INDUS CIVILIZATION 2500 B.C.E.

CASSANDRA YARZABAL

1ST WORLD HISTORY AP

GEOGRAPHY

THE INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION COVERED MOST OF WHAT IS TODAY PAKISTAN

AND THE INDIAN STATES OF GUJARAT, RAJASTHAN, HARYANA, AND PUNJAB.

SETTLEMENTS WHICH WERE CLOSELY RELATED TO THE CORE CIVILIZATION -

AND MAY HAVE BEEN COLONIES OF IT – (FOUND IN AFGHANISTAN AND

CENTRAL ASIA)

*EARLY CIVILIZATIONS WERE DISCOVERED IN 1856 BY A RAILROAD CREW

RELIGION (BELIEFS)

RECONSTRUCTING INDUS VALLEY RELIGION IS IMPOSSIBLE, HOWEVER SOME INDUS VALLEY

SEALS SHOW SWASTIKAS, WHICH ARE ALSO FOUND IN HINDUISM AND ITS OFFSHOOTS,

BUDDHISM AND JAINISM. MANY INDUS VALLEY SEALS SHOW ANIMALS PRESENTED IN A

FORMAT REMINISCENT OF LATER HINDU GODS SHIVA AND RUDRA.

AROUND 800 B.C.E. SOME INDIVIDUALS WITHDREW INTO THE FOREST OF THE GANGES

VALLEY AND LIVED AS HERMITS.

THEY DREW INSPIRATION FROM RELIGIOUS BELIEFS OF DRAVIDIAN PEOPLE WHO

WORSHIPPED NATURE SPIRITS.

DRAVIDIANS ALSO BELIEVED THAT HUMAN SOULS TOOK ON NEW PHYSICAL FORMS AFTER

THE DEATHS OF THEIR BODIES.

THE IDEA OF REINCARNATION WAS BORN.

ARTS & CRAFTS

CRAFTS OF THE INDUS VALLEY INCLUDED POTTERY MAKING, DYEING, METAL WORKING IN BRONZE, AND BEAD MAKING.

BEAD MATERIALS INCLUDED: JADE FROM THE HIMALAYAS,

LAPIS LAZULI FROM AFGHANISTAN,

TURQUOISE FROM PERSIA,

AMETHYST FROM MEWAR IN INDIA,

AND STEATITE, WHICH WAS FOUND LOCALLY.

WRITING

FOR AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL POINT OF VIEW, THE MOST FRUSTRATING THING

ABOUT THIS CIVILIZATION IS THAT THE SCRIPT HAS NOT BEEN SOLVED. OVER

400 DISTINCT INDUS SYMBOLS (SOME SAY) HAVE BEEN FOUND ON SEALS,

SMALL TABLETS, OR CERAMIC POTS, AND ON OVER A DOZEN OTHER

MATERIALS.

TYPICAL INSCRIPTIONS ARE NO MORE THAN FOUR OR FIVE CHARACTERS IN

LENGTH, MOST OF WHICH ARE TINY.

SOME MODERN SCHOLARS HAVE WONDERED WHETHER THESE SYMBOLS

ACTUALLY CONSTITUTE A PROPER WRITING SYSTEM.

TRANSPORTATION & TRADE

AGRICULTURE WOULD HAVE PLAYED THE MOST IMPORTANT PART IN THE INDUS VALLEY ECONOMY. AN EXTENSIVE

CANAL NETWORK, USED FOR IRRIGATION, HAS BEEN DISCOVERED IN THE VICINITY OF THE CITY OF LOTHAL, NEAR THE

COAST OF WESTERN INDIA; AND IT IS ALMOST CERTAIN, GIVEN THE VAST FLOODS THAT THE INDUS RIVER CAN INFLICT,

THAT OTHER CITIES WOULD HAVE HAD EXTENSIVE WATER CONTROL SYSTEMS.

TRADE WAS CLEARLY IMPORTANT MATERIALS FROM DISTANT REGIONS WERE USED IN THE CITIES FOR CONSTRUCTING

SEALS, BEADS AND OTHER OBJECTS. JUDGING FROM THE WIDE AREA IN WHICH INDUS CIVILIZATION ARTEFACTS HAVE

BEEN FOUND, THEIR TRADE NETWORKS REACHED OUT AS FAR AS AFGHANISTAN, THE COASTAL REGIONS OF PERSIA,

NORTHERN AND WESTERN INDIA, AND MESOPOTAMIA.

TRADE WOULD HAVE BEEN FACILITATED BY A MAJOR ADVANCE IN TRANSPORT TECHNOLOGY. THE INDUS VALLEY

CIVILIZATION MAY HAVE BEEN THE FIRST TO USE WHEELED TRANSPORT. THESE WERE BULLOCK CARTS IDENTICAL TO

THOSE SEEN THROUGHOUT SOUTH ASIA TODAY.

MOST OF THE BOATS WERE PROBABLY RIVER CRAFT, SMALL, FLAT-BOTTOMED BOATS PERHAPS WITH A SAIL, SIMILAR TO

THOSE PLYING THE INDUS RIVER TODAY. THE INDUS PEOPLE CLEARLY ALSO HAD SEAGOING CRAFT AS WELL. THERE WAS

AN EXTENSIVE MARITIME TRADE WITH MESOPOTAMIA. ARCHAEOLOGISTS HAVE DISCOVERED A DREDGED CANAL AND

WHAT THEY REGARD AS A DOCKING FACILITY IN WESTERN INDIA (CITY OF LOTHAL).

HARAPPA

• HARAPPA WAS A CITY IN THE INDUS CIVILIZATION THAT FLOURISHED

AROUND 2600 TO 1700 BCE IN THE WESTERN PART OF SOUTH ASIA.

• THEY USED THE SAME SIZE BRICKS AND STANDARDIZED WEIGHT AS THE

MOHENJO DARO AND DHOLAVIRA FOR THIS CITIES

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=DLXJxemLEI4

THANK YOU!