Indus Valley Outline

notes to do

Lecture notes: Chapter 3, Sections 1& 2

notes from “The World’s History” textbook, 77+, and wikipedia

India Subcontinent

Indus Valley - discovered in 1920s - largest of early civs... 400,000 sq miles - three major cities: @ 35,000 - 40,000 inhabitants, 3 mile circumference (150 acres) Harappa, Mohenjo-Daro, and Kalibangan also: port city: Lothal > unclear if any of these was a capital city > Egypt had a state and a few major cities > Indus Valley had major cities but no clear state > but, they are all similar, which indicates centralized or unifom rule

- 1st discovered in 1856 during construction of a railroad under British rule - huge mound rose above the desert floor - workers discovered hundreds of thousands of uniform bricks, which they used to make the road bed; among bricks they found “steatite stone seals” w/ “artistic designs” on them - this was Harappa - 200 miles south they found another mound that was Mohenjo-Daro

- Mohenjo-Daro... - sits on high-water table, further excavation will flood - later excavation revealed the warehouse district outside the city - Cities: - similar in layout - uniformity of design, bricks, layout, central citadel, surrounding housing, sewers, etc. - no signs of social stratification - no monuments - artifacts: graves w/ heads ptd north, some pots for food, water, jewelry, mirrors and cosmetics .. no extravagant burials like in Egypt or Mesopotamia

- Interpretations: - classless society - oppressively rigid governments - “lacked dynamism”

- Trade: - up/down Indus river, then along Arabian Sea, Persian Gulf, Tigris, Euphrates - goods to/from Mesopotamia and Indus River found in both areas

- Arts: - beads from jade (Himalayas), lapis lazuli (Afghanistan), turquoise (persia), amethyst (India), seatite (local) - bronze - jewelry - figures: dancing woman, bust of man w/ draped clothing, mother goddess, bulls - dice - cotton and textile weaving

- Decline -- approx. 2000 b.c. - buildings deteriorate, don’t show repair - arts diminish - dispersal of population: relocation from cities to villages in the northeast - perhaps the river changed course, or deforestation, soil became too saline, topsoil eroded, etc. - Aryan invasion: unlikely (later on)

- Legacy: - cultural mix w/ Aryans - agricultural techniques (Aryans were nomads and herders) - Aryan god Shiva resembles image on a Harappan seal - caste system = relegated Indus descendents to lowest status = possibly related to Indus social systems?

Ganges River: 1st cities approx. 700 b.c.

- Aryans: left no architecutre, but lots of literature

- rice cultivation - iron

---

civ model todo

• • Location

Indian Subcontinent Indus River Valley: Pakistan India: India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka

• • Population

Indus: large, urban, wide area under one civilization India: diverse, different languages, separated by geographic barriers

• • Goegraphy/ Climate

isolated by mountains & ocean Indus: river, mts/ snows, ocean India: 3 zones: a) Northern (fertile, watered) w/ rivers; b) Deccan Plateau: dry, unproductive; c) Coastal Plains: isolated by mts and Deccan Plat and oceans... seasonal rains, fishing, trade routes - Rivers: Indus, Ganges & Brahmaputra - Winter monsoons: hot air - Summer monsoons: wet, heavy rains– floods Water, mud

• • Natural Resources

Crops: wheat, barley (grains), melons, dates (fruit), cotton Ivory, pearls, fish, cattle/ water buffalo minerals>>? (mountains) Lapis-Lazuli (blue gem, coveted by Egyptians)

• • Features of Civilization

Indus: carefully planned cities; democracy? Harappa, Mohenjo-Daro (3mi circumference) approx. 2500 bc grid pattern, uniform bricks baths, drains, water chutes, sewers - 10,000+ - warehouses to store grain - strong gov. to manage cities - no evidence of kings or slavery - large distances - uniform weights and measures (cities) - precise surveying = mathematics - powerful leaders, possibly priests-kings - use of seals (implies laws, uniformity) - military>>?? polytheistic (idols, statues) mother goddess (creation) sacred animals: bull (animism) lok-mata (river) = “mother of the people” yes farming, fishing, herding, merchants, artisans complex cities: architecture, etc. military? yes, per job specialization needed for complex cities (leaders, priests, architects, merchants farmers/ workers/ fishermen) cities (walled) egalitarian layout – few large houses warehouses citadels: hill-top fortress or temple -- larger than ziggurats (protection from attack and floods) - no pyramids or monuments) citadels: pottery (decorative), statues (religious) extensive city infrastructure standard/ uniform building/ layout reservoirs (to collect monsoon rains) >> problem with mud (in remnants) yes, likely from trade with Mesopotamia - undeciphered / pictograms/ not complex - for trade: yes - for religion?

engineering: uniform bricks, urban planning, plumbing, sewers - highly accurate weights and measures (ivory scale) – bricks precisely uniform - irrigation - metallurgy: copper, tin, bronze - carts drawn by cattle (>>did not have horse) - precise docks (accommodating tides, waves, currents); - docks / boats/ fishing - agriculture (cotton cloth; plough) - dentistry/ medicine trade in crops, cotton cloth, copper, pearls, ivory surplus: crops/ cotton (first to weave it) – warehouses to store surpluses scarcity: ? Currency: no navigation (ocean trade routes) through mountain passes (Khyber, Bolan passes) ocean routes Aryans Aryans volcano/ earthquake/ floods?