Meaning of the word “Culture” :-

Archaeologists use the term “culture” to describe a group of artefacts that have a distinctive style and are usually found together and belong to a particular period and geographical region

Harappan Civilization /Indus Valley Civilization :-

1. The first civilization of ancient India is the Harappan civilization. this culture was first discovered at a place called Harappa , so this culture is named after it. Harappa is located on the left bank of the Ravi River in Montgomery district in Punjab province of Pakistan. its period has been determined between approximately 2600 and 1900 BC. This civilization is also called the Indus Valley Civilization.
2. The extent of this civilization was initially determined to be 12lakh 99 thousand 600 square Kilometer which is now likely to be around 15-20 Lakh Square KM. The name suggested for the Indus civilization is Indus Saraswati culture and the appropriate name for the Indus Civilization is Harappa Civilization.
3. Based on the research done by Mahadevan and Vishwanath in Indus Civilization 2467 Scrimptions/written evidence have been found. the number  of which has now reached around 3000/

Harrapan Culture Period/ Indus Valley Civilization :-

• 2600 to 1900 BCE

Parts/Phases of Harappan Culture

• Early Harappan Culture
• Developed Harappan Culture
• Later Harappan Culture

• B.C.(Before Christ) -BC
• A.D.(Anno Domini)-The year of birth of Jesus Christ
• B.P.(Before President)-Before today

Discovery of Harappan Civilization :-

*Harappan Civilization was discovered in 1921-22 under the leadership of Daya Ram Sahni, Rakhaldas Banerjee and Sir John Marshall 

in 1856 when the first railway line was being built between Karachi and Lahore , the Harappa Archaeological site was suddenly discovered during excavation work. this place is modern Pakistan. those workers mistook it for ruins and dug out thousands of bricks from here and took them away and used them to lay the railway line but they could not know that there was a civilization there.

1. At that time both John Wroughton and William Wroughton suggested the existence of a significant civilization, but  no excavations were carried out .
2. Harappa was excavated for the first time in 1920-21 Madho Swarup vats and Dayaram Sahani
3. In 1922,  Rakhal das Banerjee excavated a site called #Mohenjo Daro which is located on the right bank of the Indus river in the Larkana district of Sindh region of Pakistan . Rakhal Das Banerjee was excavating a Kushan Era , Buddhist stupa located on top of this mound
4. After these two excavation in 1924 the director general of the archaeological survey of India Sir John Marshall announced the discovery of a new civilization to the whole world. Sir John Marshall named it Indus Civilization in a Magazine called London weekly .

Literal Meaning of Mohenjo-Daro

• Mound of the dead
• Mound of the ghosts
• Garden of Sindh
• Sindh Na Klsathan

Why is the Harappan Civilization called the Indus Valley Civilization ?

• This civilization is called the Indus Valley Civilization because it was spread around the Indus River Valley. this area was fertile , Harappans used to farming here.

Script of Indus Civilization :-

1. The first attempt to read the Indus Script was made by Wendell in 1925 and the latest attempt was made by Natwar Jha , Ghanpati Singh  Dhanya and Rajaram but even till now the Indus script can not be read authentically.
2. The Maximum number of letters of the script have been found from Mohenjo-Daro and the second largest number from Harappa. the largest letters of the script have been found from Dholavira.   these are  considered to be the symbol of Notice board.
3. Indus script is ideographic that means expressing emotions through pictures Indus script is written on both sides hence it is called boustrophedon.
4. From the point of view of knowing the various aspects of Indus Civilization it is particularly noteworthy , coins of various shapes and types made of alabaster and backed clay of which rectangular and square are the main ones.
5. Only Inscriptions are found on rectangular ones while both inscriptions and pictures are found on square ones , 5 cylindrical seals of Mesopotamia have been found from Mohenjo-Daro and marble seals made in Persia have been found from Lothal

 

Creators of Indus Civilization :-

Four main types of skeletons have been found in the excavations under the Indus Civilization

1. Proto-Australoid
2. Mediterranean
3. Alpine
4. Mongolian

On the basis, this possibility has been accepted people of friendly species were involved in its construction However its founder is considered to be Dravida  who later migrated to South India

Main Feature of Indus Civilization

• The bronze age was a civilization
• it is a symbol of first urban revolution in Indian History which is confirmed by the remains of many important cities obtained from excavations
• Importance in trade and commerce activities
• Pacifist approach to life (no weapons’, tools nor defensive weapons like shields amour etc. during excavations)
• Collective activist towards life (it is confirmed by the large bathing place of Mohenjo-Daro , the stadium found at Dholavira  and Junikaran , the assembly half found at Junikaran and Mohenjo-Daro )
• The Indus valley people were not familiar with Iron. it is noteworthy that the oldest evidence of Iron has been found from Atranjikhera in Etah district of Uttar Pradesh. Its date has been accepted to be around 1050BC.
• The Indus people were not even familiar with brass.

Major Sources of Information about Harappan Civilization

• Housing
• Pottery
• Jewellery
• Tools
• seals
• Buildings and coins found from excavations

Major Sites of Harappan civilization

* some sites of harappan civilization in Pakistan and the rest are in India  

1. Nageshwar (Gujarat )
2. Balakot (Pakistan )
3. Chanhudaro (Pakistan )
4. Kot Diji (Pakistan )
5. Dholavira (Pakistan )
6. Lothal (Gujarat )
7. Kalibangan (Rajasthan )
8. Banauli (Haryana )
9. Rakhigarhi (Haryana )

City Planning and architecture in Harappan Civilization

• Town planning
• Building Construction
• Public buildings
• Spacious bathroom
• Granary
• Drainage system

City Planning (settlements) of Harappan civilization

*The settlements of Harappan civilization were divided into two parts 

1. Fort:- it was built on a platform of unbacked bricks. the fort was surrounded by walls. the structure built on the fort were probably used for specific public use.
2. Lower City:-The lower City presents examples of residential buildings. the lower city was also surrounded by a wall  apart from this many buildings were built on high platforms which served as foundations

Features of the roads and streets of Harappan Civilization :-

• straight roads intersecting each other at right angles due to which the entire city area is divided into various rectangular blocks. this is called the Net system Oxford system chess board system
• Roads were constructed from mud
• Drains were built on the sides of the road for water drainage. there was a system to cover the drains. the drains were covered with flooring at some distance from the drains there was an absorbent well or pit in which the  dirt would collect , baked bricks were used in large quantitates

Building Construction in Harappan Civilization :-

• In the Harappan civilization the plan of the houses was based on the courtyard.in which apart from toilets bathrooms kitchens bedrooms etc. other rooms have also been found
• The foundation was built for strength , houses were built on the sides of the roads which had complete arrangements for air cleanness and  light
• Houses were built at a height from the ground. the doors of the houses used to open towards the roads the entrances of the houses used to open towards the street rather than the main road due to which they would have been safe from outside hustle bustle noise and pollution
• Drains were built on the sides of the roads for drainage of water . there was a system to cover the drains
• The drains were covered with the floor absorbent wells were installed at short distances in the drains. The dirt in them remained collected baked bricks were used in large quantities.

Public Building in Harappan Civilization :-

• The Indus valley civilization was divided into two parts , public building were built in the upper part and the personal residences in the lower part
• Remains of public or state buildings have been found during excavation. one relic has been found from Mohenjo-Daro which is 70 meters long and 24 meters wide . this mark is indicative of the prosperity of that period. Remains of a square room 71 meters long and equally wide have been found here which has 20 pillars
• According to an estimate this building might have been used for mutual discussions religious functions and social events