Harrappan Culture
It is believed that, there was a city about 5000 years ago and that city was destroyed and re-built not less than seven times. Sir John Marshall, director general of archaelogy made a declaration that, new city had been discovered in the Indus valley. Excavations were done at Mohenjo-Daro by sir John marshall and his colleagues from 1921-1927. When the excavations weer going on at Mohenjo-Daro, similar work was being done at Harappa, which is situated on the banks of river Ravi in west-Punjab.This city was believed to have been bigger than Mohenjo-Daro. It was not properly preserved and was partly destroyed by the contractors , before it's importance could be realised.
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| Harrappan Civilisation |
About 80 miles south of Mohenjo-Daro and about half a mile south of village Jamal-kirio, an ancient site known as Chanhudaro was found. This site was discovered in 1931 and certain objects similar to that of Harappa were found. Excavations was done by department of archaeology of government of India at Rupar, in Ambala district. Excavation was also done at Rangpur and Lothal in Saurastra.
Also Read: Do peep into the Uniform Civil Code Of Goa
Antiquities such as, copper axe, beads of steatite and cornelian ad a large number of earthern ware were found at Rangpur. 107 seals and sealings with Indus script have been found from Lothal. Beads of Gold, steatite, cornelian, vessel, fish-hooks,arrow-heads of copper,terracotta, animal figurines and toys, chert blades, ivory objects and pottery used for domestic and funerary purposes were found at Lothal.
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| Indus Valley Seals |
Excavations were done at Kalibangan in Rajasthan. Human skeletons and some pottery was excavated from Chandigarh in 1970. The skeletons were laid in a systematic manner. It is similar to Harappa graveyards found at Kalibangan in Rajasthan. When excavations was doe at Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa, similar tings were found at both the sites.
1. Town-planning
Buildings
Mohenjo-Daro seems to have been a well-planned city. Streets were broad and varied from 13 feet to 33 feet in breadth. Roads were so arranged that, the prevailing winds could work as a kind of suction pump, thereby cleaning the air automatically. They cut each other at right angles. The houses varied from smallest ones of two rooms to a large one like a palace wit a frontage of 85 feet and depth of 97 feet, courtyard 32 feet sq. etc. Some of the structures might have been temples. An outstanding feature of Harappan buildings is it's plainness.
The entrances to the houses were in narrow lanes, common walls were rare and empty spaces between the walls of two houses was filled with bricks. The walls were thick and buildings might have been of more than one storey. The stair-cases were solid, with no space left underneath. The steps were high and narrow. Small bricks were used for pavements. The bathroom pavements were water-tight. L-shaped bricks were used for corners. Gypsum and mud were used for plaster.
The wells at Mohenjo-Daro are a remarkable feature of the city. Mist of the wells built thousands of year ago are in perfect working order upto the present day. All that is necessary is to remove the debris and silt and use them for the supply of drinking water.
The most important feature of the houses at Mohenjo-Daro is the presence of one or more bathrooms, the floors of which were fully laid and were connected by means of drainage channels with the main street. The bathrooms were square or rectangular with pavement usually sloping downward towards one corner provided with an outlet of water.
The furniture and the fittings of the houses must have been of very simple nature. There are big jars fixed to floor for storage of grains. A jar with hole at the bottom has been found in most of the kitchen to take the waste of the kitchen and thereby prevent its going to drains. Sink pits were constructed outside every house.
The Great Bath
The Great Bath of Mohenjo-Daro strikes every visitor to that place. It consist of an open quadrangle with verhandas bagged by galleries and rooms on all side, the swimming bath, wells from which the bath was filled and a upper-storey of timber. The swimming bath has a provision of steps at the end. The tank was made of finely dressed bricks, laid in gypsum mortar, about 4 feet thick.
The Indus Script
The people of Indus valley has defied the attempts of the scholars to penetrate into it's mystery. There are many views regarding it's origin. Some scholars say that, the Indus valley civilisation was pre-Aryan and it's people, language and script were Dravidian.
It is impossible to say that, the people of Indus valley borrowed their script from the Sumerian script. The Indus script has not been deciphered so far. The Indus script is a puzzle and many conjectures have been made out of same. According to some scholars are of opinion that, Indus script is a prototype of Brahmi script. Some scholars are of opinion that, Indus script and Hitite script are similar.
Scholars differ with regard to direction of writing in inscription of Indus valley. Some hold the view that, it is to be read from right to left, while others hold the opposite view. If we consider Indus Indus script as prototype of Brahmi script the direction has to read left to right.
However, nothing can be said with certainity. The Indus script belongs to family of 'quasi-pictographic writings. It has more than 600 letters, of which sixty are basic and rest are their variants. The variants were formed by adding different accents, inflexions or other letters to the former. A large number of complicated symbols have been derived.
The Indus script is bound to remain a mystery and a riddle, unless some lucky discovery comes to our aid. Unless and until, we are fortunate in finding a tri-lingual or bilingual document. The Indus script may remain for a long a locked treasured-house.
2. Religion In Indus Valley civilisation
We can form some idea of the religion of the Indus valley people by the study of the seals, sealings, inscribed copper tables, stone-statues and teracotta figurines.
Mother Goddess
In the view of sir John Marshall is that, the foremost among the Indus pantheon was the mother-goddess. A lare number of teracotta female figures recovered from the Indus sites are considered to be the representation of the mother-goddess.
Similar figures have been found from historic sites of Kulli culture in south-Balochistan and Zhob valley in the north. The Zhob symbols, wear hoods over their heads and Kulli figures have as series of necklaces. Mother-goddess models have been found all over western Asia.
The range of cult of mother goddess at one time extended without break from the Indus to the Nile. In no country, the worship of the divine mother is so deep-rooted and universal as in India, where she became prototype of the cosmic energy-'Prakrti' and the counter part of the cosmic soul-'Purusha'. Here, worship which originated in a matriarchal society, in course of time formed the basis of later 'Shaktism'.
The idea of mother-godess or earth-godess was well-known to vedic Aryans. It appears in the form of prithvi. Later on, it is called as Aditi, Prakariti, Durga, Gauri, Kali etc. The Pipal god was the prototype of the vedic pajapati, was the supreme diety of the Indus pantheon.
The buffalo-headed god was a strange compound of heterogeous elements. His horn-head was that of a buffalo, arms were centipedes and the part of below waist is the combination of two looped cobras.
The tree-spirit, which are seen on a number of seals was masculine in appearance. The same was the case with the indwelling spirit of Acacia, which has tried to throttle centipede arms. The two tiger-headed demons, who were ready to carry away the tree of life.
The cult of mother-godess did not dominate the Indus religion. The male gods were seen largely on the horizon of that age. Pipal god was the supreme diety and a large number of sub-ordinate male dieties ruled over the destinies of the poor mrortals living in the Indus region.
3. Tree Worship
The seals and painted pottery of the Indus valley show the figure of 'Pipal' and 'Acacia' trees. They were regarded as celestial plants and were supposed to be inhabited by divine spirits. The pipal tree was the abode the supreme diety of the Indus valley and the account of the extreme sanctity(purity) attaching to that plant.
It's symbolic representation formed the chest of the horned-head dresses the dieties. The Pipal was the tree of creation and knowledge and was believed to impart highest knowledge to those, who donned it's branches on their heads.
4. Shiva
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| Pashupati Seal |
A male diety is shown on a seal with 3 faces and 4 eyes and seated on a low Indian throne in the posture of a yogi with ainimals on each side. The diety is considered to be the prototype of historic shiva. The figure has a pair of horns over his head in the presence of animals justifying the title of Shiva as 'Pashupati' or the lord of animals.
5. Disposal Of The Dead
It appears that, the people of the Indus valley disposed the dead by the method of cremation and burials. The cases of burials belonged to the time of the decline of the civilisation. Human ashes and bones and burnt vessels have been found. Other offering for the use of the dead in after life have also been found.
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