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Indus Valley Civilization_ Crash Course World History #2.mp4
The Indus Civilization began in South Asia around 2600 BCE and lasted until about 1900 BCE. The civilization was made up of many cities and villages located along the Indus River. Look at the map of ancient river civilizations.
Other ancient river civilizations
In addition to the Indus Civilization, several other ancient civilizations flourished along rivers. These civilizations included Sumer, in present-day Iraq, Old Kingdom Egypt, and the Shang Dynasty civilization, in present-day China.
Long before the Indus Civilization began, the first inhabitants of the Indus River Valley were hunters and gatherers who moved around the region in search of food. Around 7000 BCE, some of these hunters and gatherers started to settle down and create small farming villages. The natural environment played an important role in supporting these settlements.
Where does the fresh water in the Indus River come from?
The water in the Indus River travels from high in the Himalayan Mountains. The Himalayan Mountains are home to the world's highest mountain, Mount Everest! These mountains are so tall that there is snow on their peaks year-round. When some of the snow melts, it runs down the mountains and forms large rivers, such as the Indus River.
The Indus River Valley had forests filled with timber that could be used as fuel for fires and to build houses.
Houses provided shelter for villagers. Fires allowed people to cook food and to make metal objects and pottery.
The Indus River provided fresh water from the mountains for humans and animals to drink.
The fresh water from the Indus River helped to keep people in early farming villages alive.
The Indus River Valley was full of fish and other animals, which provided a reliable food source.
Fish were an important source of food for the people in the Indus Valley. Because there are fish in the Indus River all year, people could use them as food even when there were no crops.
The soil along the Indus River was fertile, and that allowed farmers to grow crops such as wheat.
Farming in fertile soil provided more food than hunting and gathering. People in the Indus Valley produced enough food to feed a growing population.
Around 2600 BCE, major changes began to take place in the Indus River Valley. Larger towns and cities replaced many early farming villages, and arts and technology flourished. Many archaeologists believe these changes marked the beginning of the Indus Civilization.
Forgotten for thousands of years
After the Indus Civilization ended, its cities slowly fell apart. Over time, people forgot about the Indus Civilization. It wasn't until thousands of years later, in 1920, that archaeologists began to study the ruins at the sites of Harappa and Mohenjo-daro. When they started digging at the sites, they realized that both had been important cities of an ancient civilization!
Most of the knowledge we have about the Indus Civilization comes from studying the objects it left behind. For example, archaeologists learned which settlements were part of the Indus Civilization by looking at the similarities between artifacts and buildings in each settlement.
The Indus Civilization was enormous!
Though it might look like the cities are close together on a map of South Asia, they were actually spaced very far apart. The distance between Harappa and Mohenjo-daro, for example, was more than 400 miles! Can you image traveling that distance 4,500 years ago without a car or an airplane?
Because the Indus settlements covered such a large amount of land, it is amazing that there are so many similarities between the settlements. People had to travel back and forth over long distances to share ideas and exchange goods.
Archaeologists don't know what type of government ruled the Indus civilization. Since the settlements all had similar features, it's likely that they had the same government. But there are several theories about what this government was like.
Monuments and kings
Archaeologists often find evidence of structures such as palaces or impressive tombs in settlements of ancient civilizations that were ruled by a powerful king or ruler. For example, the Old Kingdom in Egypt had kings who lived in the same time period as the Indus Civilization. These kings ordered people to build enormous tombs, called pyramids. These kings wanted to be buried inside the pyramids with all of the objects and people who were important to them. But archaeologists haven't found any structures such as these in the Indus Civilization. So, this could mean there wasn't a single, powerful king in the Indus Civilization.
Many archaeologists argue that water played an important role in the religion of the Indus Civilization. These archaeologists suggest that people in the Indus Civilization bathed as a way to make sure they were pure, or clean, before interacting with their gods.
Is purity an important part of other religions?
Yes! People from many religions believe it is important to become clean before interacting with their god or gods. These are some examples of religious practices from around the world that focus on purity.
Many Christians travel to the Jordan River to be baptized. Baptism is a ceremony where a person is purified before joining a Christian community.
Many Hindus believe that bathing in the water of the Ganges River, in present-day India, will make them pure.
Before praying, many Muslims wash certain parts of their body. They want to be pure before they communicate with God.
Archaeologists learn about the way societies were organized by studying the buildings and objects that people used. Some of the evidence found at Indus settlements suggests that the Indus Civilization was more egalitarian than other civilizations. Read the definition of egalitarian.
egalitarian \ih-gal-i-TAIR-ee-un\ adjective describes a society where all people are equal in social and political life
Is it common to have an egalitarian society?
No. In most societies, certain people or groups have more power and wealth than other people. Early in human history, most societies were egalitarian because people were hunter-gatherers and did not have extra food or wealth. But when humans began farming, there was extra food and people had to decide who should get the extra food. It is very difficult for a society to remain egalitarian, which is one reason why archaeologists are interested in the Indus Civilization.
Over time, the population of the Indus Civilization grew enough so that not everyone needed to be a farmer. So, people were able to start doing other types of work. Archaeologists learn about these professions by studying some of the tools or objects that people used.
Indus farmers
Even though some people had professions other than farming, the Indus Civilization still needed many farmers to produce enough food to support the population.
Farmers often lived in smaller villages outside of the main cities. They brought their goods to sell at large cities such as Harappa and Mohenjo-daro.
Some people in the Indus Civilization became craftsmen and artists.
Indus figurines
Indus artists also made small clay figurines, such as the ones in this picture. Archaeologists disagree about the way that these figurines were used. Some archaeologists believe that these figurines were used in certain Indus religious practices. But others believe that the figurines were used as toys for children.
The Indus Civilization is well known for its achievements in engineering. Engineers build and design structures and objects that help make life easier for people. Several examples of Indus engineering can be seen in the ruins of the Indus city of Mohenjo-daro.
Toilets in Mohenjo-daro
Having a toilet in each house might not sound that exciting today. But in the ancient world it was a big deal! Outside of the Indus River Valley, early villages and cities did not have toilets or sewers. So, human waste and garbage piled up near cities. These materials were full of dangerous bacteria that made people sick.
Because Harappan engineers brought plumbing to every house in Mohenjo-daro, the city was a much cleaner, safer place. This level of cleanliness was rarely seen again in major cities until the 1800s CE!
Though archaeological evidence has shed light on certain parts of Indus society, some parts of the Indus Civilization are still a mystery. Read the text about one of the areas archaeologists know little about.
Archaeologists know that people in the Indus Civilization developed their own written language. But no one has been able to translate the Indus language! Even though we can't read Indus writing, archaeologists believe that writing was invented to make it easier for merchants to trade goods. Almost all Indus writing has been found on seals used by Indus merchants. Seals are small, carved stones that were used to stamp an image into clay. Indus seals often contained both pictures of animals and written words, and they helped to show where goods came from and whether they were new or used.
How did seals actually work?
Imagine that a farmer in an Indus village wants to sell a jar of grain to someone in a nearby city. This is how people would make sure the grain got to the buyer safely:
The farmer would cover the jar of grain with a cloth and tie a rope around it, securing the grain inside.
The farmer would put some clay over the rope, then press the seal into the clay so that the farmer's special design was visible.
A merchant would take the grain to the buyer.
If the clay with the design was still stuck to the rope, then the buyer would know that the grain had not been opened.
Do we still use seals today?
Yes! Today we still use seals on certain goods to make sure they stay fresh until a buyer opens them. For example, the lid of this medicine bottle is covered in a plastic seal. When someone opens the bottle, the seal is damaged. So, buyers can tell if the bottle has been opened before.
The seals and weights that were used by Indus merchants have been found in other places outside of the Indus Valley. The location of these seals and weights can tell us where Indus merchants were trading their goods.
The Indus Civilization had long-distance trading contacts in places such as Elam, Sumer, and areas near the Persian Gulf. Indus merchants traveled by land and sea to bring timber and gems from the Indus Valley to these places. In exchange for these goods, they would get copper from Elam, textiles from Sumer, and pearls from the Persian Gulf.
Ancient trading partners
The discovery of the Indus Civilization helped historians solve a mystery about ancient Sumer. For many years historians knew that Sumer traded with a place that they called "Meluhha." But these historians didn't have any idea where Meluhha was.
After archaeologists discovered the Indus Civilization and saw the kinds of products that were made there, historians realized that Meluhha must have been the name for the Indus Civilization in the Sumerian language!
Around 1900 BCE, the Indus Civilization started to decline and many of its cities were abandoned. Archaeologists are not exactly sure what caused this decline, but most agree that it was probably a combination of several factors.
What can you learn from bones?
A lot! In many ways your bones tell the story of your life. For example, when you break a bone, evidence of that break will stay on the bone forever. Or, if you eat a lot of certain kinds of food, chemical traces of the food can be found in your bones!
A special type of archaeologist, called a bioarchaeologist (bio-ahr-kee-OL-uh-jist), studies human bones that are found at archaeological sites. Bioarchaeologists do this work to try to find out how people in a certain society lived and also how they died. Could you imagine studying human bones?
The Indus Civilization began in South Asia around 2600 BCE. Evidence for the civilization can be seen at many settlements in the Indus Valley, such as Harappa and Mohenjo-daro. Indus engineers designed these settlements to make life easier for people, so roads were laid out in a grid and most houses had a bathroom. Around 1900 BCE, the Indus Civilization started to decline. Archaeologists believe that there were probably many reasons for this decline, such as a possible health crisis at Mohenjo-daro and a drought caused by a shift in the course of a major river.
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