INDUS VALLEY CIVILISATION FOR COMPETITIVE EXAMINATION IN DETAILS

HARAPPAN/INDUS CIVILISATION 

Hey guys, we all know how important topic is indus valley civilisation for competitive examination. Question comes from this topic in almost every exam. Here, i will explain in detail first. Then i will discuss the important questions of the topic as one liner. I think it will help you.  If it helps you, please share & comment. If you don't like it, comment on why you didn't like it. 

TOPICS 

🔴Discovery

🔴Geographical extent 

🔴Nomenclature of indus valley civilisation 

🔴Link with other civilisations 

🔴Features (Religious life, Town planning &structure, Economic life, script, social life, political life)

🔴Decline

🔴Most important MCQ

                           DISCOVERY 

🔘Indus civilisation is one of the four earliest civilisations of the world. First civilisation of the world is mesopotamia(Tigris & Euphrates ), Egypt (Nile), China(Hwang Ho).

🔘Excavation of harappa and Mohenjodaro  in punjab and sind (now in pakistan ), awarded the world about an ancient most advanced civilization.

🔘in 1924 sir john marshal announced the discovery of a new civilisation named Indus valley civilisation in London weekly.

🔘in 1826 charles  masson had got large number of bricks from a place named harappa.

🔘in 1856  Alexander Cunningham supervised the ruins of harappa. 

🔘in 1856 the english government started making railway track  from karachi to Lahore. For this the  work of excavation was started.

🧿 in 1921 Daya Ram Sahani got the site excavated at Harappa in the montgomery district of the Punjab( now in Pakistan) on the left Bank of ravi .
It was first discovered site of this civilization

🧿 just after one year in 1922 Rakhal Das Banerjee discovered the remains of Civilization at Mohenjo-daro in the Lakhan district of Sindh (now in Pakistan)

       

These two excavation prepared the foundation of a new chapter in history which is studied under the name of Indus Valley Civilization now let us study more about it.

            

          

                 GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT 

🧿As per our present knowledge its area extends from

❄ the west suktagender on Makran coast (Pakistan-iran border)

❄ east alamgirpur in Uttar Pradesh (river Hindon) 

❄North Manda in Jammu (river Chenab )

❄South Daimabad in Maharashtra (river pravara )are major site

🧿Embracing an area larger than the present size of Pakistan.

🧿 from west to east the Indus Civilization covered an area of 1600 kilometre and from north to south of 1100 kilometre .

🧿 the shape of the civilization was triangular covering an area of about 12,50,000 sq.km.

🧿After the partition of India all the well known Harappan sites like Mohenjo Daro ,Harappa ,Chahundaro ,jhukar ,sutkagendor,Amri,kot Diji went to Pakistan.




🧿Kalibanga ,Lothal, Banwali, surkotada, Dholavira, rangpur,Ropar, alamgirpur ,Manda Rakhi Garhi are situated in India.

NOMENCLATURE OF INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION 

❄The most appropriate name Harappan civilization 

❄Harappa was the first discovered site 

❄Harappan Civilization named by John Marshall after the first discovered site Harappa

❄ the most prevalent name indus Civilization (the largest concentration of settlement along the Indus river valley)

Links with other civilizations 

🧿the sumerian civilization was a part of Mesopotamian Civilization. 

🧿Harappans had close trade relations with Mesopotamian.

🧿Mesopotamian seal are found from
Mohenjodaro and kalibangan, Persian seal from Lothal.

                          Features 

town planning

🧿The most striking feature of Harappan Civilization is its town planning and sanitation.

🧿The towns were divided into two parts :upper part or Citadel and lower part.

 ❄the fortified Citadel on the Western side House Public buildings and members of ruling class. 

❄ below the Citadel on the eastern side of the lower town inhabited by the common people.

🧿Systematic town planning on the lines of grid system .

   ❄Meaning off grid system - States cutting across one another at right angles,dividing the town into large rectangular blocks.

🧿use of burnt bricks in constructions.

🧿At Lothal and kalibangan residential houses were made of sun dried bricks.

🧿Most of the houses had wells within them and a drainage system carried the waste water to the main underground drain of the state.

❄ they were covered with either bricks or stone slabs and equipped with manhole.

    this shows developed sense of Health and sanitation.


🧿The arrangement for street lighting were
available for the people.


🧿The main Streets  Ran  from north to south varied from 9 feet to 34 feet in width.


 🧿Municipal authority controlled the development of the city.

Religious life 

🧿Harappan people had features of Hinduism such as worship of the mother goddess,Pashupati,Shiva ,scared animals, trees etc.

 🧿clay figures of the mother goddess as the symbol of fertility have been found.

🧿chief male deity Pashupati Mahadeva( proto Shiva) represented in seals as sitting in a yogic posture on a low throne and having three faces and two horns .

     ❄he is surrounded by an elephant , a tiger  ,a Rhino and a buffalo and two dear appear at his feet. 

     ❄Lingam and Yoni worship was prevalent.

🧿The most common animal found on the Harappan seal is the Bull which has been referred to as a unicorn .

 🧿tree worshipping was a culture in this Civilization.

     ❄Pipal Tree was the most worshipped tree.

🧿Animals( Bull )Birds (dove, pigeon )were worshiped.

🧿Swastik and Cross signs were harbingers of good luck. 

🧿We don't find any tracer of temple or places for worship at any of the Harappan sites.

🧿Fire altars are found at Lothal and kalibangan.

🧿Indus people believed in Ghost and evil forces.

Funerary customs 

🧿Mohenjo Daro three forms of burial 

          -   complete ,fractional and post cremation.

   (FRACTIONAL BURIALS: only a collection of bones are buried after the exposure of the body of wild beasts and birds)

🧿Kalibangan two forms of burial 
                               -circular and rectangular grave



🧿 surkotada pot burial

🧿 Lothal  double burial.

🧿Harappa east-west Axis,R- 37 and H cemetery.

                           Economic life

 Agriculture 

🧿Agriculture was the backbone of the Harappan people. 

🧿They produced wheat ,Barley, peas, Ragi ,etc

.

🧿They were  first to produce  cotton in the world .

❄which Greek called as sindon  derived from Sind.

🧿No evidence of channel or Canal irrigation has been discovered from the sites of this civilization.

🧿Sugarcane was not known to Indus people.

Domestication of Animals 

Animals were kept on a large scale .

🧿they domesticated buffaloes oxens,  sheep,goats pigs, elephants, dogs ,cats etc.

🧿 camels bone are reported at Kali bangan .

🧿 the only evidence of the horse comes from surkotada.

Trade and commerce 

🧿Trade was based on barter system.

🧿The Indus people used weights and measures in the multiples of 16.

🧿The Harappan had trading relations with the  sumeria or Mesopotamia .

🧿Harappan seals and products were also discovered at Sumer.

🧿Major exports Agricultural Products, cotton  goods, Terracotta figure, pottery, Ivory products, copper etc.

🧿Gold silver Tin and lead were imported from Iran and Afghanistan and copper imported from (Khetri )Rajasthan.

ART AND CRAFT

🧿Harappans used stone tools and implements.

The greatest  artistic creation of the Harappan culture were the seals, made of steatite.

🧿Bronze was made by mixing copper with tin.

🧿Both plain (red) or painted( red and black) pottery was made.

🧿Bronze image of nude  women dancer (identified as Devdasi) and stone steatite image of a bearded man( both obtained from Mohenjo-daro).

🧿Terracotta model of a ships comes from 👉Lothal.

🧿Which types of Harappan pottery is  said to be the earliest example of its kind in the world👉 Glazed.

SOCIAL AND POLITICAL LIFE

🧿Indus people believed in simple living and high thinking .women were given honour in society . family was regulated in the name of mother .

🧿the Indus Civilization had four different classes in which the society was divided Scholars , Warriors ,Businessman and Labourers.

 🧿no evidence of caste system has been found yet.

🧿Harappan political system was organised on the pattern of city States which were highly disciplined on account of dominant social controls.

🧿According to Rs Sharma - merchants were rulers.

❄DD Koshmabi -priests were rulers.

SCRIPT

🧿The language of the Harappan is still unknown.

 🧿it was pictographic in nature.it was written from right to left in the first line and then left to right in the second line. the style is called Boustrophedon.

🧿Their language is closer to Dravidian than to any other known languages .

🧿It will be turning point in the history of India when this Indus script is deciphered. 

🧿Who has been claiming that he has successfully deciphered the Indus script, though others have not accept his claim is  👉S R Rao.

Decline of the Indus civilization

🧿There are many different theories that shows the decline of the Indus culture.

🧿M wheeler - 'Indra is  accused of causing the decline of Indus civilization' .

🧿The Rig Veda speaks of a battle at a place named "Hariyumpia"which has been identified with Harappa.



🧿Mohenjo Daro was believed to have destructed by floods .




🧿Floods and earthquakes change in the course of river Indus, aridity of the area or dying up of river ghagara, the invention of Aryans are the supposed reason for the decline of the civilization.




🧿Who propounded the theory of ecological degradation as the causes for the decline of the Harappan culture George F Dales.




🧿Which Indus sites was destroyed by fire Kot diji.





🧿Which Vedic texts, apart from the Rigveda Samhita ,cities indra  as the destroyer of the Indus Civilization  Taittiriya Brahmana.

IMPORTANT QUESTIONS AS ONE LINER

🌀 Indus Valley Civilization belongs to
                                                             👉 bronze age

🌀 Indus Valley Civilization forms part of the
                                            👉 proto history of India.

🌀TheIndus valley civilization flourished during                                                         👉 2500 to 1700 BC

🌀 Indus Valley Civilization flourished along the river   
                                                       👉 Indus.

🌀 the most significant feature of the Indus valley civilization was
                                                       👉town planning.

🌀which soil was used to make brick in the Indus valley civilization
                                                        👉 Alluvial soil.

 🌀the people of the Indus valley civilization usually built their houses of
                                                          👉pakka brick.

🌀  Indus valley civilization was known non Aryan because 
                                                         👉it was urban.

🌀the evidence of the Indus valley civilization were first discovered
                                                      👉at Harappa.

🌀The group of 6 granaries in a row have been found
                                                       👉at Harappa .

🌀The largest building of Harappan Civilization that has been found granary
                                                   👉at Mohenjo-daro.

🌀The evidence of bangles has been found
                                                   👉 at kalibanga .

🌀Which was the most important feature of the Harappan towns
                                                  👉 grid planning.

🌀Harappan tools and implements were made of   
                                                👉Copper and bronze.

🌀Which metal was not known to the Harappan people
                                                           👉iron.

🌀Most of the Harappan pottery were of
                                                            👉red colour.

🌀The main crops of Harappan Civilization were                                                     👉wheat and barley.

🌀With Which crop the Harappan people were unacquainted
                                                            👉sugarcane.

🌀The greatest artistic creation of Harappan culture
                                                                  👉 seals.

🌀Mohenjo Daro or Mound of dead was discovered by scholar
                              👉 rakhal Das Banerjee in 1922.

🌀The largest number of seals have been found at
                                                   👉 Mohenjo-daro.

🌀Seals were perhaps used by
                                      👉Marchants and traders.

🌀Pashupati seal has been found at
                                                   👉Mohenjo Daro.

🌀Bearded figure has been found at
                                                       👉 Mohenjo Daro .




🌀The great bath of the Indus valley civilization was found at
                                                         👉Mohenjo Daro.

🌀Which town of Indus valley civilization was flooded and destroyed more than 7 times
                                                      👉Mohenjo Daro.

🌀In which Harappan city a bronze dancing girl was found
                                                        👉Mohenjo Daro.

🌀In which place in Indus Valley Civilization rice husk has been found
                                               👉 Lothal and rangpur.

🌀Terracotta model of ship has been found at
                                                                 👉Lothal.

🌀At which place in Indus Valley Civilization the evidence of chess and a measuring scale have been found
                                                                    👉 Lothal.

🌀How many photographs were found in Indus Valley Civilization
                                                               👉250 to 400.




🌀Latest Harappan site discovered Dholavira.
The largest site
                                                       👉 Mohenjo Daro.




🌀The largest Indian site
                                    👉Rakhigarhi.




🌀Indus sites found in Afghanistan 
                                      👉shatughai  and mundigaq.




🌀The main cause of the Indus Civilization
                                                            👉Dravidian.





🌀The entry port for trade between Indus and Mesopotamia
                                                             👉Bahrain.

🌀The trace of Sati system is found in
                                             👉Lothal( joint burial).





🌀They did not worship the cow as we do today.




🌀The origin of Swastika is discovered from the
                                                👉Indus civilization.





🌀The earliest precursors of the Harappan sealsTerracotta seals found at 👉mehrgarh





🌀At only one of the Indus sites have archaeologists discovered a Middle town as distinct from the citadel and the lower town the site is 👉Dholavira.





🌀The maximum concentration of Harappan site is in the plains of the 👉Indus and its tributaries.





🧿While Lothal is the only indus city whose  citadel and lower town are together surrounded by its city brick Walls , 
   one another indus city has the distinction of having its lower town also being surrounded by a separate massive brick wall 👉 kalibangan





🧿Indus people used a gold and silver mixture called
                                                           👉 electrum






🧿Indus people were the first to use copper in India




🧿the largest number of Harappan sites in post independent India have been discovered from

                                                                👉Gujarat





🧿Which Harappan sites has a stone fortification with square bastions at the corners and in the centres of the longer sides
                                                       
                                                           👉 surkotada.




🧿Harappan bricks were mainly made in

                                                     👉an open mould.




🧿Where did the excavators Discover a third small mound , distinct from the Citadel and the lower town containing only remants of fire altars
                                                           👉 kalibangan.





🧿Majority of the Indus Terracotta figures were

                                                             👉hand model .




🧿Which metals made its earliest appearance in India before any other place in the world
 
                                                             👉 silver.




🧿The majority of the Harappan pottery was

                                                         👉plain pottery.




🧿Bones of camel are discovered at

                                                         👉 kalibangan




🧿Which processes was used in the manufacture of Harappan seals

                                                                 👉cutting.




🧿Which Indus sites has houses with do0rs  on the main street

                                                                     👉 lothal.




🧿Which has the earliest ploughed  field in the world

                                 👉Kalibangan and Banawali.





🧿The ruins of Harappa were first noticed by

                                                  👉Charles Manson.




🧿The dockyard at at Lothal, is well connected through a channel to the river

                                                             👉bhogava.




🧿The Harappan culture as a whole gives the picture of a changeless, stagnant society .but this can be disproved by the changes in

                                                           👉 the pottery.




🧿Of the all Harappan sites ,which has the most impressive drainage system

                                                       👉 Mohenjo-daro.





🧿which place gives more clues with regard to the transition from the pre  Harappan to the mature Harappan culture

                                                       👉Amri.





🧿Which place had a culture, called jhangar culture ,in its late Harappan phase

                                                         👉Amri




🧿The most beautiful brick work of the harappans is found in the

                                                         👉great bath.




🧿How many granaries are there in Harappa

                                                           👉 6




🧿At which indus  cities do we find evidence of strengthening of the Defence at a later phase

                                                        👉Harappa .




🧿Indus people achieved maximum amount of standardization in

                                                         👉bricks.




 🧿the earliest evidence of man in India is found in

                                                        👉Shivalik Hills.





🧿where we find the three phases paleolithic mesolithic and Neolithic culture in sequence

                                                          👉belan Valley.





🧿The earliest evidence yet available for settled agriculture in the subcontinent comes from

                                                       👉mehrgarh.






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