Indus Valley Civilization

Introduction:

The Indus natural depression civilization of ancient Asian country was one amongst the earliest civilizations in world history. It was located in the north western region of the Indian subcontinent and its rise and fall from the first great chapter in the history of ancient india. The Indus natural depression is up to date with the civilizations of Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt. The civilizations is famous for its large and well-planned cities and settlements have been found. Most of those square measure tiny however amongest them square measure a number of the most important cities of their time, especially Harappa and Mohenjo-daro.

Geography:

The Indus natural depression civilization coated most of what's nowadays Islamic Republic of Pakistan and Indian states of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab settlements which were closely related to the core civilization. The huge Indus system waters an expensive agricultural landscape. The Indus plain is surrounded by high mountain, desert and ocean and that time there were dense forests and swamps to the cast.

Well planned cities/ Urban structure:

Town planning:

The main streets and roads were set during a line typically running straight for a mile and were variable broad from four meters to ten meters. Most of these roads and streets were paved with fire brunt and bricks. The main streets intersected at right angles, dividing the city into squares, some builing had a lamp post and a well. There was an elaborate drainage system which emptied into the river.

The drainage system:

The system of the Indus natural depression civilization was way advanced. The drains were covered with slaves. Water flowed from house into the street drains. The street drain had manholes at regular intervals. All soak pits and drains were occasionally cleaned by workman. This elaborate drainage system shows that the Indus valley people were fully conversant with the peinciples of health and sanitation.

Houses with bathroom:

The houses were of different sizes variying from a palatial building to one with two small rooms. The houses had a well a bathroom and a covered drain connected to the drain in the street. The buildings were made of burnt bricks and the roofs were flat and made of wood. The special features of the houses was that rooms were built around an open courtyard. Some houses were two or three stored. Some buildings has pillared hall.

Great bath:

One of the largest buildings was the great bath measuring 180 feet by 180 feet. The bathing pool 39 feet long 28 feet wide and 8 feet deep was in the center of the quaterangle and surrounded with verandas, rooms and galleries. The walls of the pools were made of burnt bricks laid on edge, which made the pool watertight. The great bath reflected the engineering genius of those ancient days.

Great Granary:

Another large building in the city was Great Granary. Which was created regarding forty five meters long and fifteen meters wide. It was meant to store food grains. It was a line of round brick platforms for granules.

The Assembly Hall:

An important features of Mohenjo-daro was its 24 square meters pillared hall. It had 5 rows of pillars with four pillars in every row. Kiln baked bricks were uses to construct these pillars.

Arnaments:

Mean also seemed to have worn arnaments like fillets, necklaces, finger rings and armlets. Women were keen on arnaments like earrings, bangles, bracelets, necklaces, girdles and anklets made of shell, beads, gold, silver and copper.

Children toys:

Toys like the whistle and carts besides puppets, rattles and dolls made of terracotta speaks greatly about the attitude of the people in the child care. People enjoyed playing in dice and marble. Gamblimg was a favourite past time of the elder member in the society.

Culture and society:

Society in the Indus valley civilization is said to have comprised of three distinct social group. One group ruled and administered the city. The other group associated with trade and other business activities in the city. The third group were the labourers who workrd in the city.

Agriculture:

Advanced agricultural system helped to developed Indus valley civilization. The Harrappians cultivated wheat and barley, peas and dates and also sesame and mustard which were used by oil. However the people cultivated rice and many other agricultural things.

Science:

The people of the Indus valley civilization achieved great accuracy in measuring length, mass and time. They were among the fitst to develop a system of uniform weights and measures. The engineering skills of Indus valley people were of a very high order. This cab in the large building water management systems on evidence at Harappa and Mohenjo-daro.

Writing:

Writing system of Indus valley civilization were not developed. Here some scholars invention of many symbols that used of Harrapans people. Scholars believed that these symbols actually constituted a proper writing system.

Religion:

Reconstructing Indus valley religion is impossible but threre are intriguing indications of continuity between the religions of ancient india. Many Indus valley seals show animals presented in a format of a later Hindhu Gods Shiva and Rudra. Indus people worshipped a mother Goddes symbolizing fertility a common practice.

Irrigation:

Irrigation dependent on the irregular flooding of the river Punjab and sind. The Harrapans were using some sort of wooden plough. It has also suggested that the Harrapa people used a toothed harrow.

Trade and transportation:

The Indus valley people maintained commercial contact with Egypt and Greek, Mesopotamia and the towns in the pursian Gulf. Trade also existed with Northern Afghanistan from where the Harappans bought the famous blue gemstones ‘Lapez Lazuli’. Trade would are expedited by a significant advance in transport technology. The Indus natural depression civilization might are the primary in world history to use wheeled transport.

Arts and crafts:

All kind of artifacts have been found in Indus valley civilization. Like as seals, glazed, beads, pottery, gold jewellery, terra-cotta and soapstone. Various terra-cotta and stone figurines have also been discovered of dancing girls, men, animals and a mythical beast. All these show that these cities housed a busy and extremely refined craft business.

Government:

Indus valley civilization is an organised government. The government dominated by powerful priestly class. Here existance of strong rulling class and supervised the daily tasks of large number of labours. Here presence of languages well fortified citadels.

Occupations:

The various occupations in which some people weaving cotton and wool, pottery-making, bead-making and seal making metal working was highly skilled. They made fine jewellery in gold, bronze, implements, copper, chisels and knives of different metals.

Fall of Indus Valley Civilization:

Around 1800 B.C the major cities in the core region decayed and were finally abandoned. Some of the possible theories for the decline of the Indus valley civilization are the given here-

1. Floods and Earthquakes: It has been destroyed that floods and earthquakes.
2. Change in course of Rivers: Another theory is that Mohenzodaro was destroyed by the change in the course of the river Indus away for it.
3. Aridity: Another hypothesis is that the increased aridity of the Indus region and the drying up of the river led to the decline of civilization.
4. Aryan Invasion: Another theory Aryan Invasion destroyed the Indus valley civilization.