Unit 9 indian Civilization

Unit 9 INDIAN CIVILIZATION

In the Victorian Age, the introduction of a railway system was a symbol of progress. Ironically, it was the building of India's railway system, in the 19th century, that unlocked the secrets of its remote past, pushing back the origin of India’s civilization by almost 2,000 years.

Two engineers, the brothers John and William Brunton, were having difficulty laying railway on the sandy soil of the Indus Valley, and in 1856 John heard that not far from the line was an ancient ruined city called Brahminabad. He visited the city, found it had been built of hard, well-burnt bricks and decided to use them for the ballast. That is what Brahminabad became. In the north, brother William duly followed his brother's example and plundered prehistoric village of Harappa for ballast. Along with the bricks, the workmen dug up some soapstone seals the age of which was established as very old. But only about 70 years later in 1920 the scientists recognized Harappa as specific civilization the main features of which could be seen in other discoveries of Mohenjo-Daro, Ganeriwala, Dholavira and some others towns.

Harappan Civilizationor Indus Valley Civilization was a highly urbanised Bronze Age civilization (from 3300 to 1300 BC). In total, over 1,052 cities and settlements have been found. As seen in Harappa and Mohenjo-daro the world's first known urban sanitation systems there were far more advanced than any found in the Middle East.

The people of the Indus Civilization achieved great accuracy in measuring length, mass, and time. Harappans evolved some new techniques in metallurgy and produced copper, bronze, lead and tin. The engineering skill of the Harappans was remarkable, especially in building docks after a careful study of tides, waves, and currents. The Harappans also had knowledge of proto- dentistry and that sanitation of teeth is the oldest in the world of about 9,000 years ago.

The Indus civilization's economy appears to have depended on trade, which was facilitated by advances in transport technology. These advances included bullock carts as well as boats. The Harappans could write but their writing still stays non-deciphered.

By around 1700 BC, most of the cities were abandoned. However the Indus Valley Civilization did not disappear suddenly, and many elements of the Indus Civilization can be found in later cultures.

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