Indus Civilization: Important centers
Posted on : 17-11-2017 Posted by : admin

Many sites are excavated in and around Indus valley. The main sites like  Harappa, Mohenjo Daro, Kalibangan, Lothal, Dholavira are featured below with their respective specialities.

Harappa (Punjab, Pakistan)

1. It is located in the banks of the river Ravi
2. It was the first site to be excavated among all the Indus sites. So Indus valley civilization was initially called as Harappan civilization.
3. Apart from food production, a substantial section of people were engaged in activities like administration, trade, craft or religion.
4. The granaries in Harappa are located outside citadel
5. Rows of single-roomed quarters are located just below the walls of citadel. These rooms were probably meant for laborers
6. Red sand stone naked man torso has been found in the excavations of Harappan sites which indicate the traces of Jainism. This man is identified as Hariyupiya of Rig Veda
7. The location of Harappa has made several authors to conclude that it was a “Gateway city”

Mohenjo-Daro (Sind, Pakistan)

1. It is located in the banks of the river Indus. It is considered one of the capitals of the Indus system.
2. In Sindh language, Mohenjo-Daro means “mound of death”
3. It was the largest Harappan city, with the population of about 35,000
4. Excavations suggest that people lived here for a very long time. They went on building and re-building houses at the same location. And as a result the height of the debris is about 75 feet.
5. Mohenjo-Daro along with Harappa hailed as twin capitals and Kalibangan served as its subsidiary.
6. The following are the important findings of Mohenjo-Daro,

Kalibangan (Rajasthan, India)

1. It is located on the dried up river bed of river Ghaggar
2. It was excavated in 1960 under the guidance of BK Thapar
3. The literal meaning of Kalibangan is “black bangle”
4. Kalibangan area has the largest concentration of Harappan settlement
5. It has yielded evidences of early Harappan period.

Lothal (Gujarat, India)

1. It is located in the coastal flats of Gulf of Cambay beside a tributary of river Sabarmati.
2. It was an important center for making objects out of stone, shells and metal.
3. The most important feature of this is a dockyard. It was the main sea-port of the Indus people.
4. Lothal has the evidence of cultivation of rice.
5. Many tools, stone beads and seals are found in Lothal. The most famous among them is ‘Persian Gulf seal’
6. The shops of metal workers, Stone bead and seal workers were also found in the excavations.
7. Lothal served for long distance trade and also supplied the Indus cities with raw material like cotton from Gujarat and copper from Rajasthan.

Suktagendor

1. It is located near Makran coast which is close to Pakistan-Iran border.
2. This settlement is landlocked and located in dry and inhospitable plains
3. The citadel of this settlement is surrounded by stone wall which could have been build for the purpose of defense

Dholavira

1. It is located on Khadir beyt in Run of Kutch.
2. This settlement is dived into three parts unlike other settlements which are divided into two. Two of these three are surrounded by massive stone walls with entrances through gateways.
3. There was also a large open space inside the settlement which could have probably served the purpose of public meetings
4. The most startling feature of Dholavira is Giant reservoir for holding water.
5. The excavations also revealed an inscription with ten large sized signs of Harappan script.

Other important sites include,

1. Chanhudaro, It is the only Indus site with no citadel
2. Banawali, located in Hissar district of Haryana
3. Surkotada, the only Indus site where the remains of Horse are found
4. Ropar is the first site to be excavated after independence. An evidence of burying a dog with Human burial is an interesting feature here.
5. Rakhigarhi, located in Hissar district of Haryana. It is termed as the provincial capital of Harappan civilization
6. Balakot, it was the major center of shell industry.

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