The Beginnings of Indian Civilisation

The Harappan civilisation: its main sites, planned cities, the Great Bath, the Lothal dockyard, Dholavira’s reservoirs, seals, crafts and trade.

Key ideas

• The Harappan civilisation was at its height about 4,500 years ago.
• Its cities were well planned: streets crossed at right angles, and houses had covered drains linked to street drains.
• Many cities had a citadel, a raised and walled part built on a high platform with large buildings.
• Bricks were baked in kilns and made in fixed sizes, so walls were strong and even.
• Dholavira, in a dry region, stored rainwater in large reservoirs; Lothal had a dockyard for boats.
• Seals of carved stone, with animals and script, were probably used to mark goods for trade.
• The Harappans made beads, jewellery, pottery and copper and bronze tools, and traded with lands as far as Mesopotamia.
• Their script has not yet been read, and the reasons the cities declined are still debated.

Remember

Watch out

• Saying the Harappan script has been read: it has not been deciphered yet.
• Mixing up the sites: the Great Bath is at Mohenjo-daro, the dockyard at Lothal, the reservoirs at Dholavira.
• Giving one sure reason for the decline: historians still debate it (changes in climate and rivers are suggested).

Worked example