INDUS VALLEY

CIVILIZATION
SUBMITTED BY: SUBMITTED TO:

SHAVY (SECTION A) MS. VIJAY

BALLB 4TH SEMESTER LAXMI

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I am using this opportunity to express my gratitude to everyone
who supported me throughout the course of this project. I am
thankful for their aspiring guidance, invaluably constructive
criticism and friendly advice during the project work. I am
sincerely grateful to them for sharing their truthful and
illuminating views on a number of issues related to the project.
I express my warm thanks to MS. VIJAY LAXMI for her
support and guidance at UILS, CHANDIGARH.
I would also like to thank all the people who provided me with
the facilities being required and conductive conditions for my
project.

Thank you
 CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
INTRODUCTION
MOHENJODARO
THE CITY
THE PEOPLE
TRADE AND COMMERCE
POLITY
GENERAL CONCLUSION

BIBLIOGRAPHY
INTRODUCTION

In recent years archaeological excavations have been carried on

Mohenjo-daro in the Larkana district’Sind and at Harappa,in the
Montgomery district of the Punjab. These and smaller trail
excavations at various other sites in Sind,Baluchistan,Punjab
and even further east and south, have proved beyond doubt that
some four or five thousand years ago a highly civilized society
flourished in these regions. The antiquity of civilization in India
is thus carried back nearly to the same period which witnessed
the growth of ancient civilizations in Egypt, Assyria and
Babylonia.

Unfortunately we have no written records about the Indus valley

civilisation comparable to those we process in the respect of the
others. A number of seals have been discovered with a few
letters engraved on each, but still they remain undeciphered. We
are therefore totally ignorant of the political history of Indus
valley civilization and not in the adequate idea of its culture and
civilization. We possess, at best, a vague and general idea of the
subject which is entirely derived from a careful examination of
the objects unearthed at Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa.
MOHENJO-DARO

Mohenjo-Daro – Mound of the dead- is the local name of a high

mound situated in the plains of Larkana in a narrow strip of land
between the main bed of the Indus river and the western Nara
canal. The surrounding region is wonderfully fertile and is called
even to day Nakhlistan or the Garden of sind. Here a city was
built some five thousand years ago. The city was successively
destroyed and rebuilt no less that seven times, the inundation of
the Indus being perhaps the chief agency of destruction. The
rebuilding did not always immediately follow the destruction,
but sometimes the city remained in ruins for a considerable
period before before a new city rose upon them. Thus after the
foundation of the city, many centuries passes before before it
was finally abandoned.

The ruins of this city have now been laid bare, and we shall try
to sum up what we have been able to learn about it and the
people who lived therein.
THE CITY

The city is fairly big. The dwelling houses are many in number
and vary in size from a small building with two rooms to a
palatial structure having a frontage of 26 metres and a depth of
29.5 metres, with outer walls 1.25 to 1.5 metres thick. They are
made of bricks which are usually well burnt and of good quality.
Sometimes very large bricks, measuring 51.5 centrimetres long,
26.5 centimeters broad and 9 centimetres thick,are used. The big
houses have two or more storeys and are furnished with paved
floors and courtyards, doors, windows and narrow stairways. It
is specially noteworthy that almost every house has wells, drains
and bathrooms.

The most imposing structure in the city is the Great Bath. It

consists of large open quadrangle in the centre with galleries
enjoyed to a degree unknown elsewhere in the ancient world,
not only the sanitary convenience but also the luxuries and
comfort of a highly developed municipal life. We must also
conclude that the art of building had reached a high degree of
perfection.
THE PEOPLE

The ruins of Mohenjo Daro tell us a great deal about the people
who lived in the luxurious city and as they afford us the first
comprehensive view of the culture and civilization of India, we
must note the essential features of the social,economic and
religious condition under appropriate heads or items.
FOOD
Wheat was the principal article of food, but barley and palm-
date were also familiar. They also used mutton, pork, fish and
eggs.
DRESS and ORNAMENTS
Cotton fabrics were in common use, but wool was also used,
evidently for warm textiles. Ornaments were worn by both men
and women of all classes. Necklaces ,armlets,finger rings and
bangles were worn by both men and women; and girdles, nose
studs, ear rings and anklets by women alone. There was great
variety in the shape and design of these ornaments and some of
them are of singular beauty.
ARTS and CRAFTS
Some aspects of the art and industry of the early Indur people
have been dealt with above. Agriculture must have played an
important role in the daily life of common people, and among
other things wheat, barley and cotton were cultivated on a large
scale. Among the industrial classes, the potter, the weaver, the
carpenter, the manson and stone-cutter were the most important.

A great advance in technical knowledge in indicated

by the potter’s wheel, kiln-burnt brick, the boring of hard
substances like carnelian and the casting and alloy of metals. A
high aesthetic sense is indicated by the beautiful designs of the
ornaments, the superb relief figures on seals and the execution
of fine stone statues.

RELIGION
The objects found at Mohenjo-Daro also teach us something
about the religious faiths and beliefs of the people. The cult of
the Divine Mother seems to have been widely prevalent, and
many figures of this mother goddess have come to light. This
cult may not be exactly the same as sakti- worship of later days,
but the fundamental ideas appear to be the same, viz,the belief in
a female energy as the source of all creation.
Along with this ,there was also a male god god shiva. On one
particular seal he seems to be represented as seated in the Yoga
posture, surrounded by animals.
HOUSEHOLD ARTICLES
The earthenware vessels, of rich variety were made with the
potter’s wheel and were either plain or painted. In rare cases
they were glazed. Vessels of copper,bronze,silver and porcelain
were known, though very rarely used. It is important to bear in
mind that not a scrap of iron has been found and that metal was
obviously unknown.

DOMESTICATED ANIMALS
The remains of skeletons prove that the humped bull, the
buffalo, sheep, elephant and camel were domesticated. There are
some doubts about the horse. The carvings of dogs on children’s
toys show that that animal was also familiar.

WEAPONS OF WAR
These include axes, spears, daggers and slings, with
comparatively fewer specimen of bows and arrows. The absence
of swords is significant. Shield , helmets, or any other defensive
armour are conspicuous by their absence. The weapons of war ,
all offensive in character, are usually made of copper and
bronze.
SEALS
More than five hundred seals have been discovered. These are
made of terracotta and small in size. Some contain fine
representation of animal figures- both mythical and real-
engraved on them. All of them contain a short record inscribed
in a sort of pictorial writing which still remains undeciphered.

FINE ART
The representations of the animals carved on seals often exhibit
a high degree of excellence. A few stone images found at
Harrapa recall the finish and excellence of greek statues and
show a high degree of development in the sculptor’s art.

TRADE and COMMERCE

The seals were most probably used in connection with trade.
Indeed there is abundant evidence that the people traded not
only with other parts of India but also with many countries of
Asia. It is certain that they secured tin, copper and precious
stones from beyond India.
POLITY
As the Harappan culture is more or less uniform over a large
area, a central authority may have contributed to this. We may
identify some important elements of the state in the Indus valley.
The Arthashastra of Kautilya considers sovereignity, ministers,
populated territory, forts, treasury,force and friends to be the
organ of the state.

The harrapan culture, the citedal may have been the seat of
sovereign power, the middle town may have been the area where
all the bureaucrats lived or the seat of the government and the
great granary at Mohenjo-Daro may have been the treasury.

Fortification was a feature of several cities. Dholavira, in

particular had forts within forts. We have no clear idea of an
organized force or standing army, but a heap of sling stones and
the depiction of a soldier on a potsherd at Surkotada may
suggest a standing army.

No temples have been found at harappan sites. No

religious structure of any kind have been excavated apart from
the great bath, which may have been used for ablution. It would,
therefore, be wrong to think that priests ruled in Harappan as did
in the cities of lower Mesopotamia.
GENERAL CONCLUSIONS

The study of Injdus valley civiloisation raises several interesting

problems of a general nature. In the first place it offers a striking
resemblance to the ancient civilizations in sumer and
Mesopotamia proper. The developed city life, use of potter’s
wheel, kiln-burnt bricks, and vessels made of copper and bronze
and above all pictorial writings, are some of the common and
distinctive features of all the three civilizations of the pre
historic period.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Majumdar, R.C, Raychaudhuri, H.C. , Datta Kalikinkar, An
Advanced History Of India, 4th ed, Macmillan
2. Sharma, R.S., India’s Ancient Past, 3rd ed, Oxford
Publication.