Notes on Indian History: Indus Valley Civilisation

FOUNDATION OF INDIAN CULTURE AND CIVILISATION

PRESHISTORY:

Three cultural stages

1) Paleolithic: (Old stone age) first stone tools (Fire)

2) Mesolithic: Hunting and food gathering

3) Neolithic: Man-made tools made by grinding and polishing, agriculture (Indus Valley)

4) Chalcolithic: Use of metals eg copper

PROTOHISTORY: Indus valley civilization belongs to Bronze Age also called Harappan civilization.

Indus valley period: 2400 to 1700 B.C.

Town planning:

* Grid system
* Klin Burnt Bricks
* Excellent underground drainage system

Important sites:

*Mohanjodara: Larkana (Sindh)
* Harappa: Montgomery (Punjab, Pak)
*Banawali: Hisar (Haryana)
* Dholavira: (Gujarat, Rann of Kachch)

Social condition:

Food: Barley and wheat
Garments: Cotton and wool
Pottery: Wheel turned
Metal: No iron
Utensils: Copper and Bronze
Entertainment: Dice playing, hunting

Economic Condition:
- Mainly agrarian
-No canal irrigation

Trade and commerce:- Barter trade

Script: Boustrophedon (pictographic): from right to left then left to right.

Seals: Soft stone called “Steatite”

Religion:
- ‘Primitive Animism’
- Linga and yoni
- Prototype of Shiva
- Pipal, Neem and Tulsi

Burials:
- Cremation
-Partial Burial
-Full Burial

Decline:
- Natural Causes
-Foreign invasion