- The earliest excavations in the Indus valley were done at Harappa in the west Punjab and Mohenjodaro in Sind. Both places are now in Pakistan.
Important Sites
- The Most important sites are Kot Diji in Sindh, Kalibangan in Rajastan, Ropar in the Punjab, Banawali in Haryana, Lothal, Surkotada and Dhaulavira, all the three in Gujarat.
- Mohanjodaro is the largest of all the Indus cities and it is estimated to have spread over an area of 200 hectares.
Indus Valley Civilisation: An Objective Study
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Major Sites
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Excavators
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Year
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River
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Location
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Important Findings
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1 Harappa
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D.R. Sahni
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1921
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Ravi
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West Punjab (Pakistan)
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Granaries, Virgin Goddess, Cementery, Stones Symbol of Lingam and Yoni
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|
2 Mohenjodaro
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R.D. Banerjee
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1922
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Indus
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Sindh (Pakistan)
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Great Bath, Great Granary, Assembly Hall, Proto-SHiva, Brick Kilns, Mesopotamian seals
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|
3 Chanhudaro
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N.G. Mazumdar
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1931
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Indus
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Sindh (Pakistan)
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Bronze toy cart, Inkpot, Lipstick, City without a citadel.
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4 Kalibangan
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B.B. Lal & B.K. Thapar
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1953
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Ghaggar
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Ganganagar (Rajasthan)
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Decorated Bricks, Ploughed field surface, Firealtars
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5 Lothal
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S.R. Rao
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1957
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Bhogwa
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Ahmedabad(Gujarat)
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Dockyard, Rice husk, Fire Altars, Double Burial
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|
6 Banawali
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R.S. Bist
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1973
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Ghaggar
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Hissar (Haryana)
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Toy Plough, Gridiron pattern of town planning
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|
7 Dholavira
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R.S. Bist
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1990
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Luni |
Kutchh (Gujarat)
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A large well & bath, A stadium
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|
8 Surkotada
|
J. Joshi
|
1964
|
——-
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Gujarat |
Bones of Horse, Pot burials
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Salient Feature of the Harappan Culture
- The Harappan Civilization was primarily Urban.
- Mohanjodaro and Harappa were the planned cities.
- The Large-scale use of burnt bricks in almost all kinds of construction are the important characteristic of the Harappan culture.
- Another remarkable feature was the underground drainage system connecting all houses to the street drains which were covered by stone slabs or bricks.
- The most important public place of Mohanjodaro is the Great Bath measuring 39 feet length, 23 feet breadth and 8 feet depth.
- Agriculture was the most important occupation. In the fertile soils, farmers cultivated two crops a year. They were the first who had grown paddy.
- Wheat and barley were the main crops grown besided sesame, mustard and cotton.
- Animals like sheep, goats and buffalo were domesticated, The use of horse os not yet firmly established.
- Bronze and copper vessels are the outstanding examples of the Harappan metal craft.
- A large number os seals numbering more than 2000 have been discovered
Social Life
- Jewelleries such as bangles, bracelets, fillets, girdles, anklets, ear-rings and finger rings were worn by women. These ornaments were worn by women, These ornaments were made of gold, silver, copper, bronze and semi precious stones.
- Fishing was a regular occupation while hunting and bull fighting were other pastimes.
- Manufacture of terracotta ( Burnt Clay0 was a major industry of the people.
- Figures of animals such as sacred bull and dove were discovered. The figures of Mother Goddesses were used for religious purposes.
- Most of the inscriptions were engraved on seals. It is Interesting to note that the Indus script has not yet been deciphered.
- The Pipal tree was used as a religious symbol
- The origin of the ‘Swatika” symbol can be traced to the harappan Civilization.
- The chief male deity was Pasupati, (proto-Siva) represented in seals as sitting in a yogic posture with three faces and two horns.