The Indus Valley Civilisation

Introduction

The Indus Valley Civilization or commonly called the Harappan Civilization was the Bronze Age civilization in the northwest of South Asia. The Civilization timeline is 3300 BCE to 1300 BCE. It occupies the area of Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Northwestern India. It is known as Indus Valley Civilization because it resides near the Indus River. Harappa, the first excavated city of the Indus Valley. So, known as Harappan Civilization. The Urban areas of the Civilization were famous for planning the roads, drainage systems, heated bricks, and methods used in handicrafts. The second big city founded after Harappa was Mohenjo-Daro. From the excavations of Harappa and Mohinjodaro ruins, we know about the life of the people of the Indus Valley Civilization that this civilization was an urban civilization. It is clear from the excavations of its towns that those people were experts in town planning.

Lifestyle

At that time, like the rest of Western Asia, the Indus country (including Harappa) was also in a period in which stone weapons, tools, and utensils were used as well as copper and bronze weapons, tools and utensils. They settled in cities and earned their wealth mostly from agriculture and trade. They cultivated wheat, barley, and dates. Mehrgarh in Balochistan province is the first city of the Indus valley civilization where the first crop is grown. The first grown crop was barley. They had domesticated buffaloes, cows, small-horned bulls, sheep, pigs, elephants, etc. but they did not know cats and horses. Wheeled carts pulled by bullocks were used for transportation. Copper was the principal metal utilized by men.

Clay was used to making bronze. Bows, arrows, axes, daggers, and spears with spears as fighting and hunting weapons also in use. There has been no trace of any armour. Until the invention of round stone mills, sliwatte used to grind the flour. Most of the household’s containers made of earthenware. Some made of copper, bronze, and silver. Jewellery made of gold, silver, copper, ivory, and precious stones.

There was a great custom of making idols and toys. Among the human idols are women taking bread, mothers feeding their babies, women wearing bangles etc. These people cultivated wheat, barley, pulses, and dates and used them for food. They also used to sow peas and mustard. They also used animal meat and fish. The proof of this is the finding of animal bones in large quantities. The Harappan Language is still undeciphered. It is a symbolic language that contains symbols. Although this script was similar to the West Asian and Near Eastern scripts of the time. The contemporary civilizations are Mesopotamia civilization and Ancient Egypt along the Nile. The population of the Indus Valley Civilization was between 1 and 5 million.

Major Geographical Areas of Indus Sites

The Indus Valley Civilization (ICC) covered much of Pakistan, western India, and northeastern Afghanistan. Areas ranging from Pakistani Balochistan in the west to Uttar Pradesh in the east, northeastern Afghanistan to the north, and Maharashtra to the south were under it. The Indus Valley Civilization held geographical conditions that were of high value to the peoples of Egypt and Peru. Land surrounded by high level, desert and sea areas. Recently, Sindh sites also discovered in the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan. There were hundreds of Harappan sites and five were important to them. The five Mohenjo-Daro (declared a World Heritage Site in 1980), Harappa in Western Punjab, Dholavira in Gujarat, Rakhigarhi in Haryana, and Ganeriwala in the Cholistan Desert. Mohenjo-Daro, discovered by R.D. Banerji in 1922, Harappa by Daya Ram Sahni in 1920, Rakhigarhi in 1989, Ganeriwala in 1970, and Dholavira in 1968.

Other IVC colonies can be found in Afghanistan while smaller isolates can be found elsewhere in Turkmenistan and Maharashtra. The largest colonies are in the Punjab, Sindh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Gujarat belt, from the Sutkagan Pass in western Balochistan to Lothal in Gujarat and largest site of the Indus civilization is Rakhigarhi, Haryana. The Shortugai (Afghanistan) near Oxus River, in the Gomel River valley (western Pakistan), Alamgirpur on the Indus River (only 28 km from Delhi) were major Indus Valley sites. Indus Valley sites are often on rivers, but also on the ancient coast. e.g. Balakot, and on islands, e.g. Dhaulvira.

Reasons of decline

The three main reasons for the end of the Indus Valley Civilization four thousand years ago were internecine wars, infectious diseases, and changes in the environment. Environmental, economic, and social changes played a major role in the development and destruction of this civilization. But little attention paid to how these changes affected the human population. According to Mahra, this conclusion drawn after examining the remains of this civilization. The team examined human skeletons during Harappa excavations. It revealed that infectious diseases played an important role in the destruction of this civilization. Harappa was one of the largest cities of the Indus Valley Civilization. Most of the skulls found during the search were in very poor condition. According to the statement, the Indus Valley civilization developed on the principles of peace, harmony, and equality.

There were no social distinctions among people then. Gradually economic, social, and climatic changes began to affect the environment. With this, the civilization started walking towards destruction. Along with the arrival of these bad things in society, infectious diseases took away a lot of lives. Believed that, this civilization could not withstand the impact of environmental changes and hence destroyed. For a few decades, new facts about the end of civilization have emerged from the research done with new technology. The civilization that stood with commonality, with time cultural differences came in it and wars started. Leprosy and tuberculosis spread in civilization. Leprosy was rampant even in the early stages of Harappa’s urbanization. It did not end and the new disease TB took its foot in civilization. Apart from this, the number of people who died due to head injuries during mutual fights was also high.

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