Harappan Civilization

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Harappan Civilization

• 2500-1500 B.C.E.

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Ancient Civilizations in India

• India has had civilizations as far back as
  200,000 years ago
• From 8000-5000 B.C.E. there were Neolithic
  villages west of the Indus River valley in the
  Iranian Plateau
• Because water covers much of the oldest remains,
  archaeologists and historians arent sure exactly
  how far back in time Harappan civilization
  stretches. The earliest strata indicates that by
  2500 B.C.E., Harappan civilization was well
  established.

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Mysteries of Harappa

• In addition to inconvenient water, Harappan
  civilization remains mysterious because
  historians cant read Harappan script.
• Harappan script seems to have used 400 characters
  that were both phonetic and logographic on
  thousands of clay seals and copper tablets.

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• Like the Nile and Tigris/Euphrates river valleys,
  the Indus Valley deposited alluvial soil across
  its flood plain, allowing early farmers to
  establish agriculture. Indus river people also
  domesticated poultry, sheep, and goats and grew
  cotton by 5000 B.C.E.
• By 3000 B.C.E. the Dravidian People had built a
  complex society with large urban centers.
• Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro were the major cities
  (pop. 35-40,000) and there were about 300 smaller
  settlements along the Indus River.
• Harappan civilization controlled an area of
  roughly 500,000 sq. miles. The Harappan empire
  was at least twice as big as either Egypt or
  Mesopotamia.

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Mohenjo-Daro
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Organization

• There is no overt evidence indicating royal
  authority or the usual stress on military might,
  but there were city walls, a large granary, and a
  fortified citadel in each of the two major
  cities, indicating that Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro
  were organizational centers.
• The dwelling places in the cities indicate a
  large degree of social stratification, but nearly
  all houses had indoor plumbing with showers and
  toilets. There was also a large public bath at
  Mohenjo-Daro. Was ritual cleanliness an
  important part of Harappan religion?
• There are very few grave sites throughout the
  Harappan lands in other civilizations, grave
  burials normally help historians understand the
  beliefs of ancient cultures. This lack of
  evidence means that there arent as many
  preserved luxury goods. It also indicates that
  like later Indian peoples, the Harappans may have
  cremated their dead.

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Great Bath- Mohenjo Daro
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Harappan Culture

• Another striking feature of Harappan civilization
  was that throughout the large territory there was
  a remarkable degree of standardization in not
  only in architectural styles, but also weight and
  measures and even brick sizes.
• The layout of the major cities indicates that
  they were planned before they were built, rather
  than rising up organically as the population
  grew.
• Between 2300-1750 B.C.E. the Harappan people
  traded pearls, gems, copper, and ivory for
  Mesopotamian wool, leather, and olive oil.
• Harappan artisans produced many beautiful
  ornaments and statues.
• Their religion, like those of most early
  agricultural societies, was concerned with
  fertility and procreation.

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Decline of Harappa

• By 1900 B.C., Harappan civilization was already
  on the decline. The traditional explanation was
  that aggressive Indo-Aryans destroyed Harappan
  civilization.
• The more recent evidence indicates that Harappan
  civilization broke down from within, probably due
  to environmental factors. Careless deforestation
  degraded the integrity of the Harappan landscape
  and ruined the farm lands.

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Continuity or Change?

• Thirty unburied skeletons in Mohenjo Daro
  indicated a catastrophic earthquake or fire took
  place there.
• Between 1700-1500 B.C. people were abandoning the
  cities. They had completely collapsed by 1500
  B.C.
• The eternal question of historians of India has
  been how much continuity was there between
  Harappan and Classical Indian civilizations?"