Bronze Age

Indus Valley Civilization

Introduction
Early civilizations in the world
Stages of Harappan Civilization
Geography of the civilization
Major Cities: Harappa and Mohenjo-daro
Streets
Houses
Drainage system
The Great Bath
Granary
Crafts quarters
Language
Indus Script
Cont…
Seal
Religious symbol
The Priest
The Statue of a Dancing Girl
Ornaments
Burial
Economy
Trade
Dockyard – Lothal
Agriculture
Pottery
Artifact
Clay Sculpture
Figurines
Decline of Indus Valley Civilization
Conclusion
Introduction
It existed along the Indus river in what is present day
North-Western Part of India, Pakistan and Eastern part of
Afghanistan.
It was considered to be the first ever urban civilization.
The towns developed during that time were well planned
and well executed.
The spectacular city planning of that time surpassed all present
civilizations as well.
The houses were made of baked bricks and had two or
more stories.
The people of Harappa knew the measuring tools of
length, mass and time. They were the first in the world in
developing a system of uniform weights and measures. Their
measurements were extremely precise.
Most of the early civilizations grew near rivers.

1. Mesopotamian civilization – Tigris & Euphrates

Rivers

2. Ancient China – Huang Ho (Yellow) River

3. Indus Valley Civilization – Indus River

4. Egyptian Civilization – Nile River

 Stages of the Civilization

Stage 1 : Early Harappan Stage

from 3300 B.C. to 2600 B.C.

Stage 2 : Mature Harappan Stage

from 2600 B.C. to 1900 B.C.

Stage 3 : Late Harappan Stage (Decline)

from 1900 B.C. to 1500 B.C.
Geography of Indus Valley Civilization
The civilizations mainly flourished in the
towns of

Harappa and Mohenjodaro

Map showing two important cities
Satellite and political Map locating important
sites
Harappa
 Mohenjodaro

Citadel

Ariel view
The cities are well known for their impressive,
organized and regular layout.

They have well laid our plumbing and drainage

system, including indoor toilets.

Over one thousand other towns and villages also

existed in this region.
Streets
The main roads were wide and the entrance to houses was
from the side streets.
Houses
Most of the houses had a courtyard in the centre.
The houses had many rooms.
Many of the brick houses were two storey high, with thick walls
and high ceilings to keep the rooms cool in the hot summer
months.
Besides houses, some other buildings have also been
discovered.
Drainage system

They had wide roads and a well-developed drainage system

The bathrooms were well-made.

They had sloping floors to allow the dirty water to drain off.

The drains ran along the streets and were covered.

The Great Bath

In Mohenjodaro a big water tank has been found. This had been
named the Great Bath.

The great bath is the earliest public water tank.

It measured 12m north – south and 7 m wide, with a maximum

depth of 2.4 m approximately.

Two staircases lead down into the tank. At the foot of the stairs
was a small ledge with a brick edging that extends the entire
width of the pool.
Granary

Harappa has the remains of a big granary which was used to store
extra grains.

It is a brick structure built on a massive brick foundation over 45 m

north-south and 45 m east-west.
Crafts Quarters
The people of Indus were skilled craftspeople. Inside the city is
an area that has been identified as a crafts quarter.

Large quantities of manufacturing debris have been found in this

area indicating the presence of workshops for making stone
beads, shell ornaments, glazed faience ornaments, stone tools
and possibly even gold working.
Language

The Harappans used a pictographic script.

In addition to the pictographic signs, the seals and amulets often

contain iconographic motifs, mostly realistic pictures of animals
apparently worshipped as sacred, and a few cultic scenes,
including anthropomorphic deities and worshippers.

This material is important to the investigation of the Harappan

language and religion, which continue to be major issues.

Some 3500 specimens of this script survive in stamp seals carved

in stone, in molded terracotta, in fragments of pottery, and in a
few other categories of inscribed objects.
Script
Religious symbol

Many seals have been discovered with images of different gods

and goddesses people worshipped the Mother goddess and lord
Pashupati (lord of all animals).

A seal discovered during excavation of the Mohenjodaro

archaeological site in the Indus Valley has drawn attention as a
possible representation of a “yogi” or “proto-Shiva” figure.

This “Pashupati” seal shows a seated figure surrounded by

animals.
Dockyard – Lothal

A dockyard has been discovered at Lothal, so they must have

built ships and used them for trade with other places.

The hydraulic knowledge of the ancient Harappans can be

judged by the fact that boats could dock at Lothal in the 1850s.

It is said that then the dockyard could hold 30 ships of 60 tons

each or 60 ships of 30 tons each. Harappan seals have been
found here.
Burial

The body was placed inside a wooden coffin (which late decayed) and
entombed in a rectangular pit surrounded with burial offerings in
pottery vessels.
Economy – Trade

The Harappan civilization was mainly urban and mercantile.

Inhabitants of the Indus valley traded with Mesopotamia, southern

India, Afghanistan, and Persia for gold, silver, copper, and turquoise.
 Coins

Goddess and Elephant

Economy – Agriculture

The Mesopotamian model of irrigated agriculture was used to take

advantage of the fertile grounds along the Indus river.

Earthen walls were built to control the river’s annual flooding. Crops
grown included wheat, barley, rice, peas, melons, and sesame.

This civilization was the first to cultivate cotton for the production of
cloth.

Several animals were domesticated including the elephant which was

used for its ivory.
 Tools

Stone Tools Stone Tools

Bronze Tools
Pottery

The glazed Harappan potttery is the earliest example of its kind

in the ancient world.

The Harappan pottery includes goblets, dishes, basins, flasks,

narrow necked vases, cylindrical bottles, tumblers, corn
measures, spouted vases and a special type of dish on a stand
which was a offering stand or incense burner.
Artifacts

These egg shaped whistles may have been used for music, a
tradition that is still present in rural areas of Pakistan and India.
Clay Sculpture
Figurines

Three-dimensional representations of living beings in the

Harappan world are confined to a few stone and bronze statues
and some small objects crafted in faience, stone, and other
materials – with one important exception.

Ranging in size from slightly larger than a human thumb to

almost 30 cm in height, the anthropomorphic and animal
terracotta figurines from Harappa and other Indus civilization
sites offer a rich reflection of some of the Harappan ideas about
representing life in the Bronze Age.
Statue of a Dancing Girl

A bronze statuette dubbed the “Dancing Girl”, 10.8 cm high and

some 4,500 years old, was found in Mohenjodaro in 1926.

A number of gold, terra-cotta and stone figurines of girls in

dancing poses reveal the presence of some dance form.
The Priest

in 1927, a seated male figure, 17.5 cm tall, was found in a

building with unusually ornamental brickwork and a wall-niche.

Though there is no evidence that priests or monarchs ruled the

city, archeologists dubbed this dignified figure a “Priest-King”.
The central ornament worn on the forehead of the famous
“priest –king” sculpture appears to represent an eye bead,
possibly made of gold with steatite inlay in the center.
Ornaments

The collection of gold and agate ornaments includes objects

found at both Mohenjodaro and Harappa. At the top are fillets
of hammered gold that would have been worn around the
forehead.

The other ornaments include bangles, chokers, long pendant

necklaces, rings, earrings, conical hair ornaments, and broaches.
These ornaments were never buried with the dead, but were
passed on from one generation to the next.
These ornaments were hidden under the floors in the homes of
wealthy merchants or goldsmith.
Decline of the Indus Valley Civilization

We still don’t know how the civilization came to an end.

Archaeologists have offered four explanations for the collapse of

the Harappa civilization.

The people might have died due to some disease.

There may be Floods.

It may be because of earthquakes which could have also

destroyed them.

They may have been attacked by an enemy. (Invasion of Aryans)

Possible route of Aryan Invasion or Migration
 Conclusion

Thus, the study of Indus Valley Civilization is not

important to the historians and archaeologists but to
a common man as well.