Harappan Civilization

The name “India” comes from the River Indus.  But India is also known as Bharat in Sanskrit.  Among the world civilizations, the Indus Civilization was perhaps the most prolific. It was in 1921, archeologist discovered the cist of Harappa and in 1922 they discovered the city of Mohenjo-Daro, about 640 kilometer south of Harappa.  Recently, they have also discovered cities along the Sarasvati River.  But it was no until the 1990s that archaeologists began making startling new discoveries. They have now found more than 1,000 settlements along the Sarasvati River.  Three of the major urban settlements were known as Rakhigarhi, Ganweriwala and Dholavira. Since their discovery, the archeologists have been revising everything about the civilization. They have already renamed it the Harappan Civilization, for all the cities are similar. All the cities have the same traits as the city of Harappa.  And so, the archeologists no longer call it the Indus civilization. This civilization is unique. It was one of the world’s first four civilizations: Mesopotamia, Egypt, India and China.  It emerged at roughly the same as Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt.  Life here was quite different, more so in writing, architecture, technology and social organization from all the other civilization.  

The Harappan civilization arose in Pakistan and western India. The civilization lay just south of the Himalayas. It also lay north of the Arabian Sea.  India was isolated and Himalayas did not stop invaders, as they entered through the Khyber Pass. Arabian Sea did not stop traders as they traveled by ship from Mesopotamia. The Harappan civilization lay 2400 km (1500 miles) east of Mesopotamia.  The Harappan civilization was far bigger than any other ancient civilization. It was twice the size of ancient Egypt or Mesopotamia. The Harappan people built a complex urban network of large cities, medium towns, small rural villages, mining towns and coastal towns.

Questionnaire:

• What is Harappan civilization? Explain.