Understanding Harappa: Civilization in the Greater Indus Valley

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Indus civilization, also called Indus valley civilization or Harappan civilization is the earliest known urban culture of the Indian subcontinent. The nuclear dates of the civilization appear to be about 2500-1700 BCE, though the southern sites may have lasted later into the 2nd millennium BCE. The Indus civilization is known to have consisted of two large cities, Harappa and Mohenjo-daro, and more than 100 towns and villages, often of relatively small size. The two cities were each perhaps originally about 1 mile (1.6 km) square in overall dimensions, and their outstanding magnitude suggests political centralization, either in two large states or in a single great empire with alternative capitals, a practice having analogies in Indian history. It is also possible that Harappa succeeded Mohenjo-daro, which is known to have been devastated more than once by exceptional floods. The southern region of the civilization, on the Kathiawar Peninsula and beyond, appears to be of later origin than the major Indus sites. The civilization was literate, and its script, with some 250 to 500 characters, has been partly and tentatively deciphered, the language has been indefinitely identified as Dravidian. This valuable book offers a variety of perspectives on the Indus Valley civilization, covering important objects recovered during recent excavations at Harappa, and recent archaeological discoveries on South Asian societies and ancient technologies. This informative book is an attempt to satisfy the interest of students and non-specialists in the early civilization of the Indus valley and adjoining regions of Pakistan and India.

Sima Kumari is Lecturer, Department of History, Swami Sahajanand College, Jehanabad, a constituent unit of Magadh University, Bodh Gaya Her several research papers have been published in reputed journals. St has also attended many national seminars.

Harappa is an archaeological site in Punjab, Pakistan, about 24 km (15 mi) west of Sahiwal. The site takes its name from a modern village located near the former course of the Ravi River which now runs 8 km (5.0 mi) in north. The current village of Harappa is less than 1 km (0.62 mi) from the ancient site. Although modern Harappa has a legacy railway station from the period of the British Raj, it is a small crossroads town of 15,000 people today. The site of the ancient city contains the ruins of a Bronze Age fortified city, which was part of the Indus Valley Civilization centred in Sindh and the Punjab, and then the Cemetery H culture. The city is believed to have had as many as 23,500 residents and occupied about 150 hectares (370 acres) with clay brick houses at its greatest extent during the Mature Harappan phase (2600 BC 1900 BC), which is considered large for its time. Per archaeological convention of naming a previously unknown civilization by its first excavated site, the Indus Valley Civilization is also called the Harappan Civilization.

The ancient city of Harappa was heavily damaged under British rule, when bricks from the ruins were used as track ballast in the construction of the Lahore-Multan Railway. In 2005, a controversial amusement park scheme at the site was abandoned when builders unearthed many archaeological artifacts during the early stages of building work. A plea from the Pakistani archaeologist Mohit Prem Kumar to the Ministry of Culture resulted in a restoration of the site. Various researches suggest that agriculture and allied activities were the main occupation and trade in Indus Valley Civilization. Like other civilisations of Egypt, Greece and Mesopotamia Indus valley civilisation also grew on the floodplains of Indus River. Many of the towns were also built upon the shores of this river. The Harappans were agriculturalists and their economy was entirely dominated by horticulture. It is also believed that there were massive granaries in each city then and Indus River valley was pretty fertile.

**Contents and Sample Pages**