Chapter 4: The First Cities: The Harappan Civilisation
🎯 Focus: A deep dive into the Bronze Age urban civilization of the Indus Valley, tailored for PSTET aspirants.
🗺️ Theme: Understanding the world's most extensive ancient urban culture through its planning, economy, society, and enduring mystery.
✨ Introduction: The Dawn of Urban Life in South Asia
Imagine a time over 4,500 years ago when the world's first cities were emerging. While the Egyptians were building pyramids and the Mesopotamians were trading in cuneiform, a sophisticated civilization was flourishing along the Indus River and its tributaries. This was the Harappan Civilisation, also known as the Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC) . It was the first urban civilization in South Asia .
For a PSTET teacher, understanding the IVC is crucial because it lays the foundation for the entire history of the Indian subcontinent. It showcases a remarkably advanced society that was a contemporary of other great Bronze Age civilizations yet possessed a unique character. As noted in the Oxford Bibliographies, it was a "different kind of urban culture... one that was more egalitarian and rather invested in civic amenities such as wells and drains" .
This chapter will take you on a journey through time, exploring the rise, the glorious maturity, and the mysterious decline of this fascinating civilization.
⏳ Section 1: The River of Time - Chronology and Phases (Early, Mature, Late Harappan)
The Harappan Civilization was not a sudden phenomenon; it evolved over thousands of years. Archaeologists have divided its history into three main phases. Understanding this timeline is the first step to grasping its development.
| 🏷️ Phase | 🗓️ Approximate Dates | 🌟 Key Characteristics |
|---|---|---|
| Early Harappan | 5500 BCE - 2600 BCE | 🌱 Regionalisation Era. Beginnings of village life, domestication of crops, development of pottery, and early trade networks. The site of Mehrgarh is a key example of this phase. |
| Mature Harappan | 2600 BCE - 1900 BCE | ⚙️ Integration Era. The peak of urbanization. Emergence of great cities like Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro. Standardized bricks, advanced town planning, long-distance trade, and the use of script. This is the "Harappan Civilization" in its full glory. |
| Late Harappan | 1900 BCE - 1300 BCE | 📉 Localisation Era. A period of gradual decline. Cities were abandoned, trade dwindled, writing disappeared, and people moved eastward into smaller villages. |
💡 PSTET Tip: Remember the key site for each phase:
Early Harappan: Mehrgarh (in present-day Pakistan)
Mature Harappan: Harappa, Mohenjo-Daro, Lothal, Dholavira, Rakhigarhi
Late Harappan: Cemetery H (at Harappa)
🏙️ Section 2: The Blueprint of Brilliance - Key Features of Town Planning
The hallmark of the Harappan Civilization was its meticulous urban planning. Unlike the haphazardly developed cities of later periods, Harappan cities were built according to a master plan. Let's break down the features that make this planning so exceptional.
🧱 2.1. The Grid System and Standardization
Harappan cities, such as Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa, were laid out in a grid pattern. Main streets ran from north to south and east to west, intersecting at perfect right angles, dividing the city into rectangular blocks. This level of planning suggests a powerful central authority and excellent knowledge of measurement.
Standardized Bricks: A striking feature is the use of standardized burnt bricks in a fixed ratio of 1:2:4 (thickness : width : length) across all Mature Harappan sites. This uniformity points to a centralized system of weights and measures .
🏰 2.2. The Two-Part City: Citadel and Lower Town
Harappan cities were typically divided into two distinct parts:
| Part of City | 📍 Location | 🏢 Features | 🧑🤝🧑 Inhabitants/Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Citadel | Western part, on a raised platform | Public Buildings: Great Bath (Mohenjo-Daro), Granaries (Harappa), Assembly Halls, Workshops. It was walled and separate from the main city. | Ruling class, priests, or administrative authorities. It highlights social hierarchy. |
| The Lower Town | Eastern part | Residential Area: Bricks houses with courtyards, wells, and bathrooms. Lanes connected to main streets. | Common people, including merchants, artisans, and laborers. |
💧 2.3. The World's Best Ancient Drainage System
Perhaps the most impressive feature was the advanced drainage system. It shows that Harappans placed a high priority on sanitation and hygiene.
Private to Public: Every house had a bathroom with drains that led into covered street drains.
Underground Drains: Main drains were made of bricks and mortar, covered with large stone slabs or bricks, and had manholes at regular intervals for cleaning .
Inspection and Cleaning: The system was regularly cleaned, indicating a strong municipal sense.
🏠 Houses:
Made of baked bricks, often two or more stories high.
Had a central courtyard, which was the focus of family life.
No windows faced the streets; instead, they opened onto the courtyard for privacy and security .
Every house had its own well and bathroom.
🏛️ Important Architectural Remains:
The Great Bath (Mohenjo-Daro): A finely built brick structure, 39 x 23 x 8 feet, coated with natural tar to prevent leaks. It was likely used for ritual bathing, a practice that continues in modern India .
Granaries: Large structures found at Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro, used for storing grain, indicating the collection of surplus food by the state.
Dockyard (Lothal): A massive brick structure that served as the world's first known tidal dock, facilitating maritime trade .
💰 Section 3: The Engine of the Cities - Economy and Crafts
The Harappan economy was a vibrant mix of agriculture, thriving crafts, and extensive trade. This economic prosperity was the backbone that supported the urban centers.
🌾 3.1. Agricultural Base
The Harappans were skilled farmers who took advantage of the fertile Indus Valley floodplains.
Crops: Main crops were wheat and barley. Evidence of rice cultivation has been found at Lothal and Rangpur in Gujarat. They also grew dates, mustard, peas, and cotton – making them the earliest people in the world to grow and weave cotton .
Domestication: They domesticated animals like humped bulls (zebu), buffaloes, sheep, goats, and pigs. Recent studies at Kotada Bhadli (Gujarat) show evidence of dairy production .
Technology: They used the wooden plough (evidence from Kalibangan) and developed irrigation systems like wells (Allahdino), dams, and canals (Dholavira) .
🏺 3.2. Thriving Crafts and Industries
The Harappans were master craftspeople. Their workshops produced goods that were traded far and wide.
Bead-Making: This was a specialized craft, with centers at Chanhudaro and Lothal. They made beads from carnelian, lapis lazuli, steatite, and gold.
Metallurgy: They were proficient in working with copper, bronze, gold, and silver. They were among the first to use silver in the world. However, they did not know the use of iron . The bronze statue of the Dancing Girl from Mohenjo-Daro is a testament to their artistic skill in metallurgy.
Pottery: They produced a distinctive type of pottery known as Black-and-Red Ware, decorated with black designs on a red background.
Terracotta: They made numerous figurines of animals (like the humped bull), mother goddesses, and toys, which were likely used by common people.
🤝 3.3. Extensive Trade Networks
Trade was a vital part of the Harappan economy, both within the subcontinent and with distant lands.
Internal Trade: Raw materials came from various regions: Lapis Lazuli from Shortugai (Afghanistan), carnelian from Lothal, copper from Khetri (Rajasthan) and Oman, and steatite from South Rajasthan .
International Trade: The Harappans had thriving trade relations with Mesopotamia, the Persian Gulf (called Dilmun and Magan in Mesopotamian texts), and Central Asia.
Evidence of Trade:
⚖️ 3.4. Seals, Weights, and Measures
Seals: Made primarily of steatite, these are the greatest artistic creations of the Harappans. They typically feature an animal (like the humpless bull, unicorn, or tiger) and a line of script. They were likely used by merchants to stamp their goods and mark ownership .
Weights and Measures: They used a precise and standardized system of weights, usually made of chert and cubical in shape. The system was binary (1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64...) up to 64, and then decimal (160, 320, 640...) . This uniformity across the civilization points to strong central control .
👨👩👧👦 Section 4: The People Behind the Bricks - Society, Religion, and Culture
While we cannot read their writing, the artifacts and city layouts tell us a great deal about Harappan society and beliefs.
🧑🤝🧑 4.1. Social Stratification
The division of the city into a Citadel and a Lower Town clearly indicates social stratification .
Three Social Groups: Scholars believe there were at least three distinct groups: rulers/elites, rich merchants, and poor laborers.
Absence of Palaces and Temples: Unlike other contemporary civilizations, no grand palaces or temples have been found. This suggests a more egalitarian society where power was perhaps held by a council of merchants or priests rather than a single divine king .
Clothing: They wore both cotton and woolen garments.
🕉️ 4.2. Religious Practices
The Harappan religion is a subject of much speculation, but it seems to have contained many elements that later became part of Hinduism. It is important to note that no temples have been definitively identified, suggesting that religion may have been a domestic or personal practice .
Belief in Afterlife: Burial practices, where bodies were laid in a north-south direction with pottery and ornaments, show a clear belief in life after death .
Amulets: Large numbers of amulets have been found, indicating a belief in evil spirits and the need for protection .
✍️ 4.3. The Undeciphered Script
The Harappan script is one of the great unsolved mysteries of the ancient world.
Nature: It is pictographic, with about 400-600 unique signs. It was written from right to left .
Where Found: Inscribed on seals, copper tablets, and pottery.
The Puzzle: Despite many attempts, the script remains undeciphered because there is no Rosetta Stone-like bilingual text. This means we can only guess at their language and the content of their writings .
Debate: Some scholars link it to the Dravidian language family, while others see connections with Indo-European or Munda languages .
🏺 4.4. Significant Artifacts
The Dancing Girl: A bronze statue of a naked young girl in a confident pose, found at Mohenjo-Daro. It showcases the Harappans' advanced metallurgical skills and artistic sense .
The Priest-King: A steatite sculpture of a bearded man, wearing a robe with a trefoil pattern, found at Mohenjo-Daro. It is believed to be a depiction of a ruler or a priest .
🌅 Section 5: The Fading of the Cities - Decline and Its Theories
Around 1900 BCE, the meticulously planned cities of the Harappan civilization began to decline. This was not a sudden event but a gradual process that unfolded over centuries. By 1300 BCE, the urban culture had vanished. What caused this decline? This is one of the most debated topics in ancient Indian history.
| 📉 Evidence of Decline | ❌ What Happened? |
|---|---|
| End of Standardization | The use of standardized bricks and weights stopped. |
| Decline of Trade | Trade with Mesopotamia ceased. Valuable goods stopped arriving. |
| Disappearance of Script | Writing disappeared from archaeological records. |
| Urban Abandonment | Cities were slowly abandoned, and people moved to smaller villages. |
| Loss of Craft Specialization | The quality of crafts, like bead-making and metallurgy, deteriorated. |
| Built-over Amenities | Drains were blocked, and public baths were built over, indicating a breakdown in civic order. |
🗣️ Major Theories of Decline
1. The Aryan Invasion Theory (with a Critical Perspective)
The Theory: Proposed by Sir Mortimer Wheeler in the mid-20th century, this theory suggested that a group of nomadic, horse-riding warriors called Aryans invaded the Indus Valley from the northwest. He interpreted a group of unburied skeletons found at Mohenjo-Daro as victims of a massacre.
The Critical Perspective: This theory has been largely rejected by modern scholarship for several reasons:
No Evidence of Massacre: The skeletons found were not all from the same period and are now thought to be from a much later time, or simply the result of hasty burials. There are no signs of widespread destruction or weapons of war.
Absence of Aryans: No archaeological evidence of a distinct "Aryan" culture has been found in the region during that period. Wheeler himself later admitted the theory could not be proven .
Continuity of Culture: Many elements of Harappan culture can be found in later Indian cultures, suggesting assimilation, not eradication .
Geographical Issues: B.B. Lal points out that "the geography of the Rig Veda coincides with that of Harappan civilization," and if Harappans were Dravidians pushed south, we would find Harappan sites in the south, which we don't .
2. The Climate Change Theory (Most Widely Accepted Today)
This theory is supported by a growing body of scientific and archaeological evidence. It proposes that environmental factors were the primary cause of the decline.
Drying of Rivers: A major tectonic event may have diverted or dried up the Ghaggar-Hakra river system (often identified with the mythical Saraswati river), which was a lifeline for many Harappan settlements .
Shift in Monsoons: Paleoclimate data shows that the monsoon patterns weakened and shifted eastward around 2000 BCE. This led to decreased rainfall and made agriculture unsustainable in the Indus Valley region .
Ecological Imbalance: Overuse of resources, deforestation for brick-making, and over-grazing may have degraded the environment, making it harder to support large urban populations.
Consequences: With agriculture failing, people could no longer produce the surplus needed to feed the cities. They were forced to abandon the urban centers and migrate eastward towards the Gangetic plains and southward into Gujarat, where water was more plentiful .
3. Other Contributing Theories:
Floods: Repeated flooding has been evidenced at Mohenjo-Daro, which could have eventually forced its abandonment.
Change in River Courses: The Indus River and its tributaries are known to change course. A major shift could have cut off water supply to cities.
Decline in Trade: The collapse of trade with Mesopotamia removed a vital economic pillar, further weakening the civilization.
🎯 Conclusion on Decline:
Modern historians and archaeologists view the decline of the Harappan Civilization not as a single catastrophic event but as a cumulative process involving a combination of factors, with climate change and ecological imbalance being the most likely primary drivers. The Aryan "invasion" is now largely understood as a much later and more gradual migration of Indo-Aryan speaking people, which may have contributed to the cultural landscape of the post-Harappan period.
🌟 Chapter Summary: Key Takeaways for PSTET
Nature: First and most extensive urban civilization in South Asia, contemporary of Mesopotamia and Egypt.
Phases: Early (Village Life), Mature (Urbanization), Late (Decline).
Town Planning: Grid pattern, Citadel & Lower Town division, advanced drainage, standardized bricks.
Economy: Agriculture (wheat, barley, cotton), crafts (beads, metallurgy), and extensive trade (with Mesopotamia).
Society: Socially stratified but seemingly without grand palaces or temples, suggesting a unique power structure.
Religion: Worship of Mother Goddess, Pashupati (Proto-Shiva), nature, and fire altars; belief in afterlife.
Artifacts: Dancing Girl (bronze), Priest-King (steatite), Pashupati Seal.
Script: Pictographic, undeciphered, written right-to-left.
Decline: Multi-factorial, primarily due to climate change and ecological imbalance, not an Aryan invasion.
Major Sites:
Harappa: First discovered site, granaries.
Mohenjo-Daro: Great Bath, Dancing Girl, Priest-King.
Lothal: Dockyard, bead-making factory, rice cultivation.
Dholavira: Unique water harvesting system, three-part town, signboard.
Kalibangan: Fire altars, ploughed field.
Rakhigarhi: Largest Indus site in India.
We hope this detailed chapter serves as a valuable resource for your PSTET preparation. Good luck!
