Indus Valley Civilization Notes for UPSC Exams

Indus Valley Civilization

Indus Valley Civilization, also known as Harappan civilization was the first urban culture in the Indian subcontinent. It was a bronze age culture that flourished in North-western Indian subcontinent. It was earlier known as the Indus valley civilization as most sites discovered were near the Indus valley river system.

However, as the discovery of newer sites outside the Indus river system progressed it became clear that the extent of the civilization covered even the Ganga plains. Scholars now prefer to call it Harappa Civilization, after name of the first site discovered here.

Chronology of Indus Valley Civilization

Although various sites in the Indus valley dates back to the Neolithic era from before 5000BCE, the ‘bronze age’ Harappan civilization is dated between 3300 BCE to 1300 BCE. This whole period is divided into three phases: Early Harappan, Mature Harappan and Late Harappan, as given below –  

Harappan Phases		Important Sites	Features
Early Harappan (3300-2600BCE)	1A/B Ravi Phase (Hakraware) (3300 – 2800BCE)	Harappa, Amri Nal	Regionalisation Phase Small settlements Development of trade network, Increasing Specialisation in Crafts
	2 – Kot Diji Phase (2800-2600BCE)	Kot Diji
Mature Harappan (2600- 1900BCE)	Further divided into three phases: 3A (2600-2450BCE) 3B (2450-2200BCE) 3C (2200-1900BCE)	Mohenjo-Daro, Harappa, Kalibangan, Dholavira.	Integration Phase Organised irrigation system Full-scale urbanisation, Emergence of writing Uniformity in artefacts, Full-fledged trade
Late Harappan (1900- 1300BCE)	4 -Transitional Phase (1900-1700BCE)	Late Siswal, Rojdi, Rangpur	Localisation phase Decline, Abandonment of some sites, Rise of the pastoral mode
	5 – Cemetary H Phase (1700-1300BCE)	Cemetery-H at Harappa, Ochre colour pottery (OCP)

Early Harappan cultures  

These are situated in four clusters of cultures which cover the entire Indus basin and parts of Baluchistan. They are: –  

1. Kot Dijian culture

• It is the largest area covering NWFP, Pakistan’s Punjab and northern Sindh.
• It was occupied during both the early Harappan and mature Harappan phases.
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2. Sothi-Siswal culture

• It covers northern Rajasthan (Kalibangan), Indian Punjab and Haryana. 
• It was fortified with a wall. 
• Mud brick houses with central courtyards were found here. 
• A large hoard of lapis lazuli micro-beads was found here. 

3. Amri-Nal

Amri-Nal is spread in Baluchistan, Central and Southern Sindh, with extensions in Gujarat.

• Some of the settlements were fortified.
• In Baluchistan, Nal pottery and Sindh, Amri pottery were found.
• The people here were pastoralists, migrating to the highlands in summer and Indus valley in winter.

4. Damb Sadaat

• It is a part of Central Baluchistan. 
• Pottery similar to Kot Diji was found here but it had a distinct plant, animal and geometric motifs. 

5. Mature Harappan Culture  

During this phase, Harappan culture reached its peak and was the largest civilisation in the ancient world. It covered large parts of Pakistan and North-West India, and one site is located in Afghanistan.  

• We have found some new types of potteries (style, clay fabrics, vessel forms and painting) apart from the continuous previous phase. 
• There was an increasing use of bronze. 
• Use of Baked bricks in buildings and writing was now a standard across all sites. 
• Civic amenities such as houses with bathrooms, an efficient network of roads, and an elaborate system of drainage and water supply system were now a common feature across all sites. 

6. Late Harappan Culture 

By 1900BCE most of the mature Harappan cities were abandoned. People settled into new sites in Gujarat, Haryana and western UP, although, a few older Harappan sites continued to be occupied such as Siswal(Called late Siswal in late Harappan), Rangpur, Swat and Jhukar. 

• There was a disappearance of distinctive features of Harappan culture such as weights, seals, special beads, writing, long-distance trade, large public structures and craft specialisation 
• House construction techniques deteriorated. 
• There seems to be the arrival of a new group of people with distinct burial practices. They have different pottery than Harappans. Their cultures came to be known as ‘Cemetery H‘ culture (Late Siswal Culture).