Which Type Of Civilization Was The Harappan Civilization ?
Ancient Cities and Texts We often hear the two words culture and civilization. Do you know its meaning ? Culture is a matter related to human habitation. Civilization is the creation of a special state of life by human beings with their intelligence, skills and art-skills. In the world, Egypt, Mesopotamia, India, China, Rome have seen such a great civilization of human society. This centuries old civilization provides inspiration to human life even today.
The first vestiges of this civilization were found in Harappa in 1921. Harappa, Mohenjo-Dado, Lothal, Dholavira, Kalibangan, Rakhigarhi etc. are among the many places of civilization spread in the north-western part of India. See the map showing the sites of the Harappan civilization. Let us get an introduction to the urban structure of some of the major cities and their features. Discuss Harappian towns and compare them with today's towns Planned urban structure was the greatest characteristic of the Harappan civilization. The composition of towns was uniform. All the places had a fort towards the west and a common people's settlement towards the east.
There was a highway separating both of them. There was a fort around the fort in the west. The fort must have probably housed the rulers. Bricks were mostly used in their urban construction. Let's look at some of the features of the cities of the Harappan civilization. The main feature of the Harappan civilization was its planned building system. Houses were built on high ground to avoid floods and moisture. One of the features of the houses here was that the doors of the houses fell inwards instead of facing the main road. One and two storied houses were seen here. The roads here were convenient. The two main highways of the city run from north to south and the other from east to west.
There were streets parallel to the roads. Roads and streets were planned in such a way that the entire town was divided into square and rectangular sections. Evidence of night lighting systems on public roads has also been found. The people of the Harappan civilization had a highly developed and systematic system for disposal of drinking water. The water of every house went into a small drain and water from a small drain into a big drain. The water went out of the town from a big drain. A public bath has been found at Mohen-Jo-Dado. In the middle of these baths there is a bathhouse. There are steps on both sides to get down to the bath. There are changing rooms around the bath.
This public bath would have been used on festivals or religious occasions. Apart from this, the pillared building found at Mohen-Jo-Dado has been identified as a hall. The main feature here is its food stores. About 12 granaries have been found here on the banks of Ravi river. Lothal is located on the banks of river Bhogavo in Dholka taluka of Ahmedabad district. It is considered as Dock yard. It can be assumed that it was used for anchoring the ships coming here and loading and unloading goods. Apart from this, warehouses and bead making factories have been found here. So it can be said that Lothal would be a rich port of ancient India and the international trade of Harappan civilization would have been done through the port of Lothal.
Dholavira is an archaeological site located in Khadirbet area of Bhachau taluka in Kutch district. Generally, the Handappian towns are divided into two parts (bi-tiered), while the town of Dholavira is divided into three parts (tri-tiered). (1) Fort-Citadel (2) Upper Town (3) Lower Town. The major features of Dholavira town are the rain water harvesting system and the stadium. The city of Kalibangan in Rajasthan was the headquarters of the agricultural revolution of the Harappan civilization. The remains of cultivated fields here provide proof of this. The remains of copper found here prove that copper implements must have been manufactured here and these implements must have been used in agriculture. It was skillful. It has a wonderful reflection.
Thus, the urban planning of the Indus Valley Civilization is well organized, having beautiful engineering, planning and ruling power of the ruling class of the time, the intelligence of the engineers and the skill of the artisans. The economic life of the Harappan Civilization. In agriculture, wheat, barley, peas, sesame, mustard etc. crops were cultivated. Using plow to till the land in agriculture. Cows, buffaloes, goats, bullocks were reared in animal husbandry. They did internal and international trade. The cotton cloth here reached as far as Mesopotamia and through it to Egypt. Historians believe that. Apart from this, their other occupations included pottery, metalwork, bead making, sculpture etc.
Social Life of Harappan Civilization:
The main occupation of the people of Indus Valley Civilization was agriculture and animal husbandry and the food of the people of this time included wheat, barley, millet, peas, sesame, dates etc.So the food would also include fish. On the basis of the sculptures found in the Indus Valley Civilization we get information about the dress of the people of that time. Men and women here wear two clothes. Similar to present dhoti below waist and left shoulder above Clothed stone idol from Mohen-Jo-Dado.
Passing the garment under the right hand from the P. Mainly they used cotton cloth and were also familiar with woolen cloth. Needles found, made of metal and ivory, suggest that they wore sewn clothes, although most people used unsewn clothes. Both men and women used to wear kantahar (necklace), rings in hands, bracelets in wrists as ornaments of this time. Women used to wear bangles, ear rings, kandora, zanzar etc. ornaments. These ornaments are made of gold, silver and precious stones. People of Tana Indus Valley civilization used to make clay, copper and bronze vessels. Which included clay cups, bowls, kuldi, gagar, saucer, pot etc. People of the Indus Valley civilization made different types of toys for children. These include bird-shaped whistles, doves, carts, toys, animal, bird and male-female shaped toys. In a way, the creativity and artistry of these people is expressed in their toys. There are toys showing the acrobatics of a head-bobbing animal and a tree-climbing monkey.
Religious Life and Funerals:
We get information about the religious life of the Harappan civilization from idols and mudras. Among the idols, the idols of Matrika Devi are considered by historians to be the symbol of Mother Earth, that is, the people of Harappan civilization must have specially worshiped the earth because the earth provides food and water. Apart from this, they would be worshiping trees, animals, serpents, swastikas. Relics of fire worship have been found at Lothal and Kalibangan. People of the Harappan civilization would bury their dead and evidence of cremation has been found in many places. They would bury the dead and put some things with it, which shows their imagination of the afterlife. Script and Language: Mudras, mudrikas, copperplates have been found from the remains of the Indus Valley Civilization. Above them is a script written in an unsolved mystery language.
Although these texts are short, quantized letters and syllables are found. Many attempts have been made to solve this script but no success has been found yet. Places of Harappan civilization in Gujarat: Small settlements of Harappan civilization have been found in Rangpur and Lothal in Ahmedabad district in Gujarat, Rozdi (Srinathgarh) in Rajkot district, Deshalpar, Dholavira, Surkotda in Kutch district, Lakhabaval in Jamnagar district, Amra, Bhagatlav on the banks of Kimandi in Bharuch district.
End of Harappan Civilization:
Historians believe that this civilization may have ended due to earthquakes, floods, epidemics or external invasions, although its end remains a subject of research for historians even today.
