PRESIDIUM, ASHOK VIHAR

SOCIAL SCIENCE
2017-2018
GRADE 6: HISTORY
CHAPTER 4: IN THE EARLIEST CITIES
Civilization
It can be understood as the process by which people live in well planned cities with all the facilities.

Some of the earliest civilization of the world

CIVILIZATION RIVER COUNTRY

Mesopotamian civilization Tigris and Euphrates Iraq
Indus Valley Civilization Indus India and Pakistan
Chinese Civilization Huang-He China
Egyptian Civilization Nile Egypt

Indus Valley Civilization (IVC)

IVC is a river valley civilization that developed on the banks of the river Indus. It is also called as
Harappan Civilization or the Bronze Age Civilization.

Discovery of the Harappan Civilisation

i) Nearly a hundred and fifty years ago, when railway lines were being laid down for the first time
in the Punjab, engineers stumbled upon the site of Harappa in present-day Pakistan.

ii) To them, it seemed like a mound that was a rich source of readymade, high quality bricks.

iii) Then, about eighty years ago, archaeologists found the site, and realized that this was one of the
oldest cities in the subcontinent.

Features of the Indus Valley Civilization:-

1. Houses were either one or two storeys high, with rooms built around a courtyard.
2. Most houses had a separate bathing area, and some had wells to supply water.
3. They had special courtyards made in rectangular
shape using baked bricks.
4. The cities had a very well built drainage system.
5. Many of the Harappan cities had covered drains
which were laid out, in straight lines. Inspection
holes were provided at intervals to clean them.

DRAINAGE SYSTEM OF IVC

6. Each drain had a gentle slope so that water could flow through it.

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 7. Drains in houses were connected to those on the streets and smaller drains led into bigger
ones.
8. Roads ran parallel that use to cut each other at right angles.
9. Material used for construction included baked bricks that were coated with plaster and
natural tar.
10. The bricks were laid in an interlocking pattern that made the wall very strong.
11. Separate places to perform sacrifices called as FIRE ALTARS and THE GREAT BATH
were also made.

Town planning of the Indus Valley Civilization:-

1. Many of these cities were divided into two or more parts.

2. Usually, the part to the west was smaller but higher. Archaeologists describe this as the
citadel.
3. The part to the east was larger but lower. This is called the lower town. It had houses of
common people
4. The area between east and west with the roads and passages was known as the Middle
town.

Features of the Great Bath of Mohenjodaro:-

1. In Mohenjodaro, a very special tank, which archaeologists call the Great Bath, was built in
the citadel area.
2. This was lined with bricks, coated with plaster, and made water-tight with a layer of natural
tar.
3. There were steps leading down to it from two sides, while there were rooms on all sides.
Perhaps important people took a dip in this tank on special occasions.

Changes in the field of Agriculture during Harappan civilization

1. We know from remains of plants that the Harappans grew- wheat, barley, pulses, peas, rice,
sesame, linseed and mustard.
2. A new tool, the plough, was used to dig the earth for turning the soil and planting seeds.
3. As this region did not receive heavy rainfall, some form of irrigation may have been used.
This means that water was stored & supplied to the fields when the plants were growing.
4. They reared cattle, sheep, goat and buffalo.
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 5. Pasture land was around many sites.
6. People also collected fruits like ‘ber ’ and caught fish .

Important Harappan towns:-

A] DHOLAVIRA:-

1. The city of Dholavira was located on Khadir Beyt in the Rann of Kutch, where there was
fresh water and fertile soil.
2. Dholavira was divided into three parts, and each part was surrounded with massive stone
walls.
3. There was also a large open area in the settlement, where public ceremonies could be held.

B) LOTHAL:-

1. The city of Lothal stood beside a tributary of the Sabarmati, in Gujarat, close to the Gulf of
Khambat.
2. This was an important centre for making objects out of stone, shell and metal.
3. There was also a store house in the city. Many seals and sealings (the impression of seals
on clay) were found in this storehouse.

ARCHAEOLOGIST’S DISCOVERIES OF HARAPPA

Use of metals by the Harappa people

i) Most of the things that have been found by archaeologists are made of stone, shell and metal,
including copper, bronze, gold and silver.

ii) Copper and bronze were used to make tools, weapons, ornaments and vessels.

iii) Gold and silver were used to make ornaments and vessel.

Evidence of use of Cloth in the Indus Valley Civilization:-

i) Cotton was probably grown at Mehrgarh from about 7000 years ago.

ii) Actual pieces of cloth were found attached to the lid of a silver vase and some copper objects at
Mohenjodaro.

iii) Archaeologists have also found spindle whorls, made of terracotta and faience. These were used
to spin thread.

iv) A stone statue of an important man found from Mohenjodaro shows him wearing an
embroidered garment.

Faience and its uses:-

i) Faience is a material that is artificially produced. Unlike stone or shell, that are found naturally.

ii) A gum was used to shape sand or powdered quartz into an object. The objects were then glazed,
resulting in a shiny, glassy surface. The colours of the glaze were usually blue or sea green.

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iii) Faïence was used to make beads, bangles, earrings, and tiny vessels.

Important sources of the raw materials for the Harappans:-

i) While some of the raw materials that the Harappans used were available locally, many items
such as copper, tin, gold, silver and precious stones had to be brought from distant places.

ii) The Harappans probably got copper from present-day Rajasthan, and even from Oman in West
Asia.

iii) Tin, which was mixed with copper to produce bronze, may have been brought from present-day
Afghanistan and Iran.

iv) Gold could have come all the way from present-day Karnataka, and precious stones from
present day Gujarat, Iran and Afghanistan.

v) The exchange of goods also helped them in building relations with other countries around the
globe.

Use of Seal in Harappan cities:-

i)They are the clay tablets which have been found from various Harappan sites. They have figures
of animals, trees and certain letters carved on them.

ii) Seals may have been used to stamp bags or packets containing goods that were sent from one
place to another.

iii) After a bag was closed or tied, a layer of wet clay was applied on the knot, and the seal was
pressed on it.

iv) The impression of the seal is known as a sealing. If the sealing was intact, one could be sure that
the goods had arrived safely.

Possible factors which brought about the end of the Indus Valley civilization:-

1. Some scholars suggest that the rivers dried up.

2. Others suggest that there was deforestation. This could have happened because fuel was
required for baking bricks, and for smelting copper ores.
3. Besides, grazing by large herds of cattle, sheep and goat may have destroyed the green
cover.
4. In some areas there were floods.
5. It appears as if the rulers lost control. New cities emerged about 1400 years later.