GOVERNMENT COLLEGE UNIVERSITY, LAHORE

ASSIGNMENT

SUBJECT: History of South Asia

TOPIC: Indus Valley Civilization
SUBMITTED BY: Muhammad Saqib (4924)
SUBMITTED TO: Mam Lubna Akram
 Table of Contents

Introduction:

 Analysis of Book - "A Short History of Pakistan"

 About author - I. H. Qureshi

Chapter Review:

 Review of chapter I and II [Short note]

 Chapter III – Indus Valley Civilization
 Characters
 Base
 Climatic Background
 Date
 Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa
 Religion
 Social life

Conclusion:
References
Introduction:
 Analysis of book "A short history of Pakistan": This
book a short history of Pakistan is compiled by I. H.
Qureshi and it is published by BCC&T Press University of
Karachi. It covers four other books and yet it is titled as
books one to four. Its first edition was published in 1967
and second edition in 1984. It has been reprinted many
times, it was first reprinted in 2006 and its last print came in
2019. As it covers four other books so in its first book the
author starts with ancient history and in second book the
author defines Muslims rule under sultans and in third book
the author describes the Mughal Empire and finally in
fourth book the author express the feelings of Muslims that
arose for nationalism.
This book is important because it is probably the first
serious attempt to paint a comprehensive picture of the
early history of the region of Pakistan. Given that this book deals with the period before
the formation of Pakistan, it is in fact described as the history of the northern part of the
entire subcontinent with special emphasis on the region which is now Pakistan. Some
articles by peer-reviewed critics have described the relationship between Indian Muslims,
Hindus and the British political class as insufficiently objective.
Basically, the purpose of this book is to serve the students of undergraduate level as a text
book. However, other readers can be interested towards it. As this what writer has
claimed in the preface of book.

 About author "I. H. Qureshi": Ishtiaq Hussain Qureshi (20 November 1903 – 22
January 1981) was a historian and playwright. He served
as the Vice Chancellor of Karachi University for 10 years
from 1961 to 1971. He also served in the Ministries of
Education and Border Areas. He was also elected a
Member of Parliament for Pakistan. However, due to his
association with the academia, he resigned from his official
post and joined the academic faculty at Columbia
University as a professor of South Asian history. But soon,
he returned to Pakistan and founded the National Language
Authority (NLA) in the 1970s and helped establish the
Department of History at Punjab University. He later
joined the Faculty of History at Karachi University where
 he lived for the rest of his life. Qureshi is also credited with compiling a four-volume
series on Pakistan's history

Chapter Review:

 Review of chapter I and II [Short note]: In chapter I "Geographical Factors in the

history of Pakistan" the author has discussed the two main geographic zones of Islamic
republic of Pakistan – the Indus valley and Padma-Meghna delta, the valley of Indus is
located in western end while Padma-Meghna is in eastern end of Indo-Pakistan
subcontinent. These two parts are far away from each other by thousands of miles of
Hindus territory namely India. Indus valley is much important for Indians because it is
the responsible for its name and moreover it provides them the religion. Furthermore the
author has also discussed the some characters, concepts patterns, routes and few
important features of Pakistan’s geography.

In chapter II – "Sources of Ancient History" the author has firstly defines the
importance of history because it is the responsible to hold the events in a sequence as it is
as called chronology which plays an important part in history. Secondly, the author
focuses the Historical literature that is based on tales, anecdotes, songs and folk lore that
had come down by the different ages. According to the author these are the distributed
among five sections from which one is creation, second is recreation, third is genealogy
of gods and sages, fourth one is cosmic cycles and last one is accounts of royal dynasties.
Furthermore he briefly described the all sections and some facts. In last he has discussed
some archaeological sources.

 Chapter III – Indus Valley Civilization: The Indus Valley (2500-1700 B.C.) is the
result of the Bronze Age. It shows the solid stage of Sindh, i.e. Amri also shows that
urban development
has been reveled in
Kot Diji. But the
existence of a solid
civilization on the
Indus River in
Larkana district is
known as Moenjo
Daro "Mountain of
Death" and Harappa
on an old bed of Ravi
in Montgomery
district. The two cities are located about two four hundred miles apart in two sub-regions
of the Indus - the Indus Delta and Irrigated Punjab but both share the same characteristics
 of a common culture. The main center of this civilization is in the Indus system and that
is why it is called Indus Valley.
 Characters: Sir John Marshall
portrayed the civilization of Sindh as a
chalcolithic, a cultural phenomenon in
which copper and stone play almost
equal roles. But that is hardly true. The
use of stone was limited to common
objects such as vases and grinding
stones. On the other hand, tools,
weapons, pottery shapes, art objects,
and home construction - everywhere it
was the metal technique that dominated
people's lives and determined the
development of cities.

 Basis: Irrigation in the valley was provided by flood water and possibly some sources of
current damage. The rivers also provided communication and easy transportation lines for
cultural materials. The result was an increase in urban centers as industrial cities and
commercial depots where villages could take their produce for sale and exchange - a
system not much different from what we see in Pakistan today.

 Climatic Background: According to Sir John, the region was prone to heavy rainfall,
hypnotic because irrigation water in the river valley was sufficient for increased food
production. Therefore, there is no reason to assume that the climate was different from
the environment at that time.

 Date: No absolute history of this

civilization is possible on the basis of its
own evidence. Dating is based on the
discovery of Indus-type seals in
Mesopotamia, engraved cornelian beads,
bone-roots of Indus-type compartmental
stoneware, and other minor imported
items. These materials date to about 2350
BC. (Somewhere around 2500 BC) for the
beginning of civilization. Similarly,
Marshall proposed a thousand years for
the duration of his life, and 1500 BC. It is
given for the end but recent sources have given a short period and put the end in 1750
 BC.

 Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa:

These two great cities were so
densely populated that they could
control river traffic and thus
dominate the countryside.
According to the author, we do
not know what kind of political
authority was imposed here, but
the authority can be assessed by
looking at the construction of
houses and drains and how
strictly it was enforced. The pattern of cities is first seen in the development seen in Kot
Diji. There were two separate areas - a small high mound representing the fort, and a
small scattered area of the common city. The fort at Harappa shows a strong wall with
intermittent square pits on the backs of mud bricks above the flood plains. The most

important discovery in Harappa relates to a large cemetery of two periods - the first of
which was a contemporary of the people of Sindh. This is the Mohenjo-Daro from where
we get a clear idea of city life. The excavation unfortunately has not yet reached the
minimum construction period as it is well below the current water level. However, the
 results show that life is more stable and well-adjusted than at present. It was, of course,
the lifeblood of a highly developed culture.

 Religion: There are many questions about their religious beliefs but we do not know of
any major religious center that can control and guide people's lives as was the case with
the Sumerian civilization. However,
three elements have been found in the
excavations and most people believe
that the religion of the people of
Sindh is based on these elements - the
great bath, the worship of trees,
especially the Pipal tree, and the seal -
the legendary animal.

 Social Life: The dual role of social

life in the civilization of Sindh is evident from
the material discovered. The upper class
dominated civic life, lived a spacious life, had
a high sense of discipline and cleanliness,
developed a complex formal religion, and had
luxurious and peaceful habits.

CONCLUSION:
It is difficult to say who the creators of this rich civilization were - a civilization that had
something in common with the ancient civilizations of Iran and Mesopotamia. At the
present stage of our knowledge no definitive answer can be given. Don’t know who were
they but they were the first to establish the unity of Sindh. They also made the good trade
ties with other countries, imported and exported goods and spread their influence far and
wide.
References:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Short_History_of_Pakistan

2. https://www.academia.edu/37605051/

A_Master_Narrative_for_the_History_of_Pakistan_Tracing_the_origins_of_an_ideologic

al_agenda

3. https://humanjourney.us/ideas-that-shaped-our-modern-world-section/early-civilizations-

harappa/?gclid=CjwKCAjw7cGUBhA9EiwArBAvoveit8qfJNnw-

VOhmP1s8fEqKTMNyklSRG1amp1gID7GPLEfVIGblxoCWYgQAvD_BwE

4. All Pictures are copyrighted and they are taken from www.google.com for educational

purpose not for promotion or any other purpose.