Discovery Of Harappan Civilization Flashcards
(10 cards)
Characteristics of civilization
When historians talk about the emergence of a ‘civilization’, they usually refer to the rise of
urban life enabled by agricultural surpluses, a range of specialized occupations, writing,
monumental architecture, and social hierarchies. First such civilization that arose in India was
the Harapan civilization, also called the Indus Valley Civilization. The ruins of the Harappan
civilization were discovered in 1924, a mere 100 years ago.
Faint hint about beginning of civilization in india
Nothing in the long-recorded history of India gave even a faint hint of it having a beginning
like the Harappan civilization.
First ever person to see Harappan ruins
Aristobulus, a general in Alexander’s army that invaded India in the 4th c BCE, seems to
have been the first person ever to record seeing the Harappan ruins
Charles masson
After well-over 2000 years, a travelogue of Charles Masson, an Englishman, noted in 1826
that he saw in Harappa ‘a ruinous brick castle having remarkable high walls and towers.’
But there was no follow-up on this discovery.
Construction of railway and Harappa
During British railway construction in the 1850s (Lahore-Karachi) just after the conquest
of Punjab, engineers faced a shortage of ballast for the tracks. An engineer named William
Brunton discovered Harappa, an ancient Indus Valley site, and exploited its readily
available bricks for this purpose.
Alexander cunningham
By happy chance, when Alexander Cunningham, an officer of the Royal Engineers (later,
father of Indian archaeology), visited Harappa in 1853, 1856 and in 1872-73 when he
carried out a small trial excavation. He was primarily interested in the stupa at
Mohenjodaro, rather than small artefacts and seals, by which he
was intrigued. He didn’t realize the true value of the discovery.
There was no further exploration for the next 60 years. It was only
in 1920s, during the tenure of Sir John Marshall, that the excavation
began in earnest. Pure Chance -
Harappa on bank of Ravi (Montgomery/Sahiwal district, Punjab,
Pakistan) was excavated in 1921 by Dayaram Sahni.
• Next year, Mohenjodaro was excavated by RD Banerjee in Sindh
on the banks of Indus (Larkana District, Sindh, Pakistan) in 1922.
• John Marshal (DG ASI) called it “Indus Valley Civilization” and
announced its discovery to the world in 1924 in The Illustrated London News. It altered
India’s civilizational antiquity by pushing back bronze age urbanism to 3rd millennium BCE.
Indus valley name not appropriate why?
Sites much beyond the Indus basin are found – almost 3000 sites spread over a vast area.
Geographical area covered about 13 lakh sq km, an area far more than today’s
Pakistan (8 lakh sq km); from Himalayas to Gujarat and from
Afghanistan/Balochistan to UP
Why gagghar hakra culture
Since the 1970s, more sites found on tha banks of Ghaggar-Hakra (going into Runn
of Kutch from Shivalik) than on the banks of Indus.. But Indus-Saraswati
civilization name is also
controversial. Also, even
this name is not enough
now, many new sites are
outside the two river
valleys and even in arid
regions. Makran coast in
Balochistan, in Deccan
region, in Jammu, there
are features of this
civilization present.
