A small presentationon indus valley civilisation for students

1. Indus valley civilisation
Indus valley civilisation or Harappan civilisation was a Bronze
Age Civilisation.

2. Introduction
Indus valley civilization was a Bronze Age Civilisation in the
northwestern regions of South Asia, lasting from 3300 BCE to
1300 BCE, and in its mature form from 2600 BCE to 1900 BCE.
The Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC) extended from Baluchistan
(Pakistan) in the west to India's western Uttar Pradesh in the east,
from northeastern Afghanistan in the north to India's Gujarat state
in the south. The Indus civilisation is also known as the Harappan
Civilisation, after its type site, Harappa, the first of its sites to be
excavated early in the 20th century in what was then the Punjab
province of British India and now is Pakistan.

3. Discovery
When Sir Alexandra Cunningham, the first Director-General of the
ASI, began archaeological excavations in the midnineteenth century,
archaeologists preferred to use the written word (texts and
inscriptions) as a guide to investigations. In fact, Cunningham’s main
interest was in the archaeology of the Early Historic (c. sixth century
BCE-fourth century CE) and later periods. He used the accounts left
by Chinese Buddhist pilgrims who had visited the subcontinent
between the fourth and seventh centuries CE to locate early
settlements. Cunningham also collected, documented and translated
inscriptions found during his surveys. When he excavated sites he
tended to recover artefacts that he thought had cultural value.

4. Subsistence Strategies
The Harappans ate a wide range of plant and animal products,
including fish. Archaeologists have been able to reconstruct
dietary practices from finds of charred grains and seeds.
Grains found at Harappan sites include wheat, barley, lentil,
chickpea and sesame. Millets are found from sites in Gujarat.
Finds of rice are relatively rare. Animal bones found at
Harappan sites include those of cattle, sheep, goat, buffalo and
pig. Studies done by zoo archaeologists indicate that these
animals were domesticated. Bones of wild species such as boar,
deer and gharial are also found. We do not know whether the
Harappans hunted these animals themselves or obtained meat
from other hunting communities. Bones of fish and fowl are
also found.

5. Mohenjo-Daro
Mohenjo-Daro means “Mound of the Dead Men” in Sindhi
language. It is the most well-known site and the largest site, the
first site to be discovered was Harappa. The covered area of
Mohenjo-Daro was around 300 hectares. Mohenjo-Daro was
first discovered by an officer of the Archaeological Survey of
India, Rakhal Das Benerji in 1920. Initial excavations at the large
scale were done by Kashinath Narayan Dikshit and John
Marshall The settlement is divided into two parts – Citadel and
the Lower City. It was the world’s earliest major urban
settlements. Mohenjo-Daro was contemporary of ancient
Egypt, Mesopotamia, Crete, and Norte Chico civilizations.

6. Distinctive Features Of Mohenjodaro
1. Planned City: Harappa as a planned urban centre. . The cities were divided into two sections which are
one smaller and higher, i.e. the Citadel and other much larger but lower, i.e. the Lower Town. Both these
sections were walled and physically separated from each other.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. Burials: At burials in Harappan areas, the dead were generally laid in pits. Some graves contained pottery
and ornament, which indicated the belief that these materials could be used in the afterlife. But the
Harappan did not believe in burying precious things with the dead.

7. Factors Responsible Of Collapsing
• Climatic change.
• Deforestation.
• Excessive floods.
• Shifting and drying up of rivers.
• Overuse of the landscape.