Indus Civilization

In the second half of the third millennium (2500–1900 BC), a civilization flourished in the northwestern sector of the Indian subcontinent. It extended from Afghanistan into portions of Baluchistan in Pakistan, to the Indus Valley and along the tributaries of the Indus River, eastward to the Himalayan foothills and Indo-Gangetic plain, and southward to the Indian states of Gujarat and western Madhya Pradesh. This cultural realm covered some 1 million square kilometers. At the time of the discovery of this advanced urban culture in the early 1920s, as revealed by surface finds of artifacts and ruins of building structures, it was labeled the “Indo-Sumarian civilization.” But as explorations proceeded, it came to be known as the “lndus civilization” or “Indus Valley civilization.” Some archaeologists refer to it as the “Harappan civilization,” since the earliest archaeological excavations took place at the site of Harappa, on the banks of the Ravi River in 1921, under the supervision of Rai Bahadur Daya Sahni (1879–1939). Four years later, the site of Mohenjo-daro, on the Indus River, was excavated under the direction of the British archaeologist John Marshall (1876–1958). Although [Page 1292]some 19th-century British explorers had collected surface artifacts at Mohenjo-daro, Harappa, and other sites, it was Marshall who recognized the unique characters of this hitherto unknown unique Bronze Age civilization of South Asia. He was aware that its cultural influence had diffused to Iran, Mesopotamia, and to the Arabian Gulf, as some Indus seals and pottery had been found in these regions, but there were only vague references to the Indus Civilization in Sumarian, Iranian, and Egyptian texts. It is possible that the Mesopotamian and Gulf localities of Dilmun, Magan, and Meluhha mentioned in and 2nd and 3rd millennium BC written records may have referred to important trade centers that Indus merchants reached by coastal sea routes.

Map sites of the Mature Indus Period

Source: Courtesy of J. Mark Kenoyer and Richard Meadow.

As excavations progressed at Harappa and Mohenjodaro, other Indus sites were discovered in Afghanistan, India, and the northwestern sector of the subcontinent, including the present nation of Pakistan, which gained independence from British colonial control in 1947. Over 1,000 sites dated to the mature Indus phase are known today. Some were towns such as Chanhu-daro, on the lower Indus River and Lothal in Gujarat, while other settlements were large urban centers such as Kalibangan, in Rajasthan, and Dholavira, on Kadir Island, in the Great Rann of Kutch. The socioeconomic basis for these centers included wheat and barley agriculture and pastoralism. Goats, sheep, and cattle were the predominant domesticated animals, but hunting continued to supplement food resources. Although there is regional diversity, the Indus Civilization is distinguished by a carefully regulated system of city planning. Streets are laid in a grid pattern and feature public structures and platforms, houses and courtyards, walls, and platform structures once considered by some archaeologists to be foundations for granaries. There were water-filled baths, tanks, wells, and bathing rooms within residential compounds. Working areas for firing pottery and threshing grain are present. The construction of drains running along the streets testify to the sophisticated level of hydraulic engineering for public sanitation. However, unlike the ancient cities of Egypt,Mesopotamia, and China, the Indus people did not erect monumental structures such as temples and palaces, although gateways and platforms approach grand architectural achievements. Mud and fired bricks were the principal building materials, all made to the same size, as were graduated series of standardized stone weights and measures.

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