Origin and Phases
The Indus Valley civilization was an ancient
civilization thriving along the Indus river and the
Ghaggar-Hakra river in what is now Pakistan and
north-western India. Among other names for this
civilization is the Harappan civilization in reference
to the fi rst excavated city of Harappa.
An alternative term for the culture is Saraswati-
Sindhu civilization based on the fact that most of
the Indus Valley sites have been found along the
Ghaggar-Hakra river.
R.B. Dayaram Sahni first discovered Harappa
(on Ravi) in 1921. R.D. Banerjee discovered
Mohenjodaro or ‘Mound of the Dead’ (on Indus)
in 1922. Sir John Marshal played a crucial role in
both these.
Harappan civilization forms part of the proto
history of India i.e. the script is there, but it cannot
be deciphered and belongs to the Bronze Age.
The Indus valley civilization gradually developed
to a full-fledged civilization which has been
established through a continuous sequence of strata
named as Pre-Harappan, Early Harappan, Mature
Harappan and Late Harappan stages or phases.
The long term indigenous evolution of this
civilization which obviously began on the periphery
of the Indus Valley in the hills of eastern Baluchistan
and then extended so far into the plains, can be
documented by an analysis of four sites which have
been excavated in recent years: Mehargarh, Amri,
Kalibangan and Lothal which refl ect the sequence
of the four important phases or stages in pre and
proto history in the north-west region of the Indian
sub-continent.
The sequence begins with the transition of
nomadic herdsmen to settled agriculturists in
eastern Baluchistan (First Phase), continues with
the growth of large villages and the rise of towns
in the Indus Valley (Second Phase), leads to the
emergence of the great cities (Third Phase), and
fi nally, ends with their decline (Fourth Phase).
Mediterranean, Proto-Australoid, Mongoloids and
Alpines formed the bulk of the population, though
the fi rst two were more numerous.
More than 100 sites belonging to this civilization
have been excavated.
According to radio-carbon dating, it spread from
the year 2500-1750 B.C.
Copper, bronze, silver and gold were known but
not iron.
Geographical Extent
Covered parts of Punjab, Sindh, Baluchistan,
Gujarat, Rajasthan and some parts of Western U.P.
It extended from Manda in Jammu in the north
to Daimabad in the south and from Alamgirpur
in western U.P. to Sutkagendor in Baluchistan in
the west.
Major sites in Pakistan are Harappa (on river
Ravi in west Punjab), Mohenjodaro (on Indus),
Chanhu-Daro (Sindh), etc. In India the major
sites are Lothal, Rangpur and Surkotda (Gujarat),
Kalibangan (Rajasthan), Banawali (Hissar) and
Alamgirpur (western U.P.)
The largest and the latest site in India is Dholavira
in Gujarat. Dr. J.P. Joshi and Dr. R.S. Bisht were
involved in it.
Town Planning
The Indus Valley people were primarily urban
people. Elaborate town-planning following the
Grid System. Roads were well cut dividing the
town into large rectangular or square blocks. Lamp
posts at intervals indicate the existence of street
lightening. Flanking the streets, lanes and by-lanes
were well-planned houses. The streets were quite
broad varying from 9 feet to 34 feet in breadth.
Burnt bricks of good quality were used for building
material except in Rangpur and Kalibangan.
Elsewhere in the contemporary world mud bricks
were used. No pottery-kiln was allowed to be built
within the four walls of the city.
Houses were often of two or more storey, of
varying sizes but were quite monotonous – a square
courtyard around which were a number of rooms.
The windows faced the streets and the houses had
tiled bathrooms. It is especially noteworthy that
almost every house had its own wells, bathrooms,
courtyards, drains and kitchens.
There was a good drainage system and drains were
made of mortar, lime and gypsum and covered
with large brick slabs for easy cleaning which
shows a developed sense of health and sanitation.
Every house had its own soak-pit which collected
all the sediments and allowed only the water to
fl ow into the street drain. House drains emptied
themselves into the main drains which ran under
the main streets and below many lanes. There were
special trenches constructed outside every city for
the rubbish to be thrown in them.
The towns were divided into two parts: Upper
part or Citadel and the Lower part. The Citadel
was an oblong artifi cial platform some 30-50 feet
high and about some 400-200 yards in area. It was
enclosed by a thick (13 m in Harappa) crenellated
mud brick wall. The Citadel comprised of public
buildings whereas the lower part comprised of
public dwellings.
In Mohenjodaro, a big public bath (Great Bath)
measuring 12 m by 7 m and 2.4 m deep has been
found. Steps led from either end to the surface,
with changing rooms alongside. The Great Bath
was probably used for ritual bathing.
Lamp posts at intervals indicate the existence of
street lighting.
There were special series constructed for the
travelers and a system of watch and word at night
also existed.
