indus river valley
Geography of Indian Subcontinent
Rivers, Mountains and Plains
Rivers, Mountains and Plains
- the landmass that includes India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh is called the Indian subcontinent
- the highest mountains in the world--the Hindu Kush, Karakorum, and Himalayan ranges--separates the Indian subcontinent from the rest of Asia
- the mountains to the north and large desert to the east helped protect the Indus Valley from invasion
- guarded by the mountains is an enormous flat and fertile plain formed by the two rivers, the Indus and the Ganges
- The Indus River flows southwest from the Himalayas to the Arabian Sea
Monsoons
- Monsoons are seasonal winds that dominate India's climate
- Winter monsoons from the northeast blow dry air westward across the country from October to February
- Summer monsoons occur from the middle of June through October which blow eastward from the southwest
- Summer monsoons carry moisture from the ocean in great rain clouds causing powerful storms that bring so much moisture making flooding occur often
- Drought, as a result of failure to develop summer monsoons, often causes crop disasters
Environmental Challenges
- Yearly floods spread deposits of rich soil over a wide area however, floods along the Indus were unpredictable
- The rivers sometimes changed course
- The cycle of wet and dry seasons brought by the monsoon winds was unpredictable
- If there was too little rain, plants withered in the fields and people went hungry and if there was too much rain, floods swept away whole villages
Harappan Civilization
- Harappan is another name for the Indus Valley civilization
- Around 2500 B.C. these people in the Indus Valley were building India's first cities
- One of their most remarkable achievements was their sophisticated city planning
- the people of the Indus laid out their cities on a precise grid system
- Cities featured a fortified area called a citadel which provided protection the major buildings of the city.
- Buildings were constructed of oven-baked bricks in standard sizes, unlike the sun-dried mud bricks of the Mesopotamians.
- Created sophisticated plumbing and sewage systems.
Language
- Like the other two river valley civilizations, the Harappan culture developed a written language.
- Unlike cuneiform and hieroglyphics, the Harappan language has been impossible to decipher.
- About 400 symbols make up the language.
- The 'Harappan language' is found on stamps and seals made of carved stone used for trading pottery and tools.
- Some symbols stand alone and others seem to be combined into words.
Role of Religion
- Archaeologists think that the culture was a theocracy but no site of temple has been found.
- Priests likely prayed for good harvests and safety from floods.
- Religious artifacts reveal links to modern Hindu culture.
- Figures show what may be early representations of Siva, a major Hindu god.
- Other figures relate to a mother goddess, fertility images and the worship of the bull which all became part of later Indian civilization.
Trade
- The Harappans conducted trade with people in the region.
- Gold and silver came from the north in Afghanistan.
- Brightly colored cotton cloth was a desirable trade item since few people at the time knew how to grow cotton.
- The Indus River provided an excellent means of transportation because it allowed its inhabitants to develop trade with distant people.
- Trading began as early as 2600 B.C. and continued until 1800 B.C.
Culture
- Artifacts such as clay and wooden children's toys suggest a relatively prosperous society that could afford to make nonessential goods
- Presense of animals seen on pottery, small statues, children's toys and seals suggests that animals were an important part of the culture
- Seals were used to mark trade items, however, some seals portray beasts with parts of several different animals.
- The meaning of these beasts has remained a history.
Above are several seals used to mark trade items and the last picture is a statue from the Harappan civilization. The presence of animal images on many other types of artifacts from the Harappan civilization such as seals, pottery, small statues and children's toys suggesting that animals were an important part of the culture.
Indus Valley Culture Ends
- Around 1750 B.C., the quality of building in the Indus Valley cities declined and great cities eventually fell into decay.
- Satellite images revealed the evidence of shifts in tectonic plates.
- The plate movement probably caused earthquakes and altered the course of the Indus River.
- Shifts may have caused another river, the Sarswati, to dry up making it impossible to have trade causing cities to die.
- Agriculture, too, would have been affected by these events most and likely prevented the production of large quantities of food.
- Agriculture may have suffered as a result of soil that was exhausted by overuse as well.
- These obstacles may have forced people to leave the cities in order to survive thus, ending the Indus Valley civilization.