DEPARTMENT OF AGRONOMY

Course No: AGH-111

Course Title: Agricultural Heritage
Credits: 1(1+0)
Course Teacher
Prof.Prasad. M Patil
Assistant Professor
Department of Agronomy
Contact: 7507445546, 9860208251
Email Id:[email protected]

Prof.Prasad M.Patil
(MSc.Agri, Agronomy)
Department of Agronomy
7507445546, 9860208251
[email protected]
 Chapter-4

Indus Civilization, Vedic civilization and Relevance of

heritage to present Day of Agriculture

INDUS CIVILIZATION (3250 BC -2750 BC)

Introduction:
1. In the year 1922, archaeologists dug up a few places in the Indus valley
and carried out excavations at Mohenjo-Daro (meaning a mound of dead)
in Sind
(In Pakistan) and at Harappa on the river Ravi in Punjab.
2. They found traces of a very ancient civilization, which flourished more
than five thousand years ago.
3. They observed that the people utilized the pots, utensils and ornaments.
4. These cities were built along the river Indus and hence this civilization is
known as Indus valley civilization.
5. It is also known as Harappan
6. Culture and occupied the areas stretching from Delhi to Gujarat.
7. The Indus Valley civilization also called the Harappan civilization.
8. Indian civilization, its ancientness and great cultural traditions go back to
the dawn of ages.

Prof.Prasad M.Patil
(MSc.Agri, Agronomy)
Department of Agronomy
7507445546, 9860208251
[email protected]
 9. This civilization was thought to have been confined to the valley of the
river Indus; hence the name given to it was Indus Valley civilization.
10. This civilization was a highly developed urban one and two of its towns,
Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa, represent the high watermark of the
settlements.
11. During this period the people identified the importance of ploughing for
the proper sowing of crop i.e. soil has to be stirred and seed has to be
covered.
12. Ox-drawn wheel cart was used for transport.
13. The people cultivated wheat, barley, gram, peas, sesamum and rape Seed.
14. They also cultivated cotton and also devised methods of ginning, spinning
and weaving.
15. Animal husbandry was also given more importance during this period.
16. They domesticated buffalo, cattle, camel, horse, elephant, ass and birds.
They utilized them in agriculture and also for transport.
17. The most remarkable discovery in Harappa is the Great Granary used for
storing food grain.

Fig. Great Granary used for storing food grain.

 Agriculture, Technology and Trade in Harappa during 1600 BC.:-

1. In the Chalcolithic period, Harappans had reached a high state of culture.
2. They wore cotton garments and used ivory combs and copper mirrors.
3. The women wore ornaments of bronze and gold.
Prof.Prasad M.Patil
(MSc.Agri, Agronomy)
Department of Agronomy
7507445546, 9860208251
[email protected]
 4. They used implements such as sickles, saws, knife blades, spears, axes,
arrowheads and daggers made of bronze and copper fish-hooks.
5. Harappans cultivated bread wheat, barley, sesame, pea, melon, date palm
and Brassica spp.
6. Gossypium arboretum was an important crop, the centre of its origin the
Indus Valley.
7. The rice cultivated in Harappa had long seeded grain and perhaps was the
ancestor of the fragrant basmati rice. Wheat and jowar were the other food
crops.

 The Vedic civilization:-

1. The Vedic period is a period of cultural mixing of Aryans and indigenous
people. Vedic culture was native to the Indian subcontinent.
2. There are Four Types of Vedic Civilization:
I) Pre-Vedic Period (Before 3100 B.C.)
II) Vedic Period (1st Phase 3100 B.C.)
III) Vedic Period (2nd Phase 2150 B.C.
IV) Vedic Period (3rd Phase 2150 B.C.-1400 B.C.)
V) Vedic Jyotish Period (1400 B.C. -1200 B.C.)

3. The Aryans called themselves the "noble ones" or the "superior ones" to
distinguish themselves from the people they conquered. Their name is
derived from the Indo-European root word, "ar," meaning "noble.
4. “In Sanskrit, they were the "Aryas"("Aryans"); but that root, "ar," would
also serve as the foundation of the name of the conquered Persian
territories, "Iran."
5. Their culture has been based on met, camped and departed. This culture is
superior to that of the people who were already living for millennia in India
and had developed agriculture.
Prof.Prasad M.Patil
(MSc.Agri, Agronomy)
Department of Agronomy
7507445546, 9860208251
[email protected]
 6. Domesticated animals made strong settlements and created a class of
artisans and craftsman.

 Pastoralism:-
1. The Vedic Aryans were primarily pastoral.
2. When they settled in the Punjab, they cut the Jungles and built their
villages.
3. They grazed the animals in jungles and cultivated barley near the houses to
protect from wild animals.
4. Vedic people realized the importance of off-season ploughing and they
started ploughing as and when the rain was received.
5. The first ploughing of the season was inaugurated amidst much ritual.
6. The plough used was large and heavy.
7. Bullocks and ox were used for ploughing.
8. With regard to irrigation, channels were dug from the rivers.
9. Wells were in use for supply of drinking water and irrigation called kucha
wells, which were just holes dug in the ground.
10. Even now such wells are in use in the river rain areas of northern India.

 Crops Cultivated In Vedic Period:-

1. In early Vedic period there is no mention of rice and cotton though they
were cultivated in Harappa period.
2. In the later Vedic period (1000 -600 BC) agricultural implements were
improved and iron ploughshare also improved.
3. The people possessed the knowledge of fertility of land, selection of seed,
seed treatment, harvesting, manuring and rotation of crops.
4. Barley sesame and sugarcane were the main crops.
5. Cucumber and bottle gourd were also mentioned in Vedic period, Aryans
were accustomed to barley diet.

Prof.Prasad M.Patil
(MSc.Agri, Agronomy)
Department of Agronomy
7507445546, 9860208251
[email protected]
 6. Barley is good for men, cattle and horses. Barley is used in Hindu rituals
even today.
7. For cloths, wool and cotton were used.
8. The agriculture implements mentioned in vedic literature include the
plough (langala -a lase pointed type having smooth handle, Sira -a large
and heavy plough).
9. Sickle was used for harvesting and sieves were used for cleaning.

 Rig-Veda:-
1. Rig-Veda the oldest book which was complied around 3700 BC.
2. At the beginning of the cropping season, the ploughing was done with great
fan fare associated with several rituals.
3. Barley (yava), sesame and sugarcane were the main crops.
4. As a husbandman repeatedly ploughs the early for barley; causing the
barley to be sown in fields properly by the plough; and the cattle feed upon
the barley.
5. Harvesting proceeded with prayers. It was mostly done with a sickle by
cutting the crops at the ground level or by cutting the ear heads only.

 Environment(Rig-Veda):-
1. The sun is the protector, the purifier and the source of prosperity.
2. The water cycle is described as water going up from earth in the summer
through evaporation, cloud formation and water coming down again in the
form of rain.
3. Loss of surface water in summer must have been easy to observe.
4. Th ere are six season s in a year; namely Grishma (May –June),
Varsha (July-August), Hemant (September-October),Sharad
(November-December), Shishir (January-February) and Vasant
(March-April). The beginning of the rainy season (obviously in Pakistan
North-West India) is after 21 June when the sun starts „moving
south‟.
Prof.Prasad M.Patil
(MSc.Agri, Agronomy)
Department of Agronomy
7507445546, 9860208251
[email protected]
 5. Constructing dams on rivers must have meant cutting off water to Vedic
people to irrigate lands and to provide water to people and animals after
the rains the contribution of rivers to increasing the food production.

 Farming resources and practices(Rig-Veda):

1. A farmer plows his fields repeatedly.
2. Sun brought six seasons which repeat in a sequence. Bullock cart and
chariot were used for crossing Sutlej and Vyas rivers.
3. Tie bullocks to the plow, join yokes, sow the seed, let the food produced
be sufficient and let the sickle fall on the ripe crop.
4. Sumps were constructed to provide drinking water for animals, leather
ropes and irrigation from never-drying pits.
5. Field operations to raise crops were well-established. Using a plow to
cultivate land and raise barley was already an “ancient practice” for the
Vedic Aryans.
6. Soils of different kinds and productive and non–productive fields were
recognized.
7. Soil preparation was done through repeated plowings. Classification of
seasons into six different kinds as is followed even today was done.
8. A bamboo stick of a specific size was used for measuring land.
9. Soaking of soil profile with water was carried out to facilitate plowing
and sowing operations.
10. Well water was used for drinking purpose but irrigation from shallow
wells was practiced.
11. Other farm operations included bird scaring, harvesting with sickle,
threshing, winnowing with titau (suba), storing gains in storage bins and
burning of trash / wastes.
12. Barley was ratooned on residual moisture possibly for fodder after harvest
of grain crop.

Prof.Prasad M.Patil
(MSc.Agri, Agronomy)
Department of Agronomy
7507445546, 9860208251
[email protected]
 13. Apart from barley, other cereals were consumed. Barley was roasted
obviously to make saktu (sattu or flour from roasted barley grain).

 Forestry(Rig -Veda ):
1. Trees such as pippala (peepal), khadir, shisham palasashalmali and
urvaruka are mentioned.
2. Pippala is treated as sacred tree.
3. Urvaruka fruits are edible.
4. Khadir and shisham wood used for making chariots are used even today to
make furniture.
5. Several grasses are mentioned. Some of which are still used in religious
ceremonies and in making rope, mats cottage roofs etc.

 Animal husbandry (Rig-Veda):

1. A cow having a copious stream of milk yields it coming into the presence
of their calf.
2. Do not kill a cow who is mother of Rudras,daughter or Vasus, sister of
Aditya, milk-bearing innocent and without any complex.
3. Various animals referred in Rig-Veda include cows and horses, sheep and
goats, donkey and camel.
4. Two colors of cows are mentioned black and red. Cows with a long nose
seem to have been preferred.
5. Camels, donkeys and horses were used for riding and possibly for
carrying loads.
6. Stealing cows is referred in Rig-Veda considering the fact that cattle
meant wealth.
7. On management of cows, grazing in forests seems to have been common
practice. Cows were permitted to graze in barley fields and cattle owners
apparently knew the benefits of providing clean safe water from ponds.
8. Dogs were used for managing herds of cows and for recovering stolen
cows.

Prof.Prasad M.Patil
(MSc.Agri, Agronomy)
Department of Agronomy
7507445546, 9860208251
[email protected]
 9. Calling cows for milking with some grass in hand is mentioned boys
obviously looked after cows while they grazed.
10. Burning of dried cow dung is practiced as fuel for fire.
11. Killing of cows was clearly discouraged not only because it played an
important part in human subsistence, but also for the cow‟s innocence.
12. In the later Vedic period (1000-600 BC), agriculture implements were
improved. Iron plough shares were used.

 End of the Indus civilization:

1. After 1750 BC, the Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa culture slowly declined
and gradually faded out.
2. The cause or causes of the end of the Indus civilization are not easy to
determine. Some ascribe this to the decreasing fertility of the soil on
account of the increasing salinity, caused by the expansion of the
neighboring desert.
3. Others attribute it to some kind of depression in the land, which caused
floods.
4. At Mohenjo-Daro groups of sprawling skeletons in this period suggests
some sort of massacre or invasion.
5. The destroyers of the Indus cities were members of the group of tribes
whose priests composed the Rig Veda.
6. The Indus Valley culture moved from west to east of Ganga-Jamuna-
Doab region, with sites towards central and southern India flourishing
after Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro had declined.
7. The Ramayan partly unfolded the tale of the Aryanadvent into the south.
Even though there are various theories for the downfall ofthis civilization,
there is no clear picture as to how or why it came to an end.

Prof.Prasad M.Patil
(MSc.Agri, Agronomy)
Department of Agronomy
7507445546, 9860208251
[email protected]