The Indus Valley culture is brought to light by the efforts of Marshall and Baneriee during 1920. This indigenous and urban culture is also called as Harappan cultue because Harappa was the largest city excavated. Further as this fertile culture was prominent in the Punjab and Sindu region, watered by Indus, it is also known Indus valley civilization. By the outcome of this civilization the history of India also commenced with it and the study of the Aryan penetration was pushed back next to it. This renowned culture was a superior one like the contemporary civilizations such as Egypt, Assyria and Babylonia. Thus the archeological excavations conducted by Marshall and Banerjee paved the way for the knowledge of a renowned culture in India before the advent of the Aryans.

The age of the Indus culture

The age of the Indus culture have been fixed by the carbon-14 dating method. But there were differences of opinion among different scholars about the age of this culture. The identical facts between the Indus culture and other contemporary cultures paved the way for fixing the date of this culture. As it was a culture contemporary to that of the civilizations of Mesopotamia, Western Persia, Egypt and Seistan, it is obvious that Indus culture could be dated to that period. There are resemblances between the objects excavated from those areas. That too assist us in fixing the age.

Five seals, similar to the Indus seal have been unearthed from Mesopotamia. As two seals of these five are datable to 2800 B.C. R.K Mukherjee has assigned the period between 3250 B.C and 2750 B.C to this culture. Dr. Mackay has identified the cylindrical seal discovered at Tel Asmara site is assigned to the period of 2400 B.C. This too helps us to have a period of the Indus culture akin to the date mentioned. The availability of the figures of Indian animals such as elephants, rhinocerous in those seals also attest the above fact. The potteries of Indian style excavated from that area have also been unearthed from Egyptian sites. All such facts enabled Dr. Mackay to assign the period 2500 B.C. to Indus culture. The availability of traces of pre-Harappan culture in the Harappan sites such as Rupar and Lothal enables one to offer an earlier period to this culture. The different artifacts such as Lothal and Kalibangan in Gujarat and Rajasthan respectively prompts a period of 2300 B.C to 1750 B.C. to this culture. Carbon-14 dating method has assigned the period between 2500 B.C and 1750 B.C to Indus civilization.

Origin

The origin of the Indus culture is still obscure and dark. Different scholars have assigned various views about the origin of this culture. Mortimer Wheeler has arrived at the conclusion that it should have been an impact of Mesopatomian culture. Alchin has assigned an indigenous origin and feels that it should have been a development over the pre-Harappan culture.

Mohenjodaro and Harappa, having a heterogenous population than being a homogenous one, expose that the areas such as Punjab, Sindu, and Baluchisthan should have been a meeting place of various immigrant races. The excavations of human skulls and skeletons belonging to people of different races such as proto-Austroloid, Mediterranean, Alphinoid and the Mongoloid at Mohenjodaro will attest the above fact. Such discoveries indicate that the population of Indus culture was comprised of people of different stocks such as Dravidians, Pamirs, Sumerians, Nagas etc. But as no other corroborative or substantiating evidences are available to establish this fact the theory of mixed origin could not be approved. It should also be remembered here that there are no traces to associate the Indus people with other races.

There are no similarities between the people of the Indus and Vedic cultures. Their life and culture differed from one another. So it will not be wrong to accept the views of John Marshall who has narrated that the people of Indus region were Dravidians and not Aryans. The Indus people were the natives and not foreigners. So one can assign a native origin to this culture. But there should have been a synthesis between Aryans and the native Indus people. The Indus culture was basically an Indian one and in due course it got merged with the Aryans who penetrated into India from central Asia.

This indigenous Indus culture had certain resemblances with the contemporary Egyptian, Sumerian and Mesopatomian cultures. Commercial contact also survived between them through Baluchisthan. The availability of the Indus potteries in the areas of contemporary culture too will exhibit the synthesis between these cultures. In this regard it will be apt to accept the view of Father Heras who accepts the Indus culture as a proto-Dravidian culture.

Extent of the culture

Nearly hundred sites have been brought to light in the Indian sub-continent. While Harappa, Mohenjodaro, Chanhudaro and Juhar are now in Pakistan, sites such as Kalibangan, Rupar, Lothal, Rangpur, Kotla, Rodji, Desalpur, Surkotda, Dholovira, Banawali etc., are available in India. In general this Indus culture extended from Jammu in the north to the river Narmadha in the south. It had an area in between the Makran coast of Balushisthan in the north and Meerut in the north east. It extends in an area of 1.3 million sq kms. As rightly observed by V.S. Aggarwala “almost one third of India covering about half a million square miles snatching from Rupar in Ambala district to Bhagatrao on the Kum river, the southern most settlement known so far, was the area of origin and growth of Indus valley civilization”. Like Mortimer wheeler, who has called this culture as a most classic and vast one, Dr. Mackay has pointed out that “it is interesting to note that these ancient sites of Indus plane are the earliest cities, yet discovered where a scheme of town planning existed.”

The 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.

Food

Since wheat was the major agricultural production of that area wheat formed the major them of food. Vegetables, milk and its by products were used by them. Barley, fruits fish, mutton, egg, poultry, dry fish were also other food items. Along with pork flesh of gharial, tortoise were eaten. Their food included sesamum also.

Dress

Cotton, woolen dresses were used by the Indus people. Their dress was a simple one. Men more a shawl, an upper garment to cover their body. The lower part of the body was covered with a dhoti. Women wore short skirts. They did not use any footwear. The men wore the upper garment over the shoulder and that crossed through the right arm.

Beautification

The Indus people devoted much attention to the beautification of the hair with great care. Women combed and plaited their hair. They tied their hair at the back in the form of coifer. The men had their hair dressed in such a way. The men had a tuft at the top of their head. They had beards. But the upper lip was a shaven one. They had a small beard in the chin. Razors and bronze mirrors were commonly used.

Ornaments

The Indus people were fond of ornaments. Precious, semi precious metals, precious stones, beads were all used by them. Bangles, armlets, bracelets, ear rings, e tc., were commonly used. The making of the ornaments testify to the artistic skill and workmanship of the artisans. Agate, Chalcedony, crystal, Jasper, carnelian beads were used in plenty. They had ornaments according to their economic standards and prosperity.

Pastimes

The Harappans had various types of entertainments. Indoor games were familiar, Chariot race was not popular. Hunting was carried out with the use of dogs. Rhinoceros, Bulls, Antelopes, Elephants were hunted. Copper arrows and clay pellets were used to attack the birds. Cock fighting and fishing were common. Singing and dancing were popular merriments. Dicing was, in vogue, whistle, rattle, claycarts, toys were used by women.

Animals

Stage, bull buffaloes, oxen, goats, sheep, pig were certain common animals. Dog was a pet animal of the Indus age. For carrying the luggages at times of transit asses and camels were used. Though they were aware of the horses they never used it commonly. Even the seals too had the figures of animals.

Pottery

From the different Indus sites varieties of potteries have been excavated. Plain and painted potteries were used. Trees, circles, lines were drawn. Red and black, coloured and glazed potteries were commonly used. In some potteries paintings of human figures are also available. Polychrome, incise, perforated and knobbed varieties were in vogue. No importance was assigned to the figures of animals, birds etc., in painting. The pottery was a baked one. Mud vessels, dishes flasks, cylindrical flasks, and tumblers were used in plenty. Drainage pipes were made up of pottery. Toys, whales, spindle whorls were of clay. Spindle whorls were made of baked earth.

Copper, silver, bronze, earthen ware vessels were used in large numbers. Shell needles, bone and ivory combs, axes, chisels, sickles, knives, razors were used. They were totally unaware of the use of iron. Bronze, copper, gold, silver were in vogue. Lead and nickel were popular.

Disposal of the Dead

Importance was assigned to the disposal of the dead. Complete, fractional and post cremation burials were adopted. These practices are brought to light by the excavations at Mohenjodaro. Cists or graves of brick chambers are noticed. From Harappa a wooden coffin with a dead body has been excavated. Twin burial systems are available from Lothal. Urn burial was commonly practiced.

The Indus script

Hitherto no details about the languages used by the harappans have been brought to light. The decipherment of the Indus script is also a problem. Different scholars have offered various surmises regarding the Indus script. Waddel is of the opinion that it should have been originated from Sumeria. Hunter has assigned an Egyptian origin. Langden believes that it should have been of native origin and the Brahmi script should have born out of it. He also thinks that the language must have been either Indo European or Dravidian. Parbola feels that the language is Dravidian and the script centers around homophones. The Russian scholars also approve of the Dravidian similarities. But nothing has been brought out in an acceptable way. The inscriptions are not accepted as alphabetical.

Seals

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 cms. The square shaped seals have the figures of animals with inscriptions. The figures of unicorn bulls bulls buffaloes, tigers, rhinoceros, goats etc. are the animals available in the seals. Some scholars believe that it should have been used as identifications for demarcating their properties. A deity with horns wearing a lot of bangles have been unearthed. This figure is surrounded by animals. Mackay is of the opinion that the seals should have been used a amulets. Some of the scholars render some religious motifs to them. Any how the exact purpose for which the seals have been utilised should be deciphered. The inscriptions available in the seals are also a mystery still. Any how they testify to the workmanship of the artisans.

The economic Life

As the Indus was known for its fertility it enables one to assume that they should have given importance to agrarian pursuits. The richness of the soil was enhanced mainly due to the alluvial silt brought by the inundated Indus. Barley was sowed in November and reaped in April. They used ploughshare or hoe. Furrows are noticed in Kalibangan. These productions were sufficient to satisfy the needs of both the rural as well as urban population of that region. What and barley were the urban crops. Paddy, Ragi, sesamum, mustard, beas have also been cultivated. Cotton was produced by the Indus people for the first time. Pulses ad grains were stored in granaries.

Both local and foreign trades were common. Different varieties of weights and measures were available. No metal money was in vogue. Border system was in vague. Bullocks, asses, camels were used to carry the commodities in the inland trade. Wheeled vehicles were also employed as materials of transport. Navigation in the Arabian sea was also familiar. They had trade contacts with Afghanistan and lands of Euphrates and Tigris. Conch shells were borrowed from Deccan and Sourashtra. Lothal, Surkotda and Balakot were certain coastal cities of the period.

Blocks of hard stones were used as weights. Polished certs, alabaster, lime stone and quartzite were used as weights. As pointed out by Henomy they used binary system for smaller weights and decimal system for larger measurements. The weights were significant for their denominational accuracy.

Political Life

No details are available regarding the political life of the Indus people. 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 indicate that the Harappan cities should have been a well administered one. 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.

Religious Life

The religious life of Harappan people are brought to light by the seals and terrocotta figures assisted by them. No traces of temples are available. It is understood that they gave priority to mother goddesses. The large quantity of terracotta toys attest this fact. As they are feminine figures this fact could be specified. The female energy was considered as a source of inspiration. There are traces in seals which speak about the existence, of blood scarifies.

There are male deities depicted with horned head dress. A three faced god is also reveled in a meditating posture. Various animals such as elephants, tiger, buffalo, rhinoceros and deer are standing around him. This deity is described as Pasupathi, the lord of animals by Marshall. 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 points out the availability or animal worship. The worship of pipal tree testifies to the availability of tree worship. Mostly gods were worshipped by symbolic forms. Animism was also in vogue. Animal worship was also in existence. Ceremonial ablutions are part and parcel of religion. The drawing of snake in pottery and importance assigned to snake indicate the availability of snake worship. Swastik was also a sign of worship.

Thus the religion of the Indus people center around the worship multifarious deities.

Art and Architecture

The Indus people had their own unique and indigenous system of art and architecture. Their art centred around utilitarian view points. The various buildings exhibit their contribution of artistic style. The art of those people have an urban accent. The houses, which vary from small ones to huge palatial building, exhibit the artistic value. The constructions are mostly artistic in nature.

The cities are planned in character. The cities are construced with an unique plan and they expose the experience of the masons of that period. They testify to the engineering skill. The fortified cities express the artistic temperament of the people. The sanitation measures depict the striking feature of the towns. The separate residential areas arranged for the rulers and the ruled too will pin point the different aspects of cultural superiority. The buildings constructed in the lower and elevated places will narrate their artistic temperament. The straight, broad, long streets with cuttings in the right too speak of their artistic skill. The water tight nature of the burnt bricks used for buildings explain their artistic significance.

The distinctive building such as granaries, public baths, palatial buildings, etc., exhibit their skill of construction. The various types of houses too point out their skill. The non-availability of plastering, the advanced building materials of that age stand to prove their uniqueness. They have used wood for the construction of upper storeys. The flat roofs and use of beams too attest their technical skill. The construction of the houses with open corridors in the middle with rooms on all the four sides of the house, the non-availability of windows in the front-side are certain unique features of the houses. In between two houses there were lanes. So no two houses had common walls. Wooden doors were there.

Some huge buildings are identified as market halls store houses or offices. Almost all the buildings had their own utility value. The buildings expose the aesthetic sense of the Harppans. In this regard it must be remembered that the drainage system was a remarkable feature of the Indus people. The water supply system is another salient feature. The drains of the houses were linked with the main drains in the street. As rightly observed by Mortimer Wheeler the excellent sanitation system was an unparalled one. The great earth is another distinctive building excavated from Mohenjodaro. The gypsum mortar used, the arrangements made for inflow and outlet of water, the rooms and steps arranged speak for the engineering skill of the people of that age.

The lot of terracotta figures, the stone sculptures and the seals exhibit the contributions of the Harappans to architecture. Statues are made up of stealite, alabaster and lime stones. Majority of the figures are the images of elderly people with beards. The lime statue of a main in 17.5 cms in height reveals the architectural skill of the people. The half closed eyes, the flat nose, the thick lips, the shaven chin, the shawl used by that toy etc. expose their artistic temperament. A lot of female terracotta toys have also been brought to light. The style used in them are unique. The figures are all the out comes of manual work. Elaborate head dresses and ornaments are furnished. They are burdened with jewellery and most of the figures are in nude pose. The figures are mostly secular in character. Many animal figures are also created in terracotta. Toy carts are made, Straw is used for making toys.

Many stone and bronze images have also been unearthed. The bronze statue of a standing lady with bent legs is another unique piece of art. A heavy plaint is rested on her shoulder. The figure is wearing a lot of bangles from the wrist to armpit. No proportionate measures are employed in the making. Separate pieces are used to make heads and hands and fitted in the form of socket holes. They are known for their sophistication. Two red stone statues have also been discovered. Soft lime stones are also used for the making. A shawl like garment is also used. The male figures are unique. The nose is straight and well formed. The lips are thick and fleshy. The double shell form is used to indicate the ears. The forehead is very low. The lengthy eyes are half closed. This indicated the concentration pose of a yogi. The artisans of the Indus age were deeply interested in exhibiting naturalism. The Indus sculpture formed the basis for the future sculptures of India. It opened the ways for the introduction of traditions. The art and architecture of the Harappans stand testimony to their creative nature through an indigenous form.

The causes for the Disappearance

The indigenous, native Indus culture disappeared due to various reasons as indicated below.

The repeatedly flooded and inundated rivers affected and devastated the Mohenjodaro and Chanjudaro. The rivers changed their course frequently and that affected the cities like Kalibangan and Banavali. The constantly expanding deserts, the problems of deforestation and the rare occurrence of the earth quake too affected the culture and that led to the end of the culture.

The continuous waves of Aryan invasions caused many wars with the natives. They destroyed the forts and cities of the Indus people. That formed the basis for their fall. The Rig Veda and Taittireya Brahmana attest such facts.

This renowned culture met with its end due to the changes in their policies. They gradually deviated from their policy of adjustment and adaptation. They became disinterested in continuing the advanced technologies. Such a break affected their course of action. They showed their own slackness in innovating new weapons and war technologies. Their backwardness in war strategies permitted the invading Aryans to overcome them. As rightly observed by Mortimer Wheeler the Aryan intruders during their course of invasions mercilessly massacred men, women and children at all places including streets and houses. Marshall and Mackay too have specified that the danger of the river Indus led to the disappearance of the culture.

There are other views. The increase in the number of Indus settlements in larger quantities was a dangerous aspect and the increasing population of uncontrollable limit was a jeopardizing menace. The ecological factor too caused damages to that culture.

Impacts

The Indus culture exposes the prevalence of a developed culture and has left with us many indelible impressions. Most of them are still available in various forms. The Pasupathi cult, the Linga cult continue to exist even today. The worship of fire, animals, snakes, male and female deities are unique features which survive even to day. The Indus potteries continued to survive even upto the early centuries of the Christian era.

The use of potter’s wheel is another contribution and that attests the technological skill of the people of that period. The forms of weapons and ornaments and the use of different varieties of costlier stones too have influenced the people. The urban culture yielded to the newly arrived rural based Aryans.

Indus Valley Civilisation