Indus Valley Civilization- One of the Ancient Civilizations of the World

Indian History is very vast and started around 2500 B.C known as the Indus Valley Civilization. The civilization was one of the ancient civilizations in the world. The two  important cities were Harappa and Mohenjodaro, thus also named as Harapan Civilization.  The civilization developed in Pakistan and Northwest India on the fertile flood plain of the Indus river and its vicinity. In 1922-24, Mr. R.D Banerjee, Mr. Dayaram Sahani and Sir John Marshall unearthed the remains of a very flourishing civilization at Mohenjodaro, Harappa and other adjoining places in Sindh, West Punjab, Baluchistan(Now at Pakistan). The knowledge derived from these excavations has pushed back the antiquity of the Indian Civilization at least to 3000 B.C. Now India can lay claim to be ranked along with the ancient civilizations of Sumer, Akkad, Babylon, Egypt and Assyria.


The main centres of the Harappan civilization as revealed by the recent excavations are:
1. Mohenjodaro in Sind. The town was situated on the bank of the Indus
2. Harappa in Punjab and the town was situated on the bank of the Ravi
3. Kalibangan in Rajasthan situated on the bank of the Gharghara.
4. Rupar in Haryana situated on the bank of the Sutlej
5. Lothal in Gujrat situated on the bank of the Bhagawar river.
6. Rangpore in Gujrat
7. The Narmada and the Tapti Belt.

So-called "Priest King" statue, Mohenjo-Daro, 

Town Planning

The fascinating remains of the Indus Civilization belong to the late Neolithic(New Stone Age) and the Chalcolithic (Copper) Age. Iron was not yet known. It is called pre-historic civilization because there is no written historical or literary records of the period. We have to depend upon the information, we can gather from the articles used by the Indus people in order to form our idea about the civilization.

The excavations at Mohenjodaro have revealed seven different layers. Below the seventh there are earlier layers under sub soil water, which if discovered may push back the antiquity of the civilization still further.

The Indus civilization flourished around cities. The ruins of the cities so far unearthered show remarkable town planning and excellent system of drainage and sanitation. The city was the heart of the civilization . The life in the Indus cities gives the impression of "a democratic bourgeois economy" like that of ancient Crete. Both at Harappa and Mohenjodaro and also at Kalibangan, the city was divided into two main parts. The higher and upper portion of the city was protected by a construction which looks like a fort. The ruling class of the towns perhaps lived in the protected area, The other part of the towns were lower in height than the former and common men lived in this area. The lower area of the towns generally spread over one square mile. The main streets were broad varying from 9 feet to 34 feet. They ran straight to a mile. They were suitable for wheeled traffic. Lanes were joined with the streets. Each lane had a public well. Street lamps were provided for welfare of public.

The nature of the buildings at Harappa and Mohenjodaro shows that the town dwellers were divided into various social classes. The rich and the ruling class lived in the multi-roomed spacious houses and the poorer section lived in small tenements.The public building and big houses were situated on the streets.The modest houses were situated on the lanes. Encroachment on public roads or lanes by building houses was not permitted. The houses can be divided into three main groups viz. 

i)dwelling houses, ii)larger buildings, iii)public baths. Smaller houses had two rooms; while larger houses had many rooms.  Most of the houses had baths, wells and covered drains connected with street drains. Ordinary buildings had little ventilation arrangements, as doors and windows were rarely fixed in th eouter walls. 

There were no stone built house in the Indus cities. Most of the houses were built of burnt bricks. But un-burnt sun-dried bricks were also used. That portion of the buildings were contamination with water was possible, burnt brick were used. Most of the bricks were of equal size. There is an impressive building which was used as a public bath. The overall dimension of the Bth is 39 feet by 23 feet with 8 feet depth. There was a device to fill and empty the water of the bathinf pool. There ar e galleries and adjoining rooms which is ingenuous. According to D.D. Kosambi, the drainage plans of the Indus cities definitely establish the separate identity or independent charater of the Indus civilization. Men used to bathe in the tanks as a ritual for the mother goddess to whom the citadel belonged.  The advanced style of the Indus city life found in the earlier layers is absent in the later layers. There is a marked decline in civic life in the later layers. Buildings encroache on the roads. Thus Wheeler has remarked, '' Latter day Mohenjodaro.... and the rest were poor shadows of former selves.Both at Harappa and more clearly, at Mohenjodaro excavation has revealed the general shape of the great cities in their prime and decadence.