Indus Valley Civilisation

Indus Civilization is among the world's earliest civilizations. It peaked around 2500 BC in the western part of South Asia, fell in the middle of the 2nd millennium BC and was forgotten until its rediscovery in the 1920s by RD Banerjee.

Geographically, it was spread over an area of about 1,260,000 sq.km covering all of modern Pakistan and parts of modern India and Afghanistan. There is an Indus Valley site on the Oxus River in Shortughai in northern Afghanistan (Kenoyer 1998:96) and the Indus Valley site Alamgirpur the Hindon River is located only 28 km from Delhi. At its peak, the Indus Civilization has had a population of well over five million.

Indus civilization is still poorly understood. Its very existence was forgotten until the 20th century. Its writing system remains undeciphered. Among the mysteries of the Indus civilization are fundamental issues, including its means of subsistence and the reasons for his sudden disappearance, beginning around 1900 BC. We do not know what language people spoke. We do not know what they called themselves. All these facts stand in stark contrast to what is known about its contemporaries, Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt.

To date, more than 1052 cities and settlements have been found, mainly in the general region Hakra-Ghaggar river and its tributaries. Among the settlements were the major urban centers of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro and Lothal, Dholavira, Ganweriwala, Kalibanga and Rakhigarhi.

Furthermore, there is some controversial evidence indicative of another great river, now long dried up, which runs parallel and east of the Indus. The dried-out river beds overlap with Hakra channel in Pakistan and the seasonal Ghaggar River in India. Over 500 ancient sites belonging to Indus Valley Civilization have been discovered along Hakra-Ghaggar river and its tributaries (SP Gupta 1995: 183).

In contrast, only 90 to 96 of over 800 known Indus Valley sites have been discovered on the Indus and its tributaries. A section of scientists argue that this was a big river in the third and fourth millennia BC, and suggest that it may have been the Sarasvati River in the Rig Veda. Some of those who accept this hypothesis in favor of designating the Indus Valley culture of "Saraswati-Sindhu Civilization, Sindhu is the old name for the Indus River. Most archaeologists dispute this view and argues that the old and dry river died during the Mesolithic age later, and was reduced to a seasonal stream long before the Vedic period.

Indus civilization was older than the first farming cultures in South Asia, which occurred in the mountains in what is now called Balochistan, west of the Indus Valley. The most famous landmark of this culture is Mehrgarh, established around 6500 BC. These early farmers domesticated wheat and a range of animals including cattle. Pottery was in use from around 5500 BC. Indus civilization grew out of this culture technology base and its geographic expansion into the alluvial plains of what is now the provinces of Punjab and Sindh in modern Pakistan and northern India.

By 4000 BC, a distinctive, regional culture, called pre-Harappan, had emerged in this area. (This is called pre-Harappan because remains of the widespread culture in the early strata of Indus civilization cities.) Commercial network is attached to this culture and its regional cultures and eliminate sources of raw materials, including lapis lazuli and other materials for bead - do . The villagers had by this time, domesticated numerous crops, including peas, sesame seeds, dates and cotton, as well as a wide range of animals including water buffalo, an animal which is essential for intensive agricultural production throughout Asia today.

Urban Planning: In some of the excavations, remains of whole towns have been identified. Of these, it is noted that a Harappan city was protected by massive walls built on all sides. The walls had guard towers at regular distances.

Seals: Square seals or coins have been found in excavations at various sites. They were made of powder of a certain white stone. Moreover, the seals of ivory, clay and metals, have also been found. These seals are provided with images of animals and manlike figure. At the top are letters engraved in a script that has not yet been deciphered. Historians believe that these seals were used in rituals or in trade.

Faience: Beautiful earthen oven pots is one of the characteristics of the Harappa civilization. Several specimens of these earthen oven pots have been found in excavations. A city on a second: On Mohen-Jo-Daro, the remains of cities built on each other has been found. From those still it seems that the original city of the place, maybe got buried because of one reason or another. After a period, was another city built in the same place. Seven layers of construction has been found at Mohen-jo-Daro.

The Great Bath: A huge square bath with 56 meters x 56 meters has been found at Mohen-jo-Daro. At the center is a tank measuring 12 meters x 7 meters and 2.5 meters deep. There are steps leading down to the tank. Tank has been built in brick in a way that would prevent leakage of water. There is also a provision for draining and filling of the tank from time to time. The Harappan people seem to have placed particular emphasis on facilities for cleanliness and hygiene. Their urban planning was systematic. The facilities in the Harappan cities shows clearly that these towns must have had an administrative system set rules for the city government implemented them carefully.