Session 1: Indus

1. INDIA
Indus Valley Civilization
c. 2800-1500 BCE
http://portal.sliderocket.com/shimkhada/Indus
http://portal.sliderocket.com/shimkhada/Maurya-Period

2. Arabian Sea
Indian Ocean

4. ● Dholavira

6. Terms to Remember








Indigenous culture
Dravidian culture
Mohenjo-daro (Mound
of the Dead)
Planned city
Urban society
Great Bath
Hieroglyph
Brahmi
Questions
 Both Chinese and
Indian cultures begin
around the same time,
so why not begin with
China?
 Why India, first?

11. Foot bridge on Indus River in Pakistan

18. 
Mercantile society

Traded with the Near East

Traded grains and crafts

Seals used for ownership

Well-ventilated granary for longer storage

Baked bricks

19. 
Standard weights and measurements—all bricks
are of the same size, dimension and weight

Cart, discovery of wheels

Concept of zero so crucial for solving
mathematical problems thousands of years later

Hieroglyphic script, not deciphered

Harvard project on Indus scrip

What do all these say about the Indus culture?

20. 





Straight and broad roads w/sidewalks
Water reservoir
Public bath—the presence of the Great
Bath
Flowing water system
First flushing toilet
Emphasis on purity and sanitation

21. 
Refuge disposal system, covered sewage system

Ritual purification of mind and body

Raising and taking care of animals, including
husbandry

Animal lovers—cow

Bull, cow, horse

Modern concept of ecology & urban planning

22. Granary w/ventilation
Large warehouse for long-term storage
with loading and unloading system
Is Wal*mart, a mega store, inspired by the Indus Valley
warehouse system of some 4,000 years ago?

26. The so-called unicorn

29. Yoga posture?

30. Urdhalinga
Ithyphallic

33. The so-called high priest from Mohen-jo-daro

35. Jina figure?

36. Male torso from Harappa, ca. 2000 BCE
Presence of Digambara Jain or Jainism in India
as early as the 2000 BCE. ????
Jaina torso possibly of Risabha
Standing in kāyotsarga pose
from Lohanipur, Patna
In the Ādipurāṇa (book XVIII) kāyotsarga posture is
described in connection with the penances of Ṛṣabha
or Bṛṣabha. A standing image of Jina Ṛṣabha in
kāyotsarga posture on a slab showing four such
images, assignable to the 2nd century A.D. is in the
Curzon Museum of Archaeology, Mathura.