A glimpse into history: Harappa culture (Indus Valley Civilization) Harappa Civilization is actually the mature period of Indus Valley Civilization (2600-1900 BCE). The Indus Valley Civilization (abbreviated as IVC) is an ancient civilization, which was thrived in the Indus river Basin. This civilization encompassed almost the whole modern-day Pakistan and western India. It is the earliest known urban civilization of Indian subcontinent. The Indus Valley Civilization is also the largest of the four other ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia, India, Egypt, and China. However, out of all these four ancient civilizations, least is known about the Indus Valley civilization. This is because of the fact that the script of Indus people has not been decoded yet. On the pottery vessels, amulets and seals, there are many remnants of the Indus people script, but archaeologists are not able to encode the language yet. The discovery of Indus valley civilization was first recorded in 1880s, and since Harappa was the first discovered city (found in Punjab) of this civilization, archaeologists often say Indus Valley Civilization the Harappa Civilization and also say Indus people the Harappa’s. Later on the Harappa civilization extended to Gujarat, Sindh, Western Uttar Pradesh, Jammu, northern part of Rajasthan, undivided Punjab, and Haryana. The remains of the Indus valley civilization found in these areas are the same as was found in the Harappa city and Mohenjo-Daro. Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro (600 km apart) were the two much planned civilized cities with similar planning technique, and layout in construction. Harappa culture During the Harappa civilization, the climate was moist with humidity. The land was covered with dense forests. Harappa civilization belonged to the bronze age (Chalcolithic period). Iron was unknown to the Indus people. The Indus people were not limited to their own civilized place but they had oversees trade contacts. Harappa houses were one or two storied high. Each and every house had a planned structure, a bathroom, two or three rooms, a courtyard and a kitchen. Houses of Harappa civilization were made of baked bricks having uniform size. Harappa houses also had doors and windows. Harappa houses had well-‘techniqued’ drainage system in bathrooms and kitchen. Drains of Harappa houses are lined with baked bricks. The Harappa’s people had many occupations like farming, weaving, jewelling, trading, pottery, etc. Farming and animal husbandry were the main cultures of Harappa people. People of Indus Valley Civilization knew different methods of irrigation. Farmers grew two crops in a year. “Paddy” was first grown by the Harappa people. Pottery industry was very popular among the Harappa people. Indus people are very much skilled in using potter’s wheel. These people were skilled in spinning and weaving. Large part of the population was engaged with building industry. Brick manufacturing was an important business. Harappa people were also in trading profession. Harappa seals were found in Mesopotamia and Mesopotamia seals were found in Harappa. This shows the existence of foreign trade among this civilization. These people were also familiar with ships. The traders and merchants were rich and also dominated the other people. The cities of Harappa civilization were organized by municipal people. These municipal organizations looked after foreign trades and sanitation in the cities. These municipal organizations were also taken care of laws and orders in the city and also collected taxes from the people in the form of agricultural different products like grains. Social Life Social life in Harappa civilization was very organized. There were three different social groups during Indus Valley Civilization. The first group was of high class traders and priests. The second group was comprised of craftsmen, artists, and petty merchants. And the third group consisted of labourer class. Harappa people had barely and wheat as their staple food. Besides their staple food Harappa’s people liked to have milk, fruits, fishes, dates, and meats. The people used to pray Papal tree. Although no temple structure was found in the remains of the Harappa cities, these people believed in life after death. Indus people used to bury the dead people in huge earthen pots with large amount of food and ornaments. Decline of Harappa civilization The Harappa civilization was at its peak for about 500 years. The Harappa cities were destroyed many times and were built again and again with the same kind of houses, agriculture, trades and same kind of foods. What was the exact cause of destruction of the well-structured civilization is unknown. Natural disasters like earthquake, storms, or deforestation were considered as the main reasons of destruction of Harappa civilization. As per many Archaeologists, Aryans invasion might be the reason of destruction of this great civilization. Source: goo.gl/IlirwH P.C.: goo.gl/BYzMNl goo.gl/34CyZg goo.gl/bVjQ09 goo.gl/tUd98P
Posted on: Thu, 13 Nov 2014 03:30:01 +0000
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