Page 70 - Encyclopedia Of World History Vol III

harappan state and indus civilization 889

In the great books of India, an empire spoke to us, nothing small or unworthy, but
large, serene, consistent, the voice of an old intelligence, which in another age and
climate had pondered and thus disposed of the questions that exercise us.
• Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)

Samsonowicz, H. (1975). Changes in the Baltic Zone in the XIII–XVI graphical and cultural subregions) that may possibly
centuries. The Journal of European Economic History 4(3), 655–672. have political significance.
Schildhauer, J. (1985). The Hansa: History and culture (K. Vanovitch,
Trans.). Leipzig, Germany: Edition Leipzig.
Unger, R.W. (1980). The ship in the medieval economy 600–1600. Lon- Early Harappan Period and
don: Croom Helm.
the Urban Transformation
The beginnings of the Indus Civilization are still not well
understood. There was an early Harappan period (c.
Harappan State 3200–2600 BCE) during which there were four roughly
contemporaneous archaeological cultures (Kot Dijian,
and Indus Amri-Nal, Damb Sadaat, and Sothi-Siswal) without large

settlements or strong signs of social stratification.There
Civilization was not a marked degree of craft specialization during
this period. At about 2600–2500 BCE there was a tran-
he earliest civilization of South Asia is called the sitional stage between the early Harappan and Indus civ-
TIndus, or Harappan, civilization.This ancient culture ilization, during which most of the complex sociocultural
arose on the plains and in the mountains of the greater institutions of the Indus civilization came together.
Indus Valley of Pakistan and northwestern India in the Theurbanizationthatcharacterizesthesepeoplesdevel-
middle of the third millennium BCE (c. 2500–1900 BCE). oped rather suddenly, over a period of about a hundred
The Indus civilization takes its place in world history as years.After a long period of gradual growth and change,
the first of ancient India’s cities; its cities were contem- the peoples of the greater Indus Valley created cities, a writ-
poraneouswiththoseoftheBronzeAgepeoplesofSumer, ing system, and a class-stratified society. Of course, some
dynastic Egypt, and China. parts of older traditions of the greater Indus region sur-
The Indus peoples were for the most part farmers, vived. It is clear that there was little change in subsistence
herders, craftsmen, and traders. They inhabited at least and the sociocultural, economic, and political balance be-
five cities, the best known of which are Mohenjo Daro tween farmers and pastoralists, for example.This was also
and Harappa but which also include Dholavira, Gan- the time during which the Indus ideology, or world view,
weriwala, and Rakhigarhi. Mohenjo Daro and Harappa began to emerge. It had a rather strong sense of nihilism
are the largest of the cities, each being about 100 to it.There is a sense that the nihilism of the Indus civili-
hectares. (The other cities are slightly smaller; between zation was in many ways a new beginning for its peoples,
65 and 80 hectares.)Archaeologists believe that Mohenjo with the implication that they had turned aside many of
DaroandHarappaeachhadapopulationofabouttwenty their roots. While nihilism can be quite a negative phi-
thousand people. losophy, often associated with violence, this is not neces-
The Indus civilization was by far the largest of the sarily the case, and I think that the Indus civilization can
Bronze Age civilizations of Asia. It covered about a mil- be said to represent a renaissance of sorts. More is said
lion square kilometers, extending from the present-day of this important theme in Indus archaeology in Possehl
Pakistan-Iran border in the west to the coast of southern (2002, 55–61). Water and cleanliness were powerful
Gujarat in the east. The northern limit for the principal forces in the Indus ideology, such that the society valued
habitations is the Siwalik Range of the Punjab, although both the physical property of water to remove dirt and oils
there is an outlying Indus site (Shortughai) in northern from the skin but also the symbolic act of washing and
Afghanistan, on the Amu Dar’ya River. In an effort to generalized purity as well.
deal with the cultural geography of the Indus civilization, The ancient cities of the Indus were built in riverine
scholars have divided their territory into domains (geo- settings: on the lower Indus River (Mohenjo Daro), the