See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/351250270

EXPLORING THE INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION IN INDIA

Article · May 2021

CITATIONS READS

0 829

1 author:

Aparna Joshi

49 PUBLICATIONS   0 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

Renaissance and Early Modern Europe 1500- 1900 View project

Women: The Pioneers and The Modern View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Aparna Joshi on 01 May 2021.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

EXPLORING THE INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION IN INDIA
BY APARNA JOSHI

INTRODUCTION

There has been a recent surge in debate regarding the origins full extent and decline
of a chalcolithic civilization, the Indus Valley. it is a contemporary culture to the
Mesopotamian world. Further there has been a great curiosity in recent times
regarding the Indian origins of a civilization whose major sites can be found in
Pakistan. a recent social media post caught my attention, as it expressed surprise
over a site discovered in 1969. this article aims to demystify, explain, and
understand, major Indian sites of the Indus Valley civilization and their
contribution to the discourse on Harappa.

THE URBAN DEBATE: FIRST URBANISATION

There has been considerable debate regarding the process of urbanization,

urbanization is the process in which people begin to leave settled lives and engage
in activities other than those of agriculture and subsistence. the earliest definition
of urbanization can be found in man makes himself by Gordon V Childe, dating
back to the 1930s.

GORDON CHILDE

1.the world is first citizen numbered escalated villages.

2. While the city population may include some farmers and herdsmen it also can
comprised or full-time crafts persons merchants transporters officials in Priests
these groups were supported by the surplus food produced by farmers

3. Farmers had to hand over their surplus produce as tax or tribute to the ruling elite

4.Monumental public buildings were hallmarks of cities and reflected

concentration of social surplus i.e., surplus produce and wealth generated in society
in the hands of the elite.

5. there was a trade-off between the ruling class and the rest of societies rulers lived
off the surplus produced by farmers and in return provided them with peace security
planning and organization.

6. the invention of systems of recording i.e., writing, and numeral notation helped
meet the needs of administration.
 7. the invention of writing led to the development of exact but practically useful
scientist Sciences such as erythematic geometry and astronomy and the creation of
a calendar.

8.conceptualization and sophistication of styles of artistic expression made their

appearance.

9. city is implied a significant amount of long-distance trade.

10. they also implied a state organization based on residence in a territory rather
than kinship the state provided security and materials to specialists craft persons
enabling them to live a settled rather than in tenant life.

ROBERT MCADAM’S IDEAS

another scholar who importantly contributed tu the concept of organization was

Robert McAdam , McAdam decided to base his argument about the city and
organization highlighting the relationship between cities and their hinterland that
is between cities and villages that are not opposite poles but interdependent and
interacting parts of a larger cultural and ecological system, peace word no doubt
ultimately sustained by agricultural surpluses produced in villages but also the
deployment of these surpluses that were not merely an economic phenomena but
were governed by social and political factors’ went on to highlight the multiple
roles played by cities to macadam they were nodes for the appropriation and
redistribution of agricultural surpluses they provided a permanent base for new
social and political institutions and regulated the relationships between specialised
producers occupying different econiches. These were to be used as Centres for the
safe storage of surpluses concentration of wealth and for the expenditure of public
building programs by elite groups cities word also the centre of learning artistic
creativity philosophical debate and the development of religious ideas.

GIDEON SJOBERG

Yet another philosophy was given by Gideon Sjoberg, in 1964 who emphasize did
the close connection between history of cities and the rise and fall of empires for
Sjoberg, control was crucial in maintaining social organization of empires and
providing the stability necessary for the development of trade and Commerce he
went on to elaborate many facets of the city's functions and features the
concentration of population in a relatively small space also facility read
communication and the exchange of goods and services among specialists elite
groups tend to be concentrated in the city unusually lived near its centre this city
was hence the place where political decisions were taken and military strategies
planned apart from this centres the cities were centres of artistic and cultural
activity.
ROBERT REDMAN

Like the process of cultivation and domestication of crops as suggested by various

scholars such as Bind ford, Kent Flannery and other historians who saw the
Neolithic because of the existence of marginal zones, where many crops, people
and animals could live and coexist, Robert Redman saw the process of urbanization
as an interaction between the natural and the man-made world. he theorised that
that to flourish, cities were constructed areas that were rich in resources and well
connected 2 surrounding areas. since this work was based in Mesopotamian
context, Redman took the theory and proved it with the earliest cultures found in
northern Mesopotamia that was fed by the Tigris and Euphrates river. Today, this
evidence and argument seems to wane in the region of Mesopotamia due to the
prevailing harsh desert conditions.

On the contrary this evidence adds open to be used proven to a certain extent when
did early run harappan and Indus Valley sites, it can be argued that people may
have had some sense of echo niches as they chose fertile or resource rich areas to
make their settlements. this striking similarities Mesopotamia and Egypt have led
to it theory known as the diffusionist theory. this theory was popular in 19th and
20th centuries eminent historians such as John Marshall, EJH Mackay, DH Gordon
and SN Kramer however have been subsequently by eminent historians such as
DK Chakravarty who argued that to prove that there was some contact between the
donor and recipient cultures before the change appeared in the latter. Secondly
there was need to show that there was indeed a striking and significant degree of
similarity in the development of the 2 cultures and to demonstrate how and why
the new technologies practices and cultures were transmitted to be absorbed into
the fabric of the recipient culture.

It was MR Mughal in 1977, give the first Princess analysis of evidence in pre
harappan sites of the greater Indus Valley and was able to us explain the process of
urbanization. since the culture of Mesopotamia, Egypt and India were some of the
first regions to experience this change, for the first time, it has been dubbed the first
urbanisation.
EDWARD B TAYLOR AND LEWIS HENRY MORGAN

although this theory has been disproved and is considered old, outdated, it was
popular in the 19th century and was proposed by evolutionists Edward by Taylor
and Henry Morgan, who argued that the development of civilization took a series
of stages, the first stage was the prime Oriel stage or savagery this stage uses little
to no social organization with a hunting gathering subsistence the second stage was
barbarianism this mode of social organization was equivalent to tribal social
organization and Lastly the ethical. At this stage civilization was at its peak after
the creation of writing and organised society. however, this theory was dropped for
being unethical towards traditional tribal societies and unproven by hard evidence.
it has later been suggested that in many cases urbanization, Hunter gatherer tribal
and pastoral society is lived together and shared space. therefore, since there was a
coexistence, an approach of disconnected stages cannot be seen as feasible.

ARNOLD TOYNBEE AND OSWALD SPENGLER

Another theory was given by Arnold Toynbee and AWS word Spengler who were
environmental determinists this implied that they attempted to justify the shift from
nomadic hunting gathering societies to an urban centre through humanistic and
natural world interactions. Oswalt Spengler argued that the development of cities
and towns also went through various stages it began its infancy went to adulthood
old age and death Spangler believed that there was a close connection between
civilization and surroundings. for Arnold Toynbee on the other hand the history of
civilization was an upward movement hi defined this process as defeating the
challenges of nature however due to their insufficient arguments both these theories
were dropped, and new theories emerged.

ALFRED A KROEBER
Alfred a Kroeber used the concept of civilization to divide up all human history into analytical
units these units were delimited primarily based on their values and qualities known as styles
this method is an effective 12 define cultures however it did little to explain the similarities
differences or their growth it is rather a clarification based on a selected set of attributes.

ROBERT REDFIELD
A new perspective was put forward by Robert Redfield, a social anthropologist According to
him a society is characterised on the opposite aspects of folk and urban little or great traditions
Redfield’s perspective in courage the researcher to investigate models of interactionism and
various cultural factors this helps one elaborate the functioning of a civilization, in terms of
cultural and interregional influences.

JULIAN STEWART
Stuart emphasize and evolutionary perspective that related environment and cultural
development his aim was to investigate each society in terms of its social and cultural
complexities Stuart conceived off cultural evolution as a succession of adaptive patterns
thereby emphasising the ecological and economic factors as primary sources of change Karl
Wittfogel and Julian Stuart focused on the factors of simultaneous occurrence of early
civilizations in irrigation in agriculture there for being dumped the hydraulic hypothesis.

ROBERT CARNEIRO
Robert Carneiro off water systems fertile and mountains near urban settlements due to
population pressure led to the development of cities however this factor was not alone this
claim was supported by Igor Daikonoff of who posits the increase in population agriculture
and wealth as the primary cause of city life this was further supplemented by Phillip Smith and
Cuyler young posit it the increase in population agricultural specialization.

SUMMARISING URBANISATION
 Gordon Robert Robert Giodon
Childe Redman McAdams Sjoberg

Robert Edward B
Diffusionist Taylor and
Redfield theory
MR Mughal
Lewis Henry
Morgan

Arnold Oswald Alfred A Julian

Toynbee Spengler Kroeber Steward

Robert Carneiro
( Igor Daikanoff, Philip Smith and Cuyler Young)

METHODS OF DATING SITES AND SUBSEQUENT

NOMENCLATURE
In the words of Paul Bahn “to the general public archaeology tends to be synonymous with
digging as if this is what practitioners of the subject do all the time in the British sericea
magazine private any archaeologist is automatically described as a man with a beard in hole
cartoons usually depict archaeologists as crusty old foggy covered with cobwebs and obsessed
with old bones and cracked pots” this may be a comical representation and reflect a small part
of this complex subject.

the term archaeology comes from the Greek word archeologia discourse about ancient things
however today this broad term describing the origins of the human story has become the means
to develop a larger and more complex understanding of our past. to western scholars in the 16th
century, it was William Camden, who pioneered the idea of looking back at curiosities and
spending weeks surrounded in the field by them.
there are various branches to the study of archaeology however the most commonly practiced
and used especially in the Indian context is the process of ethnoarchaeology this is a related
branch of archaeology that is less active in the kind of work for a long time archaeologists
founded difficult to connect helpful information being obtained from the living off
anthropologists and their work these fieldworks were intrinsically best within kinship systems
witchcraft and similar systems that word not bothered with contemporary archaeological
findings ethnoarchaeology attempted to bridge that gap. one can understand the method of
dating artifacts, and their respective usage by the study of ethnoarchaeology. in the Indian
context, the earliest ethnoarchaeologists word dose such as HH Cole who propounded and in
situ approach to the conservation of artifacts. in the case of the harappan Valley, DK
Chakraborty and VK Jain, have extensively explained the process.
There are several sub schools regarding Archaeological study, the subdivisions include:
Historical Archaeology: History began with the writing of facts and figures, Historical
Archaeology refers to the reconstruction of the past with the literary sources, that is commonly
known as Historical Archaeology.
Prehistoric Archaeology: In the words of VK Jain, “Prehistory refers to that phase of human
history when earth was still taking shape and man was evolving biologically through various
extinct species from the primates to its present form.” The source of prehistorical archaeology
is based on primarily finds of tools, bones and other such remains.
Protohistoric Archaeology: Proto-History refers to an early historical period, with a small
understanding of Historical Consciousness. To Romila Thapar, Historical Consciousness refers
to the importance given to events in the past that have been recorded through the smriti
(memory) and shruti (hearing) before being written down. In the protohistoric form,
archaeologists, attempt to corroborate material and literary remains to reconstruct the past.
Ethnoarchaeology: The field of Ethnoarchaeology is based on the study of anthropologists,
the archaeologist attempts to reconstruct the lives of people in the historical period under study
through the lives of people living in the region in the modern day.
Other than the sub-fields of archaeology, there are several methods for dating the objects that
are elaborated below.

RADIO CARBON DATING (C 1 4 ) DATING

Refers to a technique this refers to a technique that was introduced by an American physicist
WF Libby in 1949 the primary principle of this method is that all living things such as humans
plants or animals contain a fixed proportion of sea 12 and see 14 on death or decay see 12
remain stable however see 14 decrease at a steady rate if the ratio found between sea 12 and
see 14 present in a sample is calculated its original date can be specified this is to suggest that
half the life of see 40 is 5568 years but later when cross examined against dendrochronology
that is dating based on the growth of yearly rings of a certain long lasting tree can be as old as
8000 years growing in America and elsewhere it is found to be needing some correction and
calibration consequently its half line is now estimated to being 5730 years half lines means half
of the carbon will disappear in 5000 730 years while the other half will further be divided by
half and one quarter of this will take another 5730 years to decay and so on this connection has
pushed back the original sea 14 dates by a few centuries and has made progress in a graphical
form.
Illustration: an object obtained in 3000 BCE bye the earlier see 14 dating wood now come to
around 3700 BC I upon modern day calibration.
this leads to a number of shortcomings related to the carbon 14 dating system or radiocarbon
dating in the words of professor VK Jain theoretical Lee the method could be applied for dates
as old as 80,000 years but it becomes less accurate as the quantity of sea 14 surviving in samples
tends to get very small this problem has now been overcome by the introduction of a new
technique called a Ms accelerated mass spectrometry it requires a little as little as a milligram
of carbon in the sample to provide a date another advantage of AMS is that see 14 dates can
safely be extended as far back as 100,000 years ago.

THERMOLUMIESCENCE
Organic matter such as wood bone etcetera can be dated using the see 14 dating technique
however thermoluminescence dating often abbreviated as TL dating is helpful in dating
inorganic objects such as pottery and metals those which are found most abundantly at
archaeological sites the basic principle for thermal luminescence dating is that at the time of
pottery making the clay of the pottery in traps certain minerals having electrons and if a piece
of a particular sample is heated under scientific conditions in a laboratory it will release the
energy accumulated within it in the form of light which then can be measured to indicate the
period when it was first fired or baked thermoluminescence dating requires that the inorganic
material is heated rapidly to 500 degrees Celsius or above and can be used for pottery terracotta
and burnt Flint objects for which this is used are often 50,000 to 80,000 years old.

POTASSIUM-ARGON K-AR DATING

Potassium and Argon are metalling that available in abundant quantities in rock formations,
especially the volcanic igneous rocks that are formed by the hardening and solidification of the
volcanic lava. To execute this method of dating the Archaeologist must measure the proportion
of Potassium and Argon, within prehistoric rocks and ash. The dating method can effectively
be used to date remains as far back as 5,000 m.y.a.
PALAEOMAGNETIC SYSTEM AND OTHER METHODS OF DATING
Paleomagnetic dating can be etymologically derived as Paleo (old stone) and magnetic (a field
attracting metals created by electricity). Uranium Thorium dating. In this type dating the
archaeologist must measure the radioactive decay of the isotope uranium and it has thus proved
useful for objects belonging from the period of 500,000 to 50,000 years ago that would
otherwise be left out of the C14 dating system.
another method of carbon dating is the electron spin resonance ESR method that is used for
material which decomposes upon heating and it is thus useful for objects such as tooth enamel
ivory or other types of bone and tooth remains.
in the words of week Aegean, the optical emission spectrometry is a technique that is used to
analyse the trace elements in artifacts particularly beads pottery and metal which involves the
excitation of atoms in a sample by means of a laser beam measuring the wavelength of light
this helps in identifying the source of raw materials thus examining the trade Contacts between
different regions using the raw material of finished product.
another type of archaeological dating is the microware or use where analysis that was
developed in 1964 by Soviet archaeologist Semenov. he began by examining under a
microscope the traces of Ware left on a stone implement this method makes it possible for an
archaeologist to determine the purpose for which a particular tool was used that is whether it
was used for cutting a piece of wood bone or meat.

in recent years a new type of archaeological study has emerged this technique has proven to be
helpful in high altitude areas and is known as remote sensing from high altitude through
LANDSAT, within this system scanners record infrared radiation from the earth surface before
converting them electronically to photographic images these images have been used to trace
underground channels in different parts of the world including Mesopotamia and Egypt in India
this is brought to light that in Rajasthan and underground riverbed has been identified this
historians speculate may be the lost River Saraswati. further NASA, released photographs of
an undersea land mass or Jag geological formation connecting India with Sri Lanka however
this has not been considered as solid evidence of the Ramasetu.

Underwater archaeology has also become popular and is known as sonar a term which comes
from the 2 words sound navigation and ranging, this device is used by warships and military
aircraft often to locate me submarine's it works by sending sharp pulses of sounds which are
reflected back when they strike an object undersea and these vibrations are then recorded to
calculate the range and direction of the object sonar has come in useful in promoting marine
archaeology that has helped in locating shipwrecks undersea sites and various other types off
sites especially in the Bay of cambe in Gujarat and its data is now being processed.
DNA and the field of microbiology has also opened up a new method of archaeology since the
1980s as that DNA is known as the mitochondria of the inherited gene pool from mothers to
their children it is based on the examination of small quantities of DNA extracted from bones
and teeth as opposed to the soft tissue that has opened up and the possibility of finding out the
genetic differences and similarities between fossil remains of early humans scholar M wall pop
for example best his study on the understanding that modern humans have emerged roughly
simultaneously in different regions of the world. Briefly explained the use of various scientific
techniques today has in fact disproved the diffusionist ideology between West Asia and South
Asia as proposed in the 19th and early 20th centuries by scholars such as Gordon child and
other urban scholars.
DISCOVERY AND ORIGINS: THE DEBATE
There is considerable debate regarding the origins of the Indus Valley civilization, other than
the process of organization itself the Indus Valley civilization was first found in the 1820s by
a company soldier and Explorer Charles Mason in 1826, abandoned in the Sahiwal district of
Pakistan, Charles Mason was convinced that this was the location of the epic battle between
the Macedonia in invader Alexander and the defeated King porous. another interesting turn
came in the 1850s when Alexander burns visited Harappa, he thought it was an important site
however he did not understand its precise significance it was only later that Alexander
Cunningham a military engineer of the East India company keenly interested in archaeology
conducted a small escalation in the site however was not impressed with his findings that he
understood, this area to be of some significance.

in 1872 Alexander Cunningham re visited Harappa as the director general of the newly
established archaeological survey of India he was dismayed to find Mount from his previous
escalation badly disturbed by railway contractors who extracted free bricks from the site
Cunningham found a small culture of stone tools and ancient pottery however the most
distinct finding from this site was a seal of a bull with strange writing on it entreat by this
finding Alexander Cunningham concluded that since the bull did not have a hump the seal
must be foreign this is where he missed a very important clue.

Officers of the archaeological survey of India such as Pandit here Anand shastri in the 20th
century reported that he did not see point in escalating Harappa on the other hand Dr
Bhandarkar’s assessment was that Mohenjo-Daro could be no more than 250 years older than
the 20th century in the 1920s.Dayaram Sahani eventually began excavation in 1920 and in
1921 was joined by RD Banerjee who started escalating Mohenjo-Daro the formal
announcement of the discovery of a new civilization was made in 1924 by John Marshall the
dead the then director general of the archaeological survey of India almost a century after the
initial findings by Charles Mason.

According to DK Chakravarthy and John Marshall the questions of the origin of the Harapan
civilization have overshadowed its findings further according to DK Chakravarthy the in this
Valley civilization had a long antecedent history on Indian soil this view has been contested
by the various diffusionist explanations that attempt to equate cultures from one region to
another according to open the sink the theory of diffusionist ideologies are not only origin
thesis but also a method of understanding the Indus Valley civilization itself.

DH Gordon and SN Kramer proposed the migration theory, according to this theory the
Harappan civilization could not be explained as an offshoot or an offspring of the
Mesopotamian civilization however it could be traced to the emergence of settled farming
communities in the Baluchistan region in the 7th Millennium BCE in the words of Upinder
Singh it's more immediate it probably would was the cultural phase that used to be known as
the pre Harappan and now is usually referred to as the early Harappan phase.

According to Amalananda Ghosh, 65 the first archaeologist to identify similarities between

the pre harappan cultures and the mature harappan cultures he focused on the pre harappan
Sothi culture of Rajasthan the archaeologist asserted that there were similarities between so
the pottery or and that of job quota and Baluchi sides Secondly pre harappan Kali Bagan kot
Diji and at the lowest level Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro styles the mature Harappa Kali
Bangan and perhaps also Kot Diji were described as pre Harappan cultures Ghosh however
ignored these many differences between the Sothi and Kot Diji cultures however is cultures
remained relatively overlooked in the emergence of Harappa it was in 1977 that MR Mughal
first explained the emergence of the Indus Valley civilization in a comprehensive manner to
Mughal the period of the proto Harappa was a form of early Harappa because they all bore
onto the harappan culture such as Amri, Sothi kot Diji and word earlier character iced as
proto harappan were now collectively known as early harappan cultures.

EARLY HARAPPAN CULTURES

prior to the period of the harappan civilization there is a series of Stone Age cultures these
Stone Age cultures can be divided into the Palaeolithic the Mesolithic and the Neolithic.
maximum influence on the harappan culture can be seen from the Neolithic period.
The Neolithic period is also known as the Neolithic revolution because, it was the first time
that people began to practice settled agriculture and domestication of animals. The term
Neolithic revolution was coined by Gordon we child in 1952 who suggested that
environmental changes at the end of the play store scene were the impetus towards food
production child argued that 10,000 years ago the climate in parts of West Asia became drier
due to the northwest shift of summer rains this desiccation led to concentration of people
plants animals close to water resources such as rivers and oases this in forced closeness
eventually leading to a new relationship of dependence between humans plants and animals
resulting in domestication.

another complimenting theory was provided by Robert J Braidwood in 1960 who rejected the
focus on the environmental changes and eco nation as it was a crucial factor leading to
agriculture he pointed out that environmental changes had occurred within the place to seen
as well as in earlier periods but had not led to agriculture Braidwood argued that
domestication took place insert a new clear zones which supported a variety of wild plants
animals and potential for domestication in such areas domestication was the natural outcome
of human experimentation and people getting to know their environment better this theory
did not explain why pressure sore incentives may have led to domestication it is in this study
that ethnographic evidence of many hunting gathering communities who we know today as
well ask others who made aware of agriculture but do not see the point of practicing it
themselves there have been good reason for a community of radical changes in this way.

Contrary to braid Woods theory Lewis R Binford first theory in 1968 grounded that it could
not be archaeologically proven that some specific concrete factors can explain the beginnings
of agriculture to Binford the ethnographic evidence indicates that in areas where environment
in population have remained constant a stable balance between human population and food
resources is achieved and people do not have to look for new resources or strategies of
getting food these groups in fact tend to live at food consumption levels or far below the
resource potential of their environment 2 factors can upset the balance between food and
people stress produced by environmental change or by demographic growth Binford then
goes on to identify 2 kinds of demographic stress internal demographic stress which is the
result of a number of people within a community increasing dramatically and external
demographic stress that is said to be caused by migration into an area by people from another
area in such a context Binford emphasises external demographic stress his main argument is
that at the end of the play store scene as a result of the rise of sea levels people living in
coasts migrated to less populate Ed inland areas this upset the food people equilibrium inland
and gave an impetus to the search for new strategies to increase food supplies however the
problem is that evidence of such migration from the worlds course to inland areas at the end
of the Pleistocene is lacking.

For Kent Flannery who proposed theory in 1969 there was a shift in focus from the search for
an event that might have led to the beginnings of food production to the process of food
production itself and the adaptive advantages of plant and animal domestication over foraging
and hunting to Flannery there were to distinguish types of food procurement systems negative
and positive feedback food procurement negative food procurement negative feedback food
procurement systems involve a balanced exploitation and use of various food resources
within an area that discourage any change for example, a certain community of 10 members
may in their area have an Apple tree, a pear tree and a Mulberry shrub. the Apple tree may
produce 12 apples a day, whereas the pear tree may produce 11 spares a day and the
Mulberry shrub might produce 2 dozen mulberries a day according to the negative feedback
model the community may use 4 apples, 5 pears and a dozen mulberry’s, thus fulfilling their
requirement without completely depleting the natural resources. the other model of food
feedback systems was positive feedback system according to Flannery in this model
productivity of resources increased because of human interference and exploitation. he goes
on to elaborate this model with an example of the maze plant when people transplant mess
from areas within the natural habitat to other areas overtime the plants respond to the process
of domestication by a series of changes such as an increase in size of the cob and the number
of grains genetic changes resulting from the process of cross fertilization increase the
productivity of this resource and once people recognize the increased productivity they turn
more and more towards the domestication of males this hypothesis explains why people
found agriculture more advantages than food gathering but it did not explain why
experiments in domestication were made in the first place.

To Julian Stewart, there was a close interconnection between culture as a part of the wider
ecological adaptation in which interaction of physical environments and human society
caused change with an evolutionary trajectory while different societies contrive different
details about how these adaptations occurred to physical to similar physical environments the
resulting changes were thus reflective of each other no matter the society,

On the contrary to Julian white culture was a set of internal systems working together to
effect progressive change along a determined universal trajectory this societies that are most
successful in harnessing these energies available to them and their technological inventions
are the societies that evolve faster and further the culture is an adaptive systems and
technology is it's driving force these 2 approaches together were the priorities of
environmental determinism technology systematic culture changes and general cultural
evolution in specific light of the Middle East.

Yet another theory was given by Esther boserup known as the direct population pressure
theory boss rip along with other theorists believed that population growth is the major
determining factor in forcing people to invent new ways to intensify food production they
assume that food and population growth is to be consistent and irreversibly unlike the earlier
Malthusian view that food availability determined population given rising population
pressure people invented sedentary lifestyles in order to feed their growing needs.

in in India Neolithic sites can be found scattered across northern and southern India
especially concentrated in the eastern up Bihar belt \, and the Indus Valley region. the
cultures of the northern Plains distinctly have a bearing on the later harappan cultures as
discussed in this section.
AHAR- BANAS CULTURE

the Ahar-Banas culture is associated with the areas of Rajasthan malva and the northern
deccan plateau and its symbolises the beginnings of settled life and is associated with the
Neolithic chalcolithic phase according to professor VK Jain references can be made to bagor
in eastern Rajasthan where this style of culture has been commonly escalated it shows a
transition from hunting gathering Mesolithic to settled chalcolithic and then earth urban Iron
Age phase it also gives substantial evidence of early sedentary chalcolithic sites that come
from areas rich in copper ores copper occurs in many areas for example Rajasthan Gujarat
Bihar Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh however most commonly it is associated with the
Khetri mines of Rajasthan, here is evidence of the use of this metal in parts of the
subcontinent from around 3000 BCE onwards. It however is important to note that prehistoric
sites and cultures are often named after a pottery type this does not mean that this is the only
poetry type that occurs but simply that it is a diagnostic or sample type cultures may also be
named after the region in which they are concentrated evidence of these types of cultures may
be found from neighbouring or similar areas other than where they were found initially and
named after. Various parts of the her culture include the malva cultures that have also been
found sites outside ma in Maharashtra Dagan the Ganeshwar jodhpur a culture was located in
North eastern Rajasthan it is it is connected to the Ahar Banas culture and can be found in
over 80 sites that has been identified the largest concentration of This site is in the seeker
district but sites also occur in Jaipur and Jhunjhunu it can be connected with copper ore
resources of the Baleshwar and khetri areas where traces of ancient copper working have also
been found the Ahar culture is located in the South eastern part of Rajasthan the profile of
these sites show that they were part of a larger and more important metallurgical growth in
Rajasthan that finds its roots in the 4th Millennium BCE jodhpur AA on the banks of the
sahibi River is the first site where evidence of Ganeshwar jodhpur culture can be identified
this culture is known for its distinct P wheel type pottery coloured in bright use of orange and
red with incised designs shapes traditionally associated with this culture include dish on stand
and thick slip where the dates of this culture can be dated between 3309 and 2709 BCE and
2879-2348 BCE

Other it has been identified that there are 3 phases in the Ganeshwar jodhpur a culture that
include the first phase that lies between c. 3800 BCE onwards period to from Sarkar 2800
BCE and c.3 from 2000 BCE. One is often associated with hunting gathering communities
using micro links made of chart and quotes charred bones almost all belonging to wild
animals also being found in this. However, it is interesting to note that these are
predominantly smaller animals while in higher levels there are remains of primarily larger
animals period to is marked by the beginnings of metallurgy a few copper objects such as 5
arrowheads made of copper have been found along with 3 fishing hooks and one spearhead
along with an awl. the 3rd. Off Ganesh word jodhpur can be associated with a wide range of
pots hundreds of different types of copper objects including arrows spearheads Celts chisels
rings bangles bowls etcetera dominated by an assemblage corresponding with the decline of
the use of microliths. it is also interesting to note that the early harappan may have been
obtaining a large amount of copper from these sites as there is a cultural continuation
between. Tu of the Ganeshwar jodhpur assemblages and those found in sites of mature
harappan cultures in the surrounding area.

The region of South East Rajasthan houses over 90 sides of the Ahar or Banas cultures that
have been identified with bananas and barrage River systems roughly between Udaipur and
Jaipur some sites also occurred in the region of the malva plateau her Gilund and Belathal are
3 of these escalated sites Ahar was escalated as early as 1953-54 and 1961-62 Gilund in
1959-60 and Belathal in 1994-98 the type of poetry typically identified with Ahar is a black
and redware with a linear dotted design painted on with white these sites tend to be located
along the riverbank and generally range from a size off a few hectares to around 10 heck Tez
however Ahar itself is 11 hectares and Gilund the second largest site is 10.5 hectares many of
these sites are located within 8- 17 kilometres of each other. The Ahar culture seems to have
left an indelible mark on the harappan culture from its mature. As it shows a great variety of
materials such a steer tight shell agate Jasper carnelian lapis lazuli copper and bronze along
with harappan pottery and access like the Kayatha culture that are associated with the mature
harappan phase thus one can see a continuity between the pre harappan or the early harappan
Ahar Banas culture and the mature harappan cultures.
Kayatha Culture
The Kayatha culture can be set to be a subculture of the malva culture of the larger malva
cultures associated with Kali since Ujjain district in Madhya Pradesh the typical create
culture is normally associated with the latter half of the 3rd Millennium BCE and the poetry
style is a fine sturdy wheel made where it has a thick Brown slip and usually from the
shoulder to the base linear designs are often painted on with Violet or deep red in the upper
part of the vessel the shapes of these vessels include balls and basins voices with globular
profiles and concave next and large storage jars a contrary style of poetry is the buff thin fine
fabric like poetry with linear geometric designs painted on with red the shapes are other
limited and include Lotus hi and short concave next jars and basins there is also a red comb
wear with a fine fabric usually without any slip or wash it is often decorated with multiple
wavy and zig zag lines made from some kind of comb like instrument this shape of an
consists of bolts and basins. This culture bears resemblance to the early harappan pottery and
there is also a similarity to the steer tight microbeads of these 2 cultures the axis found in the
Kayatha culture are often associated with the Ganeshwar jodhpur ah cultures all this suggests
connections between all these cultures however a break in occupation of the Kayatha region
in 1800 BCE has overshadowed this possibility and the site remain deserted for about a
century and before being re occupied by the Ahar Banas culture phase.
 This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

SAVALDA AND DAIMABAD CULTURES

This Savalda culture is associated with the site off Savalda on Tapti River it goes back to the
3rd century BCE and can be found between the tapi and Godavari rivers of North
Maharashtra it is identified by its Weald me wheel made chocolate coloured pottery of
medium coarse fabric with thick and crackled slips the variety of shapes of this culture
include high neck jars dish on stand bowl basin ring stand was beaker and knobs lid a
remarkable factor of the Savalda culture is that the designs painted on the thick crackled slip
include tools weapons and geometric motif

the site of cow the is a 20 hectare site that has been associated with this culture that suggests
a short pastoral nomadic occupation similar to koathe Daimabad on the banks of the pravara
River in Ahmedabad Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra is also known for the Savalda
cultural face however the evidence here is not indicative of a semi nomadic community there
were mud houses large multi room with Hertz storage pits in jars sometimes they were
courtyards in front of the houses the excavations yielded microlites bones stone artifacts and
beads made of shell carnelian steer tight and terracotta a phallus shaped object made of agate
was found inside one of the houses plant remains included wheat Bali P lentil black gram and
green gram. the cultural sequences in terms of houses are like those of the early and mature
harappan phase, the bead assemblages found at the site of Daimabad are like those found at
cholistan banavali and Kali bangan while lentil barley peace and black gram can be traced to
the subsistence activities of the harappan therefore we see a clear string of continuity and
change between Daimabad and early harappan site and the mature Harappa settlements.

GUFKRAL CULTURE
Gufkral land Burzhom are Neolithic sites associated with the Kashmir Valley they are known
for hunting and fishing this is cleared by from the animal bones engraved with hunting scenes
and high percentage of weapons such a spearheads arrowheads and harpoons found at these
sites other than the boat ickle remains of strata. One and period to which shows the
cultivation of wheat barley and lentils common to the Harappan successors goof kraal 41
kilometres East of Sri Nagar extends from the Neolithic to the historical. Here. One of the
sequences is divided into A, B and C phases A and Band see which can be calibrated between
2468 and 3000 BCE or even earlier Gufkral is associated with mostly grey earthenware and
the domestication of various animals and cattle other than bones of wild red deer ibex bear
sheep goats and cattle associated with period 1B of the new lithic site other than this in. One
sees one sees the weaving of woollen cloth and terracotta bangers such as those seen from
later harappan sites thus it can be said that though not a part of the hot of the harappan
settlement of Gufkral and Burzhom too had a bearing on its culture.

SENUAR CULTURE

San you're is a region in the middle Ganga Valley in the Sara you para Plains of the North
eastern part of Uttar Pradesh it is bound in the South and the West by the Ghaggar River and
in the East by Gandak to of the primary tributaries of the Ganga River the villages that lie in
this area have been escalated to around 60 hectares and the earliest excavations date back to
the 1960s and 70s that have brought out a 6 fold cultural sequence at soha goara ranging from
the Neolithic to the medieval period with remains including small pieces of il fired handmade
pottery course medium fabric and chards either rusticated or cord impressed 5 other
escalations of Senuar and Tara de have also been found in this region all these sites mark the
3rd to the second Millennium BCE.

Villages located on the banks of the streams that show the presence of full-fledged
agricultural villages in the gangetic Plains of Bihar the pottery of the Neolithic period
includes red grey and black ways this is also a black and red Ware most of the pottery was
handmade rather than wheel made and certain examples of the turn table method which is the
popular wheel made pottery that as we know it today some ports were painted usually with
red ochre or Geru red and scratch designs on that surface generally linear or geometric the
ancient mound of Senuar is in the banks of the Kudra River at the foot of the game or range
of the Rohtas district of Bihar not far from Sasaram there are for periods of occupation at this
site. One is Neolithic period 2 is chalcolithic contemporary with the harappan age.

3 is northern black polished Ware and BPW of the later Vedic and period for belongs to the
early century CE the lower level of the site is dated using the radiocarbon method to circa
7187-1400 BCE therefore the beginning of. A probable goes back to the latter half of the 3rd
Millennium BCE here we are concerned with period one which is divided into periods 1A
and period 1B.

1A at senuar is known for its 1.5-metre-thick Neolithic deposit with remains of wattle and
daub houses. It is also known for a particular type of red wear burnished red wear and
burnished grey Ware pottery has often been rusticated with designs of chord impressions
most of the poetry here however is wheel made but there is certain handmade pottery with
lots of microliths or small blades and flakes made of chert, agate quartz and quartzite similar
to the later harappan face animal bones at Cineworld when carefully studied suggest
domesticated animals including cattle buffalo sheep goat pig, cat and dog wild animals
included nilgai antelope and chital a type of deer.

The charring and cut marks on many of these bones show that the animals were killed for
food people ate shell food from rivers it this is clear from the remains of mole asks and larger
number of shells in certain areas considering that this site was on the banks of a River it is
odd that no fish bones have been reported however carbonised grains show that people grew
to crops a year rice was the main crop but people also grow barley door sweet sorghum Millet
ragi Millet lentil grass pea and field pea which were also common in the harappan.

One is at Cineworld is transitional. Between the Neolithic and chalcolithic age it consisted of
a 2.02 metre thick deposit it provides evidence of house floors being well ramped earth mixed
with conquered and pots hurt and marks of post holes in some places 19 copper objects have
been found including a fish hook wire some rings a broken needle and several broken in
determined objects there is also fragmentary evidence of a led rod chemical analysis of the
copper wire has shown that it was made out of pure copper and that the metal was probably
obtained from the neighbouring Rakha mines the artifacts of.

Won by are like those of 1A however there is a marked improvement in the pottery
especially in the smoothness and treatment of its surface stone tools in. One by are more or
less similar however they include polished so stone cells mostly made of black Bay salt micro
lips were also found in large numbers there were also lot of finished and unfinished beads of
semi-precious stones such as a get carnelian and Jasper 25 faience beads have also been
found in the region terracotta artifacts include beads pottery discs and bull figurines and
maybe what has been identified as a whistle some poetry discs have been identified as
possible wheels for children’s toys or gaming counters used by children, the finds of beads
and toys are similar to those found in the harappan. At its mature face.
AMRI AND KOT DIJIAN CULTURAL SEQUENCE
Amri lies in the Sindh region about 2 kilometres from the right Bank of the River Indus
experts suggest that it goes back to 3500 years before common era, this is an early harappan
site that can further be subdivided into 4 phases. 1A. 1B. One sees and period 1D period to of
the same site represents what can be called a transitional phase whereas. 3 is mature
harappan.

within. One historian has detected a processual increase in the finishing and variety of poetry
it is often seen that mud brick structures are supplemented with stones various artifacts also
included chert blades stone balls bone tools and few fragments of copper and bronze,
however. Once I saw multiple cellular compartments perhaps used for the storing of grain or
the platform platforms for building poetry of this. Was dominated in and showed great
variety in form painted with designs which were mostly geometric the painting was
monochromatic using one color or polychromatic using Brown black and various kinds of
ochre.

Kot Diji, is a similar side approximately 160 kilometres North East of Amri, on the Left Bank
of the old flood channels of the Indus Valley the earliest remains here date back to the early
and mature harappan levels with a burnt deposit between them. early harappan. One can be
dated 2 approximately 3300 BCE, it is identified with a massive fortification wall of
limestone rubble and mud break the settlement consisted of 2 parts the Citadel complex and
the lower residential areas. homes built at these sites were made of Stone and Mudbrick while
for figurines, stone shell bone and terracotta were common materials popular terracotta figure
In Sync lewd bulls bangles beads and fragments of a bronze bangle. there is great diversity
regarding the type of pottery in this. It is primarily wheel made and decorated with brownish
bands of paint however the distinctive poetry type is short net avoid in shape painted with
designs such as horned deities pipal leaves and fish scales. This culture is distinctively known
as the court Dijon culture at mehrgarh another early harappan site archaeologists have
determined the court Diji style of vessels fragments and triangular terracotta cakes with long
Flint blades and perforated jars upinder Singh suggests that this may signify an Inter-regional
cultural exchange during the period at the end of. 6 however these periods of linkages do not
seem to be long or very strong especially in the transition between early and mature Harappa,
the poetry of. 1C at the site of Nausharo, is visible in. 7 at mehrgarh a scholar Jarrige
suggests that these 2 phases were contemporary us and can be dated 2600 to 2550 BCE.

At the contemporary site of Rehman Dehri and Gomal Valley that present a clear assemblage
of the Kot Dijan Style. Similarly, Tarakai Qila yields evidence of faunal remains that were
related to the mature Harappan phase. In the same vein, Period II of Sarai Khola also yields
Kot Dijian remains. Jonathan mark Kenoyer, goes on to suggest a strong connection between
craft production, Hakra, fortification and the early harappan phase to be associated with
Kalibagan.
KALIBANGAN CULTURE
Kalibangan is located on the banks of the Ghaggar River, a tributary of the Ganga that in
turn is a tributary of the Indus. the Kalibangan culture can be divided into 2 periods. One can
be associated with c. 2920 - 2550 BCE the settlement of this. Is approximately 4 hectares and
size and is surrounded by massive mud brick fortifications there is a standardised brick size of
3 ratio to ratio one Hertz of limestone plastered storage pits and saddle cones were found within
some of these houses artifacts include stone blades terracotta cakes shell bangles disk beats
made of steel, bones shell, steatite, carnelian, fience, gold, silver, and terracotta cakes. the
poetry of. One is often equated 2 the court Dijon style a moustache like scroll off plants fish
and cattle imprints have been found as designs on some of this pottery.

Pottery like the first phase of Kalibangan can be found at. 1A at Kunal banavali and rakhigarhi
in the Hisar district of Haryana along with the Hawker hours also found in. One see a
transitional phase in Kalibangan at rakhigarhi banavali and Kunal archaeologists have also on
earth standardised bricks in the ratio one ratio to ratio 3 and one ratio to ratio 4 similar to those
at Kalibangan at banavali the early harappan phase in the words of Upinder Singh was marked
by mud brick houses with hurts and plastered storage pits in the courtyard the pottery was
similar to that found at Kalibangan one artifacts included stone blades copper objects beads of
gold and semi-precious stones and a cubicle chert blade
rakhigarhi gives evidence of urban settlement and mud brick structures according to Upinder
Singh in the early harappan. One however the pottery type is said to be like that of Kalibangan.
some of the artifacts on earth here include seals pottery graffiti terracotta wheels cards rattles
bold figure and chert blades weights a stone point a bone point and a muller.

According to historian Rao Bhirrana a recently escalated site in Fatehabad district of Haryana
has given valuable information regarding the process leading to the harappan. 1B is early
harappan period to early mature period to be is mature harappan including a complex housing
system consisting of 6 rooms a central courtyard and Hz there were many kinds of poetry
including the types known as Kalibangan as well as by Chrome where a few shirts of light in
sized where's tan and chocolate where is known from. 1A along with various other artifacts
found at indigenous sites.

TYPE SITE, SETTLEMENT PATTERN AND SUBSISTENCE

ACTIVITIES: AN ANALYSIS

In the context of the harappan civilization the first site to be found was Harappa in present day
Pakistan geographically speaking Indus settlements are spread over northwest India Pakistan
and they are a good example of geographical areas being exploited in the lower Indus basin of
Larkana Mohenjo-Daro dominated by the flood plain agriculturally the richest part of Sindh at
Larkana bye depressions where finished settlements have often been found.

A historical site may refer to a geographical region that holds a significance in the heritage or
the past of a certain region. a type of site refers to, is specific historical site that follows a
standard structure which can be seen at similar sites belonging to a contemporary time. In the
case of Harappa and mohenjo daro, Harappa is considered the type of site because it was the
first to be discovered and has a distinct town plan seen at a larger or a smaller scale in the
remaining heard up Indus Valley civilization settlements. do the size may vary the largest Indus
Valley sites are those of mohenjo daro 200 hectares and Harappa 150 hectares, Ganweriwala
81.5hectres, Dholavira 100 hectares and Rakhigarhi80 hectares.

according to open the sink the streets and houses of harappan cities were once thought to be
laid in a great pattern oriented North South and East West Mohenjo-Daro does not show a
perfect grid system road in harappan cities were not always straight and planned there is no
strict correlation between the levels of planning and the size of the settlement. she goes on to
elaborate her point by explaining that Lothal shows a much higher level of planning than
Kalibagan while Kalibagan is 2 times larger Dan the site of Lothal itself however mohenjo daro
Harappa and Kalibangan are supposed to have a similar layout consisting of raised Citadel and
complex lower city.
some scholars believe that the Citadel was an area of administration or ritual practices, H
Hargraves, and cayenne dixit come across the remains of the great bath at mohenjo daro right
across what they call the school of priest in the Southwest corner of the Mohenjo-Daro
settlement. this is an area of ritual purification due to its size and proximity to the College of
priest further the citadel also houses the great granary and assembly Hall in the northern and
southern part respectively, this has led scholars to believe that the Citadel was probably the
administrative seat of ancient Indus Valley sites.

These settlements also consist of hi fortifications made of stone pillars with missent drainage
systems. houses from Harappa and mohenjo daro have very PED styles of bricklaying
including that known as English bond style in the English bond style bricks were laid together
in a sequence of long side that is the stretcher and the short side the header within alternate
arrangement in consecutive rows this gives a wall maximum load bearing strings a distinctive
feature of harappan structures is the uniformity and average size of bricks 7 * 14 * 28
centimetres for houses and 10 * 20 * 40 centimetres for city walls does these bricks have
identical thickness width and lengths in the ratio one ratio tu ratio for this ratio makes its
appearance at a few sites in the early harappan but in most of the sites found associated with
the mature harappan face.

The houses were planned alarm around a courtyard doorways and windows generally faced the
side lanes and they very rarely opened onto the Main Street. most homes had a blocked view
of the courtyard from aside Lane by a wall. there are often staircases leading up to a higher
floor or the roof canvas suggests that bathroom and toilet facilities word all install with a
drainage system with separate bedding areas and toilets frequently the Beijing area was placed
on a higher platform and drains opened into larger drains on the Main Street through pipes
these drains were made of baked bricks and empty to their contents into large, perforated jars
which can be seen even today at the National Museum. he further suggests that houses were
made in small groups or clusters with tightly fitting bricks and latticework grill structures to
allow light and air.
 This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

Figure iii: Citadel and Lower Town Mohinder

Harappa Reconstructed: This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA-NC

Perforated Jar, National Museum

 This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC
BY-SA

Perforated Jar National Museum

CHANHUDARO
Chahnudaro is a small side about 4.7 hit Tez it lies 130 kilometres South of Mohenjo-Daro
today the Indus River flows 20 kilometres to its West in prehistoric times it is assumed that the
River flowed closer This site is constructed as a single mound side with no fortification there
however is a mud brick platform with remains of various structures there are traces of at least
3 streets that have been concretely identified the main one is around 5.68 metres wide and
heads to cover drains made with burnt bricks on either side Chahnudaro was clearly an
important centre of craft activity some of the households yielded raw materials such as
carnelian agate amethyst and crystal as well as finished and unfinished beads with drills of
various sizes however the most striking discovery was that of a bead factory with lots of
unfinished and finished beads mostly made off steer tight another important industry and
subsistence activity that has been associated with Chahnudaro is seal making shell working and
the making of stone weights that seem to have been more important than any other craft
production in this area. Today, the site is in Pakistan, however, it is relevance cannot be ignored
in the Indian context.

Figure iv: Types of

Beads at
Chahnudaro
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA
Chahnudaro is marked on the map by a star.
KALIBANGAN
Do discussed earlier in the context of the pre harappan or early harappan cultures Kalibagan
literary literally meaning black bangles is set to derive its name from the thick clusters of
black bangles lying all around the surface of the mound this site lies on the banks of the dry
beds of the Ganga River in the Hanumangarh district of Rajasthan it is a relatively small
settlement with a parameter ranging from one to 3 kilometres at its widest there is a smaller
higher mound known as KLB one on the western side and a larger hire pedestal known as
KLB two on the eastern side there are open spaces between KLB one that has evidence of
early and mature Harappa harappan occupation however is best represented by KLB 2 which
is only a mature harappan occupation site there is also a smaller 3rd mound that can be
associated with what a large number of fire altars however the Citadel complex and the lower
town were both fortified the phase of mature harappan settlements on the western mound of
Kalibagan are often divided by historians into 2 parts by an outer wall with stairs on either
side it is said that the southern sector of the settlement had no houses but is noted for a series
of mud break platforms with a row of 7 clay plaster pits the use of these pits is interpreted as
fire altars that is sacrificial pits in which offerings were made into fire and the area seems to
have been associated with community rituals however there is no concrete evidence that
supports this claim the buildings in the North of the settle of the citadel seem to have been
houses where people associated with these rituals performed in the southern sector may have
lived there is a barrier ground of approximately 200 metres Southwest West of the Citadel
apart from the regular extended burials there are also some circular pits with grave goods
such as pottery bronze mirrors etc but no human remains.

Kalibagan is also distinct due to the shape of its lower town that is set in a rough
parallelogram it is in closed by a mud brick wall as fortification a number of streets can be
traced the lower town also consists of fire altars within houses with a central still around
which Tarek order cakes ash and charcoal have been found thus suggesting that these may
have been fire altars on the other hand corbulid Reigns made of bricks have been found on
the Citadel Mount and however those lining the streets similar to Mohenjo-Daro are absent.
Kalibangan Represented by the Red Star.
Urban Plan of Kalibangan

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

BANAWALI
The site of Banawali in modern day Haryana is a small site measuring around 300 * 500
meters, with thick fortification close to the dry bed of the rangoi River. this site shows
evidence of 3 phases within it, these are the early mature and late harappan phases. the early
harappan face has been described earlier in this section I shall be describing the mature and
later harappan cultures of this site.

. 2 the mature harappan culture is represented by a wall that divided the fortified area into 2
sections the higher citadel and the lower town, emote separated the Citadel that was semi
elliptical in plan with its own mud brick fortification some streets and concrete structures
have been identified within the Citadel compound. The lower town and citadel are connected
by a ramp. the town plan of the lower town includes mud brick houses that had raised
platforms outside, archaeologists have identified bet breaks that were used only for wells
bathing pavements and drains wild excavations have revealed, large multi room houses with
kitchen toilet and a jar that seem to have functioned as a washbasin.

one of the many large houses had remains of beads made of gold lapis lazuli and carnelian,
tiny weights and touch stones showing stakes of gold have also been escalated from the same
house. historians therefore argue that this may have been the House of a jeweller. it is
interesting to note that seals have also been found in the lower town however they have not
been found in the Citadel complex. many of the stone weights in small dominations have
been found at the site as was a terracotta model of up low several houses at banavali also
gave evidence of fire alters at a specific location within the site the altars are associated with
a spinal structure which may have been a sort of ritualistic function. the model of Apollo
found at banavali also throws light on the subsistence pattern of the early harappan first
toward Pico and more time Wheeler there was says substantial debate regarding this in the
harappan context pig suggests that the large number of burnt bricks at harappan sites would
have required large quantities of fuel which would have been possible with a heavy forest
cover supported by heavy rainfall the gabber Bains or embankment constructed in the
Baluchi’s than area also suggest heavier rain depictions of animals such tigers elephants and
rhinos on the scene indicate a forest and grassland vegetation that could have support that
would have been supported by this heavier rainfall and Lastly the elaborate drainage system
in cities was also geared towards carrying of rainwater scholars such as plant pali knowledges
Gurdeep sing in 1971 analyse pollen from 3 salt lakes in some bardin dawana and look and
the fresh water pushkar Lake where he unearth that harappan climatic conditions were
initially wet and then became drier saraswat and pokharia use the sight of balu to identify
various crops such as wheat barley rice horse gram green gram chickpea field pea green peas
sesamum and serials such as pulses fruit such as melon watermelon date grapes and garlic
apart from vegetables grown by the harappan some historians such as upinder Singh also
suggest modern cropping practices that may provide a hint to the protohistoric patterns that
refers to 2 separate cropping seasons.
hints of craft production can also be established from sites such as banavali and
Chahnudaro it distinct wheel made pottery where has been associated with the harappan
culture further , bead making is an important industry especially in light of Rajasthan and
Haryana cultures sites such as sukur and Rory indicate chart blades that were mass produced
and sent to various harappan settlements in sent further the khetri deposits of Rajasthan show
evidence of being an important source of copper led zinc and the cooler mines could have
been used for gold while shells were used from Gujarat. mark Jonathan can work Vidal and
bhan attempt to suggest that there was a centralization of power and governance structures to
maintain a uniformity in the bead patterns weights and measurement systems. this also helps
historians to throw light on the form of power and authority exercised within the harappan
system some historians suggest the harappan people were ruled by a ruling class or nobility
however historian SC Malik in 1968 argued that the lack of imposing monument sand
Supreme gods goes against the idea of a strong centralised state the harappan polity according
to Malik is an example of what element service described as a chiefdom stage transitional
between kinship society and a civil state society. according to El manar service in 1975 14: I
state is characterised by the existence of civil law and formal government that are
institutionalized enacted official and which employee threaten or imply the actual use of
force for him the essential ingredient of a state is the power or and force of the authority.

however, to Ronald Cohen this state was a specific type of political system characterized by
centralised bureaucracy dominant control of the mechanisms of force by a central authority
he emphasizes that the important difference between a chieftaincy and a state was the latter's
ability to counter forces of political fission.

These however are countered by recent studies that question various aspects of the older
evolutionary models and terminology associated with them Norman jophy challenge these
various myths related to the evolution and state nature of the earlier states these myths
included the ideas off who were there ruled by powerful totalitarian elites who exercised a
monopoly of control over goods services and information whether they were marked by
territorial integration of large areas and whether they had the social structure that could be
understood by invoking modern ethnographic parallels. however, since there is no concrete
evidence regarding the governance of Harappa and mohenjo daro, this continues to be a
mystery that baffles modern day historians.
 Banawali

Banawali

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

 This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND

Seal of a Bull found at Banawali.

RAKHIGARHI

Rakhigarhi also has been discussed earlier in this paper, in the context of early harappan
cultures however I shall now draw attention to the 5 mounds that have been identified at
rakhigarhi. the Citadel mound is surrounded by mud brick fortifications, it was located on one
of these 5 mounds, the citadel of the town had platforms a brick well, a fire altar some
identifiable streets and a drainage system with pipes of various sizes.

it distinctive feature regarding the subsistence activity is the remains of a lapidary workshop
with evidence of 3000 unfinished beads and roughly cut pieces of stone of carnelian
Chalcedon EA gait Jasper bead polishers for smoothening the beads and a hearth for heating
the stone. is certain part of the settlement has also been associated with bones antlers ivory
pieces and unfinished bone points homes needles and engravers. this gives historians clear
evidence to prove that rakhigarhi was a site known for bone and ivory working.

asymmetry has also been revealed at rakhigarhi consisting of 8 barrels mostly made of brick
lined pits and in one case a wooden coffin the harappan work also known as the predecessors
for the usage of grave goods grave goods have often been used by historians to reconstruct
the religious practices and rituals followed by a community. Save goods in grave goods
include jewellery, pots, vessels and precious metals, beads and “mother goddesses”.

the find of mother goddesses has led to considerable debate regarding the worship of female
goddesses that were associated with fertility and held a prime position in the harappan
religion. they raised the following concerns:

firstly, in an Agricultural Society were they invariably known to have fertility. Secondly
cross-cultural parallels with other ancient civilizations may have led to the understanding of
the diffusionist theories, however similar evidence can be found at Mesopotamia and in the
Paleolithic and other lithic ages as mentioned by historians regarding mother goddesses of the
near East. Thirdly the importance of goddess worship in later Hinduism with the emergence
of the shaktite branch. fourthly weather all these figure Inns could be identified as mother
goddesses or certain representations of Shakambari the earth mother. since many of these
figurines have been found in silos pits or bins historian Shirin ratnagar are of the view that
these maybe just models or toys however historians such as Alexandra Jansen in 2002
underlined the great variety in the form of these female figure in the type which is frequently
interpreted as having religious significance S slim with distinctive fan shape headdresses
wearing a short skirt and heavily ornamented with necklaces armlets bangles anklets and
earrings.
Nationalist historians such as BB Lal argue that certain figure in is such as a Yogi sitting
surrounded by animals and this mother goddess maybe forms of proto-Shiva and the goddess
of shakti or strength thus pushing the context and arguments of this origins of Hinduism back
to the period of the Indus Valley civilization, however this view has been discarded by
modern day historians who date the origins of Vedic religion with the emergence of
Hinduism closer to the post harappan. of 2000 to 600 BCE.

The emergence of fire Altars also suggests the diversity of practices and understanding of the
divine.

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA-NC

Figurines found at Rakhigarhi.

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-
SA-NC
The Seal depicting Proto-shiva

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND

 Figure iv: Rakhigarhi as on Haryana state map

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-

SA
BHIRANA
Bhirrana is another culture in Haryana that can be described as both early and mature
harappan. 2 is subdivided into period to an early mature and period to be mature harappan the
mature harappan settlement at This site is seen to have been surrounded by massive
fortification walls made up of mud bricks. other than the massive fortification walls another
distinctive feature are 3 multi-rumde house complexes. of these one of them consisted of 10
rooms with the veranda and a courtyard, flooring of the house was completed by terracotta
cakes mixed with ash and clay another house on the North western part of this mound had 6
rooms a kitchen a paved mud with paved mud bricks and brick walls were plastered over with
mud. This house also housed a circular tandoor in the kitchen and Chuhlaor open hurts were
found in the courtyard with another being discovered in the kitchen Archaeobotanists is have
determined this call of charred bovine animals and other bone fragments near one of these
hearths.

it has been determined that a Broad Street measuring 4.80 metres rain in the North South
direction along the fortified wall, further 3 other lanes branching off this main road have also
been identified. Some artifacts from this site include the fragments of a thick study red ware
vessel incised with a female figure who is pose is like that of the bronze Mohenjo-Daro
dancing girl.

Ruins and Excavations at Bhirrana, Haryana

 Bhirrana

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

LOTHAL
Low than is a medium sized settlement measuring roughly 280 * 225 metres with a roughly
rectangular plan surrounded by a fortification wall made of mud and later a combination of
mud bricks and burnt breaks with an entrance toward the South of the settlement the site itself
is located between the Sabarmati River and its tributary the bhog wo in the saurashtra region
of Gujarat the sea is approximately 16 to 19 kilometres away but at 1:00 time boats from the
Gulf of Cambay could have sailed right up to this settlement itself a barrel ground is in the
northwest outside the fortification walls the settle the citadel known as the acropolis by
archaeologist SR Rao was roughly trapezoidal in shape and consisted of an elevated area on a
mud brick platform in the southern part of the site.

Residential buildings have left behind remains of streets lanes Beijing pavements and drains
that have been traced here to the South of the residential area a complex identified as a
warehouse for storage of goods has been escalated a total of 65 terracotta ceilings with
impressions of read woven fibre mattings and twisted chords on one side and impressions of
harappan seals on the others have been found here.

this provides evidence of trade in the head up in context could have been of 2 types
interregional trade that is outside the region of the continent for example with Mesopotamia
where Harappa and mohenjo daro have been called Meluhha and Magan, the home of the
Haja bird, probably a predecessor of the Peacock and Dilmun, a reference to Mesopotamia
itself further trade was also carried out in the Persian Gulf there is substantial evidence off
black clay vessel's from Oman that may have been used to transport olive oil wine and other
liquids. the seals seem to have played an important role, some historians suggest that these
seals were a method of identification and protection of the goods. however contrary to this
Shereen Ratnagar points out, that these seals may have been used as divine ambulates to
protect travelling traders.

Shortughai, according to Dilip K Chakrabarti was an important trading post with the
harappan Shortughai is located at the confluence of the Oxus and its tributary the kokcha in
North East Afghanistan it is a small site of about 2 hectares the cultural deposits at this site or
approximately 2.523 metres thick within which there are 4 periods of occupation that can be
distinctly identified. One which is approximately 50 centimetres thick was dated using
radiocarbon dating to the end of the 3rd Millennium BCE discovery from this. Include
pottery with harappan designs, terracotta cakes, fragments of toy carts, copper and bronze
objects pieces of gold and led a discoidal gold bead, lapis lazuli, agate, carnelian, steatite, and
small barrel shaped get beads long tubular and edged carnelian beads along with Flint micro
blades and drill heads have also been found alongside shell bangles and mud bricks it typical
feature of the harappan size. further Shortughai has a unique feature of ploughed fields,
covered is have identified these fields to be covered with flax seeds, some seals and sealings
found at these feeds have evidence of harappan writing thus it can be claimed that there was a
continuance contact between harappan and short guy civilizations.
however, nothing about trade can be said with a sense of confidence since the writing and
script of the harappan still remains undeciphered it total of approximately 3700 scribe objects
have been found at various harappan sites as detailed by historians Mahadevan and Purpola in
1977 and 1994, respectively. most of the writing related to the harappan civilization can be
seen on seals and sealings. the exception to this is the longest inscription or Dholavira sign
board of 26 symbols.

Other than the warehouse and private residential buildings a few of the houses in the main
residential area were quite large often with 4 to 6 rooms bathrooms a large courtyard and a
veranda a few of these houses also show evidence of fire altars that is small pits with
terracotta cakes or round lumps of clay and ash the streets were paved with mud break with a
layer of gravel on top the houses that belongs to artisans such as coppersmith bead makers etc
have been identified on the basis of the occurrence of kills raw material and finished an
unfinished artifacts.

one of the many streets have been identified as bazar street the rooms lining it have been
interpreted as shops however in the absence of a deciphered script it is difficult to validate
this claim. one of the most striking features of Lothal is the dockyard this lies on the eastern
edge of the site and is a roughly trapezoidal basin in closed by walls constructed with burnt
bricks those in the North and South measure 37 meters and 35 metres respectively while
those at the eastern and western ends measured 212 and 215 meters respectively in length. it
is evident that this dockyard had provisions for maintaining a regular level of water by means
of a sluice gate and spill channels a mud brick platform along the western embankment may
have been the Wharf where goods were loaded and unloaded according to Upinder Singh.
Some scholars have provided an alternative interpretation of this structure as a water
reservoir as not being convincing enough to be believed considering the embankments.

boats played a crucial role in maintaining a channel of communication some historians have
found the reference of long flatboats that had cabins and roofs along with boats having a
sharp keel pointed pro high flats turn and master and ropes for sails. this has been deciphered
buy models and impressions on seals depict in such boats.

Inter-regional trade route

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed
BY-SA
under CC BY-NC-ND
 Lothal

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

Intra-regional Trade Routes

Pinterest (via creative commons)

DHOLAVIRA
Dholavira is located slightly off the Indian mainland and is located on the Kadir island in the
run of Kutch of Gujarat it is a prehistoric water best site scholars speculate that in ancient
times water levels in the run of Kutch may have been higher than what they are today
allowing boats to sail from the coast right the site the architecture of Dholavira is distinctive
as it shows large scale use of sandstone combined in places with mud break and a feature that
is missing from other harappan sites of Gujarat.

Within the outer walls there was a small castle and a bailey area to its West and a larger
Middletown to the North all their all with their own in closing walls. an interesting feature of
Dholavira is a large open area called the stadium between the Castle Bailey and the
Middletown it may have been used for special ceremonial occasion there was also substantial
evidence of habitation outside the fortification walls which may represent suburban
development of the city This site is you need in that it is looking out towards the sea that may
have been a busy shopping point on the trade routes.

The fortified Acropolis was approximately 300 metres into 300 metres it had for walls and no
gated centre there are remains of limestone pillars bases and pillar fragments of a highly
polished surface that was found on the eastern gateway this discovery has taken scholars and
stone architecture in the subcontinent to the 4th century BCE to the 3rd Millennium BCE in
one of the side rooms of the northern gateway of Dholavira Daley what seems to be a fallen
sign board and inscription has been made on it with white gypsum paste inlaid on a wooden
board the symbols each measure 37 * 25 or 27 centimetres it may scholars suggest have
announced the name of the city or the title of the ruler a distinctive feature of the Acropolis is
a large well and an elaborate drainage system large buildings which may have been for
administrative or ritualistic functions.

the middle town of Dholavira has been surrounded by a 360 * 250 metre wall surrounded by
4 gate ways the lower town has given scholars evidence of houses and areas where various
types of craft activities for example bead making shell working and pottery making have been
carried out. beyond city limits hey there is evidence of additional living space and burials, the
Cemetery area here has revealed rectangular burial pits lined with blocks of stone however
there were no skeletal remains to be found does scholars speculate that these may have been
memorials to the dead.

Dholavira is distinctive for its impressive and unique water harvesting and management
system the area is known to receive less than 160 centimetres of rain every year and is very
prone to droughts the site is flanked by 2 streams the manhar and the months are dams that
have been built across these rivers and channelize their water into reservoirs many large and
deep-water cistern sand reservoirs all located in the citadel lower town and precious store as
precious stores of rainwater.
The Dholavira sign board and other samples of writing found on seals have revealed that
there were at least 400 to 450 basic signs and that the script is logo symbolic that is each
symbol stood for a word or a syllable the language was generally written and meant to be red
from right to left this is reversed on the seals it is evident from the inscriptions as they are
crammed on the left side longer inscriptions may have contained more than one line and was
sometimes written in the boustrophedon style.

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

Dholavira Signboard leading to Debates

 This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

Schematic Diagram of Dholavira Layout

 Dholavira

Nageshwar

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA-NC

Dholavira and Nagesh war( A bead making site) on the Map of India
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA-NC

Dholavira reconstructed by an Artist on the scene

This Photo by Unknown Author is

licensed under CC BY-SA
Beads made in Dholavira
DECLINE OF THE INDUS VALLEY CIVILISATION
The mature harappan face gave way to the Lake Harappan phase, in this phase there were 5
geographical zones namely since West Punjab and the Ghaggar Hakra Valley eastern Punjab
Haryana the Ganga Yamuna doab and the Kutch saurashtra region that gained prominence
synth is synonymous with the letter harappan face represented by the Joker culture by sites
such as Joker Chahnudaro and Amri the transition between the mature and later harappan
phases in this region does not show a sudden discontinuity however it shows a gradual
change in sales decreased frequency of Wattle and daub that was confined only to pottery the
evidence of pottery however according to Upinder sing suggest reciprocal Contacts between
the Joker culture of synth and the later harappan culture of Lothal and rangpur.

in the Punjab region and the Ghaggar Hakra Valley the late harappan phase seems to be
represented by the symmetry H culture there is a decline in the number of settlements from
174 in its peak at the mature harappan Phase 2 only 50 in the late harappan phase in East
Punjab Haryana and North Rajasthan late harappan settlements was smaller as compared to
mature harappan once in the Ganga Yamuna doab it is estimated by historians that 31 mature
harappan sites gave way 230 late harappan sites these settlements however were smaller
houses were made of wattle and daub but the agrarian base was very diverse.

in the Kutch and saurashtra region there was an increase in the number of settlements in the
earlier part of the harappan phase there are 18:00 in the mature and 100 and 20:00 in the early
late harappan face there is also abandonment or severe reduction of population in simd and
cholistan however there is an increase in the number of settlements in Punjab Haryana
western Uttar Pradesh northern Rajasthan and Gujarat that shows however that this was not
the case everywhere in fact at around the same time according to Upinder Singh people for
abandoning Mohenjo-Daro and re building and expanding the saurashtra settlements.

a few questions have been raised regarding the decline of the harappan civilization by
prominent historians especially Nayanjot Lahiri, who in her book decline and fall of the
harappan civilization asks the following key questions:

1. was the collapse related to Aryan invasion

2. did the city's disappear suddenly or simultaneously
3. were climatic or geological changes responsible for this decline
4. did the juxtaposition of mature and later up in sites lead to the decline
5. did mohenjo daro and the decline of city urbanization lead to the eventual decline of
the harappan civilization

however when she says that Kalibagan and banavali died in adulthood it does not give
evidence of a gradual decline but rather a sudden step towards a pastoral society. good
treat sahani and Dilip K Chakravarthy use pollen from Rajasthan in order to explain the
decline in fertility and therefore the shift from a sedentary lifestyle to a nomadic lifestyle
professor Dilip K Chakrabarti directly blames overexploitation and overgrazing of lands
and the continuous modification off territory for the decline of the harappan civilization
however according to historian Ng Majumdar transformation of the cultures of Harappa
show that there was a gradual step towards decline

the earliest archaeologists Dayaram sahani and others suggested along with most recently
Shereen ratnagar that the decline in interregional trade between India and Mesopotamia
led to dirty Cline of the harappan civilization wild Dayaram sahani says that crude repairs
of fortification walls and weakening of defences can be held directly responsible 4 the
process of tea urbanization.

Mark Kenoyer and Upinder Singh have diverse opinions on this topic. For Kenoyer,
people left their work halfway leading to the belief that there may have been a sudden
reason to leave people abandoned their homes and workshops along with the burning and
use of charcoal. Seeing the stages of sites especially such as me haircut opinder Singh
forms the opinion that the harappan Valley declined gradually rather than overnight or
suddenly.

do a few things regarding the harappan Valley civilization remain unresolved and hotly
debated they urban face of the harappan culture is one of the earliest proto urban phases
and the first urban culture of South Asia, it is an important milestone in the development
of South Asia as a historical and geopolitical zone as it established the connection
between India and her South Asian neighbours.
BIBLIOGRAPHY (SINGH 2008)
REFERENCES
Allchin, Raymond. 1983. “Shereen Ratnagar: Encounters: the westerly trade of the Harappa civilization . Delhi:
Oxford University Press, 1981. 294 pp. 29 figs.” Antiquity 57 (220): 163-164. Accessed 4 30, 2021.
https://cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/ratnagar-shereen-encounters-the-westerly-
trade-of-the-harappa-civilization-delhi-oxford-university-press-1981-294-pp-29-
figs/ed46a181f4b0e29374ec15f7865fae61.

Brughmans, Tom. 2010. “CONNECTING THE DOTS: TOWARDS ARCHAEOLOGICAL NETWORK ANALYSIS.” Oxford
Journal of Archaeology 29 (3): 277-303. Accessed 4 30, 2021.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1468-0092.2010.00349.x.

Childe, V. Gordon. 1947. History. Cobbett Press. Accessed 4 30, 2021.

n.d. Cultural Pasts: Essays in Early Indian History By Romila Thapar - History - Archaeology-Ancient-India.
Accessed 5 1, 2021. http://www.oup.co.in/search_detail.php?id=126276.

Kenoyer, J. Mark, and Massimo Vidale. 1992. “A New Look at Stone Drills of the Indus Valley Tradition.” MRS
Proceedings 267 (5): 495. Accessed 5 1, 2021. https://cambridge.org/core/journals/mrs-online-
proceedings-library-archive/article/new-look-at-stone-drills-of-the-indus-valley-
tradition/1c9c8847dea5d308566780936142c635.

Kowalewski, Stephen A. 1996. “Joyce Marcus & Kent V. Flannery. Zapotec civilization: how urban society
evolved in Mexico's Oaxaca Valley. 255 pages, 16 colour plates, 286 illustrations. 1996. London:
Thames & Hudson; 0-500-05078-3 hardback £ 42.” Antiquity 70 (270): 1002-1003. Accessed 4 30,
2021. https://cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/joyce-marcus-kent-v-flannery-zapotec-
civilization-how-urban-society-evolved-in-mexicos-oaxaca-valley-255-pages-16-colour-plates-286-
illustrations-1996-london-thames-hudson-0500050783-hardback-
42/70d8572e7edb3a9c90279e050431dfca.

Lariviere, Richard W., and Romila Thapar. 1987. “From Lineage to State: Social Formations in the Mid-First
Millennium B.C. in the Ganga Valley . By Romila Thapar. Bombay: Oxford University Press, 1984. 189
pp. Bibliography, Index. Rs. 110.” The Journal of Asian Studies 46 (2): 442-444. Accessed 5 1, 2021.
https://cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-asian-studies/article/from-lineage-to-state-social-
formations-in-the-midfirst-millennium-bc-in-the-ganga-valley-by-thaparromila-bombay-oxford-
university-press-1984-189-pp-bibliography-index-rs-110/94dd9cf8d39fed9bd1ffc8e7439598b7.

Piggott, Stuart. 1983. “Shereen Ratnagar: Encounters: the westerly trade of the Harappa civilization . xxi, 294
pp., 3 maps. Delhi, etc.: Oxford University Press, 1981 [pub. 1982]. Rs. 120, £12.” Bulletin of The
School of Oriental and African Studies-university of London 46 (02): 364-365. Accessed 4 30, 2021.
http://journals.cambridge.org/abstract_s0041977x00079180.

Singh, Upinder. 2008. A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age. Accessed 4 30, 2021.
https://books.google.com/?id=H3lUIIYxWkEC&dq=Upinder+Singh&q=malvan#v=snippet&q=malvan&f
=false.

Swamy, Anand V. 1996. “Essays in Indian History: Towards a Marxist Perception . By Irfan Habib. New Delhi:
Tulika, 1995, Pp. x, 389.” The Journal of Economic History 56 (04): 949-950. Accessed 5 1, 2021.
https://ideas.repec.org/a/cup/jechis/v56y1996i04p949-950_01.html.
 Talbot, Cynthia. 2014. “Romila Thapar. The Past before Us: Historical Traditions of Early North India.” The
American Historical Review 119 (5): 1664-1665. Accessed 5 1, 2021.
https://academic.oup.com/ahr/article/119/5/1664/44654.

Chakravarti, Dilip K: Oxford Companion to Archaeology ( 2010) , Ancient Cities of India (

1997)

(Talbot 2014) (Lariviere and Thapar 1987) (Cultural Pasts: Essays in Early Indian History By Romila Thapar -
History - Archaeology-Ancient-India n.d.) (Swamy 1996) (Kenoyer and Vidale 1992)

View publication stats