Understanding Harappa Civilization in Simple Words
Did you know Harappa Civilization is also known as Indus Valley Civilization?
If you are an aspirant for competitive exams, like SSC, UPSC, NDA, CDS, Railways etc, you need to prepare history, specifically the Indian history really well. The Indus Valley Civilization is highly important form the exam point of view.
Read more: 5 major battles in the Indian History
There are four major civilizations in the world
1) Mesopotamian or Sumerian Civilization
2) Egyptian Civilization
3) Chinese Civilization
4) Indus Valley Civilization
Indus Valley Civilization: Notes in Simple Words
1. The Indus Valley Civilization is the earliest urban culture in the subcontinent of India. It appeared to be in the Chalcolithic or the Bronze Age
Read more: indus velly civilization
2. Location:
● In 1921 – Punjab, Harappa
● In 1922 – Mohenjo-Daro (Mohenjodaro)near the Indus River in the Sindh (Sind) region.
3. The extent of the civilization was in the west up to Baluchistan; Alamgirpur (Uttar Pradesh) in the East; Manda (Jammu & Kashmir) in the north. Daimabad (Maharashtra) in the h.
4. It is also called Agro – Commercial civilization because it had peasants and merchants as dominating member
5. The Town planning system
The town was divided into two parts:
Citadel – occupied by the ruling class
Lower Town – inhabited by common people
The system of town planning was a grid-based system. It had the ly managed drainage system, fortified Citadel, houses constructed by burnt bricks, high urbanization and absence of iron implements.
6. People of this civilization we’re the first to produce cotton (Kingdom in Punjab).
Other produce of the civilization includes wheat, barley, pulses, cereals, melon, pea, cotton, dates, season and mustard.
7. External and Internal trade was highly developed on a barter basis. The people of this civilization used multiples of 16 to create their own weighing and measurement systems.
8. The origin of Swastik symbol is traced for this civilization. Also, the Harappan scripts are photographic. The first line of the script was written from left to right and the second, from right to left. This style can be called Boustrophedon.
9. The major occupations were spinning, weaving, boat making, goldsmiths, making pottery and seal making.
10 Chief Duties
1. Male deity – ‘Pashupati Mahadeva’, the lord of Animals (Proto-Shiva) surrounded by four animals (elephant, tiger, rhino and buffalo) and two deer appear at his feet.
2. There was also conduct of worship of Phallic (Lingam) worship.
Conclusion
The civilization was the foundation for many reforms in future. It was the foundation for copper age and Iron Age. One interesting to know about the civilization is that the ruins of Mohenjo-Daro were designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1980.