INDIAN CIVILIZATION

Ancient India is often called the Harappan Civilization because one of the ancient cities was
called Harappa. Harappa was just one of 1500 cities in the Indus River Valley. Another well-
known city is called Mohenjo-Daro. Historians estimate Ancient India to be the biggest of all
four early civilizations. This civilization was not discovered until the 1920’s CE, and much of this
civilization remains a mystery. One reason the Indus Valley civilization is so mysterious is
because historians have not been able to translate their complicated written language called
Indus Script. There are thousands of artifacts with 400-600 different written symbols. Most of
these symbols were pressed into soft clay with seals. A seal is similar to a stamp that makes an
impression in the soft clay. Seals are sometimes in a cylinder shape so they can be rolled on the
clay. Indus Script symbols have been discovered in Mesopotamia, which suggests they
maintained a regular trade.
The archeologist have found the remains of cities to be incredibly well planned out. Historians estimate that
each major city could support as many as 80,000 people, so Ancient India was by far the largest early
civilization. The buildings were made from mud-bricks that had been fired in a kiln to make it harder. A kiln
is a hot oven or furnace to bake clay pottery. City planners started by digging water wells and water
drainage systems with main roads and small roads laid out in a square grid. Finally homes were built along
the roads, sometimes with multiple stories. It appears that most urban homes had water drain systems in the
their home--a technology that wouldn't be matched in history for over 3000 years. However, most people
didn't live in the urban areas. Most people lived in farming villages in rural areas.

Farmers domesticated several plants including melons, wheat, peas, dates, sesame seeds, and cotton, as well
as many animals. Archeologists have discovered what food the Ancient Indian people ate by examining the
teeth of skeletons and food storage areas. Another example of how well planned the Indus Valley
civilization was is their grain storage building. Some historians believe they have discovered a massive
granary nearly 200 feet long to store and dry wheat. However, there is no evidence of grain in this building,
so once again, historians are uncertain about the mysterious Indus Valley civilization.
Ancient India was different from the Egyptians and Mesopotamians in several ways. One way
they are different is that there appear to be very few large structures in Ancient India. One of the
largest structures that has been discovered is called the Great Bath. Basically its a public pool
that is over 40 feet long, 20 feet wide, and nearly 10 feet deep. If large temples or palaces once
existed they are gone today. This leads to a curious question--did Ancient India have kings or
high ranked religious leaders? What did the social pyramid look like? The remains of the
civilization suggests they were a very egalitarian society. Egalitarian means everyone in society
was basically equal. Another difference is in military and weapons. There is very little evidence
of weapons and military culture in the Indus Valley. Another difference is that astronomy seems
to be less important in India than in other civilizations unless the text has been lost.
The Indus Valley religion is also mysterious because the language hasn't been translated. Historians believe
they may have worshiped a Mother Goddess. They believe the Great Bath could have been used for some
type of baptism. A small artifact has been found that some historians think may be a priest (right), but
archeologists have yet to find a temple of any kind. Some of the Indus Script symbols are related to the
images of the modern religion of Hinduism (left), but historians don't all agree about the symbols. The image
to the left shows a three-faced person sitting in the lotus position. The lotus positions is a Yoga position of
meditation where a person sits upright with their legs folded in their lap. Yoga is a spiritual practice of
meditation, breathing, and body position used in many religions, especially Hinduism.
By 1500 BCE, the once vast and powerful civilization began to decline at some point it suddenly ended.
Historians are uncertain why this area’s power declined. There are some theories that a great earthquake
crumbled cities and changed the path of rivers, which caused them to move to a new location. Another theory
claims the climate may have changed, which forced them to move. Yet another theory suggests invading
armies destroyed some cities and forced most people to move. One thing we know for sure is that the
civilization that once lived in this area ended and new people moved into this area.
VEDIC PERIOD
Around 1500 BCE, Indo-European people migrated to India. These people came from the area between the
Black Sea and the Caspian Sea (purple on the map on the left). Between 4000 and 1000 BCE, Indo-Europeans
migrated all over Europe and Asia. Some went to Europe and influenced the Romans and the Greeks; some
settled in Turkey and became the Hittites, others migrated southeast instead. Some stopped in Iran, later
becoming Persian, while others continued southeast to Pakistan and India. The slow migration did not
arrive in northern India until about 1500 BCE. In India, the Indo-Europeans are sometimes called the Aryans.

Some people have disputed this arrival of the Indo-Europeans, however, the spoken language that these
Indo-European people brought to India, recorded in Sanskrit, is very similar to other Indo-European
languages such as Greek and Latin. There are many examples of similar words between the languages
spoken in these areas. In addition, some DNA evidence supports the arrival of the Indo-Europeans to these
regions. However, this is a theory of history that some historians don’t agree with.
In addition to their spoken language, the Indo-Europeans brought their religious beliefs with
them to India. The story and beliefs of Hinduism were recorded in a collection of stories and
songs called the Vedas. There are many historians that believe the Hindu religion actually
began in the Indus River Valley civilization. The Vedas were first written down in a language
called Sanskrit. Sanskrit was a spoken language that was written down in different writing
systems that developed later on such as Devanagari--the early form of Hindi (picture on right),
India's main language today. Indo-Europeans also brought the domesticated horse into South
Asia—this suggests the Indo-Europeans were at least semi-nomadic.
The Indo-Europeans first settled along the Indus River, in the same place where the Indus Valley people had
lived. They settled down and mixed with the local Indian people. They lived there and eventually expanded
throughout the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It was at this time that the caste system got started in India. It is believed
that the Indo-Europeans had a similar division of their society, but historians don’t agree about how the
caste system originated. The caste system is the permanent division of people into certain levels within
society. Each level or caste has particular jobs such as merchant, warrior, or priest.
Castes were very important to people's identities. There were four castes, but there was another group
below the four castes known as Dalits or Untouchables. Untouchables usually did the worst jobs, like
cleaning up people's poop from the gutters, collecting garbage, and dealing with dead bodies. The lowest of
the castes was the Sudras - the servants and farmhands who did not own their own business or their own
land, and who had to work for other people. The largest number of people belonged to this caste. Above
them were the Vaisyas, or farmers and traders, who owned their own farms or businesses. Above these
people were the Kshatriyas, or warriors. The most powerful caste was the Brahmins (pictured below), the
priests and other leaders. Many historians believe that when the Indo-Europeans arrived they treated the
native Indus Valley people as the Untouchables.
There were also dozens of smaller groups within each castes. People who came from different
castes could not eat together. Usually people from one caste did not marry or make friends with
people from another caste. Untouchables were not allowed in temples and were seen as
“polluted” compared to Brahmins who were “pure”. Today, the caste system is outlawed by the
modern Indian constitution, and in urban areas most people ignore the caste traditions. However,
in traditional rural areas caste divisions still exist. The developing Indian culture of the Indo-
European mixed with native Indus Valley people began to grow quickly. Their civilization spread
from the Indus River Valley to the Ganges River. Similar to other civilizations, kingdoms
developed as the territory expanded.
INDIAN KINGDOMS AND FOREIGN
INVASIONS
For about 1000 years the Indo-Europeans and native Indians mixed and migrated throughout the
the northern part of the region. Cities began to grow in number, and size and by 600 BCE these
slowly developed into 16 different kingdoms called Maha Janapadas. It was during this time
period that Siddhartha Gautama gave up his title as a prince to search for truth and an end to
the suffering. On his rare trips out of the royal palace, Siddartha noticed most people suffering
through life. He also grew tired to the priests who dominated society. He gave up his royal life
and started a quest to find real truth. After years of searching, he achieved “enlightenment”
and became known as the Buddha or “enlightened one”. The Buddha traveled throughout South
Asia and taught others his new ideas—these teachings became known as the religion of
Buddhism.
Another religion called Jainism also developed during this time. Both of these new religions
clearly developed from Hinduism in the same way Christianity and Islam clearly developed from
Judaism. These new religions were a rebellion against cultural ideas such as the caste system
and importance of priests in religion. Some of the first significant architecture in South Asia also
came from these new religions. Since many of the building of the Indus Valley have been lost to
erosion, Buddhist architecture has become India's most famous architecture. The first
development is called a stupa. A stupa (below, left picture) is a mound-like structure that
contains the ashes and relics of a loved Buddhist leader. Later, the stupa transformed into a new
Buddhist structure called a pagoda. A Pagoda (below, right picture) usually has many levels or
"tiers" of roofs. It is also a Buddhist temple. Today Buddhist pagodas can be found all over
China, Japan and Southeast Asia.
In 520 BCE, the Persians invaded and took control of northern Indian subcontinent. This conquest was under the
mighty Persian leader Darius the Great. Persia controlled this region for about 200 years until Alexander the
Great invaded South Asia. Alexander and his army were far from home and completely exhausted from years
of constant war as they rampaged toward the east. It was in India that Alexander’s army finally refused to
fight, and Alexander the Great was forced to return to Greece. The pattern of Persia conquest followed by
Greek conquest occurred in Ancient Egypt, Ancient Iraq (Mesopotamia), and Ancient India. The only ancient
civilization that didn't suffer from the Persian and Greek conquest is ancient China. This is mainly due the the
barriers of geography. Ancient China is separated from these other areas of civilization by vast deserts and
high mountains. These obstacles are very difficult to pass even in today's society. This is the main reason that
China developed in a unique way. The Silk Road trade route between China and the the rest of the world, over
a 1000 years later would finally link all four major civilization areas.
The Persians and Greeks entered South Asia through the Khyber Pass, as did the Indo-Europeans, during their
migration into South Asia. The Persians greatly influenced the style of government in India and some Greeks
remained in northwest Pakistan and influenced the culture to this day, although the religion of Hinduism has
had the greatest influence in India. The impact of the Indus Valley is not completely understood, but surely time
and archeology will tell.