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INTRODUCTION:

• Civilization means a more complex lifestyle including in cities or towns, a surplus food production, use of language in written and spoken form , social disparity and development of art and craft
• Most of the earlist civilizations arose in certain river valley’s because of the abundance of water for irrigation, rich soils etc
• Settled life led to devote to the study and development of various subjects like mathematics, metallurgy, architecture, sculpture, music and dance.

The Indus Valley or Harappan Culture 
(a) Introduction
(i)    In 1922 Sir John Marshal discovered the remains known as Indus valley civilization. Later he was supported by R.D. Banerjee.
(ii)    They discovered two big cities – Harappa (1922 – 23) and Mohen-jo-daro in the Larkana district of Sind which is now in Pakistan. These two cities were the remains of a civilization, that is one of the oldest of the world.
(iii)    It flourished about 2500 BC. According to Radhakamal Mukerji the time period was between 3250 BC to 2750 BC.
(iv)    It is known as the Harappan culture because it is named after its major site, Harappa
(b) Geographical Spread :

• The Harappa,  Ghaggar and Mohen-jo-daro axis, historians believe, represents the heartland of the Harappan civilization.
• Major sites in Pakistan are Mohenjo-daro, Harappa, Kot Diji, Ali Murad, Sutkagendor etc.
• In India, major sites are at Rupar (Punjab), Banwali (Haryana), Lothai, Rangpur and Sutkotada (Gujarat), Kalibangan (Rajasthan) and Alamgirpur (Western UP)

(c) Distinctive Features :
    Settlement Pattern

• Throughout the Indus River area, evidence suggest that almost 13 lacs square kilometers were occupied by these settlers.
• The civilisation extended to an area bigger than present day Pakistan. Majority of these are located in Kashmir, Punjab and Rajasthan (India).

Town Planning : 

• The town planning of the Indus civillsation followed the grid system i.e., the roads oriented north-south and east-west cut across one another almost at right angles.
• The city was dividcd into a number of rectangular or square blocks.
• The main roads (streets) were straight and wide (some as much as 30 feet wide)
• Lamp posts at intervals indicate the existence of street lighting. Flanking the streets, lanes and by lanes were well-planned.
• The towns were generally divided into the citadel (acropolis) and the lower town. The citadel was an oblong artificial platform some 30–50 feet high and about 400×200 yards in area.
• Lower town was occupied by common people. It consisted of rows of houses (made of baked bricks) with lanes and roads at right angles.
• In Mohenjo-daro, the largest building was the granary (where food grains were stored) which stood on brick platforms.

Drainage 

• The bathrooms were provided with drains, which flowed into sewers under the main streets, leading to soakpits.
• The sewers were covered throughout their length by large brick slabs.
• No other civilisation until that of the Romans had so efficient a system of drains. In Kalibangan many houses show the presence of wells.

Agriculture 

• The indus people sowed seeds in the flood plains in the month of November and April, when the flood water receded.

Trade and Commerce 

• Flourishing trade is attested to not only by the granaries but also by the presence of numerous seals, uniform script and regulated weights and measures in a wide area.
• The Harappans carried on considerable trade in stone, metal, shell, etc. within the Harappan cultural zone.
• The Harappans had commercial links with Rajasthan, Afghanistan and Iran.

Art and Crafts

• The Harappan culture belongs to the Bronze Age.
• A remain of woven cotton has been recovered from Mohen-jo-daro, and textile impressions have been found of several objects.
• Boat making was practised.
• Seal-making and  terracotta manufacture were also important crafts.
• The goldsmiths made jewellery of silver, gold, copper, bronze and precious stone.
• The Harappans were expert bead-makers.
• The potter’s wheel was in full use.

Seals 

• Every merchant or mercantile family probably had a seal bearing an emblem, often of a religious character, and a name of brief inscription.
• The standard Harappa seal was a square or oblong plaque made of steatite stone.

Society

• The general view is that indus Valley Civilisation was not the creation of a homogeneous people.
• It was a composite product of different races who lived and worked together in a particular environment.

Dress and Ornaments

• The men wore robes which left one shoulders bare, and the garments of the upper classes were often richly patterned.
• Women loved jewelry and wore heavy bangles in profusion, large necklaces, ear-rings, bracelets, finger rings, girdles, nose-studs and anklets.

Religion
    The Mother Goddess was the popular divinity, but the upper classes preferred a nude god with two horns, much similar to Pasupati Shiva. Represented on a seal is a figure with three horned heads in a yogic posture.
    The bull was held sacred. Certain trees like pipal were ascribed divinity. Phallic worship was an important element of religion.
The Great Bath
    In Mohenjo-daro there was great bath

• Its measurement was 39° length × 23’ width × 8’ height
• It had stairs and side rooms for changing clothes.

Indus Valley and the Important Archeological Places
Kalibanga 

• Situated in Hanumangarh District (Rajasthan)
• Archeological excavation during 1961 near Ghaghar river.
• Artifacts were similar to those of Harappa.

Ahar 

• Situated in Udaipur (Rajasthan) district near river Berach known as Ahar Village. Also known as Bronze town. (Tamranagri)
• Terracoata and bronze age utensills as well as tools of stones were found.

Gillund 

• Situated in Udaipur (Rajasthan) district 95 km away from main Udaipur in north east direction.
• Civilization of Ahar and Gillund is known as Ahar civilization.

Bagaur 

• Situated in Bhilwara district of Rajasthan near river Kothari.
• Tools of stone and Bronze age.
• This is also known as Ahar Civilization.

Balathal

• Situated at 42 km east of Udaipur (Rajasthan) in Balathal village of Vallabh Nagar.
• Stone and Bronze age artifacts are found.
• It is also an extension of Ahar culture.

Noh 

• Situated in the east of Rajasthan near Bharatpur.
• Tools of bone and bronze metal and an iron spear are found.
• Related with Bronze age civilization.

Lothal
    Situated in Gujarat. The first dockyard in the world was excavated here.
    Dholavira 

• It is worth mentioning that Dholavira in the Bhachan taluka of Kutch district in Gujarat is the latest and one of the largest Harappan settlements to be discovered in India.
• Dholavira, unlike othar sites, has three principal divisions.

Mesopotamian Civilization 

• The Mesopotamian Civilization was the oldest  and was situated in modern Iraq.
• Mesopotamia, which means the land between two rivers, was watered by the Tigris and the Euphrates.
• The important kingdoms were those of the Sumerians, the Babylonians and the Assyrians.
• The remarkable achievements of the Mesopotamians were the invention of a lunar calendar, the sexagesimal system, Zodiac system.
• Evolution of a proper system of writing called the cuneiform script was a special feature.
• King Hammurabi’s Code or system of laws was a beginning of legal system.
• The invention of the potter’s wheel which later revolutionized human progress.

Nile Valley Civilization

• Egypt is called the ‘Gift of the Nile’.
• The history of Egypt is divided into three distinct periods – The Old kingdom, the middle Kingdom and the New Kingdom.
• The Egyptian rulers were known as pharaohs.
• The Egytians made amazing achievements in the art of building – their pyramids.
• The Sphinx, the temples at Abu simbel and Karnak are evidence of their mathematical skill.
• The crowning achievement of the Egyptians was the Solar calendar.
• The Egytians even evolved a system of writing known as Hieroglyphics. They developed the decimal system of numeration.
• They mastered the art of preserving dead bodies by embalming know as Mummys, which stimulated further research in science and medicine.

Hwang-Ho or Shang Civilization of China

• In China the first civilization that emerged in the region of river Hwang-Ho prospered under the Shang rulers.
• The remarkable achievements of the Chinese was their calendar which was a combination of solar and lunar calendars.