Maharashtra Board Class 11 History Chapter 2 First Cities of India PDF Download

First Cities Of India

Characteristics Of Harappan Civilisation

It has been mentioned earlier that the roots of the Harappan civilisation are to be found in the pre-Harappan culture of Neolithic times at Mehrgarh in Baluchistan. This culture is known as 'Togao culture'. It shows traces of the beginning of the Harappan culture. Jean Francois Jarrige and Richard Meadow conducted the excavations at Mehrgarh. Another neolithic culture of the pre-Harappan period is known as 'Ravi or Hakra culture'. Its remains have been found during the excavations at sites like Harappa (Punjab, Pakistan), Kunal, Bhirrana and Farmana (Haryana).

A few years ago it was strongly believed that the Vedic Aryans arrived in India at about 1500 B.C.E. However, no information was available regarding the period before that. This situation continued till the discovery of Harappa in 1921 and Mohenjodaro in 1922. The discovery of the Harappan Civilisation at these two places stretched the antiquity of Indian history to 3500-3000 B.C.E. At that time a well-developed and rich civilisation had flourished in the Indian subcontinent. It extended from Afghanistan to Maharashtra and from Makaran coast to Haryana. The total area covered by it is about 1500000 Sq. Kms. The Harappan civilisation belonged to 'Bronze Age'. So far, more than 2000 sites of the Harappan civilisation have been recorded. The remains found at cities like Harappa, Mohenjodaro, Kalibangan, Lothal, Dholavira, Rakhigarhi, etc. are the evidence of the past glory of this civilisation.

The history of these cities had three stages: (1) Early Harappan period (2) Mature Harappan (urban) period (3) Late Harappan period.

The question regarding the authors of the Harappan civilisation still remains mysterious.

Some of the main characteristics of the Harappan cities are noted below.

Systematic Town Planning

Houses of baked bricks complete with bathrooms, toilets, wells, etc., existance of granaries, Impressive public monuments, English bond masonry (method of using two headers and two stretchers alternatively while building a wall – this method is specially useful in earthquake prone regions), Excellent drainage system, public baths, two or more divisions of the city with each division enclosed by independent fortification walls, Streets crossing each other in right angles and the resulted blocks used for building houses (grid pattern).

Central Administration

Administrative control over the distribution of water and other resources, Standardisation: For example, the size of bricks in the ratio of 1:2:4, weights increasing in the proportion of 8, set style of shapes and painted designs of pottery, majestic and non-residential buildings for public administrative offices.

Social Organisation

Social hierarchy based on position of power, classes of skilled artisans and individuals based on craft specialisation, belief systems and artefacts/architecture indicative of them, evidence of burials indicative of rituals after death.

Economy

Mass production of goods for trading purpose: For example, well-shaped, beautiful earthen pots, statues, metal objects of gold, silver, copper and bronze, various types of beautiful beads, etc., concentration of factories and residences of artisans in a particular area of the city for the sake of convenience of production, flourishing internal and distant trade, administrative control over trade transactions.

Use Of Developed Writing System

The script on Harappan seals.

Teacher's Note

The Harappan people made very beautiful cities with good planning. Like how today Delhi is planned with straight roads and good buildings, Harappa was also built the same way 5000 years ago.

Exam Trick

Remember: Harappan cities had 5 main things - Town planning, Central administration, Social organisation, Economy, and Writing system. Think of it as 5 fingers of one hand.

Points To Remember

Harappan civilisation was found in 1921 and 1922 at Harappa and Mohenjodaro.
The Harappan cities were very well planned with straight roads.
They had good drainage and public baths.
More than 2000 Harappan sites have been found.
The Harappan people knew how to write and had their own script.

Some Cities Of The Harappan Civilisation

Harappa

Harappa is situated on the banks of the river Ravi (District Sahiwal in Punjab, Pakistan). The ancient site of Harappa had spread on 150 Hectares. The first excavation at Harappa began in 1921. More excavations were conducted at the site, from time to time. Among them the excavations conducted in 1946 by Sir Mortimer Wheeler is important. At that time, he was the Director General of the Archaeological Survey of India. During the excavation he could trace the fortification wall around the citadel of Harappa.

The first settlement of the Early Harappan period was established around 3300 B.C.E. It evolved to the Mature Harappan (urban) phase around 2600 B.C.E. It reached its peak during 2450-1900 B.C.E. Around 1900 B.C.E. some internal changes begin to appear in the Harappan cities. This is the time of the onset of the Late Harappan phase. This phase indicates the decline of Harappan civilisation.

The evidence of the first excavations at Harappa had indicated that the city of Harappa was divided into two parts - the 'Citadel' and the 'Lower Town'. However, recent excavations show that it had four divisions. Apart from the citadel and the lower town there were factories and the quarters of artisans in the Southeast part of the city. The area toward the north of the citadel had a granary and the quarters of the workers working there. It is obvious that the officials staying in the citadel supervised over the granary and the workers working there. A few working platforms were found near the granary.

Teacher's Note

Harappa was one of the first big cities of India. It was as big as a modern city like Jaipur or Nagpur is today.

Exam Trick

Remember: Harappa was found in 1921. It had a citadel, lower town, factories, and granaries. Think of it like a modern city with government offices, shops, and storage areas.

Points To Remember

Harappa is in Pakistan on the Ravi river.
Sir Mortimer Wheeler found the walls of Harappa in 1946.
Harappa had four main areas - citadel, lower town, factories, and granaries.
The city started in 3300 B.C.E. and reached its peak in 2450-1900 B.C.E.

Mohenjodaro

The excavations at Mohenjodaro by Rakhaldas Banerjee began in 1921-22. He concluded, because of the similarity between the seals and other artefacts, that the ancient civilisations of Mesopotamia and Harappa had cultural ties with each other. In 1923-24 to gather more information about Mohenjodaro Madho Sarup Vats, Kashinath Narayan Dikshit, Earnest Mackay and others conducted further excavations under Sir John Marshall's direction. He was the Director General of the Archaeological Survey of India at that time. During these excavations various artefacts, houses and public monuments were unearthed.

Mohenjodaro was built on the banks of the river Sindhu (Indus) in Pakistan (District Larkana, Sindh). It was not possible to reach the bottom layer during the excavations because of the high levels of groundwater. However, it is likely that a neolithic settlement contemporary to the one at Mehrgarh existed there.

Areawise, Mohenjodaro is the biggest city, among those discovered in Pakistan so far. It was thought that the city was divided into two fortified sections, namely the 'Citadel' and the 'Lower Town'. However, there was an additional section of the market. In this section were found various workshops, kilns for baking pottery and beads.

The remains at Mohenjodaro were considerably intact. So the glory of the city was revealed in way of the houses, majestic buildings, wide streets, etc. Thus the evidence of the impressive town planning, and public administration, characteristic of the Harappan civilisation came into light. The town planning of the Harappan cities can be easily compared with the town planning of a modern city like Chandigarh. Considering the economic and human resources required for the creation of a pre-planned city like Mohenjodaro, it is obvious that it was created to serve a distinctive purpose.

Teacher's Note

Mohenjodaro was the biggest Harappan city. It is like New Delhi was made with a plan - everything had its own place.

Exam Trick

Remember: Mohenjodaro = biggest Harappan city. It had a citadel, lower town, and a market section. Think of it as an old version of modern planned cities.

Points To Remember

Mohenjodaro is in Pakistan on the Indus river.
It is the biggest Harappan city found.
Rakhaldas Banerjee started excavations there in 1921-22.
The city had excellent town planning like modern cities today.

For Additional Information

1. The archaeological cultures are named after the site where the characteristic pottery and artifacts of the culture were discovered for the first time.

2. The river known as 'Ghaggar-Hakra' flows only during the monsoon. It originates in the Siwalik hills in the Himachal Pradesh and flows to Rajasthan through Punjab and Haryana. From there it enters the desert of Cholistan in Pakistan. Ultimately it enters the Rann of Kutch. Its bed remains dry through the year except during the monsoon. It is known as Ghaggar in India and as Hakra in Pakistan. A number of Harappan settlements were discovered along its dry beds during exploratory surveys.

3. Many scholars are of the opinion that the dry beds of Ghaggar-Hakra are the traces of the vanished river 'Saraswati'. Satellite images are being studied in depth by scholars to gather more information about these dry beds.

You Would Like To Know

Before the discovery of the Harappan civilisation, Alexander's invasion in 326 B.C.E. was the only evidence available in the context of ancient History of India and Pakistan. How this situation entirely changed because of the discovery of the Harappan cities, is a fascinating story. It began in the year of 1829. Charles Masson, a British traveller was the first one to visit and write about the archaeological remains at Harappa. He thought that these remains could be that of the capital of King Porus who fought with Alexander. Lieutenant Alexander Burnes, a British officer was the next one to visit this site.

Sir Alexander Cunningham was the first Director General of the Archaeological Survey of India. His attention was attracted to the site of Harappa by the reports written by Masson and Burnes. He conducted excavations at Harappa during 1872-73 C.E. After that for next 48 years no excavations were conducted at the site. However, during this long interval the curiosity for Harappan site among the European scholars had not vanished. A general impression prevailed among them that the Harappan seals had some connection with the Mesopotamian civilisation.

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