harappan civilization p pt
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harappan civilizationTRANSCRIPT
HARAPPAN
CIVILIZATION
The Indus valley civilization (IVC) was a bronze age civilization
located in the western region of south Asia. The civilization was
spread over some 1,260,000 km, making it the largest ancient
civilization.
The Indus valley is one of the worlds earliest urban civilizations,
at its peak, the Indus civilization may have had a population of well
over five million.
Inhabitants of the ancient Indus river valley developed new
techniques in handicraft and metallurgy. The civilization is noted
for its cities built of brick, roadside drainage system, and multi-
storeyed houses.
INTRODUCTION
Facts About Harappa Excavation of Harappan sites has
been ongoing since 1920, with important break through occurring as recently as 1999.
There were earlier and later cultures, often called Early Harappan and Late Harappan, in the same area of the Harappan Civilization.
The Harappan civilization is sometimes called the Mature Harappan culture to distinguish it from these cultures.
Up to 1999, about 1,056 cities and settlements have been found, of which 96 sites have been excavated mainly in the general region of the Indus river.
Archaeological records provide no immediate answers for a centre of power or for depictions of people in power in Harappan society. But, there are indications of complex decisions being taken and implemented.
Authority
The Harappans were agriculturists. Their economy was entirely dominated by
horticulture. There were massive granaries in each city. Many of the
Harappan seals had pictures of animals that imply a wet and marshy environment,
such as rhinoceroses, elephants and tigers. The Harappans also had a wide
variety of domesticated animals.
Occupation
Art of Writing
Between 400 and as many
as 600 distinct Indus
symbols have been found
on seals, small tablets,
ceramic pots and more than
a dozen other materials,
including a "signboard" that
apparently once hung over
the gate of the inner citadel
of the Indus city of
Dholavira.
HARAPPAN SEALS
The Pashupati Seal is the name of a steatite seal (dating from 2600–1900 BCE) discovered at Mohenjo-daro.
The seal depicts a seated, possibly ithyphallic and tricephalic, figure with a horned headdress, surrounded by animals.
It is purported to be one of the earliest depictions of the Hindu god Shiva
(The seal is named after "Pashupati", an epithet of Shiva) or Rudra, who is associated with asceticism, yoga, and linga; regarded as a lord of animal; and often depicted as having three heads.
PASHUPATI SEAL
The Great Bath
The Great Bath of Mohenjodaro is
called the "earliest public water
tank of the ancient world“.
The Great Bath measures 11.88
metres x 7.01 metres, and has a
maximum depth of 2.43 metres. Two
wide staircases, one from the north
and one from the south, served as
the entry to the structure.
A hole was also found at one end of
the Bath which might have been
used to drain the water into it.
SPECIALITIES OF HARAPPAN
CIVILIZATION
The drainage system of Mohenjo-Daro
is so elaborate that “the like of which
has not yet been found anywhere in
the world in any other city of the
same antiquity.”
DRAINAGE SYSTEM
The drainage system and drains were
covered with bricks or stones and
were provided with inspection traps
and main holes at regular intervals
for inspection.
The Town Planning System of Indus
Valley Civilization (Harappan
Civilization) was city based.
The excellent drainage and sanitation
systems are remarkable. The Indus
civilization flourished around cities.
The ruins of the cities so far
unearthed show remarkable town
planning system and excellent system
of drainage and sanitation of
the Indus Valley Civilization.
The city was the heart of the
civilization.
TOWN PLANNING
Archaeologists have offered four explanations for the collapse of the Harappan “Civilization”.
Three are based on ecological factors: intense flooding, decrease in precipitation, and the dessication of the Sarasvati River.
The fourth hypothesis is that of the Aryan Invasion, proposed by Sir R. E. Mortimer Wheeler and Stuart Piggott.
Fourth largely abandoned in the 1940s in favor of a combination of factors from ecological disasters.
Four Theories of Collapse