Ancient History

1. INDUS VALLEY
CIVILIZATION
 LOCATION: NORTHWESTERN INDIA

2. QUESTIONS:
 When did the Indus Valley Civilization
began?
 Answer: 2700 B.C.E.
 What are the name of the rivers of the
valley where the civilization rose up?
 Answer: Indus and Ganges Rivers
 Were there small villages existing
before the Indus Valley Civilization?
 Answer: Yes

3. MORE QUESTIONS
 Which countries now occupy the area of
the Indus Valley civilization?
◦ Answer: Part of it is now in India and part is
in Pakistan (remember that Pakistan used to
be part of India as Bangladesh used to be
part of Pakistan).
 Of the five excavated cities, which two
more interesting ancient cities were
excavated to prove Indus valley
civilization?
◦ Answer: see next slide

4. MOHENJO-DARO AND HARAPPA
Believed to be created by the
Dravidians

5. Mohenjo-Daro

6. The city had two planned
areas: (1) At the western end of the site
is an area known as the Citadel.
This area of the city was built on
top of a mound of bricks almost
12 metres high. A large staircase
ran up the side of this mound.
 Several large buildings and
structures on the Citadel mound
suggest that this area may have
been used for public
gatherings, religious activities
or important
administrative activities.
 In the citadel, there you find the
rice granary, marketplace and
public bath.

7.  (2) The city proper
which is lower in
elevation where the
house are the same
and built against the
street.
 The streets are done
in grid pattern.
WELL
S
ROADS
PUBLIC BATHS

8. Unique feature of the Indus
Valley Civilization
 The structure of the houses has one
or more toilets or toilet connected to a
centralized system.
 Underground sewer pipes are said to
be planned and organized by a
centralized government .

9. HARAPPA
Crafts’
Quarters

10. Harappa’s granary and wells

11. Harappan Pictogram/Writing
 Still undeciphered
 Incomplete
information about
the Indus Valley
Civilization

12. History of Indus Valley
Civilization
 Began around 2700 BCE
 Harappa was established around 3300
BCE.
 Farming and agriculture became the
main economic activity due to scarce
metal resources.
 Trading with the Sumerian civilization
could have progressed along the
shores of the Arabian Sea and the
Persian Gulf.

13. History of the Indus Valley
Civilization
 Most artifacts
unearthed were toys
indicating that the
Dravidians liked
entertainment and
loved to play
 For a while,
archaeologists thought
that the cities of the
Indus Valley
Civilization were
populated by children
 Their disappearance
remains a mystery due
to no traces of war
were evident

14. Who were Dravidians?
 Answer:
 Some linguists hypothesized that
Dravidian-speaking people were
spread throughout the Indian
subcontinent before a series of Indo-
Aryan migrations. In this view, the
early Indus Valley civilization (Harappa
and Mohenjo Daro) is often identified
as having been Dravidian

15. The lives of the people in Mohenjo-
Daro and Harappa:
 1) AGRICULTURE was their main economic
activity.
 2) They had irrigation systems.
 3) They had pottery and jewelry making.
 4) Houses were made of clay bricks.
 5) Their leaders were priest-kings.
 6) Their religion was animism and polytheism.
They worshipped many gods some of which
were animals like the very revered BULL.
 7) Their social classes were the ruling class
who lived inside the citadels; the farmers and
traders lived outside citadels.

16. Possible Causes of
Disappearance:
 Famine, hunger, drought
 Ecological factors/Natural disasters
(flood, typhoon, earthquake, volcanic
eruption, etc.)
 Plagues
 Invasions by another civilization like
the Aryans

17. THE INDUS VALLEY
CIVILIZATION WAS
ABANDONED AND BURIED IN
MUD.
The saddest ending...