INDUS CIVILIZATION 2500 B.C.E.

CASSANDRA YARZABAL 1ST WORLD HISTORY AP

GEOGRAPHY

THE INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION COVERED MOST OF WHAT IS TODAY PAKISTAN AND THE INDIAN STATES OF , , HARYANA, AND PUNJAB. SETTLEMENTS WHICH WERE CLOSELY RELATED TO THE CORE CIVILIZATION - AND MAY HAVE BEEN COLONIES OF IT – (FOUND IN AFGHANISTAN AND CENTRAL ASIA)

*EARLY CIVILIZATIONS WERE DISCOVERED IN 1856 BY A RAILROAD CREW

RELIGION (BELIEFS)

 RECONSTRUCTING INDUS VALLEY RELIGION IS IMPOSSIBLE, HOWEVER SOME INDUS VALLEY SEALS SHOW SWASTIKAS, WHICH ARE ALSO FOUND IN HINDUISM AND ITS OFFSHOOTS, BUDDHISM AND JAINISM. MANY INDUS VALLEY SEALS SHOW ANIMALS PRESENTED IN A FORMAT REMINISCENT OF LATER HINDU GODS SHIVA AND RUDRA.  AROUND 800 B.C.E. SOME INDIVIDUALS WITHDREW INTO THE FOREST OF THE GANGES VALLEY AND LIVED AS HERMITS.  THEY DREW INSPIRATION FROM RELIGIOUS BELIEFS OF DRAVIDIAN PEOPLE WHO WORSHIPPED NATURE SPIRITS.  DRAVIDIANS ALSO BELIEVED THAT HUMAN SOULS TOOK ON NEW PHYSICAL FORMS AFTER THE DEATHS OF THEIR BODIES.  THE IDEA OF REINCARNATION WAS BORN.

ARTS & CRAFTS

CRAFTS OF THE INDUS VALLEY INCLUDED POTTERY MAKING, DYEING, METAL WORKING IN BRONZE, AND BEAD MAKING. BEAD MATERIALS INCLUDED:  JADE FROM THE , LAPIS LAZULI FROM AFGHANISTAN, TURQUOISE FROM PERSIA, AMETHYST FROM MEWAR IN , AND STEATITE, WHICH WAS FOUND LOCALLY.

WRITING

FOR AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL POINT OF VIEW, THE MOST FRUSTRATING THING ABOUT THIS CIVILIZATION IS THAT THE SCRIPT HAS NOT BEEN SOLVED. OVER 400 DISTINCT INDUS SYMBOLS (SOME SAY) HAVE BEEN FOUND ON SEALS, SMALL TABLETS, OR CERAMIC POTS, AND ON OVER A DOZEN OTHER MATERIALS. TYPICAL INSCRIPTIONS ARE NO MORE THAN FOUR OR FIVE CHARACTERS IN LENGTH, MOST OF WHICH ARE TINY.

SOME MODERN SCHOLARS HAVE WONDERED WHETHER THESE SYMBOLS ACTUALLY CONSTITUTE A PROPER WRITING SYSTEM.

TRANSPORTATION & TRADE

 AGRICULTURE WOULD HAVE PLAYED THE MOST IMPORTANT PART IN THE INDUS VALLEY ECONOMY. AN EXTENSIVE CANAL NETWORK, USED FOR IRRIGATION, HAS BEEN DISCOVERED IN THE VICINITY OF THE CITY OF LOTHAL, NEAR THE COAST OF WESTERN INDIA; AND IT IS ALMOST CERTAIN, GIVEN THE VAST FLOODS THAT THE CAN INFLICT, THAT OTHER CITIES WOULD HAVE HAD EXTENSIVE WATER CONTROL SYSTEMS.

 TRADE WAS CLEARLY IMPORTANT MATERIALS FROM DISTANT REGIONS WERE USED IN THE CITIES FOR CONSTRUCTING SEALS, BEADS AND OTHER OBJECTS. JUDGING FROM THE WIDE AREA IN WHICH INDUS CIVILIZATION ARTEFACTS HAVE BEEN FOUND, THEIR TRADE NETWORKS REACHED OUT AS FAR AS AFGHANISTAN, THE COASTAL REGIONS OF PERSIA, NORTHERN AND WESTERN INDIA, AND MESOPOTAMIA.

 TRADE WOULD HAVE BEEN FACILITATED BY A MAJOR ADVANCE IN TRANSPORT TECHNOLOGY. THE INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION MAY HAVE BEEN THE FIRST TO USE WHEELED TRANSPORT. THESE WERE BULLOCK CARTS IDENTICAL TO THOSE SEEN THROUGHOUT TODAY.

 MOST OF THE BOATS WERE PROBABLY RIVER CRAFT, SMALL, FLAT-BOTTOMED BOATS PERHAPS WITH A SAIL, SIMILAR TO THOSE PLYING THE INDUS RIVER TODAY. THE INDUS PEOPLE CLEARLY ALSO HAD SEAGOING CRAFT AS WELL. THERE WAS AN EXTENSIVE MARITIME TRADE WITH MESOPOTAMIA. ARCHAEOLOGISTS HAVE DISCOVERED A DREDGED CANAL AND WHAT THEY REGARD AS A DOCKING FACILITY IN WESTERN INDIA (CITY OF LOTHAL).

HARAPPA

• HARAPPA WAS A CITY IN THE INDUS CIVILIZATION THAT FLOURISHED AROUND 2600 TO 1700 BCE IN THE WESTERN PART OF SOUTH ASIA. • THEY USED THE SAME SIZE BRICKS AND STANDARDIZED WEIGHT AS THE MOHENJO DARO AND DHOLAVIRA FOR THIS CITIES

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