INDUS VALLEY CIVILISATION - ARISE ROBY

Indus Valley Civilization
a Primary Phase
Culture
 little or no continuity
with the following
cultures
 forgotten until the
19th Century


◦ rediscovered by the
British

ARISE TRAINING & RESEARCH CENTER

INDUS VALLEY CIVILISATION
a Primary Phase Culture
 little or no continuity with the following
cultures
 forgotten until the 19th Century


◦ rediscovered by the British


Harappan Culture


Indus valley
◦ not desert
◦ well-watered and heavily forested



500 miles along the river valley
◦ 10-20 times larger than Mesopotamia or
Egypt


India


Hydraulic Culture
like Egypt and Mesopotamia
 agriculture and flood-control
 significant industry and trade
 cities very common



Indus Valley


Lack of Sources


literate culture
◦ we cannot read the writing
◦ writing on bricks and seals
◦ did not use paper or clay tablets


“Unicorn” seal + writing

More seals

…and more seals...

Seated “yogi” : early Shiva?


Reasonable generalizations
rapid development: early 2,000s B.C.
 roughly contemporary with Egypt and
Mesopotamia
 early village culture
 changing rapidly to urban civilization



Generalizations, con’t
cities dominated both economic and
political activity
 origins of the people are unclear


◦ similar to the Mediterranean type


Major Cities


Harappa and Mohenjo-daro
◦ surrounded by smaller cities, towns, and
villages

one situated in the north
 one situated in the south



Cities, con’t
uniform culture over a wide area
 cities built on a common plan


◦ a grid: always NS and EW axes
 with twelve smaller grids

◦ kiln-dried brick

ARISE TRAINING & RESEARCH
CENTER

Grid map of
Mohenjo-daro

CENTER

Mohenjo-daro : aerial view
CENTER

Mohenjo-daro
of the “Citadel”

view

CENTER

The “Great Bath”
CENTER

another view of the “Great Bath”
CENTER

view of a small, side street
CENTER

looks like a small
tower, but actually it
is a neighborhood
well

CENTER

A bathroom on a private residence
CENTER

A public well in Harappa, or perhaps an
ancient laundromat...
CENTER

A large drain or sewer

CENTER

Monumental architecture
very-large scale building
 walled cites, with fortified citadels
 always on the same scale
 palaces, temples


CENTER

Architecture, con’t
large grain storage facilities near
temples
 a theocracy ??
 planned economy


CENTER

Harappan granary
CENTER

Cities
very densely populated
 houses: two to three stories
 every house is laid out the same


CENTER

Culture and Society
advanced agriculture
 surplus production
 textiles: wool and cotton
 domesticated animals and fish


CENTER

Bronze Age technology
no swords
 spears and bows
 stone arrow heads


CENTER

Society
dominated by priests ?
 from the fortified palaces and temples
?
 power base: fertility ?
 deities: male and female, both nude
 bull worship and phallic symbols


CENTER

A priest?

A bull
CENTER

Trade
with lower Mesopotamia
 but gradually declined


CENTER

Decline


domination of an indigenous people ?
◦ who rebelled ?

foreign invasion?
 gradual decline ?


CENTER

Combination of Changes
climate shift: the monsoon patterns
 flooding
 destruction of the forests
 migrations of new peoples: the Aryans


CENTER

The Aryan Invasions
Indus civilization on the verge of
collapse
 about 1500 B.C.
 settlement by a nomadic people


◦ the Aryans

CENTER

Possible route of the Aryan invasions

CENTER

The Aryans
not to be confused with Hitler’s
“Aryans”
 these Aryans speak an Indo-European
dialect
 related to other languages like Greek
and Latin


CENTER

Map of Language Families

CENTER

The Aryans, con’t
they called themselves “Aryans”
 their land: “Aryavarta”


◦ land of the Aryans

CENTER

Gradual settlement
over a long period of time
 gradual infiltration
 more primitive than the earlier culture


CENTER

Settlement, con’t
new society by 1,200 B.C. or so
 little evidence
 not literate
 no record system


CENTER

Oral Tradition
passed down from priests and singers
 written down in the 500’s
 The Vedas


◦ “Veda” means “knowledge”

CENTER

The Vedas


our primary source
◦ early Aryan tradition
◦ later Hindu religion



four “vedas”
◦ the Rig Veda is the oldest

CENTER

Krishna with
Arjuna on the
battlefield of
Kuruksketra

2 points to the first
person who can tell
whether this is a
modern or ancient
painting and why?
CENTER

Krishna reveals
himself to Arjuna
in his manifold
aspects

CENTER

The Vedas
oral poetry
 come to have a sacred character
 provide some historical information


CENTER

The Aryans
restless, warlike people
 tall, blue-eyed, fair-skinned
 describe the indigenous population as


◦ short, “black”, noseless, and slaves

CENTER

The Aryans, con’t
originally pastoralists
 family, clan, tribe (typical IndoEuropeans)
 eventually settled down to farming
 living in villages


CENTER

The Aryans, con’t
villages and kingdoms constantly
fighting
 War chiefs and kings
 aristocrats and freemen


CENTER

The Aryans, con’t


fond of fighting, drinking, chariot
racing, gambling chasing women and
bragging about their spears
◦ any modern comparisons ???



fond of taking soma
◦ a psychedelic drug
◦ probably psychotropic mushrooms

CENTER

Aryans and Hindus
Aryans give rise to Hindu society
 but different characteristics


◦ cows: they ate them
◦ classes, but no castes
◦ priests subordinate to the nobility


the Mahabharata

CENTER

The Iron Age: new sources
the Vedas: passed on orally
 the Brahamanas: interpretations on
the Vedas
 the Upanishads: interpretations and
symbolic studies


◦ forerunners of later dissenting literature

CENTER

Strain of change
Iron Age change causes strain on the
class system
 blurring of lines between Aryans and
Daas


◦ answered with the caste system

CENTER

Caste System
skin color
 ritual purity
 “Us--Them” feelings
 divine order of four castes


CENTER

Caste System (“Varnas”)
Brahmins: the priests
 Kshatriyas: the warriors
 Vaisyas: merchants and peasants
 Sudras: non-Aryans


CENTER

Caste system,
produced by Brahmins
 literature emphasized the divine order
 hierarchical relationship
 inheritance and marriage


CENTER

Caste system in practice
warrior class did not always accept it
 nor the other classes
 the process of evolution is still going
on
 the most powerful organizer of Indian
society


◦ thousand of castes today

CENTER

Castes
define a person’s social universe
 define a person’s standard of conduct
 define a person’s expectations
 define a person’s future
 define how a person deals with others


CENTER

INDUS VALLEY CIVILISATION - ARISE ROBY

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (20)

Similar to INDUS VALLEY CIVILISATION - ARISE ROBY

Similar to INDUS VALLEY CIVILISATION - ARISE ROBY (20)

More from Arise Roby

More from Arise Roby (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

INDUS VALLEY CIVILISATION - ARISE ROBY