Neolithic sites are scattered in various places and evolve at varying times. Among the early sites is Mehrgarh near Quetta in Baluchistan, one amid a number of village sites. This is a more impressive site than many others as it provides evidence of the continuity of the settlement over a few millennia and the gradual evolution of the settlement from agriculture towards urbanization. Some parallels are evident at sites in the north-west, which can be attributed to a cross-fertilization of ideas and activities in the region. Settlements were not isolated and the interaction between them could have been through an exchange of goods associated with even a minimal specialization in the production of exchangeable items, such as beads, through pastoral circuits and migrations and through confrontations. These would have created networks to channel exchange on a more regular basis, together with marriage circles and new ritual practices.
The origins of Mehrgarh have been dated to c. 7000 BC. The cultivation of wheat and barley, the herding of cattle, sheep and goats, habitation in mud-brick huts with hearths, a possible granary, pit burials with personal effects, beads of turquoise and lapis, and a scatter of clay figurines are aspects of a cultural pattern that was established by the sixth millennium. By the fourth millennium wheel-thrown pottery was introduced. Sites of the sixth to fourth millennia BC – also in the north-west at Kile Gul Mohammad, Rana Ghundai, Sheri Khan Tarakai, Gumla and Rehman Dheri – were similarly centres of pastoral and agricultural activities, as well as being located along routes crossing the area. The Nal culture in Baluchistan and the Kulli culture to the south were also part of this scene. Some of these sites change from agro-pastoralism to farming, then to the beginnings of towns, and are therefore precursors of Harappan urbanization.
Close to the Indus River in the plains were the settlements at Kot Diji and Amri, with features which were the forerunners of some of the characteristics of the Harappa culture. The painted designs on the pottery at Kot Diji, for example, were based on the leaf of the pipal/ficus religiosa tree, and on fish and fish scales similar to those on Harappan pottery. Kot Diji features are also evident in some of the pottery from what have been called the Sothi sites in Rajasthan, such as the pre-Harappan settlement at Kalibangan. Further east, there are some similarities in artefacts from Kunal and Banawali (Haryana). The Aravalli Hills are rich in copper, and places essentially involved in the production of copper, such as Ganeshwar, were important. Practices in the alloying of metal were to become a legacy from the Harappans. Further south in Gujarat there is evidence of pre-Harappan settlements, some at places that were preludes to important Harappan towns such as Dholavira.
Some of the settlements in Rajasthan and Punjab also carried features associated with the Hakra Plain, particularly present-day Bahawalpur and Cholistan. The Hakra River, which gradually dried up, was once a substantial river although all that remains of its upper reaches now is the Ghaggar in the Punjab. The question has been raised whether the Indus-Hakra area was more pertinent to the rise of the Harappan cities, given the dense cluster of sites in the area, than was Baluchistan and the north-west; and, if this was so, perhaps the civilization should be called the Indus-Sarasvati civilization. However, the crucial factor is not the number of sites but the nature of the sites. Judging the nature of a site does not lie in merely listing artefacts, but assessing, in this case, the role of the site in encouraging the change from pre-urban activities to urbanization. Given the earlier and more widespread evidence for the evolution towards urbanization in the north-west, the initial impetus for the transition to urban centres lay, more likely, in the Indus plain and the north-west. In terms of access to the raw materials used in craft production and in controlling trade, which provided the impetus to urbanization, the centres in the north-west and the Indus Plain were certainly better situated than those in Cholistan. The former were more active, and with the potential of having connections beyond the borderlands.
Although the evidence from the north-west provides some indicators of the emergence of urbanism, in other areas, such as Gujarat, it has been described as a relatively sudden mutation accompanied by a notable increase in the size of urban settlements. This could have followed from the earlier Harappans reaching out into new areas and the latter adapting to the demands of the former. This might account for the seeming uniformity combined with a continuing presence of some regional features. It would also have allowed for the spread of Harappan material culture, which makes it the most expansive civilization of its time.
The evolution of cities in north-western India has to be viewed not only in the local context, but also in the context of archaeological change and the movement of peoples in the borderlands and beyond, with whom there had been earlier contacts. This does not, however, preclude the possibility of areas with a potential for urbanization, such as Kutch, coastal Gujarat or Cholistan, developing this potential on the heels of the first urbanization. The large urban site of Ganweriwala in Bahawalpur remains to be excavated and the stages towards urbanization in these parts have yet to be determined. It is more appropriate therefore to continue referring to the civilization as the Indus civilization or the Harappa culture, the latter name deriving from the initial site which was one of the earlier cities of the civilization.
Chalcolithic
The innovation in the chalcolithic cultures was the use of copper and bronze, which forged the new technology of smelting metal ore and crafting metal artefacts. Obtaining raw material could now necessitate long-distance travel, which was encouraged due to the high value placed on the production of metal. The networks of chalcolithic cultures therefore widened. The use of stone tools was not abandoned and some of the microlithic forms, such as the parallel-sided blades, continued as essential items. Copper and bronze introduced yet another improved technology, which in turn encouraged a specialization in crafts in particular areas, often where the raw material was easily available and craftsmen would gather. The inclusion of metal technology introduced some complexities into the patterns of living, for instance determining who was to control the new technology, since those who were producing the artefacts were not necessarily the same as those in authority. Where the use of a script accompanies chalcolithic cultures, they are sometimes referred to as proto-historic and are differentiated from prehistoric cultures which were prior in form and lacking both metal and a script. When the incidence of the use of bronze increases perceptibly, some prefer to call it the bronze age.
The First Urbanization – the Cities of the Indus Civilization
The earliest excavations of the cities of the Indus civilization were at Harappa (Punjab) and Mohenjo-daro (Sind) and these remain the most important urban complexes, larger than the other towns. Many of the latter – large or small – have been excavated, some only partially, such as Kot Diji (Sind), Kalibangan (Rajasthan), Rupar (Punjab), Rakhigarhi, Banawali, Mitathal (Haryana) and the ports of Lothal and Dholavira, and Surkotada (Gujarat). Ganweriwala (Bahawalpur) awaits excavation. The larger cities are approximately a hundred hectares in size and the lesser towns come close to half that size. It has been suggested that if the extensions of the city are included Mohenjo-daro could cover an area of 200 hectares.
The time period of the civilization has in the past been divided into the pre-Harappan (starting in the late fourth millennium and continuing to 2600 BC), the Mature Harappan (from c. 2600 to 1900 BC) and the Late Harappan (to c. 1750 BC). There is sometimes a preference for the term Early Harappan rather than pre-Harappan, since it suggests continuity into the Mature Harappan. Other labels have also been used in recent studies but there is no final consensus. The cluster of sites in the Bolan area – Mehrgarh, Pirak and Nowshehra – as well as the settlement at Harappa, show an impressive continuity from the pre-urban to the mature urban, and finally the declining phase of the civilization.
The Indus civilization was the most extensive of the ancient riverine civilizations, with sites as far north as Shortughai in the Pamirs, and some activity across the sea southwards in Oman in
the Arabian peninsula. It incorporated the north-western mountains and came as far east as the upper doab, although the actual area of control is likely to have been more limited. Southwards there was much activity in present-day Gujarat, and some settlements going further into northern Maharashtra. In the first two instances the Harappans, as entrepreneurs in trade, were doubtless searching for valuable raw materials. Lapis lazuli from the Pamirs and the Chagai Hills of eastern Iran was much valued in the trade with Mesopotamia. Copper deposits in Oman were perhaps what attracted the Harappans, given that copper was much in demand further west. Trade with Mesopotamia is evident from the recovery of a few Harappan seals, beads and weights at Mesopotamian sites, and some, which are thought to be Harappan, at sites in the Persian Gulf. The Mesopotamian references to the land of Meluhha and its people might have been intended for the Indus civilization, the products of this land being listed as ivory, carnelian, wood, lapis and gold, all familiar to the Indus cities. Other areas to the east mentioned in Mesopotamian sources were Dilmun and Makan. Coastal shipping from western India along the Gulf to the Tigris-Euphrates delta has been continuously involved in the exchange between India and the Gulf. Contacts with Afghanistan and Iran were maintained through the passes in the north-west mountains, and particularly the Bolan Valley. Other contemporaries were the people of the Sothi-Siswal cultures in Rajasthan and Haryana, as well as the Kayatha culture in central India. The locations of the cities appear to have been chosen with an eye to the availability of resources and the transportation of goods by river or by sea.
Harappan artefacts, or artefacts influenced by Harappan forms, designs and functions, have been found over an extensive area. But this is not an indication that the area had a uniform culture and identical observances. It seems evident from the variations discovered that local cultures functioned and took shape beneath the Harappan system. This interface between the local culture and a wider ranging one is an aspect of the subcontinental cultural life throughout its history.
The cities were maintained from the surplus produced in the countryside, together with other resources gathered or mined in various regions. This process seems to have resulted from coordination in obtaining raw materials, working them into commodities and trading them in a systematic manner. Closer to home, copper would be mined in Rajasthan and Baluchistan. Semi-precious stones were available in large quantities from western India, lapis from the Chagai Hills or the Pamirs and were crafted into beads, some perhaps being traded as raw material. Timber such as teak was available in Gujarat, and other wood elsewhere; shell and chank came from the coast and were cut to make ornaments; and there was a range of other items. Harappan pottery is distinctive, with designs in black, of plants, birds and abstract forms, frequently painted on a red surface. Pottery is a clue to locating Harappan sites, but it is likely to have been made, after a fashion, in many local areas.
The cities were centres for the production of crafted items that were traded both overland and across the seas. This was not the work of casual craftsmen and required considerable skill and organization. Bead-making was an extensive industry, using gold, copper, shell, semi-precious stones, steatite, faience and ivory. Bronze and stone tools were largely functional but some were useful for exchange. Workshops for the production of beads and similar objects were located in Harappan cities and the etched carnelian bead was to become a characteristic Harappan object. Such workshops are often identified by the presence of a quantity of unfinished items. Carefully graded weights made of chert occur at Harappan sites, as well as rods for measurement, again suggesting functions linked to exchange and a sophisticated system of weights and measures. Lothal has evidence of a structure that has been described as a dockyard, although this description remains controversial. In its vicinity was a warehouse which was probably a hub of exchange and a place where the finished products of the craft workshops were gathered, stored and transported. Doubtless the profits from trade both within the northern and western areas of the subcontinent, and between the people of this culture and those of the Persian Gulf and Mesopotamia, kept the cities economically viable.
The cities demonstrate a sophisticated sense of civic planning and organization. In most cases the city was divided into the smaller citadel area, frequently to the west, where the essential institutions of civic life were located, possibly together with some places used for public rituals, and the larger residential area to the east. This bifurcation was not continued in the planning of cities of the later historical periods, although the tendency in civic planning to concentrate professions in particular areas remained characteristic. The impression given by the Harappan cities is one of a concern with maintaining urban order and an efficient economic system managing land, labour and water.
Huge man-made brick platforms formed the foundation for the buildings of the citadel, possibly to make them secure against floods and other damage since most of the cities were on the banks of rivers, probably to facilitate the transportation of goods. These structures may also have given direction to the plan of the cities. City-planning roughly followed a grid pattern, with roads oriented approximately to the cardinal directions, which assisted civic facilities, particularly the carefully articulated drainage system where house drains were linked to those of the street. House-plans generally had a courtyard as the focus, with rooms opening on to it. Most houses had individual wells, bathing places and drains. Drains and structures of importance were largely constructed of kiln-fired brick, whereas the houses were of mud-brick. The brickwork shows experience and expertise. Stone was used more extensively in Dholavira. The quarrying, dressing and transporting of stone was more labour-intensive and would have required considerable management. The city-plan of Dholavira differed from that of the other cities. Elaborate arrangements were made, but less for the storage of food and more for the storage of water. Large water reservoirs were built within the fortified part of the city. Architectural requirements for the building of the Harappan cities would have included a knowledge of surveying and geometry. The making of a calendar was necessary for agriculture and this in turn incorporated some knowledge of astronomy.
The citadel area of the city generally had defence walls and bastions, with elaborate entrances that were no doubt appropriately guarded. Sometimes the city was also fortified. Was this demarcation from the surrounding countryside expected in early cities? As a new phenomenon, the city was the focus of wealth that was different in quantity from that of the village, and its management also differed. It required a distinctive way of life unfamiliar to non-urban societies. In comparison with other contemporary cities, the Harappan cities do not display any spectacular wealth in either the houses or the graves. A few impressive gold objects have recently been excavated from a Harappan site, but the totality of jewellery remains small when compared, for instance, to the volume from Mesopotamian cities. The demarcation between town and countryside may also reflect the management of the cities. Did the control over agricultural production, labour and raw materials require that those exercising this authority be protected? Such control would have been more extensive than that based on kinship connections and clan loyalties. This is not to suggest that those inhabiting the cities were aliens, but rather that they gave expression to the kind of authority that had not existed before, and that it was the concept of this authority that may have seemed alien to rural life.
Clearing the surrounding tropical savanna forest around each city may have been necessary in order to extend cultivation sufficiently to support the urban population. This may have resulted in fairly large-scale deforestation. A ploughed field of the period just prior to Harappan urbanization was excavated at the site of Kalibangan, with the field coming up to the edge of the city. Wheat and barley were the staple crops, although rice and millet were also grown where possible. Water conduits, some of which were underground in certain areas, and small-scale inundation canals leading off rivers directed water to where it was needed. These would have required const
ant maintenance and supervision.
The monumental buildings of the citadel areas have been variously interpreted: granaries, warehouses, collegiate buildings and possibly a ritual centre at Mohenjo-daro, including a tank and its surroundings. The constructing of the platforms and the buildings would have required a large deployment of organized labour with an equally effective system of obtaining and controlling labour. Possibly this was done through regular labour services rather than a tax or tribute. The form that this may have taken remains uncertain, although some attempts have been made to reconstruct the foci of authority. Supervision and control involved many aspects of administration: agriculture to ensure food for the city population; the production of items for trade, such as copper ingots and beads, and seals for stamping goods; labour for the building and maintaining of cities; and above all the organization of the trade itself.
In describing the governing authority it was earlier suggested that it consisted of a single imperial system, with twin capitals at Mohenjo-daro and Harappa, a suggestion that has been superseded by others. The recent idea that the Indus cities were city-states and were the prototypes for the ‘autonomous’ cities of historical times carries little conviction, given the essential differences in the concept and planning of the early and later cities. It might be more plausible to consider flexible relationships between the cities, given their differentiated size and their authority systems that are apparent, for instance, if the city-plan of Kalibangan is compared with that of Dholavira or Harappa. Governed by chiefs of clans in the early phase, this system would have given way to a more complex one by the Mature period, when representatives of city authorities probably coalesced to ruling jointly in assembly to control a sophisticated system of obtaining labour and coordinating urban activities. The structures at Mohenjo-daro point to complex authority systems. Possibly a more centralized administration was adopted and adapted in various regions, interacting with city centres.
The Penguin History of Early India Page 14