Indus Valley Civilization

INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION
INTRODUCTION
The Indus Valley Civilization (IVC) was a Bronze Age civilization (3300 1300 BCE; mature period 2600 1900 BCE) in the northwestern region[1] of the Indian subcontinent,[2][3] consisting mainly of what is now Pakistan, and parts of India, Afghanistan and Iran The Indus Valley is one of the world's earliest urban civilizations, along with its contemporaries, Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt.
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.
GEOGRAPHY
The Indus Valley Civilization (IVC) was a Bronze A ge civilization (3300 1300 BCE; mature period 2600 1900 BCE) in the nor thwestern region of the Indian subcontinent, [ consisting mainly of what is now Pakistan, and par ts of India, Afghanistan and Iran. Flourishing around the Indus River basin, the civilization extended east into the Ghaggar-Hakra River valley and the upper reaches of Ganges-Yamuna Doab; it extended west to the Makran coast of Balochistan , nor th to nor theastern Afghanistan and south to Daimabad in Maharashtra. The civilization was spread over some 1 ,260,000 km, making it the largest known ancient civilization .
WRITTEN SCRIPTS
Between 400 and as many as 600 distinct Indus symbols [57] have been found on seals, small tablets, ceramic pots and more than a dozen other materials, including a "signboard" that apparently once hung over the gate of the inner citadel of the Indus city of Dholavira. Others have claimed on occasion that the symbols were exclusively used for economic transactions, but this claim leaves unexplained the appearance of Indus symbols on many ritual objects
AGRICULTURE
Some post-1980 studies indicate that food production was largely indigenous to the Indus Valley. It is known that the people of Mehrgarh used domesticated wheats and barley,[56] and the major cultivated cereal crop was naked six-row barley, a crop derived from two-row barley (see Shaffer and Liechtenstein 1995, 1999).
TRADE AND TRANSPORTATION

The Indus civilization's economy appears to have depended significantly on trade, which was facilitated by major advances in transport technology. The IVC may have been the first civilization to use wheeled transport. These advances may have included bullock carts that are identical to those seen throughout South Asia today, as well as boats.
ART AND CRAFT

Various sculptures, seals, pottery, gold jewelry, and anatomically detailed figurines in terracotta, bronze, and steatite have been found at excavation sites. A number of gold, terra-cotta and stone figurines of girls in dancing poses reveal the presence of some dance form. Also, these terra-cotta figurines included cows, bears, monkeys, and dogs. The animal depicted on a majority of seals at sites of the mature period has not been clearly identified. Part bull, part zebra, with a majestic horn, it has been a source of speculation.
DANCING GIRL
A bronze statuette dubbed the "Dancing Girl", 10.8 centimetres (4.3 in) high and some 4,500 year s old, was found in Mohenjo-daro in 1926. In 1973, British archaeologist Mor timer Wheeler described the item as his favorite statuette: "There is her little Balochi-style face with pouting lips and insolent look in the eyes. She's about fif teen year s old I should think , not more, but she stands there with bangles all the way up her arm and nothing else on. A girl per fectly, for the moment, per fectly confident of her self and the world. There's nothing like her, I think , in the world."
PRIEST-KING
In 1927, a seated male soapstone figure was found in a building with unusually ornamental brickwork and a wall -niche. Though there is no evidence that priests or monarchs ruled Mohenjo-daro, archeologists dubbed this dignified figure a "Priest-King"; like the Dancing Girl, it has become symbolic of the Indus Valley Civilization.
PASHUPATI SEAL
A seal discovered at the site bears the image of a seated, cross-legged and possibly ithyphallic figure surrounded by animals. The figure has been interpreted by some scholars as a yogi, and by others as a three -headed "proto-Shiva" as "Lord of Animals".
SOME WHEELED VEHICLES OF THE INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION
SOME INVENTIONS
Button, ornamental: Buttons made from seashell were used in the Indus Valley Civilization for ornamental purposes by 2000 BCE. Ruler: The oldest preserved measuring rod is a copper -alloy bar. The bar dates from c. 2650 BC. and Unger claimed it was used as a measurement standard. Stepwell: abandoned by 2500 BCE, which combines a bathing pool, steps leading down to water, and figures of some religious importance into one structure.
THE CULTURE
Harappa houses were one or two storied high. Each and every house had a planned structure, a bathroom, two or three rooms, a courtyard and a kitchen. Houses of Harappa civilization were made of baked bricks having uniform size. Harappa houses also had doors and windows. Harappa houses had well techniqued drainage system in bathrooms and kitchen. Drains of Harappa houses are lined with baked bricks.
SOCIAL LIFE
Social life in Harappa civilization was very organized. There were three dif ferent social groups during Indus Valley Civilization. The first group was of high class traders and priests. The second group was comprised of craftsmen, artists, and petty merchants. And the third group consisted of labourer class.
INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION : FEATURES OF CIVILIZATION

Town Planning : The excavations of the ruins showed a remarkable skill in town planning. The main streets and roads were set in a line, sometimes running straight for a mile, and were var ying in width from 4 meters to 10 meters. Most of these roads and streets were paved with fire brunt bricks. On the either side of the street stood houses of various sizes which did not protrude into the streets. The main streets intersected at right angles, dividing the city into squares or rectangular blocks each of which was divided length wise and cross wise by lanes. Some buildings had a lamp post and a well. There was an elaborate drainage system which emptied into the river.
The Drainage System; The Drainage System of the Indus Valley Civilization was far advanced. The drains were covered with slabs. Water flowed from houses into the street drains. The street drains had manholes at regular intervals. Housewives were expected to use pits in which heavier part of the rubbish will settle down while only sewerage water was allowed to drain off. All soak pits and drains were occasionally cleaned by workmen. In every house there was a well -constructed sink, and water flowed from the sink into the underground sewers in the streets. This elaborate drainage system shows that the Indus Valley people were fully conversant with the principles of health and sanitation.
Great Bath: One of the largest buildings was the Great Bath measuring 180 feet by 108 feet. The bathing pool, 39 feet long, 28 feet wide and 8 feet deep was in the center of the quadrangle, surrounded with verandahs, rooms and galleries. A flight of steps led to the pool. The pool could be filled and emptied by means of a vaulted culvert, 6 feet and 6 inches high. The walls of the pool were made of burnt bricks laid on edge, which made the pool watertight. The pool was filled with water from a large well, situated in the same complex. Periodic cleaning of the pool was done by draining off the used water into a big drain. The Great Bath building had six entrances. The Great Bath reflected the engineering genius of those ancient days.
Great Granary: Another large building in the city was the Great Granary which was made about 45 meters long and 15 meters wide. It was meant to store food grains. It had lines of circular brick platforms for pounding grain. There were barrack like quarters for workmen. The granary also had smaller halls and corridors.
The Assembly Hall: An important feature of Mohen-jodaro was its 24 square meters pillared hall. It had five rows of pillars, with four pillars in each row. Kiln baked bricks were used to construct these pillars. Probably, it was the Assembly Hall or the ruler's court. It is said that it also housed the municipal of fice which had the charge of town planning and sanitation.

Indus Valley Civilization

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Indus Valley Civilization

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INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION

TRADE AND TRANSPORTATION

ART AND CRAFT

SOME WHEELED VEHICLES OF THE INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION

INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION : FEATURES OF CIVILIZATION

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