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Mohenjo-Daro IDOL Institute of Distance and Online Learning ENHANCE YOUR QUALIFICATION, ADVANCE YOUR CAREER. 2 B.A.English HISTORY-I Course Code: BAQ111 Semester: First SLM Unit : 2 E-Lesson: 2 www.cuidol.in Unit-2(BAQ111) All right are reserved with CU-IDOL HISTORY-I OBJECTIVES INTRODUCTION 3 After studying this unit, you will be able to: Excavation of Mohenzodaro and Harappa, Analyse the extent of Harappa culture. by R.D. Banerjee and Dayaram Sahani, was the most exhilarating event of the 20th century A.D. for the Indian historians Explain the causes for the decline of Harappa culture www.cuidol.in Unit-2(BAQ111)Q 111) INSTITUTEAll right OFare DISTANCE reserved ANDwith ONLINECU-IDOL LEARNING TOPICS TO BE COVERED 4 > Origin and Extent of Harappa Civilisation > Discovery & Time Span > Other Indus Valley Civilization HISTORY > Main Features Of Harappan Civilization - I https://note-world.blogspot.com/2017/08/harappan-civilization-and-major-centers.html www.cuidol.in Unit-2(BAQ111) All right are reserved with CU-IDOL ORIGIN AND EXTENT OF HARAPPA CIVILISATION 5 Ancient Indian History would have been in its dark phase if it had not explored the urban cities and culture in the Valley of Indus River and its tributaries. Discovery of the Indus civilisation which was the contemporary of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia gives a proud moment to all Indians to write their history as rich and long back to the dates around 3000 BCE. It’s large extent and glory in socio-economic life, rich art and culture, scientific town planning have uplifted the Indian history into a great height that researchers expects more discoveries to prove its genuine history and culture to the whole world. The Indus Valley Civilisation was a Bronze Age civilisation in the north western regions of South Asia, lasting from 3300 BCE to 1300 BCE, and in its mature form from 2600 BCE to 1900 BCE. The Indus Valley Civilisation is termed after the Indus river system in whose alluvial plains the initial sites of the civilisation were recognized and unearthed. The Indus civilisation is also well-known as the Harappan Civilisation, after its brand site, Harappa, the first of its sites to be discovered early in the 20th century in the Punjab province of British India which is now in Pakistan. www.cuidol.in Unit-2(BAQ111) All right are reserved with CU-IDOL DISCOVERY & TIME SPAN 6 The first credit of identification of the ruins of the Indus civilisation goes to Charles Masson, a deserter from the East India Company’s army. In 1829, Masson toured over the princely state of Punjab and came across his major archaeological finding in the Punjab. That was Harappa, a city of the Indus civilisation that lay buried in the valley of Indus’s tributary, the Ravi River. Indus valley civilization developed at two centers - Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro. Harappa is situated in the Montgomery district (now in Pakistan) which is about 180 kilometers from Lahore. This site was larger than Mohenjo-Daro and from the point of view of culture it gives us more source material to draw from. Another main centre of Indus valley civilization was Mohenjo-Daro which is situated in the Larkana district of Sind. Mohenjo-Daro literally means the ‘Mound of the Dead’. The distance between the two significant towns of Harappa culture is about 650 kilometers. www.cuidol.in Unit-2(BAQ111) All right are reserved with CU-IDOL Other Indus Valley Civilization The Indus Valley Civilisation extended from Pakistan’s Baluchistan in the west to India’s western 7 Uttar Pradesh in the east, from north eastern Afghanistan in the north to India’s Gujarat state in the south. The largest numbers of sites are in Gujarat, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir states in India, and Sindh, Punjab, and Baluchistan provinces in Pakistan. Coastal settlements extended from Sutkagan Dor in Western Baluchistan to Lothal in Gujarat. The excavated Indus cities may be classified into the following groups: I. Nucleus Cities (a) Harappa It was the major Indus site to be revealed and excavated in 1921 by Daya Ram Sahni. The site has two huge and imposing ruined mounds located some 25 k.ms south-west of Montgomery district of Punjab (Pakistan) on the left bank of river Ravi. The massive mounds at Harappa Excavation Site Harappa were first stated by Masson in 1826. www.cuidol.in Unit-2(BAQ111) All right are reserved with CU-IDOL 8 (b) Mohenjo-Daro The site of Mohenjo-Daro (or the Mound of the Dead) located in the Larkana district of Sind (Pakistan) and 540 km. south of Harappa is positioned on the right bank of the river Indus. It also has two mounds, the western being the citadel or acropolis and t he eastern widespread mound was preserving the relics of the Buried lower city. The mounds were unearthed first by Sir John Marshall. The citadel was fortified with large buildings tremendously rich in structures. www.cuidol.in Unit-2(BAQ111) All right are reserved with CU-IDOL 9 (c) Dholavira Located in Kutch district of Gujarat, Dholavira is the newest and one of the two biggest Harappan settlements in India, the other being Rakhigarhi in Haryana. The ancient mounds of Dholavira were first detected by Dr J.P. Joshi but widespread excavation work at the site was con-ducted by R.S. Bisht and his team in 1990-91. www.cuidol.in Unit-2(BAQ111) All right are reserved with CU-IDOL 10 (d) Kalibangan Located in Ganganagar district of Rajasthan on the southern bank of the Ghaggar River this site was excavated by B.B. Lal and B.K. Thapar (1961-69). This site also has two mounds yielding the remnants of a citadel and lower city correspondingly. Excavations have discovered evidence of pre-Harappan and Harappan culture. www.cuidol.in Unit-2(BAQ111) All right are reserved with CU-IDOL 11 II. Coastal Towns (a) Lothal It was a significant trading centre of the Indus civilisation and located near the bed of the Bhogavo River at the head of the Gulf of Cambay in Gujarat. Lothal was excavated by S.R. Rao which brought to light five period classifications of cultures. It was one rectangular settlement bounded by a brick wall. Along the eastern side of the town was a brick basin, which has been recognised as a dockyard by its excavator. www.cuidol.in Unit-2(BAQ111) All right are reserved with CU-IDOL (b) Sutkagendor 12 Located at a distance of 500 kms to the west of Karachi on the Makran coast it performed as a trading post of the Harappans. It was initially a port of Harappan according to archaeologist Dales but later cut off from the sea due to coastal elevation. Excavation at the site exposed the two-fold division of the township into ‘citadel’ and ‘Lower city’.a (c) Balakot Balakot is Located at a distance of 98 km to the north west of Karachi this coastal site yielded the remnants of the pre-Harappan and Harappan civilisation. Baked bricks were used in rare drains but the typical building materials were the mud-bricks (d) Allahdino The excavations at Allahdino were commenced by W. A. Fairservis and are located at a distance of 40 kms to the east of Karachi. These coastal cities have produced the remains of mudbrick constructions. www.cuidol.in Unit-2(BAQ111) All right are reserved with CU-IDOL III. Other Cities and Township 13 (a) Surkotada Located about 270 km. north-west of Ahmedabad in Gujarat the settlement design of Harappa, Mohenjo-Daro and Kalibangan was repeated here. As at Kalibangan, both the citadel and the lower town were fortified. There was also an inter-communicating gate between the two. (b) Banawali Located in the Hissar district of Haryana it was on the bank of the river Rangoi, recognised with the ancient bed of Sarasvati River. The excavations directed by R.S. Bisht have produced two cultural phases, Pre-Harappan and Harappan, alike to that of Kalibangan. (c) Chanhu-Daro The settlement of Chanhu-Daro, located about 130 km. south of Mohenjo-Daro, contains of a single mound alienated into several parts by erosion. An indication of material relics clearly shows that it was the main centre of production for the stunning seals. www.cuidol.in Unit-2(BAQ111) All right are reserved with CU-IDOL Main Features Of Harappan Civilization 14 Town Planning Indus valley or Harappa Civilization has made its excellence more in its ingenious and superb town planning. Careful planning of the town, Fine drainage system, and well-arranged water supply clearly show that every required step was taken to make the citizen comfortable. In the days of long past no such arrangements were available anywhere else. Drainage System The Indus valley people were well aware of the harm that would follow if the drains were not properly covered. They used gypsum, lime and cement in the construction of the drains. They had an elaborate system of drainage on scientific pattern as is being followed today. The covers of the drains were portable and could be removed easily when required www.cuidol.in Unit-2(BAQ111) All right are reserved with CU-IDOL 15 Architecture The architectural skills of the Indus valley people came to be known after excavations at Harappa and Mohenjo- Daro. The people of this civilization had built dwellings ranging from one_x0002_roomed houses to big palatial buildings which could be divided into three parts: Art And Craft Indus valley people were not skilful in architecture only.
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