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Introduction
Our planet Earth is believed to be 4.5 Billion Years old, and Historians are researching worldwide for proof of early civilizations and citizens. Historians worldwide are fascinated about the intelligence people possessed even thousands of years back.
Such a quest has also led historians to find a long-lost civilization and has found evidence of its existence. This search has also led to understanding and analyzing the language of that group, irrigation systems, political systems, currency, and innovations or ways of living of those people.
When India was under British rule, they started a railway line project to connect Lahore and Karachi. While laying rails for the network, some workers find a colossal ground with well-burnt bricks placed systematically. First, they did not bother about it. However, later, when other officials arrived, they found other evidence of civilization there and decided to dig deeper and search extensively around that area.
The civilization they had found was one of the earliest civilizations in the history of humankind known to historians so far. It was the Indus valley civilization known as the Harappan civilization.
Indus valley civilization or Harappan civilization was when only two others of such huge size were present, namely – Egypt and Mesopotamia.
Harappan civilization was spread across the northeast of present-day Afghanistan, Pakistan, and northwest India. This civilization lasted from 3300 BCE to 1300 BCE and flourished between 2600 BCE to 1900 BCE. It flourished along the Indus river basin, which spread across Pakistan.
Two major cities of the civilization were Harappa and Mohenjo Daro. These two cities grew to accommodate 30,000 to 60,000 civilians. This is considered a vast population considering other civilizations of the period. These two major cities were surrounded and connected by small villages.
Harappan civilization was known for its sound drainage system, urban civilization, burnt brickworks, multi-story structures, handicrafts, seal for currency, and metallurgy of copper, lead, bronze and tin. Harappan civilization is a bronze age civilization.
Harappan civilization is studied in different periods from its development to its end –
- Pre-Harappan
- Early Harappan
- Mature Harappan (Indus Valley Civilization)
- Late Harappan
- Post-Harappan (Iron Age India)
PRE-HARAPPAN
Mehrgarh (7000 BCE to 2500 BCE) is a mountain site in present-day Pakistan, which gave the first evidence of the Indus Valley Civilization. It is one of the earliest sites where civilization evidence like farming and herding was found in South Asia.
EARLY HARAPPAN (3300 BCE – 2800 BCE)
This period began when farmers moved from their mountain homes to lowland river valleys.
During this phase, different cities and villages were well connected, and citizens started farming business crops like sesame seed, cotton, and animal farming.
This phase also witnessed growth in trade routes, the building of large walled structures, integration of different regions by poetry styles, stamp seals, Indus script, etc. This led to the mature stage of the Harappan civilization.
MATURE HARAPPAN
Slow southern migration of monsoon increased the volume and flow of the Indus river. By taming the river’s flow by some means, people started extensive agriculture along the side of the river by developing sound irrigation systems.
By 2600 BCE, Harappa communities had now turned into big urban cities: Mohenjo Daro, Harappa, Ganeriwala, Ropar, Lothal, etc. In total, more than 1,000
Such modern cities had been found.
LATE HARAPPAN
Around 1900 BCE, Harappan civilization started to decline, and by 1700 BCE, most of the cities were abandoned.The decline was due to sudden change in course of rivers,floods ,foreign invasions, increase in diseases and infections, increasing the death rate in the Indus civilization.
POST HARAPPAN
The Indus valley civilization kept migrating towards the south of Pakistan and west of India. There is evidence of civilians at sites in Gujarat and Punjab, which conveys that some civilizations lived till 1000 BCE.
HARAPPAN CITIES
Harappan cities are evidence of advanced technology and city planning used in the planning and construction of the city, making them the first urban centres in the region. Quality of urban planning and municipal town planning suggests efficient governance, which places high priorities on hygiene.
The water well was provided to each house or group that provided water to civilians. Wastewater was directed outwards by a covered well-connected drainage system throughout the city.
The advanced architecture and engineering can be seen in their dockyards, granaries, large walled structures, drainage systems, town planning, etc.
HARAPPAN ARTS & CRAFTS
When excavated the various civilization sites in India and Pakistan, various sculptures, gold jewellery, seals, and bronze vessels were found. Some toys and games were also found at Harappan civilization sites.
Earlier, these items were at the Delhi museum, but later after partition, both the countries (India and Pakistan) divided all the findings in half.
Shell working, ceramics, agate, glazed steatite bead making were practised, and necklaces, bangles, and other ornaments were made out of beads.
HARAPPAN SEALS
Thousands of seals have been recovered from the sites of excavation surviving years under the Earth’s surface. The size of these seals ranges from a square of 2cm to 4cm. The great majority of Indus scripts are short groups of signs on seals.
These seals were used for positive imprints and used by traders or the government to identify or categorise people or commodities.
HARAPPAN LANGUAGE AND WRITING SYSTEM
Indus inscriptions preclude any possibility of a different language being used, and that Dravidian language must have been part of India or Harappan people. Break-up of proto-Dravidian culture corresponding to the Late Harappan culture. Now, the Dravidian language family is mainly concentrated in southern India.
Indus people used to sign or symbol language to communicate. Over 400 to 600 different symbols have been found on seals, crafts, ceramic pots, and dozens of other materials. Typical Indus inscription is about 4-5 symbols in length.
The Indus valley civilization is considered a literate civilization considering the advanced technology and urban planning used and symbols and signs used to convey messages.
