Sistema de negociação da civilização do vale do indo

História Primária.
Escolha uma seção:
O que as pessoas do Vale do Indo comercializavam?
As cidades do Vale do Indo viviam de comércio. Os agricultores trouxeram comida para as cidades. Trabalhadores da cidade faziam coisas como panelas, contas e tecidos de algodão. Os comerciantes trouxeram os materiais necessários aos trabalhadores e levaram os produtos acabados para o comércio em outras cidades.
Bens de comércio incluíam vasos de terracota, contas, ouro e prata, pedras preciosas coloridas, como turquesa e lápis-lazúli, metais, pederneiras (para fazer ferramentas de pedra), conchas e pérolas.
Minerais vieram do Irã e do Afeganistão. Chumbo e cobre vieram da Índia. Jade veio da China e madeira de cedro flutuou pelos rios da Caxemira e do Himalaia.
Verificando o peso.
Os comerciantes do Vale do Indo não usaram dinheiro. Então eles provavelmente trocaram mercadorias - digamos, trocando dois sacos de trigo por uma cesta de minerais.
Os comerciantes pesavam seus produtos em balanças de equilíbrio, usando cubos de pedra como pesos.
Os pesos foram feitos a partir de cubos de uma pedra pedregosa chamada cinza chert. O menor cubo era muito leve, pesando menos de 1 grama! O mais pesado foi de 11 quilos - um pouco mais de 4 sacas de batatas de supermercado.
O que eram selos?
Em 1872, o arqueólogo Alexander Cunningham ficou intrigado com um pedaço de pedra de Harappa que tinha escrito sobre ele. Foi um selo. Outro arqueólogo, Rakhal Banerji encontrou mais focas em 1919.
Mais de 3.500 selos foram encontrados agora. A maioria é quadrada ou oblonga e pequena, com cerca de 25 mm de diâmetro. Eles são feitos de esteatita ou faiança, geralmente assados ​​com força. Cada selo tem uma imagem e escrita nele, esculpida com uma ferramenta de cobre.
Pressionado em argila macia, um selo deixou uma impressão (uma cópia da foto e da escrita). Quando a argila secou com força, ela poderia ser usada como uma etiqueta que poderia então ser amarrada a uma panela ou cesta.
Os comerciantes do Vale do Indo provavelmente usavam selos como etiquetas, para mostrar quem possuía um saco de grãos, ou que o imposto municipal correto havia sido pago.
Sele animais.
Muitas focas têm fotos de animais nelas. Os animais das focas incluem elefantes, rinocerontes, tigres, crocodilos comedores de peixe (gavial) e zebu (gado com corcunda).
O animal mais comumente visto nos selos Indus é um "unicórnio". Em histórias antigas, o unicórnio era uma besta mítica, geralmente parecendo um cavalo, com um chifre.
Algumas pessoas acham que o "unicórnio" do Vale do Indo é realmente uma vaca de lado. Pode ter sido um encanto de "boa sorte" ou o emblema de um importante grupo de comerciantes.
Viagens dos comerciantes.
Os comerciantes do Vale do Indo cruzaram montanhas e florestas. Eles seguiram rios caminhando ao longo da margem do rio. Eles também usaram barcos. Em um barco, era mais fácil e mais rápido descer a jusante (a mesma direção em que o rio estava fluindo).
Alguns comerciantes carregavam mercadorias nas costas. Outros dirigiam carrinhos de madeira puxados por bois. Arqueólogos encontraram modelos de carrinhos de argila, parecidos com os carros de boi ainda vistos na Índia e no Paquistão hoje.
Os comerciantes provavelmente viajaram em grupos. À noite, acampavam ou dormiam em hotéis à beira da estrada. Às vezes era mais seguro viajar em grupos, para proteção contra ladrões ou tigres famintos.
Alguns comerciantes se estabeleceram em outras terras. Comerciantes de outra civilização chamada Mesopotâmia faziam suas casas nas cidades do Indo, e as pessoas do vale do Indo iam morar nas cidades da Mesopotâmia.
Barcos do vale do Indo.
Uma imagem em um selo mostra um barco do Vale do Indo com extremidades levantadas (proa e popa), uma vela enrolada e uma cabine quadrada. Um homem na popa (atrás) tem um longo remo, possivelmente para dirigir. Um barco de fundo chato podia viajar em águas rasas. Poderia ser empurrado por um poste, por remos ou pelo vento em sua vela. Barcos maiores foram para o mar.
Barcos nos tempos antigos eram feitos de madeira ou feixes de juncos. Experimentos modernos provaram que até barcos de junco podiam atravessar oceanos. Barcos como as antigas embarcações do Vale do Indo ainda são usados ​​na Índia, no Paquistão e no Golfo Pérsico.
Comércio com a Mesopotâmia.
Sargão de Akkad (2334 a 2279 aC) foi um rei na Mesopotâmia. Esta foi uma das primeiras civilizações antigas. Sabemos que os comerciantes do Vale do Indo foram para lá, porque os selos do Indo foram encontrados na Mesopotâmia.
Os escribas de Sargão mantiveram registros escritos de navios de outras terras. Assim, aprendemos que os mesopotâmios compraram ouro, cobre e jóias de 'Meluhha'. Meluhha era o nome mesopotâmico da civilização do Indo? Ou era o nome do próprio povo do Vale do Indo para suas terras?
Para chegar à Mesopotâmia, os navios da Indus navegaram para o oeste. Eles provavelmente ficaram perto da terra. Pedaços da antiga cerâmica Indus encontrados nas praias de Omã, no Golfo, vieram de jarras de armazenamento deixadas para trás pelos comerciantes.

8a. Civilização Antiga no Vale do Indo.
Os arianos provavelmente usaram o Passo Khyber para cruzar as montanhas durante a invasão indígena. Localizado no atual Paquistão, o passe tem cerca de 16 metros de largura em seu ponto mais estreito.
A frase "civilizações antigas" geralmente evoca imagens do Egito e da Mesopotâmia, e suas pirâmides, múmias e tumbas de ouro.
Mas na década de 1920, uma enorme descoberta no sul da Ásia provou que o Egito e a Mesopotâmia não eram as únicas "primeiras civilizações". Nas vastas planícies do rio Indo (localizadas no que é hoje o Paquistão e o oeste da Índia), sob camadas de terra e montes de terra, os arqueólogos descobriram os restos de uma cidade de 4.600 anos de idade. Uma civilização urbana próspera existira ao mesmo tempo que os estados egípcios e mesopotâmicos. em uma área duas vezes cada um dos seus tamanhos.
As pessoas desta civilização do Vale do Indo não construíram monumentos maciços como seus contemporâneos, nem enterraram riquezas entre seus mortos em tumbas de ouro. Não havia múmias, imperadores e guerras violentas ou batalhas sangrentas em seu território.
Notavelmente, a falta de tudo isso é o que torna a civilização do Vale do Indo tão excitante e indecisa. Enquanto outras civilizações dedicavam enormes quantias de tempo e recursos aos ricos, sobrenaturais e mortos, os habitantes do Vale do Indo estavam adotando uma abordagem prática para apoiar as pessoas comuns, seculares e vivas. Claro, eles acreditavam em uma vida após a morte e empregavam um sistema de divisões sociais. Mas eles também acreditavam que os recursos eram mais valiosos em circulação entre os vivos do que em exposição ou enterrados no subsolo.
Surpreendentemente, a civilização do Vale do Indo parece ter sido pacífica. Muito poucas armas foram encontradas e nenhuma evidência de um exército foi descoberta.
Ossos humanos escavados não revelam sinais de violência, e a construção de vestígios não mostra indicação de batalha. Todas as evidências apontam para uma preferência pela paz e pelo sucesso em alcançá-lo.
Então, como uma civilização tão prática e pacífica se tornou tão bem sucedida?
As cidades gêmeas.
As ruínas de duas cidades antigas, Harappa e Mohenjo-Daro (ambas no atual Paquistão), e os remanescentes de muitos outros assentamentos, revelaram grandes pistas para esse mistério. Harappa foi, de fato, uma descoberta tão rica que a Civilização do Vale do Indo também é chamada de civilização Harappan.
O primeiro artefato descoberto em Harappa foi um selo de pedra sujo, com um unicórnio e uma inscrição. Selos similares com diferentes símbolos animais e escritos foram encontrados em toda a região. Embora a escrita ainda não tenha sido decifrada, as evidências sugerem que elas pertenciam ao mesmo sistema de linguagem. Aparentemente, o sistema cuneiforme da Mesopotâmia teve alguma competição na corrida pelo primeiro roteiro do mundo.
A descoberta dos selos levou os arqueólogos a cavar mais. A surpreendente arquitetura urbana foi logo descoberta no vale e nas planícies do oeste. As descobertas mostram claramente que as sociedades Harappanas eram bem organizadas e muito sanitárias.
Esta cópia do Rig Veda foi escrita depois da Era Védica. Os arianos não tinham forma de escrever na época em que invadiram a Índia. Em vez disso, esses roteiros religiosos teriam sido memorizados e passados ​​oralmente pelos padres brâmanes.
Para proteção contra inundações sazonais e águas poluídas, os assentamentos foram construídos em plataformas gigantes e terrenos elevados. Sobre essas fundações, redes de ruas foram dispostas em padrões claros de linhas retas e ângulos retos. Os edifícios ao longo das estradas eram todos construídos com tijolos de tamanho uniforme.
As casas de alvenaria de todos os moradores da cidade estavam equipadas com áreas de banho abastecidas com água dos poços vizinhos. Sistemas sofisticados de drenagem por toda a cidade carregavam água suja e esgoto fora dos espaços de convivência. Mesmo as menores casas nas bordas das cidades estavam conectadas aos sistemas & mdash; a limpeza era obviamente da maior importância.
A queda da cultura Harappan.
Sem dúvida, essas cidades eram obras de engenharia de seu tempo. Os restos de suas paredes fornecem pistas sobre a cultura que prosperou no Vale do Indo. Figurinhas de barro de deusas, por exemplo, são a prova de que a religião era importante. Brinquedos e jogos mostram que, mesmo em 3000 a. C.E, kids & mdash; e talvez até adultos & mdash; gostava de jogar. Cerâmica, tecidos e miçangas são evidências de habilidade e comércio.
A suástica era um símbolo sagrado para os arianos, significando prosperidade. A palavra vem do sânscrito para "boa sorte". Hitler pegou emprestado o símbolo, mudou o ângulo e a direção dos braços e usou-o para representar os nazistas.
Foi essa dedicação intensiva ao artesanato e ao comércio que permitiu que a cultura Harappan se difundisse amplamente e prosperasse grandemente. Cada vez que as mercadorias eram negociadas ou os vizinhos entravam nos portões das cidades para barganhar, a cultura Indus estava espalhada.
Por fim, no entanto, por volta de 1900 aC, essa prosperidade chegou ao fim. A rede cultural integrada entrou em colapso e a civilização tornou-se fragmentada em culturas regionais menores. Comércio, escrita e selos desapareceram da área.
Muitos acreditam que o declínio da civilização Harappan foi resultado de invasões arianas do norte. Esta teoria parece lógica porque os arianos chegaram ao poder no vale do Ganges logo após o fim do Indus da Civilização do Vale do Indo. Porque há pouca evidência de qualquer tipo de invasão, porém, muitos historiadores afirmam que foi um desastre ambiental que levou à morte da civilização. Eles argumentam que a mudança nos padrões dos rios interrompeu os sistemas agrícolas e de comércio e, eventualmente, levou a inundações irreparáveis.
Embora os intrincados detalhes da cultura inicial do Vale do Indo possam nunca ser totalmente conhecidos, muitas peças do antigo quebra-cabeça foram descobertas. Os restos das cidades do Vale do Indo continuam a ser desenterrados e interpretados hoje. Com cada novo artefato, a história da antiga civilização indiana é fortalecida e o legado dessa metrópole engenhosa e diversificada torna-se mais rico.
Arquitetura, engenharia, artes e ciências: estas foram apenas algumas das áreas em que a civilização Harappan foi realizada. Este papel intenso do site Civilizações Antigas nos dá uma visão detalhada do que a vida significava para os antigos Harappans, dos esgotos à música.
Lopamudra foi um grande sábio que inspirou medo entre os colegas e temor entre os mais velhos. Ela também passou a ser uma mulher. Leia sobre o estado das mulheres na Era Védica antes que elas caiam do poder quando os homens assumiram o controle. Aprenda com este artigo da Suite 101 como essas mulheres antigas influenciam as mulheres indianas hoje.
Pode ser possível que os arianos nunca tenham realmente invadido a Índia. Em vez disso, os europeus podem ter inventado toda a teoria para dividir o povo indiano. A Teoria da Invasão Ária é a única explicação para a evidência histórica? Dê uma olhada nesta tabela fornecida pelo Greenhead College, que fornece os fundamentos e a evidência histórica de cada teoria que explica a relação entre os dravidianos e os arianos.
Quando os arianos chegaram à Índia, trouxeram consigo o cavalo, sânscrito (a base da língua hindi) e a base do hinduísmo. Eles também trouxeram guerra, bem como o sistema de castas, e apagaram todos os vestígios do sistema de escrita da civilização Harappan. Os dedicados estudantes da Thinkquest discutem os prós e contras da invasão ariana na Índia.
Eles vieram através do Khyber Pass com seu gado e cultura, transplantando uma civilização no processo. Leia este site da India Visit sobre os arianos e a era védica. Aprenda sobre os grandes épicos que eles escreveram e as contribuições que fizeram para a Índia de hoje.

Pensamentos & # 8230;
& # 8230; deixando as pegadas & # 8230;
Civilização do Vale do Indo & # 8211; Cultura e Comércio.
A Civilização do Vale do Indo foi uma das primeiras grandes civilizações urbanas do mundo. Floresceu nas vastas planícies do rio e nas regiões adjacentes, que agora são o Paquistão e a Índia Ocidental. A origem da Civilização do Vale do Indo remonta a 2300 aC, desenvolvida nas bacias hidrográficas de Sutlej, Ravi e Indus. As duas cidades desta civilização estavam localizadas abaixo das montanhas do Himalaia, na fronteira com o Paquistão e o nordeste da Índia.
A descoberta da Civilização do Vale do Indo.
Durante os anos 80, enquanto a construção da linha férrea prosseguia, os arqueólogos franceses encontraram este lugar. Eles escavaram ainda mais para descobrir colônias habitacionais sistemáticas construídas pela lama do povo Mehargarh. Outras escavações levaram à descoberta de seu incrível sistema de irrigação e drenagem. Ornamentos, pratos e louças desenterrados, copos de bebida, ferramentas feitas de pedras, tigelas pintadas e frascos estabeleceram ainda mais os fatos sobre sua prosperidade e desenvolvimento.
Os antropólogos acreditam que esses centros da Civilização do Vale do Indo foram epítome do desenvolvimento e um dos melhores exemplos do florescimento do comércio e da economia baseada na agricultura. O povo da Civilização do Vale do Indo fez o uso inteligente e engenhoso dos rios presentes em sua área ao redor deles.
Economia baseada na agricultura.
Sendo a terra fértil e com a sólida rede de irrigação, as pessoas do Vale do Indo prosperaram no sistema que era centralizado para a agricultura. Eles costumavam cultivar culturas como cevada, trigo, sementes de melão e oleaginosas, como mostarda e gergelim. A ervilha de campo foi observada como a única fonte de vegetais. A pesquisa revelou que as pessoas do Indo também conheciam o cultivo de algodão. Acredita-se também que na costa oeste, essas pessoas também costumavam cultivar arroz, embora isso não seja um fato comprovado. Numerosas espécies selvagens de animais que estavam disponíveis localmente foram domesticadas por pessoas do Indus. Estes incluem gado, búfalos, chifres curtos, cavalos, camelos, porcos. Eles também usavam cães e gatos como animais de estimação.
Além da subsistência da agricultura e da caça, as pessoas da civilização do Vale do Indo ganhavam a vida vendendo mercadorias diferentes. O comércio de bens diferentes ajudou a Civilização do Indo a expandir sua cultura, estabelecendo contatos regulares com terras distantes. As áreas ao longo da costa e muitos rios forneceram ao povo do Vale do Indo territórios consistentes de água. O povo Harappa não estava confinado aos limites de seus próprios lugares. Comércio exterior e portos marítimos foram encontrados na Civilização Harappa.
O trabalho de adivinhação e as teorias continuam sobre os bens importados que são comercializados a partir desses territórios e as circunstâncias e o ambiente implicados nas rotas comerciais de longa distância. No entanto, a confiança do povo Harappa em tal prática comercial é bastante aparente através da pesquisa feita nesta perspectiva. Um complexo, porém elaborado, sistema de pesos que envolvem cubos de pedra de pequeno tamanho foi talvez usado como norma padrão no sistema de pesagem da Civilização Harappa. Com esses fatos, é óbvio concluir que, em 2.500 aC, a civilização harappa era uma civilização distinta que se espalhava por um grande pedaço de terra.
Arqueólogos acreditam fortemente que o povo Harappa tinha um tipo federal de governo que era dividido com diversas classes públicas, e guiado pelas normas de sua própria religião distinta. Havia administradores, artesãos, pessoas de classe média e ricos comerciantes e vários outros funcionários.
A existência de uma vida religiosa ainda é incerta, mas existe alguma semelhança notável com o hinduísmo dos tempos modernos (por exemplo, a figura de três deidades dirigidas se assemelha ao Senhor Shiva).
Como todas as sociedades e civilizações estão fadadas a enfrentar declínio e extinção após um certo período de tempo, a Civilização do Vale do Indo também foi vítima dela, e as cidades começaram a definhar e a economia forte se deteriorou lentamente. As inundações intermitentes romperam e puseram fim a essa civilização. Desastres naturais, como inundações e tempestades, eliminaram o sistema de irrigação que fornecia água às plantações, e muitos dos edifícios foram reduzidos a escombros.
Devido a esses contínuos desastres naturais, as pessoas não conseguiam manter as cidades organizadas e prósperas. Os constantes desastres simplesmente os quebraram de moral como pessoas orgulhosas de uma civilização tão avançada. Mas é certo que essas pessoas eram poderosas, determinadas e avançadas; como é evidente, facilmente visto através de sua economia forte e bem-sucedida.

CIVILIZAÇÃO DO VALE DO RIO INDUS.
Impacto da Geografia.
Grande área
Arredores.
Agricultura.
Estrutura social.
Sistema de castas com quatro classes principais.
Kshatriyas (guerreiros e aristocratas - governantes)
Vaishyas (cultivadores, artesãos e comerciantes)
Shudras (camponeses e servos)
Edifícios / Estruturas.
Citadels foram usados ​​para defesa.
Todas as casas tinham acesso a água e eram do mesmo tamanho.
Casas tinham uma ou duas histórias.
A maioria dos edifícios era feita de tijolos secos.
Não há grandes monumentos ou estruturas.
Ferramentas / Armas / Tecnologia.
A argila foi utilizada para a fabricação de arte e ferramentas.
Desenvolveu um sistema de medição e ferramentas para medição (primeiro e mais preciso do tempo)
O armamento não era tão avançado quanto na sociedade mesopotâmica.
Setas foram criadas.
Espadas não foram desenvolvidas.
A geografia isolada negou a necessidade de armas avançadas.
Tecnologia.
Primeira civilização do mundo a desenvolver equipamentos precisos de medição e pesagem.
A maior parte da tecnologia foi usada para ajudar na agricultura.
Outras tecnologias de comércio, como barcos e carretas, foram empregadas para facilitar o comércio.

Quem eram as pessoas do Indus?
A civilização do Indo começou há quase 5.000 anos. Saiba mais sobre diferentes cidades do Vale do Indo.
Como era a vida cotidiana no Vale do Indo?
Saiba mais sobre a vida cotidiana no Vale do Indo. Que trabalhos as pessoas faziam e o que faziam por diversão.
O que podemos aprender com os artefatos do Vale do Indo?
Descubra os diferentes artefatos encontrados no Vale do Indo e o que eles nos dizem sobre o povo do Indo.
O que aconteceu com a civilização do Indo?
Por volta de 1900 aC, muitas cidades Indus haviam sido abandonadas. Descubra o que aconteceu com a civilização do Indo.
Jogo comerciante Indus.
Funciona melhor na área de trabalho.
Explore o Vale do Indo em busca de comércio e aventura.
1 clipe de aula.
Temos uma seleção de ótimos vídeos para uso em sala de aula.

Sistema de negociação da civilização do Vale do Indo
A civilização do vale do Indo.
A Civilização do Vale do Indo (IVC) foi uma civilização da Idade do Bronze (3300-1300 aC; período de maturidade 2600-1900 aC) que se estende do que hoje é o nordeste do Afeganistão até o Paquistão e o noroeste da Índia. Juntamente com o antigo Egito e a Mesopotâmia, foi uma das três primeiras civilizações do Velho Mundo, e das três as mais difundidas Ela floresceu nas bacias do rio Indo, um dos principais rios da Ásia, e o rio Ghaggar-Hakra, que uma vez percorreu o noroeste da Índia e o leste do Paquistão.
No seu auge, a civilização do Indo pode ter tido uma população de mais de cinco milhões. Habitantes do antigo vale do rio Indo desenvolveram novas técnicas de artesanato (produtos de cornalina, entalhe de sinetes) e metalurgia (cobre, bronze, chumbo e estanho). As cidades Indus são conhecidas por seu planejamento urbano, casas de tijolos assados, elaborados sistemas de drenagem, sistemas de abastecimento de água e aglomerados de grandes edifícios não residenciais.
A Civilização do Vale do Indo é também conhecida como a Civilização Harappana, depois de Harappa, o primeiro de seus locais a ser escavado na década de 1920, na então província de Punjab da Índia Britânica, e agora é o Paquistão. A descoberta de Harappa, e logo depois, Mohenjo-Daro, foi o culminar do trabalho iniciado em 1861, com a fundação do Inquérito Arqueológico da Índia no Reino Unido. As escavações de Harappan estão em andamento desde 1920, com avanços importantes ocorrendo como recentemente, em 1999.
Havia culturas anteriores e posteriores, muitas vezes chamadas Early Harappan e Late Harappan, na mesma área da Civilização Harappan. A civilização Harappan é às vezes chamada de cultura madura Harappan para distingui-la dessas culturas.
Até 1999, mais de 1.056 cidades e assentamentos foram encontrados, dos quais 96 foram escavados, principalmente na região geral dos rios Indus e Ghaggar-Hakra e seus afluentes. Entre os assentamentos estavam os principais centros urbanos de Harappa, Mohenjo-daro (Patrimônio Mundial da UNESCO), Dholavira, Ganeriwala no Cholistão e Rakhigarhi.
A língua Harappan não é atestada diretamente e sua afiliação é incerta, já que a escrita do Indus ainda não foi decifrada. Uma relação com a família linguística dravidiana ou elamo-dravidiana é favorecida por uma seção de estudiosos.
Cronologia.
A fase madura da civilização Harappan durou de c. 2600 a 1900 aC Com a inclusão das culturas predecessora e sucessora - Early Harappan e Late Harappan, respectivamente - toda a Civilização do Vale do Indo pode ser considerada como tendo ocorrido entre os séculos 33 e 14 aC. Dois termos são empregados para a periodização do IVC: Fases e Eras.
As fases Harappanas Antigas, Harapenas maduras e Harapenas tardias são também chamadas de eras de Regionalização, Integração e Localização, respectivamente, com a era da Regionalização voltando ao período Neolítico do Mehrgarh II. "As descobertas em Mehrgarh mudaram todo o conceito da civilização do Indo", segundo Ahmad Hasan Dani, professor emérito da Universidade Quaid-e-Azam, Islamabad. "Lá nós temos toda a seqüência, desde o início da vida da aldeia."
A Civilização do Vale do Indo abarcava a maior parte do Paquistão e partes do noroeste da Índia, Afeganistão e Irã, estendendo-se do Baluchistão no oeste até Uttar Pradesh no leste, nordeste do Afeganistão ao norte e Maharashtra ao sul.
A geografia do Vale do Indo colocou as civilizações que surgiram lá em uma situação muito semelhante àquelas no Egito e no Peru, com terras agrícolas ricas sendo cercadas por terras altas, deserto e oceano. Recentemente, os sites da Indus também foram descobertos na província fronteiriça do noroeste do Paquistão.
Outras colônias de IVC podem ser encontradas no Afeganistão, enquanto pequenas colônias isoladas podem ser encontradas tão longe quanto o Turcomenistão e Gujarat. Os assentamentos costeiros se estenderam de Sutkagan Dor, no oeste do Baluchistão, até Lothal, em Gujarat. Um local do Vale do Indo foi encontrado no rio Oxus em Shortughai no norte do Afeganistão, no vale do rio Gomal no noroeste do Paquistão, em Manda, Jammu no rio Beas perto de Jammu, na Índia, e em Alamgirpur no rio Hindon, apenas 28 km de Delhi. Os locais do Vale do Indo foram encontrados mais frequentemente em rios, mas também na antiga costa marítima, por exemplo, Balakot, e em ilhas, por exemplo, Dholavira.
Há evidências de leitos de rios secos sobrepostos ao canal Hakra no Paquistão e ao rio Ghaggar na Índia. Muitos locais do Vale do Indo (ou Harappan) foram descobertos ao longo dos leitos de Ghaggar-Hakra. Entre eles estão: Rupar, Rakhigarhi, Sothi, Kalibangan e Ganwariwala. De acordo com J. G. Shaffer e D. A. Lichtenstein, a Civilização Harappan "é uma fusão das tradições Bagor, Hakra e Koti Dij ou 'grupos étnicos' no vale de Ghaggar-Hakra, nas fronteiras da Índia e do Paquistão".
Segundo alguns arqueólogos, mais de 500 sítios Harappan foram descobertos ao longo dos leitos de rios secos do rio Ghaggar-Hakra e seus afluentes, em contraste com apenas cerca de 100 ao longo do rio Indo e seus afluentes; consequentemente, na sua opinião, a denominação civilização Indus Ghaggar-Hakra ou civilização Indus-Saraswati é justificada.
No entanto, esses argumentos politicamente inspirados são contestados por outros arqueólogos que afirmam que a área desértica de Ghaggar-Hakra foi deixada intocada pelos assentamentos e pela agricultura desde o final do período Indus e, portanto, mostra mais locais do que os encontrados no aluvião do vale do Indo; segundo, que o número de sítios Harappan ao longo dos leitos dos rios Ghaggar-Hakra foi exagerado e que o Ghaggar-Hakra, quando existiu, era um afluente do rio Indo, portanto a nova nomenclatura é redundante. "Civilização Harappan" continua sendo a correta, de acordo com o uso arqueológico comum de nomear uma civilização após seu primeiro findpot.
Surgimento da Civilização.
A fase inicial de Harappan Ravi, em homenagem ao rio Ravi, durou de 3300 aC até 2800 aC. Está relacionado com a Fase Hakra, identificada no Vale do Rio Ghaggar-Hakra a oeste, e antecede a Fase de Kot Diji (2800-2600 aC, Harappan 2), em homenagem a um local no norte de Sindh, Paquistão, perto de Mohenjo Daro. Os primeiros exemplos do roteiro do Indus datam de cerca de 3000 aC.
A fase madura das antigas culturas das aldeias é representada por Rehman Dheri e Amri no Paquistão. Kot Diji (Harappan 2) representa a fase que leva a Mature Harappan, com a cidadela representando autoridade centralizada e uma qualidade de vida cada vez mais urbana. Outra cidade dessa etapa foi encontrada em Kalibangan, na Índia, no rio Hakra.
As redes de comércio vincularam essa cultura a culturas regionais relacionadas e fontes distantes de matérias-primas, incluindo lápis-lazúli e outros materiais para fazer contas. Os aldeões haviam, nessa altura, domesticado numerosas colheitas, incluindo ervilhas, sementes de gergelim, tâmaras e algodão, bem como animais, incluindo o búfalo. As primeiras comunidades de Harappan se voltaram para grandes centros urbanos em 2600 aC, de onde a fase madura de Harappan começou.
Por volta de 2600 aC, as comunidades primitivas de Harappan foram transformadas em grandes centros urbanos. Tais centros urbanos incluem Harappa, Ganeriwala, Mohenjo-Daro no Paquistão moderno, e Dholavira, Kalibangan, Rakhigarhi, Rupar e Lothal na Índia moderna. No total, mais de 1.052 cidades e assentamentos foram encontrados, principalmente na região geral dos rios Indus e seus afluentes.
Uma cultura urbana sofisticada e tecnologicamente avançada é evidente na civilização do Vale do Indo. A qualidade do planejamento municipal sugere o conhecimento do planejamento urbano e dos governos municipais eficientes, que priorizavam a higiene. As ruas das principais cidades, como Mohenjo-daro ou Harappa, foram dispostas em um padrão de grade perfeito, comparável à de Nova York atual. As casas eram protegidas de barulho, odores e ladrões.
Como visto em Harappa, Mohenjo-daro e o recentemente descoberto Rakhigarhi, esse plano urbano incluiu os primeiros sistemas de saneamento urbano do mundo. Dentro da cidade, casas individuais ou grupos de casas obtinham água dos poços. De uma sala que parece ter sido reservada para o banho, as águas residuais eram direcionadas para os drenos cobertos, que cobriam as principais ruas. Casas abertas apenas para pátios internos e ruas menores.
Os antigos sistemas Indus de esgoto e drenagem que foram desenvolvidos e utilizados em cidades em todo o Império Indo eram muito mais avançados do que qualquer um encontrado em locais urbanos contemporâneos no Oriente Médio e ainda mais eficientes do que aqueles em algumas áreas do atual Paquistão e Índia. A arquitetura avançada dos Harappans é mostrada por seus impressionantes estaleiros, celeiros, armazéns, plataformas de tijolo e paredes de proteção. As cidadelas maciças das cidades Indus que protegiam os Harappans de inundações e invasores eram maiores do que a maioria dos zigurates da Mesopotâmia.
O objetivo da "Citadel" continua em debate. Em nítido contraste com os contemporâneos desta civilização, a Mesopotâmia e o antigo Egito, não foram construídas grandes estruturas monumentais. Não há evidências conclusivas de palácios ou templos - ou, na verdade, de reis, exércitos ou sacerdotes. Algumas estruturas são consideradas como celeiros. Encontrado em uma cidade é um enorme banho bem construído, que pode ter sido um banho público. Embora as "Citadels" estejam muradas, está longe de claro que essas estruturas eram defensivas. Eles podem ter sido construídos para desviar as águas das cheias.
A maioria dos moradores da cidade parece ter sido comerciantes ou artesãos, que viviam com outros que buscavam a mesma ocupação em bairros bem definidos. Materiais de regiões distantes foram usados ​​nas cidades para construir focas, contas e outros objetos. Entre os artefatos feitos estavam belas pérolas de pedra vidrada chamadas faência. Os selos têm imagens de animais, deuses, etc. e inscrições. Alguns dos selos eram usados ​​para carimbar barro em mercadorias comerciais, mas eles provavelmente tinham outros usos. Embora algumas casas fossem maiores do que outras, as cidades da civilização do Indo eram notáveis ​​por seu aparente igualitarismo. Por exemplo, todas as casas tinham acesso a instalações de água e drenagem. Tem-se a impressão de uma vasta sociedade de classe média.
As ruínas de Harrappa foram descritas pela primeira vez em 1842 por Charles Masson em sua narrativa de várias jornadas no Balochistão, Afeganistão e Punjab, onde os habitantes locais falavam de uma cidade antiga que se estendia a treze cossos, mas nenhum interesse arqueológico anexar a isso por quase um século.
Em 1856, o general Alexander Cunningham, mais tarde diretor geral do levantamento arqueológico do norte da Índia, visitou Harappa, onde os engenheiros britânicos John e William Brunton estavam instalando a linha da Indian East Railway Company ligando as cidades de Karachi e Lahore. John escreveu: "Eu estava muito exercitado em minha mente como iríamos obter lastro para a linha da ferrovia". Eles foram informados de uma antiga cidade arruinada perto das linhas, chamada Brahminabad. Visitando a cidade, encontrou-a cheia de tijolos duros e bem queimados e, "convencida de que havia uma grande pedreira para o lastro que eu queria", a cidade de Brahminabad foi reduzida a lastro. Poucos meses depois, mais ao norte, "o trecho da linha do irmão de John, William Brunton, corria perto de outra cidade em ruínas, tijolos que já haviam sido usados ​​por aldeões na aldeia vizinha de Harappa no mesmo local. Esses tijolos agora forneciam lastro ao longo de 93 milhas (150 km) da linha férrea que vai de Karachi a Lahore ".
Em 1872, Alexander Cunningham publicou o primeiro selo Harappan (com uma identificação errônea como letras Brahmi). Foi meio século mais tarde, em 1912, que mais focas Harappais foram descobertas por J. Fleet, provocando uma campanha de escavação sob Sir John Hubert Marshall em 1921-22 e resultando na descoberta da civilização em Harappa por Sir John Marshall, Rai. Bahadur Daya Ram Sahni e Madho Sarup Vats, e em Mohenjo-daro por Rakhal Das Banerjee, EJH MacKay e Sir John Marshall.
Em 1931, muito de Mohenjo-Daro havia sido escavado, mas as escavações continuaram, como a conduzida por Sir Mortimer Wheeler, diretor do Archaeological Survey of India em 1944. Entre outros arqueólogos que trabalharam em locais de IVC antes da partição do subcontinente em 1947 eram Ahmad Hasan Dani, Brij Basi Lal, Nani Gopal Majumdar e Sir Marc Aurel Stein.
Following the Partition of India, the bulk of the archaeological finds were inherited by Pakistan where most of the IVC was based, and excavations from this time include those led by Sir Mortimer Wheeler in 1949, archaeological adviser to the Government of Pakistan. Outposts of the Indus Valley civilization were excavated as far west as Sutkagan Dor in Baluchistan, as far north as at Shortugai on the Amu Darya (the river's ancient name was Oxus) in current Afghanistan, as far east as at Alamgirpur, Uttar Pradesh, India and as far south as at Malwan, Surat Dist., India.
On July 11th, heavy floods hit Haryana in India and damaged the archaeological site of Jognakhera, where ancient copper smelting were found dating back almost 5,000 years. The Indus Valley Civilization site was hit by almost 10 feet of water as the Sutlej Yamuna link canal overflowed.
Mohenjo Daro.
Mohenjo Daro - Mound of the Dead - is an archeological site in the province of Sindh, Pakistan. Built around 2600 BCE, it was one of the largest settlements of the ancient Indus Valley Civilization, and one of the world's earliest major urban settlements, contemporaneous with the civilizations of ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Crete. Mohenjo-daro was abandoned in the 19th century BCE, and was not rediscovered until 1922. Significant excavation has since been conducted at the site of the city, which was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1980. However, the site is currently threatened by erosion and improper restoration.
Smithsonian - October 18, 2013.
Mohenjo Daro likely was, at its time, the greatest city in the world. Roughly 4,500 years ago, as many as 35,000 people lived and worked in the massive city, which occupies 250 acres along PakistanХs Indus river. Mohenjo Daro sat beneath the soil for thousands of years, a preserved relic of the ancient Indus Valley civilization. But excavation exposed the city to the elements, and now, says the Telegraph, the ruins may have as little as 20 years left.
Government.
Archaeological records provide no immediate answers for a center of power or for depictions of people in power in Harappan society. But, there are indications of complex decisions being taken and implemented. For instance, the extraordinary uniformity of Harappan artifacts as evident in pottery, seals, weights and bricks. These are the major theories:
There was a single state, given the similarity in artifacts, the evidence for planned settlements, the standardized ratio of brick size, and the establishment of settlements near sources of raw material.
There was no single ruler but several: Mohenjo-daro had a separate ruler, Harappa another, and so forth.
Harappan society had no rulers, and everybody enjoyed equal status.
Science and Technology.
The people of the Indus Civilization achieved great accuracy in measuring length, mass, and time. They were among the first to develop a system of uniform weights and measures. A comparison of available objects indicates large scale variation across the Indus territories. Their smallest division, which is marked on an ivory scale found in Lothal, was approximately 1.704 mm, the smallest division ever recorded on a scale of the Bronze Age. Harappan engineers followed the decimal division of measurement for all practical purposes, including the measurement of mass as revealed by their hexahedron weights.
These chert weights were in a ratio of 5:2:1 with weights of 0.05, 0.1, 0.2, 0.5, 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, and 500 units, with each unit weighing approximately 28 grams, similar to the English Imperial ounce or Greek uncia, and smaller objects were weighed in similar ratios with the units of 0.871. However, as in other cultures, actual weights were not uniform throughout the area. The weights and measures later used in Kautilya's Arthashastra (4th century BCE) are the same as those used in Lothal. Harappans evolved some new technues in metallurgy and produced copper, bronze, lead, and tin. The engineering skill of the Harappans was remarkable, especially in building docks.
In 2001, archaeologists studying the remains of two men from Mehrgarh, Pakistan, made the discovery that the people of the Indus Valley Civilization, from the early Harappan periods, had knowledge of proto-dentistry. Later, in April 2006, it was announced in the scientific journal Nature that the oldest (and first early Neolithic) evidence for the drilling of human teeth in vivo (i. e., in a living person) was found in Mehrgarh. Eleven drilled molar crowns from nine adults were discovered in a Neolithic graveyard in Mehrgarh that dates from 7,500-9,000 years ago. According to the authors, their discoveries point to a tradition of proto-dentistry in the early farming cultures of that region.
A touchstone bearing gold streaks was found in Banawali, which was probably used for testing the purity of gold (such a technue is still used in some parts of India).
Trade and Transportation.
The Indus civilization's economy appears to have depended significantly on trade, which was facilitated by major advances in transport technology. The IVC may have been the first civilization to use wheeled transport. These advances may have included bullock carts that are identical to those seen throughout South Asia today, as well as boats. Most of these boats were probably small, flat-bottomed craft, perhaps driven by sail, similar to those one can see on the Indus River today; however, there is secondary evidence of seagoing craft. Archaeologists have discovered a massive, dredged canal and what they regard as a docking facility at the coastal city of Lothal in western India (Gujarat state). An extensive canal network, used for irrigation, has however also been discovered by H.-P. Francfort.
During 4300Р3200 BCE of the chalcolithic period (copper age), the Indus Valley Civilization area shows ceramic similarities with southern Turkmenistan and northern Iran which suggest considerable mobility and trade. During the Early Harappan period (about 3200Р2600 BCE), similarities in pottery, seals, figurines, ornaments, etc. document intensive caravan trade with Central Asia and the Iranian plateau.
Judging from the dispersal of Indus civilization artifacts, the trade networks, economically, integrated a huge area, including portions of Afghanistan, the coastal regions of Persia, northern and western India, and Mesopotamia. There is some evidence that trade contacts extended to Crete and possibly to Egypt.
There was an extensive maritime trade network operating between the Harappan and Mesopotamian civilizations as early as the middle Harappan Phase, with much commerce being handled by "middlemen merchants from Dilmun" (modern Bahrain and Failaka located in the Persian Gulf). Such long-distance sea trade became feasible with the innovative development of plank-built watercraft, equipped with a single central mast supporting a sail of woven rushes or cloth.
Several coastal settlements like Sotkagen-dor (astride Dasht River, north of Jiwani), Sokhta Koh (astride Shadi River, north of Pasni), and Balakot (near Sonmiani) in Pakistan along with Lothal in India testify to their role as Harappan trading outposts. Shallow harbors located at the estuaries of rivers opening into the sea allowed brisk maritime trade with Mesopotamian cities.
Agriculture.
The nature of the Indus civilization's agricultural system is still largely a matter of conjecture due to the limited amount of information surviving through the ages. Some speculation is possible, however.
Earlier studies (prior to 1980) often assumed that food production was imported to the Indus Valley by a single linguistic group ("Aryans") and/or from a single area. But recent studies indicate that food production was largely indigenous to the Indus Valley. Already the Mehrgarh people used domesticated wheats and barley and the major cultivated cereal crop was naked six-row barley, a crop derived from two-row barley. Archaeologist Jim G. Shaffer (1999: 245) writes that the Mehrgarh site "demonstrates that food production was an indigenous South Asian phenomenon" and that the data support interpretation of "the prehistoric urbanization and complex social organization in South Asia as based on indigenous, but not isolated, cultural developments."
Indus civilization agriculture must have been highly productive; after all, it was capable of generating surpluses sufficient to support tens of thousands of urban residents who were not primarily engaged in agriculture. It relied on the considerable technological achievements of the pre-Harappan culture, including the plough. Still, very little is known about the farmers who supported the cities or their agricultural methods. Some of them undoubtedly made use of the fertile alluvial soil left by rivers after the flood season, but this simple method of agriculture is not thought to be productive enough to support cities. There is no evidence of irrigation, but such evidence could have been obliterated by repeated, catastrophic floods.
The Indus civilization appears to contradict the hydraulic despotism hypothesis of the origin of urban civilization and the state. According to this hypothesis, cities could not have arisen without irrigation systems capable of generating massive agricultural surpluses. To build these systems, a despotic, centralized state emerged that was able to suppress the social status of thousands of people and harness their labor as slaves. It is very difficult to square this hypothesis with what is known about the Indus civilization. There is no evidence of kings, slaves, or forced mobilization of labor.
It is often assumed that intensive agricultural production requires dams and canals. This assumption is easily refuted. Throughout Asia, rice farmers produce significant agricultural surpluses from terraced, hillside rice paddies, which result not from slavery but rather the accumulated labor of many generations of people. Instead of building canals, Indus civilization people may have built water diversion schemes, which - like terrace agriculture - can be elaborated by generations of small-scale labor investments.
In addition, it is known that Indus civilization people practiced rainfall harvesting, a powerful technology that was brought to fruition by classical Indian civilization but nearly forgotten in the 20th century. It should be remembered that Indus civilization people, like all peoples in South Asia, built their lives around the monsoon, a weather pattern in which the bulk of a year's rainfall occurs in a four-month period. At a recently discovered Indus civilization city in western India, archaeologists discovered a series of massive reservoirs, hewn from solid rock and designed to collect rainfall, that would have been capable of meeting the city's needs during the dry season.
Some post-1980 studies indicate that food production was largely indigenous to the Indus Valley. It is known that the people of Mehrgarh used domesticated wheats and barley,[53] and the major cultivated cereal crop was naked six-row barley, a crop derived from two-row barley (see Shaffer and Liechtenstein 1995, 1999). Archaeologist Jim G. Shaffer (1999: 245) writes that the Mehrgarh site "demonstrates that food production was an indigenous South Asian phenomenon" and that the data support interpretation of "the prehistoric urbanization and complex social organization in South Asia as based on indigenous, but not isolated, cultural developments". Others, such as Dorian Fuller, however, indicate that it took some 2000 years before Middle Eastern wheat was acclimatised to South Asian conditions.
Indus Script.
Indus Valley Seals.
It has long been claimed that the Indus Valley was the home of a literate civilization, but this has recently been challenged on linguistic and archaeological grounds. Well over 400 Indus symbols have been found on seals or ceramic pots and over a dozen other materials, including a 'signboard' that apparently once hung over the gate of the inner citadel of the Indus city of Dholavira. Typical Indus inscriptions are no more than four or five characters in length, most of which (aside from the Dholavira 'signboard') are exquisitely tiny; the longest on a single surface, which is less than 1 inch (2.54 cm) square, is 17 signs long; the longest on any object (found on three different faces of a mass-produced object) carries only 26 symbols. It has been recently pointed out that the brevity of the inscriptions is unparalleled in any known premodern literate society, including those that wrote extensively on leaves, bark, wood, cloth, wax, animal skins, and other perishable materials.
Based partly on this evidence, a controversial recent paper by Farmer, Sproat, and Witzel (2004), argues that the Indus system did not encode language, but was related instead to a variety of non-linguistic sign systems used extensively in the Near East. It has also been claimed on occasion that the symbols were exclusively used for economic transactions, but this claim leaves unexplained the appearance of Indus symbols on many ritual objects, many of which were mass produced in molds. No parallels to these mass-produced inscriptions are known in any other early ancient civilizations.
Photos of many of the thousands of extant inscriptions are published in the Corpus of Indus Seals and Inscriptions (1987, 1991), edited by A. Parpola and his colleagues. Publication of a final third volume, which will reportedly republish photos taken in the 20s and 30s of hundreds of lost or stolen inscriptions, along with many discovered in the last few decades, has been announced for several years, but has not yet found its way into print. For now, researchers must supplement the materials in the Corpus by study of the tiny photos in the excavation reports of Marshall (1931), Mackay (1938, 1943), Wheeler (1947), or reproductions in more recent scattered sources.
The term Indus Script refers to short strings of symbols associated with the Harappan civilization of ancient India (most of the Indus sites are distributed in present day North West India and Pakistan) used between 2600Р1900 BC, which evolved from an earlier form of the Indus script attested from around 3300 BC. They are most commonly associated with flat, rectangular stone tablets called seals, but they are also found on at least a dozen other materials.
The first publication of a Harappan seal dates to 1875, in the form of a drawing by Alexander Cunningham. Since then, well over 4000 symbol-bearing objects have been discovered, some as far afield as Mesopotamia. After 1900 BC, use of the symbols ends, together with the final stage of Harappan civilization. Some early scholars, starting with Cunningham in 1877, thought that the script was the archetype of the Brahmi script used by Ashoka. Today Cunningham's claims are rejected by nearly all researchers, but a minority of mostly Indian scholars continues to argue for the Indus script as the predecessor of the Brahmic family. There are over 400 different signs, but many are thought to be slight modifications or combinations of perhaps 200 'basic' signs.
Houses were one or two stories high, made of baked brick, with flat roofs, and were just about identical. Each was built around a courtyard, with windows overlooking the courtyard. The outside walls had no windows. Each home had its own private drinking well and its own private bathroom. Clay pipes led from the bathrooms to sewers located under the streets. These sewers drained into nearly rivers and streams.
Harappan cities did not develop slowly, which suggests that whoever built these cities learned to do so in another place. As the Indus flooded, cities were rebuilt on top of each other. Archaeologists have discovered several different cities, one built over the other, each built a little less skillfully. The most skillful was on bottom. It would appear that builders grew less able or less interested in perfection over time. Still, each city is a marvel, and each greatly advanced for its time.
Their towns were laid out in grids everywhere (straight streets, well built homes!) These people were incredible builders. Scientists have found what they think are giant reservoirs for fresh water. They have also found that even the smallest house at the edge of each town was linked to that town's central drainage system. (Is it possible that they not only drained waste water out, but also had a system to pump fresh water into their homes, similar to modern plumbing.
Men and women dressed in colorful robes. Women wore jewelry of gold and precious stone, and even wore lipstick! Among the treasures found was a statue of a women wearing a bracelet. (Bracelets with similar designs are worn today in India.)
Clothing was for the most part, similar for both men and women. The basic costume of ancient society was a length of cloth wrapped around the lower part of the body, and a loose fitting garment for the upper body, which was usually another length of fabric. A headdress was also worn, mainly by the men.
Women in Vedic society wore a variety of garments. The first being a skirt type garment (dhoti), with a blouse (choli) and scarf. Second is a sari, which is a length of fabric wound around the body with the loose end (pallu) thrown over the shoulder. Sometimes a choli would be worn with this. The last garment was worn mainly by tribal women. The Adivasi is a length of fabric tied around the waist with no upper garment worn.
Men also had a choice in their clothing though not as varied as the women. Men usually wore a Dhoti, which is a length of fabric wrapped around the waist. This could be left as a skirt or brought through the legs and made into a pants type garment. Men of the south rarely wore shirts, but men of the north wore a fitted upper garment. Male headdress was also a length of fabric, wrapped around the head, called a Turban. Women sometimes wore the turban also.
Due to the large area of India many differences in clothing emerged, mainly due to climate differences. The southern Indians wore much less than in the colder north. Women in the south rarely wore a upper garment. Northern women adopted a fitted upper garment to be worn under the loose fitting one.
Clothing was made from resources found in each region. Cotton and wool were the most abundant, since silk was not introduced from China until around the 1st century B. C.E. People also enjoyed lavish embroidery and embellishments. Gold being the preferred, though there was also an abundance of silver and precious gems.
Entretenimento.
A beautiful small bronze statue of a dancer was found, which tells us that they enjoyed dance and had great skill working with metals. In the ancient city of Mohenjo-daro, scientists have found the remains of a large central pool, with steps leading down at both ends. This could have been a public swimming pool, or perhaps have been used for religious ceremonies. Around this large central pool were smaller rooms, that might have dressing rooms, and smaller pools that might have been private baths.
Some of the toys found were small carts, whistles shaped like birds,
Musical instruments include the Sarangi, Sitar, Tabla, Tambora, and Tanpura.
Since Vedic times, Indians had been required to correctly recite, the Vedas. The correctness in recitation was very important as the Vedas were, in those days, transmitted through memory (Smriti) and were learned through hearing (Shruti).
This kind of an emphasis on recitation the correct pronunciation lead to studies in phonetics and sound manipulation. This was the birthplace of Indian Musical Raga (metre) and Swaras (rhymes). That Music in ancient India was given considerable recognition is illustrated by the fact that Saraswati, the Indian goddess of learning is shown to be holding a musical instrument (Veena) in her hand.
Traditionally, vocal music in India has tended to be devotional music (Bhakti-geet), and temples have been places where musicians used to practice music to please the deity and the devotees. Indian vocal music is broadly divided into two schools - the Hindustani or north Indian school and the Carnatic or South Indian school. As far as instrumental music goes there is a general identity of instruments that have been used.
The main Indian musical instruments are the Sarod, the Veena, the Sarangi, the Tambora, the Harmonium, the Ghata, the Tabla, the Tanpura, the Satar, etc., As compared to art and architecture Indian music has had less impact on the outside world. This was so as most of Indian musical instruments require specialized material and craftsmanship for their manufacture. And in the absence of transmission of these skills and the absence of trade in musical instruments, Along with the necessity of long and arduous practice which was required to master these instruments, made the transmission of music a difficult task.
However, as far as, devotional vocal music goes, Indian musical traditions did travel to the countries of South east Asia. The instrumental and vocal music of Korea has many elements of Indian music, which it received along with the Buddhist invocative and devotional songs and slokas (religious couplets). Along with Buddhism, some Indian musical instruments like the flute (bansi), temples bell (Ghanta), etc., went to the countries of south-east Asia. Even Europe owes certain instruments to India.
Two popular European musical instruments namely the flute and violin are believed to be of Indian origin. Though we do not know about the process of transmission of these instruments, however in India the flute (bansi) and the violin (a variant of the Veena) are definitely indigenously Indian.
A pointer to the fact that these instruments have been in usage in India since a very long time is that the bansi is associated with Sri Krishna and the Veena with the goddess Saraswati.
This apart, in modern times the western musical instruments like the Tambourin and the Tambour are adaptations of the Indian Tambora and Tanpura. The names Tambourin and Tambour are also derived from the word Tambora. The Saralngi, another Indian musical instrument has also found its place in western music. The acceptance of these musical instruments in the west is also evident from the fact that the words Tambora, Sarangi and Tabla are mentioned in the Oxford Dictionary.
Art and Culture.
Ancient India's fine art and performing arts attest to this fact. This find expression in music, musical instruments, dancing, paintings and several other art forms.
Music had a divine character in India and in recognition of that the Indian Goddess of learning, Saraswati is always shown holding a musical instrument, namely, the veena. Likewise, Krishna is associated with 'banshi', that is, the flute - a musical instrument, which traveled throughout the world from India. Indian devotional songs and reciting influenced religious recitations in several eastern countries, where the style was adopted by Buddhists monks. The India developed several types of musical instruments and forms of dancing, with delicate body movements and grace.
Paintings have remained the oldest art form as found in several cave paintings across the globe. In India also, in places like Bhimbetka, a UNESCO declared world heritage site, pre-historic cave paintings have been discovered. In relatively recent times, paintings and carvings on rock had significantly developed, and many such rock carvings have been found dating to the period of the emperor Ashoka. Indian influences may be seen in paintings at Bamiyan, Afghanistan, and in Miran and Domko in Central Asia. Sometimes, such paintings depict not only Buddha but Hindu deities such as Shiva, Ganesha and Surya.
Ancient India had marvelous craftsmen, skilled in pottery, weaving, and metal working. Various sculptures, seals, pottery, gold jewelry, and anatomically detailed figurines in terracotta, bronze, steatite have been found at the excavation sites. The pottery that has been found is of very high quality, with unusually beautiful designs. Several small figures of animals, such as monkeys, have been found. These small figures could be objects of art or toys. There are also small statues of what they think are female gods. They found bowls made of bronze and silver, and many beads and ornaments. The metals used to make these things are not found in the Indus Valley. So, either the people who lived in this ancient civilization had to import all of these items from some other place, or more probably, had to import the metals they used to make these beautiful things from somewhere else.
A harp-like instrument depicted on an Indus seal and two shell objects found at Lothal indicate the use of stringed musical instruments. Seals have been found at Mohenjo-daro depicting a figure standing on its head, and one sitting cross-legged; perhaps the earliest indication, at least illustration, of the practice of yoga. A horned figure in a meditation pose has been interpreted as one of the earliest depictions of the god Shiva.
The very first works of visual art created in the Indian sub-continent were primitive cave or rock paintings. Many are assumed to exist, but the largest number of discoveries are in Central India, on sandstone rock shelters within a hundred mile radius around Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh. these paintings are dated at around 5500 B. C. i. e. they are 1500 years old. Some of these paintings have been overlaid with later paintings and graffiti.
The paintings generally depict animals, in scenes such as hunting. Human figures are also shown with bows and arrows, and swords and shields. The colors used An intricately carved pillar at Ellora in Maharashtra dating back to the 7th century. are made up of natural minerals and are in various shades of red and orange. These paintings are the forerunners of the frescos of a later age which are seen at Ajanta, Ellora and elsewhere in India. But unfortunately no well preserved art remains, to document the period between the coming of the Aryans i. e. 1500 B. C. to about the time of Buddha i. e. 550 B. C.
We are told by the literary sources that the art of painting was practiced. In the Buddhist texts, elaborate palaces of kings and houses of the wealthy are described as being embellished with wall paintings. But actual evidence about this art is lost. How this art could have been, can be guessed from the paintings on stone surfaces found at Ajanta and Ellora which are said to have been done in around 400 A. D. These paintings at Ajanta and Ellora depict Buddhist tales from the Jatakas. Though the paintings are today 1500 years old, the paint has not only retained its color but also much of its luster.
The technue of painting has been thus described by a student of Indian Art. The surface of the stone was first prepared by a coating of potter's clay, mixed variously with cow dung, straw, and animal hair. Once this was leveled to a thickness of half an inch to two inches, it was coated with a smooth fine white lime plaster which became the actual painting surface. On the still-damp wall, the artist first laid out his composition with a red cinnabar line and then defined the subjects with an undercoat of grey or terre verte.
This was followed by the addition of local colors, and once the whole wall was completely colored, a brown or black line restated the drawing to finish the composition. A last burnishing with a smooth stone gave it a rich lustrous surface. The colors which were natural and water soluble, consisted of purple, browns, yellow, blue, white, green, reds and black.
Thus it is evident that the technue of painting had developed to an advanced level This monumental bull was carved in marble in the 3rd century B. C. It stood on a column built by Emperor Ashoka, which was inscribed with Buddhist edicts. of sophistication due which the paintings could survive for 1500 years.
Though the colors used are supposed to have been derived from minerals and vegetables they had been treated to last long. The above description also illustrates how, complicated procedures of preparing the surface to be painted had evolved in India. This technue of painting had also spread to central Asia and South-east Asia. Some strains of Indian painting can even be identified in western church paintings and mosaics. Indian influence is clearly evident in the paintings at Bamiyan in Afghanistan and in Miran and Domko in Central Asia. Not only do these paintings depict the Buddha but also Hindu deities such as Shiva, Ganesha and Surya.
The mention of the word dance conjures up images of Nataraja - Lord of Dance - as the Indian God Shiva is portrayed. Apart from Shiva even Ganesha and Srikrishna are associated with dance and music. India has many classical dance styles. The oldest text dealing with aesthetics covering various art forms including dance is the Natyashastra which is authored by Bharatamuni.
All the Indian classical dance styles viz. Bharata Natyam, Kuchipudi, Kathak, Odissi, Mohiniattam, Kathakali, Manipuri, etc., are derived from the Natyashastra. Some of these dance styles have evolved from folk dances and are intimately connected with the art of story telling. Most of these stories are drawn from our epics like the Ramayana and Mahabharata, tales from collections like the Panchatantra, Hitopadesha, Katha Sarit Sagara, etc., also from the subject matter of these dance styles. In fact the Kathak and Kathakali from U. P. and Kerala respectively, derive their names from the term Katha which in Sanskrit means a story. As the story is told in the form of dance, these dance styles can actually be called dance-dramas, the only difference is the absence of dialogues.
The Charkul dance-drama of Central India revolves around a story generally from the Indian epics like the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. Similar traditions of dance-dramas are prevalent in other parts of India too. In Maharashtra, you have the Dashavatara, in Karnataka you have the Yakshagana The Kathak dance of North India and the ktha*ali dance of Kerala also originated as dance dramas and derive their names from the Sanskrit work 'Katha' which means a story.
The story has to be told solely through actions and hence an elaborate pattern of facial expressions (Mudra), movement of hands (Hasta) and the simulation of various moods like anger (Krodha), envy (Matsara), greed (Lobha), lust (Kama), ego (Mada), etc., have been evolved. The mastery of perfect expression of these feelings by subtle movement of the lips and eyes forms the root of all the classical Indian dance styles.
In fact the combination of the three qualities viz. expression, rhyme and rhythm i. e. Bhava, Raga, and Tala go into the determination of the term Bha-Ra-Ta, which is used as the name of one dance style viz. Bharata Natyam.
The integration of Indian classical dance with the physical exercises of Yoga and the breath control of "Pranayam" has perfected the dance styles. Yoga especially had given the dance styles an excellent footwork which is called Padanyasa and Padalalitya. Another feature of these dance styles is that they are integrated with theology and worship.
Traditionally these dances were patronized by the temples. During festivals and other religious occasions, these dances were performed in the temple premises to propitiate the deity. Thus the dance came to combine both art and worship. Even today every recital of any Indian classical dance begins with an invocation to Nataraja or Nateshwara the god of dance.
In Indian folklore and legend, the God of Dance is himself shown to be dancing in a form called the Tandava. This has also been depicted in the statues and carvings in temples like, Khajuraho and Konark in Northern India, and at Chidambaram, Madurai, Rameshwaram, etc. in the South.
Indian dances have also evolved styles based on the Tandava like the Urdhra Tandava, Sandhya Tandava, etc. Indian classical dance found its way outside India, especially to the countries of Southeast Asia. The dance styles of Thailand, Indonesia, Burma, etc., have so heavily borrowed from the Indian classical dance traditions that to a casual observer there would seem to be hardly any difference between the two. While Western dance has not directly borrowed anything from Indian classical dance, it has borrowed from Indian folk dance through the medium of the Gypsies.
The Gypsies as has been established today, migrated from India to the west many centuries ago. The Gypsies speak a language called Romany which has many common words with Indian languages. The religion of the Gypsies is a modified form of early Hinduism. The Gypsies seem to have been the Banjar nomads who are still found in India. Being a very carefree nomadic community the Gypsies earned their living by giving performance of folk dances, along with the pursuing of other nomadic activities.
Gypsy dance has influenced western dance styles like the Waltz and the foxtrot. Even the American Break dance and other dances associated with jazz music have borrowed elements from the gypsy folk dance. The Gypsy folk dance, is itself a free flowing and care free dance, a modified version of which is found in the folk dances of many Adivasi and nomadic tribal communities in India.
The origin of the Indian theatre or rather folk theatre and dramatics can be traced to religious ritualism of the Vedic Aryans. This folk theatre of the misty past was mixed with dance, ritualism, plus a depiction of events from daily life. It was the last element which made it the origin of the classical theatre of later times. Many historians, notably D. D. Kosambi, Debiprasad Chattopadhyaya, Adya Rangacharaya, etc. have referred to the prevalence of ritualism amongst Aryan tribes in which some members of the tribe acted as if they were wild animals and some others were the hunters.
Those who acted as animals like goats, buffaloes, reindeer, monkeys, etc. were chased by those playing the role of hunters and a mock hunt was enacted. In such a simple and crude manner did the theatre originate in India nearly 4000 years back in the tribal Aryans of Rig Vedic times. There also must have existed a theatrical tradition in the Indus valley cities, but of this we have no literary numismatic or any other material proof.
The origin of drama and the theatre has been told to us in an aptly dramatic manner by Bharatamui, the author of Natyashastra an ancient Indian text on dance and drama. Bharatamuni is said to have lived around the 4th century but even he is not aware of the actual origin of the theatre in India. He has cleverly stated in a dramatic manner that it was the lord of creation Brahma who also created the original Natyashastra (Drama). According to Bharatamuni, since the lord Brahma created the entire universe we need not question his ability in creating dramas.
But Bharatamuni goes on to tell us that the original Natyashastra of Brahma was too unwieldy and obscure to be of any practical use. Hence, Bharatamuni, himself took up the task of making Natyashastra simple, intelligible and interesting. Thus the Natyashastra of Bharatamuni was supported to be understood by lay people. So the Natyashastra of Bharatamunii is not the oldest text on dance and drama, as Bharata himself says that he has only simplified the original work of lord Brahma. The Natyashastra assumes the existence of many plays before it was composed, and says that most of the early plays did not follow the rules set down in the Natyashastra.
But the Natyashastra itself seems to be the first attempt to develop the technue or rather art, of drama in a systematic manner. The Natya Shastra a tells us not only what is to be portrayed in a drama, but how the portrayal is to be done. Drama, as Bharatamuni says, is the imitation of men and their doings (loka-vritti). As men and their doings have to be respected on the stage, so drama in Sanskrit is also known by the term roopaka which means portrayal.
According to the Natyashastra all the modes of expression employed by an individual viz. speech, gestures, movements and intonation must be used. The representation of these expressions can have different modes (vritti) according to the predominance and emphasis on one mode or another. Bharatamuni recognizes four main modes viz., Speech and Poetry (Bharati Vritti), Dance and Music (Kaishiki Vritti), Action (Arabhatti Vritti) and Emotions (Sattvatti Vritti).
Bharatamuni also specifies where and how a play is to be performed. In ancient India plays were generally performed either in temple-yard or within palace precincts. During public performances, plays were generally performed in the open. For such public performances, Bharatamuni has advocated the construction of a mandapa. According to the Natyashastra in the construction of a mandapa, pillars must be set up in four corners. With the help of these pillars a platform is built of wooden planks. The area of the mandapa is divided into two parts. The front part, which is the back stage is called the r angashrishu. Behind the ranga-shirsha is what was called the nepathya-griha, where the characters dress up before entering the stage.
Bharatamuni has also specified that every play should have a Sutradhara which literally means 'holder of a string'. The Sutradhara was like the producer-director of today. Every play had to begin with an innovation of God. This invocation was called the poorvaranga. Even today, plays in Indian languages begin with a devotional song called Naandi. The Ramayana and the Mahabharata can be called the first recognized plays that originated in India.
These epics also provided the inspiration to the earliest Indian dramatists and they do even today. One of the earliest Indian dramatists was Bhasa whose plays have been inspired by the Ramayana and Mahabharata. Bhasa's date cannot be definitely ascertained, but that he lived before Kalidasa is proved by the latter's reference to Bhasa as one of the early leading playwrights. As Kalidasa lived in the 4th century, Bhasa should have lived in the early centuries of our era. Bhasa was a natural dramatist who drew heavily from the epics, but Kalidasa can be called an original playwright.
Kalidasa has written many plays, some of which are; AbhijananShakuntalam, Kumarsambhavam, Meghadutam and Malavikagnimitram. Kalidasa was the court playwright at the Gupta court. He lived at Ujjaini, the capital of the Guptas and was for some days the Gupta ambassador at the court of the Vakatakas at Amaravati where he wrote the play Meghadutam.
The next great Indian dramatist was Bhavabhuti. He is said to have written the following three plays viz. Malati-Madhava, Mahaviracharita and Uttar Ramacharita. Among these three, the last two cover between them the entire epic, Ramayana. Bhavabhuti lived around the 7th century A. D., when Sanskrit drama was on its decline, mainly due to the lack of royal patronage. The last royal patron of Sanskrit drama seems to be king Harshavardhana of the 7th century. Harshavardhana is himself credited with having written three plays viz. Ratnavali, Priyadarshika and Nagananda.
But nevertheless despite lack of patronage two more leading playwrights came after Bhavabhuti, they were Shudraka whose main play was the Mricchakatikam, and the second dramatist was Rajashekhara whose play was titled Karpuramanjari. But the decline of Sanskrit theatre is evident from the fact that while Mricchakatikam was in Sanskrit, the Karpuramanjari was in Prakrit which was a colloquial form of Sanskrit. Rajashekhara has himself said that he chose to write in Prakrit as the language was soft while Sanskrit was harsh. Sanskrit plays continued to be written up to the 17th century in distant pockets of the country, mainly in the Vijayanagara empire of the South. But they had passed their prime, the later Sanskrit dramas are mostly imitations of Kalidasa or Bhavabhuti.
As in the case of the other fine arts, the Indian theatre has left its mark on the countries of South-east Asia. In Thailand, especially it has been a tradition from the middle ages to stage plays based on plots drawn from Indian epics.
This had been so even in Cambodia where, at the ancient capital Angkor Wat, stories from the Ramayana and Mahabharata have been carved on the walls of temples and palaces. Similar, bas reliefs are found at Borobudur in Indonesia. Thus, the Indian theatre has been one of the vehicles of enriching the culture of our neighboring countries since ancient times.
Epic Poetry.
Indian epic poetry is the epic poetry written on the Indian sub-continent. Written in Sanskrit, Tamil and Hindi, it includes some of the oldest epic poetry ever created and some works form the basis of Hindu scripture.
The ancient Sanskrit epics, the Ramayana and Mahabharata, occasionally termed "Mahakavya" ("Great Compositions"), refer to epic poems that form a canon of Hindu scripture. Indeed, the epic form prevailed and verse was and remained until very recently the preferred form of Hindu literary works. Hero-worship was and is a central aspect of Indian culture, and thus readily lent itself to a literary tradition that abounded in epic poetry and literature. The Puranas, a massive collection of verse-form histories of India's many Hindu gods and goddesses, followed in this tradition.
The post-sangam period (2nd century-6th century) saw many great Tamil epics being written, including Cilappatikaram (or Silappadhikaram), Manimegalai, Jeevaga-chintamani, Valayapati and Kundalakesi. Later, during the Chola period, Kamban (12th century) wrote what is considered one of the greatest Tamil epics - the Kamba ramayanam of Kamban, based on the Ramayana.
The post-sangam period (2nd century-6th century) saw many great Tamil epics being written, including Cilappatikaram (or Silappadhikaram), Manimegalai, Jeevaga-chintamani, Valayapati and Kundalakesi. Later, during the Chola period, Kamban (12th century) wrote what is considered one of the greatest Tamil epics - the Kamba ramayanam of Kamban, based on the Ramayana.
The first epic to appear in Hindi was Tulsidas' (1543-1623) Ramacharitamanasa, also based on the Ramayana. It is considered a great classic of Hindi epic poetry and literature, and shows the author Tulsidas in complete command over all the important styles of composition - narrative, epic, lyrical and dialectic. He has given a human character to Rama, the Hindu avatar of Vishnu, potraying him as an ideal son, husband, brother and king.
Sports and Games.
Decline, Collapse and Legacy.
Around 1900 BCE, signs of a gradual decline begin to emerge. People started to leave the cities. Those who remained were poorly nourished. By around 1800 BC, most of the cities were abandoned.
By around 1700 BCE, most of the cities were abandoned. In 1953, Sir Mortimer Wheeler proposed that the decline of the Indus Civilization was caused by the invasion of an Indo-European tribe from Central Asia called the "Aryans". As evidence, he cited a group of 37 skeletons found in various parts of Mohenjo-Daro, and passages in the Vedas referring to battles and forts.
However, scholars soon started to reject Wheeler's theory, since the skeletons belonged to a period after the city's abandonment and none were found near the citadel. Subsequent examinations of the skeletons by Kenneth Kennedy in 1994 showed that the marks on the skulls were caused by erosion, and not violent aggression.
Today, many scholars believe that the collapse of the Indus Civilization was caused by drought and a decline in trade with Egypt and Mesopotamia. It has also been suggested that immigration by new peoples, deforestation, floods, or changes in the course of the river may have contributed to the collapse of the IVC.
Previously, it was also believed that the decline of the Harappan civilization led to an interruption of urban life in the Indian subcontinent. However, the Indus Valley Civilization did not disappear suddenly, and many elements of the Indus Civilization can be found in later cultures. Current archaeological data suggest that material culture classified as Late Harappan may have persisted until at least c. 1000-900 BCE and was partially contemporaneous with the Painted Grey Ware culture. Harvard archaeologist Richard Meadow points to the late Harappan settlement of Pirak, which thrived continuously from 1800 BCE to the time of the invasion of Alexander the Great in 325 BCE.
Recent archaeological excavations indicate that the decline of Harappa drove people eastward. After 1900 BCE, the number of sites in India increased from 218 to 853. Excavations in the Gangetic plain show that urban settlement began around 1200 BCE, only a few centuries after the decline of Harappa and much earlier than previously expected. Archaeologists have emphasized that, just as in most areas of the world, there was a continuous series of cultural developments. These link "the so-called two major phases of urbanization in South Asia".
A possible natural reason for the IVC's decline is connected with climate change that is also signaled for the neighboring areas of the Middle East: The Indus valley climate grew significantly cooler and drier from about 1800 BCE, linked to a general weakening of the monsoon at that time. Alternatively, a crucial factor may have been the disappearance of substantial portions of the Ghaggar Hakra river system.
A tectonic event may have diverted the system's sources toward the Ganges Plain, though there is complete uncertainty about the date of this event, as most settlements inside Ghaggar-Hakra river beds have not yet been dated. The actual reason for decline might be any combination of these factors. New geological research is now being conducted by a group led by Peter Clift, from the University of Aberdeen, to investigate how the courses of rivers have changed in this region since 8000 years ago, to test whether climate or river reorganizations are responsible for the decline of the Harappan. A 2004 paper indicated that the isotopes of the Ghaggar-Hakra system do not come from the Himalayan glaciers, and were rain-fed instead, contradicting a Harappan time mighty "Sarasvati" river.
A research team led by the geologist Liviu Giosan of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution also concluded that climate change in form of the easterward migration of the monsoons led to the decline of the IVC.[77] The team's findings were published in PNAS in May 2012.
According to their theory, the slow eastward migration of the monsoons across Asia initially allowed the civilization to develop. The monsoon-supported farming led to large agricultural surpluses, which in turn supported the development of cities. The IVC residents did not develop irrigation capabilities, relying mainly on the seasonal monsoons. As the monsoons kept shifting eastward, the water supply for the agricultural activities dried up. The residents then migrated towards the Ganges basin in the east, where they established smaller villages and isolated farms. The small surplus produced in these small communities did not allow development of trade, and the cities died out.
In the aftermath of the Indus Civilization's collapse, regional cultures emerged, to varying degrees showing the influence of the Indus Civilization. In the formerly great city of Harappa, burials have been found that correspond to a regional culture called the Cemetery H culture. At the same time, the Ochre Colored Pottery culture expanded from Rajasthan into the Gangetic Plain. The Cemetery H culture has the earliest evidence for cremation; a practice dominant in Hinduism today.
Historical Context and Linguistic Affiliation.
The Indus Vally Civilization has been tentatively identified with the toponym Meluhha known from Sumerian records. It has been compared in particular with the civilizations of Elam (also in the context of the Elamo-Dravidian hypothesis) and with Minoan Crete (because of isolated cultural parallels such as the ubuitous goddess worship and depictions of bull-leaping).
The mature (Harappan) phase of the IVC is contemporary to the Early to Middle Bronze Age in the Ancient Near East, in particular the Old Elamite period, Early Dynastic to Ur III Mesopotamia, Prepalatial Minoan Crete and Old Kingdom to First Intermediate Period Egypt.
After the discovery of the IVC in the 1920s, it was immediately associated with the indigenous Dasyu inimical to the Rigvedic tribes in numerous hymns of the Rigveda. Mortimer Wheeler interpreted the presence of many unburied corpses found in the top levels of Mohenjo-Daro as the victims of a warlike conquest, and famously stated that "Indra stands accused" of the destruction of the IVC.
The association of the IVC with the city-dwelling Dasyus remains alluring because the assumed timeframe of the first Indo-Aryan migration into India corresponds neatly with the period of decline of the IVC seen in the archaeological record. The discovery of the advanced, urban IVC however changed the 19th-century view of early Indo-Aryan migration as an "invasion" of an advanced culture at the expense of a "primitive" aboriginal population to a gradual acculturation of nomadic "barbarians" on an advanced urban civilization, comparable to the Germanic migrations after the Fall of Rome, or the Kassite invasion of Babylonia. This move away from simplistic "invasionist" scenarios parallels similar developments in thinking about language transfer and population movement in general, such as in the case of the migration of the proto-Greek speakers into Greece, or the Indo-Europeanization of Western Europe.
It was often suggested that the bearers of the IVC corresponded to proto-Dravidians linguistically, the breakup of proto-Dravidian corresponding to the breakup of the Late Harappan culture. Today, the Dravidian language family is concentrated mostly in southern India and northern and eastern Sri Lanka, but pockets of it still remain throughout the rest of India and Pakistan (the Brahui language), which lends credence to the theory.
Finnish Indologist Asko Parpola concludes that the uniformity of the Indus inscriptions precludes any possibility of widely different languages being used, and that an early form of Dravidian language must have been the language of the Indus people. However, in an interview with the Deccan Herald on 12 August 2012, Asko Parpola clarified his position by admitting that Sanskrit-speakers had contributed to the Indus Valley Civilization. Proto-Munda (or Para-Munda) and a "lost phylum" (perhaps related or ancestral to the Nihali language) have been proposed as other candidates.
The civilization is sometimes referred to as the Indus Ghaggar-Hakra civilization or Indus-Sarasvati civilization by Hindutva groups. or the Indus-Sarasvati civilization.

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Xnxx vedios.
Trazer de volta o layout antigo com pesquisa de imagens.
sim: a única possibilidade (eu acho) enviar todas as informações para (alienvault.
Desinformação na ordem DVD.
Eu pedi DVD / Blueray "AL. A confidencial" tudo que eu consegui foi Blue ray & amp; um contato # para obter o DVD que não funcionou. Eu encomendo minha semana com Marilyn ____DVD / blue ray & amp; Eu peguei os dois - tolamente, assumi que o mesmo se aplicaria a L. A.___ETC não. Eu não tenho uma máquina de raio azul ----- Eu não quero uma máquina de raio azul Eu não quero filmes blueray. Como obtenho minha cópia de DVD de L. A. Confidential?
yahoo, pare de bloquear email.
Passados ​​vários meses agora, o Yahoo tem bloqueado um servidor que pára nosso e-mail.
O Yahoo foi contatado pelo dono do servidor e o Yahoo alegou que ele não bloquearia o servidor, mas ainda está sendo bloqueado. CEASE & amp; DESISTIR.
Não consigo usar os idiomas ingleses no e-mail do Yahoo.
Por favor, me dê a sugestão sobre isso.
Motor de busca no Yahoo Finance.
Um conteúdo que está no Yahoo Finance não aparece nos resultados de pesquisa do Yahoo ao pesquisar por título / título da matéria.
Existe uma razão para isso, ou uma maneira de reindexar?
Procure por "turkey ******" imagens sem ser avisado de conteúdo adulto ou que o mostre.
O Yahoo está tão empenhado em atender os gostos lascivos das pessoas que nem posso procurar imagens de uma marca de "peitos de peru" sem ser avisado sobre conteúdo adulto? Apenas usar a palavra "******" em QUALQUER contexto significa que provavelmente vou pegar seios humanos em toda a página e ter que ser avisado - e passar por etapas para evitá-lo?
Aqui está minha sugestão Yahoo:
Invente um programa de computador que reconheça palavras como 'câncer' ou 'peru' ou 'galinha' em uma frase que inclua a palavra '******' e não assuma automaticamente que a digitação "***** * "significa que estou procurando por ***********.
Descobrir uma maneira de fazer com que as pessoas que ESTÃO procurando *********** busquem ativamente por si mesmas, sem assumir que o resto de nós deve querer ************************************************ uma palavra comum - ****** - que qualquer um pode ver qualquer dia em qualquer seção de carne em qualquer supermercado em todo o país. :(
O Yahoo está tão empenhado em atender os gostos lascivos das pessoas que nem posso procurar imagens de uma marca de "peitos de peru" sem ser avisado sobre conteúdo adulto? Apenas usar a palavra "******" em QUALQUER contexto significa que provavelmente vou pegar seios humanos em toda a página e ter que ser avisado - e passar por etapas para evitá-lo?
Aqui está minha sugestão Yahoo:
Invente um programa de computador que reconheça palavras como 'câncer' ou 'peru' ou 'galinha' em uma frase que inclua a palavra '******' e não assuma automaticamente que a digitação "***** * "significa que estou procurando por mais ...
Por que, quando eu faço login no YahooGroups, todos os grupos aparecem em francês ?!
Quando entro no YahooGroups e ligo para um grupo, de repente tudo começa a aparecer em francês? O que diabos está acontecendo lá ?! Por alguma razão, o sistema está automaticamente me transferindo para o fr. groups. yahoo. Alguma ideia?
consertar o que está quebrado.
Eu não deveria ter que concordar com coisas que eu não concordo com a fim de dizer o que eu acho - eu não tive nenhum problema resolvido desde que comecei a usar o Yahoo - fui forçado a jogar meu antigo mensageiro, trocar senhas, obter novas messenger, disse para usar o meu número de telefone para alertar as pessoas que era o meu código de segurança, receber mensagens diárias sobre o bloqueio de yahoo tentativas de uso (por mim) para quem sabe por que como ele não faz e agora eu obter a nova política aparecer em cada turno - as empresas costumam pagar muito caro pela demografia que os usuários fornecem para você, sem custo, pois não sabem o que você está fazendo - está lá, mas não está bem escrito - e ninguém pode responder a menos que concordem com a política. Já é ruim o suficiente você empilhar o baralho, mas depois não fornece nenhuma opção de lidar com ele - o velho era bom o suficiente - todas essas mudanças para o pod de maré comendo mofos não corta - vou relutantemente estar ativamente olhando - estou cansado do mudanças em cada turno e mesmo aqueles que não funcionam direito, eu posso apreciar o seu negócio, mas o Ameri O homem de negócios pode vender-nos ao licitante mais alto por muito tempo - desejo-lhe boa sorte com sua nova safra de guppies - tente fazer algo realmente construtivo para aqueles a quem você serve - a cauda está abanando o cachorro novamente - isso é como um replay de Washington d c
Eu não deveria ter que concordar com coisas que eu não concordo com a fim de dizer o que eu acho - eu não tive nenhum problema resolvido desde que comecei a usar o Yahoo - fui forçado a jogar meu antigo mensageiro, trocar senhas, obter novas messenger, disse para usar o meu número de telefone para alertar as pessoas que era o meu código de segurança, receber mensagens diárias sobre o bloqueio de yahoo tentativas de uso (por mim) para quem sabe por que isso acontece e agora eu recebo a nova política em cada turno - as empresas costumam pagar muito pela demografia que os usuários fornecem para você ... mais.

What was the Indus Valley Civilization: the forgotten superpower of the ancient world.
One of the most advanced and mysterious ancient society, the Indus River Valley civilization, was completely lost to history until the 1920s.
The ruins of Mohenjo daro (“Hill of the Dead”), one of the jewels of the Indus Valley Civilization and the ancient world.
Some five millennia ago, a people settling the lands between today’s Afganistan, northwest India, and Pakistan rose to the forefront of civilization, knowledge, and sophistication at the time. The echoes of their achievements still awe us to this day, betraying a level of civilization almost unimaginable for a society that had, ultimately, risen directly from the Stone Age.
But this beacon of antuity crumbled and was forgotten, likely under the weight of issues that fall worryingly close to those of today: food and water insecurity powered by climate change.
Who were the Harappans?
The Indus River Valley civilization, also known as the Harappan civilization after the first site of their discovery, is a Bronze Age culture that spanned roughly from 3300 to 1300 BC. It stood toe to toe with the three other ancient heavyweights of the world — Egypt, Mesopotamia, and ancient China — often surpassing their scientific achievements; out of the four ancient cradles of civilization, the people of the Indus Valley could claim to be the largest and arguably most prosperous.
Their success was built on a solid agricultural base (they grew various crops, from dates to cotton, in the fertile soils of the valley) and cutting-edge technologies, including indoor plumbing, sophisticated city-planning and public sewage systems, breakthroughs in crafting technues, writing, and one of the most advanced understandings of metallurgy at the time. They also seem to have been a peaceful people; despite their skill with metal, we’ve found strikingly few Harappan weapons. Not the same thing can be said about their children’s toys, however, of which they seemingly couldn’t get enough of, both in quantity and variety.
The Harappans were one of the most mysterious groups to, tragically, never truly make it out of antuity. Despite its status as an economic, technological, and social powerhouse, the Harappan civilization simply fell apart in a span of two or three centuries. The reasons as to why this happened are still a subject of passionate debate and they may be more relevant now than ever before.
The Ten Indus Scripts, discovered near the northern gateway of the Dholavira citadel in India. Image via Wikipedia.
In 1856, British colonial officials in India were busy overseeing a railway construction project between the cities of Lahore and Karachi (today part of Pakistan), right along the valley of the Indus River. Digs performed as part of this effort stumbled upon an incredible stash of artifacts — hundreds of thousands of fire-baked bricks, buried in the dry terrain. They looked quite old, but some were nevertheless used for the railway’s track ballast or its roadbed. Soon, exquisitely-carved soapstone (steatite) artifacts were also making an appearance throughout the bricks. Unwittingly, these workers had unearthed the first slivers of a civilization lost in the depths of time.
Despite the sheer size of the discovery, major excavations didn’t start until much later. This is quite vexing, as the first recorded notes regarding the civilization come from 1826, penned by a British army deserter named James Lewis/Charles Masson, who noticed the presence of mounded ruins at the small local town of Harappa while posing as an American engineer. Partly, this exploratory lag came down to archaeologists assuming the bricks and ruins were crafted during the Maurya Empire, which dominated India between 322 and 185 BCE. It was only after excavation works started at the site in 1920 under John Marshall, then the director of the Archaeological Survey of India, that it became clear they were dealing with another culture altogether.
The newly re-discovered civilization would receive its name from this site at Harappa, and pushed the known history of India back by at least 1,500 years. In the meantime, archaeologists have scrambled to understand the Indus River Valley civilization — but we’ve been able to confirm frustratingly little from all we’ve found.
Size and origin.
The Harappans at their peak.
Image via Wikimedia Commons.
The Harappans seem to hail from a town named Mehgarh, nestled in the foothills of a mountain pass in today’s western Pakistan. Evidence points to human habitation in the area as far back as 7000 BC. Archaeologists have broken their evolution down into three steps or phases:
Early Harappan from 3300 to 2600 BC, Mature Harappan from 2600 to 1900 BC, towards the end of which the civilization starts going into decline, and Late Harappan from 1900 to 1300 BC, marked by violence, breakdowns in social order, the abandonment of most settlements, and the eventual extinction of the Indus Valley people.
But while things were going well for the Harappans, they were really good . So far, more than 1,052 Harappan cities and settlements have been found, mainly in the general region of the Indus River and its tributary rivers. At their peak, they are estimated to have numbered five million souls.
Culture, language, and beliefs.
One of the reasons why we can’t figure out what the Harappans were up to that well is because of their writing. We know they had a system of writing, because we found some of their texts, etched on clay and stone tablets dated between 3300-3200 BC, at Harappa. These appear to have been written right to left in a script which we, unfortunately, don’t understand. The symbols resemble plant and trident-like shapes and are completely unlike anything we’ve ever seen. This has led many researchers to believe that Harappan script evolved independently of those in Mesopotamia, Egypt, or China.
It also means that we don’t actually know any Harappan words, the name of their cities, or what they called themselves. We refer to them by names we ourselves have given them — just something to keep in mind as you read further on.
Samples of Indus script.
Image via omniglot.
In the absence of any known names or words, without any bi-lingual texts or clear cultural ties to compare or infer from, it’s nigh-impossible to understand the script of a dead language. But it does have the hallmarks of a language, researchers have found, a conclusion that is sure to goad curiosity further.
“At this point, we can say that the Indus script seems to have statistical regularities that are in line with natural languages,” said Rajesh Rao, a University of Washington researcher who led a study in 2009 analyzing if Indus script shows ‘conditional entropy’, a structural semi-predictability that underlies functional languages.
Indus Valley religion also eludes our understanding. Unlike their Egyptian and Mesopotamian counterparts, the Harappans didn’t build any temples or palaces (that we know of), so we don’t have any evidence pointing to specific deities or their religious practices. However, many of their artifacts (in the form of seals) showcase animals. Some depict them being carried in a ceremony, while others include downright mythological creatures such as unicorns. Thus, some researchers have speculated that religion in the Indus Valley centered, in some way, on animals. Others have suggested that the animals on these seals instead signified one’s membership to a group such as a clan, social class, so forth. Until more evidence is gleaned, neither can be fully supported or refuted.
We have, however, found ample evidence of Harappan art and culture, including sculptures, seals, pottery, gold jewelry, as well as anatomically detailed figurines in terracotta, bronze, and steatite.
Left: Indus priest or king statue. The statue is 17.5 cm high and carved from steatite. It was found in Mohenjo-daro in 1927. Right: A collection of Indus valley seals with their molds.
Images via Wikimedia, modified.
The evidence points to a flourishing culture, but their inscrutable texts, in particular, spell doom for our understanding of how these people ruled themselves — legal codes, procedures, and systems of governance, after all, are rooted in written documents. This, again, is highly frustrating, as we’re going to see that the Harappans were extremely adept at ordering and coordinating their society, for the benefits of all those it harbored.
Science and know-how.
One of the most striking features of Harrapan society was their propensity for standardization. Pottery and seals use surprisingly similar proportions. Bricks are virtually identical in size, shape, weight, and material, even among different cities. Weighs used in trading are also virtually identical. The level of standardization is so high, in fact, that some researchers claim it could only be the product of a single state authority enforcing them on all communities in the area. However, the pointed scarcity of weapons makes it more likely that the Indus Valley people were led by a number of leaders representing each major community or cluster of communities, all working together voluntarily. This view is supported by studies on Indus graves and human remains that show everyone enjoyed similar health. The relative scarcity of elite burials suggests they had no rulers, as we understand the term, and that everyone enjoyed equal status.
Remains of a washroom drainage system in Lothal. Notice the quality bricks, millennia old, used for its construction.
Image via Wikimedia.
While most of the Harappan settlements were only villages or small towns, the civilization had several large urban centers. Among those we’ve found are Harappa, Ganeriwala, and Mohenjo-daro in modern-day Pakistan and Dholavira, Kalibangan, Rakhigarhi, Rupar, and Lothal in modern-day India. Out of the lot, Mohenjo-daro became the largest city of the Indus Valley Civilization and holds the multiple distinction of being one of the world’s first major urban centers, as well as, at the time, one of the most sophisticated cities in the world and a global architectonical and engineering masterpiece.
The Harappan fire-baked brick was produced and used on a massive scale in construction. Not only were they surprisingly standardized, as we’ve seen, but they also took a lot more time, effort, specialized know-how, and resources to produce than sun-baked bricks, which were the norm at the time. One undeniable advantage that fire-baked bricks had (apart from being sturdier than sun-dried ones) was that they were perfectly water-proof — a quality we’ll see the Harappans putting to good use. It’s possible that this ability to carry water is what warranted, at least in part, the use of more costly and harder to produce fire-baked bricks in the Indus Valley.
The ruins of their major cities show that a lot of effort went into urban planning. Houses, workshops, and trading spots each formed distinct neighborhoods, and cities had well-organized wastewater drainage and trash collection systems, granaries, even public baths. This efficient layout further suggests that local governments were present and of high quality, working with great efficiency and aiming particularly to maintain public hygiene (or possibly, religious ritual).
Both Harappa and Mohenjo-daro featured citadels, heavily fortified areas thick with defensive structures — a feature other important and well-off cities likely shared. They had administrative (or, again, possibly religious) centers that were also fortified. The walls are speculated to have played a double role, protecting the Harappans both from invasions and floods.
Another distinctive feature of the Indus people was that they didn’t really build to awe. We know they were able to build impressive structures, as they show an advanced understanding of architecture with dockyards, granaries, cisterns, warehouses, and fortifications. But there’s no conclusive evidence that they ever built any palaces. Neither of temples. In fact, the largest Indus buildings we’ve found so far were likely granaries. The nearest thing we’ve found to a ‘monument’ is in Mohenjo-daro — the Great Bath, a public bathing and social area.
Why build a mountain of limestone for one dude to be buried in when you can have a bath for everyone to enjoy? I like how these Harappan people roll.
Image via Pinterest.
In addition to architecture and urban theory, Harappans made repeated breakthroughs in metalworking (which was the day’s rocket science), working copper, tin, lead, and bronze. They were skilled craftsman, as shown by their intricate works in stone, carnelian, bone, ivory, and a wide range of other common, precious, and semi-precious materials. Harappans are also considered the heralds of wheel-turned pottery in India.
They also made important advances in transport technology, being a contender for the “first civilization to use the wheel” prize, in the form of oxcarts that are pretty much identical to those seen today throughout South Asia. Sailing was also, by all evidence, serious business for the Indus Valley people, who built boats and sea-worthy ships. This is supported by the discovery of a massive dredged canal and a suspected docking facility in Lothal, on the Indian Ocean’s coast, and the use of seashells in their arts and crafts.
Money and economy.
The Harappans nurtured one of the most impressive ancient trade empires. Drawing on their improved transport technologies, they maintained maritime trade networks extending from the Middle East to Central Asia. Evidence for these networks includes Harappian shellwork, found as far as the Arabian Gulf in Oman, as well as seals and jewelry found at archaeological sites in regions of Mesopotamia (today’s Iraq-Kuwait-Syria area). There’s also speculation that Harappian traders traversed long distances over water in ships made of planks, with a single mast and a sail of cloth or woven rushes.
Ceramics from the area show similarities to those from northern Iran between 4300 and 3200 BC, suggesting trade between these areas during that time. Similarities in pottery, seals, figurines, and ornaments from Central Asia and the Iranian plateau during the Early Harappan suggests land trade was established to these areas during the time.
Trade focused mostly on securing raw materials which were used to fuel Harappan workshops. Imports included minerals from Iran and Afghanistan, lead and copper from other parts of India, jade from China, and cedar wood floated down rivers from the Himalayas and Kashmir. Other traded items included terracotta pots, processed metals, gold and silver, tool-grade flints, as well as jewelry and its associated materials: beads, seashells, pearls, and colored gemstones, such as lapis lazuli and turquoise.
By around 1800 BC, the Indus Valley Civilization was starting to crack. A widely-accepted theory is that they fell to a nomadic Indo-European tribe called Aryans, which invaded and subsequently conquered the Harappians. Evidence in support of this comes from the fact that cities were being abandoned at the time and an increase in the apparent incidence of violence and violent death — which both fit with what you’d expect to see in a war zone.
More recent evidence, however, contradicts this theory. Some experts believe that the collapse was caused by climate change. By 1800 BC, the whole area grew colder and drier, and it’s suspected that tectonic movements in the area heavily disrupted or diverted the rivers on which the Harappans relied. The drying of the Saraswati River, which began around 1900 BC, is believed to be a major driver of these local changes. Combined with monsoon-associated periods of flooding and drought, these changes in river patterns splintered the once-monolithic block of the Indus Valley Civilization.
Farmers fled eastwards, towards the basin of the Ganges. While the river allowed them to re-establish villages and farms, these communities could not dream to produce the same agricultural surplus as the Indus River basin and the extensive irrigation systems built there. Faced with starvation, large cities tore themselves apart or vacuated for rural settings. Without their craftsmen, trade with Egypt and Mesopotamia shriveled and then ended altogether.
This latter theory is supported by the presence of Indus Civilization elements in later cultures, called Harappan cultures, more in line with a slow decline than a fast disappearance at sword-point.
Whatever the reason, by around 1700 BCE, most of the Indus Valley Civilization cities had been abandoned. With them, the Harappan people’s stars waned, never to recover.
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