Chapter 1 — Bricks, Beads and Bones: The Harappan Civilisation

The text identifies three phases: Early Harappan (6000–2600 BCE), described as a formative phase; Mature Harappan (2600–1900 BCE), the most prosperous urban phase; and Late Harappan (1900–1300 BCE), a decadent or declining phase. The total time span of the civilisation ranges from 6000 BCE to 1300 BCE.

The five major cities are Rakhigarhi, Mohenjodaro, Harappa, Dholavira, and Ganweriwala. More than 2000 Harappan archaeological sites have been discovered in the Indian subcontinent, most located between the Indus and Saraswati river basins. Nearly two-thirds of these settlements are in the Saraswati basin.

Mohenjodaro was divided into a walled Citadel (higher, smaller) and a larger Lower Town. Streets were laid out in an approximate grid pattern intersecting at right angles. There were about 700 wells, and every house had bathrooms connected through the wall to street drains. Constructing the Lower Town's platforms alone required roughly four million person-days of labour. Bricks were standardised in ratio throughout.

The Great Bath was a large rectangular tank in a courtyard on the Citadel at Mohenjodaro. It was made watertight by setting bricks on edge and using a mortar of gypsum. Two flights of steps on the north and south led into the tank, and water from it flowed into a huge drain. Scholars suggest it was used for some kind of ritual bath, based on its prominent location on the Citadel.

The script has between 375 and 400 signs — far too many to be alphabetical, where each sign stands for a vowel or consonant. Most inscriptions are short, with the longest containing about 26 signs. No bilingual inscription has been found to help decode it. The script was written from right to left, as some seals show wider spacing on the right and cramping on the left.

Grains found at Harappan sites include wheat, barley, lentil, chickpea, and sesame. Millets are found from sites in Gujarat, and rice finds are relatively rare. Domesticated animals included cattle, sheep, goat, buffalo, and pig. Bones of wild species such as boar, deer, and gharial are also found. Fish and fowl bones have been recovered too.

Beads were made from stones (carnelian, jasper, crystal, quartz, steatite), metals (copper, bronze, gold), shell, faience, and terracotta. For carnelian beads, the yellowish raw material was first fired to obtain the characteristic red colour. Nodules were then chipped into rough shapes, finely flaked into the final form, and finished by grinding, polishing, and drilling. Specialised drills for this purpose have been found at Chanhudaro, Lothal, and Dholavira.

Weights were usually made of a stone called chert and were generally cubical with no markings. Lower denominations followed a binary system (1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32), while higher denominations followed the decimal system (160, 200, 320, 640). The smaller weights were probably used for weighing jewellery and beads. Metal scale-pans have also been found.

Daya Ram Sahni began excavations at Harappa in 1921 and found seals in layers definitely older than Early Historic levels. Rakhal Das Banerji found similar seals at Mohenjodaro, leading to the conjecture that both sites belonged to a single archaeological culture. In 1924, John Marshall, Director-General of the ASI, announced the discovery of a new civilisation in the Indus valley to the world.

Chemical analyses showed that both Omani copper and Harappan artefacts contain traces of nickel, suggesting a common origin. A large Harappan jar coated with thick black clay — used to prevent percolation of liquids — has been found at Omani sites. Mesopotamian texts refer to a region called Meluhha (possibly the Harappan region) as a source of carnelian, lapis lazuli, copper, gold, and wood, and describe it as a land of seafarers.

By c. 1800 BCE, most Mature Harappan sites in regions like Cholistan were abandoned. Proposed explanations include climatic change, deforestation, excessive floods, the shifting or drying up of rivers, and overuse of the landscape. The disappearance of seals, the script, distinctive beads and pottery, standardised weights, long-distance trade, and craft specialisation all marked the end of urban life. No single cause explains the collapse of the entire civilisation.

Research by the Deccan College Deemed University, Pune, the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad, and Harvard Medical College extracted DNA from skeletal remains at Rakhigarhi — the largest Harappan city at 550 hectares in Hisar district, Haryana. The findings indicate that the Harappans were indigenous to the region, with genetic roots going back to 10,000 BCE. A majority of the modern South Asian population appears to be descended from them, showing unbroken genetic continuity for 5000 years.

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