Quick Revision · UPSC Ancient History
Indus Valley Civilisation
Harappan Culture · c. 3300–1300 BCE · Smart Cheat Sheet
📍 1500+ Sites
🌍 3.5M km² Area
👥 ~5M Population
🏆 World’s Largest Ancient Civ
🔒 Script Still Undeciphered
🕐 Timeline & Basics
📅 4 Phases
7000–3300 BCE
Pre-Harappan
Mehrgarh — first farming & domestication in South Asia
3300–2600 BCE
Early Harappan
Proto-towns · Kot Diji · Amri · standardised pottery
2600–1900 BCE
Mature Harappan ⭐
PEAK — all major cities active simultaneously
1900–1300 BCE
Late / Post-Urban
Collapse · Cemetery H · Jhukar · Rangpur cultures emerge
🔍 Discovery Facts
HarappaDaya Ram Sahni, 1921
Mohenjo-daroR.D. Banerji, 1922
Term coined byJohn Marshall
LothalS.R. Rao, 1955
KalibanganA. Ghosh, 1953
DholaviraR.S. Bisht, 1990
1st post-independenceRopar · Y.D. Sharma, 1953
🧭 4 Extreme Sites
NorthernmostManda (J&K)
SouthernmostDaimabad (Maharashtra)
EasternmostAlamgirpur (UP)
WesternmostSutkagendor (Balochistan)
Key fact: Most IVC sites are in India, not Pakistan. Only ~3% of all sites have been excavated so far.
🏛️ Key Sites — Must Know
📍 Site → Unique Feature Mapping
Great Bath (12×7×2.4m)
Mohenjo-daro
Dancing Girl + Priest-King
Mohenjo-daro
World’s 1st Tidal Dockyard
Lothal
Earliest Ploughed Field
Kalibangan
3-Part City + Signboard
Dholavira
No Citadel + Inkpot
Chanhudaro
Horse Bones (debated)
Surkotada
Largest Granary
Mohenjo-daro
Dog Buried with Human
Ropar
Bronze Chariot + Rhino
Daimabad
Double Burial + Rice
Lothal
UNESCO WHS 2021
Dholavira
16 Water Reservoirs
Dholavira
Fire Altars (both sites)
Lothal + Kalibangan
Camel Bones + Plough
Kalibangan
🏗️ Town Planning & Economy
🏙️ Town Planning
Grid layout — roads cut at right angles, N-S + E-W orientation
2-part city — Citadel (W, elevated) + Lower Town (E). Exception: Dholavira = 3 parts
Brick ratio 1:2:4 — identical across all 1,500+ sites → implies central authority
Fire-baked bricks — NOT sun-dried like contemporaries; far more durable
Underground covered drainage with inspection holes — world’s first sewage system
Doors & windows on side lanes only — never facing the main street
💰 Economy & Trade
Cotton — world’s FIRST cultivators. Greeks called India “Sindon” from Sindh
Main crops: Wheat, Barley, sesame, mustard, peas, melon; rice only at Lothal
Weights: binary (1, 2, 4…64) then decimal. Made of chert. Unit ≈ 13.7g
Seals = merchant ID / bill of lading. 2,500+ steatite seals recovered
Traded with Mesopotamia (Sumer); IVC = “Meluhha” in Akkadian texts, 2300 BCE
Exports: cotton, carnelian, ivory · Imports: tin, lapis lazuli
❌ IVC Did NOT Have
Iron — Bronze Age / Chalcolithic civilisation only
Horse — conspicuously absent (unlike Vedic culture)
Temples — no monumental religious structures found anywhere
Swords / Mass warfare — no evidence of large-scale conflict
Deciphered Script — still the world’s greatest ancient mystery
Palace — no single elite royal residence identified
Warrior class — unlike Mesopotamia or Egypt
🛕 Religion, Arts & Script
🛕 Religion
Mother Goddess — most common deity; forerunner of Shakti cult
Pashupati Seal — 3-faced figure in yogic posture, surrounded by animals. Seal #420, Mohenjo-daro
Pipal tree worshipped · Unicorn bull = most common seal animal
Linga + Yoni stones at Harappa → proto-Shaivism indicators
Fire altars at Lothal + Kalibangan → proto-Yajna practices
No temples found anywhere — religion was domestic, not ceremonial
Swastika found on seals — one of the world’s earliest recorded usages
🎨 Key Artefacts
Dancing GirlM-daro · Bronze · Lost-wax
Priest-KingM-daro · Steatite · Trefoil robe
Bull FigurineM-daro · Bronze casting
Toy CartHarappa · Terracotta
Signboard (10 signs)Dholavira · Gypsum inlay
Inkpot + LipstickChanhudaro
Longest inscription26 signs (undeciphered)
📜 The Script
4,000+ inscriptions found · 400–600 distinct signs identified
Direction: Right to Left (sometimes boustrophedon — alternating lines)
Not alphabetic, not logographic — likely logo-syllabic
No bilingual inscription found (unlike Egypt’s Rosetta Stone)
Non-Vedic — no proven link to Sanskrit; vanished with the civilisation
📉 Decline & Comparisons
📉 Decline Theories (~1900 BCE)
| Theory | Proponent | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| Aryan Invasion | Mortimer Wheeler | ❌ Largely Discredited |
| Floods / River Changes | Marshall, Mackay | ⚠ Partial Only |
| Saraswati River Drying | Several scholars | ⚠ Debated |
| Climate Change / Drought | Giosan et al. 2012 | ✅ Best Supported |
| Epidemic / Disease | — | 🔬 No proof yet |
| Trade Collapse | — | ↩ More consequence |
UPSC Tip: Always write MULTI-CAUSAL decline — Climate change + River drying + Trade collapse. Never cite Aryan Invasion as the primary cause — it is outdated and largely discredited.
⚔️ IVC vs Vedic
BaseUrban ↔ Rural
HorseAbsent ↔ Central
IronNone ↔ Widely Used
ScriptLost ↔ Sanskrit
EvidenceArchaeology ↔ Literary
BurialInhumation ↔ Cremation
DeityMother Goddess ↔ Nature Gods
ReligionNo temples ↔ Yajnas
⚡ Flash Facts — Last-minute Reads
🔢 Key Numbers
Sites discovered1,500+
Sites excavated~3% only
Great Bath size12m × 7m × 2.4m deep
Brick ratio1 : 2 : 4
Standard weight unit≈ 13.7 grams
Seals found2,500+
Script signs400–600 distinct
Lothal dockyard220m × 37m
🌱 Crops & Animals
Domesticated: cattle, buffalo, sheep, goat, pig, dog, cat, elephant
Horse absent — biggest contrast with Vedic civilisation
Camel bones at Kalibangan · Horse bones (debated) at Surkotada
⚗️ Technology & Metals
Lost-wax (cire-perdue) casting mastered — proven by Dancing Girl figurine
Wheel-turned pottery, black-on-red; perforated strainer unique to IVC
Beads: carnelian, jasper, crystal, lapis lazuli — prime export commodities
