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Introduction:

India has made a major contribution to world history in the form of the

Sindhu valley Civilization. This civilization originated in the fertile plains of the

Indus River (also Sindhu), in the third and fourth millennium BC. The Sindhu

Valley Civilization, or the Harappan Culture, was the contemporary of the ancientcivilizations of Egypt and Mesopotamia, and is acknowledged the third major

civilization in the history of humankind. Archaeological excavations have revealed

that the people of this culture enjoyed a life of luxury and refinement, with a highlyevolved civic system and prosperous trade links.

Birth and Development of Sindhu River Civilization

The first appearance of the Sindhu civilization was the early Harappan/Ravi

Phase. This Ravi Phase, named after the nearby Ravi River, lasted from

approximately 3300 BC, or even 3500 BC, to 2800 BC. This phase is related to theHakra Phase, identified in the Ghaggar-Hakra River valley to the west, and

predates the Kot Diji Phase (2800-2600 BC), named after a site in northern Sindh

near Mohenjo-daro. Increasing knowledge of the Ravi and Kot Diji Phase

occupations at Harappa, and of contemporary settlements throughout northwestern

South Asia, permits glimpses of later Sindhu Civilization. Some of the most

exciting discoveries in Ravi Phase levels have been of early writing. The origins of

the Sindhu script-like signs dates from 3300-2800 BC. This would make the

origins of writing in South Asia approximately the same time as in ancient Egypt

and Mesopotamia. The civilization's mature Harappan period began from 2600 BC

No one even knew of the existence of this civilization until the twentieth

century. The first Sindhu Valley artifacts were recovered from Harappa, one of the

two Sindhu cities, in 1856 by General Cunningham. The British were directing the

building of railway lines through the Sindhu valley. As head of the archeological

survey, Cunningham took steps to ensure the full-scale excavation of what came tobe recognized as one of the earliest and most mysterious of all human civilizations.

Some of the main sites of Sindhu ruins from the Mature Phase are the two

cities of Harappa and Mohenjo-daro and the towns of Chanhu-daro, Kot-diji,Kalibangan, Amri, Lothal, Rangpur and many others. This time period was

believed to have been the height of the Sindhu culture, when their prosperity was

greatest and the most significant achievements were made. Of course, the greatest

examples of this prosperity were the two great cities of Harappa and Mohenjo-

daro. The very existence of cities in a culture implies the existence of prosperous

rural areas, capable of supporting large urban populations that are not directly

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involved in food production. This is why these cities play such a prominent role in

the archaeological record of the Sindhu culture. The people living in these cities

were not farmers, but traders, crafts workers and artists. The cities were the centersof Sindhu culture - where civilization was developed to its highest level.

The current belief among Sindhu experts is that this culture did develop overcenturies, in ways similar to Egypt and Sumer.Walter A. Fairservis, Jr., an expert

on the Harappan culture, has been able to describe the course of development ofthe Harappan civilization as occurring in four separate stages, (Bag, 1985, pp. 6-7).

1. Stage I occurred before c. 3300 BCE, during which the first humansettlements such as Mehrgarh began to appear.

2. Stage 2 lasted from c. 3300 BCE to c. 2500 BCE and can be called thepre-Harappan phase.During this stage, cultivation of crops and

pastoralism were becoming widespread practices.

3. Stage 3 can be called the Early Harappan phase, lasting from c. 2500BCE to c. 2300 BCE.This stage is "characterized by sedentary village

life and regionalization with inter-regional contacts," (Bag, 1985, p.

7).

4. Stage 4 is the Mature Phase, which lasted from c. 2300 BCE to c.1700 BCE.

Art and Architecture

If by 'urban' we mean the tendency to form society, founding cities with all

their attendant rules, then the Harappan people succeeded admirably. Excavations

show a degree of urban planning which the Romans achieved only later, after a gapof 2500 years.

Most of the artifacts and ruins of this culture that have been discovered

belong to 2300 BCE to c. 1700 BCE. . These years were marked by urbanization,

the construction of monumental buildings, the use of copper, bronze and flake-

blade tools, the making of steatite seals, beadwork, and sculpture and many other

accomplishments, (Bag, 1985, p. 7). After roughly 1700 BCE, the Sindhu Valley

civilization went through an extended period of decline in most areas and atransformation in some areas.

The sea-port of Lothal on the Gulf of Cambay has an enclosed shipping dock

more than 216 metres long and 37 metres wide. It was controlled by a sluice-gate

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and ships could be loaded at both high and low tides. Other buildings unearthed in

the citadel are the Great Bath, Granaries, residential houses and the Assembly Hall.

The most impressive structure excavated at Mohenjo-Daro so far, is the

Great Bath. Constructed with kiln-burnt bricks, this Monumental Bath is a pool 12

metres long, 7 metres wide and 2.5 metres deep. Gypsum has been used along withmortar to make the floor and sides of the pool water-tight. The pool is in the centre

of a large open quadrangle with rooms and galleries on all sides. A flight of steps

at either end connects it the rooms. Probably meant for religious rites, it may have

been used by the people for changing their clothes. The pool was fed by a well

nearby and the dirty water was drained into the city's sewage system through a

large corbelled drain 1.83 metres high.

The Granary at Harappa is made of burnt brick. Built close to the river Ravi

to make transportation easy, it is comprised of two blocks. Each block has six

storage rooms 15 metres long and 6 metres wide. The two blocks are separated bya passage. Air-ducts are provided under the wooden floor. The row of triangular

openings may have been for ventilation. The granary complex measures 55 metres

by 43 metres. The Assembly Hall covers an area of 750 square metres. Four rows

of fine brick piers and pillars at the corners suggest that it was used as an assembly

hall.

The architecture and town planning of Harappa and Mohen ja daro are breath

taking. Both cities were a mile square, with defensive outer walls. An orthogonal

street layout was oriented toward the cardinal directions. The street layout shows

an understanding of the basic principles of traffic, with rounded corners to allow

the turning of carts easily. These streets divided the city into 12 blocks. Except for

the west-central blocks, the basic unit of city planning was the individual

house. The Harappan house is an amazing example of a native people, without the

benefit of technology, adapting to local conditions and intuitively producing an

architecture eminently suited to the climate. The house was planned as a series of

rooms opening on to a central courtyard. This courtyard served the multiple

functions of lighting the rooms, acting as a heat absorber in summer and radiator in

winter, as well as providing an open space inside for community activities. There

were no openings toward the main street, thus ensuring privacy for the residents. Infact, the only openings in the houses are rather small - this prevented the hot

summer sun heating the insides of the houses. An advanced drainage system is also

in evidence. Drains started from the bathrooms of the houses and joined the main

sewer in the street, which was covered by brick slabs or corbelled brick arches,

depending on its width.

In most of the sites, the central-western blocks were reserved for public

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architecture. Perhaps the most famous examples are theGreat Bath and Granary at

Mohenjo-daro. It is unfortunate that none of the structures of the Sindhu Valley

civilization survive intact today. Unlike Egypt and Mesopotamia, the Harappan

people left nothing monumental, like the pyramids or ziggurats, for posterity to

marvel at. This may be the reason that among the majority of books on

architecture, the Harappan Culture hardly merits a note. However, the planning

principles and response of the architecture to climate are a lesson to us all. The

most numerous of the surviving artifacts are a series of steatite (soapstone) seals,

of which the best known are those of the Humped Brahmani Bull and Pashupati.

Apart from this, there are some carved figurines - the bronze Dancing Girl and the

statues of a priest and a male torso, again in steatite.

Insight into Sindhu Valley Civilization arts and culture provide only various

sculptures, pottery, jewelry, and terra-cotta, gold and stone figurines. Especially

important are numerous small seals predominantly made of steatite which depict

variety of animals such as oxen, crocodiles, elephants, tigers, rhinoceros, etc, whiledepictions of humans are very rare. Every seal usually included inscriptions in the

Sindhu Valley Civilization script which has not been fully deciphered yet althoughthe language of Sindhu Valley Civilization has been identified as Dravidian.

A number of gold, terra-cotta and stone figurines of girls in dancing poses

reveal the presence of some dance form. Also, these terra-cotta figurines included

cows, bears, monkeys, and dogs. The animal depicted on a majority of seals at sites

of the mature period has not been clearly identified. Part bull, part zebra, with a

majestic horn, it has been a source of speculation. As yet, there is insufficient

evidence to substantiate claims that the image has religious or cultic significance,but the prevalence of the image raises the question of whether or not the animals in

images of the IVC are religious symbols.

Many crafts such as shell working, ceramics, and agate and glazed steatite

bead making" were used in the making of necklaces, bangles, and other ornaments

from all phases of Harappan sites and some of these crafts are still practiced in the

subcontinent today. Some make-up and toiletry items (a special kind of combs

(kakai), the use of collyrium and a special three-in-one toiletry gadget) that were

found in Harappan contexts still have similar counterparts in modern

India. Terracotta female figurines were found (ca. 2800-2600 BCE) which had redcolor applied to the "manga" (line of partition of the hair)

Seals have been found at Mohenjo-daro depicting a figure standing on its

head, and another sitting cross-legged in what some call a yoga-like pose This

figure, sometimes known as a Pashupati, has been variously identified. Sir John

Marshall identified a resemblance to the Hindu god, Shiva..If this can be validated,

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it would be evidence that some aspects of Hinduism predate the earliest texts, the

Veda.

A harp-like instrument depicted on an Sindhu seal and two shell objects

found at Lothal indicate the use of stringed musical instruments. The Harappans

also made various toys and games, among them cubical dice (with one to six holeson the faces), which were found in sites like Mohenjo-Daro.

Thus it can be noticed that art and architecture developed during the Indus

Valley civilization. The style can be said to be inspiring, though unfortunately,very few specimens of art in those times remain.