What is Harappa History?

Length, mass and time was accurately measured by the people of the Indus Valley Civilization. Also the system of uniform weights and measures were developed by them.

These cities were discovered around the river Indus, henceforth proving the existence of the Indus Valley Civilization.

Harappans are famous for their world-class drainage system. The usage of flush toilets, removal of waste water, channelling fresh water into bathrooms – they were masters in this area.

People were familiar with certain new techniques in metallurgy. They used these techniques to produce lead, copper, tin and bronze.

The Harappan city was divided into two or more parts of which the part to the west was smaller, however higher, known to be as a citadel. Also, the part to the east was comparatively larger but lower and the archaeologists called it ‘the lower town’.

Art was in its full form during the Indus Valley Civilization. At the time of excavation many bronze, copper and pottery products along with terra-cotta toys have been excavated. Steatite seals engraved with animal figures is however the most notable among all these. The most common of all animals that was used on seals was Humpless bull or unicorn.

The citadel comprised granaries, religious buildings, public buildings, and assembly halls while the lower town was divided into rectangular sections cut by wide roads at right angles to each other.

There are three stages of Harappan Civilization which are Pre-Harappan, Harappan and Post-Harappan known as Rojde, Desalpur and Surkotada respectively

Harappan objects were made of stone, Shell, and metal. Copper and bronze were used to make tools, weapons, ornaments, and vessels. Gold and silver were used to make ornaments and vessels.

Lothal, Balakot, Suktagendor and Allahdin (Pakistan) are the cities in Harappan civilization that were the major ports of that time.

Harappans also made stone seals. They made pots with beautiful black designs. Bricks were so well made that they had seemed to have lasted for thousands of years and were laid in an interlocking pattern which made the walls strong

Engineering skills were at its heights and it is clear from the construction of docks especially at Lothal.

Wheels used in Haprappa were axeless.

In 1921–22, the Archaeological Survey of India revealed the existence of a vast unique civilisation in the north west of India, with its two urban centres at Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro. Later archaeologist dug out many other cities, such as Kalibangan, Kot Diji, Chanhu-daro, Dholavira, Banwali, Sutkagendor, etc. Named after Harappa, the first site to be excavated, the entire civilisation is known as the Harappan civilisation.

About a hundred and fifty years ago, many of these bricks were taken away by engineers.
People built one or two-story houses on either side of the roads with rooms built around a courtyard.

Roads especially in Mohenjo-daro were as wide as 10.5 mt. Harappa also had wider roads having width of 30 foot.

The Harappan civilisation is dated between 2600 and 1900 BC. There were earlier and later cultures, known as Early Harappan and Later Harappan. The Harappan period characterised by seals, beads, weights, stone blades and baked bricks is called as the Mature Harappan culture. The Carbon-14 datings indicate the mature Harappan period to be from C. 2800/2900–1800 BC.

The Harappan city had a well-planned drainage system where every house had a drain connected to the street drains which further were connected to the bigger drains.

Similarities between the Indus Valley Civilization and the Egyptian River Valley Civilization have been noticed by the scholars. First of all both the civilizations were dependent upon river system and flourished around the Indus and the Nile rivers respectively. It has also been found out that both of these civilizations had almost similar lifestyle and customs.

The Harappan civilisation was spread over Afghanistan, Sind, Beluchistan, Jammu, Punjab, northern Rajasthan, Kathiawar and Gujarat. The Kalibangan -Mohenjo-Daro represent the centre of the Harappan civilisation. Most of the Harappan settlements were located in this region.

Harappans grew wheat, barley, pulses, peas, rice, sesame, linseed, and mustard. They also developed some new tools known as plough and was used to dig earth for planting the seeds and turning the soil. A method of irrigation was used due to less rainfall.

Limestone and steatite were the most common materials used to make stone sculpture in Harappa.

The most remarkable feature of Harappan civilisation was its urbanisation. The Harappan places which were small towns, show an advanced sense of town planning. The major centres are Harappa, Mohenjo-Daro, Kalibangan, Lothal, Sutkagen-Dor, Dholavira, etc.

Information about rituals and beliefs of the Indus Valley Civilization is limited at present. But according to studies it is clear that people living in this civilization used to worship deities especially fertility deities. Religious activities were performed by priests. Ritualistic baths were part of Harappan Civilization. On some of the seals there are pictures of people doing meditation and sitting in a crossed legged posture.

Usually towns were laid out in a parallelogrammic form. Each towns was divided into a higher residential area where the essential institutions of civil and religious life were located and lower residential area where the urban population lived.