History Chapter 1 - Bricks, Beads and Bones

notes – James Cardozo

Important Names
1 - Alexander Cunningham - director General of
ASI
2 – Daya Ram Sahni - discovered seals at
Harappa
3 – Rakhal Das Banerji - discovered seals at
Mohenjodaro
4 – Sir John Marshall - Director General of ASI
1924
5 – R.E.M Wheeler - Director General of ASI
1944

Excavations and Sites

1 – Millets - Sites in Gujarat
2 – Terracotta Models of a plough - Cholistan
and Banawali (Haryana)
3 – Ploughed Field - Kalibangan (Rajasthan)
4 – Traces of canal - Harappan site of
Shortughai in Afghanistan
5 – water reservoirs - Dholavira (Gujarat)
6 – 700 well – Mohenjodaro
7 – Cemetery Excavations - Harappa
8 – Centre for bead making, shell cutting and
seal making - Chanhudaro
9 – Specialized Drills - Chanhudaro, Lothar and
more recently at Dholavira
10 – Specialised centres for she’ll objects -
Nasgeshwar and Balakot
11 – Lapis Lazuli - Shortughai, in far-off
Afghanistan, Meluhha
12 – Sources of carnelian - Bharuch in Gujarat,
Meluhha
13 – Copper - Khetri region of Rajasthan,
Magan, Meluhha

Fill in the blanks:

1. The Indus Valley Civilisation is dated
between C. 2600 and 1900 BCE

2. The first site to be discovered was Harappa

3. The most well- known site (well- planned

urban centre) is Mohenjodaro

4. Mesopotamian texts refer to copper coming

from a region called Magan

5. Mesopotamian texts mention contacts with

regions named Dilmun, Magan and Meluhha

6. Meluhha is sometimes referred to as Hajja

bird which is the peacock

7. Weights were usually made of a stone called

chert
8. The seals were made of a stone called
steatite

9. Most of the Mature Harappan sites in

Cholistan had been abandoned by the year c.
1800 BCE

10.‘The Story of Indian Archaeology’ is the

work of S.N Roy

Question and Answers

Q 1. Describe the Harappan seal

OR
Write a short note on seal.
a. The Harappan seal is probably the most
distinctive artefact of the Harappan or Indus
Valley Civilisation, made of a stone called
Steatite.
b. These seals contain animal motifs and signs
from a script that remains undeciphered.
Q 2. Write a short note on subsistence
strategies or food habits.
a. The Harappans ate a wide range of plant and
animal products including fish.
b. Archaeologists have been able to reconstruct
dietary practices from finds of charred grains
and seeds.
c. These are studied by archeo- botanists, who
are specialists in ancient plant remains.
d. Grains found at Harappan sites include
wheat, barley, lentil, chickpea and sesame.
e. Millets are found from sites in Gujarat. Finds
of rice are relatively rare.
f. Animal bones found at Harappan sites include
those of cattle, sheep, goat, buffalo and pig.
g. Bones of wild species such as the boar, deer
and gharial are also found. Bones of fish and
fowl are also found.

Q3. Describe the agricultural technologies of

the Harappan people.
OR
Discuss the irrigational facilities of the
Harappan people.
OR
Would you agree that the Harappans used the
bulls for ploughing? Justify your answer.
a. Representations on seals and terracotta
sculpture indicate that the bull was known and
archaeologists extrapolate from this that oxen
were used for ploughing.
b. Terracotta models of the plough have been
found at sites in Cholistan and at Banawali
(Haryana).
c. Archaeologists have also found evidence of a
ploughed field at Kalibangan (Rajasthan),
associated with early Harappan levels.
d. The field had two sets of furrows at right
angles to each other, suggesting that two
different crops were grown together.
e. Most Harappan sites are located in semi- arid
lands, where irrigation was probably required
for agriculture. Traces of canals have been
found at Harappan sites of Shortughai in
Afghanistan but not in Punjab or Sind.
f. It is also likely that water drawn from wells
was used for irrigation.
g. Besides, water reservoirs found in Dholavira
(Gujarat) may have been used to store water for
agriculture.

Q 4. What was the purpose of seals?

a. Seals and sealings were used to facilitate
long distance communication.
b. A bag of goods being sent from one place to
another had its mouth tied with a rope and on
the knot was affixed some wet clay on which
one or more seals were pressed, leaving an
impression.
c. If the bag reached with its sealings intact, it
meant that it had not been tampered with. d.
The sealing also conveyed the identity of the
sender.

Q5) Describe lower town or citadel OR Why is

Mohenjodaro considered to be a planned urban
centre?
Ans - the most unique feature of the Harappan
civilisation was the development of urban
centres. The settlement is divided into two
sections, one smaller but higher and the other
much larger but lower. Archaeologists
designate these as the Citadel and the Lower
Town respectively.
• The Citadel owes its height to the fact that
buildings were constructed on mud brick
platforms. It was walled, which meant that it
was physically separated from the Lower Town.
• The Lower Town was also walled. Several
buildings were built on platforms, which served
as foundations once the platforms were in
place, all building activity within the city was
restricted to a fixed area on the platforms.
• Other signs of planning include bricks, which,
whether sun-dried or baked, were of a
standardised ratio
• One of the most distinctive features of
Harappan cities was the carefully planned
drainage system, roads and streets were laid
out along an approximate “grid” pattern.
Q6) write a short note on the drainage system
of Mohenjodaro
Ans - One of the most distinctive features of
Harappan cities was the carefully planned
drainage system, roads and streets were laid
out along an approximate “grid” pattern
intersecting at right angles
• streets with drains were laid out first and then
houses built along them. If domestic waste
water had to flow into the street drains, every
house needed to have at least one wall along a
street.

Q7) Describe the domestic architecture of the

Harappan people or the residential buildings
OR do you agree that the Harappan People had
a concern for privacy
Ans - The Lower Town at Mohenjodaro
provides examples of residential buildings.
Many were centred on a courtyard, with rooms
on all sides.
• The courtyard was probably the centre of
activities such as cooking and weaving,
particularly during hot and dry weather.
• there was concern for privacy: there are no
windows in the walls along the ground level
• the main entrance does not give a direct view
of the interior or the courtyard.
• Every house had its own bathroom paved with
bricks, with drains connected through the wall
to the street drains.
• Some houses have remains of staircases to
reach a second storey or the roof
• Many houses had wells, often in a room that
could be reached from the outside and perhaps
used by passers-by. Scholars have estimated
that the total number of wells in Mohenjodaro
was about 700.

Q8) Describe the Citadel/Higher Town OR

explain the significance of the great bath
Ans - It is on the Citadel that we find evidence
of structures that were probably used for
special public purposes. These include the
warehouse – a massive structure of which the
lower brick portions remain, while the upper
portions, probably of wood, decayed long ago
• another structure, The Great Bath was a large
rectangular tank in a courtyard surrounded by a
corridor on all four sides.
• There were two flights of steps on the north
and south leading into the tank, which was
made watertight by setting bricks on edge and
using a mortar of gypsum.
• There were rooms on three sides, in one of
which was a large well. Water from the tank
flowed into a huge drain.
• Across a lane to the north lay a smaller
building with eight bathrooms, four on each
side of a corridor, with drains from each
bathroom connecting to a drain that ran along
the corridor.
• • The uniqueness of the structure, as well as
the context in which it was found has led
scholars to suggest that it was meant for some
kind of a special ritual bath.

9. Describe the burial system of the Harappan

people.
OR
How have the scholars analysed the social dif
erences based on their burial
system?
a. At burials in Harappan sites, the dead were
generally laid in pits.
b. Sometimes, there were differences in the way
the burial pit was made – in some instances,
the hollowed – out spaces were lined with
bricks. These
variations were an indication of social
differences.
c. Some graves contain pottery and ornaments,
perhaps indicating a belief
that these could be used in the afterlife.
d. Jewellery has been found in burials of both
men and women.
e. In fact, in the excavations at the cemetery in
Harappa in the mid – 1980s,
an ornament consisting of three shell rings, a
jasper (a kind of semi –
precious stone) bead and hundreds of micro
beads was found near the
skull of a male.
f. In some instances, the dead were buried with
copper mirrors. But on the
whole, it appears that the Harappans did not
believe in burying precious
things with the dead.
g. Based on the finds in these graves, the
archaeologists have tried to
analyse the social differences of the Harappan
people and classified these
as utilitarian and luxuries.

Q10.How have the scholar’s classified objects

as luxuries and utilities?
a. Another strategy to identify social differences
is to study artefacts, which
archaeologists broadly classify as utilitarian and
luxuries.
b. The first category includes objects of daily
use made fairly easily out of
ordinary materials such as stone or clay. These
include querns, pottery,
needles, flesh- rubbers (body scrubbers), etc.
and are usually found
distributed throughout settlements.
c. Archaeologists assume objects were luxuries
if they are rare or made
from costly, non-local materials or with
complicated technologies.
d. Thus, little pots of faience were probably
considered precious because
they were difficult to make.
e. We find that rare objects made of valuable
materials are generally
concentrated in large settlements like Mohenjo
Daro and Harappa and are
rarely found in the smaller settlements.
Examples include: miniature pots
of faience, perhaps used as perfume bottles,
are found mostly in MohenjoDaro and Harappa,
and there are none from small settlements like
Kalibangan.
f. Gold too was rare, and as at present,
probably precious – all the gold
jewellery found at Harappan sites were
recovered in hoards.

Q11.Discuss Chanhudaro as a centre for craft

production.
OR
Write a short note on Harappan bead making.
OR
Discuss the various techniques of bead making.
a. Chanhudaro was exclusively devoted to craft
production, including bead
making, shell cutting, metal working, seal
making and weight making.
b. The variety of materials used to make beads
is remarkable: stones like
carnelian, jasper, crystal, quartz and steatite;
metals like copper, bronze
and gold and faience and terracotta or burnt
clay.
c. Some beads were made of two or more
stones, cemented together, some
of stones with gold caps.
d. The shapes were numerous – disc shaped,
cylindrical, spherical, barrel
shaped or segmented. Some were decorated by
incising or painting and
some had designs etched onto them.
e. Techniques for making beads differed
according to the material. Steatite,
a soft stone, was easily worked. Some beads
were moulded out of a paste
made from steatite powder. This permitted
making a variety of shapes
unlike the geometrical forms made out of
harder stones.
f. Archaeologists reveal that the red colour of
carnelian was obtained by
firing the yellowish raw material and beads at
various stages of
production.
g. Nodules were chipped into rough shapes,
and then finally flaked into the
final forms. Grinding, drilling and polishing
completed the process.
h. Specialised drills have been found at
Chanhudaro, Lothal and more
recently at Dholavira.

Q12.How did the Harappans procure materials

from the subcontinent and
beyond?
a. The Harappans established settlements such
as Nageshwar and Balakot in areas where shell
was available.
b. Shortugai, in Afghanistan, was the best
source of lapis lazuli stone that
was apparently very highly valued.
c. Lothal which was near sources of carnelian
(Bharuch in Gujarat), steatite
(South Rajasthan and North Gujarat) and metal
(Rajasthan).
d. Another strategy for procuring raw materials
may have been to send
expeditions to areas such as the Khetri region
of Rajasthan (copper) and
South India (gold).
e. There is evidence in the Khetri region for
what archaeologists call the
Ganeshwar – Jodhpura culture, with its
distinctive non- Harappan pottery
and an unusual wealth of copper objects.
f. Recent archaeological finds suggest that
copper was also probably
brought from Oman. Chemical analysis has
shown that both Omani
copper and Harappan artefacts have traces of
nickel suggesting a common
origin.
g. A distinctive type of vessel, a large Harappan
jar coated with a thick layer
of black clay has been found at Omani sites.
Such thick coatings
prevented the percolation liquids. It is possible
that the Harappans
exchanged the contents of these vessels for
Omani copper.
h. Mesopotamian texts datable to the 3rd
millennium BCE refer to copper
coming from a region called Magan, perhaps a
name for Oman, and
interestingly enough copper found at
Mesopotamian sites also contains
traces of nickel.
i. Other archaeological finds suggestive of long
– distance contacts include
Harappan seals, weights, dice and beads.
j. In this context, it is worth noting that
Mesopotamian texts mention
contact with regions named Dilmun (Bahrain),
Magan and Meluhha,
possibly the Harappan region. They mention
the products from Meluhha:
carnelian, lapis lazuli, copper, gold and varieties
of wood.
k. A Mesopotamian myth says of Meluhha: “May
your bird be the Haja-
bird, may its call be heard in the royal palace.”
Haja- bird refers to the
peacock.
l. It is likely that communication with Oman,
Bahrain and Mesopotamia
was by sea. Mesopotamian texts refer to
Meluhha as a land of seafarers.
Besides, we find depictions of ships and boats
on seals.

Q13.Describe the Harappan script.

a. Harappan seals usually have a line of writing,
probably containing the
name and title of the owner. Scholars have also
suggested that the motif
conveyed meaning to those who could not
read.
b. Most inscriptions are short, the longest
containing about 26 signs.
c. Although the script remains undeciphered to
date, it was evidently not
alphabetical as it has just too many signs –
about 375 to 400 signs.
d. It is apparent that the script was written from
right to left as some seals
show wider spacing on the right and cramping
on the left, as if the
engraver began working from the right and
then ran out of space.
e. The script has been found on variety of
objects like seals, copper tools,
rims of jars, copper and terracotta tablets,
jewellery, bone rods, even an
ancient sign board. There may have been
writing on perishable materials
too.

Q14. Write a short note on the weights and

measures of the Harappan
people.
a. Exchanges were regulate by a precise system
of weights, usually made of
a stone called chert and generally cubical with
no markings.
b. The lower denominations were binary, while
the higher denominations
followed the decimal system.
c. The smaller weights were used for weighing
jewellery and beads.
d. Metal scale pans have also been found.

Q15. Explain the political organisation or

authority of the Harappan people.
a. A large building found at Mohenjo Daro was
labelled as a palace by
archaeologists but no spectacular finds were
associated with it.
b. A stone statue was labelled and continues to
be known as the ‘priest-
king’. This is because archaeologists were
familiar with Mesopotamian
history and its ‘priest- kings’ and have found
parallels in the Indus region.
c. The ritual practices of the Harappan
civilisation are not well understood
yet nor are there any means of knowing
whether those who performed
them also held political power.
d. Some archaeologists are of the opinion that
Harappan society had no
rulers and that everybody enjoyed equal status.
Others feel that there was
no single ruler but several that Mohenjo Daro
has a separate ruler,
Harappa another and so forth.
e. Yet others argue that there was a single
state, given the similarity in
artefacts, the evidence for planned settlements,
the standardised ratio of
brick size and the establishment of settlements
near sources of raw
material.
f. As of now, the last theory seems the most
plausible, as it is unlikely that
entire communities could have collectively
made and implemented such
complex decisions.

Q16 What are the causes or reasons for the

decline of the Harappan
civilisation?
OR
Describe or evaluate the decline of the
Harappan civilisation.
a. There is evidence that by c.1800 BCE most
of the mature Harappan sites
in regions such as Cholistan had been
abandoned. Simultaneously, there
was an explanation of population into new
settlements in Gujarat,
Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh.
b. It was marked by the disappearance of the
distinctive artefacts of the
civilisation – weights, seals, special beads.
c. Writing, long-distance trade and craft
specialisation also disappeared. In
general, far fewer materials were used to make
far fewer things.
d. House construction techniques deteriorated
and large public structures
were no longer produced.
e. Several explanations have been put forward.
f. These range from climatic change,
deforestation, excessive floods, the
shifting and or drying up of rivers, to overuse
of the landscape.
g. Aryan invasion.

Q17. How have the archaeologists classified

their finds (objects) when faced
with a problem of interpretation?
a. In terms of material, such as stone, clay,
metal, bone, ivory.
b. The second and more complicated, is in
terms of function: archaeologists
have to decide whether, for instance, an
artefact is a tool or an ornament,
or both, or something meant for ritual use.
c. An understanding of the function of an
artefact is often shaped by its
resemblance with present day things – beads,
querns, stone blades and
pots are obvious examples.
d. Archaeologists also try to identify the
functions of an artefact by
investigating the context in which it was found:
was it found in a house,
in a drain, in a grave or in a kiln.
e. Sometimes, archaeologists have to take
recourse to indirect evidence. For
instance, there are traces of cotton at some
Harappan sites, to find out
about clothing indirect evidence including
depictions in sculpture.
f. Archaeologists have to develop frames of
reference both in terms of the
cultural sequence in which it was found and in
terms of a comparison
with finds in Mesopotamia.

Q18. Discuss the religious practices of the

Harappan people.
OR
Do you agree that the Harappan people were
religious minded?
OR
How have the seals helped in understanding
the religious practices of
the Harappan society?
a. Terracotta figurines of women, heavily
jewelled, some with elaborate
head – dress. These were regarded as mother
goddesses.
b. Rare stone statutory of men in an almost
standardised posture, seated
with one hand on the knee – such as the
‘priest king’ – was also similarly
classified. In other instances, structures have
been assigned ritual
significance. These include, the Great Bath and
Fire Altars found at
Kalibangan and Lothal.
c. Attempts have also been made to reconstruct
religious beliefs and
practices by examining seals, some of which
seem to depict ritual scenes.
Others, with plant motifs, are thought to
indicate nature worship.
d. Some animals – such as the one horned
animal, often called the ‘Unicorn’
– depicted on seals seem to be mythical,
composite creatures.
e. In some seals, a figure shown seated cross
legged in a ‘yogic’ posture,
sometimes surrounded by animals, has been
regarded as a depiction of
‘Protoshiva’, that is, an early form of one of the
major deities of
Hinduism.
f. Besides, conical stone objects have been
classified as lingas.