Important Indus Valley Sites – Ancient India History Notes for APSC Exam

Important Indus Valley Sites and Archaeological DiscoveriesIndus Valley Civilization

Ancient India History Notes for APSC, UPSC & other Exams

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The Indus Valley Civilization covered parts of Sind, Baluchistan, Afganistan, West Punjab, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab and Maharashtra. Over 1000 Indus Valley Civilization sites have been discovered.

Harappa

  1. Cemetery.
  2. Coffin burial.
  3. Granary outside the fort.
  4. Phallus worship.
  6. Mother goddess.

Mohenjo-Daro

  1. Prepared Garments.
  2. Temple like Palace.
  3. Pashupati seal.
  4. Statue of a dancing girl.
  5. Ivory weight balance.
  6. The Great Bath.
  7. The Great Granary.
  8. Priest king statue.

Kalibangan

  1. Lower fortified town.
  2. Fire Altar.
  3. Boustrophedon style.
  4. Wooden drainage.
  5. Copper ox.
  6. Evidence of earthquake.
  7. Wooden plough.
  8. Camel’s bone.

Lothal

  1. Port Town.
  2. Evidence of Rice.
  3. Fire Altar.
  5. Ivory weight balance.
  6. Copper dog.

Rangpur

  1. Evidence of Rice.

Surkotada

  1. Horse bone.
  2. Stone covered grave.

Malavan

Chanhudaro

  1. Bangle factory.
  2. Ink pot.
  3. Only city without citadel.
  4. Carts with seated driver.

Balakot

  1. Bangle factory.

Daimabad

  1. Bronze Buffalo.

Amri

  1. Actual remains of Rhinoceros.

Alamgirpur

  1. Impression of cloth on a trough.

Ropar

  1. Buildings made of stone and soil.
  2. Dog buried with humans.
  3. One inscribed steatite seal with typical Indus pictographs.
  4. Oval pit burials.

Banawali

  1. Oval shaped settlement.
  2. Only city with radial streets.
  3. Toy plough.
  4. Largest number of barley grains.

Dholavira

  1. Only site to be divided into three parts.
  2. Giant water reservoir.
  3. Unique water harnessing system.
  4. A stadium.
  5. Rock – cut architecture.

APSC Prelims 2020 Test Series

Ancient India: Customs and Practices

  • Narmada: earliest people who lived here were skilled gatherers; they knew about the vast wealth of plants in the surrounding forests, and collected roots, fruits for food; also hunted animals.
  • Sulaiman and Kirthar hills: current Sindh; where women and men first began to grow crops such as wheat and barley about 8000 years ago; rearing animals.
  • Garo Hills & Vindhya: where agriculture developed; rice was first grown to the north of the Vindhyas.
  • Indus: 4700 years ago, some of the earliest cities flourished on the banks
  • Son, a Ganga tributary: Magadha rulers were very powerful, and set up a large kingdom.

On the trail of the earliest people

  • Factory Sites: places where stone was found and where people made tools are known as factory sites.
  • Habitation-cum-factory: sometimes, people lived here for longer spells of time.
  • Kurnool Site: current A.P; traces of ash have been found here. This suggests that people were familiar with the use of fire.
  • Paleolithic: importance is finding of stone tools; period extends from 2 million years ago to about 12,000 years ago;long stretch of time is divided into the Lower, Middle and Upper Palaeolithic. This long span of time covers 99% of human history.
  • Mesolithic: environmental changes; 12,000 years ago till about 10,000 years ago; stone tools are generally tiny, and are called microliths. Microliths were probably stuck on to handles of bone or wood to make tools such as saws and sickles. At the same time, older varieties of tools continued to be in use.
  • Ostrich in India: palaeolithic period; large quantities shells were found at Patne in Maharashtra; designs engraved on some pieces.

From gathering to growing food

  • Climate of the world was changing, and so were plants and animals that people used as food.
  • They look after plants and also grow – farmers.
  • First animal to be tamed was the wild ancestor of the dog; later relatively gentle animals to come near the camps where they lived such as sheep, goat, cattle; protect these animals from wild attacks – herders
  • Domestication was a gradual process, began about 12,000 years ago.

Settled life:

  • In Burzahom (in present-day Kashmir) people built pit-houses, which were dug into the ground, with steps leading into them.
  • These may have provided shelter in cold weather.
  • Stone tools from sites were different  from the earlier Palaeolithic tools and that is why they are called Neolithic.
  • Many kinds of earthen pots have also been found.
  • However, still places got huneters and gatherers.
  • In some cases people tried to combine these activities.

Customs and practices

  • Many farmers and herders live in groups called tribes.
  • Women do most of the agricultural work, including preparing the ground etc.
  • Children often look after plants, driving away animals.
  • Some men are regarded as leaders. They may be old and experienced, or young, brave warriors, or priests.
  • Tribes have rich and unique cultural traditions; have their own gods and goddesses.
Mehrgarh Site
  • Located near Bolan Pass [current Balochistan]; most important routes into Iran.
  • One of the earliest villages that we know about.
  • Women and men learnt to grow barley and wheat, and rear sheep and goats.
  • Earlier excavation found were of wild animals deer and pig suggesting they were hunters. But later level excavation found bones of sheep and goat which make them herders. So first Mehrgarh were hunters later they became herders.
  • Remains of square or rectangular houses.
  • Belief that there is some form of life after death was visible in their burial grounds found.

Daojali Hading (ASSAM)

  • This site is on hills near the Brahmaputra Valley.
  • Stone tools, including mortars and pestles, have been found indicating they were agriculturalists.
  • Jadeite, a stone that may have been brought from China
  • Tools made of fossil wood too in usage.