Pariksha SaathiLesson 1 of 10 · Ancient and Medieval Indian History
Prehistoric India and the Indus Valley (Harappan) Civilisation
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The Stone Age sequence
Prehistory is rebuilt from tools, bones, pottery and paintings and divided by the kind of tools people made. The Palaeolithic or Old Stone Age was the long age of hunter-gatherers using hand-axes, cleavers and choppers, often of quartzite. Robert Bruce Foote found the first Palaeolithic tool in India at Pallavaram near Chennai in 1863 and is called the father of Indian prehistory. The Bhimbetka rock shelters near Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh, discovered by V. S. Wakankar in 1957, hold hundreds of paintings of animals, hunting and dancing.
Mesolithic, Neolithic and Chalcolithic
The Mesolithic or Middle Stone Age is marked by microliths, tiny stone blades set in wooden or bone handles. Bagor in Rajasthan and Adamgarh in Madhya Pradesh give the earliest evidence of animal domestication in India, and Sarai Nahar Rai and Mahadaha in Uttar Pradesh have Mesolithic burials. The Neolithic or New Stone Age brought polished stone tools, farming, pottery and villages. Mehrgarh in Balochistan, from about 7000 BC, is the earliest farming site in the subcontinent, with wheat and barley; Burzahom in Kashmir had pit dwellings and dogs buried with their masters; Chirand in Bihar is known for bone tools; and Koldihwa in Uttar Pradesh is linked with early rice. The Chalcolithic or copper-stone age added copper tools and painted black-and-red pottery, seen in the Ahar (Banas) culture of Rajasthan, the Malwa culture at Navdatoli and the Jorwe culture of Maharashtra, with Inamgaon.
Discovery and extent of the Harappan civilisation
The civilisation is called Harappan after Harappa, the first site excavated. Charles Masson noticed its mounds in 1826 and Alexander Cunningham, the first Director General of the Archaeological Survey of India, found a seal there, but excavation began only when Daya Ram Sahni dug Harappa in 1921 and R. D. Banerji dug Mohenjo-daro in 1922. Sir John Marshall, then Director General, announced a new civilisation in 1924. Its mature phase lasted from about 2600 to 1900 BC, and it covered a larger area than ancient Egypt or Mesopotamia: Sutkagendor in Balochistan in the west, Alamgirpur near Meerut in the east, Manda in Jammu in the north and Daimabad in Maharashtra in the south, with a trading outpost at Shortughai in Afghanistan.
Sites and what each is known for
Harappa, on the Ravi in Pakistani Punjab, has rows of granaries, working floors and the cemetery R-37. Mohenjo-daro, on the Indus in Sindh, has the Great Bath, the Great Granary, an assembly hall, the Pashupati seal, the bronze Dancing Girl, the steatite priest-king and woven cotton. Chanhudaro in Sindh had a bead-making workshop and no citadel. Lothal in Gujarat, excavated by S. R. Rao, has a dockyard, a bead factory and rice husk. Kalibangan in Rajasthan, on the Ghaggar, has a ploughed field of the pre-Harappan level, fire altars and the black bangles that gave it its name. Banawali in Haryana gave a clay model of a plough, Dholavira in Kutch has a city in three parts with large water reservoirs and a signboard of ten signs, Ropar in Punjab has a dog buried with a human, and Rakhigarhi in Haryana is among the largest Harappan sites.
Town planning
Harappan cities were laid out on a grid, with main streets crossing at right angles. Most had a raised citadel on the west, holding public buildings, and a larger lower town on the east where people lived. Houses were of burnt bricks in the standard proportion 1:2:4, often had their own wells and bathrooms, and opened on to side lanes rather than main roads. Streets had covered drains with manholes, unmatched by other civilisations of the time. The Great Bath, made watertight with bitumen, was probably used for ritual bathing.
Economy, seals and script
Wheat and barley were the staples, with peas, sesame and mustard, and the Harappans are conventionally credited as the earliest people to grow cotton, which the Greeks later called sindon, after Sindh. They used copper and bronze but not iron, had no coins, and traded by barter with cubical weights based on 16 and its multiples. Mesopotamian texts call the region Meluhha, and Harappan seals have been found in Mesopotamia. Seals, mostly square and of steatite, show an animal and a line of script; the one-horned unicorn is the commonest motif and the horse is absent. The script has about 400 signs, ran mostly from right to left and is still undeciphered. Religion is read from mother-goddess figurines, the Pashupati seal (a seated figure surrounded by an elephant, a tiger, a rhinoceros and a buffalo), tree worship and the fire altars of Lothal and Kalibangan.
Why it declined
By about 1900 BC the cities were being abandoned and the culture became rural and regional, the Late Harappan phase. Mortimer Wheeler blamed an Aryan invasion, but most historians reject this for lack of evidence of a massacre. Other theories point to floods at Mohenjo-daro, the shifting and drying of rivers such as the Ghaggar-Hakra, a drier climate, the decline of trade with Mesopotamia and damage to the environment. Most scholars now see a gradual decline with several causes.
Key facts
- Robert Bruce Foote found India's first Palaeolithic tool at Pallavaram near Chennai (1863); V. S. Wakankar discovered the Bhimbetka rock shelters, Madhya Pradesh (1957).
- Earliest evidence: farming at Mehrgarh, Balochistan (about 7000 BC, wheat and barley); animal domestication at Bagor and Adamgarh; pit dwellings and dog burials at Burzahom, Kashmir.
- Chalcolithic cultures: Ahar or Banas (Rajasthan), Malwa (Navdatoli), Jorwe (Maharashtra, with Inamgaon); they used copper tools and black-and-red pottery.
- Harappan discovery: Harappa by Daya Ram Sahni (1921), Mohenjo-daro by R. D. Banerji (1922); John Marshall announced the civilisation in 1924.
- Boundary sites: Sutkagendor (west), Alamgirpur (east), Manda (north), Daimabad (south); Shortughai in Afghanistan was a trading outpost.
- Lothal (Gujarat, S. R. Rao): dockyard, bead factory, rice; Kalibangan (Rajasthan): ploughed field, fire altars, black bangles; Banawali (Haryana): clay plough model; Dholavira (Kutch): reservoirs and signboard.
- Mohenjo-daro (mound of the dead) has the Great Bath, Great Granary, Pashupati seal, bronze Dancing Girl and priest-king; Chanhudaro had a bead workshop and no citadel.
- Harappan bricks were burnt and in the ratio 1:2:4; weights were cubical and based on 16; the unicorn is the commonest seal animal; the script of about 400 signs runs right to left and is undeciphered.
- Harappans knew copper and bronze but not iron, the horse is absent from the seals, and Mesopotamian records call the Indus region Meluhha.
- Decline theories: Aryan invasion (Mortimer Wheeler, now rejected), floods, shifting and drying of the Ghaggar-Hakra, a drier climate and the end of trade with Mesopotamia.
Quick revision
Foote found first Palaeolithic tool at Pallavaram 1863; Bhimbetka paintings found by Wakankar 1957; microliths mark the Mesolithic; Mehrgarh earliest farming; Burzahom pit dwellings; Harappa 1921 (Sahni), Mohenjo-daro 1922 (Banerji), Marshall 1924; mature phase 2600-1900 BC; Great Bath at Mohenjo-daro, dockyard at Lothal, ploughed field at Kalibangan, signboard at Dholavira; bricks 1:2:4; weights on 16; unicorn seals; script undeciphered; no iron; gradual decline.