIECING
TOGETHER THE PAST
As we have seen , it is not Harappan
script that helps in understanding
the ancient civilisation. Rather it is
material evidence that allows
archaeologist to better reconstruct
Harappan life. This material could be
pottery,tools , ornaments, household
objects etc.Organic material such
as clothes, woods and reeds
generally decompose especially in
tropical regions.
Classifying finds
1. Recovering artefacts is just the
beginning of the archaeological
enterprise. Archaeologists then
classify their finds.
2. First principle of classification is in
terms of material, such as stone,
clay,metal,bone, ivory , etc.
3. The second and more
complicated is in terms of
function: archaeologist have to
decide weather, for instance, an
artefact is a tool or an ornament
or both or something meant for
ritual use.
Problems of
interpretation
1. Archaeologist face the problem of
interpretation.
2. Figurines of women are expressed as mother
goddesses.
3. Plants motifs indicate the worship of the
nature.
4. A figure looked as seated in cross legged
posture, mentioned 'yogie'.
5. A conical stone has been mentioned as
'lingas'.
6. The depiction of shiva is not the same as
mentioned of Rudra in the Rigveda.
THANKYOU