Ch 03 – Indus Valley / Harappan Civilization

Type: Bronze Age Civilization

Area: ~1.3 Million sq. km

Shape: Triangular

Dating (C-14): 2350–1750 BCE

Mature Phase: 2600–1900 BCE

📌 Introduction & Key Facts ▼

Named After

Harappa

First excavated site · Under Sir John Marshall's direction

Discovery (Large-Scale Urban)

Dayaram Sahni — 1921

First major discovery of the civilization

Contemporary Civilizations

Mesopotamian · Egyptian · Chinese

One of world's earliest urban civilizations

Phase

First Urban Revolution in South Asia

C-14 Dating: 2350–1750 BCE (D.P. Agrawal)

🧭 Geographical Spread — The 4 Extremes Shape: Triangular · Area: ~1.3 million sq. km ▼

▲ NORTH

Manda

Jammu & Kashmir (Akhnoor) · River: Chenab

▼ SOUTH

Daimabad

Maharashtra (Ahmednagar) · River: Pravara (Godavari Basin)

▶ EAST

Alamgirpur

Uttar Pradesh (Meerut) · River: Hindon (Yamuna Trib.)

◀ WEST

Sutkagendor

Baluchistan (Pakistan border) · River: Dasht

🥇 Largest Sites — Area-wise Ranking ▼

1

Rakhigarhi — Haryana, India ← Largest in Indian Subcontinent
2

Mohenjo-daro — Pakistan
3

Harappa — Pakistan
4

Dholavira — Gujarat, India

6 Granaries (in a row) Bullock Cart (Bronze) Cemetery R-37 Symbol of Lingam & Yoni Mother Goddess Idol Unicorn Seals (Max found here)

Great Bath (Ritual bathing) Great Granary (Largest building) Bronze Dancing Girl (Tribhanga posture) Pashupati Seal (Proto-Shiva) Bearded Man — Priest King (Steatite) Piece of Woven Cotton

Bead-making factory Lipstick (Pigment sticks) Only city WITHOUT Citadel Footprint of dog chasing cat

Ploughed Fields (Earliest evidence) Fire Altars (Ritual significance) Camel bones Wells in every house Decorated Bricks Mesopotamian Cylindrical Seals

Massive Fortification Wall Stone arrows Houses with stone foundations

Rice Husks (Crucial evidence) Fort made of unbaked bricks

Dog buried with Human First site excavated in independent India

Artificial Dockyard (World's Oldest) Rice Grains Fire Altars Double Burial (Male + Female) Ivory Scale Doors open to main street (Exception)

Toy Plough (Terracotta) High quality Barley Washbasin in houses

🏙 City Structure — Two Parts Remarkable uniformity across all cities ▼

Upper Town

Citadel

Fortified (protected by walls) · Royal buildings · Food granaries

Lower Town

Common People

Small buildings · Residential area

⚡ Exception — Dholavira: Divided into THREE parts:
1. Citadel (Castle) | 2. Middle Town (Fortified) | 3. Lower Town

📐 Construction Features ▼

Grid Pattern: Streets intersected at right angles (90°)
Construction Material: Baked bricks (standard across all cities)
Drainage System: Main/defining feature of the civilization
House Windows: Houses had windows
Doors: Did NOT open towards main street — opened to back lanes
Exception: Lothal — doors opened towards main street

Granaries

Great Granary: Found at Mohenjo-daro (largest building)
Harappa Granaries: Total 12 granaries in rows of 6 each

🌾 Agriculture 9 crops identified ▼

Major Crops: Wheat, Barley, Cotton (Greeks called it Sindon), Peas, Rye, Mustard, Sesame, Dates, Watermelon
Rice: Found at Rangpur and Lothal
Ploughed field evidence: Kalibangan
Irrigation: No proof of organized canal system (except Shortughai)
Dholavira: Unique water harnessing — dams/reservoirs
Horse: Debated — bones reported from Surkotada (Gujarat)

⚖ Trade System ▼

System

Barter System

No coins used

Measurement

Decimal System

Ivory scale found at Lothal

Weights

Binary (lower) + Decimal (higher)

Base unit = 16 · Series: 1,2,4,8,16,32...

Seals

Steatite (Soft stone)

Mesopotamian cylindrical seals at Kalibangan & Mohenjodaro

📦 Imported Items — Source Table ▼

Item	Source / Origin
Gold	Kolar (Karnataka), Afghanistan, Iran
Silver	Iran, Afghanistan, West Asia
Copper	Khetri (Rajasthan), Baluchistan, Oman
Lead	Rajasthan, Iran, Afghanistan
Tin	Central Asia, Afghanistan
Lapis Lazuli	Badakhshan (Afghanistan)
Limestone	Baluchistan, Rajasthan, Gujarat
Carnelian	Saurashtra (Gujarat)

✍ Script & Writing Art ▼

Script Type

Pictographic

NOT alphabetical · 64 basic signs + 250–400 pictographs

Writing Direction

Boustrophedon

Right to left (1st line) → Left to right (2nd line)

Engraved On

Steatite Seals

Rectangular seals made of soft stone

Most frequently used symbol: Fish
Most frequently used shape: U-shape
Script is still undeciphered — therefore Harappan civilization = Protohistoric

📉 Theories of Decline — Who Said What? ▼

Scholar / Historian	Theory of Decline
Gordon Childe, Mortimer Wheeler	Invasion by outsiders (Aryans) — Destruction of forts
John Marshall, Mackay, S.R. Rao	Floods — Massive flooding in Indus
Aurel Stein, A.N. Ghosh	Climate Change — Aridity / Drying up of rivers
M.R. Sahni	Geological Changes — Tectonic uplift / Damming of Indus
John Marshall	Administrative Weakness
K.A.R. Kennedy	Natural Disaster — Specifically Epidemic / Malaria

⚠ TRAP 01 — Discoverer vs Excavator

Dayaram Sahni (1921) = Discovered Harappa (large-scale urban structure)[cite: 12]
R.D. Banerjee (1922) = Excavated Mohenjo-daro[cite: 12]
Sir John Marshall = Director under whom excavation happened — NOT the discoverer[cite: 12]

⚠ TRAP 02 — Largest Site

Rakhigarhi (Haryana) = Largest site in Indian Subcontinent[cite: 12]
Mohenjo-daro = 2nd largest (Pakistan)[cite: 12]
Dholavira = 4th (India) — NOT the largest Indian site![cite: 12]
Exam mein "India ka sabse bada IVC site" puchha jaata hai → Rakhigarhi[cite: 12]

⚠ TRAP 03 — Only City Without Citadel

Chanhudaro = Only city WITHOUT a Citadel[cite: 12]
Dholavira has THREE parts (Citadel + Middle Town + Lower Town) — ye exception alag hai.[cite: 12]
Dono confuse karte hain — Chanhudaro = no citadel; Dholavira = 3 parts.

⚠ TRAP 04 — Doors Direction

General rule: Doors opened towards BACK LANES (NOT main street)[cite: 12]
Exception = Lothal: Doors opened towards main street[cite: 12]
Ye seedha MCQ aata hai!

⚠ TRAP 05 — Rice Sites

Rangpur = Rice HUSKS[cite: 12]
Lothal = Rice GRAINS[cite: 12]
Koldihwa (Neolithic) = Earliest rice cultivation — ye IVC se alag hai!

⚠ TRAP 06 — Granaries

Great Granary = Mohenjo-daro (largest building)[cite: 12]
Harappa = 12 granaries in rows of 6 each (total 6+6)[cite: 12]
"Great Granary" = Mohenjodaro; "6 Granaries in a row" = Harappa[cite: 12]

⚠ TRAP 07 — World's Oldest Dockyard

Lothal = World's oldest Artificial Dockyard[cite: 12]
Also called "Manchester of IVC" (trade centre)[cite: 12]
Lothal = S.R. Rao ka excavation (same person excavated Rangpur also)[cite: 12]

⚠ TRAP 08 — First Site in Independent India

Ropar (Rupnagar) = First IVC site excavated in independent India (1953, Y.D. Sharma)[cite: 12]
Harappa & Mohenjodaro = 1921/1922 = British India mein excavated[cite: 12]

⚠ TRAP 09 — Cotton

Piece of woven cotton = Mohenjo-daro[cite: 12]
Greeks called Indian cotton = Sindon[cite: 12]
Earliest cotton traces = Mehrgarh (Neolithic) — alag hai IVC se

Harappa discovered by?

Dayaram Sahni, 1921

Mohenjo-daro excavated by?

R.D. Banerjee, 1922

Mohenjo-daro meaning?

Mound of the Dead

Largest IVC site (Subcontinent)?

Rakhigarhi, Haryana

IVC shape?

Triangular · ~1.3 million sq.km

Northernmost site?

Manda (J&K)

River: Chenab

Southernmost site?

Daimabad (Maharashtra)

River: Pravara

Easternmost site?

Alamgirpur (UP)

River: Hindon

Westernmost site?

Sutkagendor (Baluchistan)

River: Dasht

Great Bath — where?

Mohenjo-daro

Great Granary — where?

Mohenjo-daro

Harappa granaries count?

12 (rows of 6 each)

Bronze Dancing Girl — where?

Mohenjo-daro

Tribhanga posture

Pashupati Seal — where?

Mohenjo-daro

Proto-Shiva

Only city without Citadel?

Chanhudaro

Bead-making factory — where?

Chanhudaro

Ploughed fields (earliest)?

Kalibangan

Kalibangan meaning?

Black Bangles

World's oldest Dockyard?

Lothal (Artificial)

Lothal nickname?

Manchester of IVC

First site in independent India?

Ropar (Rupnagar)

Y.D. Sharma, 1953

Dog buried with human — where?

Ropar

Toy Plough (Terracotta)?

Banawali

Dholavira unique feature?

3-part city (Citadel + Middle Town + Lower Town)

IVC script type?

Pictographic

Undeciphered

Writing direction of IVC?

Boustrophedon

R→L then L→R

Most used symbol in script?

Fish

Lapis Lazuli came from?

Badakhshan, Afghanistan

Cotton called by Greeks?

Sindon

Unicorn seals — max found?

Harappa

Seals mostly made of?

Steatite (Soft stone)

Pashupati seal animals (mnemonic)?

D-E-R-T-B

Deer, Elephant, Rhino, Tiger, Buffalo

Aryan invasion theory — who?

Gordon Childe, Mortimer Wheeler

Epidemic theory — who?

K.A.R. Kennedy

Weight base unit?

Binary lower, Decimal higher