What is civilisation, and the Indus-Sarasvatī civilisation
When a village grows into a town it needs streets, water, shops, markets and rules — a civilisation grows in the same way.
A civilisation is an advanced stage of human society with government and administration, town planning, varied crafts, trade, records or writing, and cultural ideas. The first civilisation of the Indian Subcontinent was the Indus-Sarasvatī (Harappan) civilisation, which grew from about 3500 BCE.
In the figure : Marks of a civilisation and the spread of the Indus-Sarasvatī civilisation.
Rule 1: Civilisations began at different times — In Mesopotamia (today Iraq and Syria) civilisation arose about 6,000 years ago, Egypt a few centuries later. In the Indian Subcontinent villages grew into cities from about 3500 BCE, called the "First Urbanisation".
- Easy : A civilisation has government, cities, trade and writing.
- Medium : Mesopotamian civilisation is about 6,000 years old.
- Exam-type : Name at least four marks of a civilisation. Answer: any four of administration, town planning, crafts, trade, writing, cultural ideas.
Rule 2: The Indus-Sarasvatī civilisation and its names — The civilisation is called Indus, Harappan or Indus-Sarasvatī. Harappa was the first city excavated (1920-21), so people are called Harappans. "Indus Valley" is now outdated because it spread beyond the Indus basin. The Sarasvatī is today known as the Ghaggar-Hakra and flows only in the rainy season.
- Easy : Harappa is in Pakistan's Punjab today.
- Medium : Rakhigarhi is in Haryana and Dholavira in Gujarat.
- Exam-type : Why is "Indus Valley" no longer used? Answer: because the civilisation spread well beyond the Indus basin, including the Sarasvatī region.
The Ṛig Veda mentions the Sarasvatī as flowing "from the mountain to the sea".
Thinking the civilisation lay only along the Indus. It had big centres in the Sarasvatī region too.
Six marks: Administration, Plan, Crafts, Trade, Writing, Culture. Memory clue : "A-P-C-T-W-C".
What happened before the Harappa excavation? In the 1850s the railway between Lahore and Multan was being built, and railway contractors carted away old bricks from the mounds of Harappa to use as ballast. Alexander Cunningham visited Harappa about then and later made a small dig; but nobody then knew how old the site was.
What happened after the discovery of Harappa? On 20 September 1924 John Marshall, head of the Archaeological Survey of India, announced the finds at Harappa and Mohenjo-daro in the Illustrated London News and asked readers for help. A week later a professor wrote in the same weekly that similar seals were known in Mesopotamia; the world realised that India too had a civilisation as old as those of Mesopotamia and Egypt.
Spot the difference
| Term | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Civilisation | An advanced society with administration, cities, trade, writing | Indus-Sarasvatī civilisation |
| Harappans | People of this civilisation | Named after Harappa |
| Ghaggar-Hakra | Modern name of the ancient Sarasvatī | A seasonal river |
| First Urbanisation | Villages turning into cities | From about 3500 BCE |
Practice questions
- 1What is a civilisation?
- 2Why are the people called Harappans?
- 3What is the Sarasvatī called today?
- 4Name two important cities and where they are.
- 5When did Mesopotamian civilisation begin?
- 6Why is the name "Indus Valley civilisation" given up today?
- 7What did the world realise after the 1924 announcement?
- 8Why is writing important for calling a society a civilisation?
Show answers (try them yourself first)
- 1An advanced society with administration, cities, trade and writing.
- 2Because Harappa was the first city of this civilisation to be excavated.
- 3Ghaggar in India and Hakra in Pakistan.
- 4For example Dholavira (Gujarat) and Rakhigarhi (Haryana).
- 5About 6,000 years ago.
- 6Because it covered a far bigger area, including the Sarasvatī region.
- 7That South Asia had a civilisation as old as Egypt's and Mesopotamia's.
- 8Writing lets accounts, trade, rules and knowledge be recorded and passed on.
Town planning and water management
If your town has laid-out streets, covered drains and public wells, it is well planned — the Harappans did this over 4,000 years ago.
Large Harappan cities were built to a plan: wide streets lined up with directions, fortifications, an upper and a lower town, brick houses and covered drains. They gave great importance to water management and cleanliness.
In the figure : The planned design of a Harappan city.
Rule 1: Planned cities, houses of similar quality — Streets were wide and often lined up with directions. The city had two parts: upper town (elite) and lower town (common people). Houses were of brick and of the same quality whether small or big. Large buildings such as warehouses served collective use.
- Easy : Harappan houses were made of bricks.
- Medium : Houses small and big had the same quality, suggesting little inequality.
- Exam-type : For whom was the upper town probably meant? Answer: the local elite.
Rule 2: Water and cleanliness — Bathing areas in homes joined a large drain network running below the streets. Mohenjo-daro had hundreds of brick wells. Dholavira built at least six large reservoirs cut into rock; the biggest was 73 m long. Mohenjo-daro's "Great Bath" measured about 12 × 7 m and its purpose is still debated.
- Easy : A drainage system has been found at Lothal.
- Medium : Dholavira's reservoirs were connected by underground drains.
- Exam-type : Why can the purpose of the Great Bath not be stated surely? Answer: there is no written evidence, so only interpretations are possible.
Such big reservoirs needed many workers, planning and upkeep; this hints at an administration.
Stating firmly that the Great Bath was a royal bath. Its purpose is uncertain.
Harappa = plan + bricks + drains + reservoirs. Memory clue : "P-B-D-R" (Plan, Bricks, Drains, Reservoirs).
Spot the difference
| Term | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Upper town | Probably the elite's area | The walled citadel |
| Lower town | Homes of common people | Brick houses |
| Drain | Covered channel for waste water | Lothal, Mohenjo-daro |
| Reservoir | Large tank to store water | Dholavira (73 m) |
Practice questions
- 1What were Harappan houses made of?
- 2Name the two parts of a Harappan city.
- 3Where did people of Mohenjo-daro get water?
- 4How long was the largest reservoir at Dholavira?
- 5Give the size of the Great Bath.
- 6What does the drainage tell us about the Harappans?
- 7What might equal quality of small and big houses suggest?
- 8What would have been needed to build such reservoirs?
Show answers (try them yourself first)
- 1Bricks.
- 2The upper town and the lower town.
- 3From hundreds of brick wells.
- 473 metres.
- 5About 12 × 7 metres.
- 6They valued cleanliness and water management greatly.
- 7That differences between rich and poor were not sharp.
- 8Many workers, a planner or ruler, a local body for upkeep, and a way to reward the workers.
Farming, trade and crafts
The grain, cloth and jewellery at your home come from farmers, weavers and goldsmiths; Harappan cities worked the same way.
Harappans grew barley, wheat, pulses and vegetables and were among the first in Eurasia to grow cotton. They traded by land and sea and used seals to mark goods.
In the figure : Harappan farming, crafts and trade.
Rule 1: Farming near rivers; cities depend on villages — Rivers made the soil fertile. Hundreds of small villages fed the cities daily. They kept animals and fished in rivers and the sea. Tests on cooking pots found dairy products and also traces of turmeric, ginger and banana.
- Easy : Harappans wove cotton cloth.
- Medium : A small clay model of a plough has been found.
- Exam-type : Why did cities depend on villages? Answer: cities do not grow food; it must reach them daily from rural areas.
Rule 2: Crafts and trade — Red carnelian beads (a stone from Gujarat) and shell bangles were popular ornaments. Copper mixed with tin gives bronze, which is harder than copper. The basin at Lothal, about 217 × 36 m, was probably a dockyard. Steatite seals show animals and a script that is still not deciphered.
- Easy : Carnelian beads have been found at Susa in Iran.
- Medium : Bronze = copper + tin.
- Exam-type : What were seals used for? Answer: to identify goods and traders in trade.
Harappans were skilled in bronze and carnelian; trade reached beyond India too.
Thinking the Harappan script has been read. It is still undeciphered.
Bronze = copper + tin; seals = identity in trade. Memory clue : "Cu + Sn = bronze".
Spot the difference
| Term | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Carnelian | Reddish semi-precious stone | Beads |
| Bronze | Metal made by mixing copper and tin | Tools, pots |
| Seal | A small stamp to identify goods | Made of steatite |
| Dockyard | A place for boats to dock | Lothal |
Practice questions
- 1Which crops did the Harappans grow?
- 2What is bronze made of?
- 3What stone were most seals made of?
- 4What is the large basin at Lothal thought to be?
- 5What goods did Harappans export?
- 6Why was drilling carnelian beads a skill?
- 7Why was farming located near rivers?
- 8If the script is undeciphered, how do we learn their history?
Show answers (try them yourself first)
- 1Barley, wheat, pulses, vegetables, some millets and cotton.
- 2Copper and tin.
- 3Steatite.
- 4A dockyard for boats.
- 5Ornaments, timber, daily objects, probably gold and cotton.
- 6The stone is hard; special techniques were developed to pass a string through.
- 7Because water is easy to get and rivers enrich the soil.
- 8From objects, buildings, bones and scientific tests on pots.
The decline of the civilisation
If rain fails and a river dries up, people leave their village — something like this probably happened to the Harappan cities.
From about 1900 BCE the cities were abandoned one by one and people scattered into thousands of small rural settlements. Causes: a climate change from 2200 BCE (less rain) and the drying of the Sarasvatī in its central basin.
In the figure : Causes and effects of the decline.
Rule 1: Environment, not invasion — It was once thought that war or invasion destroyed the cities, but there is no trace of warfare; the Harappans seem to have kept no army or weapons. Two causes are now agreed: climate change and the drying of the Sarasvatī. Cities such as Kalibangan and Banawali were then abandoned.
- Easy : Kalibangan is in Rajasthan.
- Medium : A drier climate made farming harder.
- Exam-type : Why did people move to villages? Answer: rural life gives easier access to food and water.
Rule 2: The culture survived — Although the cities vanished, much of the Harappan culture and technology passed to the next phases of Indian civilisation. It shows how much cities depend on climate and environment.
- Easy : Some Harappan arts continued later.
- Medium : Things like the plough and arm-bangles are still seen today.
- Exam-type : What lesson does the decline give? Answer: human life depends on climate and environment.
The cities ended but the civilisation did not vanish; it continued in rural form.
Stating that Harappa was invaded. There is no evidence.
Causes: dry climate + dried river. Memory clue : "Climate + River".
Spot the difference
| Term | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Decline | Cities being abandoned | From about 1900 BCE |
| Climate change | A long drier phase | From 2200 BCE |
| Drying of the Sarasvatī | River drying in its central basin | Kalibangan, Banawali |
| Rural settlements | Small villages where people scattered | Thousands of settlements |
Practice questions
- 1About when did the decline begin?
- 2Give two causes of the decline.
- 3Why is war not seen as the cause today?
- 4Where did people go after leaving the cities?
- 5Which cities were abandoned when the Sarasvatī dried up?
- 6Why was rural life easier than urban life?
- 7Explain with an example how the culture survived the end of the cities.
- 8What do we learn about the environment from this event?
Show answers (try them yourself first)
- 1From about 1900 BCE.
- 2Climate change (less rain) and the drying of the Sarasvatī.
- 3No trace of warfare or an army has been found.
- 4Into small rural settlements.
- 5Kalibangan and Banawali.
- 6Food and water are easier to get and one does not depend on a city system.
- 7For example tools and techniques like the plough, ornaments and bangles continued in use.
- 8How dependent human societies are on climate and rivers; so we must protect the environment.