The Advent of Food

Production and Harappan UNIT 6 HARAPPAN CIVILIZATION-II*

Civilization

Structure
6.0 Objectives
6.1 Introduction
6.2 Defining the Mature Harappan
6.3 Settlement Patterns
6.4 Major Sites
6.4.1 Mohenjodaro in Sindh
6.4.2 Harappa in Punjab (Pakistan)
6.4.3 Kalibangan in Rajasthan
6.4.4 Banawali in Haryana
6.4.5 Dholavira in Gujarat
6.4.6 Lothal in Gujarat
6.5 Economy
6.6 Drainage
6.7 Art
6.8 Trade
6.9 Society
6.10 Religion
6.11 Summary
6.12 Key Words
6.13 Answers to Check Your Progress Exercises
6.14 Suggested Readings

6.0 OBJECTIVES
In this unit, we will study the Mature Harappan phase, its meaning, its chief
characteristics and the main sites associated with it. After studying this unit, you
will be able to learn about the:
Mature Harappan phase and how it is different from the Early Harappan
phase;
main sites, their architectural features, town planning, drainage;
Indus script and problems in its decipherment; and
society, crafts, trade, religion and economy of the Indus civilization.

6.1 INTRODUCTION
The sites associated with this civilization are found in large parts of Pakistan and
north-west India, with one site located in Afghanistan. The total number of sites
discovered till 2008 were 1022, out of which 616 are in India and 414 in Pakistan.
The area covered by the civilization is estimated to be between 680,000 and

114 * Dr. Avantika Sharma, Indraprastha College for Women, University of Delhi
800,000 sq. kms. This makes it the largest civilization in the ancient world, Harappan Civilization-II
covering almost 12 times the combined area of Egypt and Mesopotamia. We
know that the roots of the civilization lie in the Early Harappan cultures, which
you have already studied in detail in the previous unit. What you need to
understand is that Mature Harappan, despite sharing many characteristics with
the Early Harappan phase, is significantly different. Instead of several different
cultures in the Mature Phase, we see the existence of one uniform civilization
spread across this huge area. One can argue that such standardization and
uniformity over such a vast area is completely unparalleled in the ancient world.

The name ‘Harappan’ or ‘Indus civilization’ refers to the urban, literate culture
of the 3rd and early 2nd millennium BCE. In the initial years of its discovery,
many archaeologists attempted to compare this civilization with the
Mesopotamian civilization. Off late, archaeologists have become aware that the
Indus civilization needs to be studied independently rather than through a
Mesopotamian lens.

It is important to mention here that when the unqualified term, Harappan

civilization, is mentioned the reference is to the urban phase. Now let’s discuss
the chief characteristics of Mature Harappan phase.

6.2 DEFINING THE MATURE HARAPPAN

Harappan culture was a long complex process of evolution. It consists of three
phases: Early, Mature and Late. The Early phase has been dealt with in the
previous unit. Here in this unit we will be studying the Mature phase.

One of the distinguishing features of the Mature Harappan phase is its artefacts
and technology (Possehl 2003). We have a new pottery (style, clay fabrics, vessel
forms and painting), even though there may be some continuities with the earlier
ones. There is an increasing use of metal and introduction of bronze. The new
metallic objects include pots, pans, copper tablets, blades, fishhooks, razor and
others. The use of baked bricks is very common and there is now standardization
across the sites. There is expansion of bead making, widespread use of carnelian,
and development of a complex technology to drill the hard stones. Along with
this, there is usage of writing at all the sites. More than 4000 Indus inscriptions
have been found. Sites like Harappa and Mohenjodaro; Ganweriwala in Cholistan;
Dholavira in Kutch; and Rakhigarhi in Haryana were large settlements and
symbolize aggregates of population.

The chief characteristic of this phase is its uniformity. The sites whether located
in Baluchistan, Punjab or even Gujarat show usage of uniform kind of artefacts.
All the buildings were made using bricks in proportion of 1:2:4. A common
system of weights and measures was in use. The motifs on the seals display one
kind of iconography. Nearly all sites can boast of unprecedented civic amenities
such as roomy houses with bathrooms, serviceable roads, elaborate system of
drainage, water supply system. Despite the impressive unity, some sites display
some differences in town planning, and religious beliefs. Also, some of the regions
were less integrated. Possehl (2003) estimates the transition to have occurred
between 2600-2500 BCE, but we still don’t understand the factors that led to this
change.

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The Advent of Food
Production and Harappan
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Map: Sites of the Harappan Civilization. Source: EHI-02, Block 2.

6.3 SETTLEMENT PATTERNS

Urban and rural settlements were functionally connected in important ways and
indicate some kind of administrative organization. The fact that the Indus
civilization was urban does not automatically indicate that all its settlements, big
and small, were urban in character. The cities depended on villages for food and
perhaps also labour. Cities produced various kinds of goods which reached the
far-flung villages as a result of brisk rural-urban interaction. This led to uniformity
in artefactual material throughout the Indus civilization.
Different kinds of settlements existed. The largest settlements include
Mohenjodaro (over 200 ha.), Harappa (over 150 ha.), Ganweriwala (over 81.5
ha.), Rakhigarhi (over 80 ha.), Dholavira (about 100 ha.). Recently during
explorations some very large sites in Punjab have come to light. These are
Dhalewan (150 ha.) in Mansa district and Gurni Kalan I (144 ha.), Hasanpur II
(about 100 ha.), Lakhmirwala (225 ha.), Baglian Da Theh (100 ha.) in Bhatinda
district. So far, no excavations have been carried out in these Panjab sites. The
second rung of settlements is of moderate size ranging from 10-50 ha. These are
Judeirjodano and Kalibangan. Then there are even smaller sites falling in the
range of 5-10 ha. such as Amri, Lothal, Chanhudaro and Rojdi. Settlements smaller
than 5 ha. include Allahdino, Surkotada, Nageshwar, Nausharo, Ghazishah.
Some kind of planning was common to all the settlements. There was no strict
correlation between the size of the settlement and the level of planning. For
example, the small site of Lothal shows a high degree of planning, and Kalibangan,
116 though twice the size does not.
 Harappan Civilization-II
6.4 MAJOR SITES
In this section, we will study some of the major sites of this civilization. As
noted earlier, one of the main features of this phase is its sheer uniformity in
culture. The buildings, whether located in Sindh, Punjab or Rajasthan were built
using bricks in the ratio 1:2:4. The dimensions for the house bricks were 7×14×28
cms. and for the city wall it was 10×20×40 cms. In town planning, most
settlements were divided into two areas: a citadel and a lower town. Both were
fortified or surrounded by a wall. In the citadel mound, we often encountered
important buildings and an occasional residence. Most of the residences and
workshops were mostly located in the lower town. In some sites like Harappa,
Mohenjodaro and Kalibangan, the citadel was often constructed at a distance
from the lower town, while at other sites like Banawali, Lothal and Dholavira,
both were located within the same compound. One of the most impressive
characteristics of the Harappan settlements is their drainage system.

6.4.1 Mohenjodaro in Sindh

One of the first sites to be excavated, Mohenjodaro is located to the west of the
river Indus. It is about 200 ha. The site consists of two mounds — a western
citadel mound and eastern lower town. Both the mounds are built on an artificial
platform and were fortified. Its population has been estimated to be around 20,000
to 40,000 people.

Some of the major buildings were discovered here. The most famous is a structure
known as the Great Bath (Figure 6.1)

It is about 14.5 m. in length, 7 m. in breadth and nearly 2.4 m. in depth. It is made

of bricks set in gypsum mortar. The floor and the steps leading to it were made
water-proof through an application of a layer of bitumen. Further, the floor had a
small inlet located on the south-west that was connected to a drain. This was

Fig. 6.1: Great Bath in the Foreground at Mohenjodaro. Credit: M.Imran at English
Wikipedia.
Source: Wikimedia Commons. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Bath,_Mohenjo-daro#/
media/File:Mohenjodaro_Sindh.jpeg 117
The Advent of Food done to regulate the water. The bath might have been surrounded by a set of
Production and Harappan
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brick pillars on all the sides except the south where the entrance may have been
located. The purpose of the bath is debatable. Many consider it to have been
used for ritual ablution, while others argue it to be a public pool.

Some of the structures adjacent to the Great Bath, have been identified as ‘Priest’s
College’ and ‘Granary’. One of the square structures on the southern side of the
mound has been interpreted as an ‘Assembly Hall’ where the inhabitants gathered
to discuss important matters.

In general, the houses on the eastern mound consist of a courtyard surrounded

by rooms. The number of rooms varied. The thickness of the walls indicates that
some were two storied. The smaller houses could have also doubled as workshops.
Most houses had toilets which were well connected with the city’s drainage
system. For water, the town had around 700 wells with many houses having one
private well.

6.4.2 Harappa in Punjab (Pakistan)

The site is located near a dried river bed of river Ravi. The citadel area was
surrounded by a thick mud-brick wall. On its north, we have another mound on
which Wheeler identified a ‘Granary’ (Figure 6.2). There are two blocks separated
by a central aisle. Each block had around 5 rooms. In the walls that survive today
we have some gaps. This according, to Wheeler, was to provide air circulation to
keep the grains fresh. A similar technique was adopted in the granaries of the
Roman civilization. A series of burnt-brick circular platforms were discovered
to the south of this complex. They resemble closely the threshing floors found in
India today. Burnt wheat and husked barley have been found in the crevices.
This could further confirm that the structure was a granary.

6.4.3 Kalibangan in Rajasthan

The site is located to the west of now dried up river Ghaggar. The site also
consists of a higher citadel mound on the west, and a lower residential mound on

Fig. 6.2: View of Granary and Great Hall at Mound F in Harappa. Credit: Mohammad
Bin Naveed. Source: Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/
File:Another_view_of_Granary_and_Great_Hall_on_Mound_F.JPG
118
the east. Inside, the citadel is divided into a northern and southern sector by a Harappan Civilization-II
wall. In the northern sector, we have recovered few houses and a road. The
southern sector has no residential structure. Instead we have a series of mud
brick platforms. One of the platforms has a few altars containing ash, charcoal,
and clay stele. Next to it, we have a few bathing platforms connected with a
corbelled drain. The whole complex may indicate practice of a sacrificial cult,
although it has been disputed.
Fire altars were also discovered in the residences of the eastern lower mound.
Some houses were perhaps double storied. As noted earlier, they had oblong fire
altars. Were these hearths or sacrificial pits cannot be ascertained.

6.4.4 Banawali in Haryana

The site is located to the right of the dried river Rangoi. It is rectangular in plan
covering an area of nine ha. The entire unit was fortified. Unlike the sites surveyed
so far, the citadel and the lower town here are located within the same complex.
The residences were provided with bathing pavements, wells and drains. A multi-
roomed house which gave evidence for seals, and weights has been identified as
a ‘merchant’s house’.

6.4.5 Dholavira in Gujarat

It is located on an island in the Rann of Kutch. In many ways, this site in quite
unique among the Harappan settlements, and its location perhaps affected several
aspects of its town planning. For instance, instead of bricks, the buildings here
are mainly built using the locally available sandstone. The site is also known for
the arrangements it has made to conserve water (Figure 6.3).

Fig. 6.3: Dholavira. Stepwell Steps to Reach the Water Level in Artificially Constructed
Reservoir. Credit: Lalit Gajjer.
Source: Wikimedia Commons. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dholavira#/media/File:
DHOLAVIRA_ SITE_(24).jpg

The town plan is unique. Instead of two, it has three areas: citadel-bailey complex,
middle town and a lower town located within the same fortified complex. One of
the rooms in the castle-bailey area has a fallen signboard (Figure 6.4). The letters
are made of white gypsum and are inscribed on a wooden board.
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The Advent of Food
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Fig. 6.4: ‘Signboard’ with Indus Characters discovered near the northern gate of the
citadel at Dholavira. Credit: Siyajkak
Source: Wikimedia Commons. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indus_Valley_Civilisation#/
media/File:The_’Ten_Indus_Scripts’_discovered_near_the_northern_gateway_of_
the_Dholavira_ citadel.jpg

In the Lower town in order to meet its water requirement, the inhabitants here
have cut water reservoirs into the bedrock. Around 16 such reservoirs (Figure
6.5) were discovered.

Fig. 6.5: Dholavira. Credit: Rama’s Arrow.

Source: Wikimedia Commons. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dholavira#/media/

File:Dholavira1. JPG

6.4.6 Lothal in Gujarat

This was a port town of the Harappans. It is located in a low deltaic area in the
Saurashtra peninsula. It is believed that the sea once was much closer to the site.

Fig. 6.6: Lothal Dockyard. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lothal_dock.jpg
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Both the citadel and the lower town are located within the same complex. From Harappan Civilization-II
one of the buildings, in the citadel, around 65 terracotta sealings having
impressions of reed, woven fiber, cords, and matting have been recovered. This
implies that it was a warehouse or place where the goods were packed. This
shows active involvement of the site in trade. This is confirmed by another
structure located to the east of the town: the dockyard (Figure 6.6). It too is
enclosed by a burnt brick wall. It is provided with two inlets and spill channels
to regulate the water. An additional platform on the west was constructed to help
with the unloading of goods.

Check Your Progress Exercise 1

1) Match the following sites with their present-day geographical location:
i) Harappa a) Rajasthan
ii) Kalibangan b) Sindh (Pakistan)
iii) Mohenjodaro c) Makran Coast (Pakistan-Iran Border)
iv) Sutkagen-Dor d) West Punjab (Pakistan)
2) Discuss two main sites of the Harappan civilization.
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3) How would you ascertain that the structure found at Lothal is a dockyard?
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6.5 ECONOMY
The Harappan civilization occupied a varied landscape. It included alluvial plains,
mountains, plateau, and sea coasts. The area was rich enough to generate surplus
which was crucial for urbanization. The main sources which are used to
reconstruct the subsistence patterns of the Indus people are plant remains, animal
bones, artefacts, motifs on seals and pottery and analogies with modern practices.

One aspect which differentiates the Mature Harappan phase from the Early
Harappan is the scale of economic activity. Rita Wright sees this period as being
characterized by intensification, diversification and specialization. Intensification
means an increase in the output of both agriculture and crafts. Diversification
means a development of a wide variety of products. These two developments
encouraged specialization which means individuals devoting time to one
economic activity. For instance, in Early Harappan period a farmer might also be
a part-time pastoralist or part-time weaver. An increase in agriculture might mean
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The Advent of Food that the farmer was now devoting more time and energy to farming, leaving
Production and Harappan
Civilization
other activities to other full-time specialists. Another development was the
adoption of better technology in several crafts. Let us survey the various economic
spheres.

Agriculture
The cultivation of rabi or winter crops seems to be the dominant practice in
Harappan civilization. The main rabi crops were wheat, barley, pea, chickpea,
sesame, mustard and lentil. The increase in the cultivation of kharif or summer
crops like millet and rice distinguishes this phase from Early Harappan. Millet
has been recovered from several sites: Lothal, Rojdi, Kuntasi, Surkotada, and
Shikarpur. Outside Gujarat, it was also cultivated in Harappa, Kunal, and Sanghol.
Rice is known from Harappa, Kunal, Kalibangan, Lothal, and Rangpur.

Among the implements used, we know of a terracotta plough model from

Banawali and Bahawalpur. A ploughed field has been revealed at Kalibangan.
Though it is of the Early Harappan, we can safely surmise that the practice
continued in later periods too. The Kalibangan field consisted of two sets of
furrows crossing each other at right angles, thus forming a grid pattern. It is
likely that two crops were raised in the same field. Today, mustard and horse
gram are grown together in different set of furrows.

Copper sickles have been recovered from several sites. The irrigation techniques
must have varied from region to region. In Sind, it is possible that floods in the
Indus were exploited for irrigation purposes, a technique known as sheet-flooding.
This might explain the building of the cities on artificial platforms, to protect
them from floods. The existence of canal irrigation has been proposed for
Ghaggar-Hakra, though it is controversial. The arid regions of Baluchistan might
have used gabarbund-like structures. These structures are used in present-day
area to capture or slow down the water coming down the hills. In Gujarat, we
have already mentioned the existence of reservoirs at sites like Dholavira.

Domestic animals found at the sites include cattle, buffalo, sheep, goat, pig,
camel, elephant, dog, cat, ass and others. Cattle meat was preferred. Cattle and
buffaloes must have supported agriculture and served as draught animals. The
presence of horse is considered controversial.

Hunting of animals was an important activity. Animals hunted include wild

buffalo, deer, wild pig, ass, jackal, rodents and hare. The site of Harappa has
given evidence of marine cat fish. Hence it seems that coastal communities may
have traded in dried fish in inland settlements. Food gathering was also practiced.
Wild rice was consumed in the Ganga Yamuna Doab. At Surkotada, most of the
seeds recovered are wild which include wild nuts, grasses and weeds.

The Harappans thus depended on multiple subsistence strategies. This was done
to mitigate risk. If crops failed, they could depend upon hunting.

Crafts
A wide range of crafts were practiced in the Mature period. We see intensification
in terms of technological processes from the preceding period. Besides the range
of raw materials used expanded. It seems from the archaeological record that the
Harappans used more copper than bronze.
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Pottery Harappan Civilization-II

The most common pottery occurring in the Harappan cities is the red ware. It is
a wheel-made and baked pottery. There are both plain and decorated pots. Ochre
was used to produce red colour for paintings and black was manufactured by
combining dark reddish-brown iron oxide with black manganese. The paintings
or motifs were executed in black and were mostly geometric or naturalistic
designs. These include pipal leaves, fish-scales and intersecting circles which
have continued from the Early Harappan phase. The pottery occurs in shapes
like dish-on-stand, vase with S-profile, small vessel with knobbed decoration,
goblet with pointed foot. Pottery kilns have been found at Mohenjodaro, Harappa,
Nausharo and Chanhudaro

Metallurgy
Harappans were aware of copper, gold and silver metallurgy. Copper was widely
used, and it occurs in the form of weapons, agricultural tools like sickles, carpentry
tools like chisels; ornaments like kohl-sticks, finger-rings, bangles, earrings and
miscellaneous objects like fish-hooks, needles, scale-pans and figurines (Figure
6.7). At times, it was alloyed with tin, arsenic, lead, nickel and zinc in various
combinations. A study of these objects shows that Harappans knew techniques
like forging, sinking, hot and cold welding. The objects were mostly polished.
Sixteen copper furnaces have been found at Lothal. A large amount of copper
oxide was discovered in a brick lined pit at Mohenjodaro.

Fig.6.7: Copper and Bronze Toole Used by the Harappans.

Source: EHI-02, Block 2, Unit 6, p. 24

Besides these, Harappans also manufactured ornaments of gold and silver. It has
been recovered from Mohenjodaro, Harappa, and Allahdino.

Bead-Making
The most famous artefacts manufactured by Harappans were their beads. Some
like carnelian beads were an important export item. The beads of both precious
metals, and semi-precious stones like agate, jasper, steatite, and lapis lazuli were
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The Advent of Food known. We also have beads of terracotta, bone, faience and shell. The most
Production and Harappan
Civilization
significant development in the Mature phase was the use of hard drill to perforate
hard semi-precious stones (Possehl 2003). Other steps included flaking and sawing
the material to required shape and heating them to impart them the correct colour.
The famous 36 long-barrel cylinder carnelian beads might have taken 480 days
to produce. This means that this craft was a highly specialized activity. Bead-
making workshops have been recovered from Mohenjodaro and Chanhudaro,
and Lothal.

Faience
Several faience objects in the form of beads, bangles, earrings, figurines have
been recovered from several Harappan sites. It is an artificial material
manufactured from quartz. Given the complexity of its technology, Kenoyer has
called it an elite item.

Stoneware Bangles
This, according to Kenoyer, is another elite item that may be closely associated
with the ruling class. For some reasons, these bangles have been only discovered
from the sites in Pakistan: Mohenjodaro, Harappa, Balakot and Nausharo. The
term stoneware is misleading as objects were not made of stone but terracotta.
The finely levigated clay was fired at very high temperatures 1050-1100º C. The
reason of them being considered elite is because of the nature of their find. They
have been recovered in special canisters sealed with Indus seal. Unlike other
bangles, they have inscriptions or potter’s mark inscribed on them. Dilip. K.
Chakrabarti (2006), however, points out that the occurrence of these in small
sites like Nausharo may not support this claim of being associated with the elite.

Lithic Industry
The advent of metals didn’t signify the end of stone tools. Harappans continued
to use stone blades and bladelets. Chert continued to be an important raw material.
Several workshops manufacturing them were located near the Sukkur-Rohri hills
in northern Sindh. Each workshop had a specialized task. Some manufactured
blades were 8 cm. long and more. Others worked on waste cores to convert them
into smaller bladelets. Other than Sindh, sites in Gujarat, like Lothal, too
manufactured blades of locally available stone (Figure 6.8).

Fig. 6.8: Stone Blade Tools (Mohenjodaro).

Source: EHI-02, Block 2, Unit 6, p. 24

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Shell–Processing Harappan Civilization-II

A wide variety of shell objects like bangles, ladles, spoons, inlay pieces, decorative
objects have been recovered from the Indus sites. These were made of conch
(Turbinella) from Makran, Kutch and Khambat coast, clam shells from Makran
coast, and Chicoreus and Fasciolaria from Kutch and perhaps Oman. Manufacture
of shell objects are known from Balakot, Nageswar and Kuntasi with some
workshops also discovered in the interior sites like Harappa and Mohenjodaro.
This implies that shell in raw form was highly valued and was an important trade
item.

Steatite
Steatite was mainly used in the manufacturing of seals (Figure 6.9).

Fig. 6.9: Harappan Seals. Courtesy: Credit: World Imaging.

Source: Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:IndusValleySeals.
JPG
Seal making workshops are known from Harappa and Lothal. A variety of animals
like short-horned bull, buffalo, bull, rhinoceros, tiger, crocodile are depicted on
the seals. We also have mythical animals like unicorn, horned tiger, horned
elephant, and others depicted on the seals. While most samples are square, about
10% recovered are rectangular. We can briefly comment on the usage of seals. In
the contemporary civilization, the seals are used to secure goods over long-
distance trade. The packages sealed could only be opened at the destination which
protected the goods from tampering. At Lothal many seals were found in the
warehouse. This indicates that the Indus seals had a similar purpose. Steatite
was also used in manufacturing beads. The main workshops were located at
Nausharo, Mohenjodaro and Chanhudaro.

Weights and Measures

The Harappans used a standardized system of weights and measures. Most weights
were of cubical shape and made of chert. We also have few specimens made of
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The Advent of Food fine agate and jasper. The weights increased in one to sixty-four multiples of
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Civilization
0.871 grams. For linear measurement, we know of scales made of shell, ivory,
and copper from Mohenjodaro, Lothal and Harappa.

6.6 DRAINAGE
One of the most impressive characteristics of the Harappan settlements is their
drainage system. Sites like Harappa, Kalibangan, Nausharo, Chanhudaro,
Allahdino, Dholavira, Lothal, Mohenjodaro have given evidence of elaborate
drainage facilities. The specific features of the elaborate drainage system include
management of waste water inside the houses, intramural drains, vertical drain
pipes in the walls, chutes through walls to the streets, drains from bathing floors
into street drains (Possehl, 2003). The street drains at all sites were made of
baked bricks. The one at Allahdino is of stone. We also have evidence for the use
of gypsum and lime plaster in the bottom of the drains at Mohenjodaro. In fact,
at Mohenjodaro, drains dated to Early Harappa and the Transitional phases have
been found. Drains were raised with very building period.

Most of the drains were covered with brick or stone. Small settling pools and
traps were built into the system of drainage to catch coarse sediment. This was
periodically collected.

Baths were commonly constructed in the houses. The slope of the platform, bricks
on the floor, raised rim around the platform, the smooth finish provided to the
floors, coating of a plaster of lime and brick dust all indicate the utmost care
taken in fashioning these bathrooms.

6.7 ART
Compared to its contemporaries, Indus civilization is not particularly rich in art.
We have recovered some human and animal figurines. Most human figurines
were handmade and were made from bronze, terracotta, steatite and faience
material. We have both male and female figurines with sex of some not being
identifiable. The female figurines were adorned with elaborate jewellery and
headdress. Many of them were recovered from Harappa, Mohenjodaro and
Banawali. Some crude specimens were discovered at Lothal. The most famous
is a bronze figurine called the ‘Dancing girl’. The specimen is about 11.25 cm
high. It depicts a slim girl, whose one hand rests slightly above her left knee and
other on her hip. The left hand is completely covered in bangles while the right
only has four bracelets. She also wears a necklace with three pendants. Her eyes
are half-closed, and hair tied in a bun. She is wearing a necklace having three
pendants/amulets (Figure 6.10). Her pose does not indicate any dancing step,
but she was labeled as ‘dancing girl’ by John Marshall as she reminded him of
nautch girls. Another important sculpture is the priest-king (Figure 6.11). It is a
male figurine, about 7 inches in height. The eyes of the figure are half-closed,
focusing on the tip of the nose. He is wearing a shawl decorated with trefoil
motif that covers his chest and left shoulder. We have also discovered animal
figurines from many sites. These could have been used as toys, a few of them
could be amulets or ornaments (John Marshall 1931).

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Fig. 6.10: ‘Dancing Girl’ of Mohenjodaro. Credit: Fig. 6.11:‘Priest King’, Mohenjodaro. National Museum,
Alfred Nawrath. Karachi, Pakistan. Credit: Mamoon Mengal.
Source: Wikimedia Commons, https://commons. Source: Wikimedia Commons .https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Dancing_ Girl,_in_ File:Mohenjo-daro_Priesterk% C3%B6nig.jpeg
a_photogravure_by_ Alfred_Nawrath,1938.jpg

6.8 TRADE
Internal Trade
Harappan trade was based on barter. A wide variety of goods were traded. Thus,
the shell from as far away as Makran and Kutch coast reached Harappa to be
processed into bangles. Sukkur-Rohri hills provided many sites with their chert
blades. Further, the presence of seals and uniform weights implied an existence
of a regulated internal trade network. The actual trade routes can only be inferred
by locating the sources of the raw materials and understanding the location of
sites. Baluchistan supplied copper, lead, jasper, agate and silajit to the Harappan
cities via southern Sindh. From the location of Harappan sites and material, we
can infer three routes: the Mula pass, the passes in Sindh’s Kohistan and a coastal
route connecting Sutkagen Dor and Shahi Tump in Baluchistan with Balakot
Sindh.

The sites in Sindh further supplied materials like shell and flint to the sites in
Punjab. This trade might have been conducted on the river Indus. From the
distribution of Harappan sites, we can infer a land route going from Karachi
district to Multan via Larkana district and Sukkur-Rohri hills. Punjab, in turn,
was well connected with several sites in Rajasthan, Haryana, Baluchistan and
Afghanistan. Two trade routes connected Rajasthan with Punjab. One, a land- 127
The Advent of Food riverine route connected Multan to southern Rajasthan through Bahawalpur,
Production and Harappan
Civilization
Anupgarh, Mahajan, Lunkaransar, Bikaner and Jaipur with ferry crossings at
Sutlej and Ghaggar-Hakra. Second, a land route connected Multan and Bikaner
via Pugal. Rajasthan provided gold, silver, lead, semi-precious stones and copper
to the rest of the sites, and in return acquired chert and shell. Two land routes
connected Punjab through Haryana: one connecting Bahawalpur, and going
through the upper Sutlej area, and another, through the Ghaggar-Drishadvati
divide in central Punjab. They thus, acquired copper, silver, emerald, and semi-
precious stones from Rajasthan, and shell and flint from Sindh. Punjab was also
connected to Baluchistan through the Salt range and hill outliers like Chiniot,
Kirana and Dhak. These hills are rich in raw materials like steatite, gypsum,
jasper, limestone, slate, granite, basalt, marble, quartzite, sandstone, abri, copper,
lead, gold and haematite. Another route followed the Indus River, connecting
Harappa to site Gumla, and from here on to the sites in Central Asia.

External Trade
Indus civilization might have interacted and exchanged goods with contemporary
civilizations. Many of the Indus artefacts have been discovered from many sites
in West Asia.

An important export item to the cities of Mesopotamia was long barrel-cylinder

carnelian beads and etched carnelian beads. In Ur, they were discovered in the
royal graves dated around 2600 BCE. Etched carnelian beads were also discovered
from Ur, Kish, Nippur, Assur, and Tell Asmar. In addition, recovery of Indus and
Indus-like seals also support the existence of trade. Seals have been recovered
from Kish, Lagash, Nippur, Tell Asmar, Tepe Gawra, Ur. An Indus weight was
recovered from Ur and from Tepe Gawra and Al Hiba we recovered an Indus
dice.

The Mesopotamian texts (time of King Sargon, 2334-2279 BCE) tell us about
trading links with Dilmun, Magan and Meluhha. Dilmun is identified with
Bahrain, and Magan with the Makran coast. There is some controversy on the
identification of Meluhha. The text tell us about the ships from Meluhha bringing
in copper, tin, lapis lazuli, carnelian, ebony, gold, silver, ivory, wood of mulberry,
sisso, and date palm. It is not clear whether Meluhha refers to Harappans. D.K.
Chakrabarti argues that given the kind of materials involved, it might refer to the
areas east of Mesopotamia, than to the Harappan civilization.

Other than Mesopotamia, sites located in the gulf areas like Bahrain, Failaka,
Sharjah and the Oman peninsula have given us Indus or Indus-inspired objects.
Ras-al-Qala, Hamad, Hajjar, Failaka had seals with Indus characters. Tell Abraq
had ivory comb, possibly from Indus. In Oman, Ras-al-Junayaz gave a variety of
Harappan objects: inscribed sherd, steatite seal, ivory comb with a wood coated
with bitumen. In Turkmenia, sites of Altyn Tepe and Namazga have yielded
Indus related objects. A square soapstone/ablaster seal with Indus pictographs
was recovered from Altyn Tepe. From Namazga, an ithyphallic terracotta figure
similar to one discovered in Harappan civilization was recovered.

Carnelian beads were also exported to the sites in north and south Iran. They
were recovered from Hissar, Shah Tepe, and Marlik in north Iran, and Shahdad,
Tepe Yahya, Jalalabad, and Kalleh Nisar. In addition, Tepe Yahya also had a
sherd stamped with Indus seal, and a terracotta object depicting a man seated in
128
lotus position dated to 2320 BCE. Kalleh Nisar had three Indus-like seals. In Harappan Civilization-II
Susa, two seals – cylinder and circular had Indus characters. In Shahr-i-Sokhta,
Xancus pyrum shells originating from Gujarat coast were found.

Besides West Asia, Harappans also had trade contacts with Afghanistan and
Central Asia. Lapis lazuli from Afghanistan and tin from Central Asia were greatly
valued. The site of Shortughai in Afghanistan was perhaps established to facilitate
this trade. Some sites like Dashly 3 in north Afghanistan have given us proof for
contacts with the Harappan. From the palace at the site, we discovered artefacts
with Indus-like trefoil motifs, humped bulls on alabaster plates, and kidney shaped
vases of steatite.

6.9 SOCIETY
The composition of the Harappan society from the archaeological records is
fairly clear. From the economic activities, we can infer the presence of various
craft specialists, traders, and farmers in the society. The construction of important
buildings like citadels, granaries indicates the existence of a labour class. The
presence of seals, standardization of artefacts, use of uniform weights indicate
the existence of a ruling class which regulated various economic activities. While
the debate on the nature of Harappan religion continues, there is no doubt that
there existed a priestly class

The Rulers
The debate on Harappan polity consists of several issues. Did it consist of a
single empire? Were there different kingdoms that were following a common
ideology? What kind of rulers existed: autocratic or corporate? Was the civilization
at the level of a state or chiefdom?

Wheeler and Stuart Piggot state that it was one empire ruled by autocratic priest-
kings helped by an efficient bureaucracy. However W. Fairservis believes that
centralized rule needs military enforcement and a standing army. The Harappan
cities lack military character. Instead, the impressive uniformity of the cities
could have been due to a religious ideology. S.C. Malik agrees. However other
scholars believe that this uniformity could have been achieved through the needs
of the internal trade than a political authority. These arguments attempt to see
Harappan polity as a very simple organization. Fairservis has even advocated a
village-like authority regulating the cities.

M. Kenoyer has argued for the presence of both state-level and chiefdom-level
polities among the Harappans, with larger settlements being at the state-level
and the smaller settlements in remote areas being at the level of the chiefdom.
He further argues that urban settlements like Harappa, Mohenjodaro, Rakhigarhi
and Ganeriwala could have been independent city-states with several urban elite
competing for power.

J. Jacobson surveyed the various aspects of Harappan civilization to conclude

that the civilization shows ‘state level of socio-cultural integration’ as seen from
cultural and perhaps linguistic uniformity achieved over a large area,
standardization of planning and others. However, in terms of polity it may have
been at an early state level as seen in its weak military component and weak
level of stratification.
129
The Advent of Food In the end we can say that some sort of political authority/State did exist in the
Production and Harappan
Civilization
Harappan civilization. The political authority that was present was different from
the one at Mesopotamia or Egypt. The communications systems, standardization
of artefacts, site specialization, mobilization of labour for public works, use of
common system of writing, cultural homogeneity, and the establishment of trading
outposts like Shortughai — all these elements indicate a level of complexity
which could not have been possible without some kind of political authority.

6.10 RELIGION
One of the first understandings of Harappan religion was forwarded by John
Marshall. Based on the data available from Mohenjodaro and Harappa, he
observed many similarities between the Harappan religion and the later-day
Hinduism. One of the seals was identified by him as ‘Proto-Siva’ seal (figure
6.12).

Fig. 6.12: ‘Proto Siva’ Seal

Source: Wikimedia Commons. Credit: http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/
00routesdata/bce_500back/indusvalley/protoshiva/protoshiva.jp

This seal has a male figure seated on a dais. His heels are joined, and toes point
downward. Both his arms are covered with bangles, and rest on the knees. This
position is very similar to mulabandhasana in yoga. The historic Siva was
associated with yoga and was known as mahayogi. The figure is also surrounded
by six animals: elephant, rhinoceros, water buffalo, tiger, two ibexes/antelopes.
On this basis he can be interpreted as the Lord of animals or as ‘pashupati’
130 (Marshall, 1931). Beneath his seat, we have two animals identified either as ibex
or antelopes. The figure is three-faced, very similar to some of the later depictions Harappan Civilization-II
of Siva.

Other evidence that can be brought forth to support the existence of the Siva are
the cylindrical stones from Mohenjodaro and Harappa which could be seen as
siva-linga. However the Proto-Siva theory has been contested.

Besides the presence of a male deity Marshall postulated the presence of Mother
Goddess worship in the Indus civilization. Two kinds of data are available: seals
and figurines. Among several female figurines discovered at Mohenjodaro and
Harappa, Marshall pointed out the one with fan-shaped headdress, wearing bead
necklace and short-skirt to be a mother goddess. This figurine is very similar to
the one found in other ancient cultures. She represents mother or nature goddess.
The female figurines are mostly found in the sites on the side of Pakistan. On the
Indian side, we can think of Banawali in Haryana which has yielded these figurines
in large numbers. This suggests that mother-goddess cult was popular in a few
areas. Sites like Kalibangan, Lothal, and also Banawali have evidence for fire
altars. This could indicate the existence of a sacrificial ritual at least in some
Harappan cities.

Harappans might have also venerated pipal trees. One seal depicts seven figures
paying obeisance to the tree. A horned figure stands on the tree. Some scholars
argue that this scene is reminiscent of later-day saptmatrikas. Some even identify
the figures as sapt-rishis. But nothing definite can be said.

In architecture, very few buildings have been identified as temples. The funerary
practice of Harappans shows great deal of variations. Both cremation and burial
were known. While some sites like Mohenjodaro have burials within the
settlement; separate cemeteries have been found at Harappa, Kalibangan, Lothal,
Dholavira and more recently Rakhigarhi. In recent excavations, unique burials
were discovered from Dholavira and Rakhigarhi. Dholavira has some evidence
of megaliths, but these are mostly symbolic burials. A unique feature at Rakhigarhi
was that in the cemetery the female burials often had more burial goods than the
male burials.
Check Your Progress Exercise 2
1) Discuss the architectural features and drainage system of the Harappan
settlements?
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
2) What were the major elements of Harappan religion?
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
131
The Advent of Food 3) Describe the main features of the economy of the Harappans.
Production and Harappan
Civilization .......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
4) Which of the following statements are correct?
i) Siva seems to be the most important Harappan God. ( )
ii) The female deities were absent in Harappan religious objects. ( )
iii) Trees also seem to have been worshipped by the Harappans. ( )
iv) No animals were worshipped by the Harappans. ( )

6.11 SUMMARY
This is briefly an overview of the society, economy and polity of the Mature
Harappan phase. The area covered by the civilization is very large. The Harappans
were able to maintain remarkable uniformity for almost 500 years. However,
they followed varied subsistence patterns, food habits, craft traditions, religious
beliefs, cultic practices and social customs.

The Mature Harappan phase is characterized by urbanization. In the field of

crafts, economy, trade, metallurgy, art we see intensification from the preceding
levels. The settlements are noted for their public architecture, drainage, division
of the settlement into citadel and lower town, fortification walls, granaries, wells,
roads, sewage disposal system, seals, pottery and craft items. From 1800 BCE,
we witness a change in the archaeological data. The urban phase had completely
ended. Some of the sites like Kalibangan and Banawali were completely
abandoned. The smaller and poor cultures have been labeled as Late Harappan.
We shall study in the next unit greater details of this phase, along with the reasons
for the decline of the Harappan civilization.

6.12 KEY WORDS

Bailey : It is a fortified courtyard attached to the castle.
Chiefdom/Early State: This represents the next level after tribe. It is sedentary,
has greater population and specialization. They are
led by a chief, who is much more powerful than his
tribal counterpart. The only element missing is social
stratification.
Fortified/Fortification: Surrounded by a wall.
Lost wax process : It is metal shaping process in which melted metal is
poured into a desired mould made of wax. Once the
metal is set, the wax is melted.
Megaliths : The term consist of two words ‘mega’ or big and ‘lithic’
or stone. In many cultures across the world, the dead
were often buried in monuments built of large stone
slabs.
Moat : An artificial water body built surrounding the building
132 to protect it.
Shaman : A person who achieves powers through a trance. They Harappan Civilization-II
can communicate with the other world and possess
healing powers.
Sinking : Also known as doming. It is a technique used in
metallurgy by which a metal is hammered into desired
shape.
State : A state is a far more complex entity. It is densely
populated and has high level of surplus. The access to
surplus depends on one’s status, rank in the society.
There is greater division of labour and social
stratification. The power of the ruler is absolute.
Tribal society : This is a very simple society consisting of a collection
of family groups. It has a simple economy dependent
on agriculture and hunting, and small-scale craft
production.

6.13 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

EXERCISES
Check Your Progress Exercise 1
1) i) d ii) a iii) b iv) c
2) See Section 6.4 and its Sub-sections.
3) See Sub-section 6.4.6
Check Your Progress Exercise 2
1) Please see Section 6.4 and its Sub- sections and Section 6.6.
2) See Section 6.10.
3) See Section 6.5 and 6.8
4) i and iii

6.14 SUGGESTED READINGS

Allchin, B. and Allchin, F. R. (1997). Origins of a Civilization: The Prehistory
and Early Archaeology of South Asia. Viking Adult.

Chakrabarti, D.K. (1999). India an Archaeological History. Oxford University

Press.

Chakrabarti, D.K. (2006). The Oxford Companion to Indian Archaeology. Oxford

University Press.

Marshall, John (1931). Mohenjo-daro and The Indus Civilization. Vol 1. London:
Arthur Probsthain

Possehl, G. (2003). The Indus Civilization: A Contemporary Perspective. New

York: Alta Mira Press

Ratnagar, S. (2016). Harappan Archaeology: Early State Perspectives. Delhi:

Primus Books.
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