{"id":29735,"date":"2024-09-20T19:17:02","date_gmt":"2024-09-20T13:47:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=29735"},"modified":"2024-09-20T19:17:04","modified_gmt":"2024-09-20T13:47:04","slug":"100-years-of-discovery-of-the-indus-valley-civilization","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/20-09-2024\/100-years-of-discovery-of-the-indus-valley-civilization","title":{"rendered":"100 years of Discovery of the Indus Valley Civilization"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS1\/ History and Culture<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>September 20, 2024<\/strong> marks the centenary of the announcement of the discovery of the Indus Valley civilisation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Harappan Civilization<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Harappan civilization is believed to be<strong> one of the oldest world civilizations <\/strong>together with Egypt and Mesopotamia.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It was developed along the <strong>river Indus<\/strong> and for that reason it is also known as the <strong>Indus Valley Civilization.\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Harappan civilization is identified as a<strong> Bronze-age civilization <\/strong>because many objects have been found that are made up of <strong>copper based alloys.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Daya Ram Sahni<\/strong> first excavated <strong>Harappa in 1921-22<\/strong>, and <strong>Rakhal Das Banerji<\/strong> in <strong>1922<\/strong> started excavating <strong>Mohenjo-daro.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Vast civilisation<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Harappan civilisation can be divided into an;\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Early phase (3200 BCE to 2600 BCE),\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The mature period (2600 BCE to 1900 BCE), and\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The late phase (1900 BCE to 1500 BCE), when it decayed and collapsed.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Today it spans <strong>2,000 sites across 1.5 million sq. km in India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>There are about <strong>1,500 sites in northwestern India,<\/strong> including in Gujarat, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>There are about <strong>500 sites in Pakistan<\/strong>, and a few in <strong>Afghanistan<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Mohenjo-daro, Harappa, Ganweriwala (all now in Pakistan), Rakhigarhi, and Dholavira (both in India) <\/strong>are the five biggest Harappan sites.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Significance of discovery<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Most historians were of the opinion that settled life in this part first occurred around the sixth century BCE, leaving a gap in South Asian history.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The discovery of the <strong>Harappan civilisation filled the so-called gap<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Also the discovery added one more ancient civilisation in Asia, besides the Egyptian and the Mesopotamian, and unravelled the <strong>Harappan civilisation\u2019s maritime contacts with West Asia<\/strong> from 3000 BCE.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Major Features of Civilization<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Urban Planning:<\/strong> Their towns were well planned and they had brick houses which were situated along the roads.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Every house was equipped with a staircase, a kitchen and several rooms.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Their courtyards had wells, bathrooms and they had proper drainage systems.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Ornaments:<\/strong> The Harappans wore ornaments made of <strong>gold, silver, ivory,shell, clay, semi-precious stones and others.\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Trade and Commerce: <\/strong>The civilization had extensive trade networks, reaching as far as Mesopotamia, Afghanistan, and the Arabian Peninsula.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Religion and Iconography:<\/strong> Harappan artifacts depict various symbols and motifs believed to be related to religious beliefs.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>These include figures such as the <strong>&#8220;Priest King&#8221; <\/strong>and images of animals like <strong>bulls,<\/strong> suggesting possible reverence for certain animals.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Craftsmanship and Artistry: <\/strong>The Harappans produced <strong>intricate pottery, <\/strong>including the<strong> famous red pottery <\/strong>with black painted motifs.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>They also created\u00a0 jewelry, sculptures, and seals made of <strong>steatite, terracotta, and other materials.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Agriculture: <\/strong>They cultivated crops such as <strong>wheat, barley, peas, and cotton<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Social Organization:<\/strong> The society was likely stratified, with evidence suggesting a <strong>hierarchical structure.<\/strong> This is indicated by variations in housing sizes and the presence of public buildings.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Decline and Disappearance: <\/strong>The reasons for the decline of the Harappan Civilization are still debated among historians and archaeologists.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Possible factors include ecological changes, such as shifts in river courses, as well as invasions and internal conflicts.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Major Harappan Sites<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-background\" style=\"background-color:#fff2cc\"><thead><tr><th><strong>Site<\/strong><\/th><th><strong>Present Day<\/strong><\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td>Harappa<\/td><td>Punjab, Pakistan<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Mohenjo-Daro<\/td><td>Sindh, Pakistan<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Dholavira<\/td><td>Kutch district of Gujarat,<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Kalibangan<\/td><td>Rajasthan<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Lothal<\/td><td>Gujarat<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Rakhigarhi<\/td><td>Haryana<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Chanhudaro<\/td><td>Sindh, Pakistan<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Ganweriwala<\/td><td>Punjab, Pakistan<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Sutkagendor<\/td><td>Baluchistan Province, Pakistan<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Alamgirpur&nbsp;<\/td><td>Uttar Pradesh<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img data-dominant-color=\"aaa75a\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"810\" height=\"532\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2024\/09\/100-years-of-Discovery-of-the-Indus-Valley-Civilization-jpg.webp\" alt=\"major sites\" class=\"not-transparent wp-image-29744\" style=\"--dominant-color: #aaa75a; width:468px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2024\/09\/100-years-of-Discovery-of-the-Indus-Valley-Civilization-jpg.webp 810w, https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2024\/09\/100-years-of-Discovery-of-the-Indus-Valley-Civilization-300x197.webp 300w, https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2024\/09\/100-years-of-Discovery-of-the-Indus-Valley-Civilization-768x504.webp 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 810px) 100vw, 810px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Concluding remarks<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>For the past 100 years, the <strong>Harappan civilisation has mesmerized and baffled <\/strong>town planners, epigraphists, metallurgists, astronomers, and others. Its enigmas have intrigued them.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>At the apogee of its prosperity, it was a <strong>\u201ctechnological powerhouse\u201d<\/strong> that excelled in town planning, harvesting water, building reservoirs, warehouses, underground sullage systems, massive fortification walls and building seafaring boats etc.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/news\/national\/harappan-civilisation-100-years-of-historic-exploration\/article68660040.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>TH<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>September 20, 2024 marks the centenary of the announcement of the discovery of the Indus Valley civilisation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29735","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29735","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29735"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29735\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29748,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29735\/revisions\/29748"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29735"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29735"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29735"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}