Features of Indus Valley Civilization:

• 2700- BC.1900 i.e., for 800 years.
• On the valleys of river Indus.
• Also known as Harappan Civilization.
• Beginning of city life.
• Harappan Sites discovered by – Dayaram Sahni (1921) – Montgomery district, Punjab, Pakistan.
• Mohanjodaro was discovered by – R. D. Banerji – Larkana district, Sind, Pakistan.
• The city was divided into Citadel(west) and Lower Town(east).
• Red pottery painted with designs in black.
• Stone weights, seals, special beads, copper tools, long stone blades etc.
• Copper, bronze, silver, gold present.
• Artificially produced – Faience.
• Specialists for handicrafts.
• Import of raw materials.
• Plough was used.
• Bodies were buried in wooden coffins, but during the later stages ‘H symmetry culture’ evolved where bodies were buried in painted burial urns.
• Sugar cane was not cultivated
• Horse, iron was not used.

Indus Valley Sites and Specialties:

Harappa:

• Seals out of stones
• Citadel outside on banks of river Ravi

Mohenjodaro:

• Great Bath, Great Granary, Dancing Girl, Man with Beard, Cotton, Assembly Hall
• The term means “Mount of the dead”
• On the bank of river Indus
• Believed to have been destructed by flood or invasion (Destruction was not gradual).

Chanhudaro:

• Bank of Indus River – discovered by Gopal Majumdar and Mackey (1931)
• Pre-Harappan culture – Jhangar Culture and Jhukar Culture
• Only city without citadel.

Kalibangan:

• At Rajasthan on the banks of river Ghaggar, discovered by A.Ghosh (1953)
• Fire Altars
• Bones of camel
• Evidence of furrows
• Horse remains (even though Indus valley people didn’t use horses).
• Known as the third capital of the Indus Empire.

Lothal:

• At Gujarat near Bhogava river, discovered by S.R. Rao (1957)
• Fire Altars
• Besides the tributary of Sabarmati
• Storehouse
• Dockyard and earliest port
• double burial
• Rice husk
• House had a front entrance (exception).

Ropar:

• Punjab, on the banks of river Sutlej. Discovered by Y.D Sharma (1955)
• Dog buried with humans.

Banawali:

• Haryana
• On banks of lost river Saraswathi
• Barley Cultivation.

Dholavira:

• The biggest site in India, until the discovery of Rakhigarhi.
• Located in Khadir Beyt, Rann of Kutch, Gujarat. Discovered by J.P Joshi/Rabindra Singh (1990)
• 3 parts + large open area for ceremonies
• Large letters of the Harappan script (signboards).

Religion of Indus Valley People:

• Pashupati Mahadev (Proto Siva)
• Mother goddess
• Nature/ Animal worship
• Unicorn, Dove, Peepal Tree, Fire
• Amulets
• Idol worship was practised (not a feature of Aryans)
• Did not construct temples.
• The similarity to Hindu religious practises. (Hinduism in its present form originated later)
• No Caste system.

Indus Valley Society and Culture:

• The systematic method of weights and measures (16 and its multiples).
• Pictographic Script, Boustrophedon script – Deciphering efforts by I. Mahadevan
• Equal status to men and women
• Economic Inequality, not an egalitarian society
• Textiles – Spinning and weaving
• 3 types – burial, cremation and post-cremation were there, though burial was common.
• Majority of people Proto-Australoids and Mediterranean (Dravidians), though Mongoloids, Nordics etc were present in the city culture.

Reasons for Decline of Indus Valley Civilization:

• Though there are various theories, the exact reason is still unknown.
• As per a recent study by IIT Kharagpur and the Archaeological Survey of India, a weaker monsoon might have been the cause of the decline of the Indus Valley Civilization.
• Environmental changes, coupled with a loss of power of rulers (central administration) of Indus valley to sustain the city life might be the cause (Fariservis Theory).
• There might be a resource shortage to sustain the population, and then people moved towards south India.
• Another theory by Dr Gwen Robbins Schugstates that inter-personal violence, infectious diseases and climate change had played a major role in the demise of the Indus Valley Civilization.

Other theories:

• Aryan Invasion: Mortimer Wheeler
• Tectonic Movements/ Flood – Robert Raikes
• Change of the course of river Indus – Lambrick.