Chapter 3 Ancient History Of The Indian Sub Continent First Few Words
Gradually men began to use metals. This does not mean that stone implements and tools were no more used. Very interesting and important changes began to take place in man’s life. And such changes began to occur during the late Neolithic period.
What were these changes? The first change is that men gave up their nomadic habits. They now settled in places where sufficient water and food were available. Men learnt to domesticate certain animals. They learnt to cultivate crops. The potter’s wheel began to be used.
This was the beginning of pottery. Men painted the vessels and stored grain in them. Some beautiful earthen pots with artistic engraving or painting have been discovered in Egypt and Asia Minor.
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On some of them, figures of men, boats, birds and scenes of fighting were engraved. Because in the hilly areas, there was not enough water, men now chose river valleys. Such places were good for agriculture.
Another very important change that occurred in man’s life was the use or cotton fabric as dress material. Thus men no longer wore animal skin. Men now learnt weaving.
For cultivation men had to lead a settled life. They made wooden houses and surrounded them with stone walls, or fencing in order to ward off wild animals. Gradually, village life and society grew up. Social based on family relations came into being.
Transport became a part of early society. People dwelling on lakes used boats to carry articles from one place to another. Perhaps trade started in this way.
Wheels brought an era of speed. Big animals like cows, horses, and camels were used as beasts of burden. Finally, we must say a word about the first metals. Historians tell us that copper was perhaps the first metal used by man.
This does not mean that with the use of metal, stones were out of use altogether. No, that is not the case. Copper and stone were used side by side for a long time. That period is called the Chalcolithic period.
The word Chaleo comes from the Greek word khakis, which means copper. And lithos, you already know, means stone—Copper Stone Age.
Chalcolithic Age in India
The use of metal began towards the close of the Neolithic age. And for several hundred years stone and copper implements were used side by side.
In India, the earliest Chalcolithic settlements were found in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Bengal and Maharashtra. Gradually ‘i they spread to other places.
Chalcolithic settlements have been found in Roper, Betwa, Lothal, Maski and Mehrgarh in Pakistan. Chalcolithic culture developed from about 3000 to 1000 B.C. The Chalcolithic settlements were small or medium-sized villages.
The only large earliest Chalcolithic settlements were found in Maharashtra where about four thousand people are believed to have lived.
The Harappan civilization of western India and Pakistan had quite some affinity with this Chalcolithic culture. These two cultures were collateral in so far as time is concerned.
The Chalcolithic culture was rural in nature. From the burial grounds at different settlements, a good number of skeletons of children have been unearthed. This has led historians to guess that the rate of infant mortality was too high in the Chalcolithic period.
Chapter 3 Ancient History Of The Indian Sub Continent Mehrgarh
A very old site of copper-stone culture has recently been discovered at Mehrgarh in Baluchistan. Mehrgarh is near the Bolan Pass in Baluchistan on the west of the Indus basin. A chalcolithic civilization is as old as 7000 B.C. has been unearthed here.
Archaeologists say that the Mehrgarh settlement had a stretch of about 3000 years from 7000 to 3800 B.C. A team of excavators led by the French archaeologist Jean-Francois Jarrige discovered Mehrgarh during 1974-86.
The discovery of Mehrgarh is of great historical importance, for, it has changed some of the old notions and shows a clear picture of what an old copper-stone culture was like. On the whole was a rural culture.
Because the Mehrgarh culture developed for about 3000 years, archaeologists have divided this culture into three phases. The first phase ran from about 7000 to 5000 B.C. and the second from about 5000 to 4000 B.C.
And the third from 4000 to 3800 B.C. To be precise, Mehrgarh is situated on the bank of the river Bolan. Many remains have been found on the river bank. It is thought that many more might have been lost in the riverbed.
Proofs of the settlement have been found not only near or along the river. They have also been found away from the river. In the first phase, the people of Mehrgarh built one-room houses of dried mud and sun-burnt brick.
Animals like cows, goats and sheep were domesticated. There are proofs of cultivation. Wheat and barley were produced. In this phase, pottery was in its early and crude form.
Towards the end of the first phase, people built multi-room houses. They kept one room apart for warming the house by lighting a fire. Pestle-like stones and tools made of ‘microliths’ were discovered.
‘Microlith/ by the way is a small piece of stone that sometimes forms part of a big or composite tool. There were rooms where grains were stored. This was the oldest granary of the Indian subcontinent.
Before the discovery of Mehrgarh, historians believed that the cultivation of wheat and barley came to India from west Asia. But now after this discovery, it has become clear that those crops were first produced in our sub-continent.
In the second phase which lasted from about 5000 to 4000 B.C., cotton was produced over and above wheat and barley. Date and plum too were eaten by the Mehrgarh people. Among the tools and implements of this phase were sickles.
In the late second phase pottery made on the potter’s wheel was used. Painted vessels have been unearthed. Interestingly, two human figures of dried earth have been discovered.
In the final phase which lasted from about 4000 to 3800 B.C., big houses were built; grains were stored in the courtyard. There was widespread use of earthen pottery. There were bicolour and multicolour vessels.
Female figures of burnt earth (terracotta) have been unearthed. A few copper tools were unearthed too. Stone implements were used side by side. Thus we obtain a good picture of primitive chalcolithic culture in Mehrgarh. Mehrgarh remains an important milestone in the history of civilization.
Chapter 3 Ancient History Of The Indian Sub Continent Copper Bronze Culture
Primitive men came out of their cave dwellings to settle down to a somewhat orderly life in villages. The discovery of fire, wheel and cultivation and the use of improved tools and weapons in the stone Age gave men a distinct advantage over other animals.
Then came further changes in human life with the discovery of copper. Copper was followed by bronze, an alloy of copper and tin. The first bronze was probably the result of an accident.
Probably copper and tin caught fire together and the result was bronze. This opened man’s eyes and from then on men began to produce bronze in the same way. This newly invented alloy, bronze, replaced old tools and weapons to turn them more lethal.
This age is called Copper-Bronze Age. This was a very important landmark in the history of civilization. Bronze was used abundantly because it was found that it was harder than copper and easier to make into a sharp blade.
But why the name Copper-Bronze Age, and not simply Bronze Age? This age was called Copper-Bronze Age because copper was not discarded altogether and was used side by side with bronze for many many years.
Much evidence of Copper-Bronze culture were unearthed in Mesopotamia, Egypt, India and China. Gradually, of course, greater dependence was on bronze, although copper did not go into disuse altogether.
In India, the Harappan civilization is regarded as a Bronze Age civilization.
The emergence of towns and the spread of industry
During the Copper Bronze Age groups of men started community living. For the sake of cultivation and good harvest, they settled near a river or a sea. For, they needed an abundant supply of water.
Cities and towns thus came into being in river valleys and seasides. Many towns and cities flourished on the banks of the Nile, the Tigris, the Euphrates and the Indus rivers. Traders carried their merchandise by boat to other countries.
Various articles of use were produced to meet man’s varied needs. There were now artisans like jewellers, carpenters, sculptors and masons. Gradually internal and external trade flourished.
Goods were carried on land by horses, asses and camels and along waterways by large boats. The Copper Bronze Age marked the beginning of changes in society. The most important change was the emergence of classes.
There existed different layers between the rich and the poor. Classes based on profession emerged. There were farmers, artists, traders, soldiers and priests. Men began to own personal property.
For the change of social order, different sections of people tried to increase their power and dominate over others. In Egypt, priests were at the top in the society in wealth and power.
Chapter 3 Ancient History Of The Indian Sub Continent The Harappan Civilization
For about twenty-five years from 1922 to 1947 archaeologists carried on excavations in the Sindh (Sindhu or Indus) area and in the end, a very ancient civilization came to light.
The name of two Indians has special importance in the discovery of the Harappan civilization. They are Rakhaldas Bandyopadhyay and Dayaram Sahni. Although the civilization was discovered in the mid-20th century, the history of its discovery goes back to about the middle of the nineteenth century.
In 1826 Charles Masson, a soldier of the East India Company came to Punjab and saw a mound in Harappa. He considered it highly important historically. In about 1853, archaeologist Sir Alexander Cunningham visited the place and found a few seals.
But this did not cause any flutter among historians or archaeologists. In 1927, Rakhaldas Bandyopadhyay too saw a mound in Mahenjodaro. Another archaeologist, Dayaram Sahni also visited the place in 1921.
They thought there could have been buildings or structures underneath. Without delay, widespread excavations started. Within weeks, evidence of an ancient civilization came to light in Harappa and Mohenjodaro.
Harappa was in the Montgomery district of Punjab and Mohenjodaro was in the Larkana district of Sind. Both are now in Pakistan. As more excavations took place over the years in Lothal, Chanhudaro, Bhawalpur, Rupar, Shortughai, and Kaiibangan a great ancient civilization was discovered.
At first, it was named the Indus Valley Civilization. But now it has got the name Harappan Civilization.
The extent of this civilization
At first, the civilization was considered to be limited to two or three places. But as widespread excavations proved, the Harappan civilization extended over about 13 lakh square kilometres.
It extended over Punjab, Sind, Haryana, Rajasthan and Gujarat. A large part of it is now in Pakistan. Even Afghanistan was touched by it. Till now more than a thousand sites have been unearthed.
The most important sites of this civilization are in Mohenjodaro and Chanhudaro of Sind, Harappa in Punjab, Lothal in Gujarat, Kaiibangan in Rajasthan, Banawali in Haryana and Shortughai in Afghanistan.
How old is this civilization?
The Harrapan or Indus valley civilization is quite old. But how old is it? Since historians have not yet been able to decipher the scripts, they have had to depend on the relics in order to ascertain the age of this civilization.
It is commonly believed that this was an example of Copper- Bronze civilization. But historians are not of one opinion as regards its age. Now most historians believe that its span was between 3000 and 1500 B.C. And the period 2500 to 1800 B.C. was its high time.
Chapter 3 Ancient History Of The Indian Sub Continent Town Planning
The Indus valley or Harappan civilization was an urban civilization. It centred on town culture. At Mohenjodaro the ruins of an ancient city has been found. There is no evidence of the existence of any village close to the ruins.
Mohenjodaro was a planned dtv. The roads were broad and fit for conveyance. There were narrow alleys too. There was an arrangement for street lighting on both sides of the streets. Bricks were either sun-dried or burnt in the fire.
Every home had its own courtyard, bathroom and drains. The walls of the houses were sturdily built. The doors and windows were rather small in size but set on the roadside.
The smallness of the size of the doors and windows perhaps indicates that there was fear of theft or robbery. There were two-storeyed or three-storeyed houses also. These belonged to the affluent people.
The water of the town flowed through underground sewers. The dirty water of the houses flowed out through underground sewers. There were openings of sewers at places which extricated filth and silt. They looked like modern manholes.
The Great Bath
At the centre of the town, there was a public bath 180 feet long and 108 feet wide. There also was a bathing pool 39 feet in length, 23 feet in width and 8 feet in depth. Flights of stairs leading to the pool.
There were rows of seats all around the bathing pool. There was an arrangement to let out filthy water. There was provision for a hot bath too. The town discovered at Harappa was walled all around.
A big granary was found in this town. It measured 169 feet in length and 135 feet in breadth. The peasants perhaps deposited their rent in kind. They probably gave corn as rent.
At Lothal in Gujarat, a brick-built basin was discovered. It measured about 650 feet long and about 120 feet wide. Archaeologists guess that it was perhaps a dockyard for ships.
The reason for such a guess is that it was very near an estuary and so could easily have water.
The Citadel
The citadel is a very interesting feature of Harappa-Mohenjodaro town planning. The citadel was a kind of fortress built on a raised mound and was protected by a brick wall on all sides.
At Mohenjodaro the citadel included the Great Bath and the granary about which we told you earlier. The citadel of Mohenjodaro was 1200 feet long and 600 feet wide. The surrounding wall was 40 feet high.
Food and Dress
The food of the Indus people consisted mainly of rice, wheat, and barley. They ate fish, meat, egg, milk, date and various vegetables. They wore clothes made of cotton and wool.
Their dress was often decorative and divided into upper and lower parts as has been found from stone statues and picture engravings.
Cultivation
The Indus region was made highly fertile by sufficient rainfall and silt. This made the cultivation of wheat, barley, cotton, mustard sesame and pea easy.
Our historians say that the Indus people were the first in the world to produce cotton. Probably wooden ploughs were used to plough the fields.
Taming of animals
The bones found as a result of excavation give us an idea of the animals the Indus or Harappa people tamed. Carvings on seals and terracotta figures also give us an idea.
They domesticated cows, buffaloes, goats, sheep, pigs, dogs, asses and camels. It is supposed that they were familiar with wild animals like the tiger, the bison, the rhinoceros.
Ornaments In Ancients:
Ornaments were worn by both men and women. These were made of gold, silver, ivory and precious stones. Necklaces and amulets were made from these metals. Turquoise and lapis lazuli were often used.
Religion
It is difficult to say anything about the religion of the Indus people since no temple of any sort has been discovered among the ruins. Articles made from burnt clay and seals bear some evidence of worshipping in those days.
A seal has been found in which a saintly person is seen seated in the midst of animals. The image bears a similarity with Lord Shiva or Pashupatinath. This shows the possibility of the Indus people being worshippers of Shiva.
A number of terracotta female figures have been found. They are believed to be the images of the Mother Goddess. The Indus people worshipped fire. A good number of fire-altars have been found at Kalibangan.
It is possible that some animals were also worshipped. Some say that the Indus people were worshippers of the Tree also.
Chapter 3 Ancient History Of The Indian Sub Continent Society
The findings of Mohenjodaro and Harrapa bear ample proof of a highly developed social life. Generally, four or five classes of people were there in the society, the elites, the fighting class, craftsmen, traders and labourers.
People belonging to the elite class generally performed the task of educating or teaching and treating diseases. The fighters were engaged in defending the country from foreign invasion or from any attacks.
Craftsmen were artisans who produced pottery, metalwork, ornaments etc. Blacksmiths, potters, weavers, jewellers and masons belonged to this class. Traders were engaged in buying and selling of goods and commerce as a whole.
Finally, the labourers were a poor class and worked as domestic servants and porters. Although no proper temple was found, the presence of priests cannot be denied.
Ancient History Of The Indian Sub Continent Seals And Writing
Seals are a very important find in the Indus Valley civilization. About 2000 seals have so for been found at Mohenjodaro and Harappa sites. These seals bear figures of animals and inscriptions.
The seals with animal figures inscribed or engraved on them prove that cows, sheep, buffalo, ox, elephants, camels, goats and fowl were domesticated. Other animals like bison, tiger, monkey, bear and hare were surely known to them.
Many seals have writing or inscription on them. Scholars have been trying hard over the years to read them. But till now the Indus seals have defied all attempts at decipherment.
The writing on the seals tells us that about 400 symbols were used. The script was written from right to left. Scholars only suppose that the writing had some similarity with the Dravidian writing system.
Much light will surely be thrown on this civilization when one day scholars will be able to read the Indus script.
Articles of daily use
The people of the Indus Valley used earthen pots. Many polished earthen pots of different shapes and sizes have been unearthed. The earthen pots had designs on them. Statues, figurines and toys were made from copper, gold, silver and china day.
Utensils too were made of these metals and china clay. Combs were made of ivory. Polished bronze served the purpose of a mirror. People used cots, stools, and chairs as furniture. Seals were used to weigh articles.
Weapons were made from copper, lead, and bronze. Bronze tools found at Harrapa contain a small percentage of tin also. Bow, arrow, spear, knife, and razor were the main weapons used.
No article made of iron has been found. Iron was probably unknown to the Indus people.
Trade and Commerce
We have proof of both inland trade and external trade. Trade was carried on both on land and by sea. Beasts of burden and carts were used to carry load and transport goods locally.
Scholars say that Mehrgarh near the Bolan Pass and Shortughai in Afghanistan were two Important trade centres. Boats were used to ferry goods by rivers or sea. That sailed boats were used is known from pictures engraved on seals.
Boats filled with copper, timber and gold articles plied between India and Mesopotamia. Lapis lazuli and turquoise were imported from other countries. Camels, Oxen, and Asses were used to pull wheeled vehicles.
The vehicles were both small and big, light and heavy. Barley, wheat, woollen goods, copper, silver, gold, toys, ivory etc. were the chief articles of trade.
Decay of this civilization
It is a matter of surprise that this highly developed and complex urban civilization went into decay at one time. Its decay probably started from about 2000 B.C.
And the decay was perhaps complete about 1700 B.C. Historians are divided in their opinion about the causes of this downfall. There might have been a number of reasons. Firstly, repeated floods or earthquakes might have played havoc.
Several layers in the Harappan towns indicate that the towns had to be built several times. This was perhaps because of floods or earthquakes. Secondly, there might have occurred epidemics.
Thirdly, the climatic change could have had its effect. The absence or insufficiency of rainfall might have led to the drying up of rivers making cultivation difficult or impossible.
Fourthly, cutting down trees might have led to an ecological imbalance. Lastly, the Aryan invasion too might have been a cause of the decline of the Indus civilization.
WBBSE Notes For Class 6 History
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- WBBSE Notes For Class 6 History Chapter 1 The Idea Of History
- WBBSE Notes For Class 6 History Chapter 2 Primitive Man In The Indian Sub Continent
- WBBSE Notes For Class 6 History Chapter 3 Ancient History Of The Indian Sub Continent
- WBBSE Notes For Class 6 History Chapter 4 Ancient History Of The Indian Sub Continent
- WBBSE Notes For Class 6 History Chapter 5 Indian Sub Continent In The 6th Century BC
- WBBSE Notes For Class 6 History Chapter 6 Expansion Of Empire
- WBBSE Notes For Class 6 History Chapter 7 Economic Condition And Livelihood
- WBBSE Notes For Class 6 History Chapter 8 Culture In ancient India
- WBBSE Notes For Class 6 History Chapter 9 India And The Contemporary World