Salient Features of the Indus valley civilization
Salient Features of the Indus valley civilization
1. Town Planning
The Harappan culture was distinguished by its system of town planning on the lines of the grid system – that is streets and lanes cutting across one another almost at right angles thus dividing the city into several rectangular blocks. Flanking the streets, lanes and by-lanes were well-planned houses.
Harappa, Mohenjodaro and Kalibangan each had its own citadel built on a high podium of mud brick. Below the citadel in each city lay a lower town containing brick houses, which were inhabited by the common people.
The most important public place of Mohenjodaro is the Great Bath measuring 39 feet length, 23 feet breadth and 8 feet depth. Flights of steps at either end lead to the surface. There are side rooms for changing clothes. The floor of the Bath was made of burnt bricks. Water was drawn from a large well in an adjacent room, and an outlet from one corner of the Bath led to a drain. It must have served as a ritual bathing site.
The largest building in Mohenjodaro is a granary measuring 150 feet length and 50 feet breadth. But in the citadel of Harappa we find as many as six granaries. The large-scale use of burnt bricks in almost all kinds of constructions and the absence of stone buildings are the important characteristics of the Harappan culture. Elsewhere in the contemporary world, mud-bricks were used.
Streets: The Indus cities were built on prearranged plans as it is evident in the case of Mohenjodaro which is very well preserved. There was some kind of municipal or civic authority which controlled the development of the city. The streets ran in straight lines and crossed one another at right angles. The streets aligned from east to west or from north to south. The most famous stre e t calle d the 'First Street' of Mohenjodaro was 10.5 m wide and would have accommodated seven lanes of wheeled traffic simultaneously. The other roads were 3.6 to 4 m wide, while the lanes and alleys were 1.2 m (4 feet) upwards. The streets and lanes were not paved and must have been full of dirt and dust. The 'First Street' was, however, surfaced with borken bricks and potsherds.
2 Social life
The Indus culture was an urban one. Hence the people led a comfortable and luxurious life. The people led a very developed life. They, due to their town individual efforts and hard work, were capable of satisfying their needs. The society comprised of people of various walks of life. Merchants, artisans, farmers, warriors etc, were people living in that society. The people of this Bronze Age led a better and superior life than the future chalcolithic culture. They gave importance to health and sanitation. They were city dwellers and they had planned cities and houses with various comforts.
3. Entertainments
The Harappans had various types of entertainments. Indoor games were familiar, Chariot race was not popular. Their favourite pastime was Gambling. Cock fighting fishing was a regular occupation while hunting and bull fighting were other pastimes. Hunting was carried out with the use of dogs. Rhinoceros, Bulls, Antelopes, and Elephants were hunted.
4 Agriculture
The Indus people sowed seeds in the flood plains in November, when the flood water receded, and reaped their harvests of wheat and barley in Apr, before the advent of the next flood. Wheat and barley were the main crops grown besides sesame, peas, mustard and rice (in Lothal), cotton dates, melon, etc. Surplus grain is stored in granaries. The Indus people were the first to produce cotton. In Kalibangan, fields were ploughed with wooden ploughs.
5 Domestication of animals
Animals like sheep, goats, cattle, cats, dogs and buffalo were domesticated. The use of horse is not yet firmly established. Remains of horse at Surkotda and dogs with men in grave at Ropar have been discovered. A number of other animals were hunted for food including deer.
6 Trade and Commerce
Internal trade was extensive with other parts of India. Foreign trade was mainly conducted with Mesopotamia, Afghanistan and Iran Gold, copper, tin and several semi-precious stones were imported. Main exports were several agricultural products such as wheat, barley, peas, oil seeds and a variety of finished products including cotton goods, pottery, beads, terracotta figures and ivory products. There is much evidence to prove the trade links between the Indus and Sumerian people. Many seals of Indus valley have been found in Mesopotamia. The Mesopotamian records from about 2350 BC onwards refer to trade relations with Meluha, the ancient name of the Indus region. There was no metallic money in circulation trade was of the barter type. The seals and the terracotta models of the Indus valley reveal the use of bullock carts and oxen for land transport and boats and ships for river and sea transport.
7 Weights & Measures
- The trade requires a regulation of exchange and of weights and measures.
- Harappan weights and measures were cubical and spherical in shape and were made up of chert, jasper, and agate.
- The system of weights proceeded in a series i.e.
- first doubling, from 1, 2, 4, 8, to 64, then going to 160; then
- Decimal multiples of sixteen, 320, 640, 1600, 6400 (1600 x 4), 8000 (1600 x 5) and 128,000 (i.e. 16000 x 8).
- The tradition of 16 or its multiples continued in India till 1950s.
- Sixteen chhatank made a ser (equivalent to one kilo) and 16 annas made one rupee.
- The measure of length was based upon a foot of 37.6 cm. and a cubit of 51.8 to 53.6 cm.
8 Art and Craft
The Harappan sculpture revealed a high degree of workmanship. Figures of men and women, animals and birds made of terracotta and the carvings on the seals show the degree of proficiency attained by the sculptor. The Harappan culture belongs to the Bronze Age. Bronze was made by mixing tin and copper. Tools were mostly made of copper and bronze. For making bronze, copper was obtained from Khetri in Rajasthan and from Baluchistan, and tin from Afghanistan. Cotton fabrics are quite common. Woolen cloth is used in winter.
The figure of a dancing girl from Mohenjodaro made of bronze is remarkable for its workmanship. Its right hand rests on the hip, while the left arm, covered with bangles, hangs loosely in a relaxed posture. For their children, they made cattle-toys with movable heads, model monkeys which could slide down a string, little toy-carts, and whistles shaped like birds, all of terracotta.
9 Seals
The Harappans most notable artistic achievement was their seal gravings, esp. those of animals. Like the language and script, the seals which contain inscriptions and figures of animals are yet to be deciphered. Nearly 2000 seals have been unearthed. Steatite is the materials used for making the seals. They vary in size from one cm to five centimeters. The square shaped seals have the figures of animals with inscriptions.
10 Religious Life
The religious life of Harappa people are brought to light by the seals and terracotta figurines and copper tablets assisted by them. Main object of worship was the Mother Goddess represented in terracotta figurines. It is understood that they gave priority to mother goddesses. The female energy was considered as a source of inspiration. There are traces in seals which speak about the existence, of blood scarifies.
The chief male deity was Pasupati, (proto-Siva) represented in seals as sitting in a yogic posture with three faces and two horns. He is surrounded by four animals (elephant, tiger, rhino, and buffalo each facing a different direction). Two deer appear on his feet. Phallus (lingam) and yoni worship was also prevalent.
One god is depicted in a nude pose. The conical and cylindrical stone pieces depict the adoption of the Linga aspect of Siva. Thus Siva was worshipped by the Indus people in phallic form. The phalls worship which started in the days of Harappa came to be respectable form of worship in Hindu society.
The union bull a sacred animal was given importance and that point out the availability of animal worship. The worship of pipal tree testifies to the availability of tree worship. The drawing of snake in pottery and importance assigned to snake indicate the availability of snake worship. Swastik was also a sign of worship.
However, no temple has been found, though idolatry was practiced. At Kalibangan and Lothal fire altars have been found.
11 Political Organization
No details are available regarding the political life of the Indus people. The following are various opines raised by historians-
- Mortimer Wheeler feels that the priest kings should have administered their region.
- R.S. Sharma feels that merchants should have been the rulers.
- The aspects such as planned cities, drainage system and sanitation measures, trading items indicate that the Harappan cities should have been a well administered one and that there was an organisation like a municipal corporation to look after the civil amenities of the people.
- The fortified cities reveal that they should have been warriors. The weapons such as axes, spears and daggers discovered in the Harappan region will disclose the war like nature of those people.
- Accroding to Amaur De Riencourt: "All the evidence points to a high degree of standardization and organization, implying strong centralisation with full control over production and distribution and probably a high efficient system of taxation".
12 Burial Methods
Although no definite proof is available with regard to the disposal of the dead, a broad view is that probably there were three methods of disposing the dead – complete burial, burial after exposure of the body to birds and beasts, and cremation followed by burial of the ashes.
The discovery of cinerary urns and jars, goblets or vessels with ashes, bones and charcoal may, however, suggest that during the flourishing period of the Indus Valley culture the third method was generally practiced.
Complete burial and post-cremation burial were popular at Mohenjodaro. At Lothal the burial pit was lined with burnt bricks indicating the use of coffins. Wooden coffins were also found at Harappa. The practice of pot burials is found at Lothal sometimes with pairs of skeletons. Dead bodies were placed in the north-south orientation. However, there is no clear evidence for the practice of Sati.