brief ppt about Indus valley and vedic period.

1. Indus Valley Civilization
& Vedic Period
By
Abdul Saboor Hamza
Ayesha Fatima

2. What is Indus Valley Civilization?
• Indus civilization, also called Indus valley
civilization or Harappan civilization, the
earliest known urban culture of the Indian
subcontinent.
• The nuclear dates of the civilization appear
to be about 2500–1700 BCE, though the
southern sites may have lasted later into the
2nd millennium BCE.
• The Indus civilization was the earliest known
urban culture of the Indian subcontinent—one
of the world’s three earliest civilizations,
along with Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt.

3. History Of Indus Valley Civilization
• The civilization was first identified in 1921 at Harappa in the Punjab region and then in 1922
at Mohenjo-daro (Mohenjodaro), near the Indus River in the Sindh (Sind) region. Both sites are
in present-day Pakistan, in Punjab and Sindh provinces, respectively. The ruins of Mohenjo-daro
were designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1980.
• The Indus civilization is known to have consisted of two large cities, Harappa and Mohenjo-
daro, and more than 100 towns and villages, often of relatively small size.
• The two cities were each perhaps originally about 1 mile (1.6 km) square in overall dimensions,
and their outstanding magnitude suggests political centralization, either in two large states or
in a single great empire with alternative capitals, a practice having analogies in Indian history.
• The civilization was literate, and its script, with some 250 to 500 characters, has been partly
and tentatively deciphered; the language has been indefinitely identified as Dravidian.

4. Roots of Indus Valley Civilization
• Roots of Indus Valley began as early as 7000
B.C.E.
– Possibly began as herders who moved into the
river valley during colder months.
– Over time, they may have decided to farm
riverwatered lands of the valley.
– They began trading by boat along the Indus down
into the Arabian Sea, into the Persian Gulf, and up
the Tigris and Euphrates into Mesopotamia.

5. Characteristics
• The civilisation's cities were noted for their urban planning, baked brick houses,
elaborate drainage systems, water supply systems, clusters of large non-
residential buildings, and new techniques in handicraft (carnelian products, seal
carving) and metallurgy (copper, bronze, lead, and tin).
• The large cities of Mohenjo-daro and Harappa very likely grew to containing
between 30,000 and 60,000 individuals, and the civilisation itself during its
florescence may have contained between one and five million individuals.
• Gradual drying of the region's soil during the 3rd millennium BCE may have been
the initial spur for the urbanisation associated with the civilisation, but
eventually also reduced the water supply enough to cause the civilisation's
demise, and to scatter its population eastward.

6. Mohenjo-daro & Harappa
• Originating around 2500 B.C.E. the thriving
civilizations survived for around 500 years.
Both Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro, two of the
largest among 500 sites, were three miles in
circumference with around 40,000 people.
• To the north is a citadel or raised area.
• In Mohenjo-Daro, the citadel is built on an
architectural platform about 45 feet above
the plain.
• On the summit was a huge communal bath.
• Next to the large bath was a huge open
space—a granary where food was stored
from possible floods. Fortified walls mark
the southeast corner.

7. Mohenjo-daro & Harappa
• The lower city was laid out in a gridiron with the main streets about 45 feet
wide.
• Private houses, almost every one with its own well, bathing space, and toilet
consisting of a brick seat over a drainage area.
• Brick-lined drains flushed by water carried liquid and solid waste to sumps,
where it was carted away, probably to fertilize nearby fields.
• The town plan was regular. •Even fire-baked bricks were uniform in size and
shape.
• The regularity of plan and construction suggests a government with organization
and bureaucratic capacity.
• No monumental architecture clearly marks the presence of a palace or temple.
• There is little sign of social stratification in the plan or buildings

8. The Vedic Period
• The Vedic period or Vedic age (c. 1500 – c. 500 BCE), is the period
in the history of the northern Indian subcontinent between the
end of the urban Indus Valley Civilisation and a second
urbanisation which began in the central Indo-Gangetic Plain c. 600
BCE.
• It gets its name from the Vedas, which are liturgical texts
containing details of life during this period that have been
interpreted to be historical and constitute the primary sources for
understanding the period.

9. Origin of Vedic Period
• The commonly accepted period of earlier Vedic age is dated back
to the second millennium BCE. After the collapse of the Indus
Valley Civilisation, which occurred around 1900 BCE, groups
of Indo-Aryan peoples migrated into north-western India and
started to inhabit the northern Indus Valley.
• The Indo-Aryans represented a sub-group that diverged from the
other Indo-Iranian tribes before the middle of the 2nd millennium
BCE. According to the most widespread hypothesis, the latter
originated in the Andronovo horizon, located in the Bactria-
Margiana area (present-day northern Afghanistan).

10. The Vedas
• The Vedas were collections of religious
and literary poems and songs transmitted
orally.
• There were four parts. The most
important part was the Rig Veda, a
collection of 1,028 hymns addressed to
the Aryan gods.
• Aryan priests compiled the Rig Veda
between 1400 and 900 B.C.E. It wasn’t
put into writing until about 600 B.C.E.

11. Features of Vedic Civilization
• Town Planning- The houses
during the vedic period were
earthern or wattle and duab
constructions
• Wattle means woven lattice of
wooden strips which is daubed
with clay mixed with cow dung.
• A house was called Griha or
shala

12. Features of Vedic Civilization
• Agriculture was the main occupation during the vedic period.
• Many oxen were yoked together to plough the fields. The plough
had iron ploughshares.
• Farmers usually raised one or two crops. They include wheat
barley, cotton and mustard.
• As agriculture production increased, trade too developed.
• Animals like horses cows and dogs had special importance.

13. Differences Between Indus Valley and Vedic
Civilisation
• The Indus Valley civilization was essentially an urban civilization. The main occupation of
the people was trade and commerce. The Vedic civilization on the other hand was
essentially rural character, with agriculture as the main occupation of the people.
• The Indus Valley people were icon-worshippers, whereas the people of Vedic civilization
were opposed to icon-worship. The common gods of the Indus Valley people were Mothor-
Goddess, Siva, tree,animals etc.
• The people of the Indus Valley civilization were completely ignorant of the use of the
iron. The people of the Vedic age knew the use of various metals. They used gold and
copper in the beginning but later on also used silver, iron and bronze.
• The Vedic people attached great importance to cow and horse amongst various animals.
The Indus Valley people were not aware of the use of horse and did not show the same
regard for the cow or bull.
• The Indus Valley people were much more advanced than the people of Vedic age in the
art of writing. Various seals discovered from the Indus Valley suggest that the people had
an independent script of their own. Though this script has not been deciphered so far it
certainly suggests that they were more advanced than the Aryans.

14. THANK YOU