Decline of the IVC and Archaeological Discovery

The End of the Civilisation:

• By 1800 BCE the majority of the Mature Harappan locales in areas, for example, Cholistan had been deserted. Simultaneously, there was an expansion of people into new settlements in Gujarat, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh
• In the couple of destinations that kept on being involved after 1900 BCE there was a change of material culture, set apart by the vanishing of the unmistakable relics of the civilisation loads, seals, etc. Forming, critical distance trade, and craftsmanship specialization moreover disappeared
• House development methods decayed, and enormous public constructions were not generally created. Antiques and settlements demonstrate a provincial lifestyle in what is called Late Harappan or replacement societies. These changes may have been due to climatic change, deforestation, excessive floods, shifting and/or drying up of rivers, to overuse of the landscape

Discovering the Harappan Civilisation

Cunningham’s Confusion:

• Cunningham, the ASI’s first Director-General, began archaeology in the mid-nineteenth century, with a particular focus in the Early Historic and later periods
• He utilized the records left by Chinese Buddhist explorers who had visited the subcontinent between the fourth and seventh century CE to find early settlements
• Harappan curios were found off and on again during the nineteenth century however Cunningham didn’t understand how old these were. Cunningham was given a Harappan seal, but he tried to place it in the context of his knowledge of Indian history, believing that it began with the early cities in the Ganga valley

A New Old Civilization:

• Importance of the findings was realized when seals were discovered by Daya Ram Sahni in layers that were definitely much older than Early Historic levels .Rakhal Das Banerji found similar seals at Mohenjodaro, hinting that these sites were part of a single archaeological culture. In 1924, John Marshall, Director-General of the ASI, declared the disclosure of another civilisation in the Indus valley.

New techniques and Questions:

• A broad overview in Kutch has uncovered various Harappan settlements and investigations in Punjab and Haryana have been added to the rundown of Harappan locales. Kalibangan, Lothal, Rakhi Garhi and most as of late Dholavira have been found, investigated and uncovered.

Problems of Piecing Together the Past:

• It isn’t the Harappan script that aids in understanding the old progress, but the material proof like ceramics, devices, adornments, family protests and so forth.

Classifying Finds: 

• Recuperating antiques is only the start of the archeological undertaking

• After that, archaeologists classify their discoveries by material, such as stone, clay, metal, bone, ivory, and so on
• Archeologists likewise attempt to recognize the capacity of an antique by researching the setting in which it was found, in a house, channel, grave or in a furnace

• Sometimes, archaeologists take recourse to indirect evidence. For example, there are traces of cotton at some Harappan sites, to find out about clothing we have to depend on indirect evidence including depictions in sculpture

Problems of interpretation:

• Early archeologists believed that specific items which appeared to be uncommon or new may have had a strict importance

• These included earthenware dolls of ladies, vigorously jeweled, some with intricate hoods, viewed as mother goddesses. Uncommon stone sculpture of men in a nearly normalized pose, situated with one hand on the knee, for example, the cleric ruler was additionally also grouped. In different examples, structures have been appointed of custom importance. These incorporate the Great Bath and fire special stepped areas found at Kalibangan and Lothal

• Endeavors have additionally been made to remake strict convictions and practices by inspecting seals, some of which appear to portray ceremonial scenes. Others, with plant themes, are thought to show nature love. A few creatures, for example, the one-horned creature, frequently called the unicorn portrayed on seals appear to be legendary, composite animals
• In certain seals, a figure shown situated with folded legs in a yogic stance, at times encompassed by creatures, has been viewed as a portrayal of proto-Shiva, an early sort of one of the significant gods of Hinduism