JPSC-GS-Paper-III: The Indus Valley Civilization- Origin

Indus Valley Civilisation: Origin

• The Indus Valley Civilization (IVC) was a Bronze Age civilization (3300–1300 BCE; mature period 2600–1900 BCE).
• Inhabitants of the Indus river valley civilization developed new techniques in handicraft (carnelian products, seal carving) and metallurgy (copper, bronze, lead, and tin). The Indus cities are noted for their urban planning, baked brick houses, elaborate drainage systems, water supply systems, and clusters of large non-residential buildings. selfstudyhistory.com

The origin of Indus Valley Civilisation had been a matter of intense debate among historians.

• John Marshall asserted that the Indus civilization must have had a long antecedent history on the soil of India.
• The first comprehensive analysis of the evidence from pre-Harappan sites in the greater Indus valley and north Baluchistan was made by M. R. Mughal.
  • Mughal compared the whole range of evidence (pottery, stone tools, metal artefacts, architecture, etc.) from pre-Harappan and mature Harappan levels, and explored the relationship between the two stages.

View I: Aryan Theory

• Representitive historians are SR Roy, TR Ramachandran, KV Shastri
• They say that IVC was developed by Aryan, same Aryan associated with Vedic Culture.
• This theory is refuted because of great contrast between IVC and Vedic culture (give some examples).

View II: Deffussionist theory/ Migration theory/ colonisation theory/ foreign origin theory

• Representative historians: Mortimer Wheeler, DH Gordon, EJH Mackay
• In a diffusionist argument, the first thing to do is to figure out in which part of the world the change first occurred.
  • This is identified as the point of origin, from where the change is presented as having diffused or spread to other areas.
  • The process of diffusion is variously described as the result of a migration of people, some other form of contact (e.g., trade, invasion) or a more abstract cultural stimulus.
• They say that people came from outside (i.e. Mesopotamia, Sumeria) and developed IVC. That is the city dwellers of civilisation like Mesopotamia came and developed it.
• Wheeler says that there was migration of ideas and not people from those outside places.
  • The idea of civilization was in the air of West Asia in the 3rd millennium BCE and the founders of the Harappan civilization had a model of civilization before them.
• Criticism:
  • The fact that city life emerged in Mesopotamia a few centuries before it appeared in the Egyptian and Harappan contexts does not mean that the latter were derived from the former in a direct or indirect way.
  • Difficulties in accepting this view because there are several fundamental differences between Mesopotamian civilisation and IVC. Though both represent civilisation both were urban, both shows similar kind of development in technology, writing, agriculture know-how:
    • There were differences in scipts. Script of Mesopotamia had been read but this is not so in IVC.
    • Town planning: IVC grid pattern was absent in Mesopotamia,
    • Canal system: Large scale canal system of Mesopotamia was absent in IVC,
    • There was much greater use of bronze in Mesopotamia,
    • There were differences in shape and size of seals,
    • Religious structures of Mesopotamia was absent in IVC

View III: Indigenous origin theory/ cultural evolution theory

• Representative historians: A. Ghosh, M.R. Mughal, Fairservis
• According to this theory, IVC had precedence. there were settled farming cultures which gradually evolved and finally resulted in rise of civilisation.
• The story of origins of Harappan Civilization can be traced to the emergence of settled farming communities in Baluchistan in the 7th millennium BCE.
• Its more immediate prelude was the cultural phase that used to be known as pre-Harappan or early Harappan phase.
  • Pre-Harappan sites (e.g. Mehergarh, Kili Gul Muhammad) with fewer settlement, mud houses, cultuvation of crops like wheat, barley, cotton etc.
• Amalananda Ghosh was the first archaeologist to identify similarities between a pre-Harappan culture and the mature Harappan culture.
  • He focused on the pre-Harappan Sothi culture of Rajasthan.
  • He asserted that there were similarities between Sothi pottery and the pottery of Harappa.
  • In view of these similarities, he argued that the Sothi culture should be described as proto-Harappan.
  • A limitation of this hypothesis:
    • it was based exclusively on a comparison of pottery, and did not consider other material traits.
    • And in emphasizing ceramic similarities, Ghosh had ignored the many differences between the Sothi and Harappan cultures. The result was an overemphasis on the Sothi element in the account of the emergence of the Harappan civilization.
• This theory is the most acceptable theory among the historians.
• Limitations:
  • There are several mature Harappan sites where there is no early Harappan level, e.g., Lothal, Desalpur, Chanhudaro, Mitathal, Alamgirpur, and Ropar.
  • There are several Early Harappan sites in the Potwar plateau which do not have mature Harappan levels. Further, there are no early Harappan sites in the active Indus plain.
  • And at sites where there are both early Harappan and mature Harappan levels, the transition from one to the other is not always smooth.
    • At Kot Diji and Gumla, a burnt deposit between the two suggests a major fire.
    • Evidence of burning was also found at Amri and Nausharo.
    • At Kalibangan, the break in occupation may have been due to an earthquake.

Origin of agriculture and settled villages:

• The earliest evidence for the emergence of agricultural communities comes from a place called Mehrgarh, near the Bolan pass in the Baluchistan province of Pakistan.
  • Beginning as a seasonal camp the place turned into a settled village in the 5th millennium B.C. itself.
  • People in this place were growing wheat, barley, cotton and dates and tending sheep, goat and cattle.
  • Mehrgarh is located at the place where the alluvial plains of the Indus join the uneven hilly plateau , of the Indo-lranian border land.
  • People of Mehrgarh lived in mud houses which could sometimes have five to six rooms.
• By the middle of the 3rd millennium B.C. many small and large villages had sprung up around the Indus, Baluchistan and Afghanistan area. The better known settlements among them are Kili Ghul Muhammad in Baluchistan and Mundigak in Afghanistan.
• In the Indus flood plains villages like Jalilpur near Harappa had come into existence.
• Once these agriculturists learnt to exploit the highly fertile flood plains of the Indus there was a sudden expansion in the size and numbers of villages.
• These agriculturists gradually learnt to exploit the Indus plains and to control the flooding of the Indus.
• This led to an increase in the number of settlements in Sindh, Rajasthan, Baluchistan and other areas.
• They also managed to exploit stone quarries and mines useful to them.
• There are indications of the existence of pastoral nomadic communities in this period in the form of seasonal settlements.
• The interactions with these groups seem to have helped agriculturists exploit resources from other regions as the pastoral nomads are known to engage in trading activities  over the areas they cover during their travels.
• All this led to the development of small towns. The period of this new development is called ‘the Early Harappan’ because of certain uniformities found all over the Indus.

The Early Harappan Period:

• Let us review the conditions of some of the settlements just before the emergence of the Harappan civilization.
  • Many scholars call this period ‘The Early Harappan’ period because they believe that this was the formative epoch of the Harappan civilization when certain trends of cultural unification are in evidence.
• Pre-Harappan/ Early Harappan phase:
  • The pre-Harappan phase shows:
    • large fortified settlements,
    • a fairly high level of expertise in specialized crafts such as stone working, metal crafting, and bead making,
    • the use of wheeled transport, and
    • the existence of trade networks.
  • The range of raw materials used by the pre-Harappans was more or less the same as that used in the mature Harappan phase (except for jade, which is absent in the early Harappan context).
  • The two things lacking were large cities and increased levels of craft specialization.
  • Mughal argued that the ‘pre-Harappan’ phase represented the early, formative phase of the Harappan culture and that the term ‘pre-Harappan’ should therefore be replaced by ‘early Harappan’.
• Apart from the fact that some features of the mature Harappan culture were already in place in the early Harappan phase, what is also visible is a gradual transition from a variety of regional traditions towards a level of cultural uniformity cutting across regions, a process called ‘cultural convergence’.
• Notable feature is the appearance of the ‘horned deity’ at a number of places.
  • He is painted on a jar found at Kot Diji and on several jars found at early Harappan Rehman Dheri.
  • At Kalibangan, his figure was incised on a terracotta cake.
  • This suggests that the process of ‘cultural convergence’ was also operating in the religious and symbolic spheres.
• Some inferences can also be made about the social and political processes that were underway.
  • Seals have been found at Kunal and Nausharo and may have been connected with traders or elite groups.
  • The discovery of hoards of jewellery at Kunal, including a silver piece suggests a fairly high level of concentration of wealth and may also have political implications.
  • The discovery of symbols similar to Harappan writing at early Harappan levels at Padri in Gujarat, Kalibangan in Rajasthan, Dholavira in Kutch, and Harappa in west Punjab shows that the roots of the Harappan script go back to this phase.
• Early Harappan levels have been identified at a large number of sites, like:
  • Balakot,
  • Nal,
  • Amri,
  • Kot Diji,
  • Mehrgarh,
  • Nausharo,
  • Gumla,
  • Rehman
  • Dheri,
  • Sarai Khola,
  • Lewan,
  • Tarakai Qila,
  • Kalibangan,
  • Rakhigarhi,
  • Bhirrana,
  • Dholavira,
  • Padri,
  • Kuntasi.

• Southern Afghanistan:
  • In Southern Afghanistan there is a place called Mundigak.
  • It seems to have been located on a trade route.
  • That is why in the early Indus period, the inhabitants of this place were using artifacts which show affinities with some Iranian towns on the one hand and some Baluchistan towns on the other.
  • Making beginning as the camping site of some nomadic groups, the place grew into a township of impressive proportions.
  • There is evidence of a defensive wall of sun dried bricks.
  • A large building with rows of pillars has been identified as a palace.
  • A variety of potteries have also been discovered at this place. They were using naturalistic decorations showing birds, ibex, bull and Pipal trees.
  • Terracotta female figurines similar to those found in contemporary sites in Baluchistan have also been found. They were also using bronze shafthole azes and adzes.
  • Semi precious stones as lapis-lazuli and steatite show their contacts with Iran and central Asia since these stones are not available locally.
• Quetta Valley:
  • To the South east of Mundigak is the Quetta valley.
  • Here, in a place called Damb Sadaat, large houses having brick walls belonging to the beginning of the 3rd millennium B.C. have been discovered.
  • Varieties of painted potteries similar to those of Mundigak have also been found.
  • These people were using clay seals and copper  objects also.
  • These discoveries indicate the presence of a prosperous community which had solved its food problem and established trading contacts with regions faraway.
  • Similarly, from the surrounding areas there are reports of distinct art and pottery traditions. In a place called Rana Ghundai people were using finely made painted pottery with friezes of humped bulls in black.
• Central and Southern Baluchistan:
  • In the central and southern Baluchistan sites like Anjira, Togau, Nindowari and Balakot give us some idea of the early Harappan societies.
  • These small villages and townships seem to fan out in conformity with the valley systems.
  • In Balakot remains of large buildings have been discovered.
  • Many of the sites in this area show evidences of contact with Persian Gulf.
  • In Balakot the people who first inhabited the place were using potteries similar to those used in other contemporary villages in Baluchistan.
    • However, in course of time they started using potteries similar to the ones used in the Indus alluvial plain.
  • What is important is that the people of the entire Baluchistan province were using similar kinds of pottery.
    • They show distinct influences from the Persian Gulf towns on the one hand and from the Indus valley towns on the other.
    • They were using motifs on their pottery like the humped bull and Pipal which continued into the Mature Harappan phase.
• The Indus Area:
  • By the middle of the 4th millennium B.C. the Indus alluvial plains become the focal point of change.
  • Many small and large settlements came into existence on the banks of the Indus and Ghaggar-Hakra.
  • This area became the core region of the Harappan civilization.
  • These developments anticipate many of the characteristics of the Harappan civilization.
  • Amri:
    • Towards the western fringe of the Indus lowlands in Sind, the fourth millennium BC witnessed the birth of Amri culture (after the site of Amri).
    • Amri was fortified town.
    • At the site of Amri the habitations show people living in houses of stone and mud brick.
    • They had constructed some kind of a granary also.
    • They painted such animal motifs as the humped Indian bulls on their pottery. This motif was very popular during the ‘Mature Harappan’ phase.
    • They were using wheel-made pottery.
    • Later on more and more elements of the Indus Valley culture appear and finally it became Indus Valley Site.
    • Similar finds have been reported in places like Tharro and Kohtras Buthi. They had fortified their settlements before the coming of the Harappan civilization.
  • Kot Diji:
    • Opposite Mohenjodaro on the left bank of the river Indus is the site of Kot Diji.
    • Kot Diji was the forerunner of the Indus Civilization. The occupation of this site is attested already at 3300 BCE.
    • The people living here in the ‘Early Harappan’ period had a massive defensive wall built around their settlement.
      • The remains consist of two parts; the citadel area on high ground and outer area.
    • The use of mud bricks in the Indus ratio of 1:2:4, along with a drainage system based on soakage pits are found.
    • The interesting find at Kot Diji is a toy cart.
    • Kot Diji Pottery:
      • Their pottery was a wheel-thrown pottery having decorations of plain bands of dark brownish paint.
      • This kind of pottery has been reported from the pre-Harappan habitations in far flung places like Kalibangan in Rajasthan and Mehrgarh in Baluchistan.
      • The Kot-Diji variety of pottery has been found along the entire stretch of the river Indus where settlements belonging to the pre-urban and urban phase of the Harappan civilization have been reported.
      • This movement towards similar methods of decorating pottery indicates greater communication among the people of the Indus plains.
      • It also anticipates the process of the convergence of cultures seen in the Harappan Civilization.
      • Many of the designs  on the pottery were carried over to the urban phase.
      • At the same time certain other earthen vessels showed similarity with those of Mundigak. This shows the enlarged interaction sphere of the early Harappan sites.
  • In Mohenjodaro, Chanhu-daro, ‘Early Harappan’ habitation has been reported.
  • Mehrgarh:
    • In the period preceding the Harappan urbanisation, the people of Mehrgarh had established a prosperous township.
    • They used to make various kinds of beads of stone.
    • Lapis-lazuli, one of the precious stones used by them is found only in the Badakshan region of Central Asia.
    • Many seals and sealings have been reported.
      • The Mehrgarh seals were probably used by merchants for guaranteeing the quality of goods that were being sent to faraway lands.
    • Similarities in the designs of potteries, terracotta figurines and objects of copper and stone indicate that these people were in close contact with the neighbouring towns of Iran.
    • Most of the pottery used by the people of Mehrgarh was similar to the ones used in the neighbouring settlements of Damb Sadaat and the Quetta Valley.
      • Similarly a large number of female terracotta figurines are also found. They are very similar to the ones found in Zhob Valley.
      • These parallels indicate a close interaction among the surrounding communities.
  • Rahman Dheri:
    • If we follow the river Indus northwards we come across some more settlements which give us an idea of how people lived in ‘Early Harappan’ times.
    • At a place called Rahman Dheri an ‘Early Indus’ township has been excavated. Oblong in shape with houses, streets and lanes laid out in a planned fashion, it is protected by a massive wall.
    • Beads of turquoise and lapis lazuli have been found. This shows their contact with Central Asia.
    • A large number of graffiti found on the pot sherds could be the forerunners of the Harappan script.
    • The independent pottery tradition in this area was gradually modified and supplemented by a pottery similar to that of Kot Diji.
    • Seals, tools made of stone, copper and bronze have also been found.
  • Tarkai Qila:
    • In the Bannu area, in the north west frontier province the site of Tarkai Qila has also yielded evidence of fortification.
    • Large samples of grains discovered which included many varieties of wheat and barley, lentils and field pea. Tools for harvesting have also been found.
    • In the same area, at a site called Levan, a huge factory site for making stone tools was discovered. The Harappans and their predecessors did not know about iron and copper was rare. So most of the people used tools made of stone.
    • The presence of lapis lazuli and terracotta figurines indicates links with Central Asia.
  • At the site of Sarai Khola which is located on the northern tip of western Punjab another ‘Early Harappan’ settlement has been discovered. Here too the people were using the pottery of Kot Dijian type.
• Puqjab and Bahawalpur:
  • In western Punjab, Harappa is well known.
    • During one of the excavations, habitations preceding the urban phase have been discovered.
    • The pottery found here seems to have similarities with the Kot Dijian ware. Scholars believe that these habitations represent the ‘Early Harappan’ phase in Harappa.
  • In the Bahawalpur area about 40 sites of the ‘Early Harappan’ period have been located in the dry bed of the Hakra river. Here too the ‘Early Harappan’ is characterised by the Kot Dijian type of pottery.
  • Whereas most of the sites were simple villages, some of them were carrying out specialised industrial activities. These larger townships must have carried administrative and industrial activities apart from agricultural activities.
• Kalibangan:
  • The site of Kalibangan in north Rajasthan has also yielded evidence of the ‘Early Harappan’ period.
  • People lived in houses of mud bricks. The mud bricks had standard sizes.
  • They also had a rampart around the settlement.
  • Pottery:
    • The pottery used by them was different in shape and design from that of other areas.
    • However, some of the pottery was similar to that of Kot Diji.
    • A few varieties of potteries like the ‘offering stand’ continued to be used during the urban phase.
  • A remarkable find was that of a ploughed field surface. This proves that even at this stage the cultivators already knew about the plough. With plough one can dig deeper using much less energy. That is why it is considered an advanced tool of cultivation having potentialities of increasing the food production.
• In the dry bed of Ghaggar, on the Indian site, several ‘Early Harappan’ settlements have been found.
  • Sites like Sothi Bara and Siswal have reported ceramic styles similar to those of Kalibangan.
  • The exploitation of the Khetri copper mines in Rajasthan might have begun in the ‘Early Harappan’ period itself.
• Cultivators colonised the alluvial plains of the Indus during this period.
  • These communities were using tools of copper, bronze and stone.
  • They were using plough and wheeled transport for the greater productivity of labour.
  • Also unlike in Iran, where sheep and goat rearing was prevalent, the Indus people reared cattle. This gave them better possibilities of harnessing animal power for transportation and possibly cultivation.
• Beginning with small agricultural settlements the areas of Baluchistan, Sind, Punjab and Rajasthan saw the emergence of distinct regional traditions.
  • However, the use of similar kinds of potteries (Kot Diji type), representations of a horned diety and finds of terracotta mother goddesses show the way to the emergence of a unifying tradition and gradual unification.
  • Some of the communities surrounded themselves with defensive walls. It could be defense against other communities or it could be simply a bund against flooding.
  • The people of Baluchistan had already established trading relations with the towns of Persian Gulf and Central Asia. Thus, the ‘Early Harappan’ anticipate many of the achievements of the Harappan civilization.

Evolution of these pre-Harappan sites into mature Harappan sites:

• Factors which led to the transition from the proto-urban early Harappan phase to full-fledged city life of mature Harappan phase:
  • Trade with Mesopotamia has been suggested as a factor, but the importance of this trade has been exaggerated even in the context of the mature Harappan phase.
  • According to Chakrabarti:
    • The catalyst for the transition may have been an increasing level of craft specialization, instigated especially by the development of copper metallurgy in Rajasthan.
    • Another crucial factor for the spread of settlements in the active floodplain of the Indus may have been agricultural growth based on an organized irrigation system, but direct evidence of this is lacking.
  • The increasingly efficient technology and the exploitation of the fertile plains of the Indus must have given richer returns of grain production.
    • This created the possibilities for larger surpluses. It would also lead to increase in population.
    • The larger surpluses would also permit the elaboration of non-farming specialisation.
      • That is how the village priest could become the part of a clan of priests spread over the entire region.
      • Similar processes will occur in the case of metallurgists, potters and craftsmen.
    • In villages small silos for keeping grains would be transformed into elaborate granaries.
  • The existence of many agricultural groups and pastoral nomadic communities in close contact with each other could lead to conflict among them.
    • Once the agriculturalists had become prosperous they would attract other groups which might be less fortunate.
    • The pastoral nomads are known to engage in trading and looting, depending on their own economic conditions.
    • The agricultural communities too could fight with each other for the control of more fertile tracts of land.
    • Probably that is the reason why some of the communities surrounded themselves-with a defence wall.
  • The answer may also lie in the emergence of a new, decisive political leadership, significant changes in social organization, or a new ideology. For e.g.:
    • At the time of the emergence of the Harappan civilization many sites like Kot Diji and Kalibangan were destroyed by fire. They could simply be accidental conflagrations. However, what Seems more plausible is the fact that among the various competing communities in the Indus region one set of people established their power over others. This signaled the beginning of the ‘Mature Harappan’ period.
  • Favourable environmental factors (fertility, fertile plains, rainfall, unavailability of water),
  • growth of technology and know-how,
  • gradual build up of population and its speed,
  • expansion of settlement,
  • emergence of regional cultural pattern like Kulli culture, Nal culture, Kot Diji culture etc.
  • integration and unification.
• In the backdrop of these processes of technological and ideological unification emerged the Harappan Civilization.
• The ‘Mature Harappan’ period would not begin on one particular date considering the large geographical space covered by the Harappan Civilization. It is likely that city as the centre of evolution emerged over a long span of time covering hundreds of years, but the city had arrived and it was there to dominate the entire north-west for the next seven-eight hundred years.  ©crackingcivilservices.com