Chapter 6 — The Beginnings of Indian Civilisation

The Harappan civilisation — also called the Indus, Indus-Sarasvati or Sindhu-Sarasvati civilisation — was the earliest civilisation of the Indian Subcontinent and one of the oldest in the world. It flourished from about 2600 to 1900 BCE in the plains of Punjab, Sindh and surrounding regions. Its inhabitants are called Harappans because the city of Harappa was the first site to be excavated, in 1920–21.

According to the chapter, a civilisation should have at least seven characteristics: some form of government and administration; urbanism including town-planning and water management; a variety of crafts; internal and external trade; some form of writing; cultural ideas expressed through art, architecture or social customs; and productive agriculture sufficient to feed not just villages but also cities.

Archaeologists have given the civilisation several names. 'Harappan' comes from Harappa, the first city to be excavated (in 1920–21). 'Indus' reflects the Indus River that watered the region. 'Indus-Sarasvati' or 'Sindhu-Sarasvati' includes the Sarasvati River, along whose banks many sites were also found. The term 'Indus Valley civilisation' is now considered obsolete because discoveries show the civilisation extended far beyond the Indus Valley.

Harappan cities were built on precise plans with wide streets often oriented to the cardinal directions. Most cities had fortifications and two distinct parts: an upper town where the elite probably lived, and a lower town for common people. All buildings, both large and small, were generally made of bricks and constructed to the same quality standard. Dholavira was unusual in having three distinct zones instead of two.

The Great Bath was a small but elaborate tank at Mohenjo-daro measuring about 12 × 7 metres. It was made of carefully laid bricks with waterproofing materials such as natural bitumen (a form of tar). It had a drain to empty it and a well nearby to refill it with freshwater. Archaeologists debate its purpose — a bath for the royal family or a tank for religious rituals — but not a public bath, since most houses in Mohenjo-daro already had individual bathrooms.

Water management was a high priority for the Harappans. In Mohenjo-daro, people drew water from hundreds of brick-lined wells. Homes had separate bathing areas connected to a network of drains that ran below the streets. At Dholavira, at least six large reservoirs were built with stones or cut into the rock, the largest measuring 73 metres in length; most were connected through underground drains for efficient water harvesting and distribution.

The Harappans grew cereals such as barley, wheat, some millets and sometimes rice, along with pulses and a variety of vegetables. They were also the first in Eurasia to grow cotton. They domesticated animals for meat and fished in rivers and the sea. Scientific examination of clay pots revealed dairy products and, surprisingly, remains of turmeric, ginger and banana, showing their diet was quite diverse.

The Harappans traded both within their own civilisation and with other civilisations inside and outside India. They exported ornaments (especially carnelian beads from Gujarat), timber, objects of daily use, and probably gold, cotton and some food items. They probably imported copper in return. Trade used land routes, rivers and the sea — marking the first intensive maritime activity in India — with Lothal's dockyard measuring 217 metres in length.

Harappan seals were small objects, generally only a few centimetres in size, made of steatite (a soft stone hardened by heating). They depict animal figures — such as a unicorn, a bull, and a horned tiger — with a few signs of a writing system above the figures. The writing has not yet been deciphered. The seals appear to be linked to trade, probably helping traders identify their goods and each other.

Around 1900 BCE the Harappan cities began to be abandoned one by one and people returned to a rural lifestyle. Two main causes are currently agreed upon: a climatic change that affected much of the world from 2200 BCE onward, causing reduced rainfall and a drier phase that would have hurt agriculture; and the drying up of the Sarasvati River, which led to the sudden abandonment of cities along it, such as Kalibangan and Banawali. There is no evidence of warfare or invasion.

According to the chapter, the Harappans do not seem to have kept any army or weapons of war. There is no trace of warfare or invasion in the archaeological evidence, and the civilisation appears to have been relatively peaceful. Early theories that warfare destroyed the cities have been ruled out.

The major Harappan cities were spread across present-day India and Pakistan. Harappa and Mohenjo-daro are in Pakistan's Punjab and Sindh respectively. Other important cities include Dholavira and Lothal (both in Gujarat), Rakhigarhi (Haryana), Kalibangan (Rajasthan), Ganweriwala (Cholistan desert, Pakistan), and smaller settlements like Farmana, Bhirrana and Banawali in Haryana.

The Sarasvati River once flowed from the foothills of the Himalayas through Haryana, Punjab, parts of Rajasthan and Gujarat, and is first mentioned in the Rig Veda. Today this river is known as the Ghaggar in India and the Hakra in Pakistan, and it flows only during the rainy season, having largely dried up. Many important Harappan sites were located along its banks.

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