The Civilisation That Was Ahead Of It’s Time : Ancient Civilisation Of Rajasthan

HARAPPAN CIVILISATION(हडप्पा सभ्यता),INDUS VALLEY CIVILISATION

The Civilisation That Was Ahead Of It’s Time : Ancient Civilisation Of Rajasthan:-Our very own Rajasthan was once a part of a great civilisation which was spread through Afghanistan in the north to the northern Maharashtra in south, Uttar Pradesh in the east and Pakistan in the west. The greater Indus region was home to the largest of the four ancient urban civilisations of Egypt, Mesopotamia, South Asia and China. It was not discovered until the 1920’s. Most of its ruins, even its major cities, remain to be excavated. The ancient Indus Civilisation script has not been deciphered.

The Indus valley civilisation also known as Harappan (हडप्पा सभ्यता)civilisation flourished around circa 3300-1700 BCE . The IVC was excavated in 1920 thoroughly no one knew IVC before 1920 apart from the locals who claimed there is a city named Brahminabad nearby. In 1856 when East India Railway company was laying railway tracks from Lahore to Karachi they found the city of Brahminabad where they found lots of well burnt equal sized bricks which was used for ballast for a 150 km long track.

Harappa and Mohenjo-daro were two main cities of the IVC Mohenjo-daro, present in Pakistan today, has also been declared as world heritage site by UNESCO. there is no evidence that was there a single rule throughout Harappan civilisation or not there are 3 conspiracy about the rule in IVC a single government throughout, different rulers in different cities or no rulers at all anything might be possible. A sophisticated and technologically advanced urban culture is evident in the Indus Valley Civilisation making them the first urban centre in the region. The quality of municipal town planning suggests the knowledge of urban planning and efficient municipal governments which placed a high priority on hygiene, or, alternatively, accessibility to the means of religious ritual.

The Harappans used the same size bricks and standardised weights as were used in other Indus cities such as Mohenjo Daro (मोहन जोदड़ो सभ्यता) and Dholavira. These cities were well planned with wide streets, public and private wells, drains, bathing platforms and reservoirs.

In sharp contrast to this civilisation’s contemporaries, Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt, no large monumental structures were built. There is no conclusive evidence of palaces or temples—or of kings, armies, or priests. Some structures are thought to have been granaries. Found at one city is an enormous well-built bath (the “Great Bath”), which may have been a public bath. Although the citadels were walled, it is far from clear that these structures were defensive. They may have been built to divert flood waters.

The Indus civilisation’s economy appears to have depended significantly on trade, which was facilitated by major advances in transport technology. The IVC may have been the first civilisation to use wheeled transport. These advances may have included bullock carts that are identical to those seen throughout South Asia today, as well as boats. Most of these boats were probably small, flat-bottomed craft, perhaps driven by sail, similar to those one can see on the Indus River today; however, there is secondary evidence of sea-going craft. Archaeologists have discovered a massive, dredged canal and what they regard as a docking facility at the coastal city of Lothal in western India (Gujarat state). An extensive canal network, used for irrigation, has however also been discovered by H.-P. Francfort.

During 4300–3200 BCE of the chalcolithic period (copper age), the Indus Valley Civilisation area shows ceramic similarities with southern Turkmenistan and northern Iran which suggest considerable mobility and trade. During the Early Harappan period (about 3200–2600 BCE), similarities in pottery, seals, figurines, ornaments, etc. document intensive caravan trade with Central Asia and the Iranian.

The Harappan civilisation was spread throughout most of the Rajasthan it’s remains were found in Kalibangan (कालीबंगा सभ्यता) and Karanpura near Hanumangarh district of Rajasthan where a skeleton of a child, baked/burnt bangles, fire altars, shiva-lingas, urns and other potteries were found and another human skeleton, ornaments, 5 meter long and 3 meter clay oven, a pitcher filled with 8000 pearls were found in Baror near the Sri Ganganagar district of Rajasthan.