Indus Valley Civilization

Do you really know about Indus Valley Civilization

TABLE OF CONTENTS 

1. INDIA

2. INTRODUCTION 

3. WHAT IS KNOWN AS THE INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION?

4. WHERE DID THE INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION BEGAN ? 

5. WHERE WAS THE HARAPPAN CIVILIZATION LOCATED 

6. HOW INDUS VALLEY CAME TO AN END 

7. WHEN WAS INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION DEVELOPED 

8. HOW THE CIVILIZATION HAS ENDED

9. WHAT IS THE INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION KNOWN FOR 

10. WHO FOUND THE INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION 

11. IS THE INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION THE OLDEST

12. HOW HAD THE INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION STARTED AND DEVELOPED 

13. WHAT RELIGION DOES THE VALLEY PRACTICE

14. THE FEATURES OF THE VALLEY

15. HOW HAS THE VALLEY BEEN DESTROYED 

16. NAME

17. EXTENT OF CIVILIZATION 

18. IS HARAPPA AND MOHENJO-DARO THE SAME

INDIA

What comes into our mind when we think of India ! India is our country and our ancestors have belonged here and have left some very precious stories back. The land of India holds behind millions of stories and the feeling of fear, sorrow and happiness.  Many kings came and went and have left behind millions of emotions behind. People of India have seen various times and have experienced tides coming and going. The Indus Valley which is today located in the northwestern part of India and the eastern part of Pakistan also gathers a lot of emotions. So let’s learn about this. What, when, how and everything! 

INTRODUCTION 

The Indus civilization or the Harappan civilization which is also known as the Indus valley civilization was known initially as the built up culture in the Indian Subcontinent.  2500-1700 BCE appear to be the nuclear dates of the civilization. In 1921 , the civilization was identified first at Harappa , which lay in the region of Punjab  and then in Mohenjo-Daro in the year of 1922 in the region of Sindh , which was nearby to the Indus river. All the two sites are present today in Pakistan,  in Punjab and in Sindh regions respectively.  In 1980 the ruins and remnants of the Mohenjo-Daro were declared as World Heritage Sites by UNESCO. 

WHAT IS KNOWN AS THE INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION ? 

Earliest known as the Urban culture of the Indian Subcontinent was known as the Indus Civilization.  The Indus valley civilization was one of the three earliest world civilizations which was together with ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. 

WHERE DID THE INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION BEGAN ? 

The Indus valley civilization at that time began at the Indus river valley which had used the model of irritated agriculture from Mesopotamia.  

WHERE WAS THE HARAPPAN CIVILIZATION LOCATED?

It was the Indus River Valley , where the Harappan civilization was located . It included two large cities which were Harappa and the Mohenjo-Daro both of them were situated in the Punjab and Sindh provinces of present day Pakistan respectively.  The extent of Indus Valley had reached the Gulf of Khambhat to the south and to the Yamuna river also known as the Jamuna river to the east. 

HOW DID THE INDUS VALLEY CAME TO AN END ? 

It is still a very big question about how the Indus Valley Civilization had touched its ending and it still remains unclear. There was not any uniformity at the end of the Indus Valley Civilization. 

By the mid of the 2nd millennium BCE there was already death happening at the city of Mohenjo-Daro and from the north it was dealt by a final group of invaders. 

In India , about 1000 BCE when the Iron age Civilization had developed the southernmost part of the civilization may have continued in contrast. 

WHEN WAS THE INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION DEVELOPED? 

In the 3rd millennium BCE, the Indus Valley Civilization had developed. 

This made the Indus Valley Civilization one of the earliest Civilizations that lasted into the 2nd Millennium BCE at that time. 

Afterwards,  the remnants of the civilization were soon being found as far apart as Sutkagen Dor which lied in the province of Balochistan in the southwest side which is present in modern day Pakistan towards the shore of the Arabian Sea which was about 300 miles or 480 kms west to karachi and in the eastern punjab side at Ropar or Rupar in the  foothills of Himalayas in the northwestern side of India. It can be located at around 1000 miles which is 1600 km northeast of Sutkagen Dor. 

Later on , research and investigation has established its presence at the western coast of India southwards which is as far as the Gulf of Khambhat,  Cambay 500 miles which is 800 kms situated southeast to Karachi in modern day of Pakistan and is as distant as east to the Yamuna river basin , which is situated 30 miles and 50 kms in total from the north of Delhi.  Thus the Indus Valley Civilization is decidedly the most substantial of all the earliest civilizations of the world.  The other two civilizations lie in Mesopotamia and Egypt.  Both of these two civilizations had begun somehow before the Indus Valley Civilization.  

Two large cities are said to have existed in the  Indus Valley Civilization which are the Harappa and the Mohenjo-Daro.  And also more than 100 towns and villages are being added to them which are really very small in size as compared to the big cities and their population.  In dimensions altogether,  both of these cities were perhaps 1 mile square that is 1.6 km in the dimensions overall . And also political centralization is being suggested by their wonderful magnitudes. 

It is also suggested and known that Harappa had always taken the place above Mohenjo-Daro which due to extensive floods was devastated more than one time. 

In the area of Kathiawar peninsula , and above beyond that the southernmost area of the civilization had appeared to be of later origin than the other major Indus areas. The script of the civilization which had some 250- 500 characters was literate and that has been partly and provisionally interpreted. After all these happenings , the language of the civilization has been identified indefinitely as the Dravidian. 

HOW THE CIVILIZATION HAS ENDED ? 

It is still unknown and unclear when and how the Indus Valley Civilization came to an end. The heritage that is so widely distributed,  there should be no constant finish that needs to be suggested. But indeed , the ending of Mohenjo-Daro was perhaps sudden and full of drama and is very well known. It was towards the middle of 2nd millennium BCE,  when Mohenjo-Daro was being attacked and captured by burglars  who later passed on and had swept over the entire city , which had left the dead lying there where they had fallen and later had left . Who were the raiders is still a matter of speculation. Formerly known as the Aryans the earliest invaders who belonged from the north appeared to be compatible with time and place . As reflected in the olden books of the Rigveda, in which it is well known said that the newly came are meant to be attacking the whole of the walled city or the citadels present there of aboriginal people. 

Despite all these happenings,  one thing is very well clear that the city was at a very high and advanced state of social and economical decline before it got the coup de grace. Large amounts of areas were deeply submerged by the heavy amount of floods in the city. The construction of the houses have become extensively shoddy and overcrowding was being shown as a sign. The city was already at a state of death and was dying before the final shred which was even more deadlier and sudden. In the Indus Valley , the civilization was being succeeded by the cultures that were poverty stricken , as evidence stands which derived little of the sub Indus heritage. In the northwestern region of the Indian Subcontinent,  urban civilization was extremely dead for centuries and centuries. 

But the picture is slightly different in the south where in Kathiawar, and beyond that , there was a cultural continuity being seen. Between the late Indus stage and the copper age cultures , that has characterized central and the western India in the era between 1700 and the 1st millennium BCE. After that Iron age Civilization had developed in India and it marked the end of Indus Civilization proper. 

WHAT Is Indus valley civilization known for?

Many notable advances in technology have been noted by the people of Indus Valley Civilization which includes perfect accuracy in the systems and all tools for the measurement of mass and length. Mohenjo-Daro,  Harappa and recently, the partially excavated Rakhigarhi have been demonstrated as the world’s first ever known urban sanitation systems. 

WHO FOUND THE INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION?

There was a person named Sir John Hubert Marshall who led an excavation campaign in 1921-1922. During this times , ruins of the city of Harappa were being discovered.  Afterwards later on in 1931 , Marshall and sir Mortimer Wheeler had mostly excavated the  Mohenjo-Daro. Over 1056 settlements and cities of the Indus Valley Civilization were then located by 1999.

IS THE INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION THE OLDEST OF ALL? 

It is being predicted by new evidence that in India and Pakistan the Indus Valley Civilization was very well famed for its very well planned cities and the impressive crafts. This is being predated by Egypt and Mesopotamia. It is now believed that the Indus Valley Civilization is 2500- 8000 years old as said by experts all over. 

HOW HAD THE INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION DEVELOPED AMD STARTED? 

At the site of Mehrgarh which is in present day Pakistan dated to around 7000 BC the roots of Indus Valley Civilization have been traced . At around 2600 BC the civilization had reached its peak and at around 1900 BC the civilization just went into decline. 

WHAT RELIGION THE INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION PRACTICED? 

The main religion that was being found and followed by people in the Indus Valley Civilization at both the cities of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro was Hinduism.  Afterall it is well said that Hinduism has its birthplace is the Indus River Valley which runs across the north west from India to Pakistan. 

WHAT ARE THE MAIN FEATURES OF THE INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION?

The notable characteristics of the Indus Valley Civilization are unique neatness which means individual cleanliness should be maintained very well amongst the individuals living there.  

The second is town planning which means that the construction and the architectural planning of the valley in both the cities should be very well done and perfectly made. 

The third is construction of the houses by burnt bricks. 

The fourth is that the people of Mohenjo-Daro had very fine bath facilities,  a system of drainage and had a very well knowledge of personal hygiene. 

The fifth feature depicts that the people of Mohenjo-Daro were equally concerned about plant medicine. 

HOW HAS THE  INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION BEEN DESTROYED ? 

The migrants who were Indo European from Iran known as the Aryans had apparently destroyed the Indus Valley.  Fire-baked bricks were primarily used for the construction of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro which might have primarily contributed to their downfall . 

NAME 

The Indus Valley civilization is very well named after the Indus River System where the alluvial plains , and the early sites of the civilization were being excavated and found. If the Archeological tradition is being followed,  it is often referred to as the Harappan civilization after the name of its type site Harappa. Harappa was the first ever site to be found or  excavated during the 1920s . This is true according to the Archeological survey of India.  

The term Ghaggar Hakra is being figured prominently in the new tags that have been applied to the Indus Valley Civilization due to the brilliant number of places that are being found along the river which was Ghaggar Hakra. The Ghaggar Hakra river was flowing in north western India and Easter Pakistan. 

EXTENT OF THE CIVILIZATION 

It was contemporary to the Indus Valley Civilization with the other riverine civilizations in the world. 

These were:

Egypt along with The Nile.

Euphrates and Tigris that watered the lands of Mesopotamia.  

China which was present in the basin drained by the yellow river and  Yangtze. 

Up on  the alluvial plains of the Indus , an area of 1500 kms was being included which

suggested that the civilization had spread in the area that was  larger than others. 

IS HARAPPA AND MOHENJO-DARO THE SAME ? 

The two greatest civilizations of the Indus Valley , the Harappa and the Mohenjo-Daro between which the key differences were being discovered as in terms of the position of geography.

It is not a matter of doubt that the site of Mohenjo-Daro was located in the Punjab region and the Harappan civilization was present at the Sindh province.  But if we consider the planning of the city in accordance with structure,  both the settlements , Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro could be remarked  as quite similar in many senses. And also the lifestyle of both the cities and the economical pattern could be considered similar. One of the main points of the lifestyle was that the people have stopped labelling and naming people according to their caste and colour . No differences were being found according to the race of people which was a positive point in the area to the people. 

SUMMARY

Now as we have completed comparing all the civilization aspects required,  we can say that the towns and cities and also the architecture of stone and clay and yes also the concern for basic sanitation and health was all given by the Indus Valley Civilization to the whole world. Also a scientific drainage in the cities has been built during the civilization.  Also we can say the prior conceptions about Hinduism were also derived from the culture.In contrast , civilization has given many fusions of many cultures together.

Leave a Comment