IGNOU HISTORY NOTES : Modern India - MATERIAL CHARACTERISTICS

IGNOU HISTORY Study Notes for IAS, UPSC Exams

Modern India 1857-1964

MATERIAL CHARACTERISTICS

Structure
Objectives
Introduction
From Villages to Towns.and Cities
Harappan Civilization : Sources
Geographical Spread
Important Centres
6.5.1 Harappa
6.5.2 Mohenjodaro
6.5.3 Kalibangan
6.5.4 Lothal
6.5.5 Sutkagen-Dor

Material Characteristics

6.6.1 Town-Planning
6.6.2 Pottery
6.6.3 Tools and Implements6.6.4 Arts and Crafts
6.6.5 The Indus Script
6.6.6 Subsistence Pattern
Let Us Sum Up
Key Words
Answers to Check Your Progress Exercises

6.0 OBJECTIVES

This Unit deals with the geographical extent and the material features of the Harappan Civilization. It describes the main sites of Harappan Civilization as well as the material remains which characterised these sites. After reading this Unit you should be able to : understand that there was continuity of population and material traditions between the Early Harappan and Harappan Civilization. know about the geographical and climatic aspects of the settlement pattern of Harappan Civilization, describe the specific geographical, climatic and subsistence related characteristics of the important centres of Harappan Civilization.
learn about the material features of the impoitant Harappan sites and specially the uniformities in the material features of these sites.

6.1 INTRODUCTION

In this Unit we discuss the geographical spread and material characteristics of the Harappan Civilization which aroge on the foundation of pastoral and agricultuial communities and small townships. It refers to the continuity of the population and material traditions between Early Harappan and Harappan Civilization. The geographical spread of Harappan Civilization with special reference to some important centres has been highlighted. It attempts to familiarise you with the town planning, important structures, arts and crafts, housing patterns, pottery, tools and implements subsistence patterns and script of Harappan Civilization. Finally this unit also brings out the uniformities in the material characteristics of the Harappan sites.

6.2 FROM VILLAGES TO TOWNS AND CITIES

In Unit 5 we have seen how pastoral nomadic and agricultural communities established themselves in the Indus plain and how some small townships, having contacts with far away lands, had also come into existence. On the foundation of these agricultural communities and small townships emerged the 'Harappan Civilization'. By the term 'Harappan Civilization' we mean that the Harappan society was characterised by the presence and domination of large cities in this phase of its history. This would also mean the presence of specialised craftsmen, long distance trade, the existence of rich and poor people and the presence of kings. Apart from these general features common to all the Civilizations, there were some particular features of the Harappan Civilization. In the geographical space where the remains of the Harappan Civilization have been found, the communities were using the same written script. A Harappan community whether it was staying in Rajasthan or Punjab or Sind would be using the same sets of weights and measures. The copper-bronze tools used by them were also uniform in design, shape and size, the bricks they used had a proportion

4:2: 1. Some of their town's were also characterised by uniformities in the planning of the buildings, citadels etc. The seals, shell (shankh) bangles, carnelian beads and the disc beads of steatite were also uniformly designed in the entire geographical space covered by the cities of the Harappan Civilization. Most of the time a Harappan site is identified by the use of a pinkish pottery with bright red slip. This pottery had standard representations of trees, animals, birds and geometric motifs in black: These uniformities in the material features of the Harappan sites were the characteristic traits of Harappan Civilization.

6.3 HARAPPAN CIVILIZATION : SOURCES

The information about the Harappan Civilization comes from the reports of excavations at places like Harappa and Mohenjodaro. The excavations at Harappa began in 1921. Very many Harappan settlements have been located and excavated since then. Famed archaeologists like Sir John Marshall and Sir Mortimer Wheeler have conducted excavations at Harappan settlements. These scholars by carefully studying the material remains have made the relics of the past speak. Since we cannot read the written words we have to draw conclusions on the basis of the study of the artefacts used by the Harappan people. By now more than 1000 settlements bearing Harappan material have been discovered. However, most of these settlements have not been excavated. According to one estimate only 3% of the reported Harappan settlements have been excavated. Even at sites where excavation work has been carried out not more than one fifth area has been excavated. Some sites like Ganweriwala in the Hakra Valley and Furukslanin Punjab which are reported to be nearly as large as Mohenjodaro have not even been touched by excavators. This is because excavation involves a very large investment of money and manpower. At present the Governments of India or Pakistan do not have sufficient money to fund these excavations. However, one thing is clear. It is that when we are making generalisations about the Harappan Civilization we have to be extremely cautious. Any new discovery or excavation report can substantially modify our views about the Harappans. For example, scholars like Mortimer Wheeler who wrote nearly twenty years ago believed that the Harappan Civilization appeared fully developed in the Indus Valley and it had little in common with the people who lived in these areas in the preceding period. However, a careful analysis of the available materials and new excavation reports have convinced archaeologists that the Harappan Civilization developed over a long period of time in and around the Indus Valley region itself. We have studied the developments in the 'Early Harappan' period in the preceding unit, We find that there was a continuity of population and technical skill between the 'Early Harappan' and Harappan periods. A process of evolution was evident in the agricultural settlements, and basic crafts and the distinct Indus style itself were probably carried over from earlier regional traditions. Since the study of the
Harappan Civilization remains in many respects incomplete therefore it is one of the most challengine field of study for students of ancient Indian history.

6.4 GEOGRAPHICAL SPREAD

i Scholars generally believe that the Harappa, Ghaggar, Mohenjodaro axis represents thC heartland of the Harappan Civilization. Most of the Harappan settlements are located in this region. This area is characterised by certain uniformities. The entire zone is a flat stretch of land having similar subsistence pattern. Snowmelt from the Himalayas and the monsoon rains define its flooding pattern. This would create similar kinds of possibilities for agriculture and pastoralism. The Kachhi plains to the west of the bdus system is in the transitional zone of the Iranian borderlands. It is a flat alluvial outwash locqted at the foot of the Bolan pass and the lake Manchar. It is an inhospitable country and except for its periphery is completely dry. Sites like Nowsharo, Judei rjodaro and Ali-Murad have been reported from this area. The settlements of Sutka-koh and Sutkagen-Dor on the Makran coast represent the driest part of the hilly Baluchisran region. They are the known western boundaries of the Harappans. The Harappan settlements at Shortughai in north-eastem Afghanistan seem ta. have been isolated colonies of the Harappans. The eastern borderlands of the Harappan Civilization are represented by such settlements as Bargaon, Manpur and Alamgirpur in U.P. The subsistence system of these sites located in the Ganga-Yamuna doab was in confomjy to their geographical ' location. This area had higher rainfall and denser forests. It falls outside the zone of pastoral nomadism and falls in the wheat producing area. Therefore, it would pose different kinds of problems of settlement. This is why some scholars believe that this area represents an indepandent cultural province receiving stimulus from the &rappans. Manda in Jammy-and Ropar in Wnjab represent the northern extremities of the Harappans in India. The settlements of Daimabad in Maharashtra and Bhagatrav in Gujarat might have formed the southern frontier of the Harappans. Get Printed Study Notes for UPSC Exams - www.iasexamportal.com/notes InGujarat, too, the settlement pattern was not uniform. There were small dissected plateaus and scraplands in Kutch and Kathiawad. On the other hand this area had a large seacoast in the Gulf of Cambay and the Rann of Kutch. The Harappans in Gujarat were familiar with rice and millet. The Harappan Civilization seems to have covered a very large area. Its area was larger than those of the contemporary Civilizations of Mesopotamia and Egypt. In Mesopotamia settlements were spread out all across the riverine plains in dense clusters. However, except in the Ghaggar-Hakra region the Harappan settlements were very thinly spread out. Sites in Rajasthan and Gujarat could be divided by hundreds of kilometers of deserts and marshes..The nearest Harappan neighbour of Shortughai would be about 300 km. away. These vacant spaces might have been inhabited by primitive communities who were still surviving by hunting-gathering or by pastoral nomadism. Similarly, we get some idea of the size of population that lived in any of the Harappan cities from the studies conducted in this field. Scholars believe that the largest Harappan city i.e. Mohenjodaro had a population of about 35,000. The smallest towns of modern India would have a larger population than the biggest towns of ithe Harappans. We have to remember that in the Harappan period the fastest means of transport was bullock-cart, iron was unknown.and the use of plough was considered a revolutionary discovery. With such primitwe technology, a civilization which managed to bring together far flung areas in a complex web of socio-economic relationship was a stunning achievement in those days.

6.5 IMPORTANT CENTRES

One might ask why the Harappans tried to occupy such faraway places as Shortughai in Afghanistan or Surkotada in Gujarat. We may find the answer to this question if we try to examine the details of the location and characteristics of some important sites.

6.5.1 Harappa

Harappa was the first site to be excavated. From the 1920s onwards archaeologists like Dayaram Sahni, M.S. Vats and Mortimer Wheeler carried out excavations at Harappa. It is located on the bank of the Ravi in Western Punjab. In terms of its size and the variety of objects discovered, it ranks as the premier city of the Harappan Civilization. The ruins of the city cover a circuit of about 3 miles. What is intriguing however is the fact that there are no clusters of sites around Harappa. In Harappa a substantial section of the population was engaged in aqiuities other than food for production. These activities could relate to admin$trati\on, trade, craft work or religion. Since these people were not producing foo themselves someone else would have to do it for them. Productivity was Low and transportation was quite difficult. Thus, for maintaining these non-food producers the community would have I to mobilise a very large number of people for procuring and transporting food from L the food producidg areas. However, these areas would not have been very far fromthe city because transportation of grains was done by bullock carts and boats. Some I scholars have suggested that the surrounding villages might have been engaged in I shifting cultivation in the meander flood plains of the rivers. Villages had to keep i shifting according to the changes in the flood plains of the rivers. The location of Harappa in isolation can be explained by 'the fact that it was located in the midst of i some important trade routes which are still in use. These routes connected Harappa with Central Asia, Afghanistan and Jammu. Harappa's pre-eminent position was linked to its ability to procure exotic items from faraway lands.

6.6 MATERIAL CHARACTERISTICS

In this section we discuss the material characteristics of Harappan Civilization. We take into account the town planning, pottery, tools and implements, arts and crafts,scripts and subsistence pattern of Harappan Civilization.

6.6.1 Town-Planning

Archaeologists like Mortimer Wheeler and Stuart Piggot believed that the Harappan towns had a remarkable unity of conception. This was suggested by the division of each town into two parts. In one part was a raised citadel where the rulers were staying, in the other part of the town lived the ruled and the poor. This unity of planning would also mean that if you were walking on ttie streets of Harappa-the houses, the temples, the granaries and the streets themselves will be almost identical to those of Mohenjodaro or any other Harappan town for that matter. The entire idea of unity of conception was derived from the notion of a community of foreigners suddenly conquering the Indus Valley and building new towns. Such towns were designed to separate the natives from the rulers. Thus, the rulers built citadels which kept them in glorious isolation. Such ideas of the sudden emergence of the Harappan towns and the unity of planning are being increasingly rejected by new scholars. The Harappan towns were located on the flood-plains of rivers, on fringes of deserts or on sea coast. This meant that people living in these different regions faced different kinds of dhallenges from nature. Their adaptation to environment would introduce diversity in their town-planning and life style too. Also many large and seemingly Get Printed Study Notes for UPSC Exams - www.iasexamportal.com/notes important buildings were located in the lower city. Let us review the planning of some of the important settlements. The settlements of Harappa, Mohenjodaro and Kalibangan show certain uniformities in their planning. These cities were divided into a citadel on the west side and a lower town'on the eastern side of the settlement. The citadel was built on a high podium of mud brick. The citadel seems to have contained large structures which might have functioned as administrative or ritual centres. The lower city contained residential areas. In Mohenjodaro and Harappa the citadel was surrounded by a brick wall. At Kalibangan both the citadel and the lower city were surrounded by a wall, streets ran from north to south in the lower city and cut at right angles. Obviously, this kind of alignme'nt of streets and houses represents conscious town planning. However, the resources of the town planners in those days would be very limited. This assumption is based on the finds from Mohenjodaro and Kalibangan where the streets stagger from block to block and the alignments of streets and buildings in one part of Mohenjodaro (Moneer area) is quite different from the rest of the areas. Mohenjodaro was not constructed in homogeneous horizontal units. In fact it was built in different times. In Harappa and Mohenjodaro baked bricks were used for buildings. In Kalibangan mud bricks were used. In settlements like Kot Diji and Amri in Sind there was no fortification of the city. The site of Lothal in Gujarat also shows a very different layout. It was a rectangular settlement surrounded by a brick wall. It did not have any internal division into citadel and lower city. Along the eastern side of the town was found a brick basin which has been identified as a dockyard by its excavator. The site of Surkotada in Cutch was divided into two equal parts and the building materials were basically mud bricks and lumps of mud.