I am personally very fascinated by Indian History and this led me to writing this article. I’ld love to make the remarkable history of my land known to history lovers all over the world.
The earliest traces of human existence in India so far discovered, go back to the 2nd interglacial period between 400,000 BC and 200,000 BC. A large number of primitive stone tools dating back to this period have been excavated from Soan valley (now in Pakistan) and from the southern part- mostly in and around Chennai. This age is known as the Paleolithic age (Old stone age)
It is said that the present human species, Homo Sapiens evolved towards the end of the Paleolithic age. This age extended upto the end of Ice Age. Then came the Mesolithic Age (later stone age- from 8000BC to 4000BC) and the Neolithic age (new stone age-from 4000BC to 1800BC). Then came the Chalcolithic settlements when people started using copper and bronze tools and started leading a settled life.
I am not elaborating about these since their features are almost the same around the world.
THE HARAPPAN CIVILIZATION (3000BC- 1500BC)
I’m sure each one of you will be curious to know about the Indus valley civilization. Well, here, I give you a brief sketch of this ancient civilization which is famous for it’s spectacular city planning and surpasses all other contemporary civilizations - Mesopotamian and Egyptian- with it’s unique features.
The Harappan Civilization was brought to light by the Archeological Survey of India in the earl 1920s. It’s main sites are situated on the banks of the river Indus and it’s 5 tributaries- Ravi, Jhelum, Chenab, Beas and Sutlej. Hence the name Indus valley civilization. But, later it was found that it was not confined to the Indus valley. It covered an area which extended from the foothills of Himalayas in the North to the Gulf of Cambay in the south, from Saurashtra, Sindh and the Makran coast in the west to the upper Gangetic plain in the east- It is the largest ancient cultural zone unearthed so far.
The major sites of the Indus Civilization are Mohenjodaro (Sindh,Pakistan), Harappa- (now in Punjab province of Pakistan) Chanhu Daro (Sindh), Lothal (Gujarath,India) etc.
MAIN FEATURES
Town Planning and Structures
The most outstanding feature of the Indus valley Civilization is its town planning. The civilization boasted of well regulated streets forming a gridiron system. Roads were wide and intersected at right angles forming square or rectangular blocks.
The houses were made of either mud bricks or kiln burnt bricks. The size of the bricks was uniform. An average house consisted of a courtyard around which there were rooms on 3 sides and the fourth side was the entrance. Some houses were even multi storied!
They had an elaborate drainage system. At Mohenjodaro, every house had its own wells and bathrooms. Water flowed from houses to the street drains which ultimately reached the river. The sewers in the street were covered throughout their length by brick slabs.
Apart from the houses, there were many monumental buildings showing the architectural marvel of the people. The great Bath, the Great granary and The Assembly building in Mohenjodaro and the citadel at Kalibangan are noteworthy. Out of them, the most outstanding and remarkable one is The Great Bath at Mohenjo-daro. Since I am literally wonderstruck by this structure, I intend to write more on it. I suggest you to visit some website which will provide you a picture of the Great Bath.
The Great Bath
It is an open paved quadrangle with verandas on all sides. At the back of these, there are galleries, rooms, halls and chambers. It is believed that some of these rooms were used for changing clothes. In the centre of the quadrangle, there is a large swimming bath with flights of steps from either side. It was filled with water from a nearby well and emptied by a drain. The Bath was constructed by laying bricks in gypsum mortar and made water tight by a damp proof coat of bitumen. The Great Bath remains more or less intact after 4500 years. Perhaps the Great Bath was used for some religious ceremony.
(This will be continued....)