IGNOU HISTORY NOTES : India Earliest Times to the 8th Century A.D - Diffusion and Decline

IGNOU HISTORY Study Notes for IAS, UPSC Exams

India Earliest Times to the 8th Century A.D

Diffusion and Decline

Structure

9.0 Objectives
9.1 Introduction
9.2 Decline of Harappa: The Archaeological Evidence
9.3 Theories of Sudden Decline
9.3.1 Floods and Earthquakes
9.3.2 The Shifting Away of Indus
9.3.3 Increased Aridity and D~ying Up of the Ghaggar
9.3.4 Barbarian Invasions
9.4 Ecological Imbalance: Theory of Gradual Decline
9.5 The Tradition Survives
9.5.1 Sind
9.5.2 The Indo-Ira~an Borderlands
9.5.3 Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan
9.5.4 Kutch and Saurashtra
9.6 Transmission of the Harappan Tradition
9.7 What Survives from Harappa?
9.8 Let Us Sum Up
9.9 Key Words
9.10 Answers to Check Your Progress Exercises

9.0 OBJECTIVES

After reading this unit, you will get to know:

about the problems faced by scholars to understand the decline of Harappan Civilization
about the theories-put forward for the decline of Harappa
that why over the years scholars have stopped lwking for the causes of decline ofHarappa, and
that instead scholars are trying to look for the evidence of survival and continuities of the Harappan Civilization.

9.1 INTRODUCTION

In the previous units we have discussed the various aspects. of origin and growth of
Harappan Civilization. However, the disappearance of 'the various aspects of its
maturity i.e. writing, town planning, etc. in the subseqbnt phase of ancient India is
rather mysterious. In this unit we will examine the various arguments put forward to
solve this mystery.

9.2 DECLINE OF HARAPPA :
THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE

Cities like Harappa, Mohenjodaro and Kalibangan experienced graduai decline in
urban planning and construction. Houses made of old dilapidated bricks and shoddy
construction encroached upon the roads and streets of the towns. Flimsy partitions
sub-divided the courtyards of the houses. The Cities were fast turning into slums. A
detailed study of the architectures of Mohenjodaro shows that many entry points to
the 'Great Bath' were blocked. Sometimes later the 'Great Bath' and the 'Granary'
fell into total disuse. At the same time the late levels (i.e. later habitations) at
Mohenjodaro showed a distinct reduction in the-number of sculptures, figurines,
beads, bangles and inlay works. Towards the end, the city of Mohenjodaro shrank to
a small settlement of three hectares from the original .eighty-five hectares.
Before its abandonment Harappa seems to have witnessed the amval of a group of
people about whom we know through their burial practices. They were using a pottery