Dawood Ashraf Mir
Class VI , DPS Srinagar
Civilization describes a fancy way of life that occurred as people began to develop networks of urban settlements. Many early civilizations developed near river valleys. This is perhaps because of fertile soils and an abundance of water for agriculture in areas drained by rivers. Rivers also served as a means of transportation for civilizations. Such civilizations are known as river valley civilizations. Indus Valley Civilization is one such river valley civilization that lies along the river Indus within the Indian subcontinent. It developed about 4700 years ago, that is, around 2700 BC. It gets its name because the cities belonging to this civilization are located close to the River Indus and its tributaries.
The first Indus city discovered by archaeologists is in Harappa, Pakistan. It was discovered about eight decades ago. Mohenjo-Daro was the next site to be discovered. Later, more cities were discovered in Punjab and Sindh in Pakistan; and Rajasthan, Gujarat, Haryana, and Punjab in India. These cities were described as Harappan cities. This is because they all had buildings similar to the site in Harappa and similar objects were discovered in them. Evidence of well-planned cities, drainage systems, arts and crafts, thriving agriculture, trade, etc., suggest that Harappan cities were centres of a well-developed civilization.
The broader Indus valley Civilization has been divided into four eras, the pre-Harappan, “Early Food Producing Era”; and the Regionalization, Integration, and Localization eras, which correspond roughly with the Earliest Harappan, Mature Harappan, and Late Harappan phases. According to archaeologists, the cities of the earliest Indus were full of social hierarchies, writing, large planned cities, and long-distance trade. Municipal town planning suggests an understanding of urban planning and effective municipal governments that prioritized hygiene, or, as an alternative, accessibility to non-secular ritual means. The urban setup enclosed the world’s first well-known urban sanitation systems. Among the town, individual homes or groups of homes obtained water from wells. From a space that appears to have been put aside for bathing, waste water was directed to coated drains that lined the main streets. Houses opened solely to inner courtyards and smaller lanes. The house-building in some villages within the region still resembles, in some respects, the house-building of the Harappans.
Developed and used in cities throughout the Indus region, ancient Indus sewerage and drainage systems were far more advanced than those used today in urban areas across the Mideast and were even more economical than those currently used in several parts of Pakistan and India. The advanced design of the Harappans is shown by their spectacular dockyards, granaries, warehouses, brick platforms, and protecting walls. The huge walls of Indus cities most possibly protected the Harappans from floods and will have dissuaded military conflicts.
The individuals of the Indus civilization achieved great accuracy in the measurement of length, mass, and time. They were among the primary ones to develop a system of uniform weights and measures. Many sculptures, seals, vessels, pottery, jewellery, bronze, and steatite have been found at excavation sites. Many crafts including, shell working, ceramics, and agate and glazed soap rock bead-making were practised and the pieces were used in the making of necklaces, bangles, and other ornaments from all phases of Harappan culture.
