Harappa – Urban Civilization

Urban Civilization

• Harappan civilization is said to be urban because of the following reasons.
• Well-conceived town planning.
• Astonishing masonry and architecture.
• Priority for hygiene and public health.
• Standardized weights and measures.
• Solid agricultural and artisanal base.

Subsistence and Economic Production

• Agriculture was an important source of subsistence for the Harappans.
• The Harappans cultivated diverse crops such as wheat, barley, lentil, chickpea, Sesame and various millets.
• They adopted a double cropping system.
• The Harappans used ploughs.
• They used both canal and well irrigation.

Animal Domestication

• They domesticated sheep, goats and fowl.
• They had knowledge of various other animals including buffalo, pig and elephant.
• But the horse was not known to them.
• The Harappan cattle are called Zebu.
• They also ate fish and birds.
• Evidence of boar, deer and gharial has been found at the Harappan sites.

Craft Production

•  They made beads and ornaments out of carnelian, jasper, crystal, and steatite, metals like copper, bronze and gold and shell, faience and terracotta or burnt clay.
• They were exported to Mesopotamia.

Leader in Mohenjo – Daro

• A culture of seated male has been unearthed in a building, with a headband on the forehead and a smaller ornament on the right upper arm.

Statue of Bronze

• This little statue was found at Mohenjo –Daro.
• These figures had found their way into levels some 3000 years old to which they properly belonged.

 Pottery

• Potteries were red in color with beautiful designs in black.

Metal, Tools and Weapons

• The metal which was first identified and used by man- copper.
• The Harappan civilization belongs to the Bronze Age civilization.
• The chert blades made out of Rohrichert were used by the Harappans.

Textiles and Ornaments

• Cotton fabrics were in common Use.
• Wool was also used.
• The image of a dancing girl found at Mohenjo-Daro is shown wearing bangles in large numbers up to the upper arm.
• Indus People used the red quartz stone called Carnelian to design jewelry.

Trade and Exchange

• The cuneiform inscriptions mention the trade contacts between Mesopotamia and Harappans.
• The mention of “Meluhha” in the cuneiform inscriptions refers to the Indus region.
• The following lines describe ‘Meluhha’ from Mesopotamia Purana.
• “Let your bird be the Haja bird. Let its sound be heard in the Palace”.
• Some archaeologists consider the ‘Haja Bird’ to be a Peacock.
• King Naram-Sin of Akkadian Empire (Sumerian) has written about buying jewelry from the land of Melukha (a region of the Indus Valley).
• A naval dockyard has been discovered in Lothal in Gujarat.
• Lothal is situated on the banks of a tributary of Sabarmati River in Gujarat.