Chapter-1 BRICKS, BEADS AND BONES
(The Harappan Civilisation)
1. WHAT ARE THE SOURCES AVAILABLE TO UNDERSTAND (OR) TO STUDY HARAPPAN CIVILIZATION?
We get information about the Harappan Civilisation or Indus Valley Civilisation from varieties of sources:
(a) The ruins of various buildings, streets, bath etc. excavated at Harappa, Mohenjodaro and other sites throw a lot of lights on Harappan Civilisation. The ruins give an idea of city dwelling with good planning.
(b) Various specimens of art such as the clay-toys, metal-articles reveal that they were very skilled craftsmen. Harappan artisans made beautiful images of metal. A woman dancer made of bronze is the best specimen.
(c) Another important source of Harappan culture is their seals. About 2000 seals have been found and of these a great majority carry short inspirations with pictures of the one-homed bull, the buffalo, the tiger and the elephant. The
(d) The terracotta figurines made of the fire-baked earthen clay have been excavated, seals with cross legged person, seal with motif of plants etc has lead scholars to understand about the religion of the people of Harappan civilization.
2. WHY WAS INDUS VALLEY CIVILISATION ALSO CALLED THE HARAPPAN CULTURE?
a. “The Harappan Civilisation” is also known as the Indus Valley Civilisation. The term Harappa is derived from the place where the civilization was identified.
2. WHY WAS INDUS VALLEY CIVILISATION ALSO CALLED THE HARAPPAN CULTURE?
a. “The Harappan Civilisation” is also known as the Indus Valley Civilisation. The term Harappa is derived from the place where the civilization was identified.
b. Archaeologists use the term “culture” for a group of objects, distinctive in style, that are usually found together within a specific geographical area and a period of time.
c. In the case of the Harappan culture, these distinctive objects include seals, beads, weights, stone blades and baked bricks.
d. These objects were found from areas of Afghanistan, Jammu, Baluchistan (Pakistan) and Gujarat .
e. The total time span of the civilisation ranges from 6000 BCE to 1300 BCE. The early phase,
c. In the case of the Harappan culture, these distinctive objects include seals, beads, weights, stone blades and baked bricks.
d. These objects were found from areas of Afghanistan, Jammu, Baluchistan (Pakistan) and Gujarat .
e. The total time span of the civilisation ranges from 6000 BCE to 1300 BCE. The early phase,
termed as Early Harappan (6000 BCE-2600 BCE) is a formative phase of the civilisation.
The urban phase of the civilisation,
termed as Mature Harappan (2600 BCE-1900 BCE) is the most prosperous phase. The decline of the civilisation starts around 1900 BCE. This decadent phase (1900 BCE-1300 BCE) is termed as Late Harappan.
3. SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES BETWEEN EARLY HARAPPAN AND MATURE HARAPPAN CULTURES.
Early and later Harappan cultures were associated with distinctive pottery, evidence of agriculture and pastoralism, and crafts.
Early Harappan-6000 BCE -2600 BCE.
Mature Harappan-2600 BCE-1900 BCE
Settlements were generally small, there were virtually no large buildings, large scale abandonment and large scale burning were seen
Ha settlements were large and buildings were also large and no sign of abandonment and large scale burning were seen
4. SUBSISTENCE STRATEGIES (DIETARY PRACTICES) OF HARAPPAN CULTURES AND MATURE HARAPPAN CULTURES
a. The Harappans ate a wide range of plant products. Archaeologists have been able to reconstruct dietary practices from finds of charred food grains and seeds
b. These are studied by Archaeo-botanists, who are specialists in ancient plant remains.
c. Food grains found at Harappan sites include wheat, barley, lentil, chickpea, sesame, Millets and rice.
d. The Harappans ate a wide range of animal products. Archaeologists have been able to reconstruct use of animals from finds of charred animal bones found at Harappan sites. These include those of cattle, sheep, goat, buffalo and pig.
e. These are studied by Archaeo-zoologists or zoo-Archaeologists who are specialists in ancient animal remains.
f. Bones of wild species such as boar, deer and gharial were also found. We do not know whether the Harappans hunted these animals themselves or obtained meat from other hunting (tribal) communities.
5. PREVALENCE OFAGRICULTURE IN HARAPPAN CIVILISATION
A. Representations on seals and terracotta sculpture indicate that the bull was known, and oxen were used for ploughing.
B. Terracotta models of the plough have been found at sites in Cholistan and at Banawali (Haryana).
C. Archaeologists have also found evidence of a ploughed field at Kalibangan (Rajasthan).The field had two sets of furrows at right angles to each other, suggesting that two different crops were grown together.
D. Archaeologists have also identified the tools used for harvesting. Harappans used stone blades set in wooden handles and metal tools made of copper.
E. Most Harappan sites are located in semi-arid lands. Traces of canals, water reservoirs and wells have been found at the Harappan sites indicate that agriculture was practiced.
6. UNIQUE FEATURES OF MOHENJODARO
A.CITADEL
a. The settlement is smaller but higher called as the Citadel
b. The Citadel had buildings which were constructed on mud brick platforms.
c. It was walled and physically separated from the Lower Town. We find evidence of structures that were probably used for special public purposes.
B.IMPORTANT BUILDINGS IN CITADEL
c. The warehouse, a massive structure of which the lower brick portions remain, while the upper portions, probably made up of wood, decayed long ago.
d. The Great Bath was a large rectangular tank in a courtyard surrounded by a corridor on all four sides. There were two flights of steps on the north and south leading into the tank.
e. There were rooms on three sides, in one of which was a large well. Across a lane to the north lay a smaller building with eight bathrooms, four on each side of a corridor.
f. Scholars suggest that it was meant for some kind of a special ritual bath.
C. LOWER TOWN
g. The Lower Town was also walled. Several buildings were built on platforms, which served as foundations.
h. Once the platforms were in place, all building activity within the city was restricted to a fixed area. So it seems that the settlement was first planned and then built accordingly.
D.DRAINAGE SYSTEM
i. One of the most distinctive features of Harappan cities was the carefully planned drainage system. If you look at the plan of the Lower Town you will notice that roads and streets were laid out along an approximate “grid” pattern, intersecting at right angles.
j. It seems that streets with drains were laid out first and then houses were built along them.
k. Houses were built with unbaked bricks but drainages were made with burned bricks.
E.DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE
l. The Lower Town at Mohenjodaro had residential buildings. Many were centred on a courtyard, with rooms on all sides.
m. The courtyard was probably the centre of activities such as cooking and weaving, particularly during hot and dry weather.
n. People were more concern for privacy: there are no windows in the walls along the ground level. Besides, the main entrance does not give a direct view of the open courtyard.
o. Every house had its own bathroom paved with bricks. House drains connected through the wall to the street drains. Some houses have remains of stair cases to reach a second storey or the roof.
p. Many houses had wells, often in a room that could be reached from the outside and perhaps used by passers-by.
7. STRATEGIES TO FIND OUT SOCIAL OR ECONOMIC DIFFERENCES AMONGST HARAPPANS
a. At burials in Harappan sites the dead were generally laid in pits. Sometimes, there were differences in the way the burial pit was made – in some instances; the hollowed-out spaces were lined with bricks. These variations are an indication of social difference.
b. Some graves contain pottery and ornaments. This indicating life after death. Jewellery has been found in burials of both men and women.
c. A burial contained ornaments consisting of three shell rings, a jasper bead and hundreds of micro beads near the skull of a male .In some instances the dead were buried with copper mirrors. But the Harappans did not believe in burying precious things with the dead.
d. Another strategy to identify social differences is to study artefacts, which archaeologists broadly classify as utilitarian and luxuries. The first utilitarian artefacts include objects of daily use made of stone or clay such as querns, pottery, needles, flesh-rubbers are usually found distributed throughout settlements.
e. Archaeologists assume luxuries objects are rare and made from costly, non-local materials such as little pots of faience, beads, micro beads etc. Rare objects made of valuable materials are generally concentrated in large settlements like Mohenjodaro and Harappa and rich and socially high class people might lived in those cities.
8. CRAFT PRODUCTION IN INDUS VALLEY
a. Types of craft production such as bead-making, shell-cutting, metal-working, seal-making and weight-making were practiced.
b. The variety of raw materials used for making crafts such as stones (carnelian - red stone, jasper-yellow stone, crystal- colourless stone, quartz and steatite) metals (copper, bronze and gold) shell and clay.
c. The shapes of crafts were numerous – disc shaped, cylindrical, spherical, barrel-shaped, segmented, etc. Some were decorated by painting and some had designs etched onto them. Some beads were made of two or more stones, cemented together. Some of stones were decorated with gold caps
d. Techniques for making beads differed according to the material like Moulding, chipping, Grinding, polishing and drilling are some of the techniques used for making crafts.
e. Chanhudaro, Lothal, Dholavira, Nageshwar, Balakot, Mohenjodaro and Harappa are some of the craft centres.
9. HOW DID ARCHAEOLOGISTS IDENTIFY CENTRES OF CRAFT PRODUCTION?
a. In order to identify centres of craft production, archaeologists usually look for raw materials such as stones, whole shells, and copper ore etc.
b. Archaeologists also look for tools which were used for making crafts.
c. Archaeologists look for unfinished or incomplete objects.
d. Archaeologists also look for rejects and waste material.
e. Waste is one of the best indicators of craft work. Sometimes, larger waste pieces were used up to make smaller objects. These traces suggest that apart from small, specialized centres, craft production was also undertaken in large cities such as Mohenjodaro and Harappa.
10. STRATEGIES FOR PROCURING RAW MATERIALS WITH IN THE SUB-CONTINENT
a. Terracotta toy models of bullock carts suggest that it was one of the important means of transporting goods and people across land routes.
b. Depictions of ships and boats on seals suggest that river routes along the Indus and its tributaries, as well as coastal routes were used for transporting goods and people.
c. The Harappans procured materials for craft production by establishing settlements where raw material was available.(Nageshwar and Balakot- shell, Shortughai- lapis lazuli, a blue stone, Lothal- carnelian, steatite and metal-Rajasthan and Gujarat)
d. Another strategy for procuring raw materials may have been to send expeditions to areas such as the Khetri region of Rajasthan (for copper) and south India (for gold).
e. Occasional finds of Harappan artefacts such as steatite micro beads in the Khetri area indicates that the inhabitants of Ganeshwar-Jodhpura culture supplied copper to the Harappans.
11. WHAT IS GANESHWAR-JODHPURA CULTURE?
1. In the Khetri area archaeologists found a new culture and call it as the Ganeshwar-Jodhpura culture.
2. Here they found distinctive non-Harappan pottery and an unusual wealth of copper objects.
3. It is possible that the inhabitants of this region supplied copper to the Harappans).
12. STRATEGIES FOR PROCURING RAW MATERIALS FROM DISTANT LANDS (WEST ASIA)
a. Recent archaeological finds suggest that copper was also probably brought from Oman, on the south eastern tip of the Arabian Peninsula. Chemical analyses have shown that both the Omani copper and Harappan copper artifacts have traces of nickel.
b. A distinctive type of vessel, a large Harappan jar coated with a thick layer of black clay has been found at Omani sites. It is possible that the Harappans exchanged the contents of these vessels for Omani copper.
c. Mesopotamian texts datable to the third millennium BCE refer to copper coming from a region called Magan, (Oman), and interestingly enough copper found Mesopotamian sites also contains traces of nickel.
d. It is worth noting that Mesopotamian texts mention contact with regions named Dilmun (Bahrain), Magan and Meluhha (the Harappan region).They mention the products from Meluhha: carnelian, lapis lazuli, copper, gold, and varieties of wood were imported.
e. A Mesopotamian myth says that: “May your bird be the haja-bird, may its call be heard in the royal palace.” Some archaeologists think the haja-bird was the peacock.
f. Mesopotamian texts refer to Meluhha (the Harappan region) as a land of seafarers. Besides, we find depictions of ships and boats on seals.
13. HARAPPAN SEALS
a. Seals and sealing were used to facilitate long distance communication. Imagine a bag of goods being sent from one place to another. Its mouth was tied with rope and on the knot was affixed some wet clay on which one or more seals were pressed, leaving an impression.
b. If the bag reached with its sealing intact, it meant that it had not been tampered with. The sealing also conveyed the identity of the sender.
c. Harappan seals usually have a line of writing and animal motifs. Scholars have also suggested that the motif (generally an animal) conveyed a meaning to those who could not read.
14. HARAPPAN SCRIPT
a. Harappan seals usually have a line of writing. Most inscriptions are short, the longest containing about 26 signs.
b. Although the script remains un deciphered to date, it was evidently not alphabetical but syllable.
c. It has just too many signs –somewhere between 375 and 400.
d. It is apparent that the script was written from right to left as some seals show a wider spacing on the right and cramping on the left, as if the engraver began working from the right and then ran out of space.
e. A variety of objects on which writing has been found: seals, copper tools, rims of jars, copper and terracotta tablets, jewellery, bone rods, even an ancient signboard. Remember, there may have been writing on perishable materials too such as cloth, animal skin etc.
15. HARAPPAN WEIGHTS
a. Exchanges were regulated by a precise system of weights, usually made of a stone called chert and generally cubical with no markings.
b. The lower denominations of weights were binary (1, 2, 4,8, 16, 32, etc). While the higher denominations used the decimal system.
c. The smaller weights were probably used for weighing jewellery and beads and bigger weights were used for weighing food grains.
d. Metal scale-pans have also been found. These were probably used for measuring cloth and other materials.
16. WHAT ARE INDICATIONS PROVE THAT COMPLEX DECISIONS WERE TAKEN AND IMPLEMENTED IN HARAPPAN SOCIETY BY THE RULER?
a. The extraordinary uniformity of Harappan artefacts as evident in pottery, seals and weights.
b. Bricks, though obviously not produced in any single centre, but they were of a uniform ratio throughout the region, from Jammu to Gujarat.
c. We have also seen that settlements were strategically set up in specific locations for various reasons.
d. Large labour recourse was mobilised for making bricks and for the construction of massive walls and platforms.
e. Long distance trade with other countries also probably regulated by the ruling authority.
17. RULING AUTHORITY OR CENTRE OF POWER
a. A large building found at Mohenjodaro was labelled as a palace by archaeologists but no spectacular finds were associated with it.
b. A stone statue was labelled and continues to be known as the “priest-king”. This is because archaeologists were familiar with Mesopotamian history and its “priest-kings”system.
c. Some archaeologists are of the opinion that Harappan society had no rulers, and that everybody enjoyed equal status ( Democracy)
d. Other archaeologists feel that there was no single ruler but several, that Mohenjodaro had a separate ruler, Harappa another, and so forth.
e. Yet other archaeologists argue that there was a single state and single ruler because of the similarity in artefacts, the evidence for planned settlements, the standardized ratio of brick size, and the establishment of settlements near sources of raw material.
18. THE END OF THE CIVILISATION
a. By c. 1800 BCE most of the Mature Harappan sites had been abandoned. Simultaneously, there was an expansion of population into new settlements in Gujarat, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh.
b. Distinctive artefacts of the civilisation- weights, seals, special beads, writing, long-distance trade, and craft specialization disappeared after 1800 BCE. House construction techniques deteriorated and large public structures were no longer produced.
c. Overall disappearance of artefacts and settlements indicates a rural way of life in what is called Vedic culture or Vedic civilisation began.
d. Several explanations have been put forward. These range from climatic change, deforestation, excessive floods, the shifting and/or drying up of rivers, overuse of the landscape.
e. Some of these “causes” may hold for certain settlements, but they do not explain the collapse of the entire civilisation. It appears that a strong unifying element, perhaps the Harappan state, came to an end.
HOW DID ARCHAEOLOGISTS “DISCOVER” THE HARAPPAN CIVILIZATION?
A. Cunningham’s confusion
* Cunningham was the first Director-General of the ASI and called as father of Indian archaeology. Cunningham’s main interest was in the archaeology of the Early Historic periods.
* He used the accounts left by Chinese Buddhist pilgrims who had visited India between the 4th and 7th centuries CE .
* Harappan artefacts were found fairly often during the nineteenth century and some of these reached Cunningham, he did not realise how old these were.
* A Harappan seal was given to Cunningham by an Englishman. He noted the object, but unsuccessfully tried to place it within the time-frame of c. sixth century BCE-fourth century CE. It is not surprising that he missed the significance of Harappa.
B. John Marshall`s Ignorance
* John Marshall , the Director-General of ASI and he made a major change in Indian archaeology.
* He was the first professional archaeologist to work in India, and brought his experience of working in Greece and Crete to India.
* He was interested in spectacular finds and patterns of everyday life.
* Marshall tended to excavate along regular horizontal units, measured uniformly throughout the mound, ignoring the stratigraphy of the site.
* This meant that all the artefacts recovered from the same unit were grouped together, even if they were found at different stratigraphic layers. As a result, valuable information about Harappan civilisation was irretrievably lost.
C. R.E.M. Wheeler`s problems
* R.E.M. Wheeler, took over as Director-General of the ASI in 1944, who rectified many problems.
* Wheeler recognised that it was necessary to follow the stratigraphy of the mound rather than dig mechanically along uniform horizontal lines.
* Moreover, as an ex-army brigadier, he brought with him a military precision to the practice of archaeology.
* However, with the partition of the subcontinent and the creation of Pakistan, the major sites are now in Pakistani territory. This has spurred Indian archaeologists to try and locate sites in India.
D. Daya Ram Sahni
Daya Ram Sahni discovered Seals at Harappa in the early decades of the twentieth century, in layers that were definitely much older than Early Historic levels and their significance began to be realised.
E. Rakhal Das Banerji
Another archaeologist, Rakhal Das Banerji found similar seals at Mohenjodaro, leading to the conjecture that these sites were part of a single archaeological culture.
Based on these finds, in 1924,John Marshall, Director-General of the ASI, announced the discovery of a new civilisation in the Indus valley to the world.
F. S.N. Roy
As S.N. Roy wrote The Story of Indian Archaeology and mentioned that “Marshall left India three thousand years older than he had found her.”
This was because similar, till-then-unidentified seals were found at excavations at Mesopotamian sites. It was then that the world knew not only of a new civilisation, but also of one contemporaneous with Mesopotamia.
Recent developments in archaeological survey in Harappa
* Since the 1980s, there has been growing international interest in Harappan archaeology.
* Specialists from the subcontinent and abroad have been jointly working at both Harappa and Mohenjodaro.
* They are using modern scientific techniques including surface exploration to recover traces of clay, stone, metal and plant and animal remains as well as to minutely analyse every scrap of available evidence. These explorations promise to yield interesting results in the future.
What were the problems in finding material evidence or archaeological evidences?
1. Archaeologists do not get biodegradable materials because they were already decomposed.
2. The major wastes were either reused or recycled by the people so they do not get them.
3. Archaeologists could not understand the meaning/ use of some of the objects which are simply classified as objects associated with religious practice.
How do archaeologists classify the finds or evidences?
1. Recovering artefacts is just the beginning of the archaeological enterprise. Archaeologists then classify their finds. One simple principle of classification is in terms of material, such as stone, clay, metal, bone, ivory, etc.
2. The second, and more complicated, is in terms of function: archaeologists have to decide whether an artefact is a tool or an ornament, or both, or something meant for ritual use.
3. An understanding of the function of an artefact is often shaped by its resemblance with present-day things – beads, querns, stone blades and pots are obvious examples.
4. Archaeologists also try to identify the function of an artefact by investigating the context in which it was found: was it found in a house, in a drain, in a grave, in a kiln?
5. Sometimes, archaeologists have to take indirect evidence. For instance, though there are traces of cotton at some Harappan sites but to find out about clothing we have to depend on indirect evidence including depictions of cloth on the sculptures.
What were the religious practices of the Harappans?
a. Terracotta figurine of a woman, heavily jewelled with elaborate head-dresses was regarded as mother goddesses.
b. Rare stone statuary of men in an almost standardised posture, seated with one hand on the knee – such as the “priest-king” – was identified.
c. In other structures have been assigned ritual significance. These include the Great Bath and fire altars, kamandalu, shiv linga, swastika etc found at indicate a form of Hinduism.
d. Attempts have also been made to reconstruct religious beliefs and practices by examining seals with plant motifs indicate nature worship.
e. Some animals – such as the one-horned animal, often called the “unicorn” – depicted on seals seem to be mythical, composite creatures refers to animal worship
e. In some seals, a figure shown seated cross-legged in a “yogic “posture, sometimes surrounded by animals, has been regarded as a depiction of “proto-Shiva”, that is, an early form of one of the major deities of Hinduism.
EVIDENCE OF AN “INVASION”IN INDUS VALLEY CIVILISATION
a. Dead man Lane is a narrow valley where part of a skull, the bones of the thorax and upper arm of an adult were discovered. All were in very friable condition at a depth of4 ft 2 inch.
b. The body lay on its back diagonally across the lane. Fifteen inches to the west were a few fragments of a tiny skull. It is to these remains that the lane owes its name.
c. Sixteen skeletons of people with the ornaments were found from the same part of Mohenjodaro in 1925.
d. R.E.M. Wheeler, then Director-General of the ASI, tried to correlate this archaeological evidence with that of the Rig Veda, the earliest known text in the subcontinent.
e. There is no destruction level covering the latest period of the city Mohenjodaro, no sign of extensive burning, no bodies of warriors clad in armour and surrounded by the weapons of war. The citadel, the only fortified part of the city yielded no evidence of a final defence.
(iv) Objects of luxuries were rare and made from precious, non-local materials. The technology used was advanced and complicated. Little pots of faience were considered precious. They were also not easy to make. These show the existence of social and economic variations in the Harappan society.
Write about the script used by the harappans (3)
1. Harappan seals usually have a line of writing, probably containing the name and title of the owner.
2. Scholars have also suggested that the motif conveyed a meaning to those who could not read.
3. Most inscriptions are short, the longest containing about 26 signs.
4. Although the script remains undeciphered to date, it was evidently not alphabetical stands for a vowel as it has just too many signs –somewhere between 375 and 400.
5. The script was written from right to left.
6. Some seals show a wider spacing on the right and cramping on the left, as if the engraver began working from the right and then ran out of space
7. Variety of objects on which writing has been found: seals, copper tools, rims of jars, copper and terracotta tablets, jewellery, bone rods, even an ancient signboard
Write about the weight system used by the Harappans (3)
1. Exchanges were regulated by a precise system of weights, usually made of a stone called chert and generally cubical with no markings.
2. Lower denominations of weights were binary (1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, etc. up to 12,800), while the Higher denominations followed the decimal system (160, 200, 320, 640).
3. The smaller weights were probably used for weighing jewellery and beads. Metal scale-pans have also been found.
Mention the causes of the end of the civilisation (3)
1. Climatic change, deforestation, excessive floods, the shifting and/or drying up of rivers, to overuse of the landscape.
2. Some of these “causes” may hold for certain settlements, but they do not explain the collapse of the entire civilisation.
3. It appears that a strong unifying element, perhaps the Harappan state, came to an end.
4. This is evidenced by the disappearance of seals, the script, distinctive beads and pottery.
Mention the domestic architecture of Harappans.(3)
1. The Lower Town at Mohenjodaro provides examples of residential buildings. Many were centered on a courtyard, with rooms on all sides.
2. The courtyard was probably the centre of activities such as cooking and weaving, particularly during hot and dry weather view of the interior or the courtyard.
4. Every house had its own bathroom paved with bricks, with drains connected through the wall to the street drains.
5. Some houses have remains of staircases to reach a second storey or the roof. Many houses had wells, often in a room that could be reached from the outside and perhaps used by passers-by.
List the raw materials required for craft production in the Harappan civilisation and discuss how these might have been obtained. (3)
The variety of materials used to make beads is remarkable: stones like carnelian (of a beautiful red colour), jasper, crystal, quartz and steatite; metals like copper, bronze and gold; and shell, faience and terracotta or burnt clay.
Two methods of procuring materials for craft production:-
1. They established settlements such as Nageshwar, Shortughai and Balakot.
2. They might have sent expeditions to areas such as the Khetri region of Rajasthan (for Copper) and south India (for gold).
“Our knowledge about the Indus Valley Civilization is poorer than that of the other Civilizations”. Explain it by your arguments? (3)
Yes, our knowledge about the Indus Valley Civilization is poorer than that of the other because of the following reasons:-
1.The script of that age has hitherto not been deciphered.
2. The easy method behind seeking knowledge about other Civilizations such as that of Egypt, Mesopatamia, China etc. was the deciphering of their scripts. Scripts is that sole basis through which we can gather through knowledge about the art, literature, customs, dresses, function and religion etc. of any Civilizations
What were the confusions in the mind of Cunningham while studying Harappan civilization? (3)
He used the accounts left by Chinese Buddhist pilgrims who had visited the subcontinent between the fourth and seventh centuries CE.He thought that Indian history began with the first cities in the Ganga valley.In fact, Cunningham’s main interest was in the archaeology of the Early Historic (c. sixth century BCE-fourth century CE) and later periods.
What were the differences in the techniques adopted by Marshall and Wheeler in studying Harappan civilization? (3)
Marshall tended to excavate along regular horizontal units, measured uniformly throughout the mound, ignoring the stratigraphy of the site.
This meant that all the artefacts recovered from the same unit were grouped together, even if they were found at different stratigraphic layers. As a result, valuable information about the context of these finds was irretrievably lost.
R.E.M. Wheeler rectified this problem. Wheeler recognised that it was necessary to follow the stratigraphy of the mound rather than dig mechanically along uniform horizontal lines
“Burials is a better source to trace social differences prevalent in the Harappan civilization”. Discuss. (3)
1. Studying burials is a strategy to find out social differences.
2. At burials in Harappan sites the dead were generally laid in pits. Sometimes, there were differences in the way the burial pit was made - in some instances; the hollowed-out spaces were lined with bricks.
3. Some graves contain pottery and ornaments, perhaps indicating a belief that these could be used in the afterlife. Jewellery has been found in burials of both men and women.
Write a note on the Drainage system of the Harappans. (3)
Discuss the functions that may have been performed by rulers in Harappan Society. (3)
Some archaeologists are of the opinion that Harappan society had no rulers and that everybody enjoyed equal status. Others feel there was no single ruler but several.
* There are indications of extraordinary uniformity of Harappan artefacts as evident in pottery seals weights and bricks.
* Notably bricks though obviously not produced in any single centre were of a uniform ratio throughout the region, from Jammu to Gujarat.
* Under the guidance and supervision of the rulers plans and layouts of the city were prepared. Big buildings palaces forts, tanks wells, canals, granaries were constructed.
* Roads, lanes and drains were also constructed and cleanliness was maintained under the over all supervision of the ruler.
* The ruler might have taken interest in economy of the state or city states. He used to inspire the farmer to increase agricultural production.He used to motivate the craftsmen to promote different handicrafts. Internal as well as external trade was promoted by the ruler.
* He used to issue common acceptable coins or seals, weights and measurements. During the natural calamity such as flood earthquake, epidemic etc. the ruler used to provide grains and other eatables to the affected people.He used to play active role to defend cities or state from foreign attack.
How can you say that the Harappan culture was an urban one. (3)
We can say that the Harappan culture was an urban one, due to the following reasons:
* The cities were well planned and thickly populated.
* The roads were straight and wide.
* The houses were made of burnt bricks and contained more than one story.
* Every house had a well and a bathroom.
* The drainage system was excellent with house drains emptying into street drains.
* The citadel of Harappa had public buildings
* Lothal was a dockyard and important trading centre.
* After the decline of the Harappan culture, town planning was forgotten and there was absence of city life for about thousands of years.
Write a note on the agricultural technology of Harappans. (3)
* Agriculture was the chief occupation of the Harappans. The prevalence of agriculture is indicated by finds of grains. But it is more difficult to reconstruct actual agricultural practices. Archaeologists have found evidence of a ploughed field at Kalibangan.
3. SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES BETWEEN EARLY HARAPPAN AND MATURE HARAPPAN CULTURES.
Early and later Harappan cultures were associated with distinctive pottery, evidence of agriculture and pastoralism, and crafts.
Early Harappan-6000 BCE -2600 BCE.
Mature Harappan-2600 BCE-1900 BCE
Settlements were generally small, there were virtually no large buildings, large scale abandonment and large scale burning were seen
Ha settlements were large and buildings were also large and no sign of abandonment and large scale burning were seen
4. SUBSISTENCE STRATEGIES (DIETARY PRACTICES) OF HARAPPAN CULTURES AND MATURE HARAPPAN CULTURES
a. The Harappans ate a wide range of plant products. Archaeologists have been able to reconstruct dietary practices from finds of charred food grains and seeds
b. These are studied by Archaeo-botanists, who are specialists in ancient plant remains.
c. Food grains found at Harappan sites include wheat, barley, lentil, chickpea, sesame, Millets and rice.
d. The Harappans ate a wide range of animal products. Archaeologists have been able to reconstruct use of animals from finds of charred animal bones found at Harappan sites. These include those of cattle, sheep, goat, buffalo and pig.
e. These are studied by Archaeo-zoologists or zoo-Archaeologists who are specialists in ancient animal remains.
f. Bones of wild species such as boar, deer and gharial were also found. We do not know whether the Harappans hunted these animals themselves or obtained meat from other hunting (tribal) communities.
5. PREVALENCE OFAGRICULTURE IN HARAPPAN CIVILISATION
A. Representations on seals and terracotta sculpture indicate that the bull was known, and oxen were used for ploughing.
B. Terracotta models of the plough have been found at sites in Cholistan and at Banawali (Haryana).
C. Archaeologists have also found evidence of a ploughed field at Kalibangan (Rajasthan).The field had two sets of furrows at right angles to each other, suggesting that two different crops were grown together.
D. Archaeologists have also identified the tools used for harvesting. Harappans used stone blades set in wooden handles and metal tools made of copper.
E. Most Harappan sites are located in semi-arid lands. Traces of canals, water reservoirs and wells have been found at the Harappan sites indicate that agriculture was practiced.
6. UNIQUE FEATURES OF MOHENJODARO
A.CITADEL
a. The settlement is smaller but higher called as the Citadel
b. The Citadel had buildings which were constructed on mud brick platforms.
c. It was walled and physically separated from the Lower Town. We find evidence of structures that were probably used for special public purposes.
B.IMPORTANT BUILDINGS IN CITADEL
c. The warehouse, a massive structure of which the lower brick portions remain, while the upper portions, probably made up of wood, decayed long ago.
d. The Great Bath was a large rectangular tank in a courtyard surrounded by a corridor on all four sides. There were two flights of steps on the north and south leading into the tank.
e. There were rooms on three sides, in one of which was a large well. Across a lane to the north lay a smaller building with eight bathrooms, four on each side of a corridor.
f. Scholars suggest that it was meant for some kind of a special ritual bath.
C. LOWER TOWN
g. The Lower Town was also walled. Several buildings were built on platforms, which served as foundations.
h. Once the platforms were in place, all building activity within the city was restricted to a fixed area. So it seems that the settlement was first planned and then built accordingly.
D.DRAINAGE SYSTEM
i. One of the most distinctive features of Harappan cities was the carefully planned drainage system. If you look at the plan of the Lower Town you will notice that roads and streets were laid out along an approximate “grid” pattern, intersecting at right angles.
j. It seems that streets with drains were laid out first and then houses were built along them.
k. Houses were built with unbaked bricks but drainages were made with burned bricks.
E.DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE
l. The Lower Town at Mohenjodaro had residential buildings. Many were centred on a courtyard, with rooms on all sides.
m. The courtyard was probably the centre of activities such as cooking and weaving, particularly during hot and dry weather.
n. People were more concern for privacy: there are no windows in the walls along the ground level. Besides, the main entrance does not give a direct view of the open courtyard.
o. Every house had its own bathroom paved with bricks. House drains connected through the wall to the street drains. Some houses have remains of stair cases to reach a second storey or the roof.
p. Many houses had wells, often in a room that could be reached from the outside and perhaps used by passers-by.
7. STRATEGIES TO FIND OUT SOCIAL OR ECONOMIC DIFFERENCES AMONGST HARAPPANS
a. At burials in Harappan sites the dead were generally laid in pits. Sometimes, there were differences in the way the burial pit was made – in some instances; the hollowed-out spaces were lined with bricks. These variations are an indication of social difference.
b. Some graves contain pottery and ornaments. This indicating life after death. Jewellery has been found in burials of both men and women.
c. A burial contained ornaments consisting of three shell rings, a jasper bead and hundreds of micro beads near the skull of a male .In some instances the dead were buried with copper mirrors. But the Harappans did not believe in burying precious things with the dead.
d. Another strategy to identify social differences is to study artefacts, which archaeologists broadly classify as utilitarian and luxuries. The first utilitarian artefacts include objects of daily use made of stone or clay such as querns, pottery, needles, flesh-rubbers are usually found distributed throughout settlements.
e. Archaeologists assume luxuries objects are rare and made from costly, non-local materials such as little pots of faience, beads, micro beads etc. Rare objects made of valuable materials are generally concentrated in large settlements like Mohenjodaro and Harappa and rich and socially high class people might lived in those cities.
8. CRAFT PRODUCTION IN INDUS VALLEY
a. Types of craft production such as bead-making, shell-cutting, metal-working, seal-making and weight-making were practiced.
b. The variety of raw materials used for making crafts such as stones (carnelian - red stone, jasper-yellow stone, crystal- colourless stone, quartz and steatite) metals (copper, bronze and gold) shell and clay.
c. The shapes of crafts were numerous – disc shaped, cylindrical, spherical, barrel-shaped, segmented, etc. Some were decorated by painting and some had designs etched onto them. Some beads were made of two or more stones, cemented together. Some of stones were decorated with gold caps
d. Techniques for making beads differed according to the material like Moulding, chipping, Grinding, polishing and drilling are some of the techniques used for making crafts.
e. Chanhudaro, Lothal, Dholavira, Nageshwar, Balakot, Mohenjodaro and Harappa are some of the craft centres.
9. HOW DID ARCHAEOLOGISTS IDENTIFY CENTRES OF CRAFT PRODUCTION?
a. In order to identify centres of craft production, archaeologists usually look for raw materials such as stones, whole shells, and copper ore etc.
b. Archaeologists also look for tools which were used for making crafts.
c. Archaeologists look for unfinished or incomplete objects.
d. Archaeologists also look for rejects and waste material.
e. Waste is one of the best indicators of craft work. Sometimes, larger waste pieces were used up to make smaller objects. These traces suggest that apart from small, specialized centres, craft production was also undertaken in large cities such as Mohenjodaro and Harappa.
10. STRATEGIES FOR PROCURING RAW MATERIALS WITH IN THE SUB-CONTINENT
a. Terracotta toy models of bullock carts suggest that it was one of the important means of transporting goods and people across land routes.
b. Depictions of ships and boats on seals suggest that river routes along the Indus and its tributaries, as well as coastal routes were used for transporting goods and people.
c. The Harappans procured materials for craft production by establishing settlements where raw material was available.(Nageshwar and Balakot- shell, Shortughai- lapis lazuli, a blue stone, Lothal- carnelian, steatite and metal-Rajasthan and Gujarat)
d. Another strategy for procuring raw materials may have been to send expeditions to areas such as the Khetri region of Rajasthan (for copper) and south India (for gold).
e. Occasional finds of Harappan artefacts such as steatite micro beads in the Khetri area indicates that the inhabitants of Ganeshwar-Jodhpura culture supplied copper to the Harappans.
11. WHAT IS GANESHWAR-JODHPURA CULTURE?
1. In the Khetri area archaeologists found a new culture and call it as the Ganeshwar-Jodhpura culture.
2. Here they found distinctive non-Harappan pottery and an unusual wealth of copper objects.
3. It is possible that the inhabitants of this region supplied copper to the Harappans).
12. STRATEGIES FOR PROCURING RAW MATERIALS FROM DISTANT LANDS (WEST ASIA)
a. Recent archaeological finds suggest that copper was also probably brought from Oman, on the south eastern tip of the Arabian Peninsula. Chemical analyses have shown that both the Omani copper and Harappan copper artifacts have traces of nickel.
b. A distinctive type of vessel, a large Harappan jar coated with a thick layer of black clay has been found at Omani sites. It is possible that the Harappans exchanged the contents of these vessels for Omani copper.
c. Mesopotamian texts datable to the third millennium BCE refer to copper coming from a region called Magan, (Oman), and interestingly enough copper found Mesopotamian sites also contains traces of nickel.
d. It is worth noting that Mesopotamian texts mention contact with regions named Dilmun (Bahrain), Magan and Meluhha (the Harappan region).They mention the products from Meluhha: carnelian, lapis lazuli, copper, gold, and varieties of wood were imported.
e. A Mesopotamian myth says that: “May your bird be the haja-bird, may its call be heard in the royal palace.” Some archaeologists think the haja-bird was the peacock.
f. Mesopotamian texts refer to Meluhha (the Harappan region) as a land of seafarers. Besides, we find depictions of ships and boats on seals.
13. HARAPPAN SEALS
a. Seals and sealing were used to facilitate long distance communication. Imagine a bag of goods being sent from one place to another. Its mouth was tied with rope and on the knot was affixed some wet clay on which one or more seals were pressed, leaving an impression.
b. If the bag reached with its sealing intact, it meant that it had not been tampered with. The sealing also conveyed the identity of the sender.
c. Harappan seals usually have a line of writing and animal motifs. Scholars have also suggested that the motif (generally an animal) conveyed a meaning to those who could not read.
14. HARAPPAN SCRIPT
a. Harappan seals usually have a line of writing. Most inscriptions are short, the longest containing about 26 signs.
b. Although the script remains un deciphered to date, it was evidently not alphabetical but syllable.
c. It has just too many signs –somewhere between 375 and 400.
d. It is apparent that the script was written from right to left as some seals show a wider spacing on the right and cramping on the left, as if the engraver began working from the right and then ran out of space.
e. A variety of objects on which writing has been found: seals, copper tools, rims of jars, copper and terracotta tablets, jewellery, bone rods, even an ancient signboard. Remember, there may have been writing on perishable materials too such as cloth, animal skin etc.
15. HARAPPAN WEIGHTS
a. Exchanges were regulated by a precise system of weights, usually made of a stone called chert and generally cubical with no markings.
b. The lower denominations of weights were binary (1, 2, 4,8, 16, 32, etc). While the higher denominations used the decimal system.
c. The smaller weights were probably used for weighing jewellery and beads and bigger weights were used for weighing food grains.
d. Metal scale-pans have also been found. These were probably used for measuring cloth and other materials.
16. WHAT ARE INDICATIONS PROVE THAT COMPLEX DECISIONS WERE TAKEN AND IMPLEMENTED IN HARAPPAN SOCIETY BY THE RULER?
a. The extraordinary uniformity of Harappan artefacts as evident in pottery, seals and weights.
b. Bricks, though obviously not produced in any single centre, but they were of a uniform ratio throughout the region, from Jammu to Gujarat.
c. We have also seen that settlements were strategically set up in specific locations for various reasons.
d. Large labour recourse was mobilised for making bricks and for the construction of massive walls and platforms.
e. Long distance trade with other countries also probably regulated by the ruling authority.
17. RULING AUTHORITY OR CENTRE OF POWER
a. A large building found at Mohenjodaro was labelled as a palace by archaeologists but no spectacular finds were associated with it.
b. A stone statue was labelled and continues to be known as the “priest-king”. This is because archaeologists were familiar with Mesopotamian history and its “priest-kings”system.
c. Some archaeologists are of the opinion that Harappan society had no rulers, and that everybody enjoyed equal status ( Democracy)
d. Other archaeologists feel that there was no single ruler but several, that Mohenjodaro had a separate ruler, Harappa another, and so forth.
e. Yet other archaeologists argue that there was a single state and single ruler because of the similarity in artefacts, the evidence for planned settlements, the standardized ratio of brick size, and the establishment of settlements near sources of raw material.
f. It is likely that the Harappans practiced some sort of democratic system. Some of the structures with their given features were created apparently for utilitarian purposes.
18. THE END OF THE CIVILISATION
a. By c. 1800 BCE most of the Mature Harappan sites had been abandoned. Simultaneously, there was an expansion of population into new settlements in Gujarat, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh.
b. Distinctive artefacts of the civilisation- weights, seals, special beads, writing, long-distance trade, and craft specialization disappeared after 1800 BCE. House construction techniques deteriorated and large public structures were no longer produced.
c. Overall disappearance of artefacts and settlements indicates a rural way of life in what is called Vedic culture or Vedic civilisation began.
d. Several explanations have been put forward. These range from climatic change, deforestation, excessive floods, the shifting and/or drying up of rivers, overuse of the landscape.
e. Some of these “causes” may hold for certain settlements, but they do not explain the collapse of the entire civilisation. It appears that a strong unifying element, perhaps the Harappan state, came to an end.
HOW DID ARCHAEOLOGISTS “DISCOVER” THE HARAPPAN CIVILIZATION?
A. Cunningham’s confusion
* Cunningham was the first Director-General of the ASI and called as father of Indian archaeology. Cunningham’s main interest was in the archaeology of the Early Historic periods.
* He used the accounts left by Chinese Buddhist pilgrims who had visited India between the 4th and 7th centuries CE .
* Harappan artefacts were found fairly often during the nineteenth century and some of these reached Cunningham, he did not realise how old these were.
* A Harappan seal was given to Cunningham by an Englishman. He noted the object, but unsuccessfully tried to place it within the time-frame of c. sixth century BCE-fourth century CE. It is not surprising that he missed the significance of Harappa.
*This was because he, like many others, thought that Indian history began with the first cities in the Ganga valley (see Chapter 2). Given his specific focus, it is not surprising that he missed the significance of Harappa.
B. John Marshall`s Ignorance
* John Marshall , the Director-General of ASI and he made a major change in Indian archaeology.
* He was the first professional archaeologist to work in India, and brought his experience of working in Greece and Crete to India.
* He was interested in spectacular finds and patterns of everyday life.
* Marshall tended to excavate along regular horizontal units, measured uniformly throughout the mound, ignoring the stratigraphy of the site.
* This meant that all the artefacts recovered from the same unit were grouped together, even if they were found at different stratigraphic layers. As a result, valuable information about Harappan civilisation was irretrievably lost.
C. R.E.M. Wheeler`s problems
* R.E.M. Wheeler, took over as Director-General of the ASI in 1944, who rectified many problems.
* Wheeler recognised that it was necessary to follow the stratigraphy of the mound rather than dig mechanically along uniform horizontal lines.
* Moreover, as an ex-army brigadier, he brought with him a military precision to the practice of archaeology.
* However, with the partition of the subcontinent and the creation of Pakistan, the major sites are now in Pakistani territory. This has spurred Indian archaeologists to try and locate sites in India.
D. Daya Ram Sahni
Daya Ram Sahni discovered Seals at Harappa in the early decades of the twentieth century, in layers that were definitely much older than Early Historic levels and their significance began to be realised.
E. Rakhal Das Banerji
Another archaeologist, Rakhal Das Banerji found similar seals at Mohenjodaro, leading to the conjecture that these sites were part of a single archaeological culture.
Based on these finds, in 1924,John Marshall, Director-General of the ASI, announced the discovery of a new civilisation in the Indus valley to the world.
F. S.N. Roy
As S.N. Roy wrote The Story of Indian Archaeology and mentioned that “Marshall left India three thousand years older than he had found her.”
This was because similar, till-then-unidentified seals were found at excavations at Mesopotamian sites. It was then that the world knew not only of a new civilisation, but also of one contemporaneous with Mesopotamia.
Recent developments in archaeological survey in Harappa
* Since the 1980s, there has been growing international interest in Harappan archaeology.
* Specialists from the subcontinent and abroad have been jointly working at both Harappa and Mohenjodaro.
* They are using modern scientific techniques including surface exploration to recover traces of clay, stone, metal and plant and animal remains as well as to minutely analyse every scrap of available evidence. These explorations promise to yield interesting results in the future.
What were the problems in finding material evidence or archaeological evidences?
1. Archaeologists do not get biodegradable materials because they were already decomposed.
2. The major wastes were either reused or recycled by the people so they do not get them.
3. Archaeologists could not understand the meaning/ use of some of the objects which are simply classified as objects associated with religious practice.
How do archaeologists classify the finds or evidences?
1. Recovering artefacts is just the beginning of the archaeological enterprise. Archaeologists then classify their finds. One simple principle of classification is in terms of material, such as stone, clay, metal, bone, ivory, etc.
2. The second, and more complicated, is in terms of function: archaeologists have to decide whether an artefact is a tool or an ornament, or both, or something meant for ritual use.
3. An understanding of the function of an artefact is often shaped by its resemblance with present-day things – beads, querns, stone blades and pots are obvious examples.
4. Archaeologists also try to identify the function of an artefact by investigating the context in which it was found: was it found in a house, in a drain, in a grave, in a kiln?
5. Sometimes, archaeologists have to take indirect evidence. For instance, though there are traces of cotton at some Harappan sites but to find out about clothing we have to depend on indirect evidence including depictions of cloth on the sculptures.
What were the religious practices of the Harappans?
a. Terracotta figurine of a woman, heavily jewelled with elaborate head-dresses was regarded as mother goddesses.
b. Rare stone statuary of men in an almost standardised posture, seated with one hand on the knee – such as the “priest-king” – was identified.
c. In other structures have been assigned ritual significance. These include the Great Bath and fire altars, kamandalu, shiv linga, swastika etc found at indicate a form of Hinduism.
d. Attempts have also been made to reconstruct religious beliefs and practices by examining seals with plant motifs indicate nature worship.
e. Some animals – such as the one-horned animal, often called the “unicorn” – depicted on seals seem to be mythical, composite creatures refers to animal worship
e. In some seals, a figure shown seated cross-legged in a “yogic “posture, sometimes surrounded by animals, has been regarded as a depiction of “proto-Shiva”, that is, an early form of one of the major deities of Hinduism.
EVIDENCE OF AN “INVASION”IN INDUS VALLEY CIVILISATION
a. Dead man Lane is a narrow valley where part of a skull, the bones of the thorax and upper arm of an adult were discovered. All were in very friable condition at a depth of4 ft 2 inch.
b. The body lay on its back diagonally across the lane. Fifteen inches to the west were a few fragments of a tiny skull. It is to these remains that the lane owes its name.
c. Sixteen skeletons of people with the ornaments were found from the same part of Mohenjodaro in 1925.
d. R.E.M. Wheeler, then Director-General of the ASI, tried to correlate this archaeological evidence with that of the Rig Veda, the earliest known text in the subcontinent.
e. There is no destruction level covering the latest period of the city Mohenjodaro, no sign of extensive burning, no bodies of warriors clad in armour and surrounded by the weapons of war. The citadel, the only fortified part of the city yielded no evidence of a final defence.
NCERT TEXTBOOK QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
1. List the items of food available to people in
Harappan cities. Identify the groups who would have provided these.
Ans.
Food
|
Groups who provide food
items
|
(i) Products taken from
|
Food gatheres
|
(ii) Flesh and fish
|
Hunter groups
|
(iii) Wheat maize, millet,
pulses, rice and other eatable products
|
Agricultural groups
|
2.
How do archaeologists
trace socio-economic differences in Harappan society? What are the differences
that they notice? [Delhi, All India
2009,2011]
Ans. Following examples can be cited to show the
existence of social and economic variations in the Harappan society:
(i) Study of
burials is one example. In the Harappan sites, the deads were usually laid in
pits. There were differences in the Way burial pits were made. At some
instances, the hollowed-out spaces were lined with bricks. But these may not be
taken as an indication of social differences.
(ii) In some
graves pottery and ornaments have been found. Jewellery has been found from the
graves of men and women as well. These findings can point out social and
economic differences.
(iii) The
artefacts have been classified into two categories, Utilitarian and Luxurious.
Objects of daily uses and objects made of ordinary materials made of clay or
stone come under utilitarian category. Ordinary articles consisted of querns,
pottery,flesh-rubbers and needles. These have been found
distributed throughout settlements.
(iv) Objects of luxuries were rare and made from precious, non-local materials. The technology used was advanced and complicated. Little pots of faience were considered precious. They were also not easy to make. These show the existence of social and economic variations in the Harappan society.
3. Would you agree
that the drainage system in Harappan cities indicates town planning? Give
reasons for your answer.
Ans. Yes, I agree with that the drainage system in
Harappan cities which indicates the town planning. I can cite the following
reasons in support of my answer.
•The drainage system needed a planning for its
execution. It seems that first drainages were laid out and then houses were
built along with the drains. Every house was supposed to have at least one wall
along a street to allow the domestic waste water to flow out in the street
drains. The plans of the lower town show that roads and streets were laid out
along an approximate grid pattern, intersecting at right angles.
•It appears that human settlement was made by
planning from the beginning. The city was restricted to a fixed area on the
platforms.
•Bricks, sundried or baked, were of standard
ratio. The length and breadth of bricks were of four times and twice the height
respectively. These bricks were used at all the settlements of the Harappan
Civilisation.
4. List the materials used to make beads in the
Harappan Civilisation. Describe the process by which any one kind of bead was made.
Ans. Making beads was an important craft of the Harappan
people. It was mainly prevalent in Chanhudaro.
Materials for making beads included beautiful red
coloured stone-like camelian, jasper,crystal, quartz and steatite. Besides these, use of
copper, bronze, gold, shell, faience, terracotta or burnt clay was also used.
Process of making beads Making of beads differed as per the materials used.
Beads had variety*of shapes. They did not make geometrical shapes like one made
of harder stones.
Nodules were to be chipped for making rough
shapes. They were finally flaked into the final form.
By firing the yellowish raw material, the red
colour of camelian was obtained. Grinding, polishing and drilling constituted
the last phase. Chanhudaro, Lothal and Dholavira were famous for specialized
drilling.
5. Look at figure 1.30 (See NCERT page-26) and
describe what you see. How is the body placed? What are the objects placed near
it? Are there any artefacts on the
body? Do these indicate the sex of the skeleton?
Ans. Following observations can be obtained after looking at
the figure:
•Body has been kept in North-south direction in a pit,
•Many graves contain pottery and ornaments which include
jar.
•Yes, jewellery like bangles are there on the body.
•Yes, this indicates towards the sex of the skeleton, Le.
it is the body of a woman.
It is concluded that there were great social
or economic differences among the people living within the area of the Harappan
Civilisation. But as a whole it appears that the Harappan did not believe in
burying precious things with the dead.
6. Describe some of the distinctive features of
Mohenjodaro. [Delhi2013]
Planned City: Harappa as a planned urban centre. It had two
parts. One part of the city
was small. It was built on a higher place.
The second part was comparatively large. It
was built on a lower place. The first part was designed as citadel and the
second part was as lower town. The citadel owed its height to the fact that it
was built on mud brick platforms. It had walls on all sides and these walls
were separated from the lower town.The Lower Town: It
was also a walled town. Most of the buildings were built on platforms.
In fact, these platforms were considered as
foundation stones. It required huge quantity of labour force to build these
platforms. It is obvious that settlement was first planned and then implemented
as per the building plan. Quality of sun-dried bricks or baked bricks also
proves the concept of planning.
All the bricks were of standard ratio. The
length and width was four times and twice the height of the bricks
respectively. These bricks were used in the settlements of the Harappan
Civilisation.
Drainage
System: The drainage system
was well planned. All the roads and streets were laid out on a grid pattern.
They intersected one another at the right angles. It seems that streets
featuring drains were laid out first and houses were built thereafter along
with them. To make the flow of domestic water, every house had at least one
wall along the street.
The
Citadel: There were many
buildings in the citadel. These buildings were used for many special public
purposes. The Warehouse and the Great Bath were the two most important
constructions.
7. List the
raw materials required for craft production in the Harappan Civilisation and
discuss how these might have been obtained.
Ans. Following is the list of materials required
for craft production in the Harappan Civilisation:
Stone, clay, copper, tin, bronze, gold,
faience, shell, camelian, jasper, crystal,steatite, quartz, timber.
Some of the raw materials were locally
available whereas some were purchased from the distant places. Soil and wood
were locally available raw materials. Stones, fine quality wood, metals were
procured from distant places.
Settlements of the Harappans were situated at
such places where raw materials were easily available. Nageshwar and Balacot
were famous for shell. Some places were famous for Lapis Lazuli like Shortughai
in Afghanistan. Rajasthan and Gujarat were famous for copper. Lothal was famous
for camelian.
Another way of obtaining raw material was
sending expeditions to different places. Evidences show that expedition was
sent to Khetri region of Rajasthan for copper and to South India for Gold.
Through these expeditions local communities were contacted. Harappan evidences
found at these places indicate contacts between each other.
Evidences found at Khetri region were given the name of
Ganeshwar Jodhpura Culture by archaeologists. Huge reserves of copper products were
found here. It is assumed that inhabitants of these area sent copper to
Harappan people.
8. Discuss,
how archaeologists reconstruct the past.
Ans. Archaeologists excavate the sites of the
ancient past related to culture or civilization. They find out the art and
craft such as seal, material, remains of houses, buildings, pots, ornaments,
tools, coins, weights, measurements and toys, etc.Skulls, bones, jaws, teeth of the dead bodies
and materials kept with these dead bodies are also helpful for archaeologists.
With the help of the botanists, and zoologists, archaeologists study the plants
and animal bones found at different places.
Archaeologists try to find out the tools used
in the process of cultivation and harvesting. They also try to find out traces
of wells, canals, tanks, etc. as they served means of irrigation. Different layers of sites are observed to find
out different things. These things give the picture of socio-economic condition
such as religious life and the cultural life of the people. .
Tools, unfinished products, waste materials,
help in identifying the centres of craft production. Indirect evidences also
help the archaeologists in reconstructing the past. Archaeologists develop
frames of references, It can be better understood by this fact that the first
Harappan seal that was found could not be understood till archaeologists had a
context in which to place it-both in terms of cultural sequence in which it was
found and in terms of a comparison with finds in Mesopotamia.
Examination of seals help in constructing the
concept of religious belief of the period. Seals depict religious scenes. Some
animals such as the one-homed animal, often called the unicorn depicted on the
seals appear mythical, composite creatures. In some seals, a figure has been
shown sitting crossed legs in a yogic posture. All these represent the
religious concept of the period.
9. Discuss
the functions that may have been performed by rulers in Harappan society.
Ans. There are different views on the Harappan
society. One group of archaeologists suggest that the Harappan society had no
rulers and so everybody enjoyed equal status. The other group of archaeologists
are of the opinion that there was no single ruler but several ones. The third
theory seems the most suitable. It suggests that it is unlikely that entire
communities could have collectively made and implemented such complex
decisions.
Evidences show that complex decisions were taken and
implemented in the Harappan society. Extra ordinary uniformity of Harappan artefacts
as evident in pottery, seals, weights and bricks show the complex decisions.
Plans and layouts of the city were prepared
under the guidance and supervisions of the rulers. Big buildings, palaces,
forts, tanks, wells, canals and granaries were constructed. Cleanliness was the
responsibility of the ruler. Roads, lanes and drains were also constructed.
The rulers also looked after the welfare of
the economy. They used to inspire the farmers to increase agricultural
production. They also motivated the craftsmen to promote different handicrafts.
External and internal trade were both promoted by the ruler. The ruler used to
issue common acceptable coins or seals, weights and measurements.
Rulers were expected to provide relief during
natural calamity. During flood, earthquake, epidemics, the ruler provided
grains and other eatables to the affected people. During foreign aggression,
the rulers defended the city.
10 On the given map, use a pencil to circle the
sites where evidence of agriculture has been recovered. Mark an X against sites
where there is evidence of craft production and R against sites where raw
materials were found.
Ans.
(i) Sites of agriculture: Harappa,
Banawali, Kalibangan, Mohenjodaro,Dholavira (Gujarat).
(ii) Sites of craft production:
Chanhudaro,Nageshwar,Balakot.
(iii) 
Sites of raw material: Nageshwar,
Balakot,Khetri.
Sites of raw material: Nageshwar,
Balakot,Khetri.Some Important Questions and Answer
What do you know about the seals and sealings? (3)
1. Seals and sealings were used to facilitate longdistance communication. Imagine a bag of goods being sent from one place to another.
2. Its mouth was tied with rope and on the knot was affixed some wet clay on which one or more seals were pressed, leaving an impression.
3. If the bag reached with its sealing intact, it meant that it had not been tampered with.
4. The sealing also conveyed the identity of the sender.
Write about the script used by the harappans (3)
1. Harappan seals usually have a line of writing, probably containing the name and title of the owner.
2. Scholars have also suggested that the motif conveyed a meaning to those who could not read.
3. Most inscriptions are short, the longest containing about 26 signs.
4. Although the script remains undeciphered to date, it was evidently not alphabetical stands for a vowel as it has just too many signs –somewhere between 375 and 400.
5. The script was written from right to left.
6. Some seals show a wider spacing on the right and cramping on the left, as if the engraver began working from the right and then ran out of space
7. Variety of objects on which writing has been found: seals, copper tools, rims of jars, copper and terracotta tablets, jewellery, bone rods, even an ancient signboard
Write about the weight system used by the Harappans (3)
1. Exchanges were regulated by a precise system of weights, usually made of a stone called chert and generally cubical with no markings.
2. Lower denominations of weights were binary (1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, etc. up to 12,800), while the Higher denominations followed the decimal system (160, 200, 320, 640).
3. The smaller weights were probably used for weighing jewellery and beads. Metal scale-pans have also been found.
Mention the causes of the end of the civilisation (3)
1. Climatic change, deforestation, excessive floods, the shifting and/or drying up of rivers, to overuse of the landscape.
2. Some of these “causes” may hold for certain settlements, but they do not explain the collapse of the entire civilisation.
3. It appears that a strong unifying element, perhaps the Harappan state, came to an end.
4. This is evidenced by the disappearance of seals, the script, distinctive beads and pottery.
Mention the domestic architecture of Harappans.(3)
1. The Lower Town at Mohenjodaro provides examples of residential buildings. Many were centered on a courtyard, with rooms on all sides.
2. The courtyard was probably the centre of activities such as cooking and weaving, particularly during hot and dry weather view of the interior or the courtyard.
4. Every house had its own bathroom paved with bricks, with drains connected through the wall to the street drains.
5. Some houses have remains of staircases to reach a second storey or the roof. Many houses had wells, often in a room that could be reached from the outside and perhaps used by passers-by.
List the raw materials required for craft production in the Harappan civilisation and discuss how these might have been obtained. (3)
The variety of materials used to make beads is remarkable: stones like carnelian (of a beautiful red colour), jasper, crystal, quartz and steatite; metals like copper, bronze and gold; and shell, faience and terracotta or burnt clay.
Two methods of procuring materials for craft production:-
1. They established settlements such as Nageshwar, Shortughai and Balakot.
2. They might have sent expeditions to areas such as the Khetri region of Rajasthan (for Copper) and south India (for gold).
“Our knowledge about the Indus Valley Civilization is poorer than that of the other Civilizations”. Explain it by your arguments? (3)
Yes, our knowledge about the Indus Valley Civilization is poorer than that of the other because of the following reasons:-
1.The script of that age has hitherto not been deciphered.
2. The easy method behind seeking knowledge about other Civilizations such as that of Egypt, Mesopatamia, China etc. was the deciphering of their scripts. Scripts is that sole basis through which we can gather through knowledge about the art, literature, customs, dresses, function and religion etc. of any Civilizations
What were the confusions in the mind of Cunningham while studying Harappan civilization? (3)
He used the accounts left by Chinese Buddhist pilgrims who had visited the subcontinent between the fourth and seventh centuries CE.He thought that Indian history began with the first cities in the Ganga valley.In fact, Cunningham’s main interest was in the archaeology of the Early Historic (c. sixth century BCE-fourth century CE) and later periods.
What were the differences in the techniques adopted by Marshall and Wheeler in studying Harappan civilization? (3)
Marshall tended to excavate along regular horizontal units, measured uniformly throughout the mound, ignoring the stratigraphy of the site.
This meant that all the artefacts recovered from the same unit were grouped together, even if they were found at different stratigraphic layers. As a result, valuable information about the context of these finds was irretrievably lost.
R.E.M. Wheeler rectified this problem. Wheeler recognised that it was necessary to follow the stratigraphy of the mound rather than dig mechanically along uniform horizontal lines
“Burials is a better source to trace social differences prevalent in the Harappan civilization”. Discuss. (3)
1. Studying burials is a strategy to find out social differences.
2. At burials in Harappan sites the dead were generally laid in pits. Sometimes, there were differences in the way the burial pit was made - in some instances; the hollowed-out spaces were lined with bricks.
3. Some graves contain pottery and ornaments, perhaps indicating a belief that these could be used in the afterlife. Jewellery has been found in burials of both men and women.
Write a note on the Drainage system of the Harappans. (3)
* One of the most distinctive features of Harappan cities was the carefully planned drainage system. If
you look at the plan of the Lower Town you will notice that roads and streets were laid out along an
approximate “grid” pattern, intersecting at right angles.
* It seems that streets with drains were laid out first and then houses built along them. If domestic waste water had to flow into the street drains, every house needed to have at least one wall along a street. Every house was connected to the street drains. The main channels were made of bricks set in mortar and were covered with loose bricks that could be removed for cleaning.
* In some cases, limestone was used for the covers. House drains first emptied into a sump or cesspit into which solid matter settled while waste water flowed out into the street drains. Very long drainage channels were provided at intervals with sumps for cleaning. It is a wonder of archaeology that “little heaps of material, mostly sand, have frequently been found lying alongside drainage channels, which shows … that the debris was not always carted away when the drain was cleared”.
Discuss the functions that may have been performed by rulers in Harappan Society. (3)
Some archaeologists are of the opinion that Harappan society had no rulers and that everybody enjoyed equal status. Others feel there was no single ruler but several.
* There are indications of extraordinary uniformity of Harappan artefacts as evident in pottery seals weights and bricks.
* Notably bricks though obviously not produced in any single centre were of a uniform ratio throughout the region, from Jammu to Gujarat.
* Under the guidance and supervision of the rulers plans and layouts of the city were prepared. Big buildings palaces forts, tanks wells, canals, granaries were constructed.
* Roads, lanes and drains were also constructed and cleanliness was maintained under the over all supervision of the ruler.
* The ruler might have taken interest in economy of the state or city states. He used to inspire the farmer to increase agricultural production.He used to motivate the craftsmen to promote different handicrafts. Internal as well as external trade was promoted by the ruler.
* He used to issue common acceptable coins or seals, weights and measurements. During the natural calamity such as flood earthquake, epidemic etc. the ruler used to provide grains and other eatables to the affected people.He used to play active role to defend cities or state from foreign attack.
How can you say that the Harappan culture was an urban one. (3)
We can say that the Harappan culture was an urban one, due to the following reasons:
* The cities were well planned and thickly populated.
* The roads were straight and wide.
* The houses were made of burnt bricks and contained more than one story.
* Every house had a well and a bathroom.
* The drainage system was excellent with house drains emptying into street drains.
* The citadel of Harappa had public buildings
* Lothal was a dockyard and important trading centre.
* After the decline of the Harappan culture, town planning was forgotten and there was absence of city life for about thousands of years.
Write a note on the agricultural technology of Harappans. (3)
* Agriculture was the chief occupation of the Harappans. The prevalence of agriculture is indicated by finds of grains. But it is more difficult to reconstruct actual agricultural practices. Archaeologists have found evidence of a ploughed field at Kalibangan.
* Representations on seals and terracotta sculpture indicate that the bull was known, and archaeologist extrapolate from this that oxen were used for ploughing. Terracotta models of the plough have been found at sites in Cholistan and at Banawali.
* The field had two sets of furrows at right angles to each other, suggesting that two different crops were grown together. Most Harappan sites are located in semi-arid lands, where irrigation was probably required for agriculture. Traces of canals have been found at the Harappan site of Shortughai in Afghanistan. It is also likely that water drawn from wells was used for irrigation. Besides, water reservoirs found in Dholavira may have been used to store water for agriculture.
Discuss how archaeologist reconstruct the past. (8)
1. Material evidences, allows archaeologists to better reconstruct Harappan life. This material could be pottery, tools, ornaments, household objects, etc.
2. Recovering artefacts is just the beginning of the archaeological enterprise. Archaeologists then classify their finds.
3. The second, and more complicated, is in terms of function: archaeologists have to decide whether, for instance, an artefact is a tool or an ornament, or both, or something meant for ritual use.
4. An understanding of the function of an artefact is often shaped by its
resemblance with present-day things - beads, querns, stone blades and pots are obvious examples.
5. Archaeologists also try to identify the function of an artefact by investigating the context in which it was found
6. The problems of archaeological interpretation are perhaps most evident in attempts to reconstruct religious practices.
7. Attempts have also been made to reconstruct religious beliefs and practices by examining seals, some of which seem to depict ritual scenes. Others, with plant motifs, are thought to indicate nature worship.
8. Many reconstructions of Harappan religion are made on the assumption that later traditions provide parallels with earlier ones. This is because archaeologists often move from the known to the unknown, that is, from the present to the past.
9. Remains of crops, saddle querns or pit are studied to identify food.
10. Archaelogists observe the different layers of site and try to find out different things which give picture of socio-economic conditions, religions and cultural life of the past people.
Discuss how archaeologist reconstruct the past. (8)
1. Material evidences, allows archaeologists to better reconstruct Harappan life. This material could be pottery, tools, ornaments, household objects, etc.
2. Recovering artefacts is just the beginning of the archaeological enterprise. Archaeologists then classify their finds.
3. The second, and more complicated, is in terms of function: archaeologists have to decide whether, for instance, an artefact is a tool or an ornament, or both, or something meant for ritual use.
4. An understanding of the function of an artefact is often shaped by its
resemblance with present-day things - beads, querns, stone blades and pots are obvious examples.
5. Archaeologists also try to identify the function of an artefact by investigating the context in which it was found
6. The problems of archaeological interpretation are perhaps most evident in attempts to reconstruct religious practices.
7. Attempts have also been made to reconstruct religious beliefs and practices by examining seals, some of which seem to depict ritual scenes. Others, with plant motifs, are thought to indicate nature worship.
8. Many reconstructions of Harappan religion are made on the assumption that later traditions provide parallels with earlier ones. This is because archaeologists often move from the known to the unknown, that is, from the present to the past.
9. Remains of crops, saddle querns or pit are studied to identify food.
10. Archaelogists observe the different layers of site and try to find out different things which give picture of socio-economic conditions, religions and cultural life of the past people.
Some Important Source Based Questions
Source based questions (1)
Q.1. Read
the given passage carefully and answer the questions that follows :-
“Evidence of an “invasion”
Deadman
Lane is a narrow alley, varying from 3 to 6 feet in width … At the point where
the lane turns westward, part of a skull and the bones of the thorax and upper
arm of an adult were discovered, all in very friable condition, at a depth of 4
ft 2 in. The body lay on its back diagonally across the lane. Fifteen inches to
the west were a few fragments of a tiny skull. It is to these remains that the
lane owes its name.
FROM JOHN MARSHALL, Mohenjodaro and the Indus
Civilisation, 1931.
Sixteen
skeletons of people with the ornaments that they were wearing when they died
were found from the same part of Mohenjodaro in 1925.
Much later, in 1947, R.E.M. Wheeler, then
Director-General of the ASI, tried to correlate this archaeological evidence
with that of the Rigveda, the earliest known text in the subcontinent. He wrote:
The
Rigveda mentions pur, meaning rampart, fort or stronghold. Indra, the Aryan
wargod is called puramdara, the fort-destroyer.
Where
are – or were – these citadels? It has in the past been supposed that they were
mythical … The recent excavation of Harappa may be thought to have changed the
picture. Here we have a highly evolved civilisation of essentially non-Aryan
type, now known to have employed massive fortifications … What destroyed this
firmly settled civilisation? Climatic, economic or political deterioration may
have weakened it, but its ultimate extinction is more likely to have been
completed by deliberate and large-scale destruction. It may be no mere chance
that at a late period of Mohenjodaro men, women, and children, appear to have
been massacred there. On circumstantial evidence, Indra stands accused.
FROM
R.E.M. WHEELER, “Harappa 1946”, Ancient India, 1947.
In the 1960s, the evidence of a massacre in
Mohenjodaro was questioned by an archaeologist named George Dales. He
demonstrated that the skeletons found at the site did not belong to the same
period:
Whereas
a couple of them definitely seem to indicate a slaughter,….the bulk of the
bones were found in contexts suggesting burials of the sloppiest and most
irreverent nature. There is no destruction level covering the latest period of
the city, no sign of extensive burning, no bodies of warriors clad in armour
and surrounded by the weapons of war. The citadel, the only fortified part of
the city, yielded no evidence of a final defence.
FROM
G.F. DALES, “The Mythical Massacre at Mohenjodaro”, Expedition, 1964.
As you
can see, a careful re-examination of the data can sometimes lead to a reversal
of earlier interpretations.
Q.1.Name the
archaeologist who presented this source? (1marks)
Q.2.Which
argument of the destruction of Harappa civilization, this excerpt indicates? (
1marks)
Q.3.Who co-relate
this evidence with Rigveda ? Why ? (2marks)
Q.4.Who and how
propounded the theory opposite to this ?
( 2marks)
Source based questions(2)
Read the given passage carefully and
answer the questions that follows :-
The most ancient system yet
discovered
About the drains, Mackay noted: “It is certainly the most complete ancient
system as yet discovered.” Every house was connected to the street drains. The
main channels were made of bricks set in mortar and were covered with loose
bricks that could be removed for cleaning. In some cases, limestone was used
for the covers. House drains first emptied into a sump or cesspit into which
solid matter settled while waste water flowed out into the street drains. Very
long drainage channels were provided at intervals with sumps for cleaning. It
is a wonder of archaeology that “little heaps of material, mostly sand, have
frequently been found lying alongside drainage channels, which shows … that the
debris was not always carted away when the drain was cleared”. FROM ERNEST MACKAY,
Early Indus Civilisation, 1948. Drainage systems were not unique to the larger
cities, but were found in smaller settlements
as well. At Lothal for example, while houses were built of mud bricks, drains
were made of burnt bricks.
Q.1. What provisions were made for the cleaning of
the long drains ?(1)
Q.2. How can we say that Harappan drainage system
was not flawless ?(1)
Q.3. Except the drain , enumerate any three
characteristics of these houses?(2)
Source based questions(3)
Read the given
passage carefully and answer the questions that follows :-
How artefacts are identified
Processing
of food required grinding equipment as well as vessels for mixing, blending and
cooking. These weremade of stone, metal and terracotta. This is an excerpt from
one of the earliest reports on excavations at Mohenjodaro, the best-known
Harappan site: Saddle querns … are found in considerable numbers … and they
seem to have been the only means in use for grinding cereals. As a rule, they
were roughly made of hard, gritty, igneous rock or sandstone and mostly show
signs of hard usage. As their bases are usually convex, they must have been set
in the earth or in mud to prevent their rocking. Two main types have been
found: those on which another smaller stone was pushed or rolled to and fro,
and others with which a second stone was used as a pounder, eventually making a
large cavity in the nether stone. Querns of the former type were probably used
solely for grain; the second type possibly only for pounding herbs and spices
for making curries. In fact, stones of this latter type aredubbed “curry
stones” by our workmen and our cook asked for the loan of one from the museum
for use in the kitchen.
Q.1.Which type of quern have been found in
Mohenjo-daro? what was their use? (1)
Q.2.what material are these querns made of ? (1)
Q.3.what were the two types of Saddle queen?
explain each type. (2)
** Manoj Kumar Singh PM SHRI KV Narangi**
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