Indus Valley Civilisation — Study Notes

Overview

The Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC), also called Harappan Civilisation, was one of the world's earliest urban cultures (circa 2500–1900 BCE). It flourished along the Indus and its tributaries, covering modern-day Pakistan and northwest India. For UPSSSC PET, you must understand its urban planning, economy, seals, script, and reasons for decline. Questions typically test factual recall about sites, town planning features, artefacts, and comparative knowledge of contemporary civilisations. Unlike Mesopotamia and Egypt, the IVC had no monumental temples or royal tombs, yet showed remarkable standardisation and civic sense. Master the key sites (Harappa, Mohenjodaro, Lothal, Dholavira), their unique features, and the unresolved mysteries like the script and decline theories.

The exam expects you to identify which site had which feature (e.g. dockyard at Lothal, Great Bath at Mohenjodaro), recognise artefacts (seals, pottery, beads), and distinguish the Harappan culture from Vedic culture. Knowing the geographical spread and periodisation (Early, Mature, Late Harappan) helps contextualise the civilisation's longevity and eventual collapse. Since the script remains undeciphered, focus on archaeological evidence—town plans, drainage, standardised weights, and trade links.

Key Concepts

• **Mature Phase (2500–1900 BCE)**: The urbanised, standardised phase when major cities like Harappa and Mohenjodaro flourished with grid planning, brick structures, and advanced drainage systems. This is the classical Harappan period.

• **Urban Planning Excellence**: Cities built on a grid pattern with streets intersecting at right angles, fortified citadels on raised platforms, well-planned residential areas (lower town), uniform burnt brick construction, and sophisticated drainage with covered drains and soak pits.

• **Absence of Monumental Architecture**: Unlike Egypt (pyramids) or Mesopotamia (ziggurats), IVC lacked grand palaces or temples, suggesting an egalitarian or merchant-oligarchy governance rather than divine kingship.

• **Standardisation Across Sites**: Uniform brick size ratio (1:2:4), standardised weights and measures (binary and decimal systems), similar pottery styles (wheel-made, red/black), and consistent seals indicate centralized planning or strong cultural integration over a vast area.

• **Trade and Economy**: Agriculture (wheat, barley, cotton cultivation earliest evidence), domesticated animals (cattle, buffalo, sheep), extensive internal and external trade (Mesopotamia, Central Asia) evidenced by seals, beads, shell objects, and urban marketplaces.

• **Seals and Script**: Over 4000 seals mostly steatite (soapstone), depicting animals (unicorn, bull, elephant, tiger), human figures, and short inscriptions in undeciphered Harappan script (400+ symbols). Seals likely used for trade, administrative control, or religious purposes.

• **Religious Practices (Inferred)**: No temples found; evidence includes terracotta figurines (mother goddess), proto-Shiva seals (pashupati seal), fire altars, phallic symbols (lingam), and ritual bathing (Great Bath), suggesting fertility worship and proto-Hindu practices.

• **Decline Theories**: Multiple hypotheses—Aryan invasion (now largely discredited), climate change and Ghaggar-Hakra river drying, recurrent flooding, tectonic shifts, over-exploitation of resources, and internal decay. Likely a combination of environmental and socio-economic factors led to gradual abandonment post-1900 BCE.

Formulas / Key Facts

• **Extent**: Covered ~1.5 million km²—largest ancient civilisation; sites from Sutkagendor (Baluchistan) in west to Alamgirpur (UP) in east; Manda (J&K) in north to Daimabad (Maharashtra) in south.

• **Discovery**: First excavated by Dayaram Sahni (Harappa, 1921) and R.D. Banerji (Mohenjodaro, 1922); Sir John Marshall was Director-General of ASI who announced the discovery.

• **Harappa**: Type-site in Punjab, Pakistan; gives civilisation its name; six granaries on citadel, working floors for grain processing, circular brick platforms (threshing floors), cemetery R-37 with coffin burials.

• **Mohenjodaro**: "Mound of the Dead," Sindh, Pakistan; Great Bath (11.88m x 7.01m, waterproof with bitumen), largest IVC city, planned grid layout, collegiate building (possible administrative centre), no weapons or warfare evidence.

• **Lothal**: Gujarat, India; dockyard (world's earliest known), bead-making factory, rice husk evidence (only IVC site), fire altars, painted pottery, Persian Gulf trade links.

• **Dholavira**: Gujarat, India; unique water management—reservoirs and dams, three-part division of city (citadel, middle town, lower town), ten large Harappan script signs on wooden board (signboard), stadium-like structure.

• **Other Sites**: Kalibangan (Rajasthan)—pre-Harappan ploughed field, fire altars; Banawali (Haryana)—toy plough, oval-shaped settlement; Ropar (Punjab)—dog buried with human; Surkotada (Gujarat)—horse bones disputed evidence.

• **Script**: About 400 signs, written right to left in first line, left to right in second (boustrophedon style in some seals); average inscription 5 symbols; undeciphered, language unknown (Dravidian hypothesis popular).

• **Agriculture**: Wheat, barley, cotton (first cultivation evidence), dates, melons, sesame; no rice except at Lothal and Rangpur; ploughed fields at Kalibangan; irrigation possibly used.

• **Weights**: Followed binary system (1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32...) in lower denominations and decimal in higher; made of chert, jasper; high precision suggests regulated trade.

Worked Examples

**Example 1: Identify the site with unique feature** *Question*: Which Harappan site has evidence of a dockyard? *Solution*: Lothal (Gujarat). It had an artificial brick dockyard connected to the Sabarmati river, facilitating maritime trade with Mesopotamia and Persian Gulf. The dock was 218m long and 37m wide, with a spillway to manage tidal variations. This is the only IVC site with such a structure, proving advanced hydraulic engineering and overseas trade importance.

**Example 2: Distinguish artefacts** *Question*: What does the "Pashupati Seal" from Mohenjodaro depict? *Solution*: A three-faced (possibly Shiva prototype) figure seated in a yogic posture, surrounded by four animals (elephant, tiger, rhino, buffalo), with two deer below the throne. Horned headdress visible. Interpreted as a proto-Shiva in his aspect as Pashupati (Lord of Animals), suggesting continuity of religious motifs into later Hinduism. This seal is critical evidence for Harappan religious practices.

**Example 3: Town planning feature** *Question*: Describe the drainage system in Harappan cities. *Solution*: Every house had a bathroom connected to a covered street drain made of burnt bricks. Drains had gentle slopes for water flow, manholes for cleaning, and soak pits at intervals. Main drains were covered with brick slabs or stone slabs. The system shows advanced sanitation sense, unmatched by contemporary civilisations—individual household waste connected to public drainage, indicating municipal organisation and hygiene awareness.

Common Mistakes

• **Confusing site-specific features**: Students often mix up which site had what—remember Lothal had dockyard, Mohenjodaro had Great Bath, Dholavira had water reservoirs, Kalibangan had fire altars. Make a site-wise feature chart for quick revision.

• **Assuming deciphered script**: The Harappan script is *not* deciphered. Avoid stating "the script says X"—we only know about 400 symbols exist and appear on seals and pottery. Any language family (Dravidian, Indo-Aryan, Austroasiatic) remains hypothesis.

• **Invasion theory as fact**: The Aryan Invasion Theory for IVC decline is outdated. Modern archaeology favours climatic change (river drying, floods) and gradual migration rather than sudden conquest. Don't write "Aryans destroyed IVC" as definitive—use "decline theories include climate change, tectonic shifts, and possible migration."

• **Ignoring periodisation**: IVC had three phases—Early Harappan (3300–2600 BCE), Mature (2600–1900 BCE), Late (1900–1300 BCE). Most questions refer to Mature phase. Don't apply Mature features to Early or Late phases indiscriminately.

• **Overstating evidence**: We have no temples, palaces, or written records (deciphered), so avoid claiming "they worshipped goddess X" definitively. Use cautious language: "terracotta figurines suggest possible mother goddess worship" or "seals indicate animal symbolism in religious practices."

Quick Reference

• **Major Sites**: Harappa (type-site, granaries), Mohenjodaro (Great Bath), Lothal (dockyard), Dholavira (reservoirs), Kalibangan (fire altars), Ropar (dog burial).
• **Town Planning**: Grid layout, burnt brick construction (1:2:4 ratio), citadel + lower town, covered drains, uniform streets.
• **Economy**: Agriculture (wheat, barley, cotton), trade with Mesopotamia (seals found in Ur, Kish), bead-making, metallurgy (bronze, copper).
• **Seals**: Steatite, unicorn/bull motifs, undeciphered script, likely trade/administrative use.
• **Decline (1900 BCE onward)**: Climate change, river shifts (Ghaggar-Hakra drying), floods, resource depletion—not sudden invasion.
• **No Evidence Of**: Warfare, monarchy, temples, large-scale human sacrifice, iron use (Bronze Age civilisation).